Magic

"Magic always comes with a price, I know."

- Henry to David Nolan

Magic is a metaphysical force featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the first episode of the first season.

It can be used to override the usual laws of nature, but it always comes with a price. Magic is inherently neutral and cannot itself be split into light or dark, but it can be used for either purpose.

Magic is powered by emotion and thus the stronger the feelings the caster imbrues in a spell, the stronger the magic itself is.

Moral Use of Magic
"Cora represents the darkness of magic and Emma represents the light."

Magic is power and as such it posses the potential to corrupt those who harness it. Powerful magical practitioners like Cora, Regina and  Rumplestiltskin became corrupted by their power and their magic grew tainted with them. Not all magical practitioners are corrupted, however, such as fairies but these seem to be exceptions because they cannot use magic in negative ways instead of choosing to not do so.

Price of Magic
Magic always comes with a price- sometimes, the price is known to the caster, but sometimes, the price is not foreseeable. The most famous price is Rumplestiltskin's curse, turning him into an almost heartless monster. His price is the heaviest shown so far, making him childish, eccentric and hideous though he lost none of his mental capabilities.

Other prices include the Evil Queen sacrificing her father to unleash her wrath upon the Enchanted Forest and creating a void in her soul that she can never fill. The most recent was when Mr. Gold brought magic to our world, which returned his powers, but also put a barrier around Storybrooke which prevents him from leaving to find his son.

True Love
"True Love is the only magic powerful enough to break any curse."

- Mr. Gold to Emma Swan

True Love is the series' baseline magic, available to anyone and can be used through a kiss. It is the most powerful form of magic and also the most simple. According to Rumplestiltskin, true love can do anything and break any curse with a kiss. It also transcends realms, as Emma Swan used it in Storybrooke before magic from the Enchanted Forest was brought.

Rumplestiltskin sought to bottle true love and used hair from Snow White and Prince Charming to create a true love potion. This potion was kept in the dragon Maleficent's belly for protection. Later, his Storybrooke counterpart, Mr. Gold, would throw the potion into the wishing well and unleash its magic upon the small town. True Love includes magical abilities such as breaking any curse. It is known to break any curse that has been seen so far, such as the Dark Curse. One of its powers includes reversing the effect of any negative witchcraft, such as a forgetfulness potion and even the physical abnormalities Rumplestiltskin got from his powers. As some practitioners of witchcraft can rip out another person's heart, those born as a product of true love have the power to resist that magic.

However, it appears unable to restore memories lost to the magical barrier around Storybrooke; Mr. Gold attempted True Love's Kiss to bring Belle's memories of the Enchanted Forest back, but failed.

Fairy Magic
Fairy Magic works differently from other types of magic in that it requires a reagent. This reagent, called fairy dust, is obtained by enchanted creatures called dwarves. In some cases of advanced magic, the fairy dust must be used through a wand. The dwarves' purpose is to dig diamonds from the local mine, which they collect and smash to make fairy dust. The fairies use the dust to practice their magical arts.

After the Dark Curse is lifted and Rumplestiltskin unleashed magic upon Storybrooke, the fairies were left powerless due to the absence of fairy dust. However, the seven dwarves are capable of finding diamonds which Mother Superior plans to use to make Jefferson's hat work again.

Fairies are able to fly and can be summoned by someone's wish. Fairy Magic includes abilities such as the transformation of objects or beings, including their own size and telekinesis of inanimate object, making magical glowing auras around their skin and body and transforming inanimate objects into living beings ( Blue Fairy). Mother Superior is shown to be able to sense and detect witchcraft. Fairy Godmother, and later Nova showed how they can hide their wings.

The good fairy dust (pink-purple), on the other hand, gives them the ability to accelerate natural processes such as a dwarf's birth, and to break an enchantment in which a person is cursed to stay in one form; such as in the case of Prince Phillip who was cursed by Maleficent into the form of a Yaoguai. Evil dark fairy dust (black-gray), however, has only been seen transforming "deadly foes" such as trolls into cockroaches.

Witchcraft
Witchcraft is a form of magic that makes use of spell books and spells. When used, witchcraft often gives away a pink/violet glow and/or a puff of smoke. Witchcraft seems to be a darker form of magic as all those who use it have either been corrupted or turned evil.

Witchcraft includes magical abilities such as telekinesis, which enables lifting and throwing people and objects, teleportation of oneself or others, making objects appear out of thin air and turning things invisible. Significantly, they can create and/or cast curses, such as Dark Curse and the Sleeping Curse. Witchcraft practitioners can also perform acts of transformation over themselves or someone else, or even create protective shields. They can also perform acts negative to another being such as causing pain, immobilization or combustion. They can even change the basic nature of something, such as spinning straw into gold. They also have the ability to make potions with various effects and enchant objects to have special functions. They have the ability to activate a portal, such as the hat or with magic beans. They can cause physiologically impossible situations, such as cutting off someone's head without the occurrence of death or using healing powers. In addition, they can also summon creatures such as a Wraith and erasing memories.

Siren's Magic
The Siren, guardian of Lake Nostos, uses the power of persuasion and seduction in taking on the form of the person the beholder desires the most. Many have been tricked by her magic, and ultimately hypnotized by seeing the person of their desire is what leads to their downfall. The Siren has drowned many in her lake after she charms and seduces them. However, if one knows who their true love is, the Siren's magic is ineffective.

Genie's Magic
The Genie of Agrabah had the power to grant three wishes to any person who wakes him, which is done by rubbing the lamp he resides in. Even after being freed from the lamp, he is able to use magic to influence an Agrabahn Viper to turn away from himself and towards King Leopold. The Genie becomes a Magic Mirror after being granted his own wish to stay forever with the woman he fell in love with, the Queen, and gains the ability to spy on people through mirrors for her.

Science
Science is the Land Without Color's form of witchcraft, but it is "feeble and neglected sort of stuff". It would be considered pseudoscience in our world due to some of its elements (bringing people back from the dead, for instance) being impossible by natural causes. Practitioners of science have the ability to bring someone back from the dead by putting an enchanted heart into the body's chest.

Seer's Magic
"The future is a puzzle, with many pieces to be solved. In time you will learn to separate what can be from what will be"

- Seer to Rumplestiltskin

The Seer is able to see future, but she's only tell the person she predicts the outcome or incomplete portions of her vision. This power is considered by herself as a curse and she tries to get rid of it, which she later succeed by passing the power to Rumplestiltskin.

Practitioners

 * True Love
 * Belle
 * ​Emma Swan
 * Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Prince Charming
 * Prince Phillip
 * ​Fairy Magic
 * Snow White
 * Belle
 * Blue Fairy / Mother Superior
 * Fairy Godmother †
 * Nova
 * Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold
 * Thief


 * Witchcraft
 * Emma Swan
 * Cora †
 * Blind Witch †
 * Evil Queen / Regina Mills
 * Mad Hatter / Jefferson
 * Maleficent
 * Anton
 * Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold
 * Trish †
 * Zoso †
 * Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * The Dragon †


 * Genie's Magic
 * The Genie of Agrabah
 * Siren's Magic
 * Siren †
 * Science
 * Dr. Frankenstein / Dr. Whale
 * Seer's magic
 * Seer †
 * Rumplestiltskin