Once Upon A Time / Tropes E to F

Tropes A to D | Tropes E-F | Tropes G to H | Tropes I to L | Tropes M to P | Tropes Q to T | Tropes U to Z

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Once Upon a Time provides examples of the following tropes:

E

• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • "The Price of Gold." In retrospect Rumplestiltskin wanting Cinderella's baby doesn't make a lot of sense. Later episodes put strong emphasis on the fact he was a father who knew the pain of having your child ripped away from you and practically everything he did was part of a very long, complex gambit to get his son back.
  • There is also Snow saying in the pilot that Regina tried to kill her for being "prettier" than her. The show gives Regina another motive, avenging Daniel.
  • Minor case. In the first couple seasons, the show didn't try to make all characters exact duplicates of their Disney counterparts. For example the Aurora on this show looks nothing like the Aurora of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. A more blatant example would be Maleficent, whose wardrobe was redesigned in Season 4 to resemble her classic attire, unlike her Season 1 outfit. Of course, the then recent live-action film starring Angelina Jolie might have been a factor.
  • In the very first episode, when Charming and Snow go to Rumple's prison cell, the guard warns them to NOT let Rumple learn their names. It's heavily implied that Rumple has powers based on the "I Know Your True Name" trope. He easily deduces who the pair are, and learn their unborn child's (that is, Emma) name. Not only had Rumple met them several times before that moment, the whole "Don't let him learn your name" thing has not been mentioned since.
  • The Storybrooke storylines in Season 1 are very different compared to later seasons. Many of them revolve around Emma helping a resident of Storybrooke with some sort of mundane problem (i.e Ashley wants to keep her baby, Ruby wants to find her place in the world) with Regina often acting as a minor threat or obstacle. Even when the plotline gets a major arc it has nothing to do with actually stopping Regina. Compare that to later seasons where every episode of the Storybrooke story revolved around stopping the Big Bad or learning their plans.
  • The first two seasons had everyone have the same colour of magic smoke when they used magic. After Zelena got bright green smoke in Season Three everyone started to get a unique smoke colour.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Every storybook character's back story ends in Downer Ending and its up to them to Set Right What Once Went Wrong in the real world. And we mean every storybook character. This includes villains as well, as Season 4 shows.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • Neal seemingly puts his father killing his mother behind him, but isn't over the whole abandoning thing. He also doesn't have a grudge against Hook after selling him out to the Lost Boys.
  • Regina murdered a whole village among other things but apparently that's fine since she wants to be good now.
  • Hook killed David's father but is almost immmediately forgiven because "it was a long time ago" and he's "not that man anymore".
• Easy Amnesia: The entire town, as part of the Dark Curse.
• Eccentric Townsfolk: Averted. The residents of Storybrooke, if taken out of context, are not all that notable despite being fairy tale characters.
• Emergency Impersonation: Seemingly the case for James.
• Emotional Powers: Magic seems to work this way, at least for citizens of the Enchanted Forest.
• Enemy Mine:
  • At the end of Season 1, Emma and Regina, in order to save Henry.
  • In Season 2, and lampshaded, Regina tells Gold he will help her because of the one person they both don't want in their new world: Cora.
  • Pretty much everyone against Greg and Tamara in the Season 2 climax. They are planning on destroying Storybrooke, and when that fails, they abduct Henry and take him to Neverland, resulting in Regina, Rumplestiltskin and Hook allying with Emma, Charming and Snow to save Henry. This new-found alliance continues on in Season 3, albeit somewhat-grudgingly, as they work on rescuing Henry from Peter Pan.
• Ensemble Cast: Even though Emma is supposed to be the lead protagonist, each of the primary characters, as well as some secondary and minor characters, share a good amount of screentime and each of their backgrounds are focal points throughout the series.
• Enslaved Tongue: One of the possible side-effects of owning someone's heart — not only can you essentially use the victim as an unintentional mole, you can also make them say things you want them to say in order to manipulate others.
• Ermine Cape Effect: Justified in that it's a Fairy Tale world, but it's still odd that Snow's father, a king, is just wandering down the beach in fancy silks, fur, and a crown when he stops to pick up some rubbish (a magic lamp, but still).
• Equivalent Exchange: According to Rumplestiltskin, all magic comes at a price. One of the most memorable cases was when he brought magic to Storybrooke. The price was that no one could leave the town without losing their memories. The whole reason he wrote the curse was to find his son, and now he's trapped thanks to his own dependence on magic.
  • In the fifth season's second episode, this is a major point of Plot A. Emma used the Dark One's power to save Robin's life from a fatal wound by a poisoned sword without taking another life as the rules say she must. Because of this, a Fury took Robin and intended to give him to Death, portrayed here as the Ferryman. In the end, Regina intends to give up her life to save his, but because Mary Margaret, David, and Grumpy all joined in her sacrifice, no one had to die and the Fury was appeased.
• Establishing Series Moment: Although the series had some major publicity behind it spoiling the premise, the tone of the flashbacks is established the moment the evil queen storms in, and it's Snow White who pulls a sword on her. A set up to the "unconventional retelling" tone the flashbacks will have.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • The witch, Maleficent, considers the Dark Curse to be too evil and traded the Evil Queen for it specifically so no one could use it.
  • Hook has done some less-than-stellar actions, to say the least, but he does adhere to some sort of personal code. Despite taking Aurora's heart, he's uncomfortable with the idea of her being permanently without it. So after he accomplishes what he wants with the item, he ensures that it gets returned to Aurora as it's "good form."
  • In "The Queen is Dead," Regina is visibly horrified when Cora reveals that she was responsible for the death of Snow White's mother just to manipulate Regina's life so that she becomes Queen.
  • In "Chosen", Zelena is disgusted at the idea of the Blind Witch eating children.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Many in the Enchanted Forest. The Evil Queen, The Magic Mirror, The Huntsman, The Woodcutter, etc.
• Everyone Is Related: Pretty much every new character in the show is related to one of the main cast members.
  • As of "Manhattan," Henry is not only the grandson of Snow White and Prince Charming, and Regina's adopted son, he's also Rumplestiltskin's grandson.
  • Season 3 reveals that Rumplestiltskin's father is Peter Pan.
  • Season 3 introduces Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West, who is also Regina's older sister.
  • Season 4 has the Snow Queen from the Hans Christian Andersen tale being Elsa's aunt.
  • And if you think they were going to stop there: the Snow Queen is Emma's foster-mother.
  • There is also Hook being Neal/Baelfire's stepfather. As well as Henry's stepfather (Yes, he's his own grandstepson's stepfather).
  • The Black Fairy is Rumple's mother. Which makes her Henry's Great Grandmother.
• Everyone's Baby Sister: Henry is the only character who could have gotten Emma, Snow, Charming, Regina, Rumplestiltskin, and Hook on a ship to Neverland together.
• Everytown, America: Subverted. Storybrook is especially created by the Dark Curse to look like a stereotypical smalltown in the USA and is regarded as such by the cursed inhabtitans. However, if an outsider comes to town (like Emma, the show's protagonist) it becomes clear to them that something is wrong. And once the Curse is broken, weirdness happens all the time and the "Everytown"-facade is gone.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Regina and Mr. Gold. Regina plays it straight, while Gold forms a Batman Gambit with his inversion:
  • Mr. Gold wants Emma elected Sheriff. So, he sets fire to Regina's office while Emma's there to rescue her, thus making her a hero. When she exposes his plot to prove a point to Henry about good over evil, it plays into his hands again and ensures her election. The citizens fear Regina, but they're terrified of Mr. Gold.
  • Regina, on the other hand, has to change the game. Her plan was successful only after she used Mr. Glass as a poisonous influence to push Emma to play by Regina's rules. Anytime Emma makes the right choice, she has an advantage against Regina.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Pongo starts barking at Regina when she waltzes into Dr. Hopper's office. That's because it's Cora in disguise as her own daughter. In a subversion, he doesn't even bark at Mr. Gold when brought to his shop or even the real Regina. Perhaps because at that point, Gold and Regina aren't truly evil any more.
• Evil Feels Good: Or at least immaturity feels good. By encouraging them to be very naughty and playful seems to be how Peter Pan converts his boys into his warriors.
• Evil Is Hammy: While the Enchanted Forest can be hammy whichever side you're on, some of the most over-the-top characters are villains—Regina, Rumple, Zelena, and nearly every Disney villain that appears.
• Evil Matriarch
  • Cora forced Regina into a marriage she didn't want on top of a lifetime of physical and emotional abuse. She did it all to acquire power.
• Evil Overlord List: Rumplestiltskin cons Regina into line 4.
• Evil Versus Evil: Happens alot between Regina/Evil Queen and Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin.
  • Regina and Cora (her mother) are very antagonistic, although they do later rekindle their relationship to become a Big Bad Duumvirate in Season 2.
  • Rumpelstiltskin and Captain Hook are mortal enemies.
  • Greg and Tamara vs Regina. This trope is even said word-for-word in a promotional trailer.
  • Regina and Maleficent, and Regina and the Blind Witch from the Hansel and Gretel tale. In both cases, Regina wins.
  • Regina, Rumpelstiltskin AND Hook joining forces with the heroes to battle Peter Pan, the evilest of all.
  • Regina vs Zelena. Well, technically it's Evil vs Wicked, but the principle applies.
• Eviler than Thou: Think Regina and Rumpelstiltskin are bad? Regina's mother and Rumple's father are worse.
  • And in Season 6, it turns out that Rumple's mother also makes him look semi-decent by comparison!
  • The Wicked Witch as she herself says "The Queen may be evil but I'm wicked." Makes sense, considering they're apparently half-sisters. Although this is later shown to be not true, with Regina herself even pointing out in a Season 5 episode that the Wicked Witch's record of evil deeds isn't even in the same ballpark as her own.
• Exact Eavesdropping: Mayor Regina arranges a conversation with Emma to make peace, then leads the latter to talk about how crazy Henry is, knowing that Henry will be showing up to overhear the conversation.
  • Mary Margaret just so happens to find Johanna near the spot where Cora and Regina are searching for Rumplestiltskin's dagger and discussing their plans to use said dagger to control him.
  • While Cora is trying to deal with the father of her child before marrying Leopold, Eva just happens to be hiding nearby listening in.
  • Ingrid the Snow Queen hearing Anna's plans to investigate her.
  • Jafar shows up in the room when Jasmine and Aladdin are talking about defeating him, and says that defeating the Royal Vizier sounds like treason.
• Exact Words:
  • Regina wanted Gold to make "something tragic" to happen to Kathryn. Unfortunately for Regina, abduction, not just murder is "something tragic."
  • Mr. Gold is fond of this one; he uses it again when assuring Belle that he won't kill Regina. The wraith he's summoned will...or will devour her soul, a Fate Worse than Death.
  • And then once again when casting the protection spell on Charming and Snow. Regina won't be able to harm them in "this" land, but she can certainly take them to another one.
  • This was used against Rumplestiltskin by Cora. He had fallen for her and agreed to amend their deal to have him take their first-born child instead of Cora's first-born in general. Later, she didn't run off with him and stayed with Henry, to have his children. Given that it wasn't Rumple who fathered them, they are not his to take.
    • Cora's initial reaction when he proposed the deal makes even more sense as of 'Witch Hunt' when we find out that she had already given birth to and abandoned her first-born. It is possible that her initial plan was to eventually tell Rumpel about Zelena. Of course he would have had to go to Oz to get her...
• Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: The Evil Queen, in the Enchanted Forest; more understated on Regina. And nonexistent on Regina prior to her turning to evil.
• External Retcon/Fractured Fairy Tale: The stories often did not play out as traditionally told.
  • Lampshaded in "True North":
    Mary Margaret: Snow White has a kid?
    Emma: Apparently that book you gave him, not exactly the stories in the most traditional sense.
• Extreme Doormat: Rumplestiltskin in his first incarnation as a simple, kind, handicapped family father on the edge of poverty with gods and the world walking all over him. He gets "better" - that is, if upgrading himself to a cruel sorcerer, wife murderer and expert puppeteer counts as "better."
• Extremely Short Timespan: Downplayed, but especially notable between seasons: In the show's first six seasons, most episodes appear to occur consecutively. For season finales, this means the audience is left waiting between seasons only for the following season premiere to take place essentially immediately after. Overall, it seems that the first six seasons take place over no more than three years, despite Jared S. Gilmore aging from ages eleven to sixteen whereas his character Henry only ages from ten to thirteen.

F

• Faceless Goons:
  • Most of the Queen's forces wear black full face masks. Interestingly enough, as we learn more about the Queen and she becomes much more sympathetic, her goons start to reveal more of their faces. She even starts calling them by name!
  • Averted with King George's soldiers. Their headgear consists of nothing more than a chain-linked coif with the face wide-open.
  • The Queen of Hearts’s soldiers in Wonderland have no faces. Also counts as a Visual Pun since they're not face cards.
• Face Your Fears: Nightroot is a magical cure for fear and anxiety. It accomplishes this by creating a physical embodiment of your fears that comes after you until you either conquer the fear or it kills you. In the story of Rapunzel, this is the "witch" that keeps Rapunzel locked in the tower.
• Fairy Tale Free-for-All: The show is set in a world where all fairy tale characters exist — some were just transported to a modern town on Earth due to a curse by the Evil Queen. The protagonists include Snow White, Prince Charming, their daughter, the Evil Queen, Rumpelstiltskin, Captain Hook, Belle, etc. Several other fairy tale characters from famous stories pop up in supporting or one-shot roles all the time. Since it's on ABC, very many of the fairy tale characters are specifically based on their Disney Animated Canon versions, or deliberately twisted from them to subvert audience expectations. Some characters from non-fairy tales have also appeared, most significantly Dr. Frankenstein.
• Fairy Tale: Naturally, given the theme of the show.

• Fake Memories: The Dark Curse not only gave everyone in Storybrooke Identity Amnesia, but a "real world" background that never truly happened though they think it did. Averted with Regina and Mr. Gold, since the former enacted the curse and the latter created it. Also averted with August, since he escaped the curse by going through the wardrobe with Emma. Unfortunately played straight with Jefferson, who also does not suffer from amnesia; he remembers both a life in Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest, and it drives him nearly mad.
  Dr. Hopper: I would never betray the doctor-patient confidentiality.
  Regina: Doctor? Doctor... Need I remind you you got your Ph.D. from a curse?
  • Regina gave Emma and Henry the false memory that Emma never gave Henry up for adoption and they've been together the past 12 years, to replace the Storybrooke-related memories that disappeared once Regina cancelled out her curse to escape Pan's.
• Family Eye Resemblance:
  • Emma, her son Henry, and her mother Snow White all have hazel eyes.
  • Red Riding Hood, her mother, and grandmother all have green eyes.
• Family Theme Naming: Anton's family of giants all have A names (Anton, Abraham, Andre, and so on).
• Fanservice with a Smile/Ms. Fanservice: Ruby (Red Riding Hood) in her waitress "uniform". Character Development later has her dressing more conservatively.
  • However, subsequent episodes have revealed that the super-short red skirt worn by Ruby is actually the official uniform of waitresses working at Granny's as other employees have been seen wearing similar outfits.
• Fantastic Caste System: Dwarves are forced to mine fairy dust, never allowed to leave said mines and are not allowed to fall in love.
• Fantastic Racism: Deconstructed. From the Fairy Tale characters' point of view, everyone stays in their role's pigeonhole, good people/creatures are always good, the bad are always bad, the two sides are always in conflict and good always wins. In filling in many of the backstories, particularly the Villains', the series is showing the implications this world view would have.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Various regions of the Enchanted Forest are like this.
  • Mulan's village, as well as her entire kingdom, are based on ancient China while most of the Enchanted Forest is based on medieval Europe, though a majority of the English-speaking inhabitants possess American accents.
  • Even though Belle's kingdom looks as European as the rest of the Enchanted Forest, she, her noble parents, and her former betrothed all speak with distinct Australian accents, though the area may be based on the equivalent of France in support of the original Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.
  • Both Aurora and Cora's kingdoms seemed to be associated with Russia and Spain respectively.
  • Dr. Frankenstein's world have aspects of 19th-century London, but Alice's universe plays it straight by being a separate London of its own that is continuously stuck in the Victorian era.
  • Agrabah is obviously a kingdom derived from pre-Islamic Arabic culture.
  • Arendelle appears to be inspired by medieval Scandinavia while DunBroch is based upon the highlands of medieval Scotland.
• Fate Worse than Death:
  • How Regina describes a sleeping curse, and by extension the poison apple.
  • What the fates of the victims of a wraith are described as.
  • The trope is actually invoked word for word a couple times during the series to describe terribles fates and curses. Turns out there are a lot of them.
• Felony Misdemeanor:
  • Regina tearing down Henry's wooden fortress is regarded as a breathtakingly evil act by just about everyone. While it was certainly unnecessary and mean-spirited, the reaction seems... excessive. This is ignoring the fact that she has done by far worse before this, the wooden fortress was structurally unsound due to damage by a storm, and she does build a new play structure for the children (though admittedly, that was part of a plan to screw over Emma). Henry is just about the only kid who isn't happy with the new play structure. And it never even turns up again.
  • Rumple killing the unicorn. Again, while certainly bad, the reaction seems excessive. Viewers got more bent out of shape over the unicorn than over Gaston, or the poor mute maid. Have unicorns even been confirmed to be sentient in this universe? In fairness, what happened to the maid and Gaston were played for laughs, albeit in a black comedy sort of way. The unicorn, on the other hand, was played for drama.
• Feminist Fantasy: The show follows Emma Swan, a tough and cynical Bounty Hunter that finds her life turned on its head when the son she gave up for adoption shows up on her doorstep. He reveals to her that she is The Savior, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming destined to break the Evil Queen's curse and save the enchanted residents of Storybrooke. Though initially unwilling to believe, over time Emma comes to accept her destiny as a hero. Featuring numerous characters from classical fairy tales and legends, many are re-imagined as heroines in their own right as opposed to typical Damsels. Snow White and Prince Charming are a Battle Couple, the Evil Queen is a complex and deeply flawed woman, Belle is a Guile Heroine, and even those women that don't physically fight are shown to possess other kinds of strength — great intelligence, supernatural might, or incredible emotional fortitude.
• Filler: While the show has a strong continuity, occasional episodes have been standalone character pieces with little apparent connection to the overall story arcs (however, given the interconnected nature of the series, and its penchant for following The Bus Came Back trope, no episode can truly be deemed a "filler" until the series' storylines are examined following its eventual final conclusion).
  • "Dreamy" deals with the titular dwarf's past, his love for the fairy Nova and Snow making amends for her affair with David.
  • "Child Of The Moon" gives a backstory to Red as well as the werewolves and sets up a standalone murder mystery.
  • "True North" is Hansel and Gretl's story (Ava and Nicholas, in cursed Storybrooke). They don't appear significantly after that, although the Blind Witch from their story does make an appearance in the Underworld of Season 5.
  • While Cinderella's plot arc is not exactly filler, she has only ever featured prominently in 1-2 episodes during Season 1. Word has it this is because the writers are not fond of the Cinderella story.
• Fireballs: This offensive spell has become so exploited by Regina and most witches and warlocks that it's frustrating considering that with magic they can do a lot of other incredible and spectacular things, even if Zelena was the only one who changed a bit from the second part of the fifth season onwards, with green fireballs that incinerate instantly as soon as they come into contact with the target.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Snow White and Red Riding Hood.
• First-Episode Twist: Emma is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.
• Flashback B-Plot: Technically every episode is this, with a majority of the story in the present while a flashback sequence fills in the backstory of one or more characters. However there are a few episodes that play with this.
  • "Broken" sets up the usual formula, with the Charmings and Regina fighting with a Wraith in Storybrooke while Philip, Mulan, and Aurora deal with one in the Enchanted forest. By the end of the episode, however, it's revealed that the flashbacks were in Storybrooke, and the Wraith came to the Enchanted Forest along with Emma and Snow.
  • "Heart Of Gold" has both the A plot and the backstory both take place in flashbacks. Robin deals with Mr. Gold in New York when he gets there (nine weeks prior to where the show's main timeline is) while in the flashback he deals with Nottingham and Zelena.
  • "The Broken Kingdom" does it the same way as "Heart of Gold," with the A plot taking place during the six weeks the cast spent in Camelot, the flashback plot occurring five years prior to that as Arthur struggled to find the Dark One's Dagger, and present day Storybrooke appearing only in the final few minutes.
• Flash Step:
  • Regina does this to Archie in "The Cricket Game." Then she kills him - except she's Cora, magically disguised in order to frame her daughter, and the corpse left behind isn't Archie, because the real thing is being held prisoner in Hook's brig.
  • Ruby does this in "In the Name of the Brother," just before Dr. Whale attempts to jump off the docks.
• Flat "What": David's mother on hearing that Prince "James" will be forced to marry Midas's daughter.
  • In "Dark Swan," Hook says one upon learning that Henry broke the pen.
• Flower Motifs: Nimue and Guinevere are associated with the middlemist, a flower native to Camelot.
  • Blue hyacinths are associated with Cinderella (Jacinda), and the symbol of her and Henry's love.
• Flynning: Strangely averted. Despite the lack of blood in the sword fights, there's not a whole lot of clanking of swords just for the hell of it. The Prince fights in a hack-and-slash manner you'd expect from someone trained in broadsword.
  • Also averted and played straight in the fight scene between Prince Charming and Rumblestiltskin. The Prince is actually fighting fairly realistically, looking for openings and attempting killing strikes. The problem is, he's fighting a near-omnipotent magical trickster who is immune to ordinary harm, superhumanly fast, strong, and agile, and easily capable of teleporting away from the Princes' attacks. He's the one flynning, all he's doing is trying to wear the Prince out and make him realize fighting is pointless, so that he can explain to the Prince that their goals (for the moment) are aligned and they can help each other.
• Fond Memories That Could Have Been: The end of "Lady of the Lake."
• Force Field: Storybrooke has one. "Bad things happen" to anyone who tries to leave the town (except Henry and Emma). Henry believes it's just Emma and handwaves how he can leave the town saying that since he's only 10 he would have no other choice but to eventually return.
  • When magic does return, Sneezy is picked as the first one to cross the line to find out what happens. He loses all memory of being Sneezy and reverts to his Storybrooke persona.
  • After the plot with Greg and Tamara, Rumple gives Belle a scroll with a spell that will essentially enact this, and keep outsiders out of the town.
  • And after that threat passes, Storybrooke is surrounded by an evil ice wall. Unlike previous force fields, it leaves the coast wide open (at least, until an hour before it disappears), making it as extravagant and useless as a back pocket on a shirt.
  • The Dark Swan enacts a force field that turns anyone trying to leave into foliage. Again, this is discovered by suicidal dwarves.
• Foregone Conclusion: In "Tallahassee," we see Jack's skeleton in the Giants' home. When Jack finally shows up in a flashback in "Tiny," it's easy to guess where she's headed.
  • Really, most of the flashback sequences. Since most of the characters eventually end up in Storybrooke, they're obviously not going to die, no matter how dire the circumstances. Any character who does not end up in Storybrooke (like Phillip, King Henry, Daniel, etc) is exempt from this rule.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In the first episode, the fact that Oz and it's inhabitants are real is foreshadowed when Emma wrecks her car; the book is left open on a page showing flying monkeys.
  • A quick one but in Episode 3, Graham says that the woods are "his world." Emma appears confused by this, but the audience sees why in Episode 7.
  • In 1x04, Regina lectures Emma on her transient lifestyle and notes that she lived in Tallahassee longer than the others, asking what she liked so much about it. 2x06 reveals that this is where she met Henry's father, Neal Cassady.
  • In Episode 4, Mr. Gold mentions to Emma that no one wants to see Ashley's baby born in jail. Episode 9 reveals that this is what happened to Henry.
  • The unicorn mobile from Episodes 1 and 6, the dolls that turn out to be Geppetto's parents from Episode 5, and the windmill from Episode 6 can first be seen in Mr. Gold's shop in Episode 4 before they're all properly used in the plot.
  • The real Prince James from Episode 6: "Next time make sure I'm dead." Oops.
  • In 1x17, the Evil Queen states that she knows the Queen of Hearts "better than most". The next episode introduces her mother Cora, and 2x09 reveals that Cora is the Queen of Hearts.
  • In 2x04, Belle's father tries to have her pushed across the town line, so as to erase her memory of Rumplestiltskin. It doesn't work, but later in 2x11 Hook shoots her, causing her to cross the line.
  • In 2x15, Baelfire, Rumplestiltkin's son, knows Hook, and how to sail his ship and should be a couple hundred years old. It turns out that yes, he was in Neverland and had been a part of Hook's crew for a period of time, as shown in 2x22.
  • From 2x22 all throughout Season 3A, Rumplestiltskin is indicated to have some sort of history with Peter Pan, one of the few people he fears. 3x08 reveals that Pan is Rumple's estranged father.
  • Early in season three, Neal mentions ruby slippers and Tinker Bell uses poppy dust. Guess which 'verse is involved in the next big plot arc?
  • In the flashback in "Shattered Sight", Emma wins a dalmatian plushie. The next episode introduces Cruella de Vil.
  • Throughout 4B, Rumple's plan is to turn Emma dark. Throughout, Emma is seen impulsively making questionable decisions or comments that imply she is going dark. This sets up her becoming the Dark One in the Season 4 finale, which is the main storyline for 5A.
• Forgot About His Powers: Rumple foresaw the exact day the Savior would come to Storybrooke plus a host of other details, but never seems to foresee the consequences of his own actions. Especially noticeable in the first half of season 6, where You Can't Fight Fate and Screw Destiny are central themes.
• Forgotten Phlebotinum: In season 2, Snow and Henry discover that those who have been under a sleeping curse can revisit the red room of fire in their dreams and communicate with others under a sleeping curse. They then use this to communicate with each other across realms. Come seasons 5 and 6, when Belle and later the Charmings are under sleeping curses, no one considers using this to communicate vital information.
• Four-Philosophy Ensemble: The Charmings — Henry (the idealistic optimist), Emma (The Cynic), Charming (a realist), and Snow (conflicted).
• Four-Temperament Ensemble:
  • The blood-related family of Henry: Mary Margaret/Snow White and Neal/Baelfire (eclectic), Emma (melancholic), Henry (phlegmatic), David/Prince Charming and Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin (sanguine), and Peter Pan (choleric).
  • An all-female ensemble of the first season, not counting Henry's blood-related family: Cora choleric), Regina/Evil Queen (melancholic), Lacey/Belle (phlegmatic), and Ruby/Riding Hood (sanguine).
  • The four villains of season 4b: Gold (choleric), Cruella (sanguine), Ursula (phlegmatic), and Maleficient (melancholic).
• Fractured Fairy Tale: The fairy tales in the show are quite fractured. For example, Snow White was a forest bandit who met Prince Charming by robbing his carriage, Jiminy Cricket was a man turned into a cricket to serve as Geppetto's guide, Cinderella made a Deal with the Devil to go to her ball, and Little Red Riding Hood is unknowingly a werewolf that terrorizes her village on full moons. The chief point of fracture seems to be Rumpelstiltskin, who in this continuity is a major Bad Samaritan and who has so far appeared in nearly every fairy tale portrayed to change either its backstory or its ending, to the point where he ends up becoming the Beast and the Crocodile.
• Frame-Up: Happens to Mary Margaret, courtesy of Regina near the end of Season 1 when she's accused of murdering Kathryn Nolan.
• Freudian Excuse: The two obvious villains of season 1.
  • Rumplestiltskin's taking babies makes sense when you learn about Baelfire.
  • Regina spent her entire youth being forcefully molded by Cora to be just as evil and cruel as she, all while claiming she did it out of love. It was a miracle that it took Cora's murder of Regina's fiance in front of her to start her down her path of darkness. But even then she tried to stay good, only for Rumple to show up as her mentor and further drive her towards evil. Oh and her one good parent sat by and watched it all happen.
• Functional Magic: Rather obvious, and inherent to the show. The whole show basically revolves around the saying "Magic always comes with a price."
• Funny Background Event: A variation. While Snow and Lancelot are at the table discussing the events of the curse and other important matters, Emma is sampling the food and deciding that she likes the drinks offered. Apparently, roasted chimera isn't as good as it sounds.
  • The season 3 winter finale episode "Going Home" demonstrates the hazards of filming in a real-life urban centre. While everyone is going nuts about the curse returning, and as Pan holds a large group of townspeople spellbound in the middle of the street, in the background pedestrians and traffic can be seen going about their business, just as normal. You can even see the flashing lights of an emergency vehicle at one point. This is not the first time this has occurred in the series, which is shot in a suburb of Vancouver, but it is particularly glaring - and funny - in the context of this episode.
  • A season four episode has a radio broadcast as Emma's heading into work, starting with a weather report that has the temperature decreasing as you get to the ice wall and ending with a "Rip Van Winkle requesting something classic to wake up to."
  • While Emma, Elsa, and Anna are figuring out how to stop Ingrid's curse from further ruining the town, Kristoff is seen getting increasing annoyed by Snow and Charming's cursed arguing. He finally snaps and throws sheets of paper at them.

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