History OnceUponATime / TropesAToD

** A minor one happens when Emma decides to take Hansel and Gretel to Boston to put them in foster care before their estranged father had a change of heart and took them in. In the United States, child services are handled at the state level, meaning Emma should have been heading towards either Augusta (Maine's capital) or Portland (its largest city), whichever is closer to Storybrooke.
** Emma's background of being a newborn infant placed into foster care, then into a group home once the foster family had their own baby is theoretically possible, but ''improbable to the extreme.'' A healthy white baby with no known family is the Holy Grail of the adoption system. Family lawyers from across the state would have been storming Boston representing couples eager to take her in. In the ''real'' real world, Emma would have been adopted immediately and raised in financial comfort.

* DoubleStandard: After David and Mary Margaret's affair is revealed, the town mainly shuns Mary Margaret while David only gets anger from Kathryn and Mary Margaret. Partly justified since David has much less interaction with the rest of the town while Mary Margaret was a well-liked middle school teacher who had been known as practically a saint up until that point.

* DoubleStandard: After David and Mary Margaret's affair is revealed, the town mainly shuns Mary Margaret while David only gets anger from Kathryn and Mary Margaret. Partly justified since David has much less interaction with the rest of the town while Mary Margaret had been known as a saint up until that point.

** But when Belle [[spoiler:loses her memory]] and Gold tries to reverse it by kissing her [[spoiler[[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome she rather unsurprisingly starts screaming due to being kissed by a creepy guy she doesn't even recognize]]]].

** Also, the one person that Emma saves in the Season 3 Finale just happens to be [[spoiler:Robin Hood's late wife Maid Marian [[spoiler:or so it seems]]]].

** The Camelot arc left several of these following TheReveal that [[spoiler: Hook was a second Dark One]]. Guinevere being under control of the Sands of Avalon, Lancelot's mother being the Lady of the Lake, the UnresolvedSexualTension between Guinevere and Lancelot...

** Rumplestiltskin's father as well. He abandoned Rumple [[spoiler: for (almost) eternal youth and in season 3 taunts him and plays with his emotions]].

** Lady Tremaine from season 7 constantly bullies and dismisses Drizella, being more focused on reviving her other daughter, Anastasia. [[spoiler: She was even planning to use Drizella's heart as a way to revive Anastasia]]. [[spoiler:Fortunately, all this comes to an end when Tremaine [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices]] herself to save Drizella.]]

* ActuallyIAmHim: That boy that helps Henry escape from the Lost Boys? [[spoiler: It's Peter Pan, the BigBad of the season]].

** Ursula from ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' - who is overweight, old and purple-skinned. In "Ariel" Regina impersonates her and adopts a look inspired by the movie - but is slimmer without the purple skin. [[spoiler: The real Ursula who appears at the end is also slimmer than the movie counterpart]]. Ursula returns in the second half of season four as a member of the "Queens of Darkness," and is now portrayed by [[http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2014/12/09/Heroes-and-Villains-03.jpg Merrin Dungey]], who also fares much better than her Disney counterpart.
** Three of the witches from ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz''. The Wicked Witch of the West is an old hag with one eye in the book (and green-skinned and hook nosed in [[Film/TheWizardOfOz the MGM film]]). While she retains the green skin, it makes her more of a CuteMonsterGirl. The Wicked Witch of the East's appearance is never commented on (but ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'' depicts [[spoiler: her true form]] as a hag too) and the Witch of the North is an elderly woman. Both are played by young attractive actresses. Glinda is the only witch that is described as agelessly beautiful in the books.

** [[spoiler: Merlin]] is commonly depicted as an elderly man. Fan reaction when he finally made an appearance was [[EvenTheGuysWantHim "wow, he's pretty."]]

** [[spoiler: Dr. Jekyll]] killed his love in a fit of passion, framed [[spoiler: Mr. Hyde]] for it, and later tried to kill Belle.

** In Season 5, Emma is trying to avoid using dark magic because the more she uses it the more she'll want to. [[spoiler: In the flashbacks, that is. In the present, she's failed.]]

* AllDeathsFinal: Double Subverted. Three different magical characters have said that they can't bring back the dead: the Blue Fairy, Rumplestiltskin, and the Genie have all said it's impossible for them. Frankenstein then brings two characters back from the dead... [[CameBackWrong not quite successfully, though]]. Then Triple Subverted by season 3 where [[spoiler: The Blue Fairy, Rumplestiltskin, David and Marian]] all successfully come back from death via magic [[spoiler: or time travel in the latter's case]]. All four of these can be justified by the first four being NotQuiteDead [[spoiler:(The Blue Fairy's shadow hadn't been consumed by The Shadow, Rumplestiltskin had a built-in resurrection as The Dark One, and David was able to share Snow's heart because of their true love).]] Still, it comes close to pushing them into DeathIsCheap territory.[[spoiler:Quadruple subverted in the case of Marian, as she never actually came back from the dead; she was replaced by a shape-shifting Zelena.]]

* AllJustADream: This is commonly used as an episode opener, particularly if the dream device is going to foreshadow something in the episode. An example would be the episode in Season 4 that begins the arc of [[spoiler: Mary Margaret and David's secret history with Maleficent, as well as their efforts to keep Emma from going dark.]]

** [[spoiler: David Nolan is this to Kathryn, his Storybrooke wife]].

** Henry gets one from [[spoiler:Mr. Gold]] in order to survive in and control [[spoiler:the netherworld]].

** In season 5 [[spoiler: Emma]] becomes a [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Type II]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist Type III]] anti-villain.

** [[spoiler: Drizella]] is also a Type II villain.

** In "Dark Hollow," Hook is skeptical that Pan's shadow [[spoiler: can be captured inside a coconut shell]]. Neal [[LampshadeHanging questions]] why, out of everything on OUAT, he draws the line at a [[spoiler: magic coconut]].

** [[spoiler: Peter Pan and the Lost Boys attempt to force Henry to shoot an apple from the head of one of the Lost Boys with a crossbow; the arrow has a deadly poison on the edge. At the last minute Henry turns to shoot Peter Pan instead, but Pan pulls one of these before it hits him. Becomes a plot point when Neal remembers Pan can do that]].

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** Some of [[spoiler: Regina's motivations after the curse is lifted]] fall into this category.

** During Season 6, [[spoiler: the Black Fairy]] pulls a particularly insane one on [[spoiler: Zelena. She comes to her house, threatens her baby Robin, and asks her to join her side in the Storybrooke mines. Zelena goes there with the intent to kill her (as the Black Fairy anticipated), attacks her, but accidentally charges the fairy crystals in the mines with her unstable dark magic. She has to destroy her own magic to fix that particular mistake.]]

** All over the place in "Wish You Were Here". Emma's wish several episodes earlier is used by the Evil Queen to trap her in a parallel world. Charming's wish to give the Evil Queen "what she deserved" did nothing because it gave the Queen what she thought she deserved (and by that point, had already gotten) and is implied to be the thing that brought [[spoiler: Gideon]], the one destined to kill Emma, to Storybrooke. Finally, Regina wished [[spoiler: that Robin was still alive]]; by seeing [[spoiler: him]], she hesitates in going through the portal to Storybrooke, leaving her and Emma stranded in the fantasy world where there is a very angry [[spoiler: Henry]] after Regina's blood.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: It's heavily implied by August and Merlin's Apprentice that [[Creator/WaltDisney Walt Disney]] was the Author preceding Isaac.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Or, should that be Beware The Dark One? There's a moment in Season 2, when [[spoiler: Belle is about to be sent across the town line to lose her memory and Mr. Gold saves her]]. The look on his face as he violently and viciously breaks open the handcuffs. ''Ouch''.

** Season 5A starts with [[spoiler: Emma Swan as the Dark One]] as the villain of the present day storyline while [[spoiler: King Arthur]] serves the role in the flasbacks. Both turn out to be secondary to [[spoiler: Dark Hook and Nimue,]] the FinalBoss of that arc.

** Season 7 gives us Lady Tremaine as the BigBad, except [[spoiler: her daughter]] is even more dangerous and both are working with Mother Gothel as part of a BigBadEnsemble with all three swapping between BigBad positions throughout the first half of the season. The true antagonist is [[spoiler:Gothel and her Coven of Eight, and even then Dr. Facilier and the Candy Killer prove to be persistent threats as well, only for the TrueFinalBoss to be Wish!Rumple.]]

** [[spoiler: King Arthur]] starts off as a major threat. But [[spoiler: Emma as the Dark Swan]] is clearly the biggest problem around and even in the flashbacks he is only a threat because Zelena is helping and [[spoiler: Dark Hook and Nimue]] soon make him completely irrelevant.
** [[spoiler: [=Lady Tremaine/Victoria Belfry=]]] is a major villain right up until it turns out [[spoiler: [=Drizella/Ivy=] is the one who cast the Dark Curse that made Hyperion Heights and she has her own plans.]] Even though she manages to succeed in her plans, it was only because the actual antagonist allowed it.
** [[spoiler: [=Drizella/Ivy=]]] is set up as the BigBad of Season 7. [[spoiler: And she is in the first half. Just like her mother though, she was just a puppet for Gothel, the real main antagonist of Season 7.]]

** If that that isn't more screwed up, as revealed in "Think Lovely Thoughts" [[spoiler:, Peter Pan is actually Rumplestiltskin's de-aged father and by extension Baelfire's grandfather, and Henry's great-grandfather]].
** It's further revealed in "Changelings" that [[spoiler: The Black Fairy, an evil, powerful fairy who steals babies, is Rumple's mother, and by extension, Baelfire's grandmother, and Henry's great-grandmother]].
** And Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West, is [[spoiler: Regina's half-sister]], making her [[spoiler: Snow's step-aunt, Henry's step-great aunt, and Henry's adoptive aunt]].

*** Zelena's daughter, Robin, is also the daughter of [[spoiler: Robin Hood]].
* BigShutUp: Emma to Ingrid, because the latter Is [[spoiler: trying to convince Emma her family doesn't love her and that she is a monster, so Emma should give up her family and become a "sister" of Elsa and Ingrid.]] This then causes [[spoiler: Emma's powers to go haywire, knocking a major chunk out of the sheriff's station where she was interrogating Ingrid.]]

** The magic that enchants Rumplestiltskin's old cane in "The Heart of The Truest Believer" is ''called'' Blood Magic, but it doesn't refer to the spilling of blood. Instead, it refers to magic that only works for members of a specific bloodline, in this case, Rumplestiltskin's. [[spoiler: When Baelfire wields it, it reveals a secret cupboard in Rumplestiltskin's castle.]]

** The second season begins and ends with [[spoiler: people being kidnapped into other worlds]]. It also [[spoiler: ends in a compressed version of the way the series began, albeit with some changes and additions. Bae (and Henry ) gets sucked into another world. An evil figure becomes determined to find them again. A couple is split but one is determined to re-find the other. Etc]].
** The first half of the third season begins and ends with [[spoiler: a flashback to Emma giving birth to Henry. The second reprise of this, however, is a rewrite of Emma's memories, where she took Henry in and they lived happily together]].

** The [[Franchise/{{Frozen}} Arendelle arc]] in the first half of Season Four: the very first shot of Elsa and Anna shows the two sisters holding hands as they prepare to place flowers on their parents' memorial stones. [[spoiler: The last shot of them at the end of their arc shows Elsa taking Anna's hand in hers again, escorting her to the church for Anna's wedding to Kristoff]].

*** And her reaction in Season 3 when she discovers [[spoiler: her loving son was in fact Peter Pan in disguise, otherwise why else would he want to stay with her]], verges on heartbreaking.

* BrickJoke: In "Red-Handed", Henry suggests several jobs to Ruby, all involving carrying a basket, as a way of hinting at her past life as Red Riding Hood. Flash-forward to the next season[[spoiler:, after she remembers her identity as Red]], and what does she use to carry food to the miners in "The Crocodile?" A basket.
** In "Child of the Moon," Granny admits her lasagna is frozen when she cleans out the freezer [[spoiler: to lock up Ruby]]. Cut to "Lacey" where Gold tells David he didn't come to Granny's for the "overpriced lasagna."

** [[spoiler:Past!]]Hook carries Emma like this on the Jolly Roger in "Snow Drifts".
** Hook with Emma again in "White Out" after [[spoiler: getting her out of the ice cave]].

* BroughtDownToNormal: What the Dark Curse did to anyone who had magic or wasn't human or both. The Evil Queen lost her ability to use magic, Rumplestiltskin went back to being human (his old limp and all), the fairies are all powerless nuns and the Magic Mirror is no longer stuck in a mirror. [[spoiler:Also, Red Riding Hood is no longer a werewolf, nor is Granny. Conversely, the Mad Hatter remembers the Enchanted Forest because that would make him more miserable.]]

** In some cases, being brought down to normal means being changed into human form. [[spoiler:Billy was previously a mouse]], and Archie was Jiminy Cricket.
** The giant, Anton, originally seen in post-curse Enchanted Forest, was turned small by [[spoiler: Cora, who brought him to Storybrooke to force him to grow magic beans for her]].

** The mother of the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Evil Queen]] from ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' is [[spoiler: [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland the Queen of Hearts]]]] and is the miller's daughter from the Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}} story, too - albeit with a twist. To add to this, the Queen's half-sister from her mother is [[spoiler:The Wicked Witch of the West.]]

** [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Wonderland]] is accessible from the Enchanted Forest by way of a magic hat. [[spoiler: Cora]] is revealed to be the Queen of Hearts.

** Archie's umbrella in Episode 5. [[spoiler: He hooks it onto a rocky outcropping to keep from falling to his death.]]
** The poisoned apple from the Snow White fairy tale [[spoiler: is reused by Regina to make a poison apple turnover]].

** Rumplestilskin's potion of true love [[spoiler: is what makes Emma the Saviour.]]
** [[spoiler:Cora's]] candle that can take the life of one person and exchange it for someone else’s [[spoiler: is used by Snow to kill Cora and save Mr. Gold.]]

** Anna's necklace. [[spoiler: When it's finally recovered it's used as a locater spell, and later revealed to be the wishing star and what ultimately saves both Anna and Kristoff]].
** The letter Anna and Elsa's mother writes in the fourth season premiere. [[spoiler: It reveals what happened between her and her sisters, her regret over sealing Ingrid away, and her final apology for everything she'd done]]. It resurfaces in "Fall", but isn't fired until the end of "Shattered Sight".

** The Black Fairy is first mentioned in "Going Home" when her wand becomes necessary to stop Pan. She shows up in "Changelings" where she turns out to be Rumple's mother. [[spoiler: Then she kidnaps Rumple and Belle's son and turns him into the villain destined to kill Emma Swan.]]

** Peter Pan is fast enough to catch arrows fired at him before they impale him. [[spoiler: Neal takes advantage of this by coating the shaft with an immobilizing ink instead of the tip]].

** Henry is revealed in season 3 as "The Truest Believer", the one who will save magic. [[spoiler: It's actually subverted: Peter Pan was lying to him]].

** The Black Fairy becomes an evil version of this, since she became the very enemy a prophecy foretold that her son [[spoiler: Rumplestiltskin, the Savior at that time,]] would die in order to destroy.

** The character of Ruby/Red disappears from the series suddenly, several episodes prior to the Season 2 finale. Due to the creators deciding to drop the character and the actress (whose role had been reduced substantially since [[spoiler: completing a major character backstory arc midway through the season]]) being cast in [[Series/{{Intelligence2014}} another series.]] The absence of Ruby is particularly noticeable in the closing episodes of Season 2 when Emma and the others are frantically searching for the kidnapped Regina, yet for some reason do not employ Ruby's previously well-established ability to track people. She reappears during the second half of the third season, but only as a cameo and disappears AGAIN in the fourth season. [[spoiler: She finally shows up again in "The Bear King" more than a season after her last cameo and with most thinking she was gone for good.]]

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Not actually used all that much with magic in general, but [[spoiler: In Neverland, the land runs on this, with pixie dust to fly and magical weather being side effects of a person's beliefs]]. A significant part of Tinker Bell's backstory is her losing her magic due to the Blue Fairy no longer believing in her.
* ClearTheirName: Emma spends several episodes in the last bit of Season 1 trying to do this for [[spoiler: Mary Margaret.]] She kind of succeeds, but only because Kathryn [[spoiler: BackFromTheDead turns up again after Mary Margaret supposedly murdered her.]]

* ClockTower: Storybrooke has one which features not only as an important landmark but a symbol of the curse, since its hands are eternally frozen at 8:15[[spoiler:, until Emma comes to town and decides to stay]]. On top of that, [[MagneticPlotDevice everything seems to focus on it]] and it becomes a set piece for a number of important confrontations: [[spoiler:Maleficent is kept beneath it in dragon form, Gold originally had the Dark One's dagger hidden here, Regina had the spell trigger hidden here, it's where Snow and Charming face off against Cora and Regina and Johanna gets killed, it's where Regina and Zelena have their witch fight, it's where Gold tried to use the Hat while killing Hook to free himself from the dagger, it's where the Snow Queen planted her fake mirror, it's where Dark Hook hid the dreamcatchers with everyone's memories, it's where Gold tried to use the Olympian Crystal...]] In general it also figures in a lot of shots and tends to be a place where villains lurk, plot, or otherwise literally look down upon their planned conquests. Very much a modern version of TheTower of a dark wizard.

** Both Ruby and Mulan make their return in the first half of season 5, where their disappearances from the series after season 3 are explained: Ruby [[spoiler: felt like she didn't fit in Storybrooke anymore and chose to go back to the Enchanted Forest to search for her wolf pack]], and Mulan [[spoiler: ran off after getting her heart broken by Aurora and became an honorless mercenary for hire]].

** Zelena is the [[Literature/LandOfOz Wicked Witch of the West]] and [[spoiler: Persephone from Greek Mythology.]]
** Lady Tremaine in season 7 is [[spoiler: also Rapunzel.]]

** Also, the one person that Emma saves in the Season 3 Finale just happens to be [[spoiler: Robin Hood's late wife Maid Marian]].

** It turns out that the {{Muggle}} tourist [[spoiler: was a little boy camping with his dad when Storybrooke appeared over their campsite. Regina got it in her head that she wanted the little boy for herself. The boy got away, his dad did not. Thirty years later, he's back, and ''really pissed off'' about the whole thing, enough to destroy not just Regina, but the whole town ''and'' Henry]].

** The season 3 episode "Lost Girl" has one of these in store for [[spoiler: Rumplestiltskin]], as a doll from his childhood given to him in the previous episode continues to [[spoiler: appear despite his attempts to get rid of it]]. It's later revealed that this was a memento from his father, who then took the name Rumple gave it, [[spoiler:Peter Pan]].

** With the Season 2 reveal that Rumplestiltskin's son is Henry's father, Rumplestiltskin is "in-laws" [[note]] Henry's parents never married, so the exact relationship is a gray area[[/note]] with Snow White and Prince Charming, Henry's biological grandparents, and the Evil Queen, Snow White's stepmother ''and'' Henry's adoptive mother. Once Belle from ''Beauty and the Beast'' marries Rumple and [[spoiler: Snow White's daughter marries Captain Hook]], the web of in-laws gets... extensive.

** The Evil Queen's mother would go on to become Wonderland's Queen of Hearts, and was ''also'' the Miller's Daughter from the ''Rumplestiltskin'' fairytale. [[spoiler: [[Literature/TheWizardOfOz The Wicked Witch of the West]] ]] is later revealed to be the half-sister of the Evil Queen via the Queen of Hearts.
** [[spoiler: [[Literature/PeterPanAndWendy Peter Pan]] ]] is Rumplestiltskin's father (though he didn't really become [[spoiler: Pan]] until after Rumple was born).
** [[spoiler: The Snow Queen from the original Hans Christian Anderson fairytale]] is not only [[Franchise/{{Frozen}} Elsa and Anna's]] aunt, but [[spoiler: Emma's foster mother]].

** Also in Season 7, [[spoiler: an alternate version of Rapunzel]] is revealed to be the Evil Stepmother to Henry's wife Cinderella, and an alternate [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Alice]] is revealed to be the daughter of [[spoiler: the alternate Captain Hook]].

** [[spoiler: Peter Pan]] claims this to his son [[spoiler:Rumplestiltskin]], but he's lying through his teeth.

** Subverted with Rumple himself, who did not have a good reason to leave Bae, but spent the next century or so of his life trying to get back to his son, much to his son's surprise. Direct parallels are made between Rumple's momentary lapse in judgement and his father Peter Pan's remorseless abandonment, largely because [[spoiler: Peter Pan]] simply disliked being a father.

** Regina is a darker example; in fact, she [[spoiler: somewhat subverts it because she rips her dad's heart out to enact the Dark Curse.]] She goes back to playing it straight in Season 5, though.
** Belle is a subversion. She clearly loves her father but here, unlike in the Disney film, she does not sacrifice herself for him--she does it for the good of her kingdom and the opportunity to be heroic. Additionally, Daddy himself is a big subversion since[[spoiler: he tries to send Belle across the Storybrooke line to wipe her memories.]]

** Lacey is this to [[spoiler: Belle]].
** Also, [[spoiler: Neverland and Peter Pan]] is this compared to the version from the original novel and the Disney film.

** In the "real" world, it's also inverted. [[spoiler:The two wicked characters, Regina and Rumplestiltskin are the only ones who recall ''exactly'' who they were]].

** In "Heart of Gold", it is revealed that [[spoiler: Marian is actually Zelena in disguise. The real Marian was killed by the witch in the Enchanted Forest]].

** David and Mary Margaret [[spoiler: decide to name their son after Neal who died to protect them.]]

* DeathByAdaptation: The show has no problem with killing off a few classic storybook characters: [[spoiler: Peter Pan, Cruella [=DeVil=], and even the Fairy Godmother]], to name a few.

* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: Emma in season 3 is torn between [[NewOldFlame Neal]] and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Captain Hook]]. [[spoiler: Neal dies in the second half of the season which makes way for Emma and Hook]].

* DecompositeCharacter: WesternAnimation/PeterPan is [[spoiler: an inhuman monster]]. The young boy who was found in Kensington Gardens and befriended the Darlings was Bae. And the one who took Hook's hand was Rumplestiltskin. [[spoiler: It's basically a family trait]].

** August [[spoiler:(Literature/{{Pinocchio}})]] and Emma were also subject to an OrphanageOfFear. [[spoiler:When given a choice to run away, August chooses his freedom and abandons Emma to her fate in the hell hole of "the system."]]

* DidNotDieThatWay: Granny told Ruby that hunters killed her parents when Ruby was a baby. In reality, [[spoiler: Ruby's father is dead as far as we know, but her mother Anita is still alive and living with a werewolf pack in a secret hideout.]]

* DidNotGetTheGirl: Mulan tearfully walks away from [[spoiler: Aurora]] without revealing her love because [[spoiler: Aurora is happily pregnant by Phillip]].

** Henry's biological dad, whom he was told was a fireman who died during a rescue. In reality he's Neal Cassidy, a thief who was forced to leave Emma behind before even knowing that she was pregnant with his kid. [[spoiler: It also turns out that he's Baelfire, Rumple's son, and was forced to stay away by August so that Emma can fulfill her destiny of breaking the curse on Storybrooke. After that was done and Neal found out that he had a son, he did move into Storybrooke so that he can be with Henry. Shortly after, he was shot and was transported through a portal, thus disappeared for a second time. He is, however, saved by Mulan and Robin Hood in the Enchanted Forest, and later joins the quest to save Henry from Peter Pan]].

** Regina and Emma enter an EnemyMine to save Henry in the Season 1 finale with the FinalBoss (in both Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest storylines) being [[spoiler: Maleficent.]]

** Zelena is defeated in the episode before the two part finale of Season 3; the finale is a [[spoiler: Back to the Future WholePlotReference]] that she has nothing to do with.
** Ingrid in Season 4A is also defeated in the episode before the finale with [[spoiler: Rumple]] as the FinalBoss (though he was part of this season's BigBadEnsemble, Ingrid had priority for most of it).
** Thought Rumple or the [[TerribleTrio Queens of Darkness]] were the FinalBoss of Season 4B? Nope! [[TheBusCameBack Zelena?]] Not her. The Author? [[spoiler: Not him, it turns out to be the [[GreaterScopeVillain Darkness]], a sentient force of evil that inhabits all Dark Ones.]]
** [[spoiler: Emma / The Dark Swan and King Arthur]] are pushed aside in Season 5A to deal with [[spoiler: Hook as a Dark One and Nimue.]]
** [[TooPowerfulToLive Hades is destroyed by the only weapon in existence that can kill him]] before Season 5's two part finale. The finale's main antagonists are [[spoiler: Rumple]] again and [[spoiler: Mr. Hyde]], believe it or not, however it comes off as a PostFinalBoss ensemble seeing as none of them are anywhere near Hades' power level and the finale has nothing to do with the story arcs in Season 5, instead acting as a preview for Season 6.
** Hyde was built up as part of a BigBadEnsemble in Season 6. How long does he last? [[spoiler: ''Four. Episodes.'' And he was only a major threat in the last one.]]
** The second half of Season 6 builds up [[spoiler: Gideon]] as the new villain. The Black Fairy soon turns out to be the bigger threat.
** In season 7, Lady Tremaine is brushed aside when [[spoiler: Drizella]] starts planning behind her back. [[spoiler: Drizella herself is also one to Mother Gothel.]]

* DisneyVillainDeath: In "Sympathy for the De Vil", [[spoiler: Cruella De Vil falls to her demise after Emma uses her powers to push her off a cliff,]] Interestingly enough, [[spoiler: she subverts this trope in her respective [[WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Disney film]]]].

** But when Belle [[spoiler:loses her memory]] and Gold tries to reverse it by kissing her [[spoiler:[[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome she rather unsurprisingly starts screaming due to being kissed by a creepy guy she doesn't even recognize]]]].
* DyingAsYourself: Several examples during "And Straight On 'Til Morning". [[spoiler: The town is on the verge of destruction, and Mother Superior manages to devise a cure for Belle and Sneezy's amnesia, so that they can at least die as themselves with their loved ones]]. A different version is shown when [[spoiler: Regina resolves to slow the trigger and buy the townsfolk enough time to escape, knowing that she'll die, but at least she'll be saving everyone]].
-->[[spoiler: '''Regina''': Everybody sees me as the Evil Queen. Including my son. Let me die as Regina]].
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: When Mr. Gold [[spoiler:is poisoned by Hook's poisoned hook, he calls the amnesiac Belle and, without going into the the history of the Enchanted forest, tells her that she may not remember who she is but he knows her to be a wonderful, beautiful, wise, and heroic woman. To him she will always be that. And at the time, he honestly thought he was going to die, either by poison or Cora stabbing him with his dagger]].

** Mulan joins the Merry Men early in season 3. When the company returns in the second half of that season, Mulan is nowhere to be seen or heard. As with Meghan Ory's case, Jamie Chung was also cast in [[Series/{{Believe}} another series]] at the time. Incidentally, both series lasted only one season.