Daniel Colter

"Who cares about magic? True love is the most powerful magic of all. It can overcome anything."

- Daniel to Regina

Daniel is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the eighteenth episode of the first season. He is portrayed by guest star Noah Bean, and does not have a Storybrooke counterpart.

Before the Curse
Daniel works as a stable boy on the land of a valet and his wife, Cora. He falls in love with their daughter, Regina, as she does with him. Due to differences in social rank, they are forced to keep the relationship a secret. Regina knows their relationship will displease her mother, who has high hopes she will marry someone of higher rank. Daniel is in disbelief that Cora cares so much about status difference when she, too, had humble beginnings as a miller's daughter before marrying Regina's father.

Cora seeks out an opportunity to have Regina noticed by a king of a neighboring country who is passing through their lands with his knights and daughter, Snow White. After she sets up a riding session for Regina at the stables, Cora ends up startling the horse Snow White is riding and sending the animal running amok. Regina hears the girl's cries for help and rescues her.

Snow White's father, King Leopold, hears of Regina's heroic deed and comes the next day to formally propose to her in the hopes of Regina becoming Snow White's stepmother. Flabbergasted, Regina looks to her father for help, but he says nothing, and Cora accepts the proposal for her.

Horrified, she runs to Daniel and is in tears over the arrangement. Regina begs Daniel to run away with her and get married. He accepts and gives her a ring to symbolize their future life together. During a passionate embrace, they are interrupted by Snow White, who witnessed them and runs away. Regina catches up with her, and tries to reason with Snow White why she cannot marry her father. She explains what she and Daniel have is true love, and he makes her very happy. Snow White promises to keep Regina's secret.

However, Snow White is moved by Cora, who says she will do anything to make Regina happy, and is manipulated by her into believing it is alright to talk about Regina's love for Daniel.

That night, Regina and Daniel plan to run away together, but Cora is already waiting outside the barn for them. She traps them in and expresses anger that Regina would give up everything for a stable boy.

After some tension and Regina's adamant reasoning with her mother, Cora relents in her stubbornness. The mother-daughter pair hug in reconciliation, and Cora walks over to Daniel. He exchanges kind and understanding words with her in which he is sympathetic to her role as Regina's mother, and how she only ever wants what is best for Regina. Cora agrees and demonstrates it's true by ripping out Daniel's heart from his chest. As Regina holds an unresponsive Daniel in her arms, Cora crushes the heart to dust.

On the day of the wedding, a sullen Regina is being fitted for the ceremony dress. Snow White guiltily admits she couldn't withhold the information in concern Regina might lose her mother. Regina appears be understanding, but it is only a mask to hide the simmering anger she feels.

Afterwards, Regina asks her mother if she had purposely caused the horse Snow White was on to go wild in order for her to save the girl, thereby getting the marriage proposal from the king. Cora denies having anything to do with it, and Regina's fury at Daniel's death misdirects itself at Snow White, and hatred towards her begins to fester.

After she becomes Queen, Regina preserves Daniel's body with an enchantment spell and keeps him in her family's mausoleum. Rumplestiltskin begins teaching her magic, but she vehemently refuses to follow his learning methods of pulling out a heart and crushing it. The experience only reminds her of what Cora did to Daniel. She pleads for Rumplestiltskin to teach her how to resurrect the dead so she can have Daniel back, but such a thing is not possible through magical means. Instead, Rumplestiltskin barters a deal with a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, from the Land Without Color, to feign a failed resurrection of Daniel so Regina will move on from her lost love.

After the Curse
After Emma breaks the Dark Curse, Dr. Whale is annoyed at Regina for not sending him back to his world. To get back at her, he steals a heart from her vault and takes Daniel's body to bring him back. However, Daniel becomes violent and attacks the doctor, ripping his arm off in the process. He leaves for the stables because it is the last place he remembers being. Daniel encounters Henry and has a flashback of Cora taking out his heart. The memory gives him a bad reaction, and he attacks Henry until Regina and David arrive to stop him. Regina convinces David to give her time to speak with Daniel. At first, Daniel attacks and chokes Regina until she gasps and says, "I love you." This causes Daniel to regain his senses and let go of her. They briefly reunite, but Daniel is not truly himself. His revival causes him to be in intense pain and want to inflict damage on those around him, so Daniel urges Regina to let him go and learn to love again. Tearfully, she freezes and turns him to dust. henry (reginas farther also dies twice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trivia

 * The name "Daniel" is of Hebrew origin derived from the name "Daniyyel" that means "God is my judge".
 * He is the only character killed twice on the show. no so did valet
 * he is henrys enemy