Magic

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

- Henry to David Nolan

Magic is a metaphysical and supernatural force featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It can be manipulated by humans, with training. It first appears in the first episode of the first season of Once Upon a Time.

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

Use of Magic is the ability to harness magic to cast spells, however, using dark magic corrupts the user. Powerful magical practitioners like Cora, Regina and Rumplestiltskin become corrupted by their powers and in turn, their magic turned tainted as well. Not all magical practitioners are corrupted, however, such as fairies, but they are exceptions because they cannot use magic in negative ways, instead of choosing to not do so.

Magic can be used to override the usual laws of nature, physics, and reality, but it always comes with a price. It is inherently neutral and cannot itself be split into Good or Evil, but can be used for either purpose. Since magic use is powered by emotion, the strength of the spell depends on the feelings of the caster focuses into the output of magic. Negative emotions are generally used to power spells while positive emotions are used to maintain control of spells.

However magic can be split into Light and Dark, forms of magic that are powered by positive or negative emotions, thus a manifestation of the wielder's will. However positive emotions do not equal goodness as a mage's attempt to protect one's loved one can result in a person's death- after all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Laws of Magic
The Laws of Magic define the limits of magical abilities. There are three restrictions even the most powerful magic is said to be unable to break: bring back the dead, force someone to fall in love and change the past. But these laws can and have been broken by powerful spells. One of them is the combined power of three genies who have overridden fate. Another case of laws-breaking magic is the time traveling spell that can be enacted by gathering symbols of wisdom, courage, love and innocence.

Price of Magic
The Price of Magic is the inevitable expense for using or casting magic. Often stated as a warning that "magic always comes with a price", but sometimes, the price is not foreseeable. Rumplestiltskin's curse has the heaviest penalty for gaining his Dark One powers. While the magic allows him to accumulate masses of power, it corrupts him both physically and emotionally.

Other prices include the Evil Queen's sacrifice of her father to unleash the Dark Curse upon the Enchanted Forest. In doing so, she creates a void in her soul that can never be filled. At another time, Regina's attempt to outsmart and get rid of Emma by putting her under a Sleeping Curse backfires, as Mr. Gold predicted, when Henry is afflicted with the curse instead. Even Mr. Gold himself, who knows all too well there's always a price to pay, brought magic to Storybrooke, which returned his old powers, but the cost forces a barrier around town to form, preventing him from leaving to find his son.

Practitioners

 * Blood Magic
 * Evil Queen
 * Rumplestiltskin
 * ​Fairy Magic
 * Belle/Belle
 * Blue Fairy/Mother Superior
 * Emma Swan
 * Fairy Godmother †
 * Henry Mills
 * Nova
 * Peter Pan †
 * Robin Hood
 * Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold
 * Silvermist
 * Snow White
 * Tinker Bell
 * Genie's Magic
 * Cyrus
 * The Genie of Agrabah
 * Knave of Hearts
 * Rafi
 * Taj
 * Golden Touch
 * King Midas


 * Potioncraft
 * Belle
 * Jafar
 * Mother Superior
 * Regina Mills
 * Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold
 * Wicked Witch of the West
 * Science
 * Dr. Frankenstein/Dr. Whale
 * Seer's Magic
 * Rumplestiltskin
 * Seer †
 * Siren's Magic
 * Siren †
 * True Love
 * Belle
 * ​Emma Swan
 * Knave of Hearts
 * Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Prince Charming
 * Prince Phillip
 * Regina Mills


 * Witchcraft
 * Amara †
 * Belle
 * Blind Witch †
 * Cora †
 * The Dragon †
 * Emma Swan
 * Evil Queen/Regina Mills
 * Glinda
 * The Ice Queen
 * Jafar
 * Maleficent
 * Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Peter Pan †
 * Red Queen
 * Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold
 * Trish †
 * Witch of the East
 * Witch of the North
 * Wicked Witch of the West/Zelena
 * Zoso †

Appearances

 * -|Blood Magic=


 * -|Fairy Magic=

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
 * -|Genie's Magic=

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
 * -|Golden Touch=


 * -|Potioncraft=


 * -|Science=


 * -|Seer's Magic=

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
 * -|Siren's Magic=


 * -|True Love=

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
 * -|Witchcraft=

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.