King Leopold

"I seek nothing more than the happiness of all who set foot in my kingdom."

- King Leopold to the Genie

King Leopold is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He makes his debut in the eleventh episode of the first season. He is portrayed by guest star Richard Schiff, and does not have a Storybrooke counterpart.

He is based on the character "The King" from the fairytale "Snow White"

Before the Curse
King Leopold and his daughter Snow White visit a village in their kingdom. However, the steed Snow White is riding as she tours the village goes wild and runs off near a manor. Luckily, a resident of the manor, Regina, sees her and pulls her to safety before Snow White is injured or killed.

As a result, King Leopold decides to meet with Regina in her family's home. He proposes to her, claiming that she will be a perfect mother to Snow White. Regina is hesitant, as she loves a stable boy named Daniel, so her mother Cora accepts the proposal in her stead. ("The Stable Boy")

Years later, King Leopold walks along the shoreline of a body of water and stumbles across the Genie of Agrabah's magical lamp. As he rubs it a bit in an attempt to clean it off, to his surprise, a genie comes out of it and says that he can grant him three wishes, but warns the king that all magic comes with a price. Realizing that he only wants the happiness of all who live in his kingdom, King Leopold first wishes the genie free, and then wishes that his third wish be used for the genie's own use.

King Leopold then takes his new friend to the palace, where the genie meets Regina, Leopold's second wife, and Snow White. A few days after, Leopold calls the genie to his room and tells him he has found his wife's diary and knows her heart belongs to another man. He wants the genie to find this man for him, but, unbeknownst to Leopold, the genie is that man.

The genie, in turn, is told by Henry, Regina's father, that Regina has been locked inside her room under Leopold's orders. He manages to get inside with a box that Henry brought him, and discovers a poisonous snake, the Agrabahn viper, in that box. Regina seems about to commit suicide using the snake, but the genie stops her and suggests killing Leopold with it instead.

Later that night, Regina forms a plan to kill King Leopold. She has the Genie go into King Leopold's room with the viper and put it in the sleeping King Leopold's bed. King Leopold wakes up just as the snake is about to bite him. The genie apologizes and confesses his affair with the queen. Before he dies, King Leopold reveals to the genie that he should have never made his first wish, which ironically the Genie himself warned King Leopold that "all wishes come with a price"  ("Fruit of the Poisonous Tree")

Trivia

 * Leopold means "brave people".

Appearances
Król Leopold Leopold El rey Leopold Roi Leopold