David Nolan

David Nolan, once a coma patient known only as John Doe, is a major character in Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the first episode of the first season. He is played by starring cast member Joshua Dallas and is the Storybrooke counterpart of Prince James.

Early Life
David Nolan was originally married to Kathryn Nolan. However, they didn't get along very well, and after one of their numerous fights, David left. Regina Mills, the mayor, found him on the side of the road and brought him to the hospital. She became his emergency contact, and he was in a coma for several years. While he was in a coma, he was known as John Doe.

Season One
A few days after Emma Swan had arrived in Storybrooke, she and Henry Mills convinced Mary Margaret Blanchard to read Henry's storybook, which was full of the stories from Happily Ever After, to John Doe. Mary Margaret is reluctant at first, but the two convince her and she goes to David's room that night. She sits on the side of the bed and begins to read. Halfway through the story, David, while still unconscious, grabs Mary Margaret's hand.

Mary Margaret gets Dr. Whale, but he says that nothing happened and she must have been imagining it all. The next night, David awakens from his coma and leaves the hospital. Mary Margaret, Emma Swan and Sheriff Graham form a search party to look for him, and find him at the edge of the Toll Bridge. However, he is unconscious and bleeding.

Mary Margaret panicks and performs CPR on him while Graham calls an ambulance. Henry, who had tagged along with the search party, becomes upset at the prospect that he could die and Emma shields him from watching. However, Mary Margaret's CPR efforts are effective and he spits out water. When she asks him what his name is, he replies that he doesn't know.

Back at the hospital, Regina comes with a blonde woman who is revealed to be Kathryn Nolan, David's estranged wife. Emma becomes suspicious because Kathryn had never thought that her husband had stayed in Storybrooke - she had assumed that he'd gone to Boston. He reunites with his wife, but he later admits to Mary Margaret that nothing seems right to him except her.

The next few days, he is playing hangman with Mary Margaret and has many conversations with her; however, Kathryn frequently interrupts them with her desperate attempts to help David regain his memory of his life before the coma. David and Mary Margaret grow closer.

After he is discharged from the hospital, David is met with a welcome home party filled with people he doesn't recognize. However, he quickly becomes uncomfortable and goes to Mary Margaret's house instead. He tries to tell her that he was choosing her over Kathryn, and chases after her for the next few days.

Finally, he corners her at the schoolhouse and invites her to the Toll Bridge, because he was leaving Kathryn for her. Mary Margaret agrees to meet him. On his way there, he encounters Regina, who purposefully gives him the wrong directions. David winds up at Mr. Gold's shop, and Mr. Gold gives him the correct directions. As he turns to go, he sees an old windmill that had belonged to the Nolans prior to his disappearance, and he suddenly remembers everything from his life prior to the coma.

He rushes off to the Toll Bridge and tells Mary Margaret that he remembers everything and that he was going to honor his marriage. Mary Margaret becomes upset and tells him off for leading him on. Then she walks away in tears, leaving a dejected David behind. That night, he goes back to Kathryn and says that he is willing to work on their marriage. Kathryn becomes ecstatic and hugs him.

After Sheriff Graham's death, he is seen stapling promotional posters of Sidney Glass around town. He runs across Mary Margaret, who is promoting Emma Swan for Sheriff, and has a quick chat with her. However, once she notices that he was advertising Sidney, she walks away with an excuse to get more posters.

A few days later, he walks into Granny's Diner and proceeds to have a quick chat with Mary Margaret. After the conversation is over, he grabs the coffees and walks away back to Kathryn.

When Mary Margaret discovers a dove trapped in a cage, she brings it to the animal shelter. The vetenarian says that the bird will be all right, but it must join its flock or risk becoming a lone dove. Mary Margaret is about to leave to release the bird, but David stops her and warns her about the coming storm. Mary Margaret goes anyway.

As she is going to free the bird, she slips on the ground and barely manages to keep herself from falling down to a ravine. At the last possible moment, David grabs her and hauls her up. The storm then begins, and they rush to an abandoned cabin in the woods.

Appearances

 * Pilot
 * Snow Falls
 * That Still Small Voice
 * The Shepherd
 * Desperate Souls
 * 7:15am
 * Skin Deep
 * What Happened to Frederick
 * Dreamy
 * Red-Handed

Trivia

 * David means "beloved" in Hebrew, and Nolan means "famous" in Irish. It is also of English origin, where it means "little champion" or "chariot-fighter."
 * King David in the Bible was also a former shepherd, as was Prince James.
 * David's Blackouts could be Prince James trying to take over him and his memories resurfacing for a short time only to forgot about them when he's David. This could be a effect of Prince James being unconscious when the The Dark Curse was cast over Happily Ever After.