The Dwarf Pick Axes are items featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. They first appear in the ninth episode of the first season.
The dwarf pick axes are based on the dwarves' axes from the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
History
In the mines, eight dwarf eggs near their hatching hour. From high above the clouds, a fairy named Nova accidentally spills some precious fairy dust, which is absorbed by one of the dwarf eggs. This particular dwarf dreams of Nova, and hatches earlier than his seven other brothers. Soon, all the newly hatched dwarves are given a special pickax, which materializes with each of their own personal names, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Stealthy, Sneezy, Sleepy and Dreamy, the dwarf who hatched early. Afterwards, they start their jobs of mining for diamonds and crushing them into fairy dust for the fairies. A year later, Nova arrives to collect a supply of fairy dust when the machine switch jams. Hearing her cries for help, Dreamy rushes over to turn it off. She invites him to view the scenery with her at Firefly Hill, and the two quickly fall in love with plans of running away together. Due to Bossy and the Blue Fairy's meddling, Dreamy is convinced that Nova's destiny is to become a Fairy Godmother and he must not hinder her dream. After breaking Nova's heart, he returns to the mines and attempts to use his ax to chip jewels from a rock. However, the ax breaks completely, to which Bossy supplies him with a new one. The new ax gives Dreamy the name Grumpy. ("Dreamy")
Despite having a new resolve to remain as a hardworking dwarf in the mines, Grumpy's feelings for Nova do not change. He strives to win her back; going to the lengths of working in the diamond mines and trading his wages to the foreman in exchange for a diamond to propose to Nova. However, Grumpy is swindled since the diamond is a stolen item. Though not a thief, he takes the blame and lands himself in the dungeon of King George's castle. He is the sole prisoner until a woman, Snow White, is also thrown in. Stealthy manages to set both Grumpy and Snow White free, but is killed by one of the guards. The remaining seven dwarves, carrying their axes, meet Snow White in the forest and offer her shelter in their cottage. Unbeknownst to them, the Evil Queen spies on them via her Magic Mirror. ("7:15 A.M.," "True North")
Snow White drinks a potion in order to forget her love for Prince Charming, and thus she becomes a callous and cold person. Worried, the dwarves seek help from Jiminy, who says that her rage against the Queen is hurting her friends. Realizing the Queen is the one who must suffer, Snow White steals an ax and goes to the forest. She surprises a soldier and asks for information on the Queen’s whereabouts. When he is reluctant to tell her, she explains that dwarf pick axes can indeed break diamonds, the strongest substance known, and threatens to kill him. The guard reveals the Queen plans to go to the Summer Palace the next morning. Remarking that palace was built for her mother, an angry Snow White hits him in the head and then strips the man of his armor and clothes. Eventually, Prince Charming breaks the effects of the potion with a kiss of true love, but is captured by King George's soldiers. ("Heart of Darkness")
Snow White, Red Riding Hood and Granny plan an assault on King George's castle. With their axes, the dwarves join them. For a moment, Snow White is caught by a guard, but Grumpy hits him in the head with his ax. With extra help from the Blue Fairy's army, they manage to infiltrate the castle, but Snow White discovers Prince Charming is now held hostage by the Queen rather than King George. ("An Apple Red as Blood")
When Snow White and Prince Charming finally take back the kingdom, the Evil Queen is held prisoner in the castle. During a council to decide her fate, Grumpy learns from the Blue Fairy that fairy dust will keep the Queen temporarily paralyzed. He then offers to kill Regina with his ax, but Prince Charming suggests a public execution. ("The Cricket Game")When Emma and Mary Margaret find themselves trapped in the Enchanted Forest, David discovers fairy dust is required to rescue them. Retrieving their pick axes, the six dwarves—except Mr. Clark—begin mining for diamonds. ("We Are Both")
David contributes to the dwarves ongoing efforts' by helping them mine. They hope to find diamonds, grind them into fairy dust and then use the powder on a magic hat to bring back Emma and Mary Margaret. ("The Crocodile")
During one day in the mines, Happy wants to treat everyone to lunch at Granny's, but Leroy persistently continues working. With his ax, he breaks the surface of a wall, which collapses and sends him falling into a cave. From this accidental fall, a whole cavern ceiling of diamonds is discovered, to which David, Henry, and Mother Superior are notified. ("Child of the Moon")
One night, a stranger enters Storybrooke and gets involved in a car accident. When he is taken to the hospital, David tries to hack the man's phone in order to get any information about him. Failing to find out the password, he asks Leroy to try. Leroy jokingly replies that his skills with technology are not as sharp as with a pick ax. ("In the Name of the Brother")
Storybrooke becomes terrorized by a giant, Anton. Despite hating humans, when his life hangs in the balance, he is saved by the town residents, which makes him realize they are not bad people. In an effort to make this newcomer feel welcome, they take him to the diner. Once there, Anton reveals he possesses a beanstalk that can grow magic beans. After inspecting some soil content that is viable for growing the beans, he is accepted by the the six dwarves as an honorary dwarf and they give him his own pick ax with the name "Tiny." They then commence in digging together to plant the beanstalk stem. ("Tiny")
With Greg and Tamara's true colors revealed as instigators in destroying magic, they navigate the mines with Hook in the next part of their plan. Having gained a special trigger that has the power to annihilate the entire town, Greg smashes it with one of the dwarves' pick axes. This causes an emission of blue energy from the trigger, to which the three then aptly run out of the mines. During the distraction of reactivating the trigger, Henry is taken by Greg and Tamara to Neverland. ("And Straight On 'Til Morning")
Before pursuing Henry's kidnappers, Mr. Gold gives Belle the task to put up a barrier to keep more outsiders from entering into town. Then, he departs aboard a ship with his allies to Neverland. Along with Archie, Mother Superior and the dwarves, Belle enters the mines to activate the barrier potion. The dwarves break open a crack in a boulder of fairy dust while she dumps the potion's contents into the rock crevice. Later, a mermaid named Ariel teams up with Belle to find an item Mr. Gold intends to use against Peter Pan. Threatened by their sister Wendy's safety, as she is Pan's prisoner, her brothers, John and Michael Darling, trap the women. After taking the box, they head to the mines where John tries to destroy it with an ax. Just in the nick of time, Belle persuades him not to since helping Mr. Gold is their only hope to ensure Wendy returns home. ("Dark Hollow")Known Owners
Known Users
Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- Dwarf pick axes are featured in the title card for "Dreamy"[1] and "An Apple Red as Blood."[2]
- Happy's pick ax has been stolen several times by others for breaking or attempting to break other magical items:
- Greg Mendell uses his pick ax to enable the trigger.[3] ("And Straight On 'Til Morning")
- John Darling attempts to break Pandora's Box by using his pick ax.[4] ("Dark Hollow")
- Emma tries to get Excalibur out of the stone by using his pick ax. ("Siege Perilous")
- Dwarf pick axes cannot cut through objects that have been enforced with magic. ("Siege Perilous")
Appearances
Once Upon a Time: Season One | ||||||||||
"Pilot": | "The Thing You Love Most": | "Snow Falls": | "The Price of Gold": | "That Still Small Voice": | "The Shepherd": | "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter": | "Desperate Souls": | "True North": | "7:15 A.M.": | "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears | Absent |
"Skin Deep": | "What Happened to Frederick": | "Dreamy": | "Red-Handed": | "Heart of Darkness": | "Hat Trick": | "The Stable Boy": | "The Return": | "The Stranger": | "An Apple Red as Blood": | "A Land Without Magic": |
Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Two | ||||||||||
"Broken": | "We Are Both": | "Lady of the Lake": | "The Crocodile": | "The Doctor": | "Tallahassee": | "Child of the Moon": | "Into the Deep": | "Queen of Hearts": | "The Cricket Game": | "The Outsider": |
Absent | Appears | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent |
"In the Name of the Brother": | "Tiny": | "Manhattan": | "The Queen Is Dead": | "The Miller's Daughter": | "Welcome to Storybrooke": | "Selfless, Brave and True": | "Lacey": | "The Evil Queen": | "Second Star to the Right": | "And Straight On 'Til Morning": |
Mentioned | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Season Three | ||||||||||
"The Heart of the Truest Believer": | "Lost Girl": | "Quite a Common Fairy": | "Nasty Habits": | "Good Form": | "Ariel": | "Dark Hollow": | "Think Lovely Thoughts": | "Save Henry": | "The New Neverland": | "Going Home": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"New York City Serenade": | "Witch Hunt": | "The Tower": | "Quiet Minds": | "It's Not Easy Being Green": | "The Jolly Roger": | "Bleeding Through": | "A Curious Thing": | "Kansas": | "Snow Drifts": | "There's No Place Like Home": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Four | ||||||||||
"A Tale of Two Sisters": |
"White Out": |
"Rocky Road": |
"The Apprentice": |
"Breaking Glass": |
"Family Business": | "The Snow Queen": |
"Smash the Mirror": |
"Fall": | "Shattered Sight": |
"Heroes and Villains": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Darkness on the Edge of Town": |
"Unforgiven": | "Enter the Dragon": | "Poor Unfortunate Soul": |
"Best Laid Plans": | "Heart of Gold": | "Sympathy for the De Vil": |
"Lily": | "Mother": | "Operation Mongoose Part 1": |
"Operation Mongoose Part 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Season Five | |||||||||||
"The Dark Swan": | "The Price": | "Siege Perilous": | "The Broken Kingdom": | "Dreamcatcher": | "The Bear and the Bow": | "Nimue": | "Birth": | "The Bear King": | "Broken Heart": | "Swan Song": | |
Absent | Appears | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
"Souls of the Departed": | "Labor of Love": | "Devil's Due": | "The Brothers Jones": | "Our Decay": | "Her Handsome Hero": | "Ruby Slippers": | "Sisters": | "Firebird": | "Last Rites": | "Only You": | "An Untold Story": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
"The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent |
"Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "Mother's Little Helper": | "Awake": | "Where Bluebirds Fly": | "The Black Fairy": | "The Song in Your Heart": | "The Final Battle Part 1": | "The Final Battle Part 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Seven | ||||||||||
"Hyperion Heights": | "A Pirate's Life": | "The Garden of Forking Paths": | "Beauty": | "Greenbacks": | "Wake Up Call": | "Eloise Gardener": | "Pretty in Blue": | "One Little Tear": | "The Eighth Witch": | "Secret Garden": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"A Taste of the Heights": | "Knightfall": | "The Girl in the Tower": | "Sisterhood": | "Breadcrumbs": | "Chosen": | "The Guardian": | "Flower Child": | "Is This Henry Mills?": | "Homecoming": | "Leaving Storybrooke": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Specials | ||||||||||
"Magic is Coming": |
"The Price of Magic": | "Journey to Neverland": | "Wicked is Coming": | "Storybrooke Has Frozen Over": | ||||||
Absent | Archive | Absent | Archive | Archive | ||||||
"Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
Absent | Archive | Absent | Archive |
Other Appearances | ||||||||||
|
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.