History Characters / OnceUponATimeMainHeroes

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'''Beware of spoilers.''' Only spoilers from the current season are whited out.

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[[folder:Core Characters]]

!!Emma Swan
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/EmmaSwan_6238.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Emma Swan:''' ''"You wanna change things? You're gonna have to go out there and change them yourself because there are no fairy godmothers in this world."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Jennifer Morrison

A bail bondswoman and bounty hunter, Emma is the long-lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Her own son, previously given up for adoption, brings her back to Storybrooke so she can end the Dark Curse.

* ActionMom: Her previous job as a bail bond agent was very active work and she can still kick butt as sheriff.
* AgentScully: To Henry's and August's Mulder.
* {{Badass}}
** BadassPrincess: She's technically this since she's Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter.
* BadLiar
* BecauseDestinySaysSo: It's why she's there in the first place.
* BountyHunter: Bail bond agent, really.
* BrokenBird: Emma is still very hurt over being abandoned as a baby and she's reluctant to let people in.
* CatchPhrase: "Seriously?"
* TheChosenOne: Emma is destined to save those in Storybrooke according to Henry's stories.
* ColorMotif: Emma is first introduced wearing red and continues to often wear a scarlet leather jacket throughout the series.
* CowboyCop: Is willing to bend or even break the law in the course of her investigations.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Invoked by name during the sheriff election. Regina dug up Emma's past, including juvie records that were supposed to be sealed and smeared them across the front page.
* DeadpanSnarker: Overlaps with StepfordSnarker.
* {{Determinator}}
* DidYouThinkICantFeel: The usually very closed off Emma shows she very much can feel when she finally opens up to Graham.
* ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl: See LivingLieDetector and SuperEmpowering.
* FairCop: When she becomes deputy and later sheriff.
* FatalFlaw: Emma's low sense of self worth and lack of faith in herself led her to attempt to play by Regina's rules, thus nearly losing Henry and almost leaving Storybrooke at the climax of Season 1. Halfway through Season 2, Emma seems to have come to terms with her issues, but it's superficial. Emma still acts on her self doubt, and with major consequences for Regina.
* FishOutOfWater: [[spoiler:In the Enchanted Forest.]]
* FormerTeenRebel
* FosterKid
* GenreBlind: At first because she doesn't believe in magic. Later in Season 2, it takes her a bit to realize [[spoiler:her gun is not the best weapon in the Enchanted Forest.]]
* GoodIsNotNice: Has shades of Type I and III.
* HellBentForLeather: Emma is usually seen wearing a red leather jacket.
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: [[spoiler:She's not only immune to Cora's heart ripping but she can also blast Cora back.]]
* HeroesPreferSwords: Double subverted. She goes to fight Maleficent with one, but quickly discards it for it for a gun, but GunsAreUseless. As soon as she goes back for the sword, she wins the fight.
* HeroicNeutral: Emma was totally ready to go back to her crappy life if only Regina could have kept her mouth shut...
** And then she was totally ready to go back to her crappy with life (with occasional visits with Henry), if only Regina hadn't [[spoiler:tried to slip her a cursed apple turnover]]...
* HeroicSacrifice: In "Queen of Hearts" [[spoiler:Emma takes the heart-stealing attack Cora aimed for her mother. She did more than survive, she {{No Sell}}s the attack.]]
* ImNotAHeroIm: When August/Pinocchio tries to convince Emma that the curse trapping Storybrooke is real, she refuses to believe it and says that if the town is relying on her, "[they're] all screwed."
* InformedAbility: Emma's [[LivingLieDetector internal lie detector]] is quite faulty. Henry, [[ManipulativeBastard Gold]], Regina, Graham, Sydney, [[spoiler:Cora]], Aurora, and possibly a random driver have successfully tricked her at some point. How effective she is at this basically boils down to what's needed for the plot.
** This may be a case of TruthInTelevision. Several people may claim to be a LivingLieDetector, but studies have shown that most people are bad at this. Thosed trained in detecting lies are actually often worse than the majority due to overconfidence, leading to them focusing on emotional cues rather than the consistency of information given.
** May be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in:
*** Sydney's case, as he genuinely loved Regina, and true love is the most potent type of magic.
*** Graham's and [[spoiler:Aurora]]'s cases, as they didn't have their hearts.
*** The random driver's case. It remains to be seen whether she really believed him or didn't want the townspeople to "take care" of him.
** It should be noted that her denial was potent enough for her to see [[spoiler:Pinocchio's wooden legs]] as normal human legs, and that it may also cloud her lie-detecting ability.
* JerkassFacade: In the pilot.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She's cynical and snarky, but there's no doubt that she's a good guy.
* KnightInSourArmour: In stark contrast to Charming's KnightInShiningArmour.
* KnightTemplarParent: Emma occasionally slides into this, especially when she's up against Regina.
* [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Father, Like Daughter]]: Lampshaded by Mr. Gold in "The Cricket Game".
-->'''Gold:''' And [you have] your father's tact.
* LivingLieDetector: This trait is actually rather inconsistent. See InformedAbility.
* LongLostRelative: To Henry, Snow White and Prince Charming.
* MamaBear: She is easily pissed and blindly protective of Henry when his happiness is threatened, sometimes verging into KnightTemplarParent territory.
* MeaningfulName: "Emma" means "all-embracing, universal; whole, complete"; and the show writers have stated that "Swan" is a reference to the story of ''Literature/TheUglyDuckling''.
* {{Meganekko}}: "Tallahassee" shows that she wore glasses as a teen.
* MissingMom: She has one and is one.
* [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou Mommy And Daddy Had A Good Reason For Abandoning You]]
* MosesInTheBulrushes: Was teleported out of the fairy tale realm by way of a [[Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe magic wardrobe]] before the curse overtook the kingdom.
* NoSell: [[spoiler:She is the only known person to be able to resist having her heart stolen.]]
* OnlySaneMan: She thinks herself as this, but it is less true than it appears.
* TheParagon: To many of the patrons of Storybrooke. She basically advocates taking responsibility for your own problems.
* ParentalIssues
* RealWomenNeverWearDresses: {{Lampshaded}}. When she's made a Sheriff's deputy, she objects to the uniform on the following basis.
-->'''Emma:''' A tie? You know, you don't have to dress a woman as a man to give her authority.
* RefusalOfTheCall: When directly confronted by [[spoiler:August]] on her needing to start accepting that fairy tales are real, Emma adamantly refuses.
* ReformedCriminal: "Tallahasee" reveals that Emma used to be a thief in her teen years before going to jail and having Henry. She went on to become a bail bond agent and eventually sheriff.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: See BadassPrincess.
* SeekerArchetype: While she typically tracks down people instead of The Truth, she won't rest until she gets the whole story.
* TheSheriff
* ShutUpHannibal:
** [[EstablishingCharacterMoment In her very first scene]] when she is talking to her target who skipped on their bail.
** In "Queen of Hearts" she has a nice, simple one against Cora. [[spoiler:"Love is Strength." See NoSell for what else happens.]]
* SkepticNoLonger: Finally realizes that Henry was right about the curse in the Season 1 finale.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Emma's simply being in Storybrooke is slowly but surely changing everything in the town.
* StepfordSnarker
* StraightMan: The insanity usually plays out around her.
* StreetSmart
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Except for the hair--something she got from Charming--Emma looks remarkably like Snow White.
* SuperEmpowering: Along with her ActionGirl powers from both sides of the family, and being somewhere between LivingLieDetector and outright EverythingSensor, Emma appears to have this power [[spoiler:when she touches Regina, Regina's magic comes back to her. And because she was born of True Love, she holds a strong magic within her. Strong enough to stop Cora from pulling her heart out.]]
* TeenPregnancy: When she had Henry.
* [[TrademarkFavoriteFood Trademark Favorite Drink]]: Hot chocolate with cinnamon.
* TroubledButCute
* WeirdnessCensor: Emma's denial about the curse is ''so powerful'' that she is unable to see August's wooden leg.
* WhatTheHellHero: Receives and delivers these often, but notable ones toward her include:
** Mary Margaret, being her mother (whether she realizes it or not), chastises Emma often regarding her actions towards Henry like almost kidnapping him from Regina and lying to him about his father.
** Henry delivers a hard one to her when he [[spoiler:finds out Emma lied to him about his father being dead. The look on Emma's face when he compares her to Regina, his adoptive mother who also lied to him frequently, is a very potent mix of heartbroken, apologetic, and OhCrap]].
* WishUponAStar: She made a wish upon a star-shaped candle on her 28th birthday.
* WrongGenreSavvy: She seems to think she's in a CopShow (her work), LifetimeOriginalMovie (the feud with Regina), or playing the ThisIsReality card. ''Anything'' other than the story she's actually in.
** Pulls out a gun to fight Maleficent. [[GunsAreWorthless Yeah, that's not gonna work]].
** Still hasn't learned her lesson by Season 2. [[spoiler:Gun shots attract ogres]]. It's become something of a RunningGag.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Emma as a teenager looked no different than Emma in the present, save for a pair of glasses and a change in hairstyle, and could have easily been mistaken for an adult.

!!Henry Mills
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Henry_Mills_8258.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Henry Mills:''' ''"I'm done reading about heroes. I want to be one."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Jared Gilmore

The biological son of Emma Swan [[spoiler:and Baelfire]], as well as the adopted son of Regina Mills, Henry is a determined young boy who fully believes that Storybrooke is cursed.

* AdorablyPrecociousChild: He's only ten, but he's preoccupied with figuring out how to break the curse. Of course, hardly anyone takes him seriously.
* {{Badass}}
** BadassAdorable
** BadassPacifist: Henry uses words, speeches, and trickery to deal with his problems. See GuileHero.
* BadDreams: A side effect of eating the poisoned apple and falling under the sleeping curse. Even after Emma breaks the curse, he still gets horrible nightmares.
* {{Bookworm}}: He's usually seen reading his fairy tale book.
** BadassBookworm: He also shows hints of being this.
* CallingTheOldManOut:
** Henry to Regina [[spoiler:after her spell traps Emma and Snow in another world. He tells her that she has to figure out how to bring them back or she really is the Evil Queen, and he'll never see her again. He leaves with Charming.]]
** Calls out Emma in "Manhattan" [[spoiler:for not telling him about his father.]]
* TheCassandra: He's got the right idea regarding the Fairy Tales, but no one believes him.
* CheerfulChild
* ChildrenAreInnocent
* TheChooserOfTheOne: Henry is the one to deliver Emma's CallToAdventure.
* ConsummateLiar: It comes with being a GuileHero.
* DeadGuyJunior: Regina named him after her father, who was one of the only people she ever loved. Though she also killed her father. Henry even gets to see his namesake's coffin when he goes poking around in Regina's shed. There's a nice little pause so you don't miss it.
* {{Determinator}}
* DisappearedDad: To be fair, Henry's biological father may not even know that Henry exists; Emma mentions in the Pilot that she never told him she got pregnant and gave the kid up for adoption. "Tallahassee" confirms this.
** [[spoiler:Henry finally meets him in "Manhattan".]]
* [[spoiler:DisneyDeath]]: Hey, if there's one universe where it's ''justified''...
* GeneHunting: Part of the reason for his search for Emma in the pilot.
* GenerationXerox:
** With Snow White. Both had Regina as a mother figure. Both knowingly [[spoiler:ate (the same) poisoned apple created by Regina to save someone they love (Charming and Emma, respectively)]]. Both of them [[spoiler:received True Love's Kiss from those specific loved ones to awake from their sleeping curses]]. Like grandmother, like grandson.
** Has shades of this with Regina as well. They're both cunning, [[ConsummateLiar Consummate Liars]] with ''incredible'' MommyIssues.
*** They also share the same obsession with change and revenge. Both have a very clear and idea of how things should go ("My past should be preserved." and "My future should be saved."). They both showed that they are able to focus on people's mistakes (Henry demonizing Regina and not trusting Emma after "Manhattan", Regina demonizing Snow and not trusting Emma) hold grudges (as Henry's cold quips show) and are partly driven by a need for revenge (Regina on Snow and Henry on Regina) on someone who only wanted the best, but failed to achieve the results they wanted.
** [[spoiler:With Baelfire.]] They're both [[MoralityChain Morality Chains]] for the two major villains of the show.
** And like [[spoiler: his ''paternal'' grandpa]] has insane amounts of GenreSavvy, and can be quite good with the BatmanGambit and winning through tricking his enemies.
* GenreSavvy: Often
-->'''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 was right about [[spoiler:David not waking up from the sleeping curse in "Into The Deep"]].
** He proved Regina and Gold wrong [[spoiler:after saying that Emma and Snow would come through the portal instead of Cora in "Queen of Hearts".]]
* GoodIsNotDumb:
* GuileHero: 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.
** He gets that from one of his grandfathers.
* HappilyAdopted: Subverted. While a cursory glance would show Regina as a stern, but loving mom who provides material and medical care for a trouble-making, mentally disturbed little boy, the facade is flaking off like cheap paint and keeps getting worse.
* HasTwoMommies: To the extent the war between Regina and Emma sometimes feels like a custody battle.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Even if he only has a wooden one.
* HeroicBastard: Literally.
* HeroicBSOD: After [[spoiler:Graham/The Huntsman's death]] he goes into one of these, concerned about his mother's safety, and unwilling to risk her safety.
* HeroicSpirit: He keeps on insisting [[spoiler:on going back to the Netherworld to give Aurora Rumplestiltskin's message even after getting severely burned.]]
* HeroicSuicide: [[spoiler: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!]]
* [[IAmNotMyFather I Am Not My Adoptive Mother]]: He explicitly states that he's not and will never be like Regina in "We Are Both".
* IJustWantToBeBadass: Henry really wants to learn how to sword fight, ride horses, and kick ass with his mom and grandparents.
-->'''Henry:''' I'm done reading about heroes. I want to be one.
* IndyPloy: 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.
* InnocentProdigy: He's a growing GuileHero with more than a few doses of GenreSavvy and GoodIsNotDumb, but he talks about super secret information at the local diner just because he's hungry and believes that fairy tales are real. He's right, of course, but his eagerness and willingness to believe in them definitely shows off his age of 10.
* KidHero
* MeaningfulName: Henry means "House of Rulers", which is fitting, since his fairy tale family have royal blood in them.
* MommyIssues
* MoralityPet: To practically everyone in the main cast, as [[spoiler: practically everyone is related to him.]]
** To Regina especially, especially in the second season since [[spoiler:she promised him she would redeem herself.]]
* MrExposition
* [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Grandmother, Like Grandson]]: Lampshaded by Emma in "Queen of Hearts":
-->'''Emma:''' You sound just like Henry.\\
'''Snow:''' Optimism must run in the family.
* LivingLieDetector
* LonelyRichKid: Henry is described by Regina as "not having any friends and being kind of a loner."
* LukeYouAreMyFather: What kicks off the whole thing? Henry showing up on Emma's doorstep and saying, in effect, "Hi Mom!"
* NervesOfSteel: In "The Doctor", Henry keeps a cool head and (despite being justifiably terrified) tries to help a confused and violent [[spoiler:Franken!Daniel.]] The kid's got guts.
* NonActionGuy: To be fair, he's only ten, not trained in combat, and [[GuileHero always uses his wits to get out of bad situations]]. Then again, Charming is starting to teach him how to sword fight in Season 2.
* NotNowKiddo: Story of his life. Things would have been prevented or solved sooner if someone had listened to him.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Well he ''is'' Snow and Charming's grandson after all.
* TheRunaway: Henry has apparently run away several times, either in search of his real mother or because he believes Regina does not really love him.
* SeekerArchetype: More active than his mother.
* ShorterMeansSmarter
* TheSmartGuy
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Henry looks a lot like Snow White.
* [[TrademarkFavoriteFood Trademark Favorite Drink]]: Hot chocolate with cinnamon, a trait he shares with Emma and Snow.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears
* [[YoureNotMyFather You're Not My Mother]]: Henry says this at least once to Regina, but it's changes his mind in "Broken".
-->'''Henry:''' She's still my mom.

!![[Literature/SnowWhite Princess Snow White]]/Mary Margaret Blanchard
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Snow_White_OUAT_675.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Snow White:''' ''"If people are supposed to be together, they find a way."'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Mary Margaret Blanchard:''' ''"Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Ginnifer Goodwin, Bailee Madison (child)

The daughter of King Leopold and Queen Eva, as well as the stepdaughter of Queen Regina. In Storybrooke, she's an elementary schoolteacher named Mary Margaret Blanchard.

* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: In looks only, since the town is frozen in time while her daughter ages normally.
* ActionMom:
** Snow after she is forced into exile by Regina.
** Mary Margaret in "Hat Trick" get a moment of this [[spoiler: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?\\
'''Mary Margaret:''' I don't know where that came from.
** This comes in full force in Season 2.
* {{Adorkable}}: As Mary Margaret and she has her moments as Snow.
* AmnesiacDissonance: Snow White was capable, cunning and [[DeadpanSnarker 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.
** They ''definitely'' are not mutually exclusive. Observant watchers will notice Mary Margaret acts a lot more like Snow White ''before'' her feuding with Regina. Whenever Regina and Mary Margaret butt heads, she sounds a lot more like Snow White did ''after'' their feud started.
* AmnesiacLover: [[spoiler:Becomes this after taking Rumplestiltskin's cure. She eventually regains her memories.]]
* AxeCrazy[=/=]CuteAndPsycho: Shortly after taking the potion, Snow tries to lure a bluebird close so she can smash it. She then tries to kill the queen, taking a soldier's armor in the process. Not to mention all the things she's done to the dwarves.
* BadassAdorable
* BadassPrincess
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:In "The Miller's Daughter", she secretly curses Cora's heart which needs to be re-inserted into Cora to kill her. When she's caught by Regina, she appeals to Regina's desire for her mother's love and gives it to Regina, counting on the (very likely) possibility that Regina would put the heart back into Cora.]]
* BattleCouple: With Charming.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Snow White may be heading this way after [[spoiler: casting a death spell on Cora's heart and ''tricking'' Regina into putting it back, killing Cora.]]
* BeingGoodSucks: This crops up during "The Queen is Dead", due to the high costs that doing good were for Mary Margaret.
* BerserkButton: Despite her [[BewareTheNiceOnes usually calm demeanor]], she does have at least two buttons: [[MamaBear Don't endanger Emma]] [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend or Charming]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes
* BewilderingPunishment: Poor Mary Margaret has no freaking clue why Regina is out to get her.
* TheBigDamnKiss: At the end of "7:15 A.M." with David.
* BirthdayHater: For a ''very'' good reason. It looks like that isn't going to change anytime soon.
* BoyishShortHair: As Mary Margaret.
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: 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.
* BreakTheCutie: While her affair with David starts to unravel, but especially after she's accused of murdering Kathryn.
** And again late in Season 2, when she [[spoiler:lets Rumplestiltskin talk her into murdering Cora]].
* {{Broken Hero}}ine: Despite all she's been through, she is amazingly cheerful and optimistic, and nice to even ''Regina'' of all people.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Her naivete as a young child with MissingMom issues made it easy for Cora to manipulate her into telling her what Regina was up to [[spoiler:resulting in the death of Daniel.]]
* ColorMotif: Mary Margaret often wears white as her counterpart is Snow White.
* CombatPragmatist
* CuteBruiser
* DaddysGirl: Snow meant everything to King Leopold.
%%* DamselInDistress
%%* DamselOutOfDistress
* DeadpanSnarker: As post-outlaw Snow White but not so much as Mary Margaret.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Snow, after she is forced to break Charming's heart to save him from King George, drinks a potion from Rumple which will make her forget she ever loved him.]]
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: As Mary Margaret.
* DeepSleep: She was put into one with [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]]'s sleep curse only for it to be broken with TrueLovesKiss.
* [[DoesNotLikeSpam Does Not Like Apples]]: This has been confirmed by [[WordOfGod Ginnifer Goodwin]] after one of her students gave her a pear instead of an apple in the pilot.
* FaceHeelTurn: Very nearly happened in "Heart of Darkness", but Charming stopped her before she could [[spoiler:kill the Evil Queen.]]
* FallenPrincess: During her time on the run from the Evil Queen.
* FriendToAllLivingThings:
** 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.
* GirlyBruiser: Incredibly sweet and feminine, but she's a hell of a fighter.
* {{Guile Hero}}ine: [[spoiler: Appeals to Regina's desire for her mother's love so that Regina will return Cora's heart to her body, which would kill her.]]
* HappilyMarried: To Charming in the Enchanted Forest.
* HeroicSuicide: To save Charming's life, she eats the infamous apple.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Red.
* HonorBeforeReason: When the Queen invites her to a meeting without weapons, and Snow agrees, refusing to bring any weapons with her at all, Red frustratedly calls her out on being "too noble for [her] own good."
* HotTeacher: As Mary Margaret.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: After everything Regina has done, Mary Margaret still forgives her and expresses sympathy for how lonely and empty her life must be.
** [[spoiler:Subverted, in "The Miller's Daughter" when she deliberately manipulated Regina into murdering her own mother - and as a result has caused a black spot to appear on her own heart that will keep on growing...]]
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: [[spoiler:Rumplestiltskin warns that if Snow kills the Queen, then she will be doing this.]]
** [[spoiler: She ends up doing this in "The Miller's Daughter" when she kills Cora. In the next episode it's revealed that the act has left a black spot on her heart which will fester and grow, just like what happened to Regina.]]
* LetsGetDangerous: As Mary Margaret in "Hat Trick".
* LovelyAngels: With Red in the Enchanted Forest as seen in "Child of the Moon".
* MamaBear: Most obvious in Season 2. If she thinks there's danger to Emma, she ''immediately'' draws a weapon and pulls Emma behind her.
* MeaningfulName: Turns out she was born in the worst winter in living memory, hence why her mother named her Snow White.
* MeetCute: With Charming.
* MissingMom: Unintentionally turned into one for Emma and had one when her mother died when she was very young.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:In "The Miller's Daughter" after bringing about Cora's death.]]
* NatureHero
* NiceGirl
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In "The Miller's Daughter", [[spoiler: she tricks Regina into killing Cora]], thinking it will be the right thing for everyone. Now Regina hates her even more than she did before.
* NobleFugitive: As Snow White due to her past with the Evil Queen in the Fairy World.
* NobleProfession: Elementary schoolteacher ''and'' volunteer for the Storybrooke Hospital.
* OfficialCouple: With Charming.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: In "The Miller's Daughter" to protect her family and get revenge for her mother, Snow White finally decides to go after Cora and Regina. How she goes about it isn't pretty, either. [[spoiler:She finds and curses Cora's heart, then tricks Regina into putting it back, making Regina the instrument of her own mother's death. For an extra kicker, replacing the heart restores Cora's ability to properly love Regina, just for the last few moments of her life.]]
* PluckyGirl: As Snow White.
* PoliticallyActivePrincess: As Snow White.
* PrincessClassic
* PrincessesRule: Snow White is the ruler of her kingdom but is not referred to as queen.
* ProperLady: Her life until she had to hide in the woods after the Huntsman spared her life. That said, she was a practical type and adapted very well.
* PunnyName: In French, "blanchard(e)" means "pale", derived from the world "blanche" which means "white", a reference to her real name, Snow White. The French name for Snow White is "Blanche-Neige".
* RavenHairIvorySkin: She's still the fairest of them all. Rumplestiltskin even says so.
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: With Red.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: 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.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
* SamusIsAGirl: Charming briefly thinks the person who robbed him is a man until he finds out it's Snow.
* SaveTheVillain: Snow [[spoiler:saved Rumple from Hook's poison by sacrificing Cora's life to restore him to health.]]
* TheScapegoat: [[spoiler:The entire grudge against Snow White is this. Rather than hold her own abusive mother responsible for her lover's death, Regina begins a decades long plot of KickTheDog and murder against a small child that just wanted to help her.]]
* ShrinkingViolet: As Mary Margaret.
* SilkHidingSteel
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Can understand birds.
* SpoiledBrat: When she was a child she considered herself superior to others because she was royal. Her mother, the Queen, taught her to that everyone in the kingdom deserves her love and respect.
* SpiritedYoungLady
* StalkerWithACrush: 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 StalkerWithACrush as she is.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: In "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" her looks are noted to be uncannily close to her dead mother, as said by her father - "[her mother] was the fairest in all of the land."
* SweaterGirl: As Mary Margaret, which fits her wholesome image.
* TeamMom: Becomes this to their group in the Enchanted Forest that not only includes her actual daughter Emma but also Mulan and Aurora. Snow comforts the latter about her nightmares post-sleeping curse.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Girly Girl to Red's Tomboy.
* TookALevelInBadass: Snow White apparently did this in leaps and bounds between meeting Red and meeting Charming. "Child of the Moon" reveals that this was due to Red's teachings.
* [[TrademarkFavoriteFood Trademark Favorite Drink]]: Hot chocolate with cinnamon, which is something she shares with her daughter and grandson.
* TwoFirstNames: Mary Margaret Blanchard.
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter
* UnstoppableRage: If anyone puts Emma or Charming in danger, the "fairest" of them all becomes the [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me2nyf2cEv1qhbarso1_400.gif scariest of them all!]]
* WeaponOfChoice: She's a pretty skilled archer, both from hunting and ambushing Regina's men.
-->'''Emma:''' When's the last time you used a bow?\\
'''Snow:''' ... twenty-eight years. I guess it's like riding a bike.
** ImprobableAimingSkills: Gets an enchanted bow from Rumplestiltskin before the curse. Season 2 demonstrates that [[BadassPrincess she really didn't need it.]]
* WeUsedToBeFriends: With Regina, though due to the age difference it was more a niece and cool aunt relationship. As Snow White grew older and the Queen grew more bitter in her loveless marriage to the King, the two grew to hate each other.
* WhatTheHellHero: Gives this to [[spoiler: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.]]
* WomanInWhite: In the pilot. Also in "Red-Handed" and "Child of the Moon" while standing next to classic Red Riding Hood.
* {{Xenafication}}[=/=]AdaptationalBadass: Apparently, damsel in distress Snow White turns into a badass forest dweller who fights trolls, hunts deer and robs the Queen's carriages.
* [[spoiler: [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Mother]]: Cora poisoned Snow's mother to ensure that Regina would become queen in "The Queen is Dead".]]

!!Prince David [[PrinceCharming "Charming"]]/David Nolan
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Prince_Charming_9793.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Prince Charming:''' ''"No matter what you do, I will always find you."'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''David Nolan:''' ''"There's a difference between literal truth and honesty of the heart."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Josh Dallas

A simple shepherd who is separated at birth from his twin brother, who was adopted by King George to become a prince. When his twin dies, David is forced to become a replacement, but quickly finds himself at odds with his adoptive father and in love with Snow White. In Storybrooke, he is David Nolan, a mysterious comatose patient who is revealed to be the wife of Kathryn Nolan.

* AbsurdlyYouthfulFather: Same as Snow White, in looks only.
* ActionDad
* AmnesiacDissonance: Prince Charming is brave, noble, determined and has convictions. David, not so much.
** In Episode 22, David acknowledges how he keeps making the wrong choices. It's like he's under a curse or something...
* ArrangedMarriage:
** Subverted in the Enchanted Forest. Charming was going to marry Abigail for political reasons, but he ends up with [[MarryForLove Snow White]].
** One could say that David's marriage to Kathryn could fall into this trope if in an unusual way. Since David has likely been in a coma since the start of the curse twenty-eight years ago, given Charming's injuries at the time the curse occurred, he never actually chose Kathryn to marry and doesn't even have false memories to make him think he did until Episode 6.
* BackupTwin[=/=]ThereIsAnother: He's the backup to his dead prince brother in the Enchanted Forest.
* BadassAndBaby: ... Fighting off mooks with his new born daughter in hand.
* BattleCouple: With Snow White.
* TheBigDamnKiss: At the end of "7:15 A.M." with Mary Margaret.
* CompositeCharacter: Prince Charming also has elements of ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper''.
* ConvenientComa
* CoolSword
* DeadpanSnarker
* {{Determinator}}
* DisappearedDad
* DistressedDude[=/=]BadassInDistress
* EmergencyImpersonation: A particularly dramatic version of this trope led to his promotion from humble peasant shepherd to dragon-slaying prince.
* FarmBoy: He was actually born on a farm and grew up there all the way to adulthood until he was forced to become a BackupTwin for his dead brother who had been raised as a prince.
* GoodIsNotSoft
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Snow White gave him one during their MeetCute.
* HappilyMarried: To Snow White in the Enchanted Forest.
* TheHero
* HeroesPreferSwords
* HiddenBackupPrince
* HonorBeforeReason
* TheIdealist
* IdentityAmnesia: A special double whammy for him compared to the others. He not only can't remember his fairy tale life but he doesn't even remember his Storybrooke identity either until it is forced on him in Episode 6.
* IdiotBall: [[spoiler:He doesn't take King George/Spencer's threats seriously and ends up so distracted he loses Jefferson's hat when George burns it in a fire.]]
** He also [[spoiler:put himself under a sleeping curse so he could see Snow again and now he can't wake up because true love's kiss won't work in the Netherworld.]]
* IdiotHero: While not at all an idiot in the conventional sense, he tends to make rather impulsive decisions that cost him dearly when his instincts are up against the laws of magic - that is, situations that actively defy logic.
* IHaveManyNames: There's James, the name of his brother whose identity he assumed, David Nolan, his Storybrooke persona, Charming, as Snow dubbed him...
-->'''Grumpy''': So, what the hell ''is'' your name, then? (''Turns out it's David'')
* ImpersonatingTheEvilTwin: Charming fills in for his brother, James, although he isn't aware of his twin's evil until later.
* ImprobableAimingSkills
* InnocentBlueEyes: Of the "heroic and idealistic" variety.
* InSeriesNickname: You didn't think Charming was his real name, did you?
* IWillFindYou: Practically his {{catchphrase}}.
* KnightInShiningArmour: The first we see of him in the pilot.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Red.
* MarryForLove: This is what he was set on prior to getting forced to marry Abigail. He eventually gets this with Snow White.
* MeaningfulName: James means "Supplanter". A supplanter is someone who takes the place of another person, place or thing. This is fitting, as Charming supplants his twin, James.
** David means "beloved" in Hebrew, and Nolan means "famous" in Irish. It is also of English origin, where it means "little champion" or "chariot-fighter".
* MoralMyopia: After the curse is broken, he wallops Dr. Whale for having had a one-night stand with Mary Margaret--but wasn't Kathryn ''trying to get pregnant'' by him?
* MrFanservice
* NoNameGiven: Turns out "Prince James" was his dead brother whose identity Charming was forced to assume.
** "Tiny" reveals that David is his real name.
* OfficialCouple: With Snow White.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Even ''Regina'' calls him Charming.
* OnlyMostlyDead: In the pilot.
* PapaWolf: Trying to harm his newborn daughter is a bad idea. The same goes for threatening his grandson.
* ParentalSubstitute: To Henry after [[spoiler:Emma and Snow get trapped in the Enchanted Forest.]]
* PolarOppositeTwins: Charming is presented as traditionally heroic and more morally upstanding than his corrupt twin. It's justified due to their vastly different upbringings.
* PrinceCharming
* [[PrincessesRule Princes Rule]]: Like Snow, he rules the kingdom, but he's not referred to as king; Dr. Whale in "Broken" specifically addresses him as prince.
* PullTheIV: When he wakes up from his coma.
* RagsToRoyalty: Not by his choice.
* ReplacementGoldfish: "Lady of the Lake" reveals that King George and his wife couldn't have children and he wanted Charming to replace his son after the original Prince James was killed.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Prince Charming actually seems to have a kingdom (or farm) to run.
* TheSheriff: Until [[spoiler:Emma returns from the Enchanted Forest,]] he decides to take on the role of acting sheriff.
** He does this again in "Tiny" when [[spoiler:Emma and Henry leave town with Rumplestiltskin to find his son.]]
* StalkerWithACrush: In "7:15 A.M."
* StandardHeroReward: Midas offers him this (among other things) when Charming slayed a dragon for him. Charming was forced to accept despite his ideology to MarryForLove. See ArrangedMarriage above.
* WarriorPrince
* TheWisePrince: In Season 2.
* YouAreWorthHell: When faced with the fact [[spoiler:he is trapped in the Netherworld, because he and Snow weren't physically there and so TrueLovesKiss doesn't work, he just smiles at a waking Snow (and so leaving the place). He then tells her he loves her and believes she will find him and free him from this place.]]

!!The Evil Queen Regina/Regina Mills
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Queen_Regina_7098.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''The Evil Queen:''' ''"I shall destroy your happiness... if it's the last thing I do."'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Regina Mills:''' ''"I've always believed that evil isn't born... it's made."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Lana Parrilla

The Evil Queen who, after losing her war with Snow White, enacts the Dark Curse to give herself a "happy ending". In Storybrooke, she retains all her memories as Regina Mills, the mayor of Storybrooke.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The search goes on for a citizen of Storybrooke who likes her... besides Kathryn before Regina betrayed her.
** And Sidney... before his memories were restored. [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Not that anyone knows where he is now, anyway.]]
* AbsoluteCleavage: Hell to the yes. Interestingly, this applies more to Queen Regina than Mayor Regina.
* AbusiveParents: Occasionally neglectful and frequently emotionally manipulative to Henry. And is, of course, gaslighting him about his belief in the curse. She genuinely loves him though and seems to be have been unambiguously a good and caring if somewhat controlling mother prior to the conflict between Henry and her about the fairy tale characters, placing her mostly in this type, with some incidents treated as temporarily a type II...
** Leading to a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment when Henry finally [[CallingTheOldManOut confronts]] her about her abuse.
** Heavily implied to have Cora as an abusive mother. Even putting aside all the evil Cora has done to other people, there is the way Regina reacts when Cora uses magic to levitate her in the air at the drop of a hat and conjures straps to wrap around her in "The Stable Boy". Regina holds out for a minute, saying she hates it when Cora uses magic on her, before begging her mother to let her go, saying "Please. I'll be good." Her father looks upset, but otherwise lets Cora do what she wants. After all, "what can't she do?"
* AddictiveMagic
* {{Adorkable}}: As a teenage girl.
-->'''Regina:''' Rumplesch... Schtilts...? Rumpleschtiltskins... I summon thee...
* AlphaBitch: Despite it not being high school, Regina pulls a lot of the same verbal snark tactics.
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: She is aloof and composed compared to the other female characters on the show, especially as the mayor.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Her ethnicity is never touched upon in Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest, but it appears she has the same colouring as her father, who is played by a Latino actor. Her actress, Lana Parrilla, is of Italian and Puerto Rican descent and identifies as Latina.
** "The Miller's Daughter" shows that Regina is at least half Latina since her relatives on her father's side of the family are all portrayed by Latino actors.
* AndShowItToYou: As Henry says, it's kind of her thing. [[spoiler:She got it from her mother.]]
* AntiVillain: Regina has her FreudianExcuse and, although crossing the MoralEventHorizon almost OnceAnEpisode during the first season, has begun trying to redeem herself by Season 2.
** By the mid-Season 2 break, and ''especially'' by "The Cricket Game", [[spoiler:Regina very well may have graduated to Type IV. She at least appears to be [[CharacterDevelopment genuinely trying to become a better person]], and in this episode it is mostly the fact that basically nobody trusts her that puts her at all into opposition with Emma and the others.]]
* [[spoiler:TheAtoner]]: In Season 2. [[spoiler:In "Queen of Hearts", she nearly kills Emma and Snow, but the episode makes it abundantly clear that she's only doing it to protect Henry from Cora, and ''not'' out of malice for Snow and her family.]]
* ArrowCatch: Granny shoots an arrow at her. Regina catches it, sets it on fire, and then throws the fireball around the room.
* TheBaroness: Regina is most definitely this. She's as pretty as any sexpot version and has a definite BrokenBird vibe, but also possesses the icy demeanor and bitterness of the Rosa Klebb version.
* BastardGirlfriend
* BeatStillMyHeart: 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.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: As a teenager, she was sweet, ''painfully'' naive, and was the one who taught Snow about true love. As an adult... yeah.
* BeingEvilSucks: According to WordOfGod, this trope is the inspiration for the show. The Evil Queen's reason for choosing to get revenge on Snow White by casting a curse on the ''entire Enchanted Forest'' is to create a world where she can "win for once."
** [[spoiler:BeingGoodSucks]]:
*** [[spoiler:After working so hard to keep her promise to Henry, saving Emma and Mary Margaret... her reward is to watch Henry go off to happily celebrate with everyone else, leaving her behind]]. Even after the evil she did in the past, it's hard not to feel sorry for Regina.
*** Her attempt to [[spoiler:return her mother's heart ended with Cora ''dying''.]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler:For the first season, anyway. The second season seems to be placing her mother, Cora, in this role.]]
** [[spoiler:Appears to be returning to this role as of her mother's death in "The Miller's Daughter"]]
* BreakTheCutie: Once is bad enough. But she gets the distinction of going through it twice.
* BreakTheHaughty
* BrokenBird: Regina's constantly taking things from and wielding power over others is a result of being betrayed, abused, and traumatized in the past.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: When she told David [[spoiler:she has a vault full of hearts, she also admits she cannot recall any of the victims anymore. There are just so many.]]
* ChewingTheScenery: The Evil Queen absolutely devours the scenery. Regina the mayor on the other hand is far more reserved.
* ChildMarriageVeto: She didn't want to marry King Leopold and did everything she could to stop her impending marriage. It didn't work out.
* ConsummateLiar: 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 [[MagnificentBastard Rumplestiltskin]], telling him that [[spoiler:Belle]] was dead. The truth is quite different.
* CorruptTheCutie: [[spoiler:Courtesy of Rumplestiltskin. Jefferson (The Mad Hatter) provides some intentional help along with Victor Frankenstein. Poor girl never stood a chance.]]
* CruelMercy: [[spoiler:Snow ''begged'' Regina to kill her in "Welcome to Storybrooke."]]
* CryForTheDevil
* CuteAndPsycho: While hot would be a more appropriate term than cute, Regina is regarded as clearly psycho.
* DaddysGirl: In an interesting parallel, Regina loves her father as much as Snow loved hers (though, with Cora as a mother, Henry was her only option). [[SelfMadeOrphan It doesn't save him]].
* DarkAndTroubledPast
* DarkActionGirl: As the Evil Queen.
* DeathGlare: She is the master of these.
* DeliverUsFromEvil: Her love for Henry is her one good point in the present day and she's at least trying to redeem herself for his sake.
* [[spoiler:DemotedToDragon: In the second season, with her mother taking over the role of BigBad.]]
** [[spoiler:DragonAscendant: And seems all set to return to being the main antagonist as of Cora's death.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: She has ruined the lives of literally everyone in her world, persecuted Snow White for years and [[spoiler:had Mary Margaret arrested for murder]] because an innocent child made a well-intentioned mistake.
* DrivenToVillainy: She did many horrible things, but they were done because she crossed the DespairEventHorizon [[spoiler:after her mother ripped her boyfriend's heart out in front of her]]. It was also kind of Snow White's fault, though she didn't do it on purpose.
* DrunkWithPower: Once she started on her revenge seriously, she slowly became addicted to it. [[spoiler:In Season 2, she is treating it like a drug addiction and seeing Archie for help treating it.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** Her father.
** [[spoiler:Henry]], but the way she goes about it...
** [[spoiler:Daniel]].
** Her mother. It's really not the most functional of relationships.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Regina is visibly horrified when Cora reveals that [[spoiler: she was responsible for the death of Snow White's mother]].
** She also seemed shocked when [[spoiler: Cora throw Johanna out the window after Regina gave Johanna back her heart.]]
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: See HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, below. She isn't incapable of understanding deep emotions and selflessness: she undeniably herself shows it on occasion. It seems to be strange to her that anyone else would care about these things, as she lost faith in humanity.
** [[WordOfGod 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. [[spoiler: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.
* EvilFeelsGood:
-->'''Rumplestiltskin:''' How did it feel to use magic?\\
'''Regina:''' It doesn't matter. I'll never use it again.\\
'''Rumplestiltskin:''' Why not?\\
'''Regina:''' Because I ''loved'' it.
** Of course this is also just after [[spoiler:pushing Cora through a portal at Rumple's beckoning. So he's as much playing upon her emotion over her mother by playing it as her emotion over magic. AKA CorruptTheCutie.]]
* EvilIsHammy: But only as the Queen, which suggests she's doing it for kicks.
* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler:Spray painting "TRAMP" on Mary Margaret's car.]]
* EvilSorceress
* ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow: As the Evil Queen, but it's more understated on Regina in Storybrooke and nonexistent prior to her turning to evil.
* [[FantasyForbiddingFather Fantasy-Forbidding Mother]]: She doesn't approve of Henry's book of fairy tales, but not without reason.
* ForcedIntoEvil: Regina was forced into doing evil by her upbringing, her traumatisms, and a carefully crafted plot.
* FreudianExcuse: See DrivenToVillainy and GoodGirlGoneBad.
* GenreBlind[=/=]GenreSavvy: She alternates. As an example of the latter:
-->"I can see I just launched you on a Heroic Quest."
* GlamorousSingleMother
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen
* GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: As Prince Charming points out, she's also Emma's step-grandmother and Henry's step ''great''-grandmother.
* GreenThumb: She can summon vines to bind her victims. [[spoiler:Again, like her mother.]]
* GoodGirlGoneBad: Regina is a clear example of this, after [[spoiler:her mother killed Daniel, the man she truly loved, in order for Regina to marry the king. And when she was wavering between Good and Evil while Rumple was teaching her magic, he sabotaged her chance to get Daniel back from the dead, securing her place in evil. He even called her his "monster."]]
** EvilCostumeSwitch: Much of her wardrobe changes at this point as well. Prior to becoming evil, she dressed far more like Red and Snow, that is, like your standard female adventurer. She dressed predominantly in low-cut black leather after her FaceHeelTurn. With her attempt at redemption in Season 2, her clothing is something of a mix between the two. She has some elements that are dark in color and/or reminiscent of her more dramatic clothing choices - fitted knee high black boots for instance. Other elements are more toned down or have shifted to lighter colors - a grey looser jacket over her blouse as opposed to a more typical black fitted one.
* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]]: [[spoiler:An iffy one in "We Are Both". She doesn't destroy her book of magic but she lets Henry go, tells Charming the truth and tells Henry that she's going to redeem herself. It sticks until "In The Name of The Brother".]]
** [[spoiler:HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Thanks to Cora.]]
* HiddenDepths: The Evil Queen has some ''serious'' issues underneath her [[EvilIsHammy hammy villainy]].
* HoneyTrap: As the Mayor, she tries this on David with herself as the bait. [[spoiler:It fails.]]
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter:
** A villainous example, as she tends to project her own values on other people. In the Enchanted Forest, 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 EvilCannotComprehendGood.
** In "Desperate Souls", she honestly believed that Emma was going to abandon her in a burning building.
** As a teen... trusting Rumplestiltskin. [[spoiler:And Jefferson. And Dr. Frankenstein.]]
** As of "In the Name of the Brother", [[spoiler:trusting Cora. You just ''know'' this is going to end in tears.]]
* HotWitch
* [[IAmNotMyFather I Am Not My Mother]] --> NotSoDifferent --> [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Mother, Like Daughter]]:
** Ironically, [[spoiler:[[AndShowItToYou 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.
** Her memories of her mother keeping her imprisoned with magic, [[spoiler:prompt her to eventually let Henry go.]]
* IceQueen: As the mayor, she's known for her dispassionate, aloof persona as well as her frostbitten wit.
** DefrostingIceQueen: Very, very subtly in Season 2.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The Evil Queen punishes the Huntsman for his refusal to kill an innocent by forcing him to be her SexSlave.
* IrrationalHatred: This is what Evil Queen Regina feels towards Snow White. She is angry at her mother [[spoiler:for what happened to Daniel]], but she inexplicably assigns at least as great a measure of blame to young Snow White who was manipulated by the same harridan who destroyed her own youth, and dedicates the next four decade to efforts at destroying Snow's happiness.
* IronLady: As the mayor.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Her defining characteristic. She can truly love someone, but often treats them badly, supposedly because it's all about her: she attacked her "only friend" Maleficent, manipulated the Genie/[[spoiler:Sidney Glass]], is an emotionally abusive mother to Henry, kept Hansel and Gretel separate from their father out of raw spite, and [[spoiler: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 Rumplestiltskin 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.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Every now and then she shows a side of her that's more sympathetic, such as when her son falls down the well or when she's saved from the fire. And then she ruins it either the same episode, or an episode later by doing something completely harsh.
* KarmaHoudini: Regina definitely fits the trope. Doesn't matter what Emma or anyone else does, she comes out on top. Recent revelations suggest she was preemptively hit by LaserGuidedKarma, but at this point her karmic ledger is definitely in the red.
** On the flip side, in the Season 2 episode "Queen of Hearts", she fails to receive ''good'' karma as well, despite having just saved Emma and Snow's lives. (She must later watch them go to dinner with Henry, while she is not invited.) Granted, she did help put their lives in danger in the first place, so perhaps it balances out.
** She gets hit by LaserGuidedKarma ''hard'' in "The Cricket Game". [[spoiler:Blamed for the death of someone who isn't quite dead with mountains of evidence against her.]] It's almost exactly what she did to Mary Margaret in Season 1.
* KickTheDog: Doesn't even begin to describe her. She even manages to kick ''[[MagnificentBastard Rumplestiltskin]]''.
* KillTheOnesYouLove: ''Thrice''. [[spoiler:Her father, Daniel and Cora. Daniel was technically a MercyKill and Cora was completely unintentional.]]
* LackOfEmpathy
* LadyOfBlackMagic
* LaserGuidedTykeBomb: Variant. [[spoiler:She was born, raised, and her life destroyed all for the express purpose of casting Rumplestiltskin's Dark Curse]]. No wonder she's so screwed up.
* LoveHungry: A terrifying example.
* LoveIsAWeakness
* LoveMakesYouEvil:
-->'''Rumplestiltskin:''' Cora was dangerous because she didn't have a heart. Regina is dangerous because she has one.
* LoveRedeems: [[spoiler:Her love for Henry caused her to make a HeelFaceTurn.]]
* MamaBear: Regina could be an evil example. She burst into city hall and owned everyone in order to get Henry back.
* ManipulativeBitch: Just like her mother. [[MagnificentBitch Especially as the mayor]].
* MayorPain: Type A.
* MeanBoss
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Jared Gilmore, who plays Henry, has said that Lana Parrilla has become an honorary member of his family.
* MeaningfulName: "Regina" is Latin, Italian and Romanian for "Queen", and "Mills" comes from the fact that her mother was the daughter of a miller.
* MindOverMatter: When she still had her magic in the Enchanted Forest.
* MistakenForMurderer: In "The Cricket Game", she's presumed to be the murderer of [[spoiler:some random guy who's been made to look like Archie. It's the work of a very clever frame job.]]
* MommyIssues: Hoo boy...
* [[DaddysLittleVillain Mommy's Little Villain]]: Though not by choice. It's ''much'' more complicated than that.
* MoralMyopia: [[spoiler: Cora killed Snow's mother? Circle of life. Snow killed Cora? VENDETTA!]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** Regina's reaction when she finds out that Henry [[spoiler:was poisoned by the apple turnover that she intended for Emma to eat.]]
** And again, when she realizes she's doing to Henry what her mother did to her.
** She's brought to tears after [[spoiler:separating Kurt and Owen.]]
* NiceHat: The Evil Queen gets one in "True North" that has GOT to be glued to her head to stay on.
* {{Patricide}}: 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.
* ParentalNeglect: 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 him a lot of presents.
* [[PermanentElectedOfficial 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.
* PlayingWithFire
* PowerHair: In Storybrooke.
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: The Evil Queen wanted to create a world where she could finally win and get ''her'' happy ending.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: 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.
* RebelliousPrincess: As a child as a result of having Cora for a mother.
* ReformedButRejected: "The Cricket Game". Only time will tell if this [[spoiler:and her mother's arrival in Storybrooke]] will lead to her declaring ThenLetMeBeEvil.
* RelationshipSabotage: Regina constantly tries to separate David and Mary Margaret, reminding what Snow White accidentally accomplished.
* ReluctantRuler: King Leopold proposed to Regina because she was the only woman he’d met since his wife’s passing who genuinely cared about Snow. Young Regina never wanted to be Queen and only wanted to marry Daniel. Inverted in that Regina’s mother [[spoiler:killing her true love]] and forcing her to marry the King is what made her become, well, the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Evil Queen]].
* {{Revenge}}: The curse that gets the plot going (and very nearly everything that happens in the Enchanted Forest before that) is part of the Evil Queen's plot to get back at Snow White for [[spoiler:telling the then-not-evil Regina's most-decidedly-evil (and manipulative) mother about Regina's affair with the stable boy—which resulted in Regina losing her true love, being forced into a loveless marriage and being precipitated into her StartOfDarkness]]. And Snow is still blissfully unaware that she did anything wrong.
** RevengeBeforeReason: 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.
*** Nonetheless her hatred for Snow stems from something she was tricked into doing as a child and Regina has never let go of it.
* RichBitch: Designer clothes, fancy estate, has everyone in town deathly afraid of her, except Emma.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Albeit an evil version.
* SanitySlippage: Daniel died and it went downhill from there. [[spoiler:Cora's death did not help.]]
* ScarsAreForever: She has a scar over her upper lip. There's no InUniverse explanation for it, but in real life, Lana Parrilla got it when she was protecting her cat from a dog attack. She was ten at the time.
* SelfMadeOrphan: She killed her father, who she genuinely loved, to get her revenge.
** [[spoiler:Regina pushed Cora through an enchanted mirror in "We Are Both", but Cora is revealed to be still alive.]]
*** [[spoiler:She ends up unintentionally killing Cora in "The Miller's Daughter".]]
* SmugSnake
* StandardHeroReward: After Regina saves his daughter, King Leopold just ups and asks her to marry him with hardly an introduction!
* StartOfDarkness: [[spoiler: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, as Regina's mother claimed that Regina's happiness was all she cared about and Snow thought she would let Regina marry Daniel and Regina wouldn't have to be separated from her mother. Regina's mother killed Daniel, so Regina went ahead with marrying the king. Then Snow, not knowing about Daniel's death, tells Regina she was the one who told her mother the secret... and from that moment on Regina hates her]]. Although "We Are Both" shows that it apparently took much longer than that for her to completely give in to her hate. She doesn't become completely evil [[spoiler:until her plan to resurrect Daniel fails in "The Doctor".]]
* StepfordSmiler: Of mixed Type A and Type C variety.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: According to Regina in "We Are Both", people have said that she looks like a young Cora. Rumplestiltskin doesn't see it... at first.
* TallDarkAndSnarky
* TearfulSmile: When Henry's sleeping curse is broken and when delivering a brutal ReasonYouSuckSpeech to Snow in "Welcome to Storybrooke."
* TemptingApple: 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 [[spoiler:Henry eats it instead.]]
* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: Regina tries this on Henry.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Shares it with Rumple in Season 2.
* TomboyPrincess: As a child.
* TragicKeepsake:
** [[spoiler:The improvised ring Daniel proposed to her with, using a metal ring off a saddle. She later sacrifices it for [[PortalNetwork Jefferson's Hat]] to retrieve a sleeping curse apple.]]
** Henry's clay handprint.
* TragicVillain
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter
* UltimateAuthorityMayor: 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 [[spoiler:getting elected Sheriff over Regina's choice of Mr. Glass.]]
* TheUnfettered
* UngratefulBastard: Emma has actually saved/helped her a couple times. She usually thanks her by trying to ruin her life.
* UnskilledButStrong: Regina is the ManipulativeBastard version of this. She's not very smart, and completely GenreBlind. But she has tools to make up for that—in the fairy tale realm her army and her magic, in Storybrooke she can cower everyone with her status as mayor. With her hate driving her, she uses these to plow through any obstacle in her path.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: [[spoiler:Revealed that Regina use to be a sweet teenage girl who was just unfortunate enough to live under an actual ''wicked mother''.]]
* TheVamp: Regina clearly ''wants'' to be this, invoking EvilIsSexy and trying to seduce men to do what she wants. It never works (probably because the men are GenreSavvy enough to know sleeping with an evil witch-queen never ends well), so she falls back to her magic and/or loyal army.
* VillainBall: Emma would have simply left Storybrooke believing that Henry was in good hands if Regina didn't show her nasty side in the Pilot by threatening to "destroy" her if she had designs on him.
** She once again grabs this in the penultimate episode of the first season. [[spoiler:Emma agreed to leave Storybrooke, but Regina decided to try to poison her anyway. Partly justified in how [[MurderTheHypotenuse 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.]]
* VillainessesWantHeroes: Besides her true love (who was a pretty nice guy), she has tried to snog Charming twice now and kept poor Graham prisoner.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: As the mayor, she gets away with murder because the town just can't imagine she'd ever sink to the depths that she actually spends most of her life in.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: With Snow White.
* WickedStepmother: To Snow White.
* WomanInBlack: 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.
* WomanScorned: Regina blames Emma for her lover leaving her. [[spoiler:She uses some leftover fairy tale magic to kill the Sheriff as she promised she would when she took him prisoner.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: The Evil Queen is primarily motivated to avenge the death of her former [[spoiler:lover, Daniel, who was killed by her abusive mother, as a result of Snow White telling her about the love between them.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: 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.
* {{Yandere}}: Towards Henry, [[IfICantHaveYou Graham]] and [[spoiler:Owen Flynn.]]

!!Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}/Mr. Gold
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Rumpelstiltskin_2136.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Rumplestiltskin:''' ''"[[{{Catchphrase}} All magic comes with a price]]!"'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Mr. Gold:''' ''"Magic... is power!"'']]
->'''Played by:''' RobertCarlyle

The manipulative and powerful "Dark One", who helps the Evil Queen enact the Dark Curse for his own purposes. In Storybrooke, he enjoys a position of power as the wealthy pawnbroker, Mr Gold, and his memories of his former self are restored he hears Emma Swan's name.

* AbusiveParents: Rumplestiltskin ''might'' be an example. [[spoiler:He kills people in front of his child. He has massive overreactions to any injury done to Bae, best shown when he turns a man into a slug and stomps on him after hitting Bae with a cart. Bae also seems to have become afraid of his father.]]
* ActionDad
* {{Adorkable}}: Surprising given his character, but he's this whenever he's around Belle.
* AdultFear: He is living in one. After his years of weakness and [[spoiler:wife running off with another man]] he clung to the power of the Dark One like an addict to his fix. But because of this addiction and refusal to let the power go when there was a viable means [[spoiler:without killing him]], he has lost what he cared for most.
* AesopAmnesia: By the end of the Season 1, he seems to have completely forgotten why he lost his son, i.e. wanting dark magic power.
** Season 2 [[spoiler:has him admit as much to Belle in that he at least openly says that his reliance of magic as a crutch has hindered... well, everything.]]
* AffablyEvil: He may be playing your deal for his own gain or just abuse the heck out of you, but he will generally do it with a laugh and smile. When he doesn't have one on, it generally isn't too good.
* TheAgeless: As Rumplestiltskin. Notice that he doesn't age a day between "That Still Small Voice" and the pilot, even though [[spoiler:Geppetto]] has aged from a young boy to an elderly man in the interim. He also tells [[spoiler:Mr. Smee]] only the Dark One has immortality.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Almost the entire long-term strategy of Rumplestiltskin/Gold boils down to [[spoiler:first keeping his son safe and then finding him]]. With all the bad things he's doing based on such a motivation it's no wonder he's a complex character. His most deplorable actions are often aimed at people [[WhosLaughingNow who insulted or injured him when he was weak]].
* AndShowItToYou: [[spoiler:To his ''wife'']]. He taught it to Regina and Cora.
* AntiVillain: [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Type II and III]]. By Season 2, all his plans have come to fruition meaning he's got nothing left to do other than wait [[spoiler:for the new Curse to be broken so he can find Bae]]. As a result, he's mostly left with cleaning up loose ends from his past without also [[spoiler:betraying Belle's trust and love in his ability to be a good man. Not exactly as easy as it sounds for someone used to being evil.]]
* {{Badass}}
** BadassBoast: Gives one to The Blue Fairy when she tells him that creating the Dark Curse is beyond his abilities:
-->'''Rumplestiltskin:''' I have all the time in the world. I will do nothing else! I will love nothing else!
** BadassGrandpa: He’s the oldest of the main cast and he’s also a very powerful sorcerer who’s not to be messed with. [[spoiler: It becomes literal in “Manhattan” after it’s discovered that he’s Henry’s grandfather]].
* BadSamaritan: 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.
* BatmanGambit:
** Between this and his information dealing.
** [[spoiler: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...
** Emma guesses he had one set up since before the Curse was activated as he foresaw her as the Savior and [[spoiler:could have gotten out of his jail anytime he wished with the AntiMagic Squid Ink he had in his cell.]] She believes that he set everything up to get to the point that [[spoiler:keeps Cora trapped in the Enchanted Forest and her own immunity to Cora's heart-removal attack.]] He denies it as he didn't create Emma, but bet on her, in most cases, because she was born of True Love.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Rumplestiltskin began his life as a kind, meek and fearful man, and turned into the ruthless and hyperconfident puppetmaster we all know.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: Rumplestiltskin 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 [[spoiler:the Beast.]]
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:Do not harm Belle or be implicated in her death]]. And it's a really, really bad idea to hurt his son. Oh also, don't break one of his deals. Remember how he reacted when Snow and Charming were going to leave without giving him their daughter's name.
* BloodbathVillainOrigin: When he becomes the Dark One, he kills the soldiers who made him bow and kiss their boots. These are the first of many deaths by his hand.
* BookEnds: At least from Episode 1 to 12 - he's in a jail in either world. [[spoiler:And again in Season 2. Storybrooke is now his prison.]]
* BrokenBird: See Regina's entry.
* BroughtDownToNormal: In the fairy tale, his magical powers were taken from him by Snow White, Prince Charming and Cinderella. [[spoiler:Taken further in Storybrooke where holding the Knife of the Dark One has no power over him anymore.]]
* BrownEyes: As Mr. Gold.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Rumplestiltskin can't remember turning a butcher into a pig, but apparently [[YouKilledMyFather that guy's son]] does.
* CampStraight: In the Enchanted Forest.
* CaneFu: In "Skin Deep" he uses it to deliver a particularly ''vicious'' beating upon the man who stole his teacup. Seriously, bones are broken.
** The beating he gives to [[spoiler:Hook]] in "The Outsider" is ''even more brutal.''
* {{Catchphrase}}: [[EquivalentExchange "All magic comes with a price"]], in a singsong voice. [[spoiler:Except the one time when he opens up to Belle and he says it with a very sad voice because he's still trapped by the magic of his own doing.]]
** To Regina: "''Please''".
* TheChessmaster: He has his hand in every plot that's going on in the show.
-->'''Regina:''' I assume this was all ''your'' doing.\\
'''Rumplestilskin:''' Most things are.
* CombatPragmatist: With all his power, he tends to either [[DealWithTheDevil talk his way out of fights]] or [[CurbStompBattle 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.
* CompositeCharacter: Of Rumplestiltskin, [[spoiler:[[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast the Beast]] and the "crocodile" in ''Disney/PeterPan''. He was also Cinderella's fairy godmother, but only after killing her ''actual'' fairy godmother.]]
* CorruptHick: As Mr. Gold to an extent, since he does not fit the part of the trope that requires the character be uneducated or a bumpkin. He is an extremely intelligent, cultured character (although Rumplestiltskin is depicted as a "country hick" to a degree in his origin episode).
* TheCorrupter: [[spoiler:He teaches Regina what appears to be addictive, jerkassery-inducing, dark magic]]. That ended well. [[spoiler:He implies that he did the same to her mother.]]
* CorruptTheCutie: All things said and done, life in the Enchanted Forest didn't exactly conspire to make his a particularly nice path. He's drafted into a war fighting awful creatures with perhaps even more awful fellow soldiers. [[spoiler:His wife leaves him for another man]]. The war lasts long enough that his son becomes at risk of being drafted. Ends up in his current situation thanks to the previous Dark One pulling a gambit on him. Loses his son as a result. Loses his true love for over three decades thanks to his archrival. It's like the Enchanted Forest needed a villain and picked him.
* CursedWithAwesome: Rumplestiltskin is cursed to be the most powerful sorcerer in the land and to have sparkly grey skin--which he may or may not be able to conceal with magic. That this ''is'' a curse is established in the Season 1 episode "Skin Deep", wherein [[spoiler:Belle almost ends it with True Love's Kiss]]. In a slight departure, while the show clearly wants us to see him as cursed, Rumplestiltskin himself never complains about his powers, and is quite sensibly freaked out at the prospect of losing them and being at the mercy of the Evil Queen, not to mention [[spoiler:losing any chance of finding his son]].
* DangerousDeserter: According to the soldier enlisting kids in the Ogre Wars, Rumple 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 [[CannonFodder drafted into the war]], at which point he [[BurnBabyBurn sets fire to a Duke's castle]], [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu stabs the Dark One in the heart to take his powers]] and [[BloodbathVillainOrigin slaughters the detachment of soldiers sent to collect his son]].
** We get some clarity on the situation in season 2. He comes across a seer who tells him that [[ExactWords his actions will leave his as-yet unborn son fatherless.]] He interprets this as him dying and so cripples himself with a maul to avoid combat and get sent home.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Seemingly the case at first by the time he [[spoiler:meets Belle]]. Subverted, a short time later, when we learn he remembers quite well.
* DeadpanSnarker: As Mr. Gold.
* DealWithTheDevil: His stock in trade. Everything from knowledge to babies to magic potions can be had... for a price.
* TheDeterminator: This PapaWolf will do anything for his son. [[spoiler: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.]]
* DidYouThinkICantFeel: At one point Rumplestiltskin is talking about the power of True Love (of which he happens to be holding a bottle). Prince Charming, rather dismissively, asks what ''he'' could possibly know about true love. Rumple is not amused: "Well, not so much as you, perhaps, but not so little as you might think."
* DirtyCoward: His FatalFlaw, and the reason why he refuses to give up his power.
* DotingParent: To his son.
* DoWrongRight: In "Child Of The Moon", he scolds Regina for enacting a sleeping curse without fully understanding how it works, hinting that he holds this viewpoint.
* DragonInChief: Regina may rule over Storybrooke with an iron first, but Mr. Gold has ''everyone'' in his back pocket, mayor included.
* TheDreaded: Mr. Gold makes everyone uneasy around Storybrooke, and Rumplestiltskin is also rather intimidating once he gets his powers.
* DrivenToVillainy: Rumplestiltskin's origins. To save his son, he took on [[TheCorruption dark powers]], [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide getting corrupted]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity in the process]].
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: Rumplestiltskin ends up progressively worse as days pass in the wake of the end of the Ogre Wars.
* 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.]]
* [[EvilBrit Evil Scot]]: Mr. Gold sports Robert Carlyle's Scottish accent.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Loves Belle and Baelfire even more than his power, but...
* EvilEyebrows
* EvilIsHammy
* EvilLaugh: As Rumplestiltskin, more like evil giggle.
* EvilMakesYouUgly: Upon becoming the new Dark One.
* EvilMentor: As the Dark One, he trained [[spoiler:Cora and Regina to become powerful sorceresses for his own personal long game plan.]] Later, [[spoiler:after the curse is broken, he seems interested in teaching Emma a bit about her magical powers inside of her.]]
** TeacherStudentRomance: [[spoiler:His relationship with Cora had a tendency to include deals sealed with a kiss, [[{{Squick}} to the agonised cries of viewers everywhere]]]].
* EvilSorcerer: Depowered shortly before the series began, but before that apparently quite a powerful one. [[spoiler:And now that the curse is broken it looks like he will be again.]]
* ExactWords: Anyone, good or bad, making a deal with him had better pay real close attention.
** Belle calls him out on this at one point.
* ExtremeDoormat: Rumplestiltskin in his first incarnation as a simple, kind, handicapped family father on the edge of poverty with gods and the world walking all over him. He gets better - that is, if upgrading himself to [[EvilSorcerer a cruel sorcerer]], [[spoiler:[[KickTheDog wife murderer]]]] and [[TheChessmaster expert puppeteer]] counts as "better".
* FatalFlaw: Cowardice. Even after becoming on the most powerful creatures in the world.
* FreudianExcuse: Rumplestiltskin's taking babies makes sense when you learn about Baelfire.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: "Desperate Souls" from Season 1 reveals Rumplestiltskin's origins as a poor sheep farmer.
* GambitRoulette: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. His long and convoluted plan ''would'' be one these, since it depends on Emma, who doesn't even exist at the time of the plan's inception, taking some very specific actions. (Coming to Storybrooke, deciding to stay there, etc.) However, it isn't one because [[spoiler:he knows everything that's going to happen for the next 28 years or so. There's no luck involved when you can see that far ahead.]]
* GigglingVillain: As the Dark One, a good part of his speech will either be outright giggling or giggling while taking. As Mr. Gold, he just smirks.
* GoldTooth: Appropriately as Mr. Gold.
* HandicappedBadass: Mr. Gold walks with a limp as a result of [[spoiler:a self-inflicted injury]] during the Ogre Wars. Doesn't stop him from intimidating and manipulating everyone in town, as well as [[CaneFu delivering beatings with his cane]].
* HealingHands: Part of his power is incredible healing magic, including [[spoiler:repairing an arm ripped off Dr. Whale with a wave of his hand.]]
* HellishPupils: As Rumplestiltskin.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: Rumplestiltskin's overarching goal is to get his son back and he manipulates everyone and everything to work towards that goal, specifically to find a magic bean that can open a portal between worlds. Only a precious few characters discover this.
* HiddenDepths: See Regina's entry.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Season 2 [[spoiler:has him trapped in Storybrooke despite bringing magic to the place. For all his plans... magic always has a price.]]
** Looked at another way, [[spoiler:he's trapped in Storybrooke ''because'' he brought magic to the place. That allowed the memory-wiping spell on the town line to function.]]
* IAmNotMyFather --> NotSoDifferent --> LikeFatherLikeSon:
** Ironically, he went into the Ogre Wars determined to prove that he wasn't a coward like his father in "Manhattan". Things only went to hell after a SelfFulfillingProphecy.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: As Rumplestiltskin, 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 TrueLovesKiss, he rejects her, believing it to be a trick.
* IdiotBall: For as wise and learned as he is, he does hold this in [[spoiler:"The Outsider" as he failed to collect the gun Hook stole from Belle. This caused Hook to keep it and be in an opportunity to shoot Belle, making her fall over the Town Line, forgetting her life as Belle.]] Though in his defense, he's had centuries imbued with overwhelming power with no real weakness - it's entirely possible he never even considered that to be a threat[[spoiler: or someone would attack his loved ones.]]
* IKnowYourTrueName: Knowing people's names gives him power over them.
* IOwnThisTown: In Storybrooke, he literally does. He owns all the land; the citizens are just his tenants.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Mr. Gold has some positive qualities and genuinely loves Belle and his son (yet is shown to break promises and/or behave cruelly toward them because of his obsession with power), and in addition to his gambits with positive outcomes, likes to make deals to screw people over and has killed for poorly justified reasons.
* KillItWithFire: The poor fairy godmother never even got a chance to scream.
* KnightTemplarParent: ''So very much''.
* KnowledgeBroker: Even in a jail cell, he knows a frightening amount about everything--but getting the information has [[DealWithTheDevil insanely steep price tags attached]].
* LaughingMad: As Rumplestiltskin.
* LoanShark: In addition to being a pawn broker and the landlord for the entire town, frequently operates as a particularly inflexible loan shark.
* LonersAreFreaks
* LovableCoward: Temporarily in "Desperate Souls" [[spoiler:before he kills The Dark One and takes his power.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil
* [[FriendOrIdolDecision Love or Son Decision]]: [[spoiler: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.]]
* [[spoiler:LukeIAmYourFather]]: [[spoiler:"Manhattan" reveals that Rumplestiltskin is Henry's paternal grandfather.]]
* MadnessMantra: Emma guesses he had one when he was trapped in his jail cell as he wrote [[spoiler:her name over and over]] and over and over again on one single page. [[spoiler:Subverted because the ink her name was written in was AntiMagic ink that would help them escape from his cell.]]
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Mr. Gold.
* ManipulativeBastard: Rarely is forced into doing something he doesn't want to do. He's also [[MagnificentBastard another kind of bastard all together]].
* MayDecemberRomance: With Belle, as he's easily centuries older than her due to being the Dark One.
* MeaningfulName: His name, Mr. Gold, is a reference to both the original and Enchanted Forest fairy tales, in which he was able to spin gold from straw.
* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: From his cell, he arranged for the Queen to unleash the Dark Curse on the Enchanted Forest. [[spoiler:He had the ink of a squid which is actually AntiMagic ink and could get him his freedom anytime he wanted.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: The one promise he ever broke: [[spoiler:He was given a chance to live with his son in another world that was without magic freeing him from the mantle of the Dark One but couldn't let go of his power and lost his son]]. He set out making the Dark Curse as a means of fixing this.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:He spares Hook's life in "The Outsider", and in return, Hook shoots Belle, which causes her to cross over the town line and lose her memories. ''Ouch''.]]
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: Calling him a coward will result in [[CaneFu him beating the shit out of you with a cane.]]
* NotMeThisTime: Despite his past pension for revenge and frame-jobs, [[spoiler:he tells Emma, Charming, and Snow he was not involved in Archie's "death" to hurt Regina.]]
* ObviouslyEvil: Just look at the picture.
* OhCrap: Tends to have composed versions of this when certain parts of his plan don't go quite the way they're supposed to, but he has a spectacular escalating series of these in "Manhattan". [[spoiler:In the past, a Seer tells him his actions on the battlefield will leave his son fatherless. At this, he is shaken, but doesn't believe all of her words. He's then scared out of his wits when he finds out the Seer's prophecy that they would ride cows into battle came true, in a figurative sense. In the present, he has the silent, genuinely stunned version when he connects the dots of why Emma knows Baelfire already - Henry is Baelfire's son, making Rumple Henry's paternal grandfather. If that wasn't enough, he then realizes that Henry is the boy in the Seer's last prophecy that would bring about his downfall]].
* PapaWolf: He is willing to kill the Dark One to try and save his son from serving in the army. [[spoiler:Shame this ended up in turning him FromNobodyToNightmare]]. 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.
* ParentsAsPeople: Before and after becoming the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin shows himself to be a loving, if very flawed father.
* PetTheDog: In Season 2, when [[spoiler:Regina calls him about Henry receiving burns from his dreams,]] Rumple makes a house call, explains the situation calmly and even provides a means of controlling the situation. The Price: [[spoiler:As it was for Henry, he charged nothing.]]
* [[spoiler:PlayAlongPrisoner: In the Season 2 episode "Queen of Hearts", it is revealed he had the key to his escape from the Fairy Tale prison all along. He just didn't use it because it would be detrimental to his plans.]]
* PoisonousFriend: Does terrible things in the name of his loved ones, even when they beg him not to.
* PragmaticVillainy: Rarely does he act on his emotions and approaches situations in a calm, calculated manner hidden beneath his smile and, for Rumple, laugh. Only when his BerserkButton is pressed does he sometimes step away from this.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: He lets fly with this in "The Stranger", though it's actually aimed at the departing Blue Fairy, one of the closest things the Enchanted Forest has to an actual deity, by all appearances.
-->'''Rumplestiltskin:''' "I WILL FIND HIM!"
* ReadTheFinePrint: As Rumplestiltskin 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.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler:Given one by Belle about his cowardice and his inability to let himself be happy.]]
* RedemptionRejection: [[spoiler:As Rumple pushes away Belle lest TrueLovesKiss turns him back to normal]]. He later regrets the decision.
** [[spoiler:He also had a chance to travel to another world with his son and start over. However, since this meant giving up his powers, he hesitated and lost his son instead.]]
* SanitySlippage: After [[spoiler:Belle loses all her memories after being shot by Hook]] Mr. Gold ''loses it'', even threatening to kill everyone if any harm befalls Belle.
* SecretKeeper: In "Skin Deep", we learn [[spoiler:he's retained at least some of his memories; he knows his real identity and remembers Belle and what happened to her.]]
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]: [[spoiler:As Rumple, he kills his housekeeper when she might have seen the Knife of the Dark One. When Baelfire replied that she was mute, Rumple justified his actions as she could still draw.]]
* SnakeTalk: As Rumplestiltskin. 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 MoralityPet.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The show consistently spells Rumplestiltskin's name as "Rumplestiltskin".
* StepfordSmiler: 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 David 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.
* StrawCharacter: Mr. Gold is a man of many professions and he plays to the worst stereotypes about all of them: he's a pawnbroker who often shades into being a LoanShark, a heartless landlord who evicts his tenants at the slightest opportunity, and an AmoralAttorney who conspires against his own clients.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: As Rumplestiltskin.
* TheSvengali: Rumplestiltskin appears to have been this to Regina in the past [[spoiler:since he was the one who taught her magic and manipulated her into using it to kill in "The Doctor".]]
* TermsOfEndangerment: Likes to refer to everyone, male and female, as "dearie." Including his fans in real life.
** Used for character purposes on Earth: he doesn't do it there until [[spoiler:it's revealed to the audience that he can remember the Enchanted Forest.]]
* TokenEvilTeammate: Shares it with Regina in Season 2.
* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler:The chipped cup Belle broke. As Rumple 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.]]
* TragicVillain
* TranquilFury: As Mr. Gold. He rarely yells and goes on a rampage when angry. He speaks in a calm voice. Even after [[spoiler:Belle loses her memory]], and he tells everyone he will ''kill all of them'' if any harm comes to Belle, he ''still'' speaks in a calm voice, taking it {{up to eleven}}.
* TheTrickster
* VillainousBreakdown: Has an epic one in Episode 12, [[spoiler:after Belle kisses him and he believes she's been working for the Queen (or trying to kill him) all along.]]
** And then when he learns about [[spoiler:the line outside of town removing the Storybrooke residents' memories if they cross it, meaning that after all his years of planning to get to this point, he's still no closer to being able to find his son.]]
* VillainsNeverLie: So far, both of his incarnations have never actually told a lie. Granted, either one may have said [[FalseReassurance something]] that is [[ExactWords "technically" true]], for [[FromACertainPointOfView 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. [[spoiler:He picked the truth. See SecretKeeper for more on what was said.]]
** He does lie right to Belle's face in that same episode, when he tells her that he doesn't care about her before [[spoiler:sending her away]]. And, of course, there was that one time he went back on a deal...
** He admits as much to Charming who notes that there's a difference between not lying and being honest.
* WhosLaughingNow: All the people who have wronged Rumplestiltskin end up regretting it. Or dead.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: [[spoiler:With his son as his MoralityPet he was still somewhat stable. However, once Bae was gone he dove into full-blown insanity.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: He ''literally'' "destroy[s] this world for the next." Probably one of the few instances where the Destroyer of Worlds actually succeeds!
* WouldntHurtAChild: For all his evil doings, he has never been seen harming, manipulating, or even raising a hand at a child. See PetTheDog for further details.
** On the other hand, he stole a potion that Emma and Regina meant to use to save Henry's life, for his own purposes. And his threat to "kill all of you" if something happened to Belle while he was out of town implicitly included Henry.
*** Though both of those are arguable. He probably knew that True Love's Kiss would save Henry (but he used the opportunity to have Emma retrieve his potion), and the inclusion of Henry in "all" is only a vague possibility.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Former Regulars]]
!!The Huntsman/Sheriff Graham Humbert
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Huntsman_4248.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''The Huntsman:'''''"I gave up my heart so that the Queen would spare Snow's. Don't let my sacrifice be in vain."'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Sheriff Graham Humbert:'''''"It's my heart, Emma. I need to find it."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Jamie Dornan

A quiet, introverted Huntsman who is employed by Queen Regina to kill Snow White. In Storybrooke, he's the town's sheriff who is having a secret relationship with Regina Mills.

* {{Adorkable}}: Constant ties and vests? Check. Cute accent? Check. Complete inability to impress a girl with his jokes? Check.
* BadassBeard
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: He maintains that he cannot feel and presumably keeps searching for something that will help in that regards. He eventually settles on Emma.
* DirtyCop: He toes the line of this trope whenever Regina is involved. He doesn't ''want'' to be, but he's enthralled so he can't defy her.
* EmptyShell: Thanks to having his heart ripped out by the Evil Queen.
* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Everyone Calls Him The Huntsman]]: In the Enchanted Forest.
* [[EvilBrit Evil Irish]]: Played with. His close interactions with the Mayor have some very sinister overtones and he sides with her by default, but he otherwise seems helpful and just as Sheriff. We later learn he doesn't have much of a choice but to side with the mayor at all times.
* FairCop
* HappilyAdopted: As the Huntsman, he seems very happy with his wolf family who took him in after his parents abandoned him.
* HeartTrauma: The Evil Queen does to this to him when she finds out he let Snow White go. Results in his [[KilledOffForReal ultimate demise]] when Regina decides to destroy his heart after he dumps her.
* HellBentForLeather
* {{Hipster}}: He sure dresses like one in his Storybrooke form.
* HumansAreBastards: As the Huntsman, he seemed more willing to kill people than animals and in general thought that a human being could never be innocent until he met Snow White.
* ImprobableAimingSkills
* IncrediblyLamePun[=/=]DontExplainTheJoke: In Episode 2, his weak joke to Emma about hurting the town's "signage" because she knocked over their sign.
* KilledOffForReal
* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade
* ManlyTears: Many as the Huntsman.
* MrFanservice
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: He carries out Regina's commands though he does sometimes question them.
* NotGoodWithPeople: As the Huntsman, he prefers the company of animals to that of people. The Evil Queen mistakes this for ruthlessness.
* PunchClockVillain
* RaisedByWolves: In the Enchanted Forest, it's to the point that he doesn't acknowledge having a name, though he's somehow learned human speech and is literate.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: To the extent that Regina will let him.
* SacrificialLion
* SexSlave: Once his heart is removed, he is this to the Queen and Regina in both worlds.
* TheSheriff
* ShirtlessScene: At the end of Episode 4.
* TallDarkAndHandsome
* TinMan: After the Evil Queen removed his heart.
* WaistcoatOfStyle

!![[Literature/{{Pinocchio}} Jiminy Cricket]]/Dr. Archibald "Archie" Hopper
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Jiminy_Cricket_2874.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Jiminy Cricket:''' ''"Giving into one's dark side never accomplishes anything."'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Archie Hopper:''' ''"You'll ruin my life? You'll do your worst? Because I will always do my best."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Raphael Sbarge, Adam Young (child), Morgan Roff (teenager)

The son of vile criminals whose desire for an honest life results in his transformation into a cricket. In Storybrooke, he's a psychiatrist named Archie Hopper.

* {{Adorkable}}
* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:After he fails to get rid of his parents and instead turns an innocent couple into puppets, he swears to help their son, Geppeto.]]
* BackAlleyDoctor: Harmlessly so. Lampshaded by Regina in "The Cricket Game".
-->'''Regina:''' Need I remind you, you got your [=PhD=] from a curse.
* CelibateHero: He has no love interest in the Enchanted Forest or Storybrooke and he hasn't showed romantic interest in anyone.
* TheChick
* TheConscience: He is Jiminy Cricket after all. Archie plays the role as a psychologist. When everyone finds out about the curse, and an angry mob goes after Regina, he's one of the few people that tell them [[ThouShaltNotKill it would be wrong to kill her.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: 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 [TheConscience] he was a guy who took a long time to figure out... the right thing to do.
* CowardlyLion: Jiminy was such an ExtremeDoormat that he gave up his humanity just to get away from his thieving family. However, Regina made the mistake of trying to interfere in his treatment for Henry. Instant backbone and set of BrassBalls showed up, and he threatened her by saying that he could be a deciding factor if Emma wanted to sue Regina for custody of the kid.
* DemotedToExtra: Raphael Sbarge is now a guest star in Season 2.
* ExtremeDoormat:
** 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.
* FunnyAnimal: In his cricket form.
* GrewASpine
* GuiltComplex: See TheAtoner.
* TheHeart
* HeroesLoveDogs: He owns a Dalmatian named [[Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Pongo]].
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Marco[=/=]Geppetto in Storybrooke.
* InnocentBlueEyes
* MyGreatestFailure: He sees what happened to [[spoiler:Geppetto's parents as this for him]]. And so sets himself up as TheAtoner to repent.
* NerdGlasses
* NiceGuy: Even nice to Mr. Gold, a feat no one else in the town seems to be capable of.
** In "We Are Both" he even finds it in him to be nice to [[spoiler:''Regina'', despite knowing what she did to him and everyone else!]]
* OlderThanHeLooks: The Blue Fairy stopped him from aging in order for him to have as much time as possible to help Geppetto.
* PurposeDrivenImmortality: The Blue Fairy promises Jiminy Cricket that he will live as long as he needs to in order to help Geppetto.
* ScyllaAndCharybdis: He has this between his ManipulativeBastard 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.
* SecretKeeper: 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.
* TheShrink: In Storybrooke. It's still too early to call, but Archie seems to skate between Types II and III. He generally sees Henry.
** When [[spoiler:August was pretending to be Baelfire and Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold believed the ruse]], he asked Archie's advise about what he should do in this situation.
** [[spoiler:In Season 2, Regina is seeing him about her issues with control and using magic.]]

!![[spoiler:Literature/{{Pinocchio}}]]/August Booth
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Pinnochio_1682.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''[[spoiler:Pinocchio]]:''' ''"I don't wanna go. I don't wanna leave you!"'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''August Booth:''' ''"If you need evidence for everything, Emma, you're going to find yourself stuck in one place for a long time."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Eion Bailey

The adopted son of Gepetto, Pinocchio is saved from the Dark Curse and sent with Emma to be her protector. However, he abandons her early on and takes the alias, August Booth, only to return to Storybrooke many years later.

* AgentMulder
* TheAtoner: 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.
* BadassBiker
* BigBrotherInstinct: WordOfGod has confirmed that they've moved August into big brother territory with Emma.
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: After 28 years of (mostly) ignoring TheCall, woke up in agony and discovered that he's slowly being turned back into a puppet.
* CoolBike
* DeadpanSnarker
* FatalFlaw: He has zero ability to resist temptation.
* HellBentForLeather
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: [[spoiler:He convinced Neal to leave Emma and let her get arrested so that she could focus on breaking the curse.]]
* IllBoy: Without magic, he is beginning to turn back into a wooden puppet.
* ImpliedLoveInterest: 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?
* ItsForABook
* LeaveYourQuestTest: He failed it.
* LongLostRelative: {{Subversion}}. He tricks Mr. Gold into thinking he is Rumplestiltskin's son and MoralityPet Baelfire, but he's not. Mr. Gold is... displeased with this development.
** Later played straight with his father, Geppetto.
* NoNameGiven: Initially, leading to him being referenced as "The Stranger" in all promotional materials. In Episode 13 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''.
* PermaStubble: "A typewriter wrapped in an enigma wrapped in stubble."
* PinocchioNose: 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.
* PinocchioSyndrome
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: After Episode 16, "Heart of Darkness", Eion Bailey started being credited as a series regular.
** DemotedToExtra: However, in Season 2, he is no longer billed in the opening credits.
* PromotionToParent: Defied. Geppetto entrusted him with the responsibility of ensuring Emma would know what it was she was destined to do when Emma was old enough, but he left her to run away with the other foster kids.
* ReplacementLoveInterest: He showed up pretty quickly after Graham's death. Then it's revealed that the real reason he showed up was to convince Emma that the curse is real because he was turning back into wood. He actually does not have any real romantic interest in her.
* TakenForGranite: August is suffering a slower, nastier case of this as his body turns back to wood.
* TallDarkAndHandsome
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Upgraded to Regular]]

!![[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood Red Riding Hood]]/Ruby
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RedLucas_1294.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Red Riding Hood:''' ''"When there's something I want, I'm good at tracking it down."'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Ruby:''' ''"I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna screw it up. I mean, I'll screw up with flair, but..."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Meghan Ory

A confident young woman from a small village with a dark secret. In Storybrooke, she's a flirtatious waitress named Ruby.

* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:She accidentally kills Anita while trying to stop her from killing Snow.]]
* ActionGirl
* AmbiguouslyBi: Her flirtatious scenes with both men and women have some fans wondering.
* BareYourMidriff: In her waitress outfit.
* {{Badass}}: Explicitly described as such by Henry.
* TheBigBadWolf: In this verse, she is the reason why people should stay on the path when going to grandmother's house.
* TheBigGuy: As the Big Bad Wolf.
* [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Bratty Teenage Granddaughter]]: Her EstablishingCharacterMoment shows her bickering with Granny while wearing slutty goth clothing, talking about how much she wants to leave Storybrooke, and Granny sarcastically apologizes that her heart attack kept Ruby from ''sleeping [her] way down the eastern seaboard." Ruby has matured since then, however.
* BreakTheCutie: Ruby/Red starts out as the show's/town's eye candy and apparent "town bimbo" until her dark backstory is revealed and we learn she's a werewolf, at which point the show's depiction of the character turns in a totally new direction. Season 2 provided further BTC potential in "Child of the Moon", [[spoiler:though she ultimately prevails, both in the present and the past.]]
* BrokenBird: Red as the Big Bad Wolf ate her True Love and she doesn’t believe it is possible for her to love again because she is afraid of killing them.
* BuffySpeak: Calls her wolf ornament, which appears to be a long held item very important to her, her "wolf thing."
** Given ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' alumnus Jane Espenson is one of the show's writers (and writer of the Ruby-centric "Red-Handed"), this trope was inevitable.
* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Both of her love interests were killed. Peter was eaten and Billy was murdered by King George.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Ruby is notorious for her provocative clothing. After she discovers the heart in the box and reconciles with her grandmother, her clothing is less revealing, alluding to the fact that the discovery has matured her. She also wears significantly less makeup, and eventually her red highlights disappear.
* ChekhovsGift: The iconic red cloak from her grandmother. In fact, Granny had a warlock make it to prevent Red from turning into a wolf.
* ColorMotif: 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.
* CompositeCharacter: She's Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.
** And her friendship with Snow might make her a version of the second title character from ''Literature/SnowWhiteAndRoseRed''.
* TheConsigliere[=/=]NumberTwo: To Charming. In "We Are Both" she tries to keep order while Charming is distracted by Emma and Snow's situation, and is the one that convinces him that he needs to focus on the town, because they need him too.
* CoolBigSis: Ruby shows signs of being one to Henry, such as taking the time to personally come all the way to the mines just to bring him a muffin while he's watching the others work and promising to be back again with lunch. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Fridge Heartwarming]] sets in when you remember that she's his grandmother's best friend.
* CuteBruiser: This is especially shown in "Child of the Moon", where she's seen judo flipping Quinn.
* DarkAndTroubledPast
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: In hindsight, Ruby is this and for good reason. She's the Big Bad Wolf. She transitions into [[RavenHairIvorySkin lighter archetypes]] over the first season for spoiler reasons.
* EmoTeen: As Ruby, pre-CharacterDevelopment.
* ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl: Her little extra somethin' comes with being a werewolf.
* FanNickname: Fans like to think that her Storybrooke last name is Lucas since it was Granny's last name in the Enchanted Forest.
* FanserviceWithASmile: 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.
* FireForgedFriends: With Snow White.
* AFriendInNeed: 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 too. She's also become one to Belle, expressing concern over Belle's well being when they've only just met, offering her a place to stay until she gets back on her feet, and giving her the idea of reopening the Storybrooke library.
* GoodBadGirl
* GoodIsNotSoft
* GreenEyes
* HellBentForLeather: She tends to have at least one article of clothing that's leather and there's a certain FridgeBrilliance in regards to her clothing choices. Leather is skin. This reflects on the fact that as a werewolf, she's a woman wearing the body of a wolf and vice versa.
* HelloNurse
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Snow, whom she calls family.
* ImAHumanitarian: Poor, poor Peter.
* IAmWhatIAm: Red decides [[spoiler:not to chose between being a human (like Granny wanted) or a wolf (like Anita wanted), finally accepting that she's both herself and the wolf]] in "Child of the Moon".
* TheKillerInMe: Type B. Red was told to stay inside whenever the full moon was out, because a gigantic wolf was stalking around the village. It turns out she WAS the werewolf, and Granny was trying to protect other villagers by keeping her inside. Red of course had no idea it was her, and often sneaked out anyways, causing gruesome murders every so often.
* TheLancer: Becomes this to Charming after the curse is broken and [[spoiler:Emma and Snow are sucked into the Enchanted Forest.]]
* LegacyCharacter: Red is the granddaughter of the original Big Bad Wolf.
* LightningBruiser: As the wolf and she's no slouch when human either.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: [[WordOfGod Meghan Ory]] sees Charming as a sort of brother figure to Red; "He’s the younger brother sometimes, and sometimes he’s the older brother."
* LittleRedFightingHood: 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.
* LovelyAngels: With Snow in the Enchanted Forest as seen in "Child of the Moon".
* MadeOfIron: Red seems to be immune to any weapon while in the form of a werewolf. When Granny shot Red and turned her back into a human, Red didn't seem to have any wounds from the attack.
** It's possible that werewolves are only injured by definitely fatal wounds given that [[spoiler:Red [[AccidentalMurder kills]] [[SelfMadeOrphan Anita]] by [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling her while she was in wolf form]].]]
* MagicPants: Her clothes disappear when she turns into a wolf, and reappear when she turns back into human.
* MsFanservice
* MulticoloredHair: In Season 1, her dark brown hair has red streaks in it.
* TheNoseKnows: This is something that Red retains in Storybrooke after the curse is broken, due to her being The Big Bad Wolf in the Enchanted Forest.
-->'''Red:''' Lately since things changed, I've been a little more sensitive to odors.\\
'''Gold:''' You can ''smell'' her?\\
'''Red:''' ''(gives him a look)'' I guess it's because of the "wolf" thing.
* OddFriendship: She often hangs out with Billy the mechanic.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: "Red" is a nickname, but no one has ever even mentioned that she ''has'' a real name, let alone what it is. [[spoiler:Her mother never even used it.]]
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent
* ParentalAbandonment: Red's mother died when she was a baby from being mortally wounded by a hunting party. There's no mention Red's father which has lead some to believe that he's not in the picture or he is dead, too, leaving Red as a orphan.
** Season 2 shows that [[spoiler:Granny apparently took Red and ran to keep her young granddaughter away from Anita, who embraced the wolf lifestyle, making up a story that Red's mother had been killed. There's never any mention of Red's father]]. By the end of the episode, [[spoiler:Red is an orphan again, having (accidentally) killed her mother in order to save Snow's life.]]
* PerkyGoth
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Meghan Ory joins the regular cast in Season 2 (which given she appeared in more episodes of Season 1 than Raphael Sbarge - eighteen to his ''[[AbsenteeActor ten]]'' - is justified).
* [[RaisedByGrandparents Raised By Grandmother]]
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: With Snow and she seems to be developing one with Belle.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker
* [[spoiler:SelfMadeOrphan]]: [[spoiler:Though it was an accident.]]
* ShesGotLegs
* SmallTownBoredom: In the pilot, Ruby was a rebellious young woman who had plans to get out of Storybrooke and move to Boston. However, these plans were halted by her grandmother's sudden heart attack, and Ruby had been working at Granny's Diner to make ends meet ever since.
* TheSouthpaw
* StreetSmart
* StrongFamilyResemblance: "Child of the Moon" shows that Red looks a lot like [[spoiler:Anita, her mother.]]
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: When in or transforming into wolf form.
* SuperSpeed: Post-Curse, she now has this even in her human form as she was able to travel fifty yards from standing still to catch [[spoiler:Frankenstein before he could jump off the pier.]]
* TeamMom: She's shaping up to be this in Season 2 since she spends a lot of time taking care of the others, especially Belle and Henry and she's usually seen feeding them. Which plays into the less-explored aspect of her origins as a girl bringing food to her grandmother.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Learns that she's the wolf after killing her lover, Peter.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to Snow and Belle's Girly Girl.
* {{Xenafication}}: This Little Red Riding Hood kicks copious amounts of ass, though in her case, it's because she is the Wolf in this adaptation—the trademark red cloak is an enchanted item that keeps her from transforming, and once she finds out the truth, she uses her wolf form to help her friends—after making sure they get far away from her first.

!![[Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast Belle]]/Lacey French
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BelleFrench_6655.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Belle:''' ''"No one decides my fate but me."'']]
[[caption-width-right:350: '''Lacey:''' ''"I learned a long time ago that when you find something that's worth fighting for, you never give up."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Emilie de Ravin

The bookish, intelligent daughter of Sir Maurice with a thirst for adventure. She forms a romantic, but troubled relationship with Rumpelstiltskin.

* {{Adorkable}}: She definitely has her moments in Season 2, expressing child-like wonder over iced tea and the pancakes that Red serves her. She's also pretty enthusiastic about trying a hamburger for the first time.
* AmnesiacLover: As Belle had no memories of Rumple after being locked up in an asylum for 28 years, when she walks into his shop, she is one to him, albeit only briefly before her memories were restored.
** [[spoiler:As of "The Outsider", Belle is this again, thanks to Hook.]]
* ArrangedMarriage: What her engagement to Gaston would have been, if certain things hadn't changed...
* AscendedExtra: In the first season, she only appears in three episodes. In the second season, she has been upgraded to a main character.
* UsefulNotes/AustralianAccent: This is mostly due to Emilie de Ravin being Australian herself.
* {{Badass}}
* BedlamHouse: The end of "Skin Deep" reveals that in Storybrooke, she's been locked up in one of these by Regina. The reason Regina did this? To have an ace up her sleeve against Rumple.
* {{Bookworm}}: When Belle is first seen, she is hugging a book to her chest. Later in the episode "The Crocodile", she becomes the town librarian.
** BadassBookworm: In "The Outsider". Highlights include tracking down the Yaoguai because she can translate a foreign language, pushing a bookshelf on Hook, [[spoiler:defeating the Yaoguai by dousing it with water and then saving Phillip, figuring out Hook came on his ship, finding the invisible ship, freeing Archie and getting him to call for help, retrieving Baelfire's cloak, and fighting off Hook who had her gun.]]
* BrainyBrunette: Shows off her intelligence in "The Outsider".
* [[BreakTheCutie Break the Beauty]][=/=]BrokenBird: In the Enchanted Forest, after she left Rumplestiltskin 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 Rumple, 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 ShoutOut to OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest.
** [[spoiler:In "Dreamy", it is revealed she was still very much alive in the Enchanted Forest, though still heartbroken. So how much of her shunning as told by Regina being true is up in the air.]]
** It's possible that she is this [[spoiler:post-Curse, since she clearly remembers her twenty-eight-year, unwarranted stint in the mental ward and mentions that Regina had actually abducted her ''before'' the Curse]]. As Gold points out, [[spoiler:this means that she was being kept alive until killing her suited Regina, something he considers a FateWorseThanDeath. It's likely that she knows that this is what Regina was doing, and when she's talking to Gold about it she does seem to be at least partially traumatized.]]
** As of "Queen of Hearts", [[spoiler:we know that Regina held her captive for three to four years ''before'' the curse even started.]]
* CallingTheOldManOut: She does this to Moe in "The Crocodile" after he [[spoiler:had her kidnapped and tried to force her over the Storybrooke border to make her forget about Rumplestiltskin, stating that she never wants to see him again.]]
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: By her own admission, she's always wanted to be brave, and her choice to go with Rumple was motivated by a desire to be the hero. She basically jumps at the chance to perform a (nonlethal) HeroicSacrifice.
* ColorMotif: Belle is usually seen wearing some shade of yellow or blue.
* CombatPragmatist
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: To be fair, Daddy's got pretty good reason to disapprove.
* DramaticDrop: After Rumplestiltskin's joke about skinning children she drops a cup.
* DrivenToSuicide: According to the Evil Queen, this was what happened to Belle. Of course, it turns out to be BlatantLies.
* FanNickname: Fans liked to think her Storybrooke name is Isabel Rose French before it was revealed to be Lacey.
* FishOutOfWater: Of sorts in Storybrooke since she’s been locked in an insane asylum for the past 28 years.
* HoneyTrap: When Belle mentions who she learned about TrueLovesKiss from a noble woman on the road, Rumple assumes Belle is an agent of the Queen's meant to fulfill this trope.
* HopelessWithTech: Supplementary material has revealed that she's unfamiliar with modern technology so Gold usually writes her instructions on how to make breakfast. Unsurprisingly, she seems to be picking up the basics pretty quickly.
* HotLibrarian: In "The Crocodile", Ruby gives Belle the idea of working at the shuttered Storybrooke library. At the end of the episode, Rumple gives her its key so she can open and run it.
* ICanChangeMyBeloved: Belle insists on staying with Rumplestiltskin not despite the fact, but ''because'' he's a monster.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: She's prisoner of the most powerful and dangerous sorcerer of her world. She befriends him and he falls in love with her.
** Similarly, her first move when dealing with Hook is to try and persuade him to give up his revenge.
* InnocentBlueEyes
* [[spoiler:LaserGuidedAmnesia]]: [[spoiler:Gets hit with this in "The Outsider". Ironic, considering she barely avoided this fate a few episodes earlier.]]
* TheLostLenore: To Rumplestiltskin (he believed her to be dead for many years, thanks to Regina).
* LoveMartyr: To Rumplestiltskin. After an initial rejection from him and [[spoiler:her being in a cell in an asylum for 28 years]], the start of the second season sees them in a relationship of sorts. They both avowedly love each other, but Gold is still fully capable of being a manipulative jerk, and sweet mother of Shakespeare, does Belle pay the price for it, be it through Gold himself or one of his many enemies recognizing Belle as the weak spot in his armour.
* MayDecemberRomance: With Rumplestiltskin.
* MeaningfulName: "Belle" is a French word, meaning "beauty".
* MissingMom
* MoralityPet: For Gold. She seems to be trying for MoralityChain.
* NervesOfSteel: Not only is she able to hold her own with Rumplestiltskin without losing her cool, but she's also remarkably calm around Ruby despite knowing [[spoiler:she's a werewolf]]. Justified in that an essential part of the story of Beauty and the Beast is Belle standing up to the Beast long enough to see him for what he is rather than running away from what seems to be a monster.
* TheOneThatGotAway
* PluckyGirl
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Emilie de Ravin joins the regular cast in Season 2.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives one to Rumple about his cowardice and his inability to let himself be happy.
* RebelliousPrincess: Part of the reason she agreed to Rumplestiltskin'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.
* ShoutOut: Gets a number of these towards her Disney incarnation. Her Beast though is certainly quite different.
* SilkHidingSteel
* SpiritedYoungLady
* ThrowTheBookAtThem: A whole bookcase, in fact.
* TrueBlueFemininity
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter
* UnwittingPawn
* YouGoGirl: Belle is finally independent despite having a sexist father (she hints that her fiance was the same) and escapes an ArrangedMarriage.

!!Captain Killian "[[Literature/PeterPan Hook]]" Jones
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Killian_Jones_4061.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Captain Hook:''' ''"A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets."'']]
->'''Played by:''' Colin O'Donoghue

A notorious pirate who was shielded from the Dark Curse and has history with Rumpelstiltskin.

* AffablyEvil
* AndShowItToYou: [[spoiler:Took out Aurora's heart when she was captured. Cora presumably taught him.]]
** [[spoiler:He also tried this on Cora when Regina enchanted his hook to allow him to do so for one heart. Obviously, it failed.]]
* AntiVillain: Hook almost runs the gamut of the SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains from Type I to Type III.
** Type I: At least on the surface, Hook's very well mannered and suggests [[EvenEvilHasStandards he has standards]], but we haven't seen them yet. He seems to be becoming a NobleTopEnforcer in exchange for help reaching his own goal.
** Type II: He's become a would-be SympatheticMurderer.
** Type III: The WellIntentionedExtremist. Not only would many people in this narrative line up and pay to watch Hook skin his "crocodile", they would probably help - even without knowing his motivations. They'd disapprove of who he's teamed up with to accomplish this, though.
* {{Badass}}
** BadassBeard
** BadassBoast: [[spoiler:"Excellent. You'll be able to see your daughter, and I can skin me a crocodile."]]
** BadassLongcoat
* BigBadDuumvirate: Is shaping up to be this with Cora for Season 2.
* TheCharmer: Oh, ''yes''. [[spoiler:Spends most of "Tallahassee" flirting with Emma and winks at both Aurora and Snow (who is unimpressed).]]
* TheChewToy: For a {{Badass}} pirate, he sure gets his ass handed to him a lot. Emma kicks his ass no less than five times.
* ConsummateLiar: He even managed to trick ''Rumplestiltskin''. [[spoiler:But failed with Emma.]]
* DeadpanSnarker
* [[spoiler:DeathSeeker]]: Strongly implied to be thus in "The Outsider".
* TheDragon: His relationship with Cora falls somewhere between this and BigBadDuumvirate.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: As you can expect from a WildCard.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Genuinely loved Milah, tells her to run after Rumplestiltskin almost rips his heart out, and still wants to be reunited with her. [[spoiler: See DeathSeeker above.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As despicable as some of his actions may be, he ''does'' adhere to some sort of personal code. [[spoiler:Despite taking Aurora's heart, he's uncomfortable with the idea of her being permanently without it. So after he accomplishes what he wants with the item, he ensures that it gets returned to Aurora as it's "good form."]]
** He also seems to show some disdain for Cora's plot to win Regina back, even if he does go along with it.
-->'''Hook:''' Did you get what you wanted?\\
'''Cora:''' Yes, my daughter has lost everything now.\\
'''Hook:''' Well, aren't you mum of the year.
* [[EvilBrit Evil Irish]]
* {{Expy}}: For [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Sparrow]].
* TheFettered: He may be a pirate, but he fights with a code of honour.
* {{Guyliner}}
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: He keeps switching sides every other episode.
** ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: It looks like he'll work with anyone who will help him get revenge on Rumplestiltkin.
* HellBentForLeather
* HookHand: [[spoiler:Courtesy of Rumplestiltskin, the "crocodile".]]
* HotGuysAreBastards
* IcyBlueEyes
* ItsAllAboutMe: To say Hook doesn't care about anyone but himself would be a gross understatement.
* {{Jerkass}}
** [[spoiler:JerkWithAHeartOfJerk]]
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Goes hand in hand with being a WellIntentionedExtremist. Hook does not hesitate if it would further his own goals.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Shoot Belle in the shoulder and make her forget everything? Cue being run over by a car.]]
* LeeroyJenkins: Whenever Rumplestiltskin is involved.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Granted that the series isn't allowed to be too graphic, [[spoiler:but Hook reacts to Rumplestiltskin ''cutting his freaking hand off'' with far less screaming and flailing around than he by all rights should have done.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:He plays Aurora to get her under Cora's control.]]
* MrFanservice: His brief appearance on the promo of the episode "We Are Both" was enough to grasp the attention of female fans everywhere (and some male fans as well) and cause a mass array of comments on the Internet regarding his attractiveness.
* NobleDemon: But only if it's helping his cause out in return...
* {{Pirate}}
* PrettyBoy: Lampshaded by Cora.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: [[http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/10/03/colin-odonoghue-hook/ ABC and producers just upgraded Colin O’Donoghue to a series regular]] for the last 9 episodes of Season 2 — even before his character’s first episode has aired.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver
* SuicideByCop: Semi-inverted. His goal is revenge, but seems oddly obssessed with Gold killing him. He ''encourages'' the man to rip out his heart! Presumably, he wants to be with Milah again.
* TallDarkAndHandsome [[TallDarkAndSnarky and Snarky]]
* TwoAliasesOneCharacter
* WickedCultured: An evil, bloodthirsty pirate he may be, but he also possesses the meticulous style and old-school manners of a proper gentleman.
* WildCard: His only allegiance is to himself.
* WouldHitAGirl: [[spoiler:Ripping out Aurora's heart. Back handing and then ''trying to stab Belle with his hook''.]] What a ''bitch''.
** Then there's "The Outsider", where he [[spoiler:''shoots Belle in the shoulder''.]]
[[/folder]]

* RedheadedHero

* MosesInTheBullrushes: Was teleported out of the fairy tale realm by way of a [[Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe magic wardrobe]] before the curse overtook the kingdom.

* HowDoYouLikeThemApples: 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 [[spoiler:Henry eats it instead.]]

** And her friendship with Snow might make her a version of the second title character from ''SnowWhiteAndRoseRed''.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Fitting for his role of Prince Charming being a good and noble knight.

* MamaBear: Despite not allowing him to call her "Mom", she is easily pissed and blindly protective of Henry when his happiness is threatened, sometimes verging into KnightTemplarParent territory.