Rapunzel (The Tower)

Princess Rapunzel is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts, with her only appearance, in the fourteenth episode of the third season. She is portrayed by guest star Alexandra Metz.

Rapunzel is based on the character of the same name from the Rapunzel fairytale.

History
Born as the second child to her parents, the King and Queen of an unnamed kingdom, Rapunzel lives an unworried life knowing that her elder brother, instead of herself, will ascend the throne in the future. Though her parents warn Rapunzel against swimming in the stream, she disobeys them, becoming entrapped in the river, and is later saved by her brother. Tragically, her brother dies as a result, leaving Rapunzel as the next heir to the royal seat. Many years later, Rapunzel, afraid she won't live up to her parents' names as a ruler, digs up and ingest a plant called night root, which is rumored to rid the user of their fears, but it has no effect. Before leaving for home, she is chased up a tower by a cloaked witch, who refuses to allow her to ever leave. Unbeknownst to Rapunzel, the witch is a manifestation of herself as her own greatest fear as a consequence of consuming the night root. From her tower window, Rapunzel notices a man digging up night root. Since he is the first person she's seen in a long time, the princess calls to him for help. The man, Prince Charming, climbs up the tower using her long, braided hair as a scaling rope. After she tells him of her past, he promises to rescue her. When the cloaked witch climbs up the tower, she is finally unmasked as Rapunzel herself due to the effects of the night root. While Prince Charming pushes Rapunzel to fight this manifestation of her own fear, the witch throws him out of the tower. As he is clinging onto a vine, the witch begins ascending up using Rapunzel's hair. Advised by Prince Charming to fend off the fear or risk dying alone, she severs the length of her hair; causing the witch to fall and dissipate. Prince Charming helps Rapunzel out of the tower, bringing the princess to her parents, who she happily reunites with.
 * -|Before the Curse=
 * -|After Undone Curse=

Trivia

 * The casting call describes her as, "a teenage African-American female who comes across as skittish and timid, having had her naturally curious and determined spirit tempered by years of crippling fear."