Triton was a good father
I'm rewatching the original little mermaid, and I think one thing we forget often is how good of a father Triton actually was. While yes, he released all his anger on her and destroyed her collection because she broke his rule, he was SO excited when he found out Ariel was in love.
He INSTANTLY started smiling when her sisters told him that Ariel is in love. He never once was negative about it, he was talking to himself about who the lucky merman could be.
If it weren't for Sebastian, who ratted her out and even gave away her secret spot, Triton would have never found out that Ariel's love was Eric, a human.
His whole reasoning of no contact with humans was because of his wife. It's only natural he wouldn't want his daughters, especially Ariel who is the youngest and the one that looks exactly like her mother, to have no contact with humans. The love he has for his daughters is so pure and true. He may overreact, but he was never one of those fathers who were like 'you can't date until you're 30' or 'ill choose who you marry', like royal families do.
And then he blessed her at the end, and STILL loved her unconditionally, even tho she left the ocean for Eric