Regina Mills


 * This article focuses on Regina Mills' Storybrooke persona. For her Fairytale Land counterpart, see Evil Queen.

"I've always believed that evil isn't born... it's made."

- Regina to David Nolan Regina Mills is a main character on Once Upon a Time. She debuts in the first episode of the first season. She is played by starring cast member Lana Parrilla and is the Storybrooke counterpart of the Evil Queen.

Season One
Regina first meets Emma Swan when she brings her adopted son, Henry, home to Storybrooke. She thanks Emma for returning him to her, then asks her if she would like a glass of apple cider. They have a quick discussion about Henry, and Regina becomes concerned once she realizes that Emma is Henry's birth mother.

The next day, Henry leaves, and Emma once again brings him to Regina's house. Regina tells him to get inside and thanks Emma again. Emma grins and starts telling her about Henry. The mayor cuts her off midway and warns her to stay away from Henry, which catches Emma off-guard. That day is the beginning of their rivalry. ("Pilot")

Regina goes out of her way to have Emma arrested, revoke her privileges (like putting a boot on her car), and making her feel like she is not the best choice to be Henry's "real" mother. With each attempt, Emma becomes more intent on staying in Storybrooke.

After another threat, Regina finds Emma in her backyard cutting down her childhood apple tree with a chainsaw. When confronted, Emma tells her to leave her alone because the mayor had no idea what she is capable of. She tells her that if Regina threatens her again, she would come back for the rest of the apple tree. ("The Thing You Love Most")

After John Doe is found and returned to the hospital, Regina shows up with a blonde woman who is revealed to be Kathryn Nolan, John Doe's wife. John Doe's real name is revealed to be David Nolan. The reunion of Kathryn and David stirs something within her and she tells Emma that she is willing to look past all previous encounters and forgive everything, to Emma's disbelief. ("Snow Falls")

Later, at a party celebrating David's return, Regina finds an upset Kathryn hiding out in the kitchen. After some prodding, Kathryn admits that she's afraid that despite her best efforts, David is drifting farther and farther away from her instead of the two growing closer. Regina encourages her to go after David, telling her about her previous love and how she lost it because she didn't fight for it. It is at that party that the two become friends. However, David went to visit Mary Margaret instead.

Regina quickly grows suspicious of the two, and when David runs into her on his way to visit Mary Margaret, she purposefully gives him the wrong directions. As a result, he goes into Mr. Gold's shop and remembers his past life - that is, his life with Kathryn, before he became John Doe.

It is revealed that she is having an affair with Sheriff Graham, which Emma discovers. ("The Shepherd")

Graham ends up falling for Emma and kisses her, which make his memories of his fairy tale life surface. Graham goes to Regina and kisses her after confirming that Henry is asleep.

That night, he wakes up in her bed after a nightmare and tells Regina about his recurring dreams; dreams that feature a wolf, Mary Margaret, and a forest. She tries to convince him that is a dream, but he disagrees with her and tells her that it feels like a memory. Graham decides to go get some air, where he meets the wolf in his dreams.

The next day, he enlists Emma's help and she reluctantly agrees to help him "find his heart." Henry tells Graham that Regina took his heart and hid it in her vault, so he and Emma are led by the wolf to the cemetery where her Vault of Hearts are supposed to be kept.

Regina catches them snooping around her father's tomb, and Graham proceeds to end his affair with her. Regina is devastated and, after a brief discussion with Emma, fights her. Emma is pulled away by the sheriff and the two leave. Regina, meanwhile, puts her flowers on her father's grave, pushes the tomb aside and descends into her Vault of Hearts. She takes out Graham's heart and squeezes it to dust, killing him and revealing that she has retained her memories from Fairytale Land. ("The Heart is a Lonely Hunter")

Two weeks after Graham's death, Regina fires Emma Swan as deputy and appoints Sidney Glass as Sheriff of Storybrooke. Emma challenges this action, and the two end up in an election for sheriff. Emma wins after exposing Mr. Gold for setting up a fire that had endangered both hers and Regina's lives previously, which causes the mayor to fire Sidney from his position as editor of Storybrooke's Daily Mirror. ("Desperate Souls")

A few days after that, Regina comes to Mr. Clark's store after he reports Henry shoplifting. She realizes that Henry didn't steal the candy and pins the blame on two orphans, Ava and Nicholas Zimmer. She instructs Emma to take them home, which she does. Then she and Emma have an argument after both of them find out that the two are orphans. She wanted to send them to a foster system in Boston; Emma wanted time to find their father.

Regina forces the deputy to take them to Boston, but just as they are leaving Storybrooke, Emma's car breaks down. She calls Michael Tillman, the orphans' father, and he comes and, after much persuading, takes the two children home with them. ("True North")

The next morning, a mysterious stranger is fixing his bike in front of Regina's house. Henry questions him and is spotted by the mayor, who becomes anxious about his sudden appearance in Storybrooke. She orders Emma to gather some information on him. Then she runs into Mary Margaret and tells her to stay out of Kathryn Nolan and her husband's personal lives. The next day, she witnesses Mary Margaret and David Nolan kissing in the street. ("7:15 A.M.")

Later, she and Emma get into another argument in the diner, leaving Emma upset at the table. Sidney Glass suddenly sits across from her, obviously drunk, and proposes that the two join forces to show the town what Regina's true nature is like. He reveals that he was fired after he lost the election, and has hated her ever since. Emma is hesitant and doesn't want to collaborate with him.

Later, she witnesses Regina tearing down Henry's castle for "safety concerns" and grows angry. She calls Sidney and says that she agrees with him; the mayor needed to be exposed. The two meet up in a tunnel, where Sidney reveals that $50,000 is missing from Storybrooke's treasury. They later bug her desk, discover plans for a new "house" that Regina is building in the middle of the woods, and expose Regina at the town hall meeting.

The "house" was actually an up-to-date, modern playground for children Henry's age. Emma and Sidney leave the meeting, dejected and humiliated; Regina confronts her outside of the town hall and threatens her with a restraining order if she doesn't stay away from her or Henry.

Emma goes back to the diner and is joined by Sidney. They agree to become allies and clink beer glasses, vowing that they will expose Regina next time. However, only a few hours later, Sidney is replaying their conversation to Regina, who praises him on his efforts. The whole thing had been a hoax to embarrass Emma. ("Fruit of the Poisonous Tree")

With Emma out of the picture, Regina focuses on a more important enemy: Mr. Gold. She deliberately corners him, hoping to ask him some questions, but Mr. Gold repeatedly dodges her with a well-placed "please", which was the enchantment Rumplestiltskin asked to have in his new life in exchange for telling her how to work the Dark Curse. Whenever Mr. Gold ends a command directed at Regina with "please", she has no choice but to obey him.

Regina has her suspicions about who Mr. Gold really is, and comes up with a plan to corner him. After witnessing him take away Moe French's flower delivery service truck due to not paying the rent on time. Seemingly as payback, Mr. Gold sees some of his things missing, and suspects Moe French stole them. Mr. Gold enlists the help of Emma to get his things back, but he expresses extreme dissatisfaction when he notices one of the items in particular is missing.

Mr. Gold takes it into his own hands to sort out the problem, and confronts Mr. French by tying him up. Simultaneously, while berating him about someone he only names as "she", he beats Moe French into a pulp until Emma storms in. She arrests him for physical battery when she sees his anger towards Moe stems far deeper than just over a missing item. Mr. Gold is placed in the Sheriff's office jail cell. Regina visits, and distracts Emma by giving her free time with Henry so she can be alone with Mr. Gold.

Only then does Regina come clean about having subtly suggested to Moe French about stealing some of Mr. Gold's precious belongings to get back at him. But she also says her intention in doing so is because she wanted to know something. Regina asks for his name, and he says it has always been Mr. Gold in his entire lifetime.

But when she questions, "What about places elsewhere?" Mr. Gold pauses, and declares, "Rumplestiltskin", showing that he, too, harbors memories of his life in Fairytale Land. Regina mockingly hands back the chipped teacup he was searching for, which was Mr. Gold's motivation in beating Moe French because the item is very important to him.

Mr. Gold tells her nothing has changed from the previous world, and that he is still more powerful than she is. Ironically, Regina does have one upper hand he doesn't know about. After leaving, she goes to the psychiatric ward of Storybrooke's hospital, where she checks up on Belle's Storybrooke counterpart, a mental patient. She is the girl Mr. Gold met in his previous life as Rumplestiltskin, and his chipped teacup is his only lasting memento of her. Mr. Gold believes her to be dead since Regina—as Evil Queen—had told him the girl killed herself. ("Skin Deep")

A few days later, she gives Henry a video game from the 1990s as an apology for tearing down his "unstable" playhouse. Henry is unenthusiastic, but accepts her apology, and their conversation is stopped short by Kathryn. Henry leaves and Kathryn tells Regina about David's leaving up with her, to which Regina replies "that homewrecker."

Confused, Kathryn asks what she means, and she reveals that Mary Margaret and David had been having an affair. Kathryn becomes furious and accuses the mayor of lying to her, which was something that friends didn't do, and leaves her office.

After she confronts Mary Margaret, she returns to Regina and apologizes for her behavior. She tells her that she was accepted into a law school in Boston and casually drops hints about the Dark Curse - how she'd always been afraid to leave Storybrooke, how she and David never really felt right to her, etc. She also reveals that she'd left a letter for her ex-husband to find at her house, encouraging his and Mary Margaret's relationship.

Regina becomes alarmed and, after Kathryn leaves for Boston, enters her house using her skull keys located in her desk. She takes the letter and burns it. Kathryn disappears the moment the letter is gone. ("What Happened to Frederick")

During the Miner's Day Festival, it is implied that it was Regina who wrote "TRAMP" on the window of Mary Margaret's car in lipstick. ("Dreamy")

Emma Swan later discovers Kathryn's car wreck and determines her to be missing. At first, all evidence points to David Nolan, Kathryn's estranged husband.

Regina confronts Emma over David's arrest several times. At the beginning of the investigation, Regina implies that she will have her fired if she discovers that she is shielding David from the justice of the law. When David is found in a trance-like state, Regina is called, as she is still his emergency contact, and demands his arrest.

However, Emma defies her and sends Ruby, her newfound assistant, to the Toll Bridge in search of more evidence. Ruby discovers a box with a human heart in it. Emma runs some tests, which confirm that the heart belongs to Kathryn and that Mary Margaret's fingerprints were on it. ("Red-Handed")

After Emma takes mug shots of the schoolteacher, she is interrogated by the sheriff with Regina as the third party to make sure she remains unbiased. She goads Mary Margaret and Emma takes her outside to confront her. Regina hints that Mary Margaret was very capable of murder, and leaves.

Shortly after this, she makes a deal with Mr. Gold—she will keep him out of prison for beating Moe French if he swears that he will get Mary Margaret out of Storybrooke. Mr. Gold agrees. They plant a key to the cell in Mary Margaret's cell, and she escapes. ("Heart of Darkness")

However, Emma goes after her and returns her before the deadline of eight o'clock, to Regina's dismay. ("Hat Trick")

She manipulates Mary Margaret into agreeing for an interview with the District Attorney, Albert Spencer. However, Albert tricks Mary Margaret into accidentally giving a false confession of killing Kathryn, and they schedule for the trial to be the next day. Regina visits Mary Margaret in the dead of night, only to find her sobbing on her cot.

When Mary Margaret notices her, she bursts into tears again because Regina was convinced that she was guilty, and apologizes for anything she might have done to her. Regina refuses to forgive her, and Mary Margaret loudly insists that she is innocent. When she says that she didn't kill Kathryn, Regina assures her that she knows she didn't, leaving Mary Margaret in a stunned silence.

The next morning, Emma Swan knocks on her door and asks to search her garage. Regina reluctantly leads her to the garage, where the shovel that she used to plant the jewelry box containing the heart by the Toll Bridge was located. However, when Emma approaches the shovel box, she discovers that the shovel is gone. Dismayed, Emma leaves a triumphant Regina behind to go back to the sheriff's office, where she discovers a bug planted by Sidney Glass.

The day of the trial, she fingers a makeshift ring and whispers, "We got her, Daniel. We finally got her." However, the trial is halted by the emergence of Kathryn Nolan. ("The Stable Boy")

With her latest scheme to destroy Mary Margaret ruined, a livid Regina confronts Mr Gold. She claims that he has broken their deal and set her up, as all the falsified evidence is traceable back to her. Gold counters that Regina didn't specify she wanted Kathryn dead, merely that something tragic was to befall her. He also claims that he only ever broke one deal and this wasn't it. When Regina demands to know why Gold has turned on her, he retorts that she should be smart enough to figure it out for herself. Later that day, Regina comes to the sheriff's station to speak with Emma. Regina has set up Sydney as her patsy. Emma doesn't believe it for a second and tells Regina that she intends to take Henry away from her. ("The Return")

Some days later Regina confronts Mary Margaret while bringing Henry's lunch to school. Regina claims once again that Sydney was the one who framed her, but Mary Margaret doesn't buy it, still she forgives Regina for all she's done to her. She even pities the mayor saying that she must be very lonely if her only joy comes from destroying other peoples happiness. A stunned Regina finds Henry and attempts to force him to switch classes but he flatly refuses and tells her that in the end she will lose and the curse will be broken. Later that day Regina lures David Nolan to her house in hopes of seducing him. While he does stay for dinner he rebuffs her advances saying that he just wants to be friends. A saddened Regina smashes her mirror in frustration after David has left. ("The Stranger")

That night Regina and Henry are having dinner when the doorbell rings. It's a very furious Emma & the rest of Storybrooke's inhabitants. They drag Regina out the house and tie her to the apple tree which is withering. They have realized she's the Evil Queen and has taken their happy endings. Regina begs Henry to help her but he merely says she's brought this on herself. Emma then proceeds to behead Regina, who wakes up screaming revealing that it was just a nightmare. The following day, however, Regina notices to her horror that her beloved apple tree is fact dying.

Regina storms into Mr.Gold's shop and demands to know why her apple tree is dying, he jokes that she should change her fertilizer. The mayor however believes that this is a sign that the curse is about to end and that Emma is to blame.Gold also gets her to admit that Emma wants custody over Henry, and suggests that giving up Henry might just be the price to keep the curse working. Regina refuses to accept this and wants to get rid of Emma. Mr Gold says that killing Emma will spell the end of the curse. When Regina asks why he designed the curse like this Gold doesn't answer. He also refuses any future assistance as the mayor no longer has anything he desires. Gold as good as admits he wants the curse broken so he can go on a trip. Finally Gold advises Regina to leave town as well because if the townsfolk were to remember all they will want her dead. A shocked Regina leaves and is later seen sticking a card in a child's bicycle.She's confronted by Jefferson in her office who demands to know what the mayor wants from him. Jefferson goes on to say that he should kill her but Regina mocks him countering that if he wanted her dead he would have done so 28 years ago. She offers him a deal: to use his hat and the last ounce of magic she has to retrieve something from Fairytale Land, in return she will reunite him with his daughter.

The plan works to a T and Regina is able to obtain one of her poisonous apples (it also happens to be the very same one she used to ensure Snow White would under the Sleeping Curse). She bakes it into an apple turnover intended for Emma. As luck would have it, Emma pays Regina a visit announcing her departure from Storybrooke. She agrees to give up the custody battle over Henry if she gets visitation rights. Regina, of course, accepts the offer and later smugly tells Mr. Gold that she is victorious at last and that he won't be going anywhere. ("Apple Red as Blood")

Alas for Regina, it's Henry who end up eating the turnover and falls into an enchanted slumber. When Regina hears the terrible news she rushes to the hospital only to be assaulted by a livid Emma who finally believes. Regina has no other choice than to admit that she is fact the Evil Queen and that everything Henry has been saying is true. Both women decide to ask Mr Gold aka Rumplestiltskin's help. He then reveals that true love has magical properties even in our world, and that he smuggled a bottle of the substance into our reality inside Regina's former best friend Maleficent. Emma and Regina go to the library where Maleficent is held captive in her dragon form. Gold however sneaks up behind Regina and ties her up, then proceeds to steal the potion Emma has just won off Maleficent. When Regina and Emma get back to the hospital doc, Dr. Whale announces that Henry has died. A grief-stricken Emma tells Henry she loves him and kissed his brow. This revives Henry and breaks the curse forcing Regina to flee for her very life, but not before assuring Henry that she does truly love him.

A demoralized Regina is seen crying alone in her home until she notices Rumplestiltskin's magic storm coming towards town at which point the Evil Queen smiles triumphantly. ("A Land Without Magic")

Season Two
Shortly after the Dark Curse has been broken, Dr. Whale leads a mob of angry townspeople to Regina's door to confront her. Regina attempts to use magic to scare the crowd, but is unsuccessful. As Dr. Whale is confronting her, Emma, David, Mary Maragret, and Henry intervene, instead locking her in a cell in the sheriff station. After they have departed, Regina is confronted by Mr. Gold who marks her with a medallion that sets a Wraith after her.

Regina is later rescued from the Wraith by David, Mary Margaret, and Emma. She explains to them that the Wraith cannot be killed, but it can be sent away. In her office in town hall, Regina produces Jefferson's magical hat. At first she can't get it to work, but gets it working just in time. The group draw the Wraith into the portal, but it also sucks in Emma, and Mary Margaret jumps in after her. David attempts to follow, but the portal closes before he is able to do so. In a rage, he confronts Regina, who successfully uses magic to pin him to the wall. As she prepares to kill him, Ruby and Henry arrive. Henry tells her he wants nothing to do with her until she brings back Emma and Mary Margaret, and leaves with David and Ruby. ("Broken")

Some time later Regina is visited by David. He wants information about Jefferson's hat, so he can reunite his family. Regina is surprised that David would dare face her alone. He counters that Regina's earlier burst of magic must have been an anomaly. Otherwise she surely would have made Storybrooke feel her wrath. David also informs the former queen that Henry is the only reasons she's still alive. Regina feigns ignorance about the hat and angrily states that Charming's place is with his grandson. Sensing her frustration, the prince says that Regina is merely getting her just deserts. Regina states that although she's powerless now, she doesn't intend to remain that way. Once her powers have been restored she will claim her son. Seeing that he's getting nowhere, David leaves the evil queen with a thought: If she has to use magic to get her son she's never really had him to begin with.

The mayor quietly leaves her mansion but is halted by Dr Hopper he offers to help her get through her issues. Regina says that she doesn't require his assistance and leaves. Regina goes to Gold's shop and starts rifling through his books. When the imp catches her in the act Regina demands her old grimoire (the spell book) so she can jump start her powers. Gold refuses because it isn't in his best interests to have Regina be powerful once again, so he ask her to "please" leave. Without the curse, however, Regina is not forced to obey his commands that end with "please". She also threatens to reveal the fact that their land still exists. Rumplestiltskin gives in and conjures the grimoire but warns that all magic comes at a price, Regina simply does not care.

Regina makes a grand entrance during the town meeting. She frightens everyone with her newly gained powers until Henry agrees to accompany her home. Once there, the boy locks himself in his old room. When he undertakes an elaborate escape attempt, it is revealed that Regina cast an anti-escape spell (the same one one Cora used on her) to keep Henry with her. Henry asks how long he will remain a prisoner. Regina claims that she loves him. As of now, she give him his every hearts' desire with her magic, and even offers to teach her son all she knows. Henry counters that he doesn't want to become her. Regina is genuinely hurt and remembers that once upon a time she said the same to her own mother. While leafing through her spell book, Regina is accosted at sword point by Charming. She surprises him by allowing Henry to go with him. Regina also apologizes for treating Henry badly and even tells David that the Fairytale Land still exists. ("We Are Both")

Regina has been asked to step down as mayor of Storybrooke. While packing up her things she received a phonecall from Henry. Regina is exstatic when Henry wants to meet her for lunch and runs out of her office. When her son stood her up Regina checked the office and discovered her keys missing. She guessed (correctly ) that Henry planned to sneak into her vault of magical objects looking for something to bring Emma and Snow back. Regina sent Charming to the rescue reasoning that Henry would never go with her. ("Lady of the Lake")

Personality
At first Regina was cold-hearted, manipulative and fiery woman. She had, as Mary Margaret said, a "aura of fear" on the people of Storybrooke. She saw Emma as a threat to her happiness as well the Dark Curse and tried everything she could to eliminate that threat.

When Emma became the city's official sheriff, Regina went back to her original plan of make Snow White's/Mary Margaret's life miserable setting her up as a criminal. When she realized Emma's influence is weakening the Dark Curse's power she used the poisoned apple she'd used on Snow to put her to sleep.

More recently she's shown a softer and more kind side when she decided to allow Henry leave with his biological grandfather, stating she wants to redeem herself. This soft and kind side was her original personality before her mother Cora and Rumplestiltskin manipulated her life, back in FTL.

Trivia

 * "Regina" is Latin, Italian and Romanian for "Queen" and 'Mills" sounds very much like "Mal-" which is Latin for "Evil". This means "Regina Mills" could be taken to actually mean "Evil Queen". It has also been stated that Regina's mother was the daughter of a miller
 * Regina named Henry, her adoptive son, after her deceased father, who was her valet.
 * She retains a small amount of magic via item she carried over from Fairytale Land.
 * The door to her secret collection of human hearts is hidden in her family crypt, inside a false tomb dedicated to her father.
 * Like her fairy tale counterpart, Regina owns a tree with red apples.
 * Regina lives at 108 Mifflin Street.
 * Nearly every room in her house has a mirror, in reference to the Evil Queen's Magic Mirror, who was able to look through other mirrors to spy on people.
 * Though she claims her apples are honey crisps, this is not possible because honey crisp trees could not be more than 10 years old, since the apple was still under patent with the University of Minnesota, and must be specifically bred. Honey crisp apples also tend to be more yellow than red.
 * There is a ceramic horse sculpture on Regina's mantel above her fireplace. This is likely in homage to the prized steed of the Evil Queen, whose heart she tried to use to enact the Dark Curse..
 * As Evil Queen, she possessed a silver chest, which she has retained in her house in Storybrooke.
 * Her house in Storybrooke is white; complementary to her Dark Palace, which was black.
 * She retains the ring her true love, Daniel, gave to her, but sacrificed its' magic to retrieve her poisoned apple through Jefferson's hat.

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