John Darling

John, also known as John Darling, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the twenty-first episode of the second season. He is portrayed by William Ainschough.

John Darling is based on the character with the same name from the play, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up.

Before the Curse
John lives London, England with his parents and siblings. He is the middle child of the family. His sister, Wendy, takes pity on a homeless orphan named Baelfire and hides in in their nursery's cubby-hole. For weeks, she sneaks food upstairs for him, and is eventually caught red-handed by their parents. Their mother accepts Baelfire as a guest in their house, much to her husband's chagrin.

One night, Baelfire catches Wendy out of bed and staring at something outside the windowsill. John and Michael perk up from beneath their covers and listen in as Wendy talks about "the Shadow" she sees from time to time, and like magic, the Shadow moves like a puppet without strings. She finds it exciting, while Baelfire dislikes the mention of magic. He explains magic has destroyed his whole life, and he won't have it destroying their family, too. Baelfire makes Wendy promise to never open the window to let the Shadow in.

Even so, Wendy's interest in the Shadow is piqued to the point she can't ignore it, and opens the window the next time the Shadow appears. She is whisked off to another world, Neverland, by the Shadow, and in the morning, returns with troubling news. The Shadow wishes to procure a boy to bring with him to Neverland, and because Wendy is a girl, the Shadow will come to take away one of her brothers. But, Baelfire vows to not let magic tear their family apart.

Wendy, Baelfire, John and Michael arm themselves with kitchen utensils as makeshift weapons in the nursery, and when the Shadow breaks open the window, they all run to hide in the cubby-hole. However, Michael, distracted by staring curiously at the Shadow, does not make it into the cubby-hole in time, and is just within the Shadow's reach of being snatched away for good. Baelfire dashes out from the cubby-hole and protects Michael by insisting the Shadow to take him instead. John runs to the window with Wendy and Michael as Baelfire is dragged away by the Shadow.