History Series / OnceUponATimeInWonderland

* BigBadDuumvirate: The Red Queen and Jafar, though Jafar makes it clear he's the BiggerBad of the two.

** [[spoiler: When the Red Queen makes her HeelFaceTurn, she gets replaced by the Jabberwocky. Jafar ironically ends up in the Red Queen's shoes, as ''the Jabberwocky'' is now the BiggerBad of the equation]].

* AllMythsAreTrue[=/=]CanonWelding: Takes place in the same universe, or rather {{Multiverse}}, as ''Series/OnceUponATime'', which includes pretty much every classic fictional character from [[Literature/PeterPan Captain Hook]] to Literature/{{Frankenstein}}.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: {{Justified}} since, according to the producers, Alice's Victorian London is a separate "land of story" that exists in parallel with our world rather than the actual historical Victorian London. This allows Jafar, played by an Indian actor, to pose as "Dr. Sheffield" without anyone batting an eyelash.

Rather than being distantly related to ''Once Upon a Time'', it has a SharedUniverse. Given that ''Wonderland'' stars a protagonist from Victorian England (Alice), whereas Storybrooke has a protagonist from modern-day [[BigAppleSauce NewYork]], it was up in the air how connected the two series would be. WordOfGod tells us that they avoid a TimeyWimeyBall in that Alice's Victorian Britain is a separate story world, like that of Frankenstein in the parent show. Several significant characters cross-over, but only in backstory. Apart from cameos and {{flashback}} {{cross over}}s, Wonderland is its own self-contained HeroOfAnotherStory.

* NotSoDifferent: "Heart of Stone" subtly implies this with Anastasia towards her mother.
** Anastasia is also remarkably similar to Cora. Both had strong ambitions, Anastasia for comfort and Cora for wealth and position. Both sneak into a palace ball wearing a stolen dress. [[spoiler: Both also abandon someone who loves them in favour of said goal]]. Interesting enough since [[spoiler: Cora is the Queen of Hearts]].

** Peta Sergeant is also enjoying a scenery-laced meal as the evil and sexy Jabberwocky.

Despite a few characters being left with open fates at the end of the series, the show is wrapped up in its single season. However, Creator/MichaelSocha is confirmed to be reprising his role as the Knave of Hearts as a regular in the fourth season of ''Series/OnceUponATime'', so of course you're free to speculate about the others.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The caterpillar suggests using Alice as a currency.
** Or a pair of [[EyeScream extracted eyeballs]].

Despite a few characters being left with open fates at the end of the series, the show is wrapped up in its single season. However, Michael Socha is confirmed to be reprising his role as the Knave of Hearts as a regular in the fourth season of ''Series/OnceUponATime'', so of course you're free to speculate about the others.

* YourCheatingHeart: It's mentioned that the Red King regularly had "companions" brought to him.

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: The rabbit is a mole for the Red Queen. She and Jafar faked Cyrus's death.

** In the first episode of the series Emma, the protagonist of ''Series/OnceUponATime'', nearly runs over the Knave of Hearts on his way to [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood Granny's]] diner. In order to get in, he pickpockets the key from Literature/{{Cinderella}}, who is being escorted home by [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Grumpy]].
** In addition to the obvious Wonderland characters, the series includes faces from [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Agrabah]], and [[Literature/{{Beowulf}} Grendel]] features in the episode "Forget Me Not".

** RobinHood steals from [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]].

* CompositeCharacter: The Knave of Hearts is [[RobinHood Will Scarlet]], and the Red Queen is [[spoiler:Disney/{{Cinderella}}'s stepsister Anastasia]].

* ConspicuousCGI: Frequent and glaring. Wonderland is a bit more difficult to depict using real-life scenery than the Enchanted Forest in the parent series. And they're on a network TV budget. So this ''may'' be justified.
** Might also be highly justified to depict the extreme surreality of Wonderland.

** The treatment of the Red Queen differs considerably from all source material, most notably that [[spoiler: she becomes Alice's ally]].

* AdaptationalBadass: Alice, who is often portrayed as a hapless young girl passively reacting to Wonderland's nonsense, shows no hesitation in attacking 5 guards at the asylum and effortlessly kicking their asses, and is now quite adept at handling herself in Wonderland.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Since most of the fairytale characters are based on Disney's interpretation more than their original source material, this happens a lot, most obvious with [[UsefulNotes/GrandVizierJafar Jafar]].

* AllMythsAreTrue[=/=]CanonWelding: Takes place in the same universe, or rather {{Multiverse}}, as ''Series/OnceUponATime'', which includes pretty much every classic fictional character from [[PeterPan Captain Hook]] to Literature/{{Frankenstein}}.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Done very obviously with Jafar. The Red Queen as well, to a degree, since in the original she was a red-faced chess piece and now she's a thin blonde human woman. And that's not even getting into the implication [[spoiler: that she is also one of Cinderella's stepsisters.]]

** Speaking of the caterpillar, when was the last time you saw any character smoking, much less smoking from a ''hookah'', in a family show on network TV?

* InterspeciesRomance: Between Alice the human and Cyrus the genie. [[spoiler: Subverted by the fact that Cyrus was once human. And once they are finally reunited in "Home", Cyrus is now human again, subverting the trope]].

* LeapOfFaith: Subverted. Alice first thinks that believing in her love with Cyrus will makes her cross the great divide. [[spoiler: Alice's true trial is to prove herself to be pure-hearted enough by sparing the life of the one who put Cyrus in Prison]].

* MsFanservice: The Red Queen, who wears many form fitting outfits that show off her cleavage and figure

* NarniaTime: The show implies that Wonderland's time is faster than Alice's homeworld (see below YearOutsideHourInside), the scale doesn't seem to be consistant. [[spoiler: In the final, Alice return to her home but doesn't appear like she missed several years.]]

* RedHerring: When the Jabberwocky [[spoiler: temporarily sides with Alice against Jafar]], she brings up how she wasn't born a monster and that evil is made, not born. This point is never brought up again in the plot, although it is otherwise a reference to a line from [[Series/OnceUponATime the parent series]].

* TheReveal: From the end of "And They Lived...", [[spoiler: in the OUAT universe, Alice is the author of ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'']]

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Alice fighting Jafar comes off as this, especially since Aladdin himself hasn't yet appeared in either version of Once Upon a Time.

* TitleDrop: The Red Queen drops the "Once Upon A Time" in "Dirty Little Secrets".

* UncoveringRelationshipStatus: In Down the Rabbit Hole, Cyrus mentions to Alice her husband during their first meeting, she corrects him, since she's not married, to which he replies "Good."

*** Also evident with Will and Anastasia who lived in the pre curse Enchanted Forest alongside the characters from the main show 28 years ago. The main show characters did not age due to the curse or Cora's time bubble, but Will and Anastasia are the same ages in the present despite being in Wonderland the whole time.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: If you haven't watched the main show, [[spoiler: Cora]] being the Queen of Hearts is one.

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: The Red Queen at the end of "Home", and solidified in "Nothing to Fear", both in her genuinely sad reaction to Lizard's death and her deciding to fight Jafar, though she suffers a brief reversion in the next episode due to a major BreakTheCutie moment, and again in the finale due to be put under a spell. Ultimately, though, her turn is permanent]].

** ** [[spoiler: The Jabberwocky performs something along these lines near the end, not actually turning good so much as working with the heroes to ensure her own freedom, mainly because she realizes Jafar is not a trustworthy partner. It doesn't work out very well for her.]]

* ForgotAboutHerPowers: In the episode 9, the Red Queen is easily kidnapped and almost killed by the local inhabitants. She never use the magic to defend herself.