Creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis took classic fairytale characters from the Brothers Grimm and Disney and brought them to life in a brand new way. While utilizing some of the content from previous incarnations of the stories, Horowitz, Kitsis, and their creative team invented a new world, bringing all the characters into a shared universe. However, they took stories people knew and changed them, introducing new relationships, or giving a new backstory for classic characters.
With such an array of characters, everyone had an opportunity to shine. From a villain searching for redemption to a hero’s fall from grace, these are the best and worst character arcs.
BEST: RUMPELSTILTSKIN
After struggling to be a good man, Rumple’s last arc in the series is to give up the dagger once and for all. With Belle having passed away, Rumple is ready to move on. It was a long road for Rumple to determine that a family with Belle and Gideon was worth giving up his status as the Dark One. In Rumple’s final act, he sacrifices himself for the safety of his family. However, his actions also give Wish Realm Hook and Alice a chance to reunite. Rumple’s actions bring him back to Belle and prove how much he has grown.
WORST: EMMA’S DARK SWAN
The mythology of the Dark One had been involved in the series since the first season. Understanding what changed Rumple from the coward he had been to the confident trickster he became was vital in following his character. Darkness changes a person, and it takes time for them to gain control of the new impulses. Turning the show’s central protagonist into the main villain was filled with intriguing possibilities and questions following what it would take to bring Emma out of the Dark Swan.
Unfortunately, they do not take the opportunity to showcase a genuinely dark Emma. While Emma does make darker choices, her motives are revealed to be wanting to cover up that she had turned Hook into a second Dark One to save his life. Rather than flesh out a villain from a character that Snow and Charming ensured would never make a dark choice, and is suddenly filled with darkness, Emma still manages to come out of being the Dark One considered as some type of hero.
BEST: EMMA BELIEVES
Henry’s entire goal since the moment he meets Emma is to convince her that everyone who lives in Storybrooke is a fairytale character. Although Emma disagrees throughout the first season, she eventually realizes Henry was telling the truth after he is poisoned. Emma finally believing is connected to how she breaks the curse. True Love’s kiss never needed to be romantic, and Emma’s kiss on Henry’s forehead is the moment she broke the curse, waking Henry up as well. Belief also worked for Emma in regard to her relationships with her parents and romance with Hook.
WORST: HOOK KILLED CHARMING’S FATHER
Captain Hook had made it known that he was looking forward to a happy ending with Emma. The show had taken the direction of giving him a redemption arc and viewing him as a hero. Unfortunately, a part of Hook’s past included him murdering Charming’s father years previously when Charming was a child. Instead of having Hook confess the truth to Emma and Charming after realizing he had done the deed, Hook regresses in his actions. Hook attempts to burn the memory to get rid of it before anyone finds out. Yet, his choice backfires, and Emma discovers that Hook had been lying to her.
BEST: SNOW AND REGINA’S RELATIONSHIP
Not many characters had as much work to do on their relationship as these two. Holding a grudge against Snow White since she was ten years old, Regina planned her revenge on the girl to avenge Daniel’s death. After everyone’s memories return, Snow and Regina still hold anger toward each other until the third season.
Regina’s work to become better was paying off as Snow and Regina began working through their previous issues and started looking at each other as allies and friends. Later, their relationship grew as Regina wanted to protect Snow and Charming from her other evil half in season six. The series finale proves how far they’ve come when Snow proudly crowns Regina in the exact spot where Regina had announced her scheme for vengeance.
WORST: CHARMING AND SNOW’S EVIL ACTIONS
Charming and Snow had always been considered to be light characters. Yet, as it turns out, Snow and Charming were responsible for one of the most awful acts in the series. The expecting parents were so desperate to ensure Emma would not become evil that they placed all of Emma’s darkness into another source: which turned out to be Maleficent’s daughter, Lily. Although Charming and Snow regretted their choice immediately, wishing to get the baby back, it was too late. This was a low point in the series for Snow and Charming.
BEST: EMMA AND REGINA’S FRIENDSHIP
Beginning as enemies and later becoming friends, Emma and Regina found themselves working together and relying on each other to prevent whatever problem entered Storybrooke. They also acted as co-mothers to Henry. While they did not start on the right foot, the two women were able to push past their problems for Henry’s sake, and as Regina worked toward her redemption. Emma had seen enough proof of Regina’s growth by the end of the fourth season that Emma would not allow Regina to go backward. Rather than let Regina take the Dark One powers, Emma stepped in to save her.
WORST: EMMA’S SUPERPOWER
When Henry first visits Emma in Boston to bring her to Storybrooke, Emma tells him that she has a superpower. That power is the ability to recognize when anyone is lying.
While she may have just been telling Henry that to scare him, Emma had a background in looking for people, so the ability to know if someone was lying may not have been far off from the truth for Emma. Yet, that superpower disappears over time. In later seasons, Emma can’t tell when Hook is telling her a blatant lie.
BEST: REGINA MILLS
Regina lost the life she wanted when her mother killed Daniel. After the curse is broken, Regina realizes that her past actions have alienated her relationship with Henry. While Regina’s attempt at redemption begins for Henry’s sake, she continues to strive for the happiness she never got in the Enchanted Forest. While breaking old habits could sometimes be difficult, Regina worked hard to be a better person and help people rather than hurt them. Regina is gifted two solid endings at the end of the last two seasons.
The first shows the dwarves officially placing Regina’s name as mayor, and accepting her as the leader. The second shows everyone from all the realms Regina had brought together vote for Regina to be in charge of the new Storybrooke. The sixth season also emphasizes Regina accepting herself and learning to love who she is. During “Page 23” Regina says she loves herself, which opposes the flashback storyline of Regina’s spell, showing her that the person she hates the most looks back at her in the mirror.
WORST: ZELENA PRETENDS TO BE MARIAN
Once Upon a Time had a habit of using false identities to create non-consensual scenarios. Zelena had wanted to hurt Regina for as long as she knew about her. So, when the opportunity came along, Zelena arrived in Storybrooke in the disguise of being Marian, Robin’s late wife. Due to the recent time travel episodes, Robin welcomed her to Storybrooke, and continued his marriage to the woman he believed was his wife. As it turned out, Marian had been Zelena, and she was pregnant. The storyline leaves an uncomfortable trace as it is not just a cruel call by Zelena, but it also acts as rape.
