Underworld

"All that matters is that all these people, in this Underworld, are dead and trapped because they have unfinished business."

- Mr. Gold to Emma Swan

The Underworld, mistakenly referred to as Hell, and also known as Purgatory, Limbo or the Broken Kingdom, is a world featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the twelfth episode of the fifth season.

The Underworld is based on the location of the same name from Greek Mythology, and the Disney film Hercules.

Current Inhabitants

 * Apprentice †
 * Berryl Dendrus  †
 * Blind Witch †
 * Charon
 * Claude †
 * Cruella De Vil †
 * Fendrake the Healer †
 * Furies


 * Guard †
 * King Arthur †
 * King Fergus †
 * Mordred †
 * Oz Guard †
 * Sad Eyed Boy †
 * Sad-Eyed Man †
 * Stealthy †

Former Inhabitants

 * Auntie Em †
 * Blacktooth †
 * Captain Silver †
 * Cora †
 * Daniel Colter †
 * Eighteen previous Dark Ones †
 * Eurydice †
 * Gaston †
 * Gorgon †
 * Hook
 * Hades †
 * Hercules †


 * Liam Jones †
 * Megara †
 * Milah †
 * Nimue †
 * Orpheus †
 * Peter Pan †
 * Prince James †
 * Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold
 * Six men from Captain Silver's crew †
 * Valet †
 * Zoso †

Ways to Access the Underworld
The Underworld is reachable by a portal which can be opened with the help of the blood of a person who has died and come back to life. At this moment, the only known person who accomplished that is Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold. However, it can only be achieved in some specific areas, like the Heritage Park for Storybrooke for instance.

A portal can be opened in a location which is not Storybrooke Heritage Park. But it requires some other work and effort.

It is possible to summon the spirit from someone in the Underworld either by getting the person's murderer to use the murder weapon to open a portal, or by using the Ale of Seonaidh brewed by the Witch from DunBroch.

Any souls trapped in the Underworld can be returned to any mortal world by Charon. However, they are branded with the Mark of Charon which will force them to return when the moon reaches its peak. The Mark of Charon can also be traded with another person, allowing the trapped soul to remain in the living world, while the recipient of the mark takes their place.

Trivia

 * -|On-Screen Notes=

On-Screen Notes

 * Underbrooke's fallen clock tower is featured in the title card for "Souls of the Departed".
 * Additionally, the title cards of all episodes that take place in the Underworld (from "Souls of the Departed" to Firebird") have red backgrounds, which reflect the Underworld.
 * Edward Kitsis describes the Underworld as "a weigh station between two other worlds". These worlds are Mount Olympus, which is above the Underworld and where dead people finishing their business are sent, and the "Worse Place".
 * According to Adam Horowitz, the Underworld is not Hell, but a place between Hell and the living world. It is described as "the place for people with unfinished business", which is not about being good or evil.
 * However, the Underworld is called "Hell" on several occasions in the series.
 * According to Jane Espenson, not all bad things someone has ever done are included in their Underworld unfinished business.
 * According to Mr. Gold, a person who dies as a Dark One must have an unfinished business, therefore this person is automatically sent to the Underworld.
 * While most of the Underbrooke shops are the same as the ones in Storybrooke, Modern Fashions and Purbeck Shoe Store have been replaced with Iletus and Sons Candlestick Makers, and Harmony Mortuary.
 * Residents of the Underworld can communicate with the living via a phone booth. However, it is a one sided method of communication, as the users are unsure whether their messages get through or not. According to the Blind Witch, the phone booth's main purpose is for haunting people, and is classified as a "Level 1 haunting".
 * According to the Blind Witch, the breath of the living sells for a lot on the Underbrooke black market.
 * It is possible for a person's soul to not make the journey to the Underworld if the person is revived shortly after death. In David's case, his soul never made it to the Underworld because he was brought back to life within a minute of being dead.

The Time on the Clocks
 * Every time the hands on the broken clock tower moves, it means that a soul has left Hades' domain. The other clocks in the Underworld seem to follow the same pattern:
 * When the heroes first arrive, the hands on the clock tower and the wall clock in the diner both show the same time: 8:15.
 * After the hands on clock tower move to 8:16 after the Valet left the Underworld in "Souls of the Departed", the diner wall clock shows the same time.
 * When Hercules and Megara leave, the hands on the clock tower move to 8:17 before the scene cuts to the clock in Hades' Lair moving from 8:17 to 8:18. Later, the diner wall clock and the clock at the sheriff's station also show 8:18.
 * After Liam Jones and six of Captain Silver's crew leave the Underworld in "The Brothers Jones", the hands on the clock tower move from 8:25 to 8:27 in the next episode. However, the time on the diner clock and the Underbrooke Blanchard Loft wall clock shows 8:25. The time on the clock tower is later shown as 8:27, indicating that two more souls have left the Underworld. Admittedly, Blacktooth and Captain Silver have left for the Worse Place; however, the clock did not move when Blacktooth left in "Souls of the Departed". Making matters even more complicated, is that when Hades seeks out Gaston at the Underbrooke Pet Shelter, the wall clock shows 8:26.
 * Neither did any of the clocks move when Milah fell into the River of Lost Souls in "Devil's Due", even though "Ruby Slippers" shows that the headstone of someone who falls into the river cracks, which, according to Cruella in "Devil's Due", will happen to a tombstone when someone goes "some place worse".
 * In addition, after Cora leaves for Mount Olympus in "Sisters", the clock tower shows 8:28. If the clock tower is the correct version, it does not account for Gaston and Prince James, who both fell into the river in "Her Handsome Hero" and "Sisters" respectively.


 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * A stuffed bear and tiger are sitting next to each other in the living room of the Underbrooke Swan House. This is a reference to Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger from the 2011 film Winnie the Pooh.

Lost

 * When the heroes first arrive, the time on the broken clock tower in the Underworld is frozen at 8:15. It is a reference to Oceanic Flight 815.
 * The number on Neal's room key is 8, the second Lost number.
 * The clock tower unfreezes at 8:15, and moves to 8:16. 8, 15 and 16 are three of the Lost numbers.
 * In "Labor of Love", the clock tower is shown at 8:16, just like in the previous episode.
 * The number 15 appears on a pavement sign outside the Underbrooke version of the Marine Garage; a reference to the third Lost number.
 * As the heroes leave the Underworld, the hands on the clock tower spin around and stop at 8:15, then move to 8:16.
 * When Cruella asks for a glass of whiskey, Mordred holds up an empty bottle of MacCutcheon Scotch Whiskey. This was a fictional brand on Lost.


 * -|Set Notes=

Set Dressing

 * The apples in the mayor's office in the Underbrooke Town Hall are black, instead of Regina's red ones.
 * When Cruella takes over, she adds her own personal touch to the office in the form of a white greyhound statue and dalmatian-like spotted cushions and curtains.
 * Underworld duplicates of items from Emma's nursery room in the Enchanted Forest in "Pilot", "Going Home", "The Tower" and "Best Laid Plans", including the baby crib, toys and the Unicorn mobile, can be seen inside the Underbrooke Swan House. According to the show creators, this was done to show how the past comes back to haunt Emma, and to remind her of the nursery she never got to live in.
 * The medieval torture devices seen in the Underbrooke Sheriff's Department include:
 * The spiked collar: An iron collar with spikes pointing inward which is placed around a prisoner's neck while they are standing in the center of the room. The collar is then fastened with ropes to the walls. If the prisoner moves, the spikes will impale them through the throat.
 * The hanging cage: A cage in which the victim was either displayed and later freed from, or locked inside and left to die.
 * The pillory
 * A modified version of the rack, with spiked rollers that sliced into the skin and muscles of the victim's back. This "improvement" was introduced by the French.
 * The same prop is used in the Dark Castle great hall in Belle's dream in "The Savior", along with the cage that is sitting in the corner of the sheriff's station.
 * The Judas cradle
 * A map of the United States of America, listing animal shelter spending by state, is pinned to a board at the Underbrooke Pet Shelter.

Costume Notes

 * One of Cruella's necklaces is the Underworld version of the necklace that Isaac created for her with the Enchanted Quill in "Sympathy for the De Vil".

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.