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For her Seattle persona, see Sabine. |
Queen Tiana is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the seventh season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Mekia Cox, and is the original counterpart of Sabine.
Tiana is based on the Princess from the fairytale "The Frog Prince", and the character of the same name from the Disney film The Princess and the Frog.
History
Tiana grows up as a princess, in part due to her father, who gained the title of prince after helping to win a war and earning the Firefly Ruby. Years after her father's death, she and her mother Eudora are forced to sell off valuables from their estate because of the king's tyranny. She encounters Lady Tremaine's daughter Drizella, who notices the Firefly Ruby is out on display. Tiana retracts it from sale as she recalls how her father received it because of his heroism, to which Drizella snidely remarks that he won't be able to save her and her mother from bankruptcy. As Tiana unhappily talks to her mother about not living the charmed life she thought she would have, Eudora suggests looking for a hero to save them. Tiana decides to search for a capable prince and tries to find one through Dr. Facilier. She wanders into a tent alley to look for Dr. Facilier's shop but ends up being recognized by the commoners, who desperately implore her for help as they are suffering under the king's taxes. Dr. Facilier chases the people away before aiding Tiana by foretelling she will meet a prince if she follows the red crow. After Tiana finds a tavern called the Crimson Crow, an unruly patron attempts to intimidate her into handing over her earrings, however, she is saved by a prince named Marias. The prince invites her to dine with him, and later during the night, he talks with Tiana on her castle balcony. Tiana shares the story of her father's Firefly Ruby and how gaining the title of prince led him to rebuild the kingdom. She fears losing her home now that she and her mother are facing financial ruin, though he reassures her that he won't let that happen. Marias bids her goodnight with the promise of seeing her again, but as he is leaving, Tiana sees the Firefly Ruby is missing and realizes he stole it. She swiftly stops him and demands an explanation, to which he confesses his real name is Robert and he was following Dr. Facilier's orders because the man is holding his true love captive. Later, Tiana acknowledges to her mother about how selfish she's been, as seeing Robert's desperation has made her see that people everywhere, not just her, are suffering. Regretful over sending her looking for a hero when Tiana is the one whom the people need, Eudora pins the medallion to her daughter's dress and encourages her to carry on her father's legacy by being the hero she is. To free Robert's true love, she forfeits the Firefly Ruby to Dr. Facilier. He uses a voodoo doll to hurt her, but she manages to knock it over. While Dr. Facilier escapes with the ruby, Tiana reunites Robert with his true love, who is trapped in frog form. She invites them to join her Resistance as her next step in overthrowing the king by attending a ball where the king's son will be looking for a bride, but Robert declines before kissing his love and reverting to his actual form: a frog. ("Greenbacks")
As the leader of the Resistance meant to fight against Lady Tremaine's tyranny, Tiana attends a royal ball to keep an eye on the prince. She is approached by a servant with a platter of frog legs; however, she declines to sample any. Later, Tiana witnesses Cinderella wield a sword to defend herself against the royal guards, who are attempting to apprehend her for supposedly killing the prince. ("Hyperion Heights," "The Garden of Forking Paths")
After seeing Cinderella flee uncaptured, Tiana leaves the ball to track her down in the forest, where she takes out a guard to protect Cinderella. She introduces herself and offers Cinderella a place in the Resistance due to her sword fighting skills, but the latter expresses no interest in her cause. Tiana reveals the prince worked with Lady Tremaine to have her father killed, and that Tremaine was responsible for taking away Cinderella's old life, but now she has the chance to help others before Tremaine takes theirs too. Cinderella agrees and then tells Tiana to hop onto Henry's motorcycle with her. A puzzled Tiana then watches as Cinderella removes one of her glass slippers and tosses it into the grass, to which Cinderella informs her that it's a sign for a friend so he knows how to find her. At the Resistance encampment, Tiana brings one of the members, Jeremiah, to Cinderella so he can give her a pair of boots he made for her. When Cinderella asks about when they are going against Tremaine, Tiana briefs her about her stepmother currently transporting magic and weapons from the king's vault to her manor before showing her a scroll drawing of an intricate box that is currently in Tremaine's possession. She inquires whether Cinderella knows what the box is, but the latter denies it despite knowing it is a coffin used to house her deceased stepsister's body. Just then, Henry arrives with his mother Regina and ally Captain Hook to aid in their cause. When Regina mentions they would have reached Cinderella sooner if she hadn't needed to tweak her locator spell, Tiana asks if she has magic, which Regina confirms this, allowing Tiana some assurance that they have a chance of defeating Tremaine after all. Later, Tiana goes over the plans of how they will storm Tremaine's manor, with two groups of Resistance members going in from both sides. While Henry and Regina decide to go with Cinderella, who will be leading one of the groups, Hook opts to join up with Tiana in the other group. The next morning, Tiana passes some weapons to a Resistance member and then mentions to Hook, Henry, and Regina that they need to head out soon. Cinderella shows up, telling them that they can't storm Tremaine's manor as it is a trap. Tiana is curious about how she knows, however, Cinderella hesitates, not wanting to say that she went to confront Tremaine on her own, so Regina says she used her magic mirror to see inside it. Tiana believes Regina's story and then calls off the plan by telling everyone to pack up. ("The Garden of Forking Paths")
After Henry and Cinderella return from New Wonderland, Sabine informs them that a man has arrived and claims he knows Henry. She and Cinderella watch as the man and Henry have a tense confrontation before both men drop the act and hug each other as old friends reunited. ("Pretty in Blue")
When Henry and Cinderella's daughter Lucy is born, Tiana congratulates Henry and notes that his daughter looks strong. Drizella arrives to forewarn the heroes about a Dark Curse she will cast on the child's eighth birthday, to which Tiana and her allies take out their weapons to arm themselves. Luckily, the heroes already prepared a trap for Drizella, who turns into a statue because of blood provided by Lady Tremaine. ("The Eighth Witch")
Eight years later, Tiana is now ruling the kingdom as a queen. She is present for a celebration in the castle courtyard for Lucy's eighth birthday, but the party dies down when Gothel shows up to free Drizella and agrees to help her cast the curse. When Lucy reports that Henry was taken by Gothel's coven of witches, Tiana urges Hook, Regina, Cinderella, and Jack to find him while she stays behind to look after Lucy, however, Ella persuades everyone that doing so will only distract them from the curse. Tiana remains in the castle with Lucy as the others, along with Zelena, go to confront Drizella and Gothel. However, Regina is forced by Drizella to cast the curse in order to save Henry's life, prompting the curse to spread throughout the land. Tiana holds onto Lucy in the castle courtyard as she watches the curse cloud close in on the both of them. ("The Eighth Witch")
For events occurring after the casting of the fifth curse, see Sabine.
Trivia
Production Notes
- According to Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, Tiana is "a princess with a mission — to restore freedom to her people". They added "Tiana's most defining characteristic is her strength. She's been through a lot when we meet her, but she never wavers even when doubting oneself would seem to be the most logical, and safe, course of action". They also revealed that "she has her share of enemies, but that goes with the territory when one is fighting for a just cause".[1]
- According to Mekia Cox, Tiana is "a strong, loving, caring soul who wants the best for her people and is willing to fight for it."[2]
Appearances
| 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": |
| Appears | Absent | Appears | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Appears | 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": |
| Appears | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |