Emma Swan

"No one needs to save me, I'm the Savior! I'm fighting for the people I love. Ultimately, I am a hero. I am hope. I am light. And light cannot destroy darkness, it can only create more light. I will not kill innocents. I will do what all saviors must, I will give hope. No matter what the cost."

- Emma to Gideon

Emma Swan, also known as the Savior and the Greatest Light, formerly as the Dark One or the Dark Swan, briefly as Princess Leia, and alternatively as Princess Emma, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. She débuts in the first episode of the first season of Once Upon a Time. She is portrayed by special guest stars Jennifer Morrison and Abby Ross and co-star Mckenna Grace, and does not have a counterpart.

Emma Swan is based on the title character of the fairytale "The Ugly Duckling".

Trivia

 * -|Character Notes=

Etymology

 * The name "Emma" is of Germanic origin derived from the word "ermen" that means "whole" or "universal".
 * In the original "Pilot", script, Emma's first name was Anna.
 * Young Emma adopted the last name "Swan" after reading the story of "The Ugly Duckling".
 * According to the show creators, Emma's last name is symbolic of the journey they have created for the character as Emma is somebody who has had a very tough time and her journey is to become a swan.
 * The name is also a reference to ABC's Lost island Swan Station.
 * Emma's last name and identity as the Dark One is also an allusion to the Black Swan from the Swan Lake ballet.

Character Notes

 * Emma claims to have an extra-special ability which is being able to tell when someone is lying to her. The show creators have stated that she has to be actually looking for a lie, and emotions cloud her ability, which is the reason why it has been failing her in her interactions with people.
 * Mary Margaret alludes to this when she points out that Emma's "superpower" has been known to be unreliable, especially when she's emotional.
 * Based on her mugshot on the cover of the newspaper, Emma is approximately 5'7".
 * Has a flower tattoo on the inside of her left wrist. It is similar to her father's crest.
 * According to Jennifer Morrison, Emma has had her wrist tattoo since she was "probably 14".
 * Likes hot cocoa with cinnamon, just like her mother and her son.
 * According to herself, Emma has been in many relationships that failed. When asked if she has heard about ogres, she responds that she is pretty sure she has "dated a few".
 * She also tells Mary Margaret to "trust her because dating with a married man is not worth it", implying that it is also one of her failed realitonships.
 * The newspaper clipping in Emma's case file says:


 * Baby found by Chantey's Lobster House.

BABY ON SIDE OF ROAD'''
 * '''7 YEAR OLD BOY FINDS

NEWS REPORTER
 * M. SOPARLO

a roadside. Police ask public for any information regarding parents' identity.
 * A local boy discovers a newborn wrapped in a blanket on


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found a newborn infant by the side of the interstate highway when taking a shortcut home from school. The boy, whose identity is not being released, first thought that the baby girl was a plastic toy, but upon further examination he realized it [illegible word] fact a child. "I didn't hear any crying so I thought it was [three illegible words] kid," he said, "but when I got closer I saw its hand [illegible word] I [illegible word] home and called the [illegible word]". [two illegible words] that the baby was wrapped in a blanket with the name "Emma" embroidered into it. The [three illegible words] immediately to the [three illegible words] inspection and [two illegible words] appears to be [illegible word]. [three illegible words] being referred to as [two illegible words]" was but hours old [five illegible words] any of that the birth took place at the scene. Authorities also are looking into early departures of pregnant patients from area hospitals but none have been reported at this time. A search is underway for the child's parents and the sheriff’s department is asking for the public’s help in identify- ing her. Anyone with information regarding the identity of either [obscured] mother or the father of Baby [obscured] should contact the police inf[obscured] The mother will not n[obscured] charged if she is loca[obscured] Sheriff's department. [obscured] would like to make [obscured] talk to her about th[obscured] birth. The immedi[obscured] insight into the ch[obscured] Baby Emma is e[obscured] Of the local sheriff’s [obscured] being looked after at [obscured] more information co[illegible] [obscured] I'm sorry but I can't let you all pay for my mistake. Deep down, you know I'm right. So please, promise me you'll move on and find happiness and help Henry grow into the best man he can be. That's enough for me. To die knowing the family I always wanted is safe. I will love you all forever.
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 * Emma likes grilled cheese sandwiches.
 * The day after the curse, the newspaper Regina reads is dated October 23, 1983 (the show premiered on October 23, 2011). This means Emma's birthday is either October 22, or October 23, depending on whether she was born before or after midnight.
 * Adam Horowitz has stated that Emma's birthday is October 23. However, the show itself indicates that her birthday on October 22. In "Pilot", Emma celebrates her twenty-eight birthday on this date; the day she arrives in Storybrooke (which was the day before she spends the night behind bars and decides to stay; she even says to Regina that "yesterday was my birthday"). This is further confirmed when August's wooden state is triggered in Phuket, Thailand at 8:15 A.M. on October 24—the very same moment that Emma accepts the room key at 8:15 P.M. (the time zone in Phuket is twelve hours ahead of Maine's timezone).
 * According to Jennifer Morrison, Emma is like an overgrown teenager who doesn't know how to eat properly or take care of herself properly, because she's never had a family unit. When Jennifer does not know what to do with Emma, she thinks, "What a 14-year-old boy would do?".
 * Emma's eating habits are briefly touched upon in "Darkness on the Edge of Town", where Regina remarks that Emma eats like a child.
 * Emma likes the color yellow. That's why her choice of car ended up as yellow back in 2001.
 * Emma's goodbye letter, whose envelope is titled "for my family", says:

Storybook Notes

 * The text page next to Emma's illustration in Henry's novel is a retelling of the scene where Emma leaves the Underworld in the Season Five episode "Firebird". It reads:

[image begins]cemetery, [image begins]he distance, [image begins]ver was helped [image begins] getting out of [image begins] one ever did. Emma [image begins]eely resolve in her eyes and [image begins]her jacket. [image begins]cket, it was meant to be an [image begins] getting hurt by those I [image begins] "But now it's just a [image begins]tect those I love." [image begins] armor, it struck Emma for [image begins] truly come. And while [image begins]d gained a family. She [image begins]e. Because she was the [image begins] still needed saving. [image begins] portal. And with [image begins]ed the tears from [image begins] was. And with [image begins]ortal and disapp- [image begins]one, replaced [image begins]en.... tick. It


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * The in-show inspiration for the character of Emma relates to the story of "The Ugly Duckling".
 * Fittingly enough, Henry's bedside lamp has a shadow figure of a swan, ducks and three ducklings.
 * Actress Katee Sackhoff auditioned five times to play Emma. When she quit, Jennifer Morrison won the role.
 * According to show writer Adam Horowitz, Emma was supposed to have three children, which eventually evolved into just one.
 * With the exception of "The Crocodile" and "The Bear King", Emma has appeared in every single episode of Once Upon a Time, making her the character who appears in the most episodes.
 * The scars featured on Emma's chest in the Enchanted Forest tavern scene in "Snow Drifts" are a direct result of Jennifer Morrison herself having multiple moles removed.
 * In "Pilot", one of the moles can be seen while Emma in wearing her red dress. In "The Thing You Love Most", it is gone.
 * In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jennifer Morrison stated that Emma going to the dark side, had been planned since the end of Season Three, although it was always meant to start in Season Five.
 * In order to prepare for her portrayal of dark Emma, Jennifer Morrison did lots of research with mythology books and old fairy tale books, and read about the history of swans and the etymology of "swan". She also read about research about swans in general, and the psychology of fairy tales.
 * According to Jennifer, there is an old fairy-tale that she has been using as a reference for Dark Swan, "The Queen and the Murderer", which sort of parallels Emma's journey. This fairytale is also known as "The One Handed Murderer", and is from Italo Calvino's collection of Italian Folktales. In the story, a woman is haunted by a murderer, and her father does not believe that the murderer is threatening her, so the murderer haunts her her whole life until she finally stands up to him and actually has kill him.
 * Emma appears in a special, non-canon promo for Season Five, in which she is imprisoned in the Dark Dungeon. A jailer brings her food, and she grabs him through the bars. The jailer says, "They said you were a monster", and Emma replies, "Only on the inside", before she rips out his heart and crushes it.
 * The scene parallels a deleted scene from "Pilot", where an imprisoned Rumplestiltskin, watched over by the Jailer, is brought food by a guard. As the guard places the food in the cell, Rumplestiltskin grabs him and tells him, "It has begun".
 * The Dark Swan's white hair, was achieved by using a powdery spray color, which gave the hair a special kind of depth and texture.


 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * On her birthday, Emma wishes on a candle shaped like a blue star, an allusion to the scene in Pinocchio, in which Geppetto wishes on a blue star and his wish is granted by the Blue Fairy.
 * When Henry is playing Space Paranoids, which is from the Disney film Tron, Emma's line, "It's all in the wrists", comes directly from the movie.
 * While in Neverland, Emma notes Captain Hook's appearance in the animated film Peter Pan as sporting a "waxed mustache and a perm".
 * When discussing her brother's naming ceremony with her parents, Emma mention the movie The Lion King as an example of a royal baby coronation.
 * When Emma goes back in time, the clasps on her cloak are in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
 * The show creators have said that they view Captain Hook as their version of Han Solo from the Star Wars franchise. Fittingly enough, Emma's alias in the Enchanted Forest is Princess Leia, Han Solo's love interest.
 * In "The Apprentice", Emma says to Hook, "You look...", and Hook answers, "I know". This is a reference to the scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Princess Leia tells Han Solo that she loves him, and he answers, "I know". In "The Price", the lines are reversed, with Hook saying, "Swan, you look...", and she answers, "I know", mirroring the scene in Return of the Jedi, where Han Solo tells Leia that he loves her, and Leia answers, "I know".
 * The Star Wars connection is further alluded to in "Operation Mongoose Part 2", where Henry and Hook rescue Emma from prison, and Henry refers to this as the "Wookiee prisoner transfer" ploy. This is a reference to the scene from A New Hope, where Han Solo and Luke Skywalker enter the Death Star's detention area to rescue Princess Leia.
 * In Isaac's story, Emma is locked in a tower by her "mother", just like Rapunzel was in the Disney movie Tangled. Following the rescue, Emma is dressed in an outfit which resembles the one worn by Flynn Rider.
 * Emma calls Hook a "regular Jack Sparrow"; a reference to the famous pirate from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
 * When Emma was young, she watched The Sword in the Stone in a movie theater.
 * While having lunch with Hook aboard the Jolly Roger, the candle in a bottle and the table cloth on the table that Emma conjures, are similar to the ones seen in the famous spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp.
 * Emma tells Jasmine how she watched the Aladdin movie.
 * In the Wish Realm, Emma hums "Someday My Prince Will Come" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Lost

 * There is a Geronimo Jackson sticker on the back of Emma's car, a reference to the fictional band on Lost. The motif is from "Dharma Lady", a single by the band.
 * A Geronimo Jackson audio cassette with the same motif is lying on young Emma's bed.
 * There is a close-up of Emma's eye after she wakes up from the car crash. This is a recurring theme from Lost.
 * Emma's room number at the inn is 4. This is a reference to John Locke's number on Lost.
 * Emma lived in Tallahassee for two years, where she and Neal planned to star ta new life together. This is a reference to the episode "The Man From Tallahassee".
 * While talking about Mary Margaret's feelings for David, Emma and Mary Margaret share glasses of MacCutcheon Scotch Whiskey. This was a fictional brand on Lost.
 * When traveling to New York City, Henry, Emma and Mr. Gold take an Ajira Airlines flight, an airline that appears on Lost. The total time of their flight is 42 minutes; a recurring number on the show.
 * The number 23 is seen over Emma's bed in the prison hospital. 23 is the fifth of the Lost numbers.
 * Emma buys Henry an Apollo candy bar at the drug store in New York City. This was a fictional brand on Lost.
 * Young Emma steals an Apollo bar from a movie goer's pocket.
 * Emma and her foster family have takeout from Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack for dinner. This is a famous fast food franchise in the show.

Popular Culture

 * During her date with Ryan, Emma says that images found on online dating sites could be "Stolen from the Victoria's Secret catalog"; a reference to the popular lingerie retailer.
 * While Emma is "fixing" a toaster, the song she's listening to is "Kool Thing" by Sonic Youth.
 * While Emma speaks to August about his plan, she refers to it as a "Magical Mystery Tour" which is a reference to the famous Beatles song of the same name.
 * When Lancelot presents chimera as a food source, Emma asks if it's like turducken; a dish consisting of de-boned chicken stuffed into de-boned duck and then stuffed into a de-boned turkey.
 * While interrogating Hook, Emma says, "So much for fortune favoring the brave", referencing to the Latin phrase, "AVDENTES FORTVNA IVVAT", quoted in Virgil’s Latin poem Aeneid as allegedly the last words of the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder.
 * When Henry is making blueprints, Emma jokingly asks if he's plotting his escape from Shawshank. This is a reference to the fictional Shawshank State Penitentiary, from the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption, which is based on Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.
 * Emma's work business in New York City is called "Big Apple Bails Bond".
 * In "The Jolly Roger", Emma says they just checked on Ariel on "Skype", a reference to the popular computer software which specializes in providing video and voice calls over the Internet.
 * After going back in time, Emma makes references to Marty McFly and the 1985 movie Back to the Future.
 * The Portland flashback scene with Emma and Neal at the fairground is an homage to the famous scene from the 1954 movie On the Waterfront, where Marlon Brando is sitting in a swing in a children's park and handles a white glove dropped by Eva Marie Saint as they recall earlier days.
 * When Emma blasts the snow monster with magic, she says, "Take that, Frosty"; a reference to the popular song "Frosty the Snowman" from 1950, which was subsequently adapted into the 1969 television special of the same name, which has been aired annually ever since.
 * After that, Emma sarcastically asks Hook if he wants to go home and watch Netflix, the popular video streaming service.
 * Emma calls the Snow Queen "Dairy Queen", a reference to the ice cream franchise of the same name.
 * Emma makes a joke about the ice cream flavor Rocky road while searching the Snow Queen's truck.
 * While she lives with Ingrid, young Emma makes references to Harry Potter, the title character of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
 * When Ingrid tells Emma that she "can accomplish anything" by focusing enough, Emma replies, "Ingrid, that's a plastic ring; not a scholarship for Yale", a reference to the university in New Haven, Connecticut.
 * Emma's line, "You guys sure you don't want me to just wiggle my nose and get (Merlin) out of that tree?" refers to the classic ABC sitcom, ''Bewitched. The main character, Samantha, is a witch who employs a distinctive "wriggle" of her nose to use magic.
 * When Emma says goodbye to Hook before heading off to the Temple of Prometheus, she quotes a lyric from the song "Working My Way Back To You" by The Four Seasons.
 * When Henry names Operation Firebird, Emma wonders if he is referring to the "muscle car"; a reference to the Pontiac Firebird automobile.
 * While taking her parents to a safer place, Emma jokingly refers to the Count of Monte Cristo as "Errol Flynn". Errol Flynn was a famous film actor known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films.
 * Young Emma has an audio cassette by the British new wave musical group Wang Chung on her bed (seen upside-down).
 * According to Emma, she has seen the 1975 movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. She correctly states that the film ended with a lobotomy; a reference to the main protagonist's fate.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * The inn room key Granny hands Emma has an ornament with an engraving of a swan.
 * Granny's entrance key to the diner has the same design, as does the Underworld version of Neal's room key.
 * Emma possesses a star charm keyring.
 * Owns a cup which says "I ♥ Boston". It was sitting on her desk while she was working as a deputy sheriff, and when she takes over as sheriff, she brings the cup into her new office.
 * When Emma is a patient at the Storybrooke Sanitarium during the Black Fairy's curse, she is painting a swan.

Set Dressing

 * Henry's bedside lamp has a shadow figure of a swan.
 * The mobile over Emma's baby crib at the Boston foster home has two wooden pieces with a crown and a castle.
 * When David confronts Dr. Whale, the fence outside Granny's Diner is decorated with swan-shaped pumpkins.
 * Swans appear several times throughout the series:
 * When Hook arrives in Storybrooke, there are two swans gathered by his ship at the docks.
 * While dining alone in her palace, Regina's dish of choice is roast swan.
 * When Princess Abigail and Prince Charming arrive at King Midas' castle, there is a swan swimming in the lake.
 * A swan is featured in the title card for "A Pirate's Life", and the original airing of "There's No Place Like Home" and "Operation Mongoose Part 2".
 * As Emma and Hook look out onto the bay, a white swan flies across the horizon.
 * When Emma and Regina confront the Evil Queen at the beach, three swans are swimming in the water.
 * There is a swan-shaped fruit bowl on the table of Emma's New York apartment.
 * The lounge of Granny's Bed and Breakfast has two porcelain figurines of a swan—a small one and a big one.
 * There is a photograph of Emma on the work desk in Walsh's furniture shop.

Costume Notes

 * According to Jennifer Morrison, new memories and experiences influence Emma's clothes.
 * Several of Emma's leather jackets and wool coats were custom made by the costume department.
 * The producers have stated that Emma represents color coming into the drained world of Storybrooke, as seen in her yellow car and red jacket.
 * Dons a necklace with a small swan engraving on it, which she fashioned out of a key chain that was given to her by former boyfriend Neal.
 * The necklace is a jewelry piece called a "Swan Talisman Necklace" and can be purchased online.
 * Emma's secondary necklace, in the shape of a circle, was chosen specifically by Jennifer Morrison herself. She states the circular shape draws symbolism to ancient Celtic art of swans, which "are pictured with rings around their necks to represent the connection between divinity and humanity".
 * Wears a shoelace from Sheriff Graham's boot around her wrist, as a tribute to him. She keeps his boots, missing one lace, in her office at the sheriff's station.
 * When approached about the absence of the shoelace in Season Five, Jennifer Morrison stated that Emma had stopped wearing all the jewelry she wore consistently, including the shoelace from Graham's boot after the darkness was removed from her to signify a 'rebirth' of the character.
 * Emma used to wear glasses, but later, she switched to contact lenses.
 * Young Emma's floral dress is the same one Mary Margaret wears for her date with Dr. Whale in "Snow Falls".
 * In the close-up of Hook's hand as he clutches the magic bean aboard the Jolly Roger, the ring on his index finger has a heart design on the side with an engraving of a silhouette of a swan's head.
 * The dress Emma wears in Prince Charming's nightmare in has swan-like feathers.
 * Emma's corset in the Enchanted Forest is the same corset worn by Clorinda when the latter arrives in Storybrooke in "The Other Shoe".
 * At King Midas' ball, Emma is wearing the same headpiece from her father's dream in "The Tower".
 * The white baby cap Emma wears in Prince Charming's vision is the same cap worn by her little brother Neal in "The Final Battle Part 1" and "The Final Battle Part 2".
 * The pink dress Emma wears in Snow White's vision of the Idyllic Garden is the same one Violet wears for her date with Henry in "Dreamcatcher", but with longer sleeves.
 * In Isaac's alternate reality, Emma is wearing a pair of dagger-shaped earrings; a reference to the Dark One's Dagger.
 * When Emma emerges from the vault, she is wearing the same dress that the Evil Queen wore when she was imprisoned in "The Cricket Game", but with a different cloak. In addition, the sleeves on Emma's cloak have swan-like feathers. When Emma is the Evil Queen's prisoner in "There's No Place Like Home", she is wearing a lightened version of the same dress.
 * Jennifer Morrison helped create her Dark One's signature look and outfit.
 * After Emma fully transforms into the Dark One, she is wearing a hair ornament reminiscent of the wings of a swan.
 * The white ethereal inspired gown worn by Emma in Camelot was Jennifer Morrison's idea. She even brought in her own sheets and fabric ideas.
 * According to Jennifer Morrison, Emma's sense of style changed in Season Six to represent what she might have access to in Storybrooke. The costume department picked out clothes that specifically had a 'vintage touch' about them.
 * She also wears a softer choice of clothing to represent Emma letting her walls down.


 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * In "Pilot", Emma has a mole on her chest. In "The Thing You Love Most", it is gone. (In real life, Jennifer Morrison has had many moles removed from her body. The scar from this particular surgery, can be seen in a few episodes, including "Snow Drifts". )

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.