Once Upon A Time provided several heroes for audiences to root for, but the many villains in the show often stole the attention. Across seven seasons, the villains of Once Upon A Time succeeded in casting five major curses against the heroes, in addition to multiple minor victories. In addition to their fun personalities, most of the villains had a tragic backstory where they were mistreated or abused, leading them to claim power as a form of self-preservation.
While the heroes frequently had little character growth, the villains were constantly on journeys to free themselves from their pain. For the major villains of Once Upon A Time, there were only three possible endings to their quest for vengeance: death, self-sacrifice, or redemption. There were many villains that were forgettable or poorly developed, but most represented a response to trauma, with there being a clear path to redemption if they were willing to fight for it.
Regina
Regina Mills was the first villain of Once Upon A Time, and she is also the one with the best redemption arc. Thanks to her mother and Rumplestiltskin's interference, Regina believed that all the pain in her life was Snow White's fault. While she was cruel and powerful, her actions were understandable. The Evil Queen from Disney’s Snow White had a petty motive for attacking Snow, but Regina had years of manipulation, the death of her true love, and a forced marriage driving her actions.
While she was an intriguing villain, Regina's real character arc began in Storybrooke, where she was constantly torn between her darkest impulses and her desire to protect and love her son. Across all seven seasons, she fought to make up for the harm she caused and earn Henry’s respect.
Rumplestiltskin
Rumplestiltskin was willing to hurt anyone to get a second chance with his son, which drove his character arc from seasons one to three. However, his lust for power was just as strong and led him to play a villainous role for some portion of every season, repeatedly betraying those who believed he could be redeemed.
In addition to his own actions, Rumplestiltskin was Once Upon A Time’s best villain because of his connections with the series’ other villains. Rumplestiltskin either trained, betrayed, or worked with every villain on the show at one point or another, frequently manipulating them so that their plans suited his purposes.
Cora
Introduced in season 1, episode 18, "The Stable Boy," Cora Mills was one of the most power-hungry, amoral characters in Once Upon A Time. While she could have changed Rumplestiltskin's trajectory by loving him, her actions led him to double down on his most paranoid, malicious plans instead. She also raised her daughter to believe that status and magic were the ways to get ahead in life.
Beyond her influence on Rumple and Regina, Cora was a ruthless villain in her own right, taking hearts and killing to gain power in the Enchanted Forest and in Wonderland as the Queen of Hearts. After the Dark Curse was broken, she massacred an entire community to send a message and nearly became the Dark One, which could have made her the show’s most powerful villain. Because she had no heart, she had no real weaknesses, though she also could not find peace until she experienced real love for her daughters in the Underworld.
Peter Pan
Peter Pan was the first villain to have a profound impact before his introduction, with Greg and Tamara infiltrating Storybrooke and kidnapping Henry on his orders, gradually setting the stage for Pan to kidnap his great-grandson, Henry. In a major subversion from his usual heroic portrayal, Peter Pan was a despot intent on keeping his power and living forever.
Pan was a master at manipulation, but his villainy really showed in how he made other villains seem weak. Pan was Rumplestiltskin’s father, which let him hurt Rumplestiltskin in a way nobody ever had before. Similarly, Captain Hook had nearly succeeded in killing Rumplestiltskin but was terrified of Pan, raising the stakes from the villains audiences were used to.
Zelena
Zelena was introduced in season 3B before becoming a main character for the remaining four seasons of Once Upon A Time. Although she was incredibly sympathetic in the beginning, Zelena eventually embraced her role as the Wicked Witch of the West (Of The Wizard of Oz and Wicked fame), capturing and controlling Rumplestiltskin, killing Baelfire, and even breaking the laws of magic.
Zelena was one of the most powerful and creative magic s in the entire series, which was part of why her gradual redemption arc was so fascinating. Zelena didn't want to be good, and though she wanted a loving family, she didn’t believe it could last. However, one of her worst acts resulted in the start of her redemption, as she had a daughter that she was willing to do anything for, including giving up her true love and her magic.
Snow Queen
Thanks to the popularity of Disney's Frozen, Once Upon A Time brought in both the standard likable characters from Frozen and the original story's Snow Queen in the fourth season. Similar to Zelena, the Snow Queen was desperate for someone who would love her rather than hate her for her magic. When she couldn't make it happen naturally, Ingrid decided to force Elsa and Emma Swan into a sisterhood with her.
The Snow Queen wreaked havoc on Storybrooke, preventing the residents from leaving and trying to convince Elsa and Emma that their families wouldn't accept their powers. When it didn't work, she cast the Spell of Shattered Sight to release everyone's darkest impulses. However, she regretted her actions after learning her sisters had loved her, sacrificing herself to end the spell and ending her arc with a tragedy.
Queens of Darkness
The Queens of Darkness is a group composed of some of Disney’s most dangerous villains: Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, and Ursula. The Queens helped to subvert the clear line between good and evil, especially when both Rumplestiltskin and Regina chose to work with them at various points, while being their enemies at others.
Each Queen showed the dark side of the heroes, often having completely justified desires for vengeance. Snow and Charming had kidnapped Maleficent’s daughter Lily and imbued her with all of Emma's potential for evil. Similarly, Ursula’s father abused her singing voice before giving Hook the power to steal it. Cruella was just a sociopath who enjoyed hurting people—but she was unable to kill anybody, which made her an innocent when Emma killed her.
The Author
Deviating from the standard Disney villain with a sympathetic backstory, the Author was an original character with the power to change the stories of those he met. Rumplestiltskin wanted to use that power to give villains happy endings, and the Author, Isaac Heller, agreed, creating a world where all the heroes and villains switched places.
Because Isaac had abused his power, Henry took over as the Author. Even so, Once Upon A Time suggested that such a massive amount of power necessarily corrupted most that possessed it, making the position itself villainous by nature.
Dark Swan
Emma became the Dark Swan after absorbing the Dark One curse from Rumplestiltskin, which showed audiences what happened when the personification of good in Once Upon A Time had been possessed by pure dark magic. Although Emma tried to resist the darkness, she soon began to operate under the belief that the ends justify the means, making increasingly horrifying choices to get what she wanted.
The Dark Swan’s most villainous moment came when she brought Captain Hook back to life after he acquired a mortal injury. Though her intention was good, she wound up creating a new villain in the resurrected Hook and began to manipulate her friends and family. While Emma was willing to die to rid herself of the darkness, she instead had it absorbed out of her with few consequences for her villainous behavior.
Dark Hook
Captain Hook was one of the best characters introduced after season 1, and while he absolutely was a villain, he was never treated like one by the show. Despite his eagerness to kill Rumplestiltskin, Hook consistently sided with the heroes until he became a Dark One. With that added darkness, Hook quickly gave into the manipulations of the former Dark Ones, letting them loose on Storybrooke.
Hook was willing to let the Dark Ones kill all of Emma’s loved ones, only rejecting the darkness when Emma herself was in mortal danger. He sacrificed himself so they could be free of the darkness, but Rumplestiltskin tampered with the spell, making Hook’s death one of the most unnecessary sacrifices in television rather than a meaningful exploration of how to make amends after going too far for forgiveness.
