Neal Cassidy

"I wanted to look for you, but I was too afraid that you wouldn't forgive me because I never forgave myself. There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I don't regret having left you."

- Neal to Emma Swan

Neal Cassidy is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the first episode of the second season. He is portrayed by guest star Michael Raymond-James, and is the Land Without Magic alias of Baelfire.

During the Curse
At some point, Baelfire escapes the world of Neverland and returns to the "land without magic" where he changes his name to Neal Cassidy.

Neal and Emma meet in Portland when they are both trying to steal the same car. They quickly fall in love and began traveling through the country together and running cons to make money. Planning to retire from their life of crime, they choose to build a life together in Tallahassee, but Neal gives Emma the bad news he is currently wanted for stolen watches that are now hidden in a train station. Emma retrieves the watches back and they decide to meet up at a specific location after Neal finds someone to buy the watches. While doing so, Neal is confronted by August, who claims Emma is meant to do something greater rather than live a life of a thief. He shows knowledge of Neal's past persona by opening a typewriter with the words, "I know you're Baelfire" written on them. Afterwards, August tells Neal about Emma's magical history and convinces him to turn her in to the police so she can fulfill her destiny. After Emma is arrested, he runs away to Canada where he sells the watches. He asks August to send all the money plus their car to Emma, and asks August that ifshe ever fulfills her duty to let him know by sending a postcard. Unbeknownst to him, Emma is pregnant with his son.

After the Curse
Presently, Neal resides in New York City, where shortly after Emma breaks the curse in Storybrooke, he receives a postcard delivered by a dove. One side of the postcard reads, "Broken", and the other is a photo of the Storybrooke Clock Tower with the phrase "Greetings from Storybrooke", which is sent to him by August.

Per her obligation to fulfill a favor for Mr. Gold, Emma goes with him to Manhattan to find Baelfire. She brings along Henry because she does not trust her son to be in Storybrooke while Cora on the loose. They arrive via taxi to Manhattan in front of an apartment complex building, and enter the building to find a locked gate with a call box listing all the residents and their room numbers on the wall next to it. Searching through the list, Mr. Gold does not recognize any as a possible name for Baelfire. Emma steps up to the call box and picks apartment room 407, which she notices has no name on it, and has a hunch it is a person who does not want to be found. She pretends to be delivering a UPS package for room 407, but no buzzer rings for the apartment complex door to open. They hear someone coming down the fire escape, and rush outside in time to see a hooded person jumping down and running away from the building. Mr. Gold tells Emma that he is sure that person is his son and that she must get him to talk to him due to the favor she owes him which he is using now. After tailing the hooded person through the streets, Emma eventually tackles him to the ground. They both get up at the same time, and she is shocked to see Neal was the person she chased.

Neal, not wanting to have a confrontation in the middle of the street, pleads for Emma and him to go somewhere private so he can explain what is going on. He succeeds in getting Emma to a nearby bar where he reveals that he is, in fact, Baelfire and they discuss their past. Neal makes note of the fact she is still wearing the necklace he gave her, but Emma takes it off just then and hands it back to him. He suggests that they go their separate ways and that she tell Mr. Gold she lost him. Although Emma agrees, Neal decides to go back to his apartment as he knows what his father does to people who break deals with him. He stops Mr. Gold from threatening Emma and commands him to leave, but feels confused when he sees Henry, who he does not recognize. When Emma states Henry is her son, Neal admanantly demands to know how old he is. Henry shouts back he is eleven years old, which is the exact amount of years since he and Emma were together. He realizes the boy is his son. Mr. Gold blackmails Neal into talking with him as that is the only way to fulfill Emma's bargain. Neal tells Mr. Gold since he himself as an abandoned boy never got closure, so neither will his father either. Emma allows Neal to get to know Henry, but warns not to break his heart.

Some time later, Neal is building a relationship with Henry by introducing him to New York-style pizza and promising to take him to a museum. Neal tries to tell Emma something important, but their conversation is interrupted. While waiting in the lobby of Neal's apartment building, Mr. Gold is suddenly attacked by Hook, who sailed his invisible ship to New York. To everyone's surprise, Neal admits he is already acquainted with Hook. Mr. Gold tells Emma the wound inflicted on him by Hook contains poison and the only way to cure him is with magic in Storybrooke.

Realizing that Hook's ship is the fastest way to get back, Neal offers to steer the ship and arranges to borrow someone else's car to the harbor. Emma curiously asks how he knows Hook and how to pilot a pirate ship, though he evasively says the land without magic is not the first world he arrived in, because if it had been, he would been over 300 years old by now. When they arrive next to a large car, Emma thinks Neal is going to hot wire it, but he has the keys. The owner of the car runs over to greet Neal and Emma meets his fiancée Tamara for the first time.

Neal pilots the Jolly Roger from New York to Storybrooke with the aid of Henry. While en route, Emma telephones David and Mary Margaret, to fill them in on what has happened. David explains to them Cora and Regina have possession of the dagger which can be used to control Mr. Gold. They arrive at the pawn shop, and once inside, Mr. Gold gives a piece of magic invisible chalk to Emma and tells her to draw a magic barrier across the door with the chalk.

Neal jokes around with Emma; saying that he did not know she could use magic, and Emma responds he did not tell her about Tamara; not to mention him being the son of Rumplestiltskin. When Cora and Regina reach the shop they use magic to break the barrier, and end up battling Neal, Mary Margaret, David and Emma. Cora and Regina are easily able to eject David is thrown out of the shop. Emma proceeds to draw another barrier with the chalk; protecting them for a little longer. After overhearing Mr. Gold's emotional conversation with his girlfriend Belle, Neal realizes the changed man his father is. In that moment, Neal admits he is still angry at him, but still loves his father. They are interrupted by Cora breaking through the barrier. Though Neal and Emma rise to defend Mr. Gold against her, she teleports the two away to the town forest.

After Cora's death, Mr. Gold visits the apartment to warn Neal, Emma and David about what Regina has planned for Mary Margaret. Henry is horrified about his family's possible intent to kill Regina to end the feud. Emma takes an upset Henry to the diner where Neal hangs out with him. He orders him a nice dessert, but Henry knows Neal is in on trying to sweeten him up so he does not try to get involved with Regina. Neal asks Henry to move to New York with him where he will be safer. Henry agrees, and then goes to the bathroom. Emma comes back to check up on them, and is incredulous that Neal fell for the "I'm going to the bathroom" trick; especially since Henry took his backpack with him. They try to catch up with him, and get to the mines with help from Ruby and realize Henry took dynamite to blow up the wishing well and be rid of magic. They hurry off to the well, and almost have a heated battle with Regina, but Henry manages to get everyone to stop. Henry convinces her to not use the spell on him, and she willingly burns the paper.

Henry and Emma pay a visit to Neal at his guest room at the bed and breakfast. While Neal sends Henry off to the diner and order three hot cocoas, he finds the time to tell Emma that Hook has escaped from the storage closet, and also Tamara is coming to Storybrooke. Emma does not like the idea of another outsider in town, and tells Neal he should tell Tamara his true identity. Emma decides to stick around and meet Tamara. The foursome have an awkward breakfast in silence, but the conversation picks up when Henry asks how the two of them met. Tamara recounts the day Neal ran into her and spilled her cup of coffee all over her blouse. As a remedy, he gave her his scarf and after exchanging numbers, she called him back and they got to know each other. Once Henry and Emma head off to elsewhere, Neal shows Tamara the book and tells her about his life in the Enchanted Forest; stating all the fairytales in the book are real. Perceiving this is a ploy to drive her away so he can get back with Emma, Tamara expresses anger and frustration at his story, and storms out.

Neal witnesses a completely wooden August dies in the arms Marco with his last words warning Emma about "her". After Mother Superior arrives and transforms August back into Pinocchio, Tamara arrives to witnesses the power of fairy magic, and discovers Neal was telling her the truth. Tamara affirms she is staying for Neal because she loves him.

Mr. Gold is watching Neal and Henry practice wooden sword fighting in the park when Regina approaches to ask what his son is doing with hers. To Regina's shock, Mr. Gold reveals Neal is Henry's father. Regina believes Mr. Gold planned all this, but he tells her it was fated. At the end of the day, Neal brings home a worn out and asleep Henry. Emma tucks him into bed and then the two sit down to talk. She casually asks him if he would go back to the Enchanted Forest if there was a way, but Neal states he spent his whole life running from it.

Emma and Henry continue their now "altered" operation, Operation Praying Mantis. They hide in Emma's yellow VW bug, and duck down as Neal and Tamara come out of the bed and breakfast.

They break into the guest room as Emma harbors a suspicion Tamara is up to something. Neal returns to the room, and finds Henry guarding the door outside. He comes in to see Emma pry open a loose floorboard in an attempt to find evidence. Emma explains her suspicion of Tamara with her possibly being the person August was warning them about. She also harbors doubts since Tamara has a list of everyone in town and their fairytale names, though Neal replies he gave that list to her so his fiancée can come to grips with this place and his identity. Neal asks Emma whether her reluctant behavior is due to Tamara being in Storybrooke. Emma strongly denies it and leaves with Henry.

Neal awakens in bed to see Tamara dressed and ready to go on a marathon training run. He tries to persuade her to sleep in, but she reasons the training is necessary so she can be prepared for the upcoming marathon. Emma confronts Neal with the news Regina is missing and goes back to pointing the finger at Tamara. Neal is still very much in disbelief even when Emma notices sand on the floor left by Tamara's shoes, which indicate she has not recently been running in the woods but near the beach. He follows Emma along to the shoreline where Tamara casually jogs up. She explains to Neal the reason for her change of jogging spots from the woods to the beach; an answer that satisfies him but does not keep Emma's guard from lowering. After Tamara resumes her run, Neal tries to be sympathetic to the difficult time Emma is having in his fiancée being in town. Emma fights against his accusations that she is in any way jealous of his current relationship. When she tries to walk away, he spills out the truth about wanting to go back for her when she went to jail in his place. Neal admits he truly wished he did, but was too scared to face Emma thinking she might never forgive him as he never forgave himself for leaving her.

Emma receives a lead of Regina's whereabouts from David after Mary Margaret, with the help of Mr. Gold, forges a bodily connection with Regina and briefly sees and feels everything she does. David mentions Mary Margaret could smell sardines, which helps Emma realize Regina must be trapped in the town fish cannery. Neal and Emma enter and regroup with David and Mary Margaret. While Emma's parents rush forward to secure and clear further rooms in the cannery, Neal and Emma lag behind and cautiously walk the halls. David catches Greg as the culprit behind Regina's kidnapping. When he runs, David warns Emma via phone to be on the lookout for Greg as he is trying to escape the building. Neal is relieved to hear Tamara has nothing to do with it, but his ease turns to horror when Emma unexpectedly is knocked out unconscious by her. Neal is in shock at the betrayal and lies. Tamara fully admits to lying about everything since the day they met. Though she thinks he is a good man, her job is more important. She shoots Neal in the abdomen and apologizes for the action when Emma gets up to kick the pistol out of Tamara's hands. Just as Emma makes a grab for the gun, Tamara distracts them by throwing a magic bean and opening up a portal. Emma almost falls into it, but is pulled up by Neal. Then, their roles are reversed and Neal ends up being the one clinging onto Emma to keep from falling into the portal. He urges her to let go, but Emma stubbornly refuses; stating whatever world he ends up in he'll likely die from the gun wound. Terrified of losing him, she confesses her genuine love for Neal. He reciprocates the same feelings back and lets go to be sucked into the closing portal.

He lands in the Enchanted Forest by the shoreline of the beach. While unconscious, three strangers, Prince Phillip, Aurora and Mulan approach to try and awaken him.

Trivia

 * The casting call describes him as, "in his 20s or 30s, charismatic, sexy and mysterious, but also loyal and kind, and he's running from his past in a land full of danger."
 * The casting call name for him was "Jack".
 * The name "Neal" is of Irish Gaelic origin derived from the "Niall" that possibly means "champion" or "cloud".
 * The surname "Cassidy" is of Irish Gaelic origin derived from the surname "Ó Caiside" that means "descendent of Caiside". By itself, "Caiside" is a given name that means "curly haired".
 * The song playing on his iPod during the walk to his apartment is "Charley's Girl" by Lou Reed.
 * He has many vintage items in his apartment: an array of old radios, old microphones, classic cameras, records and record player, old pencil sharpener, old telephone, and a dreamcatcher hanging on the wall by the window (that he and Emma found when crashing in a vacant hotel room). He also has a series of monocles hanging by the door and an odd set of glasses in a bowl by the window.
 * There is a sign in his apartment that reads "Cleaner and Hatters".
 * The dream-catcher he has hanging in his apartment was given to him by Emma.
 * According to his wanted poster, he was born March 23, 1977 in New Jersey. This means in 2001 he would have been 24 when he met Emma, who was 17 or 18 at the time.
 * His wanted poster also says: "Neal Cassidy has a scar on his left arm from a knife wound."

Appearances

 * Neal's wanted poster appears in "Tallahassee".