Sleeping Curse

"My victims are not supposed to wake up. That's why I certainly never care what happens to them after."

- Regina to Mr. Gold

The Sleeping Curse and the Sleeping Spell are a curse and spell featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the first episode of the first season.

Curse Types

 * According to Mr. Gold, the traditional version of casting the sleeping curse is by dipping the tip of a needle in a special blue liquid potion, and putting the needle on a spinning wheel. Once the victim's finger is pricked with the needle, the potion reaches the bloodstream quickly for the curse to take effect.
 * The Evil Queen combined the effects of an apple with the sleeping curse.
 * For numerous cases, the intended victim cannot be coerced against one's will:
 * Snow White made the voluntary choice to eat the poisoned apple.
 * Henry intentionally ate the poisoned apple turnover to prove the Dark Curse is real.
 * David and Mary Margaret offered themselves up to undergo the sleeping curse in order to communicate with another person in the Netherworld.
 * In Aurora's case, it appears she was coerced on some level since Maleficent forcibly stabbed her wrist with the sleeping curse.
 * A single drop of the sleeping curse, mixed with sea water and toadstool, puts the person in a state of catatonia.
 * There is a sleeping spell similar to the curse, but its effects turn off with time as the one Maleficent cast on Prince Charming and Snow White's entire castle and the ones Regina cast on the Lost Boys, Marco and Pinocchio.

Curse Effects

 * The sleeping curse will only work if it is willingly self-inflicted by the victim. Coercing a person by force will have no effect.
 * However, Maleficent's sleeping curse seems to be slightly different than Regina's, as Aurora was cursed against her will.
 * The victim remains eternally asleep, but the soul is sent to the Netherworld where the person experiences dreams made of his or her own regrets.
 * While under the influence of the curse, the victim's body mimics the appearance of death with no involuntary movement or breathing.
 * Post-curse victims are repeatedly subject to common, horrible nightmares, which feature a red doorless, windowless room, with fiery curtains and engulfing flames. The dreams fade over a prolonged period of time.
 * According to Mr. Gold, even after a person is awoken from the state of eternal sleep, the soul may still instinctively travel to the Netherworld while unconscious because of the victim's habitual residence there when the curse was still in effect.
 * If a sleeping curse has been cast on someone, that person is immune to the effects of any sleeping curses or spells. This left Mary Margaret Blanchard, David Nolan, and Henry Mills unaffected after Maleficent put the residents of Storybrooke to sleep.

Curse Breaking

 * True love's kiss - The sleeping curse's effects can be lifted with the power of a kiss of true love. Whereas the existence of unconditional true love can be romantic, such in the case of Snow White and Prince Charming, it can also be parental; exemplified by Emma using true love's kiss to free Henry from the sleeping curse.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.