When Disney and ABC launched the TV series Once Upon A Time in 2011, viewers were immediately intrigued by how the show weaved traditional fairy tales straight out of Disney movies as brand new stories. The live-action series not only empowered some of the more helpless Disney princesses, but also brought many of Disney’s animated characters to life in a way that no one had ever seen before. Each character got a new twist to their story, meaning that although everyone knew who these characters were, no one really knew what would happen to them.
The series successfully introduced a cavalcade of new stories for Disney and fairy tale characters throughout its seven seasons, including fan favorites from Disney’s catalog of classic characters. The writers for the show gave each character their own storyline and weaved that story into the whole of what happened in Storybrooke. Although there were also happily ever afters, each character had to fight to get earn their happy ending. Some new characters played into the stories of other characters. Some recent additions stayed in the background, but their presence still meant something to those who watched the show.
Although Once Upon A Time wrapped up its story earlier this year, many of those new, beloved characters will always remain in the hearts and minds of viewers. There are other characters who joined the show later, though, that are probably best forgotten.
Here are 12 New Character Additions That Hurt Once Upon A Time (And 13 That Saved It).
Saved: Baelfire
There were many other male characters that the show didn’t waste, however. One of those characters was Baelfire, Rumpelstiltkin’s son.
Baelfire was the reason for almost everything that Rumpelstiltskin did, but he also played an essential part on the series as a whole.
Emma and Neal once fell in love, which resulted in the conception of Henry, who helped break the town’s curse.
Baelfire was also a hero, sacrificing himself to save his father. Emma went on to name her second son after him.
Hurt: Prince Phillip
Once Upon A Time seemed to have a problem with most of its male characters, particularly its princes. Most princes were arm candy for their princesses, with very little character development.
Prince Phillip was only on the series to become Aurora’s intended. In the end, though, his presence did nothing more than hurt Aurora’s character development.
Mulan was in love with Aurora. The series would have been so much better had Prince Phillip never showed up, so that the two women could have had a romantic relationship with each other.
Saved: Captain Hook
Captain Hook was such a great addition to Once Upon A Time in season two that he probably should have been a character in season one.
This is not the Hook that Disney fans are familiar with: this is a handsome and young Hook with eyeliner and a swagger that would send mermaids into hysterics should they see him.
He wasn’t just eye candy: he was also a character that got a chance at redemption by falling in love with Emma Swan.
He also had a double from an alternate universe that redeemed himself by finding his daughter, Alice.
Hurt: Mad Hatter
Here’s a tip: if a show is going to introduce the world of Wonderland, as well as the Mad Hatter, it needs to get him just right.
Jefferson was actually an entertaining character, and his story as the Mad Hatter was well-written, but then the actor who portrayed him, Sebastian Stan, got a little busy working for Marvel, and Once fans never saw him again.
That’s why he was a weak addition to the show: because he ended up getting forgotten.
Saved: Alice (Hyperion Heights)
Although the reboot of season 7 was somewhat hit or miss, one character shined throughout the season. That was the character of Alice (or Tilly).
She was beautifully written as this slightly damaged girl, but viewers knew right from the beginning that there was something special about her.
The story that led her to discover that her father was Hook made the character even better, and she was one of the highlights of Once Upon A Time’s final season. Her relationship with Robin, too, was well thought out and acted.
Hurt: Gideon
One story that was a confusing mess of timeline and continuity was the one involving Gideon, the son of Belle and Rumpelstiltskin.
While in the womb, Gideon gave his mother dreams to help protect him from his father, who was often dangerous. After his birth, he fell into the clutches of the Black Fairy, who whisked him away to a world where time moved differently.
She darkened his heart, and he became one of the weakest villains to walk the streets of Storybrooke.
Saved: Cruella de Vil
Who doesn’t love Cruella de Vil? She is one of the most iconic Disney villains, and her love for puppy fur makes he unbelievably vicious.
Her addition to Once Upon A Time was a good one, and she easily stood out as one of the best villains to torment Emma Swan and her family.
A lot of that had everything to do with the actress who portrayed her, Victoria Smurfit, who channeled Cruella in a way that was even better than Glenn Close’s portrayal of the character in the live action 101 Dalmatians movie.
Hurt: Lucy
The seventh season of Once Upon A Time offered a slight reboot to the series. It started with a young girl, Lucy, showing up at a grown-up Henry’s door and telling him that she is his daughter. She goes on to inform him that he is in love with Cinderella, her mother.
It’s a retelling of the original story of how Henry went to Emma, but one thing was drastically different: Lucy wasn’t nearly as charming as young Henry. Instead, Lucy came across as more of a pest. Although she was right, she was very sanctimonious about it.
Saved: Zelena
One of the best villains to ever exist in fiction is the Wicked Witch. When Once Upon A Time introduced her to Storybrooke as Zelena, she made quite the impression. She also got a lot of good history and the twist that she was Regina’s sister just added a nice touch to her overall story.
Zelena was one of the few characters who could share a scene with Regina and still stand out.
She added a lot of wicked fun in both Storybrooke and Hyperion Heights. Long live the Wicked Witch!
Hurt: Gothel
The writers of Once Upon A Time wanted to create a big bad with Gothel, but she was mostly just a huge miss.
Sure, her story began interesting enough, especially when fans learned that she was a wood sprite who was angry with humans for destroying her grove.
In the end, her defeat came from the usual: true love’s kiss.
And it didn’t even come in the series finale.
Although she was supposedly the big bad of Once’s final season, she was not quite as bad as Doctor Facilier.
Saved: Robin Hood
It’s surprising that Robin Hood didn’t appear in Once Upon A Time until its second season. His story didn’t even really start until later seasons.
He was basically the character fans knew from myth, but the twist came when he met and fell in love with Regina Mills, the Evil Queen. Of course, their path to happiness was a rocky one, especially with the Evil Queen being held responsible for the loss of Maid Marian, but in the end, true love prevailed.
Well, it prevailed until he perished. But he helped Regina find her path to goodness.
Hurt: Rapunzel and her daughters (Hyperion Heights)
The final season of Once Upon A Time felt all over the place. One of the storylines that felt muddled was that of the Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters.
Although Once often rewrote the backgrounds of these fairy tale characters, it got weird when fans learned that the Evil Stepmother was Rapunzel.
She was often annoying and not quite as villainous as one might believe.
Rapunzel and Drizella were weak villains, and the whole story arc about saving Anastasia didn’t make a lot of sense.
Saved: Mulan
One of the best and most underrated characters of Once Upon A Time is Mulan. Everyone knows Mulan’s story, but there was so much more to her on the series.
First, she was a lesbian - one of the first LGBT characters on the series. Two, she helped train Merida in sword fighting. Three, she was in love with Aurora.
It was her love for Aurora that the writers did a complete disservice to. Mulan got up the nerve to tell Aurora how she felt, but before she could say anything, Aurora announced that she was pregnant with Phillip’s child. Mulan, stricken, left and fans didn’t see that much of her after that.
Hurt: Peter Pan
Peter Pan had the opportunity to become one of the most fun characters on Once Upon A Time.
His story was bogged down with so much baggage that instead of a happy flying boy, he was more of a grumpy old man trapped in a boy’s body.
He also became a villain, in search of a true believer’s heart so he could gain immortality.
Sure, it’s a twist from what fans knew of the character, but it didn’t work. Things got even weirder, though, when viewers learned that he was also Rumpelstiltkin’s father.
Saved: Merida
Merida was the first Disney princess who didn’t have a love interest. This already makes her an interesting character because she broke the mold of previous Disney princesses.
Once Upon A Time brought her into their story after the passing of her father: Merida was older and getting ready to become the queen of her realm. Her story arc had her dealing with some misogynists who did not think she was worthy of following, but she proved them wrong and became queen.
Hurt: Hades
When Once Upon A Time announced that Hades would appear on the series, fans got excited. Hades, from the animated movie Hercules, is one of the best modern Disney villains. He was a lot of fun in Hercules and fans wanted to see more.
When he appeared on TV, he wasn’t quite as lively as his animated counterpart.
The blue flame hair CGI was so bad that most fans just cringed. He wasn’t as funny and was so underwhelming that he became another weak villain on the series. He was a solid two unenthusiastic thumbs down.
Helped: Elsa and Anna
Characters from the most recent Disney animated movies often get reimagined on Once Upon A Time as their older selves. That was the case with Elsa and Anna, who appeared on the show several years after the events of Frozen.
Fans go to see the sisters more as adults, and they even got to see the planning that went behind Anna finally marrying Kristoff.
Their storyline on Once Upon A Time was a perfect sequel to Frozen and was a nice reminder of why everyone loved those characters in the first place.
Hurt: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The characters that generally don’t do well on Once Upon A Time are those taken from literature. For some odd reason, the show thought that bringing in the character of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a good idea, but their story did not offer much to the series.
Although the series tried to provide a new twist on the story, it never really felt like it fit.
In the end, the characters are more or less, forgotten, just like the land they supposedly came from, the Land of Untold Stories.
Helped: Ariel
One of the most beloved Disney princesses of all time is Ariel, the mermaid who fell in love with a human prince. There was no way that she could not appear on Once Upon A Time, although it is a shame that she wasn’t a part of the show from the very beginning.
The twist to Ariel’s story (with the Evil Queen being the one to take her voice) was a nice one that gave the character more dimension that she had as an animated character.
In the end, though, just like in The Little Mermaid, love prevailed and Ariel got her prince.
Hurt: Victor Frankenstein
Another character who just never fit into the setting of Once Upon A Time was Victor Frankenstein. Even the unimaginative name of his original realm, Frankenrealm, just doesn’t work.
The series tried to set his land apart by making everything within it black and white, and it felt out of place.
It was like Once needed a doctor character, and that’s all they could come up with. Eventually, everyone forgot about Victor ever existing, which is probably for the best. Frankenstein was never the kind of character the show needed.
