Once Upon a Time is a fantasy TV show that ran for seven seasons from 2011 to 2018. This fantasy-inspired show took the fairytales we all know and not only put their own twist on them but moved those characters into the modern world set in 2011 and into what we would consider a normal life. Different stories came into the mix every season and always had a new way to affect the characters and the plot.
Whether it be making Rumplestiltskin the Beast to Belle’s beauty, or Red Riding Hood actually being the wolf she was afraid of, the show and its writers had no issues mixing, combining, and twisting these tales to make them new and fit into their world. However, with so many different stories and characters, it can be hard to remember who is who. Luckily, we’ve put a list together to help you keep track of everyone and what their stories are.
17 Snow White/Mary Margaret
Snow White, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, was turned into Mary Margaret when the curse hit her kingdom and was brought to the real world. As Snow White, she has always been a princess, even going as far as to befriend the Evil Queen, her new stepmother, before accidentally betraying her trust with her greatest secret. After being kicked out of her own kingdom once her father died, Snow White worked tirelessly to fight against the Queen’s evil, with Prince Charming and his kingdom by her side.
As Mary Margaret, she is a struggling school teacher and even lets Emma move in as a roommate before the curse breaks, and it’s revealed she is actually Emma’s mother. Though she has her faults, she’s generally a good and kind person and is always ready to fight for her family.
16 Emma Swan
As the main character, Emma, played by Jennifer Morrison, seems to be one of the only outsiders in the town of Storybrooke. She was drawn back there by her son Henry, who she had put up for adoption after his birth. As he tried to convince her that magic was real, and everyone in the town was actually one of these storybook characters, she continued to stick around and began to break the curse accidentally. Though the reveal that she is Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter is a big shock that she struggles to understand at first, she misses the family she never got to have and stays with everyone in the town.
Emma was not seen in Season 7, however, as Morrison no longer wanted to work the tiring schedule of a TV show and had stepped away. Emma is a toughened character after years spent in the foster care system, so she knows how to set aside her emotions to get things done. However, similar to Snow, she’ll do anything to help protect her family.
15 Prince Charming/David Nolan
Josh Dallas brings Prince Charming to life, who also happens to go by David in the fantasy realm. Though he was once a farmer, David ended up becoming a prince and falling for Snow White when they met. Together, they took back his kingdom and worked on trying to put a stop to the Evil Queen and her plans, though their only solution seemed to be to send their daughter through a portal and into the real world ahead of them, so she would later return to break the curse.
Due to a nearly fatal stabbing right before the curse enveloped him, David was a coma patient from the moment they entered the real world, only waking up once Emma showed up and began to break the monotony of the town’s life and bring a bit of magic back into the world. The curse wasted no time in giving him a backstory to try and keep him away from Snow. Once the curse was lifted, however, he proved to be an eager and ready father and helped where he could despite letting Snow and Emma lead a lot of the charges against their issues.
14 Evil Queen/Regina Mills
The Evil Queen, played by Lana Parrilla, is one of the only people who kept her memory when they were moved to the real world, as she was the one who cast the curse. She also kept her actual name, Regina, when the change happened. She starts out as an antagonist as you might expect given that she is one of the fairytale villains. In fact, she and Emma clash right away due to Regina being Henry’s adoptive mother.
However, because of this fact she also slowly left evil behind her and started to turn towards the side of good, realizing that nothing was more important in her life than Henry and the family she had surrounded herself with. Though it takes Regina time to come around, her personality still remains much of the same — suave, collected, and maybe a little hot-headed, but still powerful enough to get her way, no matter what side of the battle her way is on.
13 Henry Mills
Henry, played by Jared S. Gilmore and Andrew J. West, is another outsider to the town, put up for adoption by Emma when he was born, found by Mr. Gold, and then adopted by Regina. Though he was not born in the fantasy realm, it still runs in his veins as both of his parents belonged to the fantasy realm. When we first meet him, he’s a young energetic ten-year-old who found his way to Emma and brought her back to Storybrooke because he had found a book detailing the fairytale lives of everyone in town and correctly assumed she would manage to break the curse.
As Henry grows he remains an important member of the cast. By Season 5, Henry had turned 15, and was now a powerful figure known as the author — he had taken over the position of the person who wrote his storybook. Then he takes over as the main character of Season 7, now an adult stuck in the same curse that had once taken over his family and is keeping him apart from them again. Still, no matter what age, Henry believes in his family and in magic, and chooses to see the good in everyone.
12 Jiminy Cricket/Archibald Hopper
When the curse takes hold, even Jiminy Cricket isn’t safe from its magic as it turns him into human therapist Archibald Hopper, played by Raphael Sbarge. He appears often throughout the seasons, trying to be the voice of reason as Jiminy Cricket might be expected to be. He was actually once a human who didn’t like the con artist life his parents insisted on living, and was turned into a Cricket to help make amends for his mistakes.
Unfortunately, his kind and gentle nature means he can be a bit of a pushover, as seen when it’s revealed that his therapy sessions with Henry weren’t completely confidential, and he let Regina influence him into attempting to convince Henry the stories in his book weren’t real, among other things to manipulate him. Still, he apologizes and remains a gentle conscience for everyone, so they consider their actions before taking them, and he has Pongo the Dalmatian as a faithful companion.
11 Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold
Rumplestiltskin, or Mr. Gold, is played by Robert Carlyle. After his wife left him, and he tried to save his son, Baelfire, from being drafted into an ogre war, he gained his powers as the Dark One but still lost his son in the process. After losing his loved ones he succumbed to the power, becoming crazy and ruthless, though always willing to give anyone and everyone magic for a price. A lot of the evil throughout the show also has his hands all over it, influencing the characters in the direction that led to the current plot issues.
The only thing that keeps him from totally succumbing is Belle, who somehow can still see the good in him and believes that he can change. Because she’s in his life, he struggles between light and dark for her sake but knows deep down the dark isn’t something he can easily rid himself of. Rumplestiltskin is definitely a man who gets his way, no matter how many strings he has to pull or people he has to deceive, and unfortunately it means he tends to care more about himself than those around him, losing them in the process.
10 Captain Hook/Killian Jones
When we first meet Captain Hook, played by Colin O’Donoghue, it’s not mixed in with the Peter Pan lore immediately like you might expect. Instead, he’s one of the antagonists of the second season, working with Cora to get to Storybrooke and earn his revenge. Rumplestiltskin is his dreaded crocodile after he sliced his hand off in a duel over their mutual lover — a lover who Rumplestiltskin also killed in front of him.
However, he leaves vengeance in the past after falling in love with Emma, a slow mutual romance blossoming across the seasons until they finally marry. While still an antagonist, he’s not afraid of brute force and doing what is necessary, including deceiving and kidnapping. However, his love for Emma changes him, and as he begins to lighten up and work on the side of good his methods change, making him a lot more reasonable and considerate.
9 Huntsman/Sheriff Graham
Sheriff Graham, played by Jamie Dornan, is devoted to Regina and her laws. However, that’s because he is the Huntsman who was hired to kill Snow White and couldn’t bring himself to kill the child, so Regina stole his heart instead and now controls him. He’s a main character in Season 1 and is a bit of a romantic interest for Emma, slowly realizing Regina really isn’t a good person and what he’s doing isn’t always ethical before his unfortunate demise by her hands thanks to his betrayal. If she couldn’t have a loyal henchman anymore, she wasn’t going to let him spill her secrets, no matter whether everyone had their memories back or not.
8 Pinocchio/August Booth
The town thought it was strange when Emma came to town and stayed, but they didn’t know what was coming. August Booth, played by Eion Bailey, rides into town on a motorcycle and claims to be a storyteller, fixing Henry’s book and trying to help convince Emma that the stories are real. It turns out he was Pinocchio and was sent through the portal into the real world before Emma was, and was tasked with keeping an eye on her and growing up with her.
That is until he was convinced by some kids in the orphanage to run away with them. It isn’t until later that he begins to regret his untruthful life, and he butts into Emma’s life by forcing her and Neal apart so that she would eventually continue on her destiny and break the curse. He was mysterious and seemed to tell lies too easily, but ultimately did the right thing and helped bring everyone’s memories back.
7 Belle/Lacey
When Belle’s father forms a deal with Rumplestiltskin to save his kingdom from the Ogre War, Rumplestiltskin takes Belle as a prisoner for his deal. Played by Emilie de Ravin, Belle slowly falls in love with him as she remains in his castle and even begins to clean it, seeing that there is still good within him. Because she is actually genuinely kind to him as well, Rumplestiltskin begins to fall for her as well.
Unfortunately, due to his belief that he is nothing without his power, he refuses the light side and sends Belle away, where she is imprisoned by Regina in the hopes of using her against Rumplestiltskin later. She ends up in the hospital’s mental ward when the curse hits, but is freed and reunited with Rumplestiltskin only to continue an on and off again relationship. Belle is just as you would expect her to be — kind, gentle, and a large bookworm. Though her part in the main plot is small, she’s important to Rumplestiltskin’s character arc, both in the fantasy realm and in the real world.
6 Red Lucas/Ruby
Red Lucas, played by Meghan Ory, is Little Red Riding Hood. However, what she doesn’t know is that her red cloak is magical, and it prevents her from turning into the mindless werewolf that is terrorizing her village. Unfortunately, she finds out the hard way when she thinks her boyfriend is the wolf and kills him in an attempt to show him the truth.
Red befriends Snow and the two become close, as Snow might have had trouble staying alive in the forests without her help. Red becomes Ruby in the real world, a young adult who is constantly fighting with her grandmother as she feels trapped in her job and in the town and just wants to leave. She’s rebellious but extremely loyal to Snow, though her waitress life and the small town still bog her down some, even after the curse is broken.
5 Baelfire/Neal Cassidy
Michael Raymond-James plays adult Baelfire, who is more commonly known as Neal Cassidy. He ends up in the real world long before anyone else when he tries to get his father, Rumplestiltskin, away from the dark magic he held. As a result, he finished growing up alone, but somehow ended up running into Emma and immediately bonding. Though the relationship wasn’t the best, as they led a petty criminal lifestyle together, they did end up conceiving Henry.
He tries to move on from Emma but struggles, considering the break-up was forced and not because he didn’t still love her. When the curse broke, they tracked Neal down, and he learned of the curse and of his son and returned with them to Storybrooke to save his father. Unfortunately, though he and Emma try to rekindle their romance, he sacrifices himself to save his father and shows that, despite their estranged relationship, he never stopped loving Rumplestiltskin.
4 Wicked Witch/Zelena
Zelena, played by Rebecca Mader, is the Wicked Witch of the West from Oz. She is tied into the family drama too, however, as she’s actually Regina’s older half-sister. She is literally green with jealousy over the fact that Regina got everything she ever wanted, including a family that actually cared for her. As such, her introduction is as an antagonist trying to ruin Regina’s life for getting to live like Zelena believes she should have. However, the longer she sticks around the more the town begins to grow on her, and she slowly begins to mend her relationship with Regina instead and stop being the Wicked Witch. Zelena is cunning and powerful, but deep down has only ever wanted a family to love her.
3 Cinderella/Jacinda Vidrio
Though the show features two different Cinderellas, the second one we see star in Season 7, played by Dania Ramirez, is the most important one. This Cinderella has suffered under the hands of her stepmother in a different way than usual, leading her to try some drastic measures to escape the harsh life she’s living in. However, instead of falling for the prince at the ball, she runs into Henry, who has hopped into her reality to explore and use his author powers.
The two fall in love and have a daughter together, but unfortunately get swept up in another curse to the real world and are forced apart. Tough, brave, and adventurous, it’s not a surprise that Henry fell for her when they first met, and that she was able to hold out for so long under the pressures of the real world, too.
2 Lucy Mills/Lucy Vidrio
Lucy, played by Alison Fernandez, is the daughter of Henry and Cinderella. However, when the curse takes hold, she only lives with her mother as Henry is separated from them. She takes on the role both Henry and Emma had in the first season — not only does she believe everyone in their town of Hyperion Heights are fairy tale beings, but she finds a similar storybook telling all of their lives.
She was also supposed to be sent ahead of the curse just as Emma was so that she would later break it, but unfortunately, they didn’t complete their plan first. Luckily she still had the book to guide her and push her to try and get her parents back together. Lucy takes after both of them, being brave, adventurous, and kind.
1 Lady Tremaine/Victoria Belfrey
In another merger of characters, Rapunzel Tremaine, played by Gabrielle Anwar, is both Rapunzel and Cinderella’s evil stepmother. She made a deal with Mother Gothel to save her family and was locked away from them for six years before she made her escape. Upon finding her husband had moved on, jealousy drove her into killing the parents and taking over as the head of the house.
Though Mother Gothel attempted to use the curse to send her to the real world to remove her powers, Tremaine, now known as Victoria Belfrey, kept her memories and even locked Gothel away in her own tower in Hyperion Heights. She has her ups and downs as one of the antagonists of the season who also still feels determined to keep her family together no matter the cost. Ruthless but caring, Tremaine is an interesting character that differs greatly from many of the others we’ve seen.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
