Evil Queen

"I shall destroy your happiness... if it is the last thing I do."

- Regina to Snow White and Prince Charming

The Evil Queen, also known as Regina, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the first season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Lana Parrilla, and is the Enchanted Forest counterpart of Regina Mills.

The Evil Queen is based on the character of the same name from the fairytale, "Snow White", and the miller's daughter's child from the fairytale, "Rumpelstiltskin". She also takes the place of the Sea Witch from the fairtytale, "The Little Mermaid".

Before the Curse
Regina is born to Prince Henry, the son of a wealthy king named Xavier, Cora, the daughter of a poor miller. Cora comes into power by making a deal with Rumplestiltskin to teach her to spin straw into gold, which helps to make the kingdom rich, and thus, earning the hand of the prince in marriage. When her daughter is born, Cora names her Regina, and proclaims one day she will be queen.

Regina grows up as a kind young woman who falls in love with the stable boy, Daniel, but they keep their relationship secret since Cora has high expectations for her. One day, during a rendezvous with Daniel, Regina spots a young girl on an out of control horse and rescues her, not knowing she just saved the king's daughter, Snow White. Once King Leopold hears of the incident, he proposes marriage to Regina, who is flabbergasted, so her mother accepts in her place. Terrified of going into an arranged marriage, Regina pleads for Daniel to take her away. She accepts a future with him after he gives her a ring. As they kiss, Snow White intrudes upon the moment and runs away, upset. Regina catches up to Snow White to explain what she has with Daniel is true love and swears her to secrecy about the relationship. On the eve of the night Regina prepares to leave home for a life with Daniel, Cora blocks their way. For a moment, Cora is convinced to allow Regina to be happy and the mother-daughter pair reconcile. Though Regina watches in relief as Cora begins to accept Daniel, horror strikes when her mother pulls out her lover's heart. She cradles a collapsed Daniel as Cora squeezes the heart to dust; killing him. Cora believes she is doing what is best for her daughter, who will become queen. Somehow, Regina manages to put her grief aside and is more forlorn during a dress fitting for the wedding. Snow White happily praises how beautiful Regina looks and mentions Cora is a good mother for understanding her and Daniel's love for one another. Confused, Regina asks her for further details. Dismayed, Snow White admits to telling Cora about Regina's relationship with Daniel. Snow White affirms she feared Regina would lose her mother like herself. Deep down, Regina is furious that a naive girl ruined the happiness she had with Daniel, but keeps calm on the surface to spare Snow White's feelings. Regina lies, saying that Daniel ran away and now she is happy to marry King Leopold and become her stepmother. As Snow White exits, Cora enters to give Regina credit for how well she did in living up to her expectations. Regina comes to realize her mother set up the wild steed Snow White was riding that day in an effort to get the notice of King Leopold, who just so happened to be looking for a queen to fill his deceased wife's spot. Instead of blaming Cora, Regina's anger continues to build towards Snow White.

As the wedding day approaches, Regina desperately tries to flee on horseback, only to be stopped ruthlessly by Cora. Following a suggestion from her father, Regina steals her mother's spell book, which she unknowingly uses to summon its creator, Rumplestiltskin. He offers to help her get rid of Cora, though Regina is against physically harming anyone, so she is given a magic mirror. Rumplestiltskin instructs her to give Cora a little push into the mirror, which will then send her to another world. She questions what he wants in return. Mysteriously, he confirms that someday she will do him favor. On the day of the wedding, Cora steps into Regina's room and notices the mirror. As Regina looks into both of their reflections, Cora schools her on being the heart of the commoners once she becomes queen, and since the king is weak, they can kill him to own the throne entirely. This is not something Regina is looking forward to, and as she moves to give her mother a shove into the mirror, Cora freezes her in place. Cora chastises Regina for the attempt to get rid of her as Rumplestiltskin materializes in the mirror to give encouragement. Fueled by anger, Regina breaks free of the restraints and knocks Cora into the mirror, which then shatters into pieces. Free at last, Regina leaves down a road and returns Rumplestiltskin's book to him. She claims magic isn't for her, but Rumplestiltskin is more interested to know how it felt using magic. Grudgingly, Regina acknowledges that she loved it, which is all the more reason to stay away from it. She also fears turning out like her mother, but Rumplestiltskin promises that is entirely up to her.

Regina eventually marries King Leopold. At the king's palace, he allows his new queen grow a single apple tree in the garden. The marriage is not one of love, as the king has more love for his daughter and Regina still cares for her old love, Daniel.

Regina begins taking magic lessons with Rumplestiltskin in the woods outside of her palace. Rumplestiltskin starts by bringing her a black unicorn, which he orders her to freeze. Regina is able to accomplish this successfully, but balks when given the order to tear out the creature's heart. Regina states that she cannot, to which Rumplestiltskin reacts by ripping out the heart of the unicorn and giving it to Regina, telling her that by holding the heart, she has power over the unicorn. He instructs her to crush it and kill the unicorn. Unable to harm another living being, she outright refuses. In his disappointment, Rumplestiltskin states she must come to terms with what is holding her back from learning this kind of magic. Later in the night, Regina visits Daniel's preserved body and stares longingly at the person she lost.

Regina prepares in Rumplestiltskin's castle for another magic lesson by setting up a small table with objects to practice while Rumplestiltskin sits by spinning straw into gold. She notifies him she is ready to begin, but Rumplestiltskin demands to know what she really wants. Regina has an eventual break down and asks Rumplestiltskin if he knows magic that can resurrect the dead. He points out the dead stay dead, and no magic can ever bring them back. A despondent Regina states that she is lost, while Rumplestiltskin brusquely says his time was wasted with her.

A portal-jumper and errand runner, Jefferson, enters the room and presents Rumplestiltskin with an item he procured from another land. After making a deal to receive gold, Jefferson approaches Regina and brings to her attention he knows of a man in another world who can resurrect the dead. Regina is hopeful, and asks what Jefferson wants in return. Jefferson asks for a royal pass to move freely about her kingdom, and Regina agrees. From a portal, he brings Dr. Frankenstein to the Enchanted Forest, where the doctor gives Regina the possibility he may be able to resurrect a dead person. Regina takes him to Daniel's body, where Dr. Frankenstein performs a brief and bloody examination on the body. The doctor has good hopes of succeeding with the operation since the body is in such preserved condition, but he'll need a strong heart.

Regina leads Jefferson and Dr. Frankenstein to her mother's former home and into a vault filled with collections of enchanted human hearts. She explains her mother has a habit of collecting hearts and because there are so many, she does not known which heart belongs to which person. Dr. Frankenstein picks a heart he perceives to be good enough and proceeds to begin the experiment. Outside the operation tent, Jefferson and Regina watch as Dr. Frankenstein puts the heart in Daniel's chest. After the procedure is over, Dr. Frankenstein exits the white tent, but is regretful he is unable to resurrect Daniel as the heart was not strong enough. Devastated by the news, Regina is inconsolable.

By the next day, Regina has let go of her desire to return to the past and her true love and is makes drastic changes in mindset and her wardrobe. Wearing a wicked smile, she shows up in the forest again to Rumplestiltskin, who is teaching magic to a girl, Trish. When she asks what Rumplestiltskin is doing, he states since she was unwilling, he had to find someone who would make a better student. Regina responds in turn by ripping out the heart of the girl and crushing it to dust to prove herself worthy of Rumplestiltskin's magic training.

Dining alone in the castle, Regina is greeted by the sudden appearance of Rumplestiltskin from the other end of the table. He wonders if she died, to which Regina spitefully tells him to go away. Rumplestiltskin points out he thought that was what happened since she did not show up for magic lessons. Regina voices concerns about continuing the lessons as she doesn't want her own future to end up like his, and when prompted, she goes on the detail the dissatisfactions in life. Unhappily, Regina talks about being Queen, which feels like nothing since she's practically a prisoner in a castle, having a husband whose only focus is on his dead wife and insufferable young daughter. With no freedom, she finds life intolerable. Rumplestiltskin interjects leaving this life is not possible even though Regina thinks there are choices in having love or darkness. He states what she doesn't know is that darkness is what will consume her. Upset at his words, Regina orders him to leave. Instead, Rumplestiltskin explains further that once the darkness has started to eat away at her, it will progress until she is swallowed whole, and there's no way to fly away from fate. Before leaving, he sets up lessons for tomorrow and stresses she must bring the only thing inside herself, which is simmering rage.

After he is gone, Regina retreats to the balcony and lashes out by hitting the railing repeatedly. The foundation gives way, and she begins sailing down at high speed to her death, but moments before hitting the ground, Regina is suspended in the air by fairy magic and lifted back up to the castle room. Once safely on her feet, Regina watches a small green fairy transform into human size and introduce herself as Tinker Bell.

The two later spend time together at a small inn. Miserable with life, Regina confides in Tinker Bell about her non-existent marriage with King Leopold and playing stepmother to his daughter, Snow White, who she calls a monster for destroying her true love. Hoping to help Regina's circumstances, Tinker Bell offers Regina true happiness with pixie dust, which will help her find a new love.

At nightfall, Regina sits at her dresser busily scribbling on paper when Tinker Bell flies into the bedchamber and offers to teach her how to fly with pixie dust. With uncertainty, Regina is worried she will get into trouble for taking the dust without permission, but Tinker Bell persuades her not to think of it. Lifting Regina into the air, the two of them travel above the skies as Tinker Bell releases the pixie dust, which leads them straight to a tavern. After ascending to the ground, they peer inside the building to see a light gleaming around a man with a lion tattoo. Tinker Bell points him out as the man who will give Regina happiness, and encourages her to go in. Once Regina is alone, she musters up courage and opens the door. Before taking a step in, fright gets the better of her and she flees the tavern.

Late in the hours of the same night, Tinker Bell returns to see how the meeting went, and is discouraged to see Regina is not "glowing" as she should be after finding her true love. Grumpily, Regina responds the man is awful and there is nothing good about him. However, Tinker Bell sleuths out the truth--Regina was too scared to go in and talk to the man. Even so, Regina refuses to own up to her own emotions and calls Tinker Bell a horrible fairy. Tinker Bell tries to plead her case in that she broke the rules in stealing the pixie dust, and will get in trouble for it, but Regina coldly sends her away.

One day, when King Leopold comes home from a walk, he is accompanied by the Genie; someone Regina uses to manipulate into helping her escape her loveless marriage. During her husband's birthday party as the king showers his daughter with the proclamation she is the fairest in the land, Regina miserably looks on and draws the sympathetic attention of the Genie. She leaves to get some air in the garden.

While under the garden apple tree, the Genie wishes to brighten her night by giving her a hand mirror to let her see herself as the fairest in the land through his eyes. During the next few nights, Regina writes in her diary that she had found love again outside of her loveless marriage, which is nothing more than a ploy to anger her husband and jump start the Genie into rescuing her. Her plan works and she ends up locked up while King Leopold is immensely upset she has a lover.

Finding that she cannot divorce her husband, she asks her father to bring a box with her freedom in it. However, her father has to ask the man that loves her to bring the box to her chambers as the guards are to keep a watch out for Regina's father. Bringing the box to her room, the Genie wonders how it would free her, finding that the box is carrying a two-headed poisonous viper that with one bite could kill anyone.

As she is about to let the viper bite and infect her with poison, the Genie pulls her away and vows he will use the viper to kill her husband so they can always be together. Taking the viper in the box, the Genie kills the king and comes back with the joyous news she is now free. Upon hearing this, Regina changes her tune and informs him a palace guard has found the viper and discovered it originates from Agrabah, the Genie's homeland. Feigning sadness, she already has a ship ready to take him back to his homeland to avoid persecution.

Once this news sinks in, he comes to the slow conclusion she has been using him for her own gains. Because he genuinely loves her, the Genie wishes on the lamp to be with her forever. Seeing his wish come true, she fears being taken into love against her will, until she hears the man crying out in the mirror he gave her. She smiles as she realizes a purpose for the Genie now that he is in her mirror.

Many days after her husband's funeral, she comes to her stepdaughter's side to comfort her while they both mourn the loss of her father. Once she is alone in her room, Regina uses her Magic Mirror to find someone suitable to kill Snow White, knowing that if she tries to do it herself her subjects will think badly of her and influence her reputation in the wrong way.

The Magic Mirror suggests the best person for the job is a huntsman as they are perfect for the job and shows a possible candidate that pleases her. Having the guards bring this huntsman to the palace, Regina barters and tasks him with the job of killing her stepdaughter and as thanks, she will outlaw the killing of wolves in his kingdom, since the Huntsman cares a great deal about their safety.

While the Huntsman is away on his mission, Regina changes her palace to suit how she feels. She brings darkness to the land around her palace and also making the palace itself a mirror image of what it used to be. Once the Huntsman returns with Snow White's heart, he tries to hand her Snow White's letter, though she half-heartedly listens while the Huntsman reads the letter to her.

Having no interest in the contents of Snow White's farewell note, she throws it into the furnace to burn. Once Regina has what she believes to be Snow White's heart, she takes it into the heart vault to place it into one of the collection boxes. The box does not automatically open as it should if the heart is indeed Snow White's and Regina realizes she has been played.

Angered by this betrayal, Regina closes the door to her vault to keep the Huntsman from ever leaving. She drives her hand into his chest, taking out his heart so that he will never feel again. As Regina squeezes the heart, she commands he is now forever her pet and will share her bed whenever she chooses. She also warns to never cross her again, and if he does, she will kill him.

At some point, her father is kidnapped by the Queen of Hearts. She commissions Jefferson to take her to Wonderland, where her father is being held captive. He uses his hat, which acts as a portal to other worlds. There, in Wonderland, she retrieves and restores him to his old form with a magic mushroom. They have a long awaited reunion and leave Wonderland together; leaving Jefferson to suffer at the Queen of Hearts' hands.

The Queen recently learned of Snow White's current whereabouts, and storms into a village house where she is supposedly hiding, only to find her already gone. She forces her men to bring out all the villagers, and makes a public plea for the capture and arrest of Snow White because—as the Queen claims—she killed her own father, King Leopold, and is now dangerous and armed as a bandit. The Queen promises to give a hefty reward in gold for whoever steps forward to reveal where Snow White ran off to. No one speaks up, and in a furious state, she orders her knights to kill all the villagers.

Marching back into her castle, she summons Rumplestiltskin and vents her anger about how the citizens do not love her as Queen, and whose loyalties are completely to Snow White. The Queen realizes she must take matters into her own hands and kill Snow White herself. She suggests Rumplestiltskin teach her a spell to properly disguise herself as someone else. He harbors doubts she has the capacity and range to use such a spell, especially considering it took her mother, Cora, a month to learn the spell from him, so within a week's time, Regina would probably only be able to change her hair color. With too little of time to learn the spell but still craving to put her plan into action, she asks him to cast the spell on her instead. Rumplestiltskin heeds if he does, she will have no control over when the disguise comes off, and neither will she have magic while under the spell. The Queen takes it into stride and says she won't need it as all she has to do is get close enough to Snow White to snap her neck. They make a deal—in exchange for the spell, Rumplestiltskin requires her to break off ties with the neighboring kingdom of King George. Puzzled, she wonders what would that merit, though Rumplestiltskin retorts he needs the king to be bankrupt, but otherwise it's none of her business. She pulls back from questioning any further and asks him to just cast the spell. Once the spell is complete, she doesn't feel any different except noting she is now garbed in ugly rags. Rumplestiltskin turns her attention to the mirror, and Regina is surprised to see her reflection is not her own. He explains the spell allows herself to look the same to her own eyes, but to everyone else, she will be unrecognizable with a different face. Rumplestiltskin warns while she is among the commoners, she may not like what they have to say about herself, though Regina insists she won't care.

Traveling in the market place, Regina is able to go about freely without anyone realizing she is the Queen. Curious about the large group gathered for some kind of public display, she also joins in and walks to the very front to catch a glimpse. She is shocked to see someone made a stick effigy that is supposed to resemble the Queen, and it's a game to the commoners to hit the effigy in the heart, though supposedly as it is rumored the Queen does not have a heart. Regina is horrified and thinks of it as treason because that is their Queen. They wish for Snow White to be their Queen, but Regina curtly states Snow White is a thief and bandit. The commoners don't believe her, and strongly conclude those are the Queen's lies. Regina tries to put a stop to the stick effigy game, and grabs a torch to ward the people away. It appears to have worked, but instead they scour away like mice because the Queen's knights arrive on the scene. At the moment, Regina forgets she is under a spell's disguise, and coldly remarks to the knights that it's about time they came. The knights take one look at the stick effigy and believe she was the one who was defacing the Queen. Regina tries to prove to them she is the Queen by taking off her hood, and then attempting to use magic, but it fails and they begin to haul her away to be executed for treason.

The knights force Regina onto the gallows where her head is put on a chopping block and she calls out for Rumplestiltskin to remove her disguise but to no response. Just as she is going to get her head severed, a mysterious hooded vagrant duels with the knights. In the midst of the battle, Regina is cut on her leg with a rusty sword, and topples down from the gallows. She watches as the knights are defeated one by one, and the hero is pulls down her hood, and turns around to look at Regina, who is stunned to see her savior is Snow White, and promptly passes out.

Regina awakens in a makeshift camping house in the woods. Snow white is tending to her as she is very sick due to being wounded by the rusty blade, and the infection is causing her to have a high fever. Unable to move, she is entirely reliant on Snow White's efforts to nurse her back to health. Snow White asks what her name is, and Regina gives it as "Wilma", and says her family is in the milling business.

Regina is surprised Snow White, a princess, can hunt and live in the forest on her own. Snow White mentions a friend from another forest taught her how to. As Snow White prepares to tend and bandage the leg wound, Regina wonders how come she is helping a complete stranger. Snow White says long ago an experience changed her. She tells Wilma the story of when she was a young girl and a woman she did not know risked her own life to save her, and that was the first time she realized a genuine connection can develop between strangers. Regina is touched by the story, and sheds tears. When Snow White finishes bandaging the wound, Regina asks what ever happened to the woman. Snow White regretfully says she is gone, but hopes she might come back someday.

After some much needed rest, Regina is well enough to walk. Snow White gives her a blade to arm herself in case they run into the Queen's men in the forest path. Regina sees this as an opportunity to kill Snow White, and briefly begins to unsheathe the weapon, but has a change of heart and decides not to. Instead, she asks about the rumor the Queen sent a huntsman to rip out Snow White's heart. Snow White affirms it's true. Regina goes on to wonder if given the chance would Snow White kill the Queen. The question startles Snow White, who details the constant pain she knows Regina is always in, and the blame she holds other people accountable for. Snow White believes she wants revenge more than love, though she herself wants to be guided by love, so she wouldn't kill the Queen. When Snow White mentions the Queen was once good, and wishes she were like that now. Regina questions if it wasn't too late, to which Snow White says it's never too late. She wonders if she'd accept the Queen back now and be a family again, and Snow White declares she would if the Queen was sincere about changing.

They cross into a village, and Snow White is heartbroken at the sight of all the strewn corpses of the people who once helped her. Regina weakly utters they have come too far. Snow White cries over what the Queen has done, and declares she was wrong about her—that there is no good in that woman. Regina tries to persuade her otherwise, and reminds her of the horse the Queen saved her from. Snow White points out she never said it was the Queen who saved her. Noting her slip of the tongue, Regina makes an excuse about reading between the lines, but Snow White has already concluded "Wilma" is the Queen in disguise. She aims an arrow at her, and finally, Regina admits she is the Queen. Her second attempt at using magic fails again and tries to call Rumplestiltskin again, but is forced to run away.

Regina walks all the way to Rumplestiltskin's castle, and angrily confronts him about not coming to her aide when she called. He disregards it as he never said he would respond if she called. She wants the disguise off right this minute, and sees a reflection that is not hers. Regina is frustrated, and ponders if Rumplestiltskin wants her to admit he was right about how the commoners feel about her—they will never love her. To his glee, she says he was right. He asks what she will do now, and with a tone of bitterness, Regina vows to punish them all. Only then does Rumplestiltskin reverse the spell, and Regina can see her own reflection again. She smiles wickedly; commenting the Queen is dead, and "Long live the Evil Queen".

Despite that the Evil Queen sends her knights after Snow White, the ex-princess on the run manages to elude capture again. At the Under the Sea celebration in honor of the sea goddess Ursula, she spies through a mirror on Snow White and her companion, Ariel, a mermaid in disguise, who wishes to be together with the man she loves, Prince Eric. To kill two birds with one stone, she masquerades as Ursula and approaches Ariel with a tempting offer. "Ursula" gives Ariel a bracelet, that when put on someone else, will allow that person to take her place as mermaid so she herself can remain human.

Naively, Ariel puts the bracelet on Snow White with good intentions to allow her a way to escape the Evil Queen. As Snow White helplessly flops around with her new-found tail appendage and tries to dissuade Ariel that Ursula isn't real, the Evil Queen pushes into the conversation. Ariel is upset to find out she was tricked, yet Snow White asks her to leave for safety reasons. Ironically, the Evil Queen is pleased that, for once, she and Snow White can agree on something and begins shooing Ariel away. However, Ariel maintains she won't leave a friend behind. The Evil Queen proposes Snow White will be harmed either way and Ariel can join her, or she can go off to be with her prince. Additionally, she stresses there are no second chances. Snow White pushes Ariel to go because at least she still has an opportunity for happiness; something Regina will never have. Ariel is further persuaded by the Evil Queen of the weight of which is more important, her true love, or losing her life because of a friend. To Snow White, Ariel apologizes and hurries off. After she is gone, the Evil Queen begins choking Snow White to death. Unexpectedly, Ariel lunges to stab her in the neck with a fork. While the Evil Queen works to dislodge the fork, Ariel quickly rips off the bracelet from Snow White's wrist; reversing both of them to their original forms. They manage to jump off the docks and swim off just as the Evil Queen prepares to stop them.

In a matter of interest, Evil Queen learns Rumplestiltskin has acquired a girl, Belle to tend to his castle. She purposefully meets Belle on the road and manipulates her into thinking that kissing Rumplestiltskin will break his curse of being the Dark One. Belle believes her and rushes back to turn him back into a normal man. It doesn't end well, however, as Rumplestiltskin inevitably believes she must be working for the Evil Queen in a ploy to get rid of his powers and he kicks her out.

A few days later, Regina is led to a far away kingdom by Belle's former travel mates, who disclosed her location. When Belle reaches the top of a hill, Regina ambushes the girl and orders her soldiers to take her into their custody. Despite Belle's desperate pleas to go to Rumplestiltskin, Regina does not listen; saying that by keeping her away from Rumplestiltskin will be a lifetime without heartache and misery. Stubbornly, Belle retorts she cannot keep her and Rumplestiltskin apart forever.

Later, she goes to Rumplestiltskin's home and asks him about making a deal concerning a certain mermaid. When he tells her that he will not be making deals that day, she tells him about Belle's supposed death. Upset at the news, he orders her to leave. On her way out, she mocks him, stating that he should get a new girl to clean the dusty castle.

One day, as she is traveling in her woods, she stumbles across two children, one girl and one boy, searching for their father. The Queen orders them to be seized, but they fight back and run away. The Queen corners them, however, and decides to use them to sneak into a blind witch's home to steal something she had lost to the witch. If they find the item for her, she will find their father for them, she promises. The children agree.

After a death-defying experience, they successfully give her the bagged item. The Queen withdraws a poisoned red apple and admires their work in retrieving it. She then offers the children the opportunity to live with her, but they reject her offer and instead ask her to find their father as she promised she would. The Queen grows angry at their noncompliance and curses them back to the forest to be forever lost searching for their father. Once they are gone, she has her guards bring out the children's father and interrogates him on why the children do not want to live with her. When he proudly retorts family never abandons one another, she banishes him to the forest as well.

Just as King George is about to behead Prince Charming as punishment, the Queen interrupts by turning the blade into water as it falls on his head. She promises to King George to make Prince Charming suffer more if he uses his "son" to hurt his true love, Snow White. King George likes this idea and releases the prince to her.

Later, she visits the prince in his cell. The Queen tells him there are no plans to kill Snow White and her particular form of punishment is worse. She walks out of his cell smiling triumphantly, holding up a bright red apple. Prince Charming tries to run after her, but the doors of his cell close via her magic.

After Snow White has attacked King George's castle, she manages to get to Prince Charming's former cell, but she discovers Prince Charming is only speaking to her through a mirror. They are interrupted by the Queen, who agrees to a parley "where it all began".

The place "where it all began" is the old horse stables where Snow White found out about Regina and Daniel's love for one another and promised to keep it a secret from Regina's mother. She grows emotional and tears up by being in the very spot she watched her true love die, but masks her pain when Snow White shows up at the door entrance. The Queen asks her to follow, and they tread up a hill where she reminisces about their past history. It comes as a great shock to Snow White when the Queen reveals Daniel did not run away as she once told her, but that Cora killed him because she couldn't keep the secret. Snow White apologizes, but is coldly rejected. Instead, the Queen offers her the apple, which Snow White refuses. After being told Prince Charming will be killed if she refuses, Snow White finally bites the apple. As her nemesis collapses to the ground, the Queen smiles smugly.

After the Evil Queen learns that the Huntsman allowed Prince Charming to escape her castle, she uses magic to force him up against the wall in preparation for punishment. She decides against it once the Magic Mirror shows her Prince Charming currently busy escaping through the woods. The Queen hinders Prince Charming's efforts by entrapping him in the Infinite Forest.

However, the Queen remains unaware Prince Charming receives help from Rumplestiltskin in reaching Snow White. While tending to her apple tree in the courtyard, the Queen receives news from the Magic Mirror of Snow White's awakening from the Sleeping Curse. She is furious to learn Snow White plans to take back the kingdom, and immediately sets out to stop her.

At a town, Snow White rallies the people together in an effort to gain their support in going up against the Queen. The crowd scatters in terror when the Queen makes herself known to the public, but Snow White, Prince Charming and the dwarves remain unmoved by the display. The princess and prince pair unsheathe their swords, but the Queen is not looking for a fight. She magically binds up Prince Charming while engaging Snow White in the tempting prospect of escaping with her life unscathed, if and when, the princess gives up being a claimant to the throne. Snow White dislikes the idea of exile, but the Queen shares a realized epiphany. While attempts at killing or cursing haven’t worked, the true power is in sparing Snow White’s life so she can live knowing the Queen took everything that was once supposed to be hers. Then, she orders Snow White to swear on King Leopold’s grave to revoke her own petition to the throne. Snow White challenges her, which the Queen warns if she doesn't follow through, someone will pay. She demonstrates by levitating and choking a young peasant girl. Though Snow White attempts to counter by charging with her sword, she disappears in a puff of purple smoke as the girl is freed from the death grip and Prince Charming is loosened from the rope. Reappearing over a dazed and fallen Snow White, the Queen sets a time limit of until sundown tomorrow for revoking throne and promises for everyday she refuses, one of her loyal subjects will perish. As a last word, the Queen asks Snow White to stop deny who she really is; once a princess, but never a queen.

The next day, the Queen rides up to town to receive Snow White's submission. Instead, Snow White refuses to be surrender the crown. True to her previous threats, the Queen begins suffocating Grumpy to death as payment for Snow White’s defiance, and throws back the other dwarves when they attempt to help him. Though momentarily shaken, Snow White charges in attack. The hit is another miss as the Queen dissipates, but reappears from behind just in time for Snow White's blade to cut into her cheek. The shock of being bloodied forces the Queen’s hold on Grumpy to drop. Snow White boldly declares to have stopped denying who she is by professing the kingdom to be hers. Vehemently, the Queen calls for a meeting on the battlefield, which Snow White asserts they will be ready for. Afterwards, the Queen retreats.

The Queen joins forces with King George against Snow White and Prince Charming in their quest to take back the kingdom, but King George is defeated. While Snow White is separated from Prince Charming, she arrives and tries to harm her, but the Blue Fairy freezes and binds her magic with fairy dust. Snow White and Charming lock her up in a cell in their castle while deciding her fate with their council. There, Regina is visited by her father, who says that it is his fault that he did not take care of her properly. She tells him that he is the single person she loves the most before being brought to the scaffold. To the public, she gives her last testament by voicing her she regrets in not causing more pain and misery. She is blindfolded and the Blue Fairy readies the arrows that will fire and kill Regina, but the execution is halted at the last moment by a remorseful Snow White.

While Regina is in her cell, Snow White visits to give her a chance to redeem herself; surrendering her evil ways and turning back to the person "who saved her life". Snow White lets Regina out of her cell with a dagger, but Regina tries to choke and use the dagger to kill her. The dagger leaves Snow White unharmed and Prince Charming arrives with the guards to tell her that he and Snow White received a protection spell from Rumplestiltskin, and this was a test to see if Regina is still evil and unwilling to change. Snow White banishes her from the kingdom and promises to kill her if she ever tries to harm anyone in the kingdom.

Shortly after, during Snow White and Charming's wedding day, Regina is back in her palace with her father. Rumplestiltskin visits her to remind her about the wedding and hints that the protection only works in this land. Regina is reminded of the Dark Curse and after Rumplestiltskin disappears she calls for her carriage to ride to Snow White's wedding.

The Evil Queen crashes Snow White's wedding and announces her plans to enact the Dark Curse.

She travels to the Forbidden Fortress, demanding the aforementioned Dark Curse from Maleficent, who she exchanged it with for the sleeping curse used on Snow White. Maleficent and the Queen eventually have a magical duel. Maleficent loses the ensuing battle, being apprehended by a magically altered chandelier and watches as the Evil Queen steals the curse.

Sometime after this, the pirate, Hook, breaks into the castle intending to take Belle hostage from the cell. Upon discovering she does not know how to kill Rumplestiltskin, he proceeds to knock her out and tries to kill her, but Regina enters the room, and uses her magic to grab Hook's hook before he is able to do the deed. She informs Hook that Belle is a valuable pawn and she cannot afford to lose her. Hook attempts to take his hook back, but Regina backs up, chastising him for addressing her in a way unbefitting a queen, then telling him that although Belle cannot help him, she can, claiming she knows the crocodile he wants to skin and why he came from Neverland.

In her lair, she enchants Hook's hook, stating that it will give him the power to rip the heart out of one person. She informs Hook of her intent to enact the dark curse, and that before she goes to the other world, she wants to be sure that one person will not follow her. She tells Hook this person is her mother, and that she wants Hook to go to Wonderland where Cora was sent, rip out her heart, and return with the body in the place of the guard she is sending along with Hook. She then tells Hook that in this new world, he can have his revenge on Rumplestiltskin, neglecting to tell him of the memory loss that will occur as a result. Hook agrees to carry out the task, at which point she takes out the hat, and uses it to create a portal to Wonderland for Hook to enter.

Hook returns to the Enchanted Forest through the portal with Cora's seemingly dead body and Regina enters her vault of hearts with a red rose in her hand and dressed in a black costume. Cora's body is laid out in a stone tomb, and Regina shows remorse at having done what she needed to do to ensure her safety in this new world. She tells Cora that she learned from her that love is weakness, and that she could not have her mother in this new world alive as she loves her. She then lays the rose upon Cora's chest and leaves the room, to go and enact the Dark Curse.

The Queen's first attempt in trying to cast the spell by sacrificing the heart of her most prized horse results in failure. Her father suggests she go back to the person who gave her the curse and find out the reason it didn't work. The Queen disguises herself as a mouse to sneak into Rumplestiltskin's cell. When they are alone, she shows herself and wants immediate answers about the essential thing she needs for the curse to work. Rumplestiltskin fills her in about the previous visit Snow White and Prince Charming paid him and his prophecy of their unborn child as the savior who will break the curse. When she makes mention of the fact she used a horse heart as the main component to enact the curse, Rumplestiltskin is aghast she thought the heart of a steed would be enough. He briefs that she must use the heart of the thing she loves most, which angers the Queen as the person she loves most is long dead due to Snow White's slip up. Rumplestiltskin heeds there must be someone else she loves just as much. Letting the thought sink in, the Queen is stunned she must kill her own father to bring about the curse. She promises she is willing to go as far as it takes to get what she wants. As the Queen leaves, Rumplestiltskin snaps for her to stop wasting time and kill it.

She returns to her castle in an anxious and confused mood. When her father inquiries about what she found out, the Queen confesses the curse will only work if she sacrifices the heart of the person she loves most, which is him. The Queen is frustrated and sad as she does not want to keep living the life she has now when Snow White's existence is a constant plaque to her. Her father attempts to console his daughter and tries to give her hope in leaving her revenge and hatred behind so the two of them can start over as a family. The Queen wholeheartedly agrees he's right, and takes his advice in the opposite direction by taking out his heart since realizing she can never be happy in this world, so the curse will give her happiness in the next one.

The Queen goes back to the same spot she cast the curse the first time and tries again with the heart of her father. It has extraordinary results and with success, she goes to place a single rose at her father's grave in saying goodbye.

Then, she rides to Snow White's palace and sends her guards to kill anyone in their way. The Queen meets Snow White as she hugging Prince Charming's unconscious body in the wardrobe room and laughs, telling Snow White she will not remember her prince, much less know that she loved him. As the curse enters the room and proceeds to engulf them in a dark haze, Snow White asks her where they are going, and the Queen replies, "Somewhere horrible! Absolutely horrible. A place where the only happiness, will be mine!"

Trivia

 * In Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, the Evil Queen is credited as "Queen Grimhilde", though this name has rarely been used in the decades since.
 * The name "Regina" is of Latin origin that means "Queen".
 * When she enters the chamber where the royal wedding is held, all the guests aside from Snow White and Prince Charming avoid looking at her.
 * Has a black feather tattoo on her right wrist.
 * After her husband's death, she re-decorated the palace into something befitting an evil monarch and adopted a much darker wardrobe.
 * Her birthday is February 1st.

Appearances

 * The Evil Queen appears in Henry's storybook in "The Thing You Love Most", "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter", "Queen of Hearts" and "The New Neverland".
 * The Evil Queen's photo appears in a locket in "Welcome to Storybrooke".
 * The Evil Queen's name appears on the list Tamara has in "The Evil Queen".