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Princess Jasmine, briefly known as Shirin, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the fourth episode of the sixth season. She is portrayed by guest star Karen David.
Jasmine is based on Badroulbadour from One Thousand and One Nights, and Jasmine from the Disney film Aladdin.
History
In the capital of Agrabah, Jasmine grows concerned for her father, the Sultan, after he gains a new adviser, Jafar, who is corrupt and delivers unnecessary harsh punishments to the common people. She gains the help of an infamous thief, Aladdin, to defeat Jafar by finding a weapon called the Diamond in the Rough at the Cave of Wonders. By this time, however, Jasmine already has suspicions that the weapon is actually Aladdin. On the journey to the cave, Jasmine chastises Aladdin for thinking about going on a treasure hunt in the cave, instead of being concerned about the kingdom's people. Aladdin points out that people have been suffering for a long time now, even before Jafar took over, and that she's only decided to get involved now after her family is affected. Despite their differences in opinions, Aladdin earns a smile from Jasmine by offering her an apple. After getting into the cave, they find the diamond on a sword, and to prevent a trap from triggering, Aladdin places a monkey ornament of equal weight on the sword before taking the diamond. The diamond unexpectedly crumbles into ash, just as a quake occurs, with debris falling around the pair. As Aladdin shields Jasmine from a collapsing pillar, he accidentally uses magic to pulverize it. Jasmine reveals she knew the Diamond in the Rough was actually him, and this proves he is a Savior and can defeat Jafar. Aladdin, overwhelmed by this, asks to be left alone, which Jasmine agrees to do, but not before giving him the royal scarab of Agrabah as proof of her belief in him. She then leaves to go home and take her father to a safer location, only to be intercepted by Jafar, who traps her in a hourglass as it fills up with sand. Aladdin, embracing his role as savior, uses magic to snap Jafar's staff in half, which also lifts Jafar's spell on the Sultan. Sometime after Jafar is gone, Jasmine provides a new lead on the sorcerer's whereabouts in the eastern provinces. Aladdin decides to go there and pursue Jafar, and he invites Jasmine to come with him, however, she resolves to stay in the capital and work on improving the kingdom. ("Street Rats")
When Agrabah is endangered, Jasmine goes to a neighboring kingdom for an alliance, but on her journey back, she is caught in a sandstorm. After pushing through the storm, she discovers Agrabah is mysteriously gone. Jasmine learns Aladdin is also missing, and she uses unknown means to travel to the Land of Untold Stories to find him. ("Strange Case," "Street Rats," "Dark Waters")By Mr. Hyde's will, Jasmine and many former residents from the the Land of Untold Stories come to Storybrooke. ("The Savior")
Jasmine, now using the alias of Shirin, becomes a teaching aide for Mary Margaret. During class, Mary Margaret introduces the students to Newton's law of physics, but the lecture goes badly, with the students all doing poorly on an exam. Jasmine suggests that Mary Margaret is not the same person she was once in the past, and this is why her old teaching methods no longer work. She exemplifies this with her own past, in which the kingdom she came from had a princess that was capable of saving her people, but she failed because of not truly embracing the hero she could be. Jasmine advises her to play on her strengths and assert herself for who she is now: Snow White. At an outdoor class, Mary Margaret successfully employs Jasmine's advice to teach the students Newton's law of physics by letting them try their hand at archery. In the evening, as Jasmine leaves, Mary Margaret gives her an apple, and asks her about if the princess ever fixed things in her kingdom. Jasmine states that she did not, and that she left the princess behind in the Land of Untold Stories. Later that night, she secretly meets with the Oracle, who tells her that Aladdin is somewhere in Storybrooke. ("Strange Case")
In the woods, Jasmine runs away after seeing Emma find the Oracle's dead body, but trips and falls, which allows Emma to apprehend her as a murderer suspect. Under interrogation, she reveals her true identity and swears she did not kill the Oracle because the girl was helping her find Aladdin. Emma, also a Savior like Aladdin, later admits she has been having a vision of her own future, one in which she is killed by a villain, and that it is the fate of all Saviors to die this way. Jasmine becomes grief-stricken at the possibility that Aladdin may be already dead, but in order to be certain, Regina makes a spell to link Emma to Aladdin and allow her to locate him. The heroes, with Jasmine, pinpoint Aladdin's presence in a forgotten crypt. Upon examination of the area, Jasmine is heartbroken to find the royal scarab of Agrabah, an heirloom of hers that she once gave Aladdin, on one of the skeletons. She sees this as proof that he is truly dead, but Emma later meets Aladdin, who admits he is too ashamed to allow Jasmine to know he escaped his own death by using the shears. After some convincing from Emma, Aladdin goes to find Jasmine, and they reunite with a hug. Jasmine explains she requires his help to save Agrabah because he's the Savior, however, Aladdin begins telling her that he's no longer the Savior. ("Street Rats")
Jasmine spends time with Aladdin at the diner, where she attempts to persuade him into helping Agrabah even though he's not the Savior anymore. Aladdin refuses to consider it and then leaves without telling her where he is going. Jasmine becomes worried and phones Emma, who goes to track down Aladdin. Later, as she is reading a book outside the diner, Aladdin drops by to apologize for running away. She is sympathetic towards him and knows he feels guilty about Agrabah, but she has more to tell him about what happened. Aladdin agrees, stating that he is ready to make up for his mistakes and help her rebuild Agrabah. However, Jasmine admits there is no going back since Agrabah has disappeared. She recounts her journey to a neighboring kingdom to secure an alliance, and on her journey back, she pushed through a sandstorm and discovered Agrabah was gone. ("Dark Waters")
When a pregnant Belle and Zelena enlist Aladdin's help to fetch the Sorcerer's wand from Mr. Gold's pawnshop, Jasmine objects to the plan. She wants Aladdin to focus on finding Agrabah, but Zelena points out that Aladdin owes a favor since it's his fault the shears have since ended up in Mr. Gold's hands. After Aladdin succeeds in stealing the wand and gives it to Belle, he and Jasmine take a stroll on the streets. Jasmine is impressed by Aladdin's heroism in helping a friend in need, which makes her regret how caught up she got about the mission with Agrabah. He believes it's good she cares about her kingdom, and then gives her a genie lamp that he stole from the pawnshop. Jasmine asks if the lamp still holds the same genie that Aladdin once knew, however, he confirms his "old pal" has moved on and that perhaps whoever is in it now can help her instead. ("I'll Be Your Mirror")
In the diner, Jasmine confides to Snow about the lamp's powers and her fears about the price of magic if she uses a wish to find Agrabah. Snow encourages her instead to focus on the possibility of fulfilling her role as a hero, and this might be her chance to do that. After Jasmine rubs the lamp and discovers there is no genie inside, Aladdin willingly becomes one by clasping the genie bracelets on himself. She becomes distraught over his sacrifice for her sake, but he consoles her with the knowledge that they will find out soon if his genie powers can help her. ("Changelings")
Sometime after Jasmine is tied up by the Evil Queen and has the lamp taken from her, she calls out for help and alerts the heroes to her presence. As soon as they come to rescue to her, however, the Queen strolls out with the lamp and begins choking Jasmine to make them back off. After the Queen uses Aladdin to grant Emma's wish of having never been the Savior, Jasmine stop the arguing between David and Hook. Regina decides to face the Queen with a plan to get Emma back, but David grows impatient waiting and asks Jasmine and Hook to meet him at the sheriff's station in an hour to work out a way to retrieve the lamp. When David doesn't show up, they rush to the mayor's office with Henry. Jasmine goes to Aladdin and grabs the lamp, while Hook forces the Queen to stop strangulating David. Following the Queen's departure, Jasmine and Aladdin regroup with the heroes at the loft. Jasmine advises that David can use a wish to break his and Snow's sleeping curse, but David declines out of fear of the wish backfiring as his first one did and offers the lamp to her instead. Jasmine sympathizes with his worries, and understands the risks if she uses a wish, however, she is determined to find Agrabah no matter what the cost is. As the lamp's new owner, she uses her first wish to take her and Aladdin to Agrabah. ("Wish You Were Here")Trivia
Etymology
- Jasmine's alias, Shirin, is the name of another female character from One Thousand and One Nights, who appears in a story on the three hundred and ninety-first night called "Khusrau and Shirin and the Fisherman". The character is based on a real seventh century Persian queen who became an important heroine in Persian literature after her death.
Production Notes
- Her casting call name was "Scheherazade".[2][3] Scheherazade is a well-known character from One Thousand and One Nights, who serves as the story's narrator.
- The casting call describes her as "a regal Middle Eastern/Arabic beauty who never backs down from a good fight and can go toe-to-toe with even the toughest adversaries".[2]
Appearances
| 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 | Appears | Appears | Absent | Appears | Appears | 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 | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears |