Granny

"I don't want her to have that burden. It's a terrible burden."

- Granny to Snow White referring to her granddaughter's curse

Granny, also known as Widow Lucas, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the first season. She is portrayed by guest star Beverley Elliott, and is the Enchanted Forest counterpart of Granny.

Granny is based on Red Riding Hood's grandmother from the fairytale, "Little Red Riding Hood".

Before the Curse
When she is a child, her father and brothers go out to hunt and kill the wolf that is terrorizing their village to protect her. However, the wolf manages to overpower and kill them. Granny, who is watching from the roof, accidentally falls off and rolls right in front of the wolf. The wolf marks her forearm and she is turned into one herself. The wolf who marked Granny is revealed to be her husband—Red's grandfather.

Many years later, she has a daughter, Anita, who has the same curse. When Anita grows up and has a daughter of her own, Red Riding Hood, the two argue over the child's upbringing, as Anita wants to raise her as a wolf and Granny as a human. Eventually, Granny takes Red away from Anita; telling the girl that her mother is dead.

Granny's curse of being the wolf fades with age but still has some of the traits. She makes Red wear a cloak that she bought from a wizard. The cloak, when worn, stops her from turning into a wolf. Granny is always reminding Red to put on her cloak.

However, Red discovers the wolf had been by her window at night and concludes the wolf to be Peter, her true love. She ties Peter up at night while staying with him and gives Snow White her cloak to fool Granny. Their ploy fails when Granny comes to Red's bedroom that night and shakes her awake to find it is Snow White under the cloak instead of Red. Despite Snow White's explanation of the love between Peter and Red, Granny is furious. She rushes off to the forest wielding a cross bow with a silver topped arrow.

As they make their way to Peter and Red, Granny finally tells Snow White about the family history of passing down the shape shifting wolf trait, and expresses regret for not telling Red about her genetic curse sooner. Snow White realizes the wolf is not Peter, but Red. They reach the clearing that Red and Peter are at only to discover a wolf to be tearing at a carcass. Snow White accidentally steps on a twig; alerting the wolf to their presence.

Granny shoots the wolf—who is actually Red—with the silver crossbow bolt, and they cover her with the cloak. Red turns back into a human and is disoriented. Granny tells her that she was the wolf and urges her and Snow White to run away, but not before Red sees Peter's corpse. Distraught and confused, she runs as the village's men come in order to hunt down the wolf. Granny is left alone to face the mob.

Granny and Red are reunited when they assist Snow White in staging an attack on King George's castle in an attempt to rescue Prince Charming. The rescue attempt is a failure as the Evil Queen already took Prince Charming from King George. The Evil Queen requests Snow White come to a certain place for a parley, which she agrees to. Granny, Red and the seven dwarves are unsure about Snow White going alone to meet the Evil Queen, but she goes anyway. Red gets a bad feeling about it, and eventually they all go to find Snow White. They find Snow White's lifeless body, and after Red tests to see if she is breathing; concludes that she is dead.

After King George's forces fall, the Evil Queen is captured. Granny is at a war council meeting to discuss her fate, which they decide will be death as punishment. She watches the arrival of the Queen on the gallows, and listens as she delivers her last testament. The death sentence is stopped when Snow White orders it.

Many months later, she sits on Prince Charming's war council to strategize before the arrival of the dark curse where she knits Emma's baby blanket. With the information Prince Charming and Snow White received from Rumplestiltskin, they know their child is the savior who will save them in 28 years time. The Blue Fairy comes to tell the war council of one way to fight the curse, which is carving a magic wardrobe out of the last enchanted tree in the Enchanted Forest, sending Snow White through to another land unaffected by the dark curse and giving birth there to wait for 28 years time.

Trivia

 * The surname "Lucas" is of Latin origin derived from the Greek given name "Loukas".
 * Is transformed into a werewolf by her husband, who carried the shape shifting gene. The effects of this appear to wear off as she aged, though her heightened sense of smell remains.
 * While telling the story of her childhood encounter with a wolf, Granny gives a time frame of "nearly three score years ago". This indicates that Granny is in her sixties.
 * Uses a crossbow as a personal weapon and a small dagger as a backup.