Amara

Amara is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. She débuts in the first episode of the first season and is portrayed by guest star Zuleikha Robinson.

History
Amara is a widely feared sorceress with an affinity for serpents who lived on the outskirts of Agrabah. The city's inhabitants were terrified of her, to the point the locals evacuated the market whenever she came to do her shopping. On one such excursion, Amara notices a young boy, Jafar, staring curiously at her. She returns his stare for several, prolonged seconds and then moves on. It is implied that the boy is the only person in recent memory to get away with such a thing, surprisingly, because she does not punish him making eye contact with her. Shortly thereafter, Jafar goes to Amara's home and begs her to teach him magic. She refuses until he admits that he is the Sultan's bastard, and wants revenge because of his father's abandonment.
 * -|Before the Curse=

Intrigued, Amara caves in and spends the next several years training him. In the process, she develops romantic feelings for Jafar, and begins to see him as a partner and not a student. As a test, she poisons the wine that Jafar later gives to a shepherd, Akil, as a reward for finding his lost goat. Amara introduces him to a masking spell, that requires a liver ingredient, which she intends to take from Akil. She offers Jafar the antidote to save his friend, but warns if he does, they won't have a liver for the spell. To prove he is willing to do whatever it takes for magic, Jafar lets Akil die. Pleased, she congratulates his choice and lures him into a lustful kiss.

Eventually, she shares with him her master plan to entrap three genies and rewrite the laws of magic to become the most powerful sorceress ever. After acquiring two of the necessary genies, Jafar betrays Amara by turning her an actual snake, which then becomes his staff. The staff allows Jafar access to her magical abilities, which will eventually enable him get around the spell's requirement for a second sorcerer.

Since then, Jafar carries Amara in her staff form wherever he goes.

Trivia

 * The casting call describes her as, "a powerful and beautiful sorceress from Agrabah."