Neverland

"There's a reason it's called Neverland. Because once you set foot in its soil, the Shadow never lets you leave."

- Wendy to Baelfire

Neverland is a world featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the twenty-first episode of the second season.

History
From the Enchanted Forest, Malcolm and his young son, Rumplestiltskin, arrive to Neverland from a magic bean with the intention of starting a new life together. Having previously visited Neverland in his dreams as a boy, Malcolm is hung up on continuing to experience the same freedom he had then, which include the ability to fly. He is horrified upon discovering flying no longer works even after procuring pixie dust. As the sole inhabitant of Neverland, the Shadow tells him, adults do not belong on the island. Malcolm, unwilling to let go of his youth, abandons his son to be taken back to the Enchanted Forest by the Shadow so he himself is transformed into a boy and can stay in Neverland forever. While whisked away, Rumplestiltskin drops a doll his father previously gifted him. Malcolm picks it up and later adopts the same name as the doll, Peter Pan. The Shadow takes Pan to Skull Rock, showing him a large hour glass of sand, which dictates how much time he has left until his life runs out. Pan vows to find a way to remain immortal for all eternity.
 * -|Before the Curse=

A ship lieutenant of the Jewel of the Realm named Killian and his captain brother, Liam, travel to Neverland under orders from their king to procure a special healing plant called Dreamshade. Once there, they are met by Pan, who tells them about the poisonous effects of the plant. Killian begins having doubts, so Liam cuts his arm with a branch of Dreamshade to prove it is not deadly. However, his brother collapses from the spreading venom and Killian pleads for help from Pan. After he is given access to the island's curative spring, Pan warns Killian not to take his brother out of Neverland unless they are willing to pay the price of magic. He fails to understand the boy's hidden meaning, and cures Liam with the spring water. As the two brothers sail out of Neverland's waters, intending to reveal their king's true nature to their nation, Liam succumbs to death as the price of magic. Killian and the remaining crew strip themselves of their former lives, unwilling to serve a king so vicious, and rename the ship to the Jolly Roger as they live out their days as plundering pirates at sea.

With the power of a magic pan flute, Pan draws in youths from other worlds who can only use the instrument's music if they feel unloved and lost. He takes them back to Neverland with him and they form his entourage of Lost Boys.

Since obtaining powers of the Dark One, an ageless Rumplestiltskin tracks down Hook, who years earlier had stolen his wife, Milah. Instead, the tables are turned when he finds out Milah ran away willingly with Hook due to their mutual love for one another, and she bargains to trade a magic bean in exchange for both her and Hook's lives. In a heated dispute, Milah claims that she never loved Rumplestiltskin; prompting the Dark One to kill her in a fit of rage. Hook refuses to surrender the magic bean, and tricks Rumplestiltskin into cutting off the wrong hand that is supposedly hiding it. After Rumplestiltskin has left, Hook takes out the magic bean and tosses it into the ocean; opening a portal and takes himself and his ship's crew to Neverland. He states it is a place where no one ever ages or grows old.

In London, the Shadow takes a girl, Wendy, to Neverland where she sees mermaids and fairies. She is fascinated by the mysterious and fun world, but at night, all the children begin to miss their parents and cry through the night. The Shadow refuses to let any of the children go home, and only Wendy is allowed to return is because she is a girl and the Shadow wants another boy. It wishes to snatch away one of Wendy's brothers though her house guest, Baelfire, promises to protect them. The Shadow comes the next night to take away one of the boys. Armed with makeshift weapons, they defend themselves against the Shadow and hide in the nursery cubby-hole, but Wendy's brother Michael becomes distracted and is nearly taken by the creature. Baelfire protects Michael and asks the Shadow to take him instead. The Shadow grabs onto Baelfire and flies him towards Neverland. As they approach, Baelfire refuses to go without a fight and lights a matchstick to scare off the Shadow. The result is he's dropped into the sea and almost drowns, but is picked up by Captain Hook of the Jolly Roger.

When the Lost Ones from Neverland come aboard the ship to search for a certain boy, Hook assumes they mean to take Baelfire, so he hides him below deck in an air vent. The lead Lost One, Felix, searches from room to room, but cannot find the boy Peter Pan sent them after and is forced to leave empty-handed. Baelfire finds out Hook has been lying to him about knowing who his father, Rumplestiltskin, is as well as his past relationship with Baelfire's mother, Milah. Disgusted, Baelfire wants to get off the ship and willingly goes with the Lost Ones via rowboat to Neverland's shoreline. After he gets off, Felix assesses the newcomer's face with a parchment drawing of another boy but is disappointed the two do not match, and Baelfire is not the boy Pan is looking for. Felix remarks he is lucky not to be the boy on the parchment. The Lost One then asks Felix whether they will be able to find the boy on the parchment.

Wendy, feeling guilty about Baelfire's sacrifice for her family, decides to rescue him from Neverland. Instead, she is held captive by Pan. When John and Michael attempt to free her from him, they are forced to carry out whatever Pan orders them to do lest their sister will be harmed.

Hook finally sets foot on the island of Neverland with one of his crewman, Smee, in search of a way back to the Enchanted Forest. An ex-fairy named Tinker Bell knocks out his companion and threatens the captain at knife point. Under duress, he admits his reason for being on the island is to find magic to return home, and then interrogates his assailant by prodding into her past as a fairy. When her guard is down, Hook pulls out his rum bottle and offers Tinker Bell a drink. She asks him about is so important to back home. Bitterly, he recounts how the Dark One killed his beloved, which fuels the desire for revenge. Even though it may come at the cost of his own life, Hook states that he only risks himself for two things; love and revenge.

For over a century long, John and Michael continue to work for Pan. Though they reach adulthood, their aging process becomes stunted to prevent them from growing older.

In a deal with Pan, Hook bargains his way out of Neverland. He takes some Dreamshade with him, hell-bent on using it to poison Rumplestiltskin to death, and successfully returns to the Enchanted Forest on his quest to exact vengeance.

Pan discovers, in some form, that he needs the heart of the truest believer in order to maintain immortality. After locating the heart in a young infant boy, he sends John and Michael to this world to retrieve him, though their mission fails. Two associates of Pan, Greg and Tamara, kidnap Henry, who has the heart of the truest believer, from Storybrooke to Neverland. Quickly, the pair discover the truth about the organization they have been working for. Though they believed their leader was someone who shares the same hatred of magic as themselves, it is actually the exact opposite. Greg and Tamara are quickly killed, their usefulness expired, while Henry flees from the pursuing Lost Boys. Via the Jolly Roger, Henry's family, David, Emma, Mary Margaret, Mr. Gold and Regina, travel to Neverland by using a magic bean. As Hook steers the ship toward the island, Mr. Gold decides to split from the group, perceiving that Emma can't take leaps of faith, and will be a detriment in rescuing Henry. He teleports to the island alone and comes across a barely alive Tamara. He questions her about Henry's whereabouts, which she complies with answering. When Tamara apologizes for her actions, which caused the death of his son, Mr. Gold kills her. Meanwhile, the ship is attacked by mermaids. A vicious storm, summoned by a mermaid and fueled by the group's animosity towards each other, is stopped once Emma risks her life to put everyone's disputes aside. On the island, Mr. Gold receives, from Pan, a familiar straw doll. Pan gains Henry's trust by pretending to be an ex-Lost Boy. In the process, he secretly tests Henry, which the boy proves by using pixie dust to give both of them the ability to fly. Afterwards, Pan reveals his true identity while he and the Lost Boys take Henry to their camp.
 * -|After Broken Curse=

In order to defeat Pan, Mr. Gold detaches his own shadow and then asks it to hide the Dark One's dagger. David, Emma, Hook, Mary Margaret, and Regina become exhausted by the journey from the island shoreline and through the terrain, so they rest for the night. While everyone else is asleep, Emma is drawn deeper into the jungle by Pan where he gives her a map that will show Henry's location. However, he states that only when she stops denying her true self will the map's contents be revealed. Try as she might, Emma cannot crack the map. Regina tries to take the easy way out by casting a locator spell on the parchment, which takes them directly to Henry, or so they think. Instead, it leads them to Pan, who punishes the group by having the Lost Boys engage them in battle. During the fight, David is hit by a Dreamshade arrow. Emma fends off a Lost Boy, but while interrogating him, she recognizes his lifeless demeanor as something from her own past. Afterwards, Emma admits to Mary Margaret that the boy reminded her of how she felt while growing up in foster homes alone and without parents or a family. Emma also confesses to feeling like the person she's always been—an orphan. Her acknowledgement sets off the map, which is finally unveiled. Later, Pan congratulates Emma for fulfilling the task while threatening that by the end of his game, she won't just feel like an orphan, but also be one.

Locations
For detailed location information, please see the list of Neverland locations.

Inhabitants

 * Baelfire ^
 * Devin ^
 * Felix †
 * Hook ^
 * Lost Ones ^
 * Mermaids


 * Peter Pan †
 * The Shadow †
 * Tinker Bell ^
 * William Smee ^
 * Wendy ^

Trivia

 * Neverland can be reached by creating a portal with a magic bean or flying with the Shadow.
 * The Neverland set was inspired by the Ewok village from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.