< Once Upon a Time (TV series)

Once Upon a Time (TV series)/Characters


Regulars

Emma Swan

Played by: Jennifer Morrison

  • Action Girl: Her previous job as a bail bond agent was very active work and she can still kick butt as sheriff.
  • Agent Scully: To Henry's and August's Mulder.
  • Because Destiny Says So: It's why she's there in the first place.
  • Bounty Hunter: Bail bond agent, really.
  • Brain Bleach: After finding out Regina's and Graham's affair, which Henry doesn't know about.

Emma: I wish I was Henry right now.

Emma: A tie? You know, you don't have to dress a woman as a man to give her authority.

Henry Mills II

Played by: Jared Gilmore

Henry: (looking at an apple turnover) Where'd you get that?
Emma: Regina gave it to me.
Henry: (sniffs) Apple. You can't eat that! It's poisoned! *He then eats it in front of her to prove Regina can't be trusted*

  • Guile Hero: He is pretty damn cunning for his age. He tracks down his birth mother, making an extensive cross-state trip to find her on his own. On his home turf, he constantly undermines his (adoptive) mother, escapes her notice, lies convincingly, and otherwise makes his way to Emma, wherever in town she may be.
  • Has Two Mommies: To the extent the war between Regina and Emma sometimes feels like a custody battle.
  • Hazel Eyes
  • Heroic Sacrifice: It looks like Emma is going to run away. She doesn't believe in the curse. She doesn't believe him. August failed. And that apple turnover was a parting gift from Regina? One option left - CHOMP!
  • Indy Ploy: He doesn't really have a plan on how to lift the curse and is really just making it up as he goes along, hoping for a result.
  • Innocent Prodigy
  • Mommy Issues
  • Mr. Exposition
  • Luke, You Are My Father: What kicks off the whole thing? Henry showing up on Emma's doorstep and saying, in effect, "Hi Mom!"
  • The Runaway: Henry has apparently run away several times, either in search of his real mother or because he believes Regina does not really love him.
  • Seeker Archetype: More active than his mother. There is literally no external motivation for him to break the curse of Storybrooke—he does so merely on instinct. He's never even seen any hard evidence of a curse.
    • Except being the only person in Storybrooke that gets older.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years

Mary Margaret Blanchard / Princess Snow White

Played by: Ginnifer Goodwin

  • Action Girl:
    • Snow after she is forced into exile by Regina.
    • Mary Margaret in "Hat Trick" get a moment of this whacking Jefferson over the head with a croquet mallet and pushing him out a window with one kick.

Emma: Have you been taking kickboxing and not telling me about it?

  • Amnesiac Dissonance: Snow White was capable, cunning and smart-mouthed. Mary Margaret Blanchard is kind, even-tempered and rather imaginative. None of these are mutually exclusive, but they are the defining traits of each incarnation.
  • Badass Princess
  • The Big Damn Kiss: At the end of "7:15 A.M." with David.
  • Boyish Short Hair: As Mary Margaret.
  • Break His Heart to Save Him: As Snow, she is told by King George to break James' heart and tell him she doesn't love him or George would kill Charming.
  • Break the Cutie: While her affair with David starts to unravel, but especially after she's accused of murdering Kathryn.
  • Children Are Innocent: Her naivete as a young child with Missing Mom issues made it easy for Cora to manipulate her into telling her what Regina was up to resulting in the death of Daniel.
  • Combat Pragmatist
  • Daddy's Girl: Snow meant everything to King Leopold.
  • Deadpan Snarker: As post-outlaw Snow White but not so much as Mary Margaret.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Snow, after she is forced to break Charming's heart to save him from King George, drinks a potion from Rumpel which will make her forget she ever loved him.
  • Damsel in Distress
  • Deep Sleep: She was put into one with Maleficent's sleep curse only for it to be broken with True Love's Kiss.
  • Face Heel Turn: Very nearly happened in "Heart of Darkness", but Charming stopped her before she could kill the Evil Queen.
  • Fallen Princess: During her time on the run from the Evil Queen.
  • Friend to All Living Things:
    • According to Charming, she maintains an army of blue birds who send and receive messages.
    • In the "real" world, she was able to hold and pet a bluebird before letting it fly to a birdhouse.
  • Happily Married: To Charming in the Fairy Tale world.
  • Hazel Eyes
  • Heroic Suicide: To save Charming's life, she eats the infamous apple.
  • Hot Mom
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: After everything Regina has done, Mary Margaret still forgives her and expresses sympathy for how lonely and empty her life must be.
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Rumpelstiltskin warns that if Snow kills the Queen, then she will be doing this.
  • Let's Get Dangerous: As Mary Margaret in "Hat Trick".
  • Meet Cute: With Charming.
  • Missing Mom: Unintentionally turned into one for Emma and had one when her mother died when she was very young.
  • Plucky Girl: As Snow White.
  • Princess Classic
  • Proper Lady: Her life until she had to hide in the woods after the Huntsman spared her life.
  • Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
    • Gives Regina a very kind version of this, forgiving her for all her cruelty (in Storybrooke) because her life of making others miserable is an empty and lonely one.
    • Gives another to Emma when she left without saying good-bye, returning to the woman she was before she came to town, and admitted to having abducted Henry, much in the fashion of a mother chastising her foolish daughter.
  • The Scapegoat: The entire grudge against Snow White is pretty much this. Rather than hold her own abusive mother responsible for her lover's death, Regina begins a decades long plot of Kick the Dog and murder against a small child that just wanted to help her.
  • Stalker with a Crush: With David in Storybrooke, as Emma points out. She even knows his detailed daily schedule. Then it turns out that David is just as much a Stalker with a Crush as she is.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Snow White apparently did this in leaps and bounds between meeting Red and meeting Charming.
  • Two First Names: Mary Margaret Blanchard.
  • Woman in White: In the pilot. Also in "Red-Handed" while standing next to classic Lady in Red Red Riding Hood.
  • Xenafication: Apparently, damsel in distress Snow White turns into a badass forest dweller who fights trolls, hunts deer and robs the Queen's carriages.

David Nolan / John Doe / Prince James "Charming" / Shepherd

Played by: Josh Dallas

Mayor Regina Mills / The Evil Queen Regina

Played by: Lana Parrilla

  • 0% Approval Rating: The search goes on for a citizen of Storybrooke who likes her... besides Kathryn.
  • Abusive Parent
  • ...And Show It to You: As Henry says, it's kind of her thing. She got it from her mother.
  • Bastard Girlfriend
  • Beat Still My Heart: Regina does this so that she has power over people and keeps the hearts in a special vault. It is revealed that this vault also exists in Storybrooke.
  • Big Bad: Of Season 1.
  • Consummate Liar: Being the one who started the Masquerade herself, she's spent the last 28 years lying to everyone. She even pulled a fast one over on Rumpelstiltskin, telling him that Belle was dead. The truth is quite different.
  • Cry for the Devil
  • Daddy's Girl: In an interesting parallel, Regina loves her father as much as Snow loved hers (though, with Cora as a mother, Henry was pretty much her only option). It doesn't save him.
  • Death Glare: She is the master of these.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: She has ruined the lives of literally everyone in her world, persecuted Snow White for years and had Mary Margaret arrested for murder because an innocent child made a well-intentioned mistake.
  • Excessive Evil Eyeshadow
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: To her father.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: See Horrible Judge of Character, below. She isn't incapable of understanding deep emotions and selflessness : she undeniably herself shows it. It seems to be strange to her that anyone else would care about these things.
    • According to Lana Parrilla, part of the reason Regina came to hate Snow so much is because she's incapable of grasping that Snow's actions weren't selfish. She genuinely believes that Snow told Cora about the affair so that Regina would have to become her new mother. Snow's happiness when Regina says they're going to be a family only feeds into this paranoid belief.
  • Evil Is Hammy
  • Evil Is Petty: Spraypainting "TRAMP" on Mary Margaret's car.
  • Evil Sorceress
  • God Save Us From the Queen
  • Honey Trap: As the Mayor, she tries this on David with herself as the bait. It fails.
  • Horrible Judge of Character:
    • A villainous example, as she tends to project her own values on other people. In the Fairy Tale world, she mistook the Huntsman's misanthropy for cold-blooded ruthlessness, and didn't understand why Hansel and Gretel would prefer to find their father over staying in her luxurious palace, just after she basically admitted she'd sent a lot of children to their deaths in the Blind Witch's house. In Storybrooke, she is convinced that Emma is out to take away everything she has and somehow believes that Emma is someone who will acquiesce to being bullied. Also a case of Evil Cannot Comprehend Good.
    • In "Desperate Souls", she honestly believed that Emma was going to abandon her in a burning building.
  • Hot Mom
  • How Do You Like Them Apples?: Drawing from the poisoned apple in the story, she is an apple lover to an obsessive level and is immensely protective of the apple tree that grows at her home. She uses the last bit of magic she can find to try and re-create the poisoned apple stunt, but it kinda backfires on her when Henry eats it instead.
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: The Evil Queen punishes the Huntsman for his refusal to kill an innocent by forcing him to be her Sex Slave.
  • It's All About Me: Her defining characteristic. She can't truly love someone because it's all about her: she attacked her "only friend" Maleficent, manipulated the Genie/Mr. Glass, is an emotionally abusive mother to Henry, kept Hansel and Gretel separate from their father out of raw spite, and murdered her own father for revenge. Heck, the Dark Curse itself is all about making sure no one else can get a happy ending besides her! Nevertheless, she always seems a little desperate for companionship; whereas Rumpelstiltskin seems to accept that loneliness is the cost of magical power, she seems dead set on having her cake and eating it too.
    • It is more a case of It Is All About How I Feel, no matter how much it is self-destructive.
  • Kick the Dog: Doesn't even begin to describe her.
  • The Lost Lenore: Her One True Love Daniel is this to her. Before her eyes, Regina saw her mother pull out Daniel's heart and murder him.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Just like her mother.
  • Mayor Pain: Type A.
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor
  • Mind Over Matter: When she still had her magic in Fairy Tale Land.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Regina's reaction when she finds out that Henry was poisoned by the apple turnover that she intended for Emma to eat.
  • Nice Hat: The Evil Queen gets one in "True North" that has GOT to be glued to her head to stay on.
  • Not So Different: Ironically, Daniel's death at her mother's hands and what she perceives to be Snow's betrayal have twisted her into becoming a reflection of the mother she resented and rebelled against.
  • Patricide/Self-Made Orphan: The Evil Queen's servant is devoted to her. For the curse she wants to work against Snow, she must sacrifice the thing she loves most; her prized horse won't do. When she calls her servant "Daddy", you know what's coming.
  • Parental Neglect: A mild type when she gets obsessed with getting revenge. She leaves Henry alone at home on a regular basis, but takes care even more regularly of him and his comfort, defends Henry, and actually gives a lot of presents to him.
  • Permanently Elected Official: Because of the curse, she is always mayor regardless of whether or not anyone would have voted for her had there been a real election.
  • Power Hair: In Storybrooke.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Regina tries to blame losing her relationships with her son and her lover on Emma's presence in Storybrooke and her interference in Regina's life. Emma doesn't take this sitting down and points out that Regina herself is what makes people run away from her.
    • Gets a second helping of this, courtesy of Mary Margaret pointing out that her life of making others miserable is never going to make her anything but lonely and unhappy.
  • Relationship Sabotage: Regina constantly tries to separate David and Mary Margaret, reminding what Snow White accidentally accomplished.
  • Revenge
    • Revenge Before Reason: She could have lived in peace in her large castle, but instead she killed the only person she still loved just to cast a curse.
      • Mitigated : she got more safety and a great child.
  • Rich Bitch: Designer clothes, fancy estate, has everyone in town deathly afraid of her, except Emma.
  • Shiny Midnight Black
  • Standard Hero Reward: After Regina saves his daughter, King Leopold just ups and asks her to marry him with hardly an introduction!
  • Start of Darkness: She was in love with Daniel the stable boy, but her very controlling mother wanted her to marry up. After Regina saved a young Snow White's life, the king proposed to her. Regina tried to run away with Daniel, but Snow, who had seen them together earlier and promised to keep it a secret, was convinced by Regina's mother to say what was going on. Regina's mother killed Daniel, so Regina went ahead with marrying the king. Then Snow tells Regina she was the one who told her mother the secret...and from that moment on Regina hates her.
  • Stepford Smiler: Of mixed Type A and Type C variety.
  • Smug Snake
  • That Makes Me Feel Angry: Regina tries this on Henry.
  • Tragic Keepsake: The improvised ring Daniel proposed to her with, using a metal ring off a saddle. She later sacrifices it for Jefferson's Hat to retrieve a sleeping curse apple.
  • Ultimate Authority Mayor: A sometimes evil one. However, Mr. Gold indicates her power is not as absolute as she likes to think it is and Emma proves it by getting elected Sheriff over Regina's choice of Mr. Glass.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Revealed that Regina use to be a sweet teenage girl who was just unfortunate enough to live under an actual wicked mother.
  • Villain Ball: Emma would have simply left Storybrooke if Regina didn't show her nasty side in the pilot.
    • She once again grabs this in the penultimate episode of the first season. Emma agreed to leave Storybrooke, but Regina decided to try to poison her anyway. Partly justified in how she wanted Emma fully out of the picture so she could have Henry to herself. Henry ends up eating the apple turnover instead, which is the last push Emma needs to believe in the curse and eventually leads to everybody recovering their past memories.
  • Wicked Stepmother: To Snow White.
  • Woman in Black: Her fairytale self. After the death of King Leopold, she wore black because she was "in mourning". She kept it up, stating outright that it suited her.
  • Woman Scorned: Regina blames Emma for her lover leaving her. She uses some leftover fairy tale magic to kill the Sheriff as she promised she would when she took him prisoner.
  • Would Hurt a Child: At least by omission. She casually tells Hansel and Gretel that they aren't the first children she sent into the house of the cannibalistic blind witch; just the first to come out alive. And, on an emotional level, she has no qualm with Henry getting emotionally hurt if it means that a) Emma is hurt at an expense and b) it stops his belief that fairy tales exist, if there is a chance things get better for their relationship and lives without too much scars.

Mr. Gold / Rumpelstiltskin

Played by: Robert Carlyle

  • Aesop Amnesia: By the end of the season 1, he seems to have completely forgotten why he lost his son, i.e. wanting dark magic power.
  • Affably Evil
  • Bad Samaritan: His whole shtick. If you need help, he'll be there for you. And at some future point, you'll wish he hadn't been.
  • Batman Gambit:
    • Between this and his information dealing.
    • His actions to get Emma elected as sheriff. First, he sets up Emma so she would see his sheep skin-tanning supplies. Then he starts a fire at Regina's office when it was just Emma and Regina, so Emma would save Regina's life and discover circumstantial evidence that he was involved. He informed Emma of this fact when she found the evidence and told her she had no choice but to keep it silent. Instead she speaks up about this in a public debate for the election of sheriff. Seeing her stand up against Mr. Gold won her the election. Just as he planned it would. And then there's still the matter of the favor Emma owes him...
  • Berserk Button: Do not harm Belle or be implicated in her death. And it's a really, really bad idea to hurt his son.
  • Bigger Bad: Of Season 1.
  • Book Ends: At least from episode 1 to 12 - he's in a jail in either world.
  • Brought Down to Normal: In the fairy tale, his magical powers were taken from him by Snow White, Prince Charming and Cinderella. Taken further in Storybrooke where holding the Knife of the Dark One has no power over him anymore.
  • Brown Eyes: As Mr. Gold.
  • Catch Phrase: "All magic comes with a price", in a singsong voice.
  • Combat Pragmatist: With all his power, he tends to either talk his way out of fights or just dispose of a nuisance with a wave of the finger. Because of this it's pretty obvious when he's fighting with Charming that he's just playing with him long enough to make Charming re-consider his offer.
  • Dangerous Deserter: According to the soldier enlisting kids in the Ogre Wars, Rumpel was the only survivor of his unit because he ran away at a key point in the battle. His supposed cowardice appears to be backed up by the fact that he's completely harmless...until his son is going to be drafted into the war, at which point he sets fire to a Duke's castle, stabs the Dark One in the heart to take his powers and slaughters the detachment of soldiers sent to collect his son.
  • The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Seemingly the case at first by the time he meets Belle. Subverted, a short time later, when we learn he remembers quite well.
  • Deal with the Devil: His stock in trade. Everything from knowledge to babies to magic potions can be had... for a price.
  • The Determinator: This Papa Wolf will do anything for his son. He's spent centuries plotting and gathering power, all for the purpose of creating the Dark Curse and getting someone to cast it so he could enter our world and attempt to find Baelfire.
  • Driven to Villainy: Rumpelstiltskin's origins. To save his son, he took on dark powers, getting corrupted in the process.
  • Drunk on the Dark Side: Rumpelstiltskin ends up progressively worse as days pass in the wake of the end of the Ogre Wars.
  • Evil Scot: Mr. Gold sports Robert Carlyle's Scottish accent.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Loves Belle and Baelfire even more than his power, but...
  • Evil Eyebrows
  • Evil Is Hammy
  • Evil Laugh: As Rumpelstiltskin, more like evil giggle.
  • Evil Sorcerer: Depowered shortly before the series began, but before that apparently quite a powerful one. And now that the curse is broken it looks like he will be again.
  • Exact Wording: Anyone making a deal with him had better pay real close attention.
  • Eyes of Gold: As Rumpelstiltskin.
  • Fatal Flaw: Cowardice.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Episode 8 reveals Rumpelstiltskin's origins as a poor sheep farmer.
  • Giggling Villain
  • Gold Tooth: Appropriately as Mr. Gold.
  • The Gump: Rumpelstiltskin seems to be an in-universe version of this; his deals have been a crucial factor in at least half of the fairy tale plots so far and he's occasionally usurped the roles of certain characters altogether, like Cinderella's fairy godmother and the Beast.
  • Hellish Pupils: As Rumpelstiltskin.
  • I Cannot Self-Terminate: As Rumpelstiltskin, he is the next avatar of the Dark One and thus is bound by the same problem. However, when Belle tries to break his curse with True Love's Kiss, he rejects her, believing it to be a trick.
  • I Know Your True Name: Knowing people's names gives him power over them.
  • I Own This Town: In Storybrooke, he literally does. He owns all the land; the citizens are just his tenants.
  • Kill It with Fire: The poor fairy godmother never even got a chance to scream.
  • Knight Templar Parent: So very much.
  • Knowledge Broker: Even in a jail cell, he knows a frightening amount about everything—but getting the information has insanely steep price tags attached.
  • Laughing Mad: As Rumpelstiltskin.
  • Lovable Coward: Temporarily in "Desperate Souls" before he kills The Dark One and takes his power.
  • Love or Son Decision: In "The Return", it reveals the reason he refused to be with Belle as she was his True Love was because he could lose his chance to see his son in another world.
  • Man of Wealth and Taste: Mr. Gold.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Rarely is forced into doing something he doesn't want to do.
  • Might as Well Not Be in Prison At All: From his cell, he arranged for the Queen to unleash the Dark Curse on the fairy tale land.
  • Obviously Evil: Just look at the picture.
  • Older Than He Looks: Word of God says Rumpel is easily hundreds of years old because of his cursed state after "Desperate Souls".
  • Papa Wolf: He is willing to kill the Dark One to try and save his son from serving in the army. Shame this ended up in turning him From Nobody to Nightmare. After becoming the Dark One, he becomes an evil version, turning a man into a snail and stepping on him just for accidentally injuring Baelfire with a cart.
  • Pragmatic Villainy
  • Read the Fine Print: As Rumpelstiltskin he does not advocate those who make deals with him to look further than the simple wording of his promise. As Mr. Gold, he is amazed at how few people actually read the Town charter, which points out some holes in Regina's power.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Given one by Belle about his cowardice and his inability to let himself be happy.
  • Redemption Rejection: As Rumpel pushes away Belle lest True Love's Kiss turns him back to normal. He later regrets the decision.
  • Secret Keeper: In "Skin Deep", we learn he's retained at least some of his memories; he knows his real identity and remembers Belle and what happened to her.
  • She Knows Too Much: As Rumpel, he kills his housekeeper when she might have seen the Knife of the Dark One. When Baelfire replied that she was mute, Rumpel justified his actions as she could still draw.
  • Snake Talk: As Rumpelstiltskin. You have to listen for it but it's there. Not as Mr. Gold. He also didn't have it initially as the Dark One but as we see him slowly slip into his sing song snake voice the less he has Baelfire around as a Morality Pet.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": The show consistently spells Rumpelstiltskin's name as "Rumplestiltskin".
  • Stepford Smiler: In a way. Most of the time he likes to act as flamboyant as possible when he knows people are looking. But in Episode 6, he's shown as being quite subdued when he's off to the side drinking as James and his mother have their own conversation.
    • In Episode 12 we learn he has serious self esteem issues and thinks of himself as a monster.
  • Terms of Endangerment: Likes to refer to everyone, male and female, as "dearie." Including his fans in real life.
  • Tragic Keepsake: The chipped cup Belle broke. As Rumpel he moved aside a golden goblet to put it on a pedestal and as Mr. Gold he was willing to beat a man and give up on a secret of his just to get it back. His knife also qualifies as it always reminds him of his son and his inability to let go of his new found power.
  • The Trickster
  • Villainous Breakdown: Has an epic one in episode 12, after Belle kisses him and he believes she's been working for the Queen (or trying to kill him) all along.
  • Villains Never Lie: So far, both of his incarnations have never actually told a lie. Granted, either one may have said something that is "technically" true, for certain values of "true", but not once has either one told an outright lie. He even tried to work his way out of a deal with Regina by technically not lying with each response until she closed every loophole with follow up questions leaving him with the final choice of lying or speaking the truth. He picked the truth. See Secret Keeper for more on what was said.
  • Yandere: Arguably as Mr. Gold to Belle. He beats her father with his cane for taking a keepsake of hers.

Dr. Archibald "Archie" Hopper / Jiminy Cricket

Played by: Raphael Sbarge

  • The Atoner: After he fails to get rid of his parents and instead turns an innocent couple into puppets, he swears to help their son, Geppeto.
  • The Chick
  • The Conscience: He is Jiminy Cricket after all. Archie plays the role as a psychologist.
  • Character Development: His Fairy Tale self had to work up the will to break away from thievery and earn true freedom, and his Storybrooke self had to learn to listen to his conscience and overcome Regina's intimidation.

Henry: Before he was [[[The Conscience]]] he was a guy who took a long time to figure out... the right thing to do.

  • Extreme Doormat:
    • At least initially in his Storybrooke form. He folds like a cheap suit whenever Regina aptly applies pressure. But he more than redeems himself later, finally growing a spine and giving Regina a truly epic verbal smackdown.
    • A very sadly chronic example to his parents as Jiminy. It was so bad that he allowed himself to be turned into a cricket so he'd finally be free of their manipulation.
  • Funny Animal: In his cricket form.
  • The Heart
  • Nice Guy: Even nice to Mr. Gold, a feat no one else in the town seems to be capable of.
  • Older Than He Looks: The Blue Fairy stopped him from aging in order for him to have as much time as possible to help Geppetto.
  • Purpose Driven Immortality: The Blue Fairy promises Jiminy Cricket that he will live as long as he needs to in order to help Geppetto.
  • Scylla and Charybdis: He has this between his Manipulative Bastard thief parents and his own conscience. They've screwed him up so badly that he just can't bring himself to abandon them until the Blue Fairy turns him into a cricket.
  • Secret Keeper: Emma comes in during one of his sessions, lets Henry know she believes him, is in on the plan and then burns the book's last pages. Hopper sees it all. He's therefore inducted in as the reluctant third member of Operation Cobra.
  • The Shrink

August Wayne Booth / Pinocchio

Played by: Eion Bailey

  • Agent Mulder
  • The Atoner: His time in Storybrooke and his attempts to make Emma believe are motivated mainly by him breaking his promise to Geppetto to look after her in the land without magic, and trying to fix it.
  • Badass Biker
  • The Call Knows Where You Live: After 28 years of ignoring The Call, woke up in agony and discovered that he's slowly being turned back into a puppet.
  • Cool Bike
  • Hell-Bent for Leather
  • Implied Love Interest: He may have asked Emma out on a date but his reasons were fairly ambiguous. Is he romantically interested in her or is he just trying to get her attention about something else?
  • Ill Boy: Without magic, he is beginning to turn back into a wooden puppet.
  • It's for a Book
  • Leave Your Quest Test: He failed it.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Subversion. He tricks Mr. Gold into thinking he is Rumpelstiltskin's son and Morality Pet Baelfire, but he's not. Mr. Gold is...displeased with this development.
    • Later played straight with his father, Geppetto.
  • No Name Given: Initially, leading to him being referenced as "The Stranger" in all promotional materials. Subverted in Episode 13 when he finally reveals his name. It's notable, however, in that he had refused to give his name for several episodes, despite living an otherwise normal life in Storybrooke. It becomes Egregious when he hesitates in giving his name to Emma after asking her out on a date.
  • Perma-Stubble: "A typewriter wrapped in an enigma wrapped in stubble."
  • Pinocchio Nose: August proves to be an exceptionally bad liar, when he tries to fool Mr. Gold into handing over the knife by posing as his son. Not to mention Emma is extremely skeptical of his claims to be an out-of-town writer, since he seems to know more about the town than he should. It's because he's Pinocchio that he knows about the town, and has trouble lying.
  • Pinocchio Syndrome
  • Promotion to Opening Titles: After Episode 16, "Heart of Darkness", Eion Bailey started being credited as a series regular.
  • Promotion to Parent: Subverted.Geppetto entrusted him with the responsibility of ensuring Emma would know what it was the was destined to do when Emma was old enough, but he left her to runaway with the other foster kids.
  • Replacement Love Interest: He showed up pretty quickly after Graham's death.
  • Tall, Dark and Handsome

Recurring

Kathryn Nolan / Princess Abigail

Played by: Anastasia Griffith

  • Arranged Marriage: She was engaged to Charming before he met Snow.
  • The Atoner: In Storybrooke, she is trying really hard to be as loving as possible towards David in order to make up for their supposed argument that led to him leaving and getting into an accident that put him in a coma for years.
  • Hair of Gold
  • Hidden Depths
  • Moment Killer: She really knows how to show up at the most awkward times possible whenever Mary Margaret and David are sharing a moment.
  • Never Found the Body
  • Royal Brat: Our initial introduction to her in the Fairy Tale world suggests she's this, but later events change the impression: she's no more interested in her Arranged Marriage with Charming than he is, and for the same reason - her True Love is someone else.

Sheriff Graham Humbert / The Huntsman

Played by: Jamie Dornan

Ruby / Red Riding Hood

Played by: Meghan Ory

  • Buffy-Speak: Calls her wolf ornament, which appears to be a long held item very important to her, her "wolf thing."
  • Chekhov's Gift: The iconic red cloak from her grandmother. In fact, Granny had a warlock make it to prevent Red from turning into a wolf.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Always has red on her outfits, has red streaks in her hair, drives a red car, has a red-colored wolf windshield ornament in said car, is named Ruby... It's not that hard to figure out which story she's from.
  • Fan Service with a Smile: Interestingly enough, while her Storybrooke version is this, her fairy tale version is perhaps the most conservatively dressed to the point of not showing off any skin, cleavage, or what have you.
  • A Friend in Need: Her loyalty to Ashley is commendable. She not only distracts Emma with a dead end lead so Ashley can escape but she loans Ashley her car to do so. She was pretty good friends with Snow White as well.
  • Good Bad Girl
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Poor, poor Peter.
  • Lady in Red
  • Little Red Fighting Hood: She and Granny join the raid on King George's castle, and manage to take out several guards. This is without having to invoke the family lycanthropy curse. Red is a literal murdering beast when she is under the curse.
  • Magic Pants: Her clothes disappear when she turns into a wolf, and reappear when she turns back into human.
  • Ms. Fanservice
  • Multicolored Hair: She has dark brown hair with red streaks.
  • Odd Friendship: She often hangs out with a random mechanic.
  • Perky Goth
  • She's Got Legs
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Learns that she's the wolf after killing her lover, Peter.
  • Werewolf: Red turns out to be one in Episode 15.

Granny / Widow Lucas

Played by: Beverley Elliott

  • Badass Grandma: Granny turns out to be this and was one her whole life.
  • Cool Old Lady
  • Idiot Ball: Granny not just telling Red that she needs to wear the hood to resist becoming a werewolf, which costs people their lives. She tries to Hand Wave it by saying she didn't want Red to have to live with this knowledge about herself, but is this really such a bad thing for Red to know, if all she has to do to stop it is to wear a red cloak one night a month (maybe three, if the night on either side counts as well--still a low number)? There is no way Red wouldn't eventually find out, and she certainly would rather have been able to stop her rampages herself, than find out an occasional, believed-innocent breaking of the rules resulted in people dying. Granny even admits how stupid she was.
  • Never Mess with Granny: Especially not the Enchanted World Granny.
  • Poor Communication Kills: If Red's Grandma had told her about her werewolf nature, she and Snow never would have suspected Peter and he never would have been killed. To say nothing of all the other men who got ripped apart.
  • Retired Monster: A literal example since she can no longer turn into a wolf due to age, but still not someone to mess with.
  • Werewolf: Revealed to have been this.

Sidney Glass / The Magic Mirror / The Genie of Agrabah

Played by: Giancarlo Esposito

  • Brutal Honesty: In his mirror form.
  • Fall Guy: Takes the rap for Kathryn's kidnapping, despite it being a patently obvious attempt by by Regina to frame Mary Margaret for murder.
  • Love Makes You Evil: As the genie, he killed Snow White's father to earn the affections of the Queen.
  • Love Makes You Stupid: When King Leopold granted him last wish from his own lamp, he said that he would never use it, because it always backfires. He used anyway because he loved Regina, and got trapped in a mirror as a result.
  • Love Martyr: To Regina.
  • The Mole: Doubly subverted. First he acted as a mole for Emma against Regina, but then it turns out he was mole for Regina against Emma.
  • Unwitting Pawn: As the Genie to Regina.
  • Yes-Man: In Storybrooke.

Leroy / Dreamy / Grumpy the Dwarf

Played by: Lee Arenberg

  • The Alcoholic: In both universes.
  • Batman Gambit: Need to sell candles? Just cut the power to the festival leaving candles the only option and have plenty in stock.
  • Broken Bird: His name starts out Dreamy but he falls in love with the fairy Nova and breaks it off because his boss Bossy and her boss The Blue Fairy claim it will never work and both will be miserable, he breaks his axe bearing the name "Dreamy" on it and becomes Grumpy.
  • Catch Phrase: Calls all women "sister."
  • Deadpan Snarker: Shades of this in his bluntness.
  • Determinator: Breaking out of jail, selling a ton of candles, going door to door to every house in Storybrooke, trying to deal with Gold, cutting power to a whole festival. He may be a grouch and hitting the sauce, but in a pinch, he's your guy.
  • Fantastic Racism: Forced to work in the mine and forbidden to ever leave it due to the accident of birth.
  • Grumpy Bear: Unsurprisingly.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sometimes. When he's not an outright dreamer type that makes impossible promises, he comes across a gruff guy who calls everyone "sister."
  • Misery Builds Character: If given the chance to forget his pain he would refuse as his pain defines him. It helps make him "Grumpy".
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: As Dreamy with Nova the fairy.
  • That Man Is Dead: Once he gives up love in the fairy tale universe, his true name becomes Grumpy, and he declares that he's no longer Dreamy.
  • Ugly Dwarf, Hot Fairy: With Nova.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: As Dreamy.
  • You Are Not Alone: To Snow after she breaks up with James to save his life.

Marco Waxtern / Geppetto

Played by: Tony Amendola

  • Orphan's Ordeal
  • Papa Wolf: To Pinocchio, to the point where he was willing to lie to Snow White and Charming about the extent of the enchanted tree's magic in order to protect him from the curse.

Dr. Whale

Played by: David Anders

Ashley Boyd / Princess Ella / Cinderella

Played by: Jessy Schram

Sean Herman / Prince Thomas

Played by: Tim Phillipps

  • Disappeared Dad: Averted in Storybrooke but played straight in Fairy Tale world. He initially was persuaded/forced by his father to abandon Ashley when they found out she was pregnant. However, he does eventually come to his senses and the couple reunites. Prince Thomas, on the other hand, just disappears without a trace.
  • Happily Married: To Ella.
  • Hot Dad
  • Prince Charming

D.A. Albert Spencer / King George

Played by: Alan Dale

Henry Mills I

Played by: Tony Perez

  • Extreme Doormat
  • Henpecked Husband: He rarely stands up against his wife concerning her treatment of Regina.
  • Old Retainer: Subverted. The old butler-looking man loyally listening to the Queen's every rant is, in fact, her dad.

Cora Mills

Played by: Barbara Hershey

Belle

Played by: Emilie de Ravin

  • Arranged Marriage: What her engagement to Gaston would have been, if certain things hadn't changed...
  • Bedlam House: The end of "Skin Deep" reveals that in Storybrooke, she's been locked up in one of these by Regina. Whether it's justified is yet to be seen...but knowing Regina...
  • Broken Bird: In the Fairy Tale world, after she left Rumpelstiltskin in disgust she was shunned in her former home, her own father locked her in a tower and she eventually committed suicide. Only the Evil Queen was actually lying to torment Rumpel, since in this world she's perfectly alive...and possibly not so well, having spent as long as 28 years imprisoned in a mental ward that's practically a Shout-Out to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
    • In "Dreamy", it is revealed she was still very much alive in the Fairy Tale land, though still heartbroken. So how much of her shunning as told by Regina being true is up in the air.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: By her own admission, she's always wanted to be brave, and her choice to go with Rumpel was motivated by a desire to be the hero. She basically jumps at the chance to perform a (nonlethal) Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Driven to Suicide: According to the Evil Queen, this was what happened to Belle. Of course, it turns out to be Blatant Lies.
  • Drop What You Are Doing: After Rumpelstiltskin's joke about skinning children she drops a cup.
  • Honey Trap: When Belle mentions who she learned about True Love's Kiss from a noble woman on the road, Rumpel assumes Belle is an agent of the Queen's meant to fulfill this trope.
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: She's prisoner of the most powerful and dangerous sorcerer of her world. She befriends him and he falls in love with her.
  • Innocent Blue Eyes
  • Rebellious Princess: Part of the reason she agreed to Rumpelstiltskin's deal is that she wanted to do something heroic and meaningful, instead of fulfilling her ornamental baby-making role. "No one decides my fate but me!" indeed. Also, she wasn't that keen on her fiancé.
  • The Lost Lenore: To Rumpelstiltskin (she's still alive, but he believes her dead).
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one to Rumpel about his cowardice and his inability to let himself be happy.
  • Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Subverted, as in the end we find out she's still alive.
  • Unwitting Pawn

Mother Superior / The Blue Fairy

Played by: Keegan Connor Tracy

Jefferson the Mad Hatter

Played by: Sebastian Stan

  • Blessed with Suck: He remembers the Fairy Tale World while few others can...and is tormented by the fact that his daughter is living happily with a different family and has no memory of him. On top of that, he finally has everything he wanted to give Grace but it is impossible to share it with her.
  • Destination Defenestration: Mary Margaret pushes him out a window in order to escape.
  • Disappeared Dad: He told Grace he would only leave her with the neighbours for a day, but ends up trapped in Wonderland.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a gruesome one around his neck from his decapitation in Wonderland. He hides it with a scarf in Storybrooke.
  • Hot Dad
  • Kick the Dog: Now matter how much help he gives to Regina, she always kicks him when things get rough, leading to ...
    • The Dog Bites Back: Him freeing Belle and sending her to Rumple with the information Regina was holding her prisoner.
  • Losing Your Head: It was hacked off in Wonderland but was reattached when the Queen of Hearts ordered him to recreate his multidimensional hat.
  • Lotus Eater Machine: Willing to put himself in one if his deal with Regina pays off: he gives her the power to defeat Emma, and she rewrites Storybrooke so that he and Grace are together, but neither of them remember the Fairy Tale World.
  • Made of Iron: He took the blunt force of a telescope to his head and still managed to chase after Emma, as well as falling out of a two story window and fleeing from the scene of impact.
  • Madness Mantra: "Get it to work, get it to work, get it to work, get it to work..."
  • Nice Hat: He has one that allows for travel between different dimensions, including the Fairy Tale World and Wonderland. Regina steals it after trapping him in Wonderland forcing him to try and make a new one.
  • No Sense of Personal Space: His proximity while he converses with Emma and Regina seem too close to be necessary.
  • Papa Wolf
  • Portal Network: Jefferson’s Magic Hat contains one of these, full of doors to various universes.
  • Stalker Without a Crush: How he acted toward Emma and Grace/Paige when he spied on them through his telescopes.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: He fakes a limp after Emma run over him with her car, to take her to his house.


Other Characters

Maleficent

Played by: Kristin Bauer

Jiminy's Parents

Played by: Harry Groener and Carolyn Hennesy

  • Abusive Parents
  • Faux Affably Evil
  • For the Lulz
  • Jerkass: To put it mildly. They are so unrepentantly depraved, they make the Evil Queen look cuddly by comparison.
  • Karma Houdini: Jiminy's parents escaped any real repercussions for all the thieving and such that they did/made Jiminy do.
  • Manipulative Bastards
  • The Sociopath: Both of them. They gleefully swindle and steal from everyone they come across, not because they need the money but because they live by the credo that if you aren't taking from others, you're the one getting taken from. They mock and laugh at the innocent couple who were turned into puppets in their place, and show no remorse for absolutely anything they do.
  • Unholy Matrimony

Zoso / The Dark One

Played by: Brad Dourif

The Blind Witch

Played by: Emma Caulfield

Sir Gaston

Played by: Sage Brocklebank

  • And I Must Scream: Rumpelstiltskin turns him into a rose. An unknowing Belle...snips his stem.
  • Butt Monkey: To some extent. He attempts to rescue Belle from Rumpelstiltskin, but he ends up getting turned into a rose. That gets clipped by Belle. And proceeds to be in the same room where Belle pretty much expresses her dislike for him. And that was the last we ever saw of him.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: He's a flower before he even gets his challenge out.
  • Disposable Fiancé: Of the Bland Perfection type. Rumpelstiltskin actually literally disposes of him in his second and final scene. To add insult to injury, Belle freely admits she never loved him because he was so flat a character.
  • Hidden Depths: Despite what Belle says about him, he did at least journey to Rumpel's castle to try and get her back.

Sister Astrid / Nova the Fairy

Played by: Amy Acker

The Queen of Hearts (Cora)

  • Creepy Monotone: When speaking to her Knave through an earphone.
  • The Faceless: Until her titular episode.
  • God Save Us From the Queen
  • Noodle Incident: She seemed to have some kind of falling out with Regina in the past that pissed her off enough to kidnap Regina's father.
    • In Season 2, we learn what it was: Regina trapping her in Wonderland to begin with.
  • Walking Spoiler: She is Cora, and her whole backstory tells us how Regina became the Evil Queen.
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  1. ↑ or to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction one (from injury or peril)
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