Lancelot

"Leviathan? That's what they're calling me?"

- Lancelot to Snow White

Sir Lancelot is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts, with his only appearance, in the third episode of the second season. He is portrayed by Sinqua Walls and does not have a Storybrooke counterpart.

Sir Lancelot is based on a main character from the legend of King Arthur.

Before the Curse
Lancelot captures Snow White and brings her to King George. Upon order by King George, he fetches Snow White a cup of water. The water curses Snow White to be barren forever, and unable to bear any children. Afterwards, she is let go, but Lancelot follows her into the forest. Snow White is furious, and attacks him. He begs her to spare him because he, too, was unaware of the poison the king put into the cup. She allows him to come with her, and together they return back to Prince Charming and his mother, Ruth. The king's men have them surrounded by the time they reach back, and worse yet, one of their poisoned arrows has struck Ruth. Prince Charming suggests they go to Lake Nostos and gather some of the lake's waters, which has magical healing powers. When they reach there, they find the lake has completely dried up.

Lancelot finds a few droplets of the water left. Ruth drinks it, but the water does not heal her. Her last wish is to have seen Prince Charming and Snow White get married. Snow White  decides that's a wish that can be fulfilled, and asks Lancelot to perform the marriage ceremony. During the ceremony, Lancelot fills a cup with water. He says the cup is believed to have magical properties to make someone immortal. Snow White drinks from the cup.

Afterwards, when Prince Charming is burning a candle for his mother, Snow White is apologetic that he had to lose the last of his family. But, Prince Charming is glad because he still has Snow White, and that one day they will have children of their own. Snow White is visibly distraught, especially when Prince Charming pulls out the necklace Ruth had previously shown her.

The necklace has the power to predict the gender of a woman's first born before they're even with child. It works by swinging in a certain direction, if it swings North to South it's a boy and if it swings East to West it's a girl. Ruth tried to demonstrate it on Snow White earlier on, but it did not move at all. Prince Charming is telling Snow White about the necklace's predicting ability just as she is about to tell him about her inability to have children. Miraculously, the necklace begins to swing. Snow White is astonished at how the curse was broken. She realizes Ruth only pretended to drink the magic water when given it, and gave the actual water to Lancelot so he could put it in the chalice Snow White drank from to break the barren curse.

After the Curse
In the remnants of the Enchanted Forest after the casting of the dark curse, it is believed Lancelot survived. Mary Margaret Blanchard and Emma Swan end up in the Enchanted Forest when they are sucked into a portal generated by Jefferson's hat. They meet Lancelot, who is revealed to be the leader of the refugee camp, and he and Mary Margaret have a happy reunion. Ominously, Aurora remarks privately to Mulan that she doesn't trust Lancelot. He helps by sending Mulan with Mary Margaret and Emma as they search for their way home.

They end up in the old castle Emma was born in where the magic wardrobe still resides. They need magic to power up the wardrobe again so it works. Lancelot appears from behind; seemingly having followed them. Mary Margaret notices Lancelot seems to be fixated on the wardrobe, but he says he's just concerned about their safety and how they will get home. Then, Mary Margaret turns on him as she realizes this is not Lancelot, and there's only one person who would pretend to be him. In a puff of purple smoke, Cora emerges from her disguise. She reveals that Lancelot is dead and admits to having killed him a long time ago, knowing that the refugees would never listen to her and she could use his appearance as a disguise.

After a brief scuffle in which she has the upper hand, Mulan intervenes and this forces Cora to retreat. Mulan is stunned that she was fooled by a shape shifter all this time, and panics over what she will tell the rest of the survivors. Mary Margaret insists Mulan tell all of them the truth; that Lancelot was cut down by a terrible villain, and he "died" an honorable death.

Trivia

 * During casting, the character was simply referred to as a "Knight".
 * The casting call described him as "Male, African-American, British accent, late 20s to early 30s. A sword-for-hire, he’s one of the most dangerous men in Fairy Tale Land, because he’s a man with nothing to lose. In his tragic past, he was torn from his true love and banished from the king and country he served. Though he says he now serves only himself and his fee, he can’t help but be guided by his sense of honor, the memory of the man he once was and his true nobility. Guest star".
 * Sinqua Walls said in an interview that Lancelot will "interact with a lot of different characters"; including Snow White, Prince Charming, Emma Swan, Henry Mills, the Evil Queen and Mulan. He also described Lancelot as "a very interesting and dangerous man." He also described him as "fun".
 * Sir Lancelot's nickname ("Leviathan Knight") is an allusion to the original legend in which he was the adoptive son of the Lady of the Lake, a monster of the water. Leviathan is a sea monster referred to in the Bible.
 * Lancelot mentioned that he was raised by his mother near a lake. In the original Arthurian legend, Lancelot was the adoptive son of the Lady of the Lake.
 * Lancelot is the first character on the series to be derived from a legend.