Sheriff Graham Humbert

This article focuses on Sheriff Graham's Storybrooke persona. For his Enchanted Forest counterpart, see Huntsman.

Sheriff Graham
Storybrooke Character
Biographical Information
Counterpart:	Huntsman
Gender:	Male
Status:	Deceased
Home:	His apartment
Occupation:	Sheriff of Storybrooke (formerly)
Physical Description
Species:	Human
Hair color:	Brown
Eye color:	Blue
Show Information
Portrayed by:	Jamie Dornan
First appearance:	"Pilot"
Latest appearance:	"Welcome to Storybrooke"
Latest mention:	"Shattered Sight"
Relevant Pages

“

It's my heart, Emma. I need to find it.

”

—Sheriff Graham to Emma Swan ^src

Sheriff Graham Humbert is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the first episode of the first season. He is portrayed by guest star Jamie Dornan, and is the Storybrooke counterpart of the Huntsman.

History

For events occurring before the casting of the first curse, see Huntsman.

During First Curse

After the casting of the Dark Curse, Graham becomes the local sheriff of Storybrooke while maintaining an intimate and physical relationship with the mayor, Regina Mills. She is alarmed that two outsiders, Kurt Flynn and his son Owen, have entered town. Graham expresses just as much surprise as Regina at their unfamiliar faces. In a short time, Regina becomes very fond of Owen and suggests that he and his father can stay in Storybrooke permanently. This offer is rejected, so Regina, at wits end, manipulates Graham via his heart into thinking Kurt needs to be arrested for drunk driving. Graham bursts into Regina's office to wrestle him onto the desk. Kurt tries to tell Graham that Regina is somehow controlling him with something and knocks onto the ground the box containing his heart. The heart hits the floor, to which Graham gasps in pain and accidentally releases Kurt, who escapes out the door. Graham questions what that thing is, but Regina doesn't answer. He helps Regina chase after Kurt and Owen in his sheriff police car and blocks them at the town border. As he takes hold of Kurt and cuffs him, Owen is forced to run out of town on his father's orders. ("Welcome to Storybrooke")

Twenty-eight years later, Regina's adopted son, Henry, disappears from town. In a panic, she calls and has Graham come over for support. Henry is found when his birth mother, Emma, returns him on Regina's doorstep. Regina invites Emma in for some apple cider as Graham checks up on Henry in his bedroom, and assures the mayor that her son is fine. He leaves, but later picks up the town drunk, Leroy, as well as Emma, who crashed her car into the town marker, and puts them into jail cells for the night. In the morning, he releases Leroy, and scoffs at Emma's flimsy excuse that a wolf on the road caused her to crash the car. He finds it more plausible that Regina's apple cider was probably too strong for her. Regina comes into the station requesting help as Henry has once again run away. With Emma's sleuthing skills, they discover Henry secretly used his teacher's credit card to track down his birth mother. ("Pilot")

While spending a morning at the diner, he is surprised to see Emma decided to stay in town. She pointedly rejects his offering of a free cinnamon cocoa drink, though Graham confusedly states that he never ordered it. From another table booth, Henry admits that he's actually the one who requested the drink, and invites Emma to walk him to school. On the same day, Graham receives a call from Archie claiming that Emma stole Henry's patient file from his office. He goes to Emma's guest room at the bed and breakfast. Upon seeing the file papers spread out on the bed, he arrests and takes her to the station to take mug shots. She insists Regina set her up, though Graham doesn't believe the mayor is capable of that. Emma takes a jab at him for being under Regina's thumb. Surprisingly, Henry and Mary Margaret show up to bail Emma out. Graham has time to mull over what Emma said, and later speaks to Regina about Archie's accusations possibly being fabricated by her. He dissuades her against continuing to fight with Emma as the one getting hurt in all this is Henry. ("The Thing You Love Most")

When a coma patient, John Doe, goes missing from the hospital, he is called in to investigate. As John Doe's emergency contact, Regina also shows up, but quickly leaves to let Graham take care of it. Emma and Mary Margaret stay to help as they look over surveillance security footage from the prior night. Neither the security guard, Walter, nor the janitor, Leroy, saw anything happen, but the footage clearly shows John Doe awakening and wandering out into the forest. With the two women, Graham begins tracking John Doe just as Henry, having followed them, pops up. After finding a patient tag, they reach an unconscious John Doe near the Toll Bridge as resuscitates him with mouth-to-mouth while Graham calls an ambulance. Back at the hospital, Graham and the others watch from outside the door as John Doe is put into recovery when a blonde woman, Kathryn, rushes in. As it turns out, Kathryn is John Doe's long lost wife, and his real name is David Nolan. ("Snow Falls")

Graham stops Emma in her tracks, literally, on the street when he pulls up in his sheriff car with sirens blaring. He is quite impressed by her work in the case of John Doe, and wants to hire her as deputy sheriff. She is still unsure, and asks for time to think about it. After checking into bed and breakfast guest room, he and Regina meet for a tryst. She leaves first, and while Graham is still half dressed and looking for his clothes beneath the bed, he receives a phone call from Emma, who accepts the deputy position. ("The Price of Gold")

Emma officially receives the deputy's uniform, but passes on wearing it. As Graham hands her the deputy's badge, a large earthquake rumbles through Storybrooke. He and Emma investigate at a caved in sinkhole. Disdainfully, Regina catches on that Emma is now part of the police force team, but can't argue against it when Graham asserts his decision. Both Archie and Henry's lives are at stake when the two venture into the mines. With Pongo's sense of smell, the dog tracks them to under a mine shaft. Graham assists as Emma is lowered down on a pulley to haul Archie and Henry to safety. ("That Still Small Voice")

Graham requests Emma to take the evening shift, citing that he has business as a volunteer at the animal shelter, though this is nothing but a cover story for him and Regina to have a rendezvous over at her house. Afterwards, he climbs out of the house window and jumps down to the ground. Emma mistakenly believes it is an intruder and tackles him to the ground. Graham tries to cover up his previous lie by stating that he actually does like animals, but she is too disgusted by the truth of his affair with Regina, especially carrying on with it while Henry is asleep in the house. ("The Shepherd")

While drinking and playing darts at the diner, Graham sees Emma walk in and throws a dart to stop her from leaving. When she exits, he chases her down to explain his relationship with Regina is purely physical. In the moment, Graham kisses her, and he receives a flash of memories. Emma then rejects his advances, so he spends the night in Regina's bed. That night, he has a dream involving a wolf, a huntsman, and a woman resembling Mary Margaret. Upon going outside to get some air, Graham sees the wolf. The next day, he asks Mary Margaret if they have met somewhere prior to Storybrooke, but she cannot recall anything from before. Noticing Henry has a fairytale storybook, he talks to the boy about the wolf and a possible past life connection. Henry relates the story of the Huntsman who was raised by wolves. On orders of the Evil Queen, this man had to rip out Snow White's heart. When the Huntsman spared her life, the Queen took his heart so he could never feel again. From this, Graham realizes he can't feel anything and goes to search for his heart. He gains Emma's help, and they end up breaking into the tomb of Regina's deceased father, but his heart is not there. Regina catches them snooping and offers to take him home, but Graham breaks things off with her for good. He then stops a fight between the two women and leaves with Emma. At the sheriff station, while tending to Emma's bruises, Graham kisses her again as all his Enchanted Forest memories rush back. Graham states he remembers everything now, though Emma doesn't understand. Suddenly, he suffers a fatal heart attack, caused by Regina crushing his heart to ash, and dies as Emma helplessly watches. ("The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter")

Trivia

• Character Notes
• Production Notes
• Cultural References
• Set Notes

Etymology

• In the Disney animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Humbert is the name of the Huntsman, but it is never used on screen. Humbert is revealed to be Graham's last name after his death. ("Desperate Souls")

Character Notes

• Graham is the Sheriff of Storybrooke County. ("Desperate Souls")
• A newspaper clipping in Graham's box of belongings says "GRAHAM ORGANIZES CHARITY FUNDRAISER - "compassionate" Sheriff steps in to help beleaguered Animal Shelter". ("Desperate Souls")
• According to Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, it is not established if Emma eventually found out that Graham was killed by Regina or not. They explained it by saying that "some questions are better left unasked".

Production Notes

• In an E! Online interview, Jamie Dornan stated that he originally was supposed to portray another character. However, they could not get the rights and therefore made him the Huntsman. In Entertainment Weekly's final October 2012 issue, Edward Kitsis revealed Jamie was supposed to portray Sherlock Holmes.
• In the original "Pilot" script, Sheriff Graham is an avid fan of eating Pixy Sticks. He also states he grew up in Maine, but picked up his accent from his parents.

Lost

• There is a close-up of Graham's eye as he wakes up from his dream. This is a recurring theme from Lost. ("The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter")

Costume Notes

• His leather jacket is custom made by Vancouver's Oceandrive Leather, which also designed several of Emma's leather jackets.
  • After Emma is elected sheriff in "Desperate Souls", Mr. Gold hangs Graham's jacket on the coat rack at the sheriff's station. The jacket is still there in "Skin Deep", "Red-Handed" and "Heart of Darkness".
• Emma wears a shoelace on her wrist that once belonged to Graham's boot. The boots are also still in her office in the sheriff's station. ("Skin Deep", "Red-Handed" et al.)

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":
Appears	Appears	Appears	Appears	Appears	Appears	Appears	Mentioned	Absent	Absent	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	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	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	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	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":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Appears	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	Mentioned	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Mentioned	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	Absent	Absent

Once Upon a Time: Specials
"Magic is Coming":	"The Price of Magic":	"Journey to Neverland":	"Wicked is Coming":	"Storybrooke Has Frozen Over":
Archive	Archive	Archive	Archive	Absent
"Secrets of Storybrooke":	"Dark Swan Rises":	"Evil Reigns Once More":	"The Final Battle Begins":
Archive	Absent	Archive	Absent

Other Appearances

Sheriff Graham Humbert is featured in Once Upon a Time's Season One novelization, Reawakened: A Once Upon a Time Tale. Sheriff Graham appears in a newspaper clipping and a photograph in "Desperate Souls".

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.