| “ | I only have a few spellbooks, and I only know half of the spells | „ |
| ~ Mateo to Elena |
Mateo de Alva is a character who appears in the animated series, Elena of Avalor. He is a wizard-in-training, Avalor's Royal Wizard and Elena's closest friend.
Appearences
Sofia the First
Mateo appears in the Sofia the First special Elena and the Secret of Avalor. After Sofia frees Elena from the Amulet of Avalor, Mateo will help Elena free her family from the Enchanted Painting his grandfather, Alakazar, placed them in forty-one years ago.
Elena of Avalor
Mateo appears in the show that serves as the special's sequel.
In First Day of Rule, Mateo helped Elena get Avalor's ships back by identifying the thieves as Noblins, and helped them get defeated. However, it's realized that the Noblins are taking the ships to escape from Avalor, having been captured by Shuriki and just trying to return home now that they were not her prisoners anymore.
In Island of Youth, Mateo has to go with Elena to take Esteban sailing while the castle is preparing for the surprise party as it's Esteban's birthday. Mateo tries to warns Esteban about the Fountain of Youth, however he didn't listen. After he turned into a kid, Mateo explains to Esteban that he drank too much water from the Fountain of Youth when Esteban didn't listen to Elena. Mateo asked if he wants to get out. Mateo got the flower of age and turned Esteban back to normal. Mateo pushed the boat away from the Fountain before they vanished. Elena and Mateo then went back to the palace. For the party. Esteban was surprised, and during the birthday song, Mateo did his floating spell on the gifts.
In Spellbound, Mateo is going to be the palace's new royal wizard and follow in his grandfather's footsteps. At first, Mateo didn't believe in himself, thinking that wizards are old, wise, have long beards, and robes that fit. However, he soon has to take charge of things when his grandfather's arch-enemy, the malvago wizard Fiero, turns everyone in the castle throne room to stone, including Elena's family, knowing that Mateo would look for the hidden Codex Maru to undo the spell and return everyone to normal. After defeating Fiero and turning him to stone with his own reflected spell and returning everyone else to normal just in time, he proves to everyone, especially himself, that he's good enough to be the palace wizard.
In The Scepter of Light, Mateo and Elena defeat Orizaba, the Moth Fairy from the Spirit World, and Mateo promises to teach Elena how to use the Scepter of Light without passing out from using it too often due to how it drains the user of energy with each use. It was when Orizaba first appeared that Mateo decided to go after her alone, but when he mistakes Elena for Orizaba at first, he agrees to let her help him. When Elena attempted to use the Scepter of Light against Orizaba, noticing Elena weakened from using it, Mateo takes her back to the castle and summons Zuzo to discuss the Scepter of Light with him, then goes with Elena to hunt down Orizaba when she tries to escape after being confronted by Elena and Mateo at the Sun Stone after she placed the Eye of Midnight into it to free the solar eclipse. Even when Elena becomes more and more fatigued from using the Scepter, Mateo continues to support her until Elena defeats Orizaba for good when she put Isabel in danger.
In Navidad, Mateo invites Elena to his Noche Buena celebration. However, Elena merges the celebrations into one. At Castio park, Mateo was playing the tambourine. Elena decides to have a parade to make everyone happy. However, everyone wasn't happy after the planning of the parade due to Doña Paloma lying that Elena will choose someone to lead the parade. Doña Paloma lies so that she could get more money. However, at the end, they apologized to each other and have a party at the palace to celebrate the true meaning of the holiday.
In My Fair Naomi, Mateo is picked to be on Naomi's court for her birthday celebration, which Elena makes into a Royal Quinceanera, but when Naomi begins to let the thought of her birthday being perfect go to her head thanks to advice from Esteban, and begins to reprimand Mateo and Gabe for not dancing like she and Esteban want, they quit Naomi's court and abandon her, as does Elena. However, thanks to Luisa, Naomi realizes her error and asks for their forgiveness. They accept her apology and return to enjoy the party with her.
n Wizard-in-Training, it has shown that Mateo has grown in his confidence as a wizard and gains an apprentice named Olivia. At first he has a little trouble teaching, but soon learns that he has to guide her every step of the way and admits to himself that he still has a lot to learn.
In the special Realm of the Jaquins, Mateo has worked with Jaquin Chief Zephyr to set up two tests for a trio of young Jaquins, including Skylar's younger brother Nico, to see if they are worthy of being made full Guardians of Avalor alongside Chief Zephyr, Skylar, Luna, and Migs. The first test has them avoiding the attacks of a version of Orizaba that had been conjured by Mateo and defeating it, the second was to locate an idol and return it to Mateo and Chief Zephyr intact within a set time limit that Mateo conjures. While Nico's fellow trainees succeed, Nico fails the test when his idol is secretly shattered by Victor Delgado to provide a means for him and his daughter to enter the Jaquin homeworld of Vallaestrella. Despite Mateo's concerns about entering Vallaestrella, Elena enters with Luna, forcing Mateo to follow her on Migs to convince her to return to Avalor. However, both come before Skylar and Nico's father and leader of the Jaquins, King Verago, who prohibited Nico from taking the test again per his rules, and demands that Elena and Mateo leave Vallaestrella as humans are prohibited from being there due to a past incident involving a human that resulted in one of the hardest battles the Jaquins have ever faced. However, when word comes that the forest sprite Marimonda has been released and is attempting to reach Avalor through the portal, Mateo and Elena head to seek out Quita Moz, a sun bird spirit that could help them stop Marimonda. When they find his nest, Mateo and the Jaquins are barred from entering so Elena may speak with Quita Moz in private, learning a new power regarding the Scepter of Light, and a means to imprison Marimonda again.
Afterwards, they find King Verago, but ruin a trap he set to capture Marimonda himself. Feeling responsible, Elena tries to capture Marimonda herself using an illusion after being told of the ability by Quita Moz, but Victor and Carla reveal themselves and prevent it. As a result, Elena and Verago put their differences aside once Skylar stands up to his father and tells him off for blaming Elena for dooming Avalor to Marimonda, and they return to Avalor together to stop Marimonda. Mateo acts as the last line of defense to keep Marimonda from entering the Royal Palace, but Marimonda easily overpowers him, only to fall into Elena's trap and be imprisoned in the jar Elena was given by Quita Moz, which Mateo closes the lid on to lock Marimonda away again, this time for good. Afterwards, he learns of the Delgados being involved with Marimonda's escape, but returns to Vallaestrella with Elena to watch as King Verago promotes Nico to full Guardian status, and they celebrate. However, unknown to Mateo, the Delgados are working for Shuriki, who is planning revenge on Elena for her previous defeat.
Gallery
For the gallery see Mateo/Gallery
Trivia
- Mateo's tamborita is inspired by the drums used by the Mapuche "Machi" (shaman) in Chile. His spells have Mayan glyphs integrated into them.
- Mateo summoned his first chanul. In Elena and the Secret of Avalor.
- Mateo is a wizard in training since finding Alacazar's stuff hidden. He kept it a secret because Shuriki banned magic except her own.
- However after the times of Shuriki it's no longer a secret.
- Mateo and Elena has the same age.
- Mateo has a fear of riding horses or Equinophobia. Revealed in The Scepter of Light.
- Mateo's not good in riding horses. Also revealed in The Scepter of Light.
- Mateo had 5 wardrobe changes (total). The 1st was in First Day of Rule. The 2nd was in Island of Youth. The 3rd was in Spellbound. The 4th was in The Scepter of Light and the 5th was in Elena and the Secret of Avalor.
- Mateo has his own spell. After he defeated Fiero. He was cheering and mentioned that's his own spell. In the episode Spellbound.
- Mateo bacame the palace wizard in Spellbound.
- Mateo doesn't like changing a baby's diaper. Mentioned in Island of Youth.
- Mateo met his first chanul in Elena and the Secret of Avalor.
Gallery
The image gallery for Mateo may be viewed here.