Emma Swan

"Henry brought me to Storybrooke to bring back the happy endings. My job's not done until I do that for everyone, including you."

- Emma Swan to Regina Mills

Emma Swan, also known as the Savior, formerly known as the Dark One or the Dark Swan, and briefly as Princess Leia, 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 starring cast member Jennifer Morrison, guest star Abby Ross and co-star Mckenna Grace, and does not have a counterpart.

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.
 * Emma's last name is derived from the fairytale of "The Ugly Duckling". According to the show creators, her 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.
 * Jennifer Morrison has stated that Emma got her last name from her first foster parents.

Character Notes

 * Likes hot cocoa with cinnamon, just like her mother and her son.
 * Emma likes grilled cheese sandwiches.
 * Has a flower tattoo on the inside of her left wrist. It is similar to her father's crest.
 * Swans appear several times throughout the series:
 * When Hook arrives in Storybrooke, there are two swans gathered by his ship at the docks.
 * 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 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.
 * Emma likes the color yellow.


 * -|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.
 * 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 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.
 * According to Jennifer Morrison, Emma has had her wrist tattoo since she was "probably 14".
 * 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".


 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * 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.

Popular Culture

 * 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 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".


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes
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.
 * 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.
 * Based on her mugshot on the cover of the newspaper, Emma is approximately 5'7".
 * Possesses a star charm keyring.
 * Owns a cup which says "I ♥ Boston". She brings it with her to the sheriff's station when she takes over as sheriff.
 * 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 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).
 * While dining alone in her palace, Regina's dish of choice is roast swan.
 * Emma's goodbye letter, whose envelope is titled "for my family", says:

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.
 * 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

 * 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.
 * 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.
 * When Emma goes back in time, the clasps on her cloak are in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
 * At King Midas' ball, Emma is wearing the same headpiece from her father's dream in "The Tower".
 * 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.
 * 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.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.