Enchanted Hearts

"Now, it belongs to me. You see, when you take a heart, it becomes enchanted. Stronger than a normal heart. You're not hurting the beast. You're controlling it."

- Rumplestiltskin to Regina

Enchanted Hearts are magical items featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the seventh episode of the first season.

Before the Curse
Rumplestiltskin, a powerful magic user, has a debt to settle with a pirate, Killian Jones after he "stole" his wife, Milah many years ago. However, it is revealed Milah willingly ran away with Jones. On board Killian Jones' pirate ship, Rumplestiltskin confronts Milah about leaving their son, Baelfire. She admits she was the coward, and that she let her misery cloud her judgment. He asks why she was so miserable and she states, “I never loved you!" In his anger, he rips her heart and crushes it; killing her instantly. After Cora, the daughter of a miller, rises to power she asks Rumplestiltskin to teach her how to rip out the King's heart, as a sort of revenge. When she meets with him, King Xavier tells her that "love is weakness". This prompts Cora to rip out her own heart instead, so she can avoid the heart break of leaving Rumplestiltskin for her future husband, the prince. A young woman named Regina is deeply in love with her true love, Daniel, who is a stable boy. One night they plan to run away together, but her mother Cora catches them just as they are leaving. After a small struggle, Cora seems to understand the love Regina has for him. Cora and Regina appear to have reconciled, and they hug. Cora embraces Daniel afterwards and speaks a few words of her own wisdom concerning how a parent always wants what is best for their child. Seconds after these words, she rips out his heart, and crushes it, killing him. Regina is devastated, and is forced into an arranged marriage to King Leopold. Shortly following Regina's marriage to King Leopold, Rumplestiltskin teaches her how to rip a living creature's heart. The victim is a black unicorn. She refuses to do it because it reminds her of how her mother ripped out the heart of Daniel, so Rumplestiltskin tears out the unicorn's heart himself. After the failed resurrection of Daniel by a scientist, Regina comes back to Rumplestiltskin a changed woman. She interrupts Rumplestiltskin and his new apprentice, Trish and rips out her heart to prove she deserves to be taught the dark arts. After the death of her husband, the Evil Queen's guards capture the Huntsman. The Evil Queen wishes to help her kill Snow White, the deceased King Leopold's daughter. She promises him large rewards in exchange. The Huntsman cares for naught except the protection of the wolves, which the Evil Queen promises, and so he accepts the job.

The Huntsman disguises himself as a guard to gain Snow White's trust, but she sees through his facade. Snow White manages to get away from him, but only for enough time to write a last letter to her stepmother. She gives it to the Huntsman, who is overcome with emotion upon reading it. He decides to let her go instead, and takes the heart of a deer as a replacement for the Queen.

The Huntsman delivers the deer heart to the Queen. In the chamber of hearts, she holds the heart up, but none of the containers open. The Queen realizes it is not Snow White's heart she holds in her hands. Furious, the Queen turns on the Huntsman and takes his heart as payment. She declares he is hers now, and if he ever crosses her again, all she has to do is squeeze. As the Evil Queen needed the heart of the thing she loved most for the dark curse to work, she ripped her father's heart out as the sacrifice.

After the Curse
Emma, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, has come to Storybrooke after 28 years. Not knowing the magic she possesses, it is triggered when Sheriff Graham kisses her and he has flashbacks of his life in the Enchanted Forest. Graham becomes convinced he lost his heart, and begs Emma to help him look for it. Regina becomes aware Graham is beginning to regain some memories of his life as the Huntsman in the Enchanted Forest. Graham turns against Regina, and she, having no further use for him now that he is not loyal to her anymore, takes his heart and squeezes it to dust. The result is Graham dies of a "sudden heart attack". While Emma, Mary Margaret, Aurora and Mulan are away searching for a way to Storybrooke from the Enchanted Forest, Cora attacks the safe haven survivors and takes their hearts. She uses the hearts to command the corpses to rise. Several of the dead bodies head off into the forest to ambush the foursome.

Aurora sleepily awakens sometime later and finds herself face to face with Captain Hook standing over her. She is immediately on guard, but Hook informs her that he is helping her to escape to foil Cora's plans. Aurora does not believe him at first, but Hook states that it is true, and for Aurora to tell Emma that she should have trusted him all along. Aurora thanks him and runs from the dungeon. Later, she meets up with her companions in the woods just as Mary Margaret is about to slice Mulan's throat open. Aurora orders her to stop, and helps Mulan up. Aurora tells them how she escaped, what Hook said, and asks what they will be doing next. Unbeknownst to the group, Aurora is shown to be under Cora's complete control as she is holding Aurora's heart in her hand, which was taken from Aurora by Hook while she was unconscious. Emma, Mary Margaret, Aurora and Mulan journey to Rumplestiltskin's old cell to look for the ink they need to defeat Cora. They find the jar of ink empty. Suddenly, compelled by Cora's grasp, Aurora throws a rock at a lever, trapping herself, Mary Margaret, Mulan, and Emma inside Rumplestiltskin's cell. When they find the parchment with the ink written on it and use it to escape, Aurora feels Cora's power over her is too dangerous, so she asks to be tied up and left behind.

In the middle of the battle at Lake Nostos, a satchel containing Aurora's heart nearly falls into the portal but is saved by Hook. With Cora and Hook are defeated and Emma and Mary Margaret making their return to Storybrooke, Mulan takes the heart back to the dungeon and places it back into Aurora's chest.

Effects

 * The user can crush the enchanted heart, killing the victim.
 * The user has control over the victim's actions and speech.
 * The user can use the heart to reanimate the victim's dead bodies.
 * The user who rips out their own heart is unable to feel any true emotion until their heart is restored.

Ability To Take Hearts

 * Rumplestiltskin, because he is the Dark One.
 * Cora, because Rumplestiltskin taught her.
 * Queen Regina/Regina Mills, because Rumplestiltskin taught her.
 * Captain Hook's hook was enchanted by the Evil Queen so that it can rip one only heart. (Failed attempt on Cora) (Used on Aurora)

Ripped Out Hearts

 * Milah (by Rumplestiltskin)
 * Cora (by herself)
 * Daniel (by Cora)
 * Unnamed Black Unicorn (by Rumplestiltskin)
 * Trish (by the Evil Queen)
 * Huntsman (by the Evil Queen)
 * Valet (by the Evil Queen)
 * The Safe Haven's inhabitants (by Cora)
 * Aurora (by Captain Hook)
 * Johanna (by Regina)
 * Mary Margaret Blanchard (by Regina)

Restored Hearts

 * Gerhardt (by Victor Frankenstein)
 * Daniel (by Dr. Whale)
 * Aurora (by Mulan)
 * Johanna (by Regina)
 * Cora (by Regina)
 * Mary Margaret Blanchard (by Regina)

Crushed Hearts

 * Milah (by Rumplestiltskin)
 * Trish (by the Evil Queen)
 * Sheriff Graham (by Regina Mills)
 * Daniel (by Cora)

Previously Alive Without Hearts

 * The Huntsman/Sheriff Graham ("The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter", "A Land Without Magic", "Welcome to Storybrooke" )
 * Cora

Appearances
Corazones encantadas Verzauberte Herzen Cuori incantati