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 fairytale, "The Little Mermaid".

History
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.
 * -|Before the Curse=

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. She runs to Daniel and 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 she and Daniel are to leave, Cora blocks their way. For a moment, Cora is convinced to allow Regina to be happy and the mother-daughter pair reconcile. Cora seemingly begins to accept Daniel, but suddenly rips out his heart. Regina 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 for wedding dress fitting. 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. When she questions this, a dismayed Snow White admits telling Cora about Daniel because she feared Regina would lose her mother like herself. Deep down, Regina is furious that a naive girl ruined her happiness, but keeps calm to spare Snow White's feelings. Regina lies, saying that Daniel ran away and she is happy to marry King Leopold and become her stepmother. As Snow White exits, her mother gives Regina credit for living up to her expectations. Regina realizes Cora set up the wild steed the princess was riding that day in an effort to get the notice of King Leopold, who was looking for a queen to fill his deceased wife's spot, but instead of blaming Cora, her anger towards Snow White grows.

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 affection for his daughter and Regina still cares for her old love, Daniel. Unable to let Daniel go, despite that he is dead, she magically enchants his body to remain in perfect condition. Soon after, she begins taking magic lessons with Rumplestiltskin. During one session in the woods, Regina is instructed by him to freeze a black unicorn, which she accomplishes successfully. However, when he orders for the animal's heart to be torn out, she balks, since doing so only reminds her of what Cora did to Daniel. Disappointed, Rumplestiltskin demands that she come to terms with whatever is holding her back from learning this kind of magic. That night, she gazes longingly at Daniel's preserved body. On another day, Regina preps for a magic lesson in the Dark One's castle, but Rumplestiltskin asks what is it that she truly wants. She wants to know if magic can resurrect the dead, though he says it is impossible, but a portal-jumper, Jefferson, claims he knows someone from another world that can perform such a feat. She agrees to give him a royal pass to travel freely in her kingdom in exchange for transporting the person to the Enchanted Forest. After meeting the "wizard", or doctor, Victor, Regina allows him to inspect the quality of Daniel's body, which he finds is in good condition for the operation. Since he needs a strong heart for surgery, she presents Victor with the vault containing her mother's collection of hearts where he picks one. On a stormy night, Regina and Jefferson wait outside as Victor attempts the procedure on Daniel inside a tent. Regretfully, he informs her that the resurrection was a failure. The news devastates Regina, but by the next day, she makes drastic changes after letting go of her true love. She witnesses Rumplestiltskin teaching magic to a new apprentice, Trish, and proves herself more worthy by ripping out and crushing the girl's heart to ash.

Despite Regina's new mindset, her life as Queen causes much unhappiness since King Leopold is only focused on his dead wife and insufferable young daughter. She skips out on a scheduled magic lesson, to which Rumplestiltskin shows up at her castle. He chides that Regina cannot leave this life, even though she thinks there are choices in having love or darkness. Rumplestiltskin states that 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 falling to her death, but is rescued by a fairy's magic and lifted to safety. She and the fairy, Tinker Bell, become friends and spend time at a small inn. Regina confides in Tinker Bell about her miserable non-existent marriage and having a stepdaughter who destroyed her true love. Hoping to help Regina find a new love, Tinker Bell steals and uses pixie dust, which leads them straight to a man with a lion tattoo. Regina is encouraged by Tinker Bell to go talk to the man. Only after her fairy friend leaves, Regina is too frightened to go through with it and flees home. 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 makes up lies about the man, but Tinker Bell realizes she was too scared to meet the man. Even so, Regina refuses to own up to her own emotions and calls Tinker Bell a horrible fairy. Tinker Bell pleads that she will get in trouble for stealing pixie dust, but Regina coldly sends her away.

Regina is introduced to her husband's new friend, a recently freed Genie, who she plans to manipulate into helping her. During King Leopold's birthday celebration, her husband showers Snow White with the proclamation that she is the fairest in the land. Regina looks on miserably and draws the sympathetic attention of the Genie. She leaves for the garden where the Genie gifts her a hand mirror. He states that it will allow Regina to 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 King Leopold and force 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 gives the box to the Genie and in turn, he hands it to Regina. She opens it to reveal a two-headed poisonous viper, intending to commit suicide, but the Genie kills her husband with the creature instead so they can be together. Instead, Regina changes her tune, seeing as she has no more use for the Genie, and informs him that a palace guard found the viper. Since the animal originates from Agrabah, the Genie's homeland, the crime will be traced back to him, so Regina feigns sadness with the promise of a ship ready to take him away to avoid persecution. Only then, the Genie realizes what Regina's real intention is, but truly loves her. He uses the last and third wish on the lamp to be with her forever. As his wish comes true, Regina fears being forced into love against her will until hearing a voice come from inside the hand mirror. To her satisfactions, the wish turned the Genie into a Magic Mirror.

Many days after King Leopold's funeral, Regina comforts Snow White as they both are in mourning. Nonetheless, her true aim becomes clear in private, when she uses the Magic Mirror to find a suitable person to kill Snow White. On the Magic Mirror's suggestion that a Huntsman would be perfect for the job, she sends her guards to bring one to the palace. She barters with the Huntsman with the promise to outlaw the slaughtering of wolves in his kingdom since he cares a great deal about their safety. In return, she asks not only for Snow White's death, but for the princess' heart to be delivered to her. While he is away on this mission, Regina changes the palace to suit how she feels. The Huntsman returns with a heart, but he hands her a farewell letter from Snow White. Regina refuses to take it, so he attempts to read the letter until she throws the parchment into the fire. After taking the heart, she tries to magically insert it into one of the collection boxes in the vault. Nothing happens and Regina quickly catches on that the heart is not Snow White's. Scorned by the betrayal, she tears out the Huntsman's heart as a replacement. While squeezing the heart, Regina commands that he is now hers forever and will share her bed whenever she chooses. She also warns to never cross her again, and if he does, death will be the punishment.

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 learns of Snow White's current whereabouts, but discovers her gone upon arrival. She makes a public plea to the villagers for the capture and arrest of Snow White. Even with the guarantee of a reward, no one speaks up, so Regina orders all the villagers to be killed. Later, she vents to Rumplestiltskin about how the citizens do not love her, and their loyalties are to Snow White. Regina decides to kill Snow White by getting close enough to her, and to do that, she needs a disguising spell, but it would take too long to learn, so Rumplestiltskin will have to do it instead. As part of their deal, he requires her to break off ties with King George, which she agrees to. Once the spell is cast, Regina is now a peasant girl in rags, though to her own eyes, she still looks like herself. In the marketplace, she is shocked to see the commoners hitting a stick effigy resembling the Queen as it is rumored Her Majesty doesn't have a heart. She tries to stop them, but the Queen's knights arrive and mistake her as the one responsible for the mocking effigy. They prepare Regina for execution when a hooded vagrant saves her. In the midst of the battle, Regina's leg is cut with a rusty sword. She later sees her savior is Snow White and promptly passes out as a leg infection festers. While she is out cold, Snow White takes care of her in a makeshift house in the woods. Regina introduces herself under a fake name, Wilma, and shows surprise at the fact Snow White is helping a stranger. Snow White tells Regina about a time when a young woman saved her life, and from that experience, she realized a genuine connection can develop between strangers. Regina is moved by the story since the young woman in Snow White's recollection is her. When Regina is well enough to walk, she and Snow White traverse the forest together. Snow White explains her perspective on the Queen, who she sees as someone in constant pain, but also a person that was once good. She declares that if the Queen was sincere about changing, they could be a family again. However, Snow White takes back her words once they reach a village where all the people are dead due to the Queen's orders. Regina accidentally mentions it was the Queen who saved Snow White from the horse, which helps the princess realize who "Wilma" really is. She runs away from Snow White's aimed arrow and storms into Rumplestiltskin's castle. Regina realizes the commoners will never love her and vows to punish them all. Rumplestiltskin reverses the disguise, to which Regina gazes at her reflection and states, "Long live the Evil Queen".

The Queen's knights continue to chase after Snow White, but she eludes capture once more and is rescued by a mermaid, Ariel. Regina spies on Snow White and her new companion at the Under the Sea celebration honoring the sea goddess Ursula. To kill two birds with one stone, she disguises herself as Ursula in order to tempt Ariel with a magic bracelet that can help her remain human, so she can be with her prince, Eric, but only if someone takes her place as mermaid. As Regina had hoped, Ariel clasps the bracelet on Snow White, making the princess helpless with a new-found tail appendage. The Queen chooses this moment to reveal herself as Ariel discovers the trickery too late. Though Ariel balks at the idea of leaving a friend behind, the Queen proposes that Snow White will be harmed either way and gives her the opportunity to leave since there will be no second chances. Once the advice is heeded, the Queen begins using magic to choke Snow White before Ariel rushes back to stab her in the neck with a fork. While Regina works to dislodge the utensil, Ariel rips the bracelet from Snow White's wrist, reverting them to their original forms, and the two escape by swimming away. Even so, the Queen gets the last laugh once she deliberately takes away Ariel's voice while the mermaid is trying to call out to her prince near his castle balcony. Regina relishes in the fact that Eric will never know Ariel's feelings for him as this outcome is far worse than being outright rejected. 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 of the castle for good. A few days later, Regina is led to a far away kingdom by Belle's former travel mates, who disclose her current location. When Belle reaches the top of a hill, Regina ambushes the girl and entraps her in a jail cell. Despite Belle's desperate wish to go to Rumplestiltskin, Regina does not listen; saying that by keeping her away from the Dark One will be a lifetime without heartache and misery. Stubbornly, Belle retorts she cannot keep her and Rumplestiltskin apart forever. As a follow-up, she goes to Rumplestiltskin's home and asks him about making a deal concerning a certain mermaid. Grumpily, he expresses disinterest in making deals at the moment, so 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.

Sometime before or after, the Queen exchanges the Dark Curse for the Sleeping Curse from the witch Maleficent. One day, while traveling in the woods, she captures a Woodcutter and later chances upon his two children, Gretel and Hansel. They are searching the forest for their father, but the Queen doesn't give an inkling that she knows where he is. At first, she 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 refuse and continue to ask for their father as promised. She grows angry at their noncompliance and curses them back to the forest to be forever lost searching for their father. Once they are gone, the Queen 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 where the three will forever wander in search of each other. For the apple, she infuses it with the Sleeping Curse.

The Queen learns King George has captured Snow White's true love, Prince Charming, and intends to execute him. She intervenes in time and asks that Prince Charming be turned over to her custody instead. To King George, she promises to make the prince suffer more if he uses his "son" to hurt Snow White. Keen on the idea, King George releases the prince to her. Later on, the Queen pays Prince Charming a visit in his cell to inform him she has no plans to kill Snow White and has another form of punishment that is far worse. She walks out smiling triumphantly, holding up a bright red apple. Prince Charming tries to run after her, but the doors of his cell close via magic. After Snow White attacks King George's castle to free Prince Charming, she discovers he is not there and communicates with her through a mirror. The Queen interrupts their chat and sets up a parley with Snow White at the place "where it all began"-the horse stables of Regina's old home. The place is important, as it is the place where Snow White found about the love affair between Regina and Daniel, and was also where the young princess was sworn to secrecy about the matter, which she did not keep. While waiting for the other party to show up, the Queen sadly glances, near tears, at the area in the stables where Daniel died. Once Snow White arrives, the Queen leads her to a grave on the land, revealing that Daniel did not run away, but that Cora killed him because she couldn't keep a secret. Snow White hopes for a truce since since Daniel is dead, but so is King Leopold, who Regina killed, and thus both of them have suffered enough. The Queen disagrees and instead offers Snow White a poisoned apple, stating she should comply in order to ensure Prince Charming's safety, to which the princess willingly takes a bite of the forbidden fruit. As her nemesis collapses to the ground under the influence of the Sleeping Curse, 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. The Queen intrudes upon a town speech Snow White is making to gain the support of the commoners in going against her. The prince and princess pair go for their swords, but the Queen is not looking for a fight. She binds up Prince Charming while giving Snow White the tempting prospect of escaping with her life unscathed, if and when, the princess gives up being a claimant to the throne. 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. When challenged by Snow White, the Queen begins choking the life out of a peasant girl. She disappears in a puff of smoke as Snow White charges, sword in hand, at her. The Queen reappears to state that she has until sundown tomorrow to revoke the throne and for everyday of refusal, one of Snow White's 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, Snow White refuses to 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. The two tersely trade words to meet on the battlefield.

The Queen joins forces with King George against Snow White and Prince Charming in their quest to take back the kingdom, but her ally is soon defeated. She meets Snow White in the woods, not realizing it is a trap, until the Blue Fairy freezes and binds her magic with fairy dust. Snow White and Prince 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 affirms her love for him before being brought to the scaffold for her execution. 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 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". Once allowed out of the cell, Regina steals Snow White's dagger and attempts to stab her with it, but it has no effect. Suddenly, Prince Charming arrives to inform Regina that the dagger has a protection spell from Rumplestiltskin and it was a test to see if she is still evil and unwilling to change. Seeing as Regina still has harmful intentions, Snow White banishes her out of the kingdom and promises death if she ever harms anyone within the land again. Shortly after, Rumplestiltskin visits Regina in her palace to remind her of Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding ceremony, and that the protection spell only works in the Enchanted Forest. From this, she recalls the power of the Dark Curse and what it can do. With another scheme in mind, she calls for her carriage to the 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 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, a 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 tries to take Belle's life, but Regina enters the room to stop him by taking away his hook hand. She claims to know the crocodile he wants to skin and why he came from Neverland. Regina enchants Hook's hook hand with the power to rip out a person's heart and briefs him on his task of killing her mother, Cora, who she specifically doesn't want around once the Dark Curse is enacted and a new world is created. Since Hook will be getting to Cora in another world, Wonderland, Regina will be sending him there via a magic hat. The rule of the hat is the same amount of people who go in must come out, so she has him travel with the corpse of a guard. She specifics Cora's heart must be ripped out, and then her mother's body must be brought back while the guard's corpse is left behind. Lastly, Regina promises Hook that in the new world, he can get revenge on Rumplestiltskin, though she neglects to tell him that everyone's memory, including his own, will be wiped out due to the Dark Curse's effects. After he returns with her mother's body, she asks for a moment alone to say goodbye. Remorsely, Regina is apologetic, stating that Cora taught 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. 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; causing Regina to realize she must kill her own father. She returns to the castle in a confused mood and reluctantly tells her father about what must be done. The Queen vents frustration about how Snow White's existence is a constant plague to her. Her father consoles her with the possibility that she can leave revenge and hatred behind and the two of them can start over as a family. The Queen wholeheartedly agrees, but in the next instant, tears out her father's heart, as she knows happiness in this world is not possible for her. Using the heart, she successfully casts the curse. Before leaving, she places a single rose on her father's grave.

As the curse threatens to take over the entire Enchanted Forest, she rides in her carriage to Snow White's castle. On the way, she teleports to Rumplestiltskin's cell to have one last chat. The Queen proves to be satisfied by the results of the curse, though Rumplestiltskin warns her that from casting it, she has created a hole in her heart and someday will feel the need to fill it. She doesn't take his prophecy seriously and promptly leaves.

Upon entering the royal castle, she walks in on Snow White hugging Prince Charming's unconscious body. The Queen is angered that their child, the prophesied savior, has already escaped through the wardrobe, but takes great pleasure in knowing the curse will separate Snow White from her prince for good. Shortly after, the curse engulfs all of them in a dark haze.


 * -|After Undone Curse=

After taking magical preventive measures to undo Pan's casting of the Dark Curse, all the inhabitants of Storybrooke pay the price by returning to the Enchanted Forest and reverting to their prior personas. For Regina, the burden of the price is the heaviest as she will be forever separated from her beloved son Henry. In a group, they manifest in the land of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip where Regina mentions in passing that her old palace is still standing due to a preservation spell. She scoffs at Snow White's suggestion that they go there together until the latter insists their united forces will ease the other inhabitants' minds. During the trek, Regina disappears into the woods alone to take out her own heart since the pain of losing Henry is becoming too much to bear. As she is burying it, Snow White finds her. The princess sympathizes with Regina's plight, as she knows what it's like to say goodbye to her own child, but promises the pain will lessen over time. Snow White convinces her that she must find happiness for Henry's sake, so Regina reluctantly reinserts the heart. Soon after, they are attacked by a flying monkey. The creature grabs Regina and scratches her, but is chased off by one of the Merry Men's arrows. Regina exchanges tense words with both Little John and Robin Hood since her less than pleasant reputation as Queen still remains. The Merry Men accompany the whole group to the palace, but once there, Regina discovers a protection spell keeping them out, meaning someone is already inside. For the time being, Robin Hood suggests everyone can take shelter at Sherwood Forest.

As the group departs for Sherwood Forest, Regina proposes to Prince Charming and Snow White that she break into the palace by using the underground tunnels, which are not protected by the spell, and afterwards, lower the shield so everyone can lead an army in. The flying monkey attacks again, with Robin Hood's son, Roland, nearly swooped by the creature, but Regina protects him by turning the creature into a stuffed animal, which she gifts to the boy. In a group discussion, Belle shares knowledge about the flying monkey's origins in the land of Oz, so Regina determines the person in the palace is the Wicked Witch. Robin Hood joins her as payment for rescuing his son earlier. They reach the crypt, bound by blood magic, is open. At the bedchamber, Regina begins mixing ingredients for a Sleeping Curse and admits her desire to use the curse on herself. When Robin Hood tries to stop her, she freezes him. Regina wishes for the curse to be broken by the only true love in her life—Henry—since she wants to live for him. After taking down the shield, Regina apologizes to Henry before preparing to prick herself with the curse. The Wicked Witch takes it away, and introduces herself as Zelena. Regina asks how she got past the crypt's seal, but Zelena insists it wasn't broken open. The woman claims they are half-sisters, with Cora as their shared parent, though Regina is in disbelief. Zelena is embittered by the abandonment, yet her sister had everything, though Regina considers her lucky to have escaped Cora's grip. Nonetheless, Zelena announces that her true intent is to get what she desires; describing it as "her dreams being realized" while Regina will suffer a "fate worse than death". Motivated by an enemy, Regina decides she'll live to wreck Zelena's life.

Following her encounter with Zelena, Regina gives Robin Hood a set of gold arrows as a reward for helping to enter the castle. While gathered inside the palace with Belle, Robin Hood, Snow White and many other residents, Regina witnesses a reunion between a long-lost Princess Rapunzel, who Prince Charming helped rescue, and her parents.

Learning of Snow White's pregnancy, Regina is strongly against the princess' intentions of announcing it to the kingdom's citizens, especially with Zelena still at large. The conversation is interrupted by Belle's return, to which she explains how Neal sacrificed his own life to resurrect Rumplestiltskin, who is now controlled by Zelena. While everyone ponders what the witch wants from them, Aurora and Prince Phillip admit Zelena desires Snow White's unborn child and that they were forced to keep quiet or their own child would be harmed. After this revelation, Zelena arrives to turn the two into flying monkeys and immobilizes Snow White. Regina steps forward to defend her, but she, too, is frozen in place. Zelena approaches to touch Snow White's belly; claiming the baby will be hers, and she departs soon after. Later, Regina, Belle, Grumpy, Prince Charming, Snow White, and Robin Hood discuss counterattacking Zelena. Despite that Regina highly disapproves of Robin Hood's presence on the war council, he curtly remarks that his help is necessary. Deciding Rumplestiltskin would know best, they break into the Dark One's castle; with Robin Hood stopping Regina from using magic on the sealed door and instead firing an arrow to trigger a trap explosion. Though he saved her, Regina chastises that he nearly killed her. Inside, they gain information from Rumplestiltskin about Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, who can help them. Regina, with Prince Charming and Snow White, find a door leading to Glinda, but it can only be accessed by the pure of heart. When the couple disappear into the entrance, she tries entering only to be denied. After returning, the pair talk about Zelena's weakness—light magic—a criteria Emma fits. Regina refuses to cast another Dark Curse as it would mean giving up Henry's heart. Urged by Prince Charming, Snow White sacrifices his heart to cast the curse. Suddenly, Zelena swoops down to add a potion into the curse mixture, which will erase everyone's memories of their year in the Enchanted Forest. Before the curse spreads, Regina, on her stepdaughter's wishes, tears out Snow White's heart and divides it equally. With one half returned to Snow White, the other is used to revive Prince Charming just as the curse closes in.

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".
 * 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 1.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
 * 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".