Dark Curse

"Your prison, all of our prisons, will be time. Time will stop, and we will be trapped. Someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear, everything we love, will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity. While the Queen celebrates, victorious at last. No more happy endings."

- Rumplestiltskin to Snow White and Prince Charming

The Dark Curse is a curse featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the first episode of the first season.

The Dark Curse is the main plot focal point for the series. It is originally cast by the Evil Queen out of vengeance against Snow White, and the curse is responsible for the bringing the Enchanted Forest inhabitants to the Land Without Magic, where everyone is trapped in the town of Storybrooke, Maine. Stripped of their past life memories, they are given false memories by the curse. Snow White later recasts the curse to return everyone to Storybrooke in order to find Emma and stop the Wicked Witch of the West. For the third time, Hook, the newest Dark One, casts the dark curse to return to Storybrooke and finally get his revenge on Mr. Gold with his new powers.

Known Ingredients

 * The heart of "the thing you love most" is the most recurrent ingredient. Crushing/burning said heart is the contingent final step in casting the curse.
 * A lock of hair from those with the darkest of souls. This ingredient seems to be necessary for the first casting only.
 * Wolfsbane
 * Rumplestiltskin also added a drop of true love potion onto the parchment of the Dark Curse, which was created from two strands of hair from both Snow White and Prince Charming. It is unknown whether the drop of true love counts as an ingredient because the curse would still work even if it was not added as demonstrated when Peter Pan attempts to cast it.
 * Incidentally, Emma is the only one who can break the first curse because she is a product of true love. In the second curse, however, Regina is the savior as her true love for Henry breaks the curse in "A Curious Thing".
 * Memory wiping ingredients vary in each curse.
 * It is unknown which ingredient produces the memory loss in the first curse.
 * The second curse, cast by Snow White, was never intended to wipe the memories of its victims. The Wicked Witch of the West drops a forgetting potion into the curse, which causes everyone to lose their recollection of the last year in the Enchanted Forest. She later crafts an antidote for herself to prevent memory loss.
 * The third curse, cast by Hook, was never intended to wipe the memories of its victims. Emma used a dreamcatcher with the stolen memories of Mary Margaret, David, Henry, Regina, Robin Hood, Zelena, and several others to add a memory wipe to the curse to erase memories of the past six weeks in the Enchanted Forest and Camelot.

Effects
{{Hidden|First Curse|
 * Nearly everyone from the Enchanted Forest and some other realms are transported to Storybrooke and lose all memories of their former lives and relationships.
 * The memories they lost are then replaced by new lives in accord to the new land the Curse transported them into, allowing recipients to comprehend their new environment along with its aspects (i.e. technology).
 * A part of the Enchanted Forest remained untouched after the Dark Curse and froze for twenty-eight years; this is caused by Cora's protective shielding spell.
 * Some magical creatures are turned into humans, including fairy and dwarf species as well as Jiminy and Gus.
 * All powerful magic has been taken away, and is now limited, with only some exceptional consequences to performing it or trying to get in touch with it again.
 * Everyone's "happily ever after" is gone.
 * The curse does not affect outsiders with Enchanted Forest heritage, such as Henry Mills, as much as those who were originally cursed, but it does affect them somehow.
 * The curse does not appear to affect people who arrive to Storybrooke after the Savior, namely August.
 * Time is frozen and no one ages or changes in Storybrooke. Henry is an exception because he was born in the Land Without Magic and is neither present in Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest when the curse is cast.
 * Time is not frozen only in Storybrooke; it is also frozen in all the lands with magic, including Camelot, Agrabah, Arendelle, Victorian England, Oz, Wonderland, Neverland and the Land of Untold Stories (although the latter two worlds's time is always still).
 * In most of these realms people are not aware of time passing at all during the 28 years, and live their lives as if no such a gap took place. The only known exception to this is the Enchanted Forest itself, where the people protected by Cora's protection spell stopped most of the effects of the curse.
 * No-one in Storyrbooke seems to notice Henry is the only person aging.
 * Outsiders cannot come to Storybrooke, unless they have Enchanted Forest heritage, or they were already in the territory before the Curse was cast. Kurt and his son Owen were able to enter the city because they already camped over its location as Storybrooke came into existence. After this, Regina allows Owen to leave Storybrooke. Many years later, Owen is able to return to Storybrooke only because the curse is broken by that time. Ingrid is able to enter Storybrooke due to a powerful magical scroll given to her by the Apprentice on behalf of The Sorcerer.
 * Terrible consequences will happen to anyone, under the effects of the curse, who tries to leave Storybrooke. Examples include:
 * Ashley attempts to leave town after snatching back the adoption papers of her unborn child, she ends up having contractions in the process, and cannot drive. {{Ep|The Price of Gold}}
 * Emma is left with no choice but to take Ava and Nicholas Zimmer to Boston after their father, Michael Tillman, refuses to claim them as his own. The car breaks down on the drive out of town giving Emma another chance to persuade Michael to take the children in. {{Ep|True North}}
 * Kathryn decides to leave town, but in the process of going out of town, Mr. Gold abducts her as part of a previous deal with Regina. {{Ep|What Happened to Frederick}}
 * When Emma drives out of town after dropping Henry off, she sees a wolf in her path and crashes the car. However, this might also be from different external forces trying to keep her in town to break the curse. Emma was not under the effects of the curse since it was shown at other times that she, as well as Henry, and August were able to leave Storybrooke while the curse was still in effect. {{Ep|Pilot}}

Specific Effects
In addition to not remembering their Enchanted Forest lives, the characters have all been "punished" in their own ways. }}
 * Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard - Is a timid and meek schoolteacher often both in speech and dress. She has a lousy love life.
 * Prince Charming/David Nolan - Knocked into a coma due to the wounds he received before the curse took him, and is under the patient name John Doe. Upon waking up, David is placed in an unhappy marriage with Kathryn.
 * Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold - He "owns the town" as a monthly rent collector. Owns a pawnshop and is also a licensed lawyer. Has no power over Regina until he regains his memories, and while a mass presence in town, his power was limited only to his shop.
 * Jiminy Cricket/Archie Hopper - Reverts to human and once again becomes the voice of reason as the town psychiatrist, but has trouble listening to his own conscience and obeys Regina out of fear.
 * Huntsman/Sheriff Graham - He is the town sheriff, and engages in a physical relationship with the mayor, Regina, and is always under her thumb.
 * Red Riding Hood/Ruby - A young woman that lacks self-confidence but dresses scantily and is very flirty with customers. Waitresses at the diner and constantly has several disagreements with her grandmother.
 * Granny/Granny - She and Ruby constantly knock heads and argue about everything. Runs two town businesses; a diner and bed and breakfast.
 * Belle/Belle - A long term patient at the psychiatric ward of Storybrooke General Hospital. After the curse is broken, Regina gives Belle new fake memories, turning her into Lacey, a partying, cladly-dressed barfly.
 * Victor Frankenstein/Dr. Whale - A man focused on work, but becomes a bit of woman chaser and drinker. Works at the hospital as a doctor.
 * Geppetto/Marco - Married, and is unhappily childless. Did try to have children, but "he was not meant to be".
 * Blue Fairy/Mother Superior - Head nun of all the sisters at the nunnery, and often clashes with Mr. Gold.
 * Magic Mirror/Sidney Glass - A reporter for the town's newspaper, the Daily Mirror, and is secretly in love with Regina. Spies on other people for her as a lackey.
 * Abigail/Kathryn Nolan - Married to David, but has an unhappy marriage rooted with issues.
 * Frederick/Jim - The gym teacher of the town school.
 * King George/Albert Spencer - Becomes a district attorney, and aside from that does not have much power in town.
 * Jefferson/Jefferson - Recalls all memories of his life in the Enchanted Forest, but lives in an extensive mansion. Is an amateur cartographer, and longs to be reunited with his daughter, Grace, who does not remember him.
 * Grace/Paige - Lives next door to her actual father, Jefferson, as the daughter of two unnamed parents.
 * Grumpy/Leroy - An outcast in town because of his drinking habits, and does shifts at the hospital as a janitor.
 * Cinderella/Ashley Boyd - Stays pregnant for twenty-eight years; unable to give birth and abandoned by her boyfriend and true love, Sean.
 * Prince Thomas/Sean Herman - A young man who presumably, under the false event modifiers of the Dark Curse, gets his girlfriend, Ashley, pregnant. With pressure from his father, he abandons Ashley and her unborn child.
 * The King/Mitchell Herman - Does not approve of his son's relationship with Ashley, and even more so because she is pregnant.
 * Hansel and Gretel/Nicholas Zimmer and Ava Zimmer - Two siblings who become orphans after their mother passes away, and resort to stealing for survival.
 * The Woodcutter/Michael Tillman - A mechanic who remains unaware he has children.
 * Nova/Astrid - Is a sister of the nunnery. She remains clumsy and hapless.
 * Sir Maurice/Moe French - Runs a flower delivery business, and is often late on rent for Mr. Gold.
 * Gus/Billy - Becomes human, and works as a mechanic.
 * Maleficent - Transformed into her dragon form and imprisoned beneath the clock tower in a cavern.

Ways to Break the Curse

 * Mr. Gold designed the curse to break if Emma dies.
 * Emma's true love for Henry breaks the first curse and the Sleeping Curse unintentionally inflicted upon him.
 * Regina's true love for Henry breaks the second curse.
 * The trigger can reverse the effects of the first curse by erasing Storybrooke from existence, which would also kill all those not born in the Land Without Magic. The only way to escape this would be to escape to another land prior to the trigger's effects coming into full force.
 * If Regina, the original caster of the curse, destroys the curse scroll, the curse can be undone. Additionally, destroying the scroll results in Storybrooke fading out of existence and everyone not born in the Land Without Magic returning to the Enchanted Forest.

Trivia

 * -|On-screen Notes=

On-screen Notes

 * The Dark Curse's green mist is featured in the title card for "Going Home".
 * The way in which the Dark Curse is both prepared and cast has changed since its first appearance. In the first season, the curse is prepared by building a fire, throwing the ingredients into the flames and then throwing the dead sacrificed heart into the flames as the final ingredient. However, since the third season, the curse is prepared and cast by placing the ingredients into a bubbling cauldron (or in one case, the Storybrooke Wishing Well), and then crushing the sacrificed enchanted heart into the cauldron as the final ingredient.
 * This is due to the fact that the concept of enchanted hearts was not created until the seventh episode of the first season. Before that point, ripping out a heart killed the victim and had no magical impact on the victim's heart, which also died.
 * However, the preparation drastically changes in its appearance in the fifth season, with the ashes of the crushed heart simply being poured into a container full of an entirely different spell. The curse cloud changes appearance drastically in this instance as well, taking the form of a thick, purple smoke with golden lightning, much like the appearance of magic at the end of first season.
 * The first and second curses engulf Snow White, Prince Charming and the Evil Queen in a parallel fashion. In both cases, Snow White and Prince Charming are lying together on the ground with the Evil Queen standing over them.
 * The curse appears to either roughly or gently spread, depending on the castor. Regina and Pan had malicious intentions when they cast their curses and thus the cloud of magic was more violent, but when Snow and Emma cast them, the curse spread gently.
 * Ironically, the curse actually saved Prince Charming's life, as it sent him somewhere with better medical attention for a sword wound than the Enchanted Forest.
 * The Dark Curse is actually a combination of two different fairy spells.


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * In the original "Pilot" script, the Dark Curse is not black smoke, but a green mist. It only appears in its green mist form in "Going Home" after being cast by Peter Pan, however, the reasons for its altered appearance are unknown.
 * Henry theorized in "In the Name of the Brother" that the Dark Curse "went to places with other stories" that aren't in his storybook to rationalize how Dr. Whale is in Storybrooke.
 * This is similar to the original "Pilot" script where Rumplestiltskin tells Snow White and Prince Charming that the curse "won’t just affect this land. It will touch all the lands..."
 * For the first curse, the show cast members believed it would only be broken in the very last airing episode of the series.
 * Andrew Chambliss has confirmed that Camelot was frozen in time during the Dark Curse.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * The spell scroll that Peter Pan uses is written in cursive characters from the Latin alphabet; however, the writing is flipped, to make it look more exotic. Flipping the image, however, does not reveal anything interesting. The text is gibberish.


 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * In "The Thing You Love Most", when the Evil Queen casts the first curse, it's clearly nearing the end of sunset, with nighttime having fallen by the time that the curse arrives at the Royal Castle as shown in "Pilot". However, in "Queen of Hearts, when Cora casts the protection spell to keep herself and Hook safe from the curse, it's still daytime.
 * When the residents of Storybrooke reappear in the Enchanted Forest after Regina undoes her curse, everyone in the group returns to their original clothes. However, Snow White, Belle, Neal and Hook are notable exceptions: Snow White is wearing a cloak (to hide Ginnifer Goodwin's real-life pregnancy on-screen), Belle is wearing her signature yellow dress instead of prison attire, Neal is given Enchanted Forest attire despite the fact that he was not cursed nor was he in the Enchanted Forest when the first curse hit, and Hook's vest is changed from black to his pre-curse red vest despite the fact that he was never cursed.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.