David Nolan


 * This article focuses on David Nolan's Storybrooke persona. For his Fairytale Land counterpart, see Prince Charming.

"You are both. The town is both. We are both."

- David

David Nolan, once a coma patient known only as John Doe, is a character on Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the first episode of the first season. He is played by starring cast member Joshua Dallas and is the Storybrooke counterpart of Prince Charming.

History
David Nolan was originally married to Kathryn Nolan. However, they didn't get along very well, and after one of their numerous fights, David left. So we are told. Regina Mills, the mayor, found him on the side of the road and brought him to the hospital. She became his emergency contact, and he was in a coma for several years. While he was in a coma, he was known as John Doe.

A few days after Emma Swan arrived in Storybrooke, Henry Mills convinces her to ask Mary Margaret Blanchard to read Henry's storybook, full of stories from Fairytale Land, to the hospital's John Doe. As Henry think he is Prince Charming, Mary Margaret agrees, expecting nothing to happen and hoping that Henry will realize that fairytales are only stories. She visits David's hospital room that night and she begins to read. Halfway through the story, David, while still unconscious, grabs Mary Margaret's hand.

Mary Margaret runs for Dr. Whale, but he claims nothing happened and she must have been imagining it. The next night, David awakens from his coma and leaves the hospital. Mary Margaret, Emma Swan and Sheriff Graham form a search party to look for him, only to find him at the edge of the Toll Bridge where he is unconscious and bleeding.

Mary Margaret panicks and performs CPR on him while Graham calls an ambulance. Henry, who had tagged along with the search party, becomes upset at the prospect that he could die and Emma shields him from watching. However, Mary Margaret's CPR efforts are effective and he spits out water. When she asks him what his name is, he replies that he doesn't know.

Back at the hospital, Regina comes with a blonde woman who is revealed to be Kathryn Nolan, David's estranged wife. Emma becomes suspicious because Kathryn had never thought that her husband had stayed in Storybrooke - she had assumed that he'd gone to Boston. He reunites with his wife, but he later admits to Mary Margaret that nothing seems right to him except her. ("Snow Falls")

The next few days, he is playing hangman with Mary Margaret and has many conversations with her; however, Kathryn frequently interrupts them with her desperate attempts to help David regain his memory of his life before the coma. David and Mary Margaret grow closer. ("That Still Small Voice")

After he is discharged from the hospital, David is met with a welcome home party filled with people he doesn't recognize. However, he quickly becomes uncomfortable and goes to Mary Margaret's house instead. He tries to tell her that he was choosing her over Kathryn, and chases after her for the next few days.

Finally, he corners her at the schoolhouse and invites her to the Toll Bridge, because he was leaving Kathryn for her. Mary Margaret agrees to meet him. On his way there, he encounters Regina, who purposefully gives him the wrong directions. David winds up at Mr. Gold's shop, and Mr. Gold gives him the correct directions. As he turns to go, he sees an old windmill that had belonged to the Nolans prior to his disappearance, and he suddenly remembers everything from his life prior to the coma.

He rushes off to the Toll Bridge and tells Mary Margaret that he remembers everything and that he is going to honor his marriage. Mary Margaret becomes upset and tells him off for leading her on. Then she walks away in tears, leaving a dejected David behind. That night, he goes back to Kathryn and says that he is willing to work on their marriage. Kathryn becomes ecstatic and hugs him. ("The Shepherd")

After Sheriff Graham's death, he is seen stapling promotional posters of Sidney Glass around town. He runs across Mary Margaret, who is promoting Emma Swan for Sheriff, and has a quick chat with her. However, once she notices that he was advertising Sidney, she walks away with an excuse to get more posters. ("Desperate Souls")

A few days later, he walks into Granny's Diner and proceeds to have a quick chat with Mary Margaret. After the conversation is over, he grabs the coffees and walks away back to Kathryn.

When Mary Margaret discovers a dove trapped in a cage, she brings it to the animal shelter. The veterinarian says that the bird will be all right, but it must join its flock or risk becoming a lone dove. Mary Margaret is about to leave to release the bird, but David stops her and warns her about the coming storm. Mary Margaret goes anyway.

As she is going to free the bird, she slips on the ground and barely manages to keep herself from falling down to a ravine. At the last possible moment, David grabs her and hauls her up. The storm then begins, and they rush to an abandoned cabin in the woods.

There, the two confess their harbored feelings for each other. When they are about to kiss, Mary Margaret pulls away and tells David that Kathryn believed she was pregnant. However, David has no idea what she's talking about. The two reluctantly agree not to see each other again. They part ways after Mary Margaret releases the dove.

David goes home and tells Kathryn that he was willing to work on their marriage. But the next day, he arrives at 7:45 A.M. to get her coffee, and sees Mary Margaret. He immediately walks away and Mary Margaret chases after him. The two confess that they couldn't get away from each other, and kiss. Regina is shown watching in her car from across the street. ("7:15 A.M.")

A few days later, he prepares a picnic for the two of them by the Toll Bridge. He texts her, and Mary Margaret rushes off. They proceed to have a romantic picnic in the woods. ("Fruit of the Poisonous Tree")

On Valentine's Day, he is at Mr. Clark's store buying Mary Margaret and Kathryn two different Valentine's Day cards. Mr. Gold spots this and starts a conversation about love. David feigns ignorance and claims that the two cards were for the same woman. Mr. Gold pays for his items and leaves.

David walks to the bar where Mary Margaret was having her girl's night out with Ruby and Ashley Boyd. He catches her just as she is leaving, and accidentally gives her Kathryn's Valentine's Day card. Mary Margaret tells him he should go home and leaves. ("Skin Deep")

A few nights later, he is having dinner with Kathryn, when she announces that she applied to, and was accepted at a law school in Boston. David tells her how wonderful the news was, and goes to Mary Margaret for advice. She says that they should tell Kathryn the truth, and David agrees. He goes to tell Kathryn, but instead says that he couldn't be with her anymore. He doesn't mention Mary Margaret.

Kathryn goes to Regina, and discovers that he was cheating on her with Mary Margaret from the mayor. She goes to the elementary school and confronts her in public. Mary Margaret leaves the school and is shunned by a large part of the town. She finds David frantically washing the word tramp off of her car and tells him that their relationship was destructive, not helpful. She breaks up with him and walks away, leaving him devastated. ("What Happened to Frederick")

During the Miner's Day festival, he is watching Mary Margaret converse with the other townspeople. Emma walks up to him and asks him to accompany her to the station. ("Dreamy") When they reach the station, he is questioned about his wife's disappearance, but he insists that he doesn't know anything. Emma reluctantly lets him go, but gives him the warning about getting a lawyer.

He then proceeds to experience a blackout - or, doing things he isn't aware of. David goes to the woods, searching for something, and Mary Margaret finds him. She tells Emma and Ruby, who search the woods and discover him unconscious, with a cut on his forehead. He doesn't remember the events that happened between when Emma lets him go at the station, and when the two women find him in the woods.

The pair takes him to Dr. Whale, who pronounces that he had experienced something similar to what happened when he had woken up from his coma. David realizes that he could've killed Kathryn and wouldn't have remembered it. Regina barges in and demands that he be arrested, but Emma stands up to Regina and resumes searching for Kathryn. She instructs Ruby to search the area by the Toll Bridge, where she proceeds to find a box with a human heart inside.

David is confessing his fears that he had killed his wife to Mary Margaret at the animal shelter when Emma walks in. She reveals that they found the box with the human heart, and David believes that he did it. He orders Emma to arrest him, and Emma says that the fingerprints on the box weren't David's - they were Mary Margaret's. ("Red-Handed")

Later, after Mary Margaret is arrested, David goes to Regina Mills to plead for mercy for Mary Margaret. He insists that Mary Margaret wasn't capable of such evil and that the DNA evidence must've been a mistake. Regina refuses, however, and David goes to Archie Hopper for advice on his blackouts.

Archie tries hypnosis to find out what David has been doing in his blackouts, where David begins to see flashes of his life as Prince Charming. He sees Snow White on her mission to kill the Evil Queen, and tells her not to kill her. Suddenly, David wakes up and tells Archie everything he saw - except he mistook Snow White for Mary Margaret.

He goes to Mary Margaret's cell and asks her if she really did kill Kathryn. Mary Margaret is shocked at his lack of faith and orders him to leave. ("Heart of Darkness")

Once she is acquitted when Kathryn appears at Granny's Diner very much alive, David attempts to apologize to her. However, Mary Margaret is still too hurt. ("The Return")

Finally, David decides that it is time to leave Storybrooke and comes to Mary Margaret about his decision. He says he will stay if she will give him a reason to. She says she cannot, and they part ways. Just as David is leaving town, he suddenly remembers his real identity as Prince Charming. He remembers all of his life with Snow White, and returns to Storybrooke to find her.

They are reunited in the street, where they realize that the curse must have been broken. Snow White exclaims that he found her. Prince Charming asks if she ever doubted he would. He was last seen embracing Snow White being engulfed in a purple cloud of magic. ("A Land Without Magic") Upon remembering his true identity as Prince Charming, David is happily reunited with several of his friends from Fairytale Land, including Red Riding Hood, Widow Lucas, and the Seven Dwarves. He is most excited to remember Snow White and his daughter Emma Swan. While David and Mary Margaret are overjoyed to see Emma and realize she saved them all by breaking the curse, they are a little stunned when Emma states she needs time and space to adjust to the new situation. Although Emma is relieved at the reunion with her parents, she never thought in a million years that she was truly the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. While Mary wishes to sit and talk about things, Emma prefers to set it aside for now in favor of the current crisis facing Storybrooke.

David is among the townspeople who go to protect Regina Mills when Dr. Whale leads a mob to her house in Storybrooke seeking vengeance for what she did to them. David watches Mary Margaret then makes a speech to the mob after they calm down, stating that they must not stoop to Regina's level, and that killing her would not solve anything. She suggests to imprison Regina in the Storybrooke jail for the time being, which they do.

David, Emma, and Mary Margaret then visit Mr. Gold in his pawn shop. They accost and accuse him of double crossing Emma. Mr. Gold responds that a thank you might be more appropriate as Regina was defeated, the curse was broken, and Emma was reunited with her parents. As they are talking, the wind howls outside and the power flickers. David leaves with Mary Margaret and Emma to go to the Storybrooke jail as Mr. Gold said he released something to take care of Regina once and for all.

At the Storybrooke jail, David and his family arrive to find a Wraith, a creature Mr. Gold had released by the power of the gold medallion, sucking out Regina's soul. Rather than letting her die, Mary Margaret gets a flammable substance and a lighter to drive the Wraith off with fire. David is all for letting Regina die at the hands of the Wraith, but Emma insists she will save Regina, due to the promise she made with Henry.

They take Regina to her office and Regina retrieves Jefferson's hat. The plan is to capture the Wraith within the hat's vortex and place it in a place of oblivion where it cannot hunt and harm again. However, when the Wraith arrives, Regina is unable to activate the hat. Mary Margaret fights off the Wraith with a lit broom until Emma's touch seemingly releases Regina's magic and the vortex opens. The Wraith is pulled in, but a blue whip of light snakes out of the vortex and seizes Emma by the ankle, pulling her in. Stating that she will not lose her daughter again, Mary Margaret jumps into the vortex after Emma. David makes a desperate attempt to follow, but fails just as the vortex closes. Regina then tries to kill David but Henry and Ruby come in, resulting in David being seen. Henry tells Regina that she is an evil queen and that he is going to live with David. Back home, David reassures Henry that Emma and Mary Margaret are still alive and that he will always find them. ("Broken")

The next day, David goes to Regina's house to confront her about the vortex. Despite her threatening him, he only replies that he knew she has trouble with her magic. He then comments on Regina's parenting skill. However, she says that he is no better himself. When she says that when she gets magic she'll have Henry back, he tells her that when she forces someone to stay, she doesn't really have them. When David returns home, he is surrounded by the confused townspeople and discovers terrible news from Leroy: Anyone crossing the town line will lose all of their Fairytale Land memory. He tells them that he has a plan to fix everything and is going to meet them at the town hall in two hours. When Ruby asks what the plan is, he only replies that they have two hours to come up with one. After Henry suggests finding The Mad Hatter in order to find Emma and Mary Margaret, David runs to Mr. Gold's shop and the two make a deal: a person-finding potion in exchange for both of them staying out of each other's way. When he finally finds Jefferson, The Mad Hatter refuses to help and runs away. David unsuccessfully tries to chase after him. Ruby tells him that the town meeting was a disaster: David didn't show up, Regina stormed into the town hall, forced Henry to go with her by magic and the town's people are attempting to leave the town. Luckily, David and Ruby can reach them before they can cross the town line. He tells the Storybrooke residents that sometimes it's easier to forget every bad memory, but they can't do that because they are both their Storybrooke-selves and Fairytale Land-selves. Eventually, he manages to convince them to stay. David then walks into Regina's house with a sword and demands Henry. However, to his surprise, she gently sways the sword away and gives up Henry without fighting, after explaining that she wants to redeem herself. He tells her that he will take good care of Henry and demands the truth about Fairytale Land's existence. She informs him that Fairytale Land still exists, but that she has no idea how to get there. At Granny's Diner, David later says some encouraging words to Henry, who is upset and confused about his mother's whereabouts. ("We Are Both")

While David and Henry are walking down the street, discussing a plan on how to get back Emma and Mary Margaret, Henry brings on a new operation dubbed "Operation Scorpion," but David cuts him off saying it is not safe for Henry to help. He makes him promise not to, and leaves Henry to go to school. David later appears just in time to save Henry when he sneaks into Regina's vault and almost gets bitten by the Agrabahn Vipers in the process. David explains that after Henry stood Regina up, she guessed (correctly) that Henry planned to sneak into her vault of magical objects looking for something to bring Emma and Snow back and sent him to the rescue, reasoning that Henry would never go with her. David says he understands, but Henry has to go to school and he has to make sure that nobody else discovers the vault. Later that day, he and Henry are seen practicing swordfighting on the sidewalk, unaware that King George's counterpart is looking (angrily) at them. ("Lady of the Lake")

A few days later, David is seen with the Dwarves, trying to mine Fairy Dust from the town's old mine. He is later approached by Mr. Gold whose desperation over Belle's disappearance drove him to see David. It is revealed that David is now the temporary sheriff of Storybrooke because of his daughter's disappearance. Although David is not willing to help Mr. Gold at first, Gold manages to persuade him because Belle is the love he once told Prince Charming about back in FTL. After having been turned down by most of the townspeople, David and Gold run into Ruby. She also refuses to help at first, but finally reveals that she has regained her sense of smell and tracks Belle to her father's flower shop. After threatening Moe French, Gold deduces that he’s sending Belle across the town line and David takes one look at Moe’s dirt-covered hands and figures out that he’s using the mines to dodge the guards there. They find her handcuffed to a mine cart on her Temple of Doom adventure. Rumple uses magic to stop the cart and bring it back. Fortunately, Belle still has her memory and is grateful to be alive, but she is still angry at both Rumple and Moe. She tells them both to stay out of her life forever. ("The Crocodile")

David is approached by Dr. Whale, and throws a punch in his face about sleeping with his wife. Dr. Whale says he was innocent in that because he slept with Mary Margaret when nobody had their Fairytale Land memories back yet. He asks about the rumors that David is finding a way back in Fairytale Land, he admits it to be true. Later, David gives Henry a day off from school and brings his grandson to the stables with the intention of teaching him how to, as he puts it, be "a proper knight". While showing Henry the horse that he would ride on, David explains to him that he wouldn't be riding immediately; Henry would have to "horse-sit" it until the horse decides Henry is ready to ride. The horse seems to like David a bit more than its new young master.

When David hears about Dr. Whale's accident, he immediately rushes to the hospital and assumes it was Regina's doing. When she explains the situation about Dr. Whale resurrecting her dead fiancé, Daniel, he asks her where he might be. She tells him that Daniel most likely will appear in the same counterpart in Storybrooke of the place where she last saw him in Fairytale Land--the horse stables. They rush over to the stables as Henry is currently there taking care of the horse David put him in charge of, and he is in danger. Daniel walks in on Henry, and begins choking him to death. David manages to get Daniel to let go, and locks him in one of the horse's stables. Daniel is uncontrollable and dangerous, and David wants to kill him, but Regina convinces him to let her talk to him. Later, Daniel begs Regina to use magic to let him go and move on because he too is in pain and can't live this way, which she finally does and breaks down in tears. ("The Doctor")

David appears in Henry's bedroom late at night as Henry wakes up screaming from a nightmare. He listens as Henry tells him about the nightmare, and then comforts him by lighting a candle. ( "Tallahassee")

David is brought to the mines with the dwarves and Mother Superior to be shown the diamonds that can be used to make fairy dust that Leroy found in order to bring back Mary Margaret and Emma. He is later seen in Granny's Diner celebrating with everybody. He sees Henry sitting by himself and walks over to him, only to discover him drinking coffee. Realizing this is because of the nightmares he has been having, he reassures him everything is fine and suggests he drink cocoa instead. While he is sitting down, Albert Spencer confronts him. He believes that David is not the right person to lead the town, as he is not a prince, but a shepherd. Spencer vows that he will make the town people see who he is really is. David leaves him, telling him the town knows who their leader is.

The next morning, David and Granny are looking for Ruby after she broke out of her cage during the first wolfstime in Storybrooke since the curse broke. They find her sleeping in the woods, where they all discover that she has no recollection of the night before. When they get back to town, Granny finds Billy's mangled corpse next to his car. Ruby begins to scream in horror coming to the conclusion she was the one who killed Billy. David calms her down, and tells her that he knows who she truly is and doesn't believe that she is capable of killing someone. When Ruby asks why he trusts her, he answers that he didn't trust Mary Margaret when she was innocent.

Albert Spencer wants to arrest Ruby for the murder of Billy. Despite that David does not agree with him, Spencer forms an angry mob of townspeople, and it's decided Ruby would be safer locked up. The mob hunt for Ruby, but by the time they get to the Sheriff's Station, she is already gone. David, Granny and Belle want to hide her in the library, but Ruby says she should pay for her crimes. Ruby shape shifts into a wolf when the moon rises.

David and Granny find a car with a bloody hatchet and Ruby's stolen red cloak. The car belongs to Albert Spencer, and David realizes this was Spencer's plot to get back at him. They stop Ruby just as she is about to attack Spencer while at the same time Spencer is preparing to shoot her down. David helps her regain control of her wolf self, and lays the cloak over her so she can change back into a human. They find Spencer gone, and by the time they find him, he has burned Jefferson's hat over a fire. Enraged, David violently punches Spencer down and draws his sidearm preparing to kill him, but after some convincing from Ruby he stands down. Later, at home, David contemplated that it would be near impossible to bring Emma and Mary Margaret back without the hat, but Ruby assured him he would find a way because she knows what kind of man he is. ("Child of the Moon")

Trivia

 * David means "beloved" in Hebrew, and Nolan means "famous" in Irish. It is also of English origin, where it means "little champion" or "chariot-fighter".
 * King David in the Bible was a former shepherd, as was Prince Charming.

Appearances
David Nolan