Dark Curse

"Enacting it will take a terrible toll. It will leave an emptiness inside you—a void you will never be able to fill."

- Maleficent to the Evil Queen

The Dark Curse is a curse featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the first episode of the first season.

History
The Dark One, Rumplestiltskin, acquires great and dark magic from having killed the previous person possessing the Dark One's dagger. His son, Baelfire, does not want his father to become so power hungry, and with the help of the Blue Fairy, he receives a magic bean to travel to a land without magic. Rumplestiltskin is afraid of losing his powers, and lets go as the portal the magic bean created sucks Baelfire in to another world. Rumplestiltskin learns from the Blue Fairy that there is a curse that could take him to the same land, but it is beyond his capabilities. He vows to create the curse no matter how long or much it will take him. The Dark Curse is created by Rumplestiltskin with the hope he could use it to find his son. He also puts a drop of true love on the parchment so it could eventually be broken by a savior.

He trades the curse for something from the Evil Queen, Regina, though what he was given is still unknown. Rumplestiltskin gives her the curse to enact because the main ingredient of the curse is the heart of the thing one loves most is inaccessible to him. Sometime later, she trades the curse to Maleficent for the sleeping curse to use on her stepdaughter, Snow White, but it is eventually broken with true love's kiss by Prince Charming; making the queen furious. Regina is reminded of the dark curse by Rumplestiltskin who tells her that while she cannot harm Snow White and Prince Charming in this land, she can in another. Regina crashes the royal wedding celebration and announces to all present that their happy endings were soon to be over. For this she needs the dark curse back, so the Evil Queen travels to the Forbidden Fortress where she steals it back from Maleficent, who warns her about the dangers of casting the dark curse. Maleficent heeds her about the void within that could never be filled, and whoever created the curse must have no moral scruples, but Regina does not care. Over the course of time in which the Evil Queen was working on the curse, Snow White becomes more and more curious about the queen's ominous threat, especially with a baby on the way. She and Prince Charming visit Rumplestiltskin; knowing about his gift of prophecy. In exchange for her child's name, Rumplestiltskin explains that Regina's curse will tear everyone from the Enchanted Forest and exile them to a realm where all of the Enchanted Forest's residents will be imprisoned and frozen in time, all of their happiness gone. He goes on to explain that Snow White's unborn child is their only hope. On the child's 28th birthday, she will return and become the savior that can save all of them from the curse. To protect their unborn daughter from the curse, the Blue Fairy offers Prince Charming and Snow White an enchanted tree which could be turned into a magic wardrobe capable of protection from any curse. But, all magic must have its limits, and she tells them that it can only transport one. In reality it can protect two, but she lies because of an agreement she makes with Geppetto that his son Pinocchio would be protected if he constructs the wardrobe. ("Pilot", "The Stranger")

After a failed attempt using her most prized horse's heart, Regina pays a visit to Rumplestiltskin, and he agrees to tell her what went wrong--for a price. In the new land she plans on taking everyone to, he wants to live a comfortable life with wealth and position, and Regina would have to heed his every desire, just as long as he said, "Please." Regina agrees to this because she does not think he will remember, and learns she must sacrifice something far more precious-- the heart of the thing she loves the most. She returns home and kills the person she loves most--her father. When Regina finally does enact the curse using her father's heart, it envelopes the Enchanted Forest in darkness, and transports those unfortunate enough to be shrouded in it to a world with no magic. Those who are the victims of this curse lose their memories while new ones are created for their cursed lives in the new land. What she didn't see coming was that one person besides herself was going to remember every bit of his life in the Enchanted Forest--Rumplestiltskin, now Mr. Gold--including the knowledge of what "please" would mean. However, Mr. Gold only regained his memories after hearing Emma's name when she arrived in Storybrooke. Following the estimated time of the arrival of the curse, two of the dwarves, Grumpy and Sleepy are on the lookout at the castle tower for it. Originally, a pregnant Snow would be the one to go through the wardrobe, but as the curse arrives, Emma is born. Only Emma can be sent through as the wardrobe as its magic is half spent on Pinocchio going through it. Regina arrives right after Emma escapes, and she and everyone else are engulfed by the curse. Prince Charming, on the brink of death as the curse was taking effect, is transported to the new land--Storybrooke--into a deep coma. When he finally awoke, he was completely amnesiac and could not recall any of his false memories under th curse. After the curse was cast, Regina's mother Cora protected herself and Hook from the curse in the Enchanted Forest by casting a protective spell over a small corner of the land. They and those inhabitable the area are untouched by the dark curse and become frozen in time. This includes not only Cora and Hook, but Mulan, Aurora and Prince Phillip as well. ("Broken", "Queen of Hearts")

Ingredients

 * A lock of hair from those with the darkest of souls.
 * The heart of "the thing you love most".
 * Rumplestiltskin also added a drop of true love potion, which was created from two strands of hair from both Snow White and Prince Charming. Incidentally, Emma is the only one who can break the Dark Curse because she is a product of true love.

Overall Effects

 * Nearly everyone from the Enchanted Forest (and some other realms) is transported to Storybrooke and loses all memories of their former lives and relationships.
 * A part of the Enchanted Forest remained untouched after the Dark Curse and froze for 28 years; this is caused by Cora's protective shielding spell.
 * No crickets.
 * All magical creatures are turned into humans.
 * All powerful magic has been taken away, and is now limited, with only some exceptional consequences to performing it or trying to get in touch with it again.
 * The curse does not appear to affect people who were not yet alive when the curse was cast (Henry), nor those from the Enchanted Forest who were present in the Land Without Magic when the curse was cast (Emma Swan and August Booth).
 * Time is frozen and no one ages or changes; Henry Mills is the exception to this since he was never cursed.
 * Everyone's happiness is gone.
 * Outsiders can come to Storybrooke, but only in rare occasions. An invisibility cloak is also set over Storybrooke so that anyone outside of the town cannot see inside. Kurt Flynn and his son were able to enter the city, because they already camped over its location as Storybrooke came into existence. Many years later, Owen is able to return to Storybrooke, only because the curse and the cloak are broken by that time.
 * Terrible consequences will happen to anyone, under the effects of the curse, who tries to leave Storybrooke. Examples include:
 * Ashley attempts to leave town after snatching back the adoption papers of her unborn child, she ends up having contractions in the process, and cannot drive.
 * Emma is left with no choice but to take Ava and Nicholas Zimmer to Boston after their father, Michael Tillman, refuses to claim them as his own. (Emma says) The car breaks down, preventing them from leaving.
 * Kathryn decides to leave town, but in the process of passing out of town, Mr. Gold abducts her. She says she was held in a dark basement for some period of time with food and water, but was later drugged and left in a field where she crawled back into town.
 * When Emma drives out of town after dropping Henry off, she sees a wolf in her path and crashes the car. However, this might also be from different external forces trying to keep her in town to break the curse.  Emma was not under the effects of the curse since it was shown at other times that she, as well as Henry, and August Booth were able to leave Storybrooke while the curse was still in effect.

Character Effects
In addition to not remembering their Enchanted Forest lives, the characters have all been "punished" in their own ways.
 * Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard - Becomes very meek, dresses very modestly, and has a lousy love life.
 * Prince Charming/David Nolan - Knocked into a coma due to the wounds he received before the curse took him and under the name John Doe. Upon waking up, David is placed in an unhappy marriage with Kathryn Nolan.
 * Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold - He "owns the town" by collecting rent from every business and house every month. Has no power over Regina until he regains his memories, and while a mass presence in town, his power was limited only to his pawn shop.
 * Jiminy Cricket/Archie Hopper - Turned back into human to become the town psychiatrist who does not listen to his conscience and obeys Regina out of fear.
 * Huntsman/Sheriff Graham - He is the town sheriff, and engages in a physical relationship with the mayor, Regina, and is under her thumb.
 * Red Riding Hood/Ruby - A young woman that lacks self-confidence but dresses scantily and is very flirty with customers, and has several disagreements with her grandmother. Waitresses at Granny's diner.
 * Granny (Enchanted Forest)/Granny (Storybrooke) - She and Ruby constantly knock heads and argue about everything. Runs two town businesses; a diner and bed and breakfast.
 * Belle (Enchanted Forest)/Belle (Storybrooke) - Little known about her except she is imprisoned in the psychiatric ward of Storybrooke General Hospital as a long term patient.
 * Victor Frankenstein/Dr. Whale - He was a man focused on work, and he turns into a man who likes drinking and flirting with women. Runs hospital as a doctor.
 * Geppetto/Marco - Married, and is unhappily childless. Did try to have children, but "he was not meant to be".
 * Blue Fairy/Mother Superior - Head nun of all the sisters at the nunnery, and clashes with Mr. Gold.
 * Magic Mirror/Sidney Glass - A reporter for the town's newspaper, the Daily Mirror, and is secretly in love with Regina. Spies on other people for her as a lackey.
 * Abigail/Kathryn Nolan - Married to David Nolan, but has an unhappy marriage rooted with issues.
 * Frederick/Jim - The gym teacher of the town school.
 * King George/Albert Spencer - Is district attorney, and does not have much power in town besides that.
 * Mad Hatter/Jefferson - Recalls all memories of his life in the Enchanted Forest, but lives in an extensive mansion. Is an amateur cartographer, and longs to be reunited with his daughter, Grace, who does not remember him.
 * Grace/Paige - Lives next door to her actual father, Jefferson, as the daughter of two unnamed parents.
 * Grumpy/Leroy - An outcast in town because of his drinking habits, and does shifts at the hospital as a janitor.
 * Cinderella/Ashley Boyd - Stays pregnant for twenty-eight years; unable to give birth and abandoned by her boyfriend and true love, Sean.
 * Prince Thomas/Sean Herman - A young man who presumably, under the false event modifiers of the dark curse, gets his girlfriend, Ashley, pregnant. With pressure from his father, he abandons Ashley and her unborn child.
 * The King/Mitchell Herman - Does not approve of his son's relationship with Ashley, and even more so because she is pregnant.
 * Hansel and Gretel/Nicholas Zimmer and Ava Zimmer - Two siblings who become orphans after their mother passes away, and resort to stealing for survival.
 * The Woodcutter/Michael Tillman - A mechanic who remains unaware he has children.
 * Nova/Astrid - Is a sister of the nunnery. Her personality stays as clumsy and hapless.
 * Sir Maurice/Moe French - Runs a flower delivery business, and is often late on rent for Mr. Gold.
 * Gus/Billy - Becomes human, and works as a mechanic.
 * Maleficent - Transformed into her dragon form and imprisoned beneath the clock tower in a cavern.

Parts of the Curse Broken

 * Time has resumed.
 * Unfreezing time for all the characters left behind in the Enchanted Forest.
 * Prince Charming's counterpart, David Nolan, is awakened from his coma.
 * Ashley Boyd gives birth to her baby, Alexandra and is together again with her boyfriend and now fiancé, Sean Herman.
 * Crickets return after Archie Hopper stands up to Regina Mills.
 * Sheriff Graham regains his memories after sharing a kiss with Emma, but is killed by Regina.
 * A sinkhole appeared trying to reveal Snow White's glass coffin, but Regina keeps it hidden and throws the glass shard back underground.
 * David Nolan had flashes of memories from his life in the Enchanted Forest. However, he mistakes them as memories he had prior to being in the coma as well as confusing memories from the other world as ones he was recovering from his blackouts. ("The Shepherd", "Heart of Darkness")
 * Ava Zimmer and Nicholas Zimmer reunite with their father, Michael Tillman.
 * Fireflies appear when Leroy is back together with Astrid.
 * Jefferson realized it was because of Emma's presence that time was able to resume, and recognizes her as having magic while everyone else is powerless.
 * Ruby starts taking responsibility thanks to a push from Emma Swan. She is also starting to fight less with her grandmother.
 * Granny says she is proud of Ruby and forgives her, which brings them back together.
 * Mary Margaret gets some of Snow White's fighting moves back while protecting Emma from Jefferson.
 * August Booth finally gets the courage to talk to his father Marco and be his assistant, so he could be with his father.
 * Emma kisses Henry Mills on the forehead which is true love's kiss. The kiss wakes Henry and breaks the curse, making everybody in town remember their past lives and who they really are.
 * After the breaking of the curse, everyone can now enter or leave town. However, due to the arrival of magic, the residents of Storybrooke must pay a price if they choose to cross outside the town border: the memories of their time in the Enchanted Forest.
 * Outsiders are now allowed to enter into Storybrooke.

Ways to Break the Curse

 * Emma's death supposedly would have broken the curse.
 * Emma's true love for Henry has broken the curse.

Characters Aware of the Curse

 * Regina Mills and Jefferson retain their memories from their lives in Enchanted Forest.
 * Mr. Gold regains his memories from his life in the Enchanted Forest when he meets Emma for the first time and hears her say her name.
 * Sheriff Graham remembered his former life completely prior to dying.
 * August Booth successfully evaded the curse by escaping before baby Emma Swan minutes prior to being consumed.
 * Henry Mills believes in the curse because of the book he was given by Mary Margaret Blanchard.
 * At least Emma Swan, Mary Margaret Blanchard and Archie Hopper are all aware of the concept of the curse via Henry, though they do not believe it actually exists. Henry eats a poisoned tart intended for Emma and collapses. ("An Apple Red as Blood") Following Henry's hospitalization, Emma realizes the curse is real after touching Henry's fairytale book and recalling Henry's words about her being in the book.
 * The curse is broken and everyone remembers their Enchanted Forest past lives.