Once Upon a Time, We Were All Connected Characters

Hello, Fanaticals! Who is ready to look into some Once Upon a Time character connections?

Now, I know what you're thinking, "Have you NOT SEEN the Charming Family Tree?" Yes, I absolutely have and in reference to our Futurama post, it has its own meaning to "I Am My Own Grandpa" as well. However, family connections are not what we will be discussing today.

Today, we will be talking about connections that are deeper than family; they are how our characters know each other in general. Canonically, we know that Snow and Ella (Cinderella) were VERY good friends; but we have no idea how they met. We witness Red and Snow's meeting, as well as Ariel and Snow; we even watch how both those friendships truly form. What about others, though? Ones that we can see a connection, but we don't truly know. Let's take a look at some theories behind some of these.

Robin Hood & Snow White

When Robin is officially introduced in Season 3, there is no real recognition between him and Snow. However, there is a fan theory out there that the two of them were friends (and a bit more) back when Regina was hunting for Snow which is one reason that he "pretends" not to recognize her. The theory is that Robin is the reason that Snow can shoot; when she lived in the forest on the run, he was her mentor.

This theory is so crazy, that it actually makes sense! Robin was the best archer in the Enchanted Forest. While, yes, we could assume that she taught herself; she was honestly too good to just be self-taught. Thinking about who Robin Hood is, I honestly doubt he would have had issues taking a "fugitive" into his care. There is also the consideration of his personality, and that he probably truly listened to Snow and was empathetic to her story.

Unknown to us, though, is the timeline of when Regina took Marian. If she had taken her from him before he and Snow met, I could honestly see him being very willing to teach the woman that was considered the Queen's enemy with the promise of revenge. That is something we see Snow had planned very early on, as we see in the episode when she meets "James" aka David after robbing him. She hadn't been "dark", per say, but she had wanted her kingdom back and was willing to use the Dark Faerie dust on her.

It's the perfect revenge: Regina takes his wife, he trains the woman that Regina has marked as a traitor, and the "traitor" takes out the Queen. He trains her to take Regina out as well as survive, his hands are never dirtied but his wife is avenged.

Before you start on "that's not who Robin Hood is", that is not who he is in the Disney version. Once Upon a Time Robin Hood is very different from the Disney version, just like all the characters.

Belle & Rumpelstiltskin

While, yes, in the series Belle and Rumpel are lovers, they were not always. Belle was a willing servant to protect her kingdom. When Rumpel shows up, she willingly goes to live with him to protect those she loves; much like her Disney counterpart, only it was made with a deal for protection rather than her breaking her father out.

Personally, I don't understand how she was able to stay so cheery. While he may have allowed her to read and let her leave to run errands because he knew she would come back, they began a deeper connection long prior to being lovers. They truly started the kind of relationship that all girls fantasize about (or, at least I did if I'm honest).

She fell in love with him while being his servant, and he obviously began to feel something for her or else Regina's whispers into Belle's ear about curing him would have never taken hold. It is THAT which we are looking into with this theory: Belle could have actually cured the Dark One, had she kept her mouth shut.

When Belle first kisses him, and pulls back, we can see the beginnings of the Dark One's magic fading; his skin is returning to normal, and he obviously is feeling something. Where she messed up, was the second she got happy and told him that she could cure him "just like she said". Honestly, if Belle had just smiled, and kissed him again, the whole world could have gone without the Dark One ever again.

While I understand that she was excited, she had lived with him long enough by this point to know his mannerisms and know that is she said something he didn't like or want to hear he would flip out. Which is exactly what he did and pushed her away before locking her up again for a bit. I absolutely agree with this theory. If she had said nothing, she could have cured him and it would have saved A LOT of headaches, including the enactment of the Dark Curse.

Ariel & Rumpelstiltskin

Now, this one seems a little odd, but I think it has some merit. The way that Rumpel jumps around everywhere after he becomes the Dark One, you would assume that it means that he can realm hop with his powers as it seems to be that there are multiple realms (Season 1 Cinderella versus Season 7 Cinderella), but we find out that is not completely true, as he couldn't just realm hop to wherever Baelfire was.

For a while, we see that he uses the Magic Beans to realm travel but when they basically run out, he can't anymore. The odd thing, is that we still see him realm hopping: how can this be without a bean?

When Ariel is introduced, it is obvious that she does not like nor trust him. While there is no official mention of a deal between the two, there is quite possible that there was one and his prize was one of her mermaid scales. This scale would have the magic to realm travel, as we see when she goes from Neverland to Storybrooke, and back, without much thought.

This would explain how he was able to travel to certain areas that his Dark One magic may not have been able to get him to. It would also make sense about her hostility, although that could have also been due to the fact Regina was with him and there were some definite problems between the two of them.

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather & Rumpelstiltskin

This was an interesting fan theory to run into, if I'm honest; and depending on how hard you think about it, it may or may not be plausible. When diving into Rumpel's history, during the episodes that we discover just WHO his father is, we discover that he was raised by a couple of spinster ladies.

The theory is that these two were two of the three faeries who raised Aurora in their "human" form. Obviously, thinking deeper about it there are some discrepancies with the timeline and their ages, but we also know that timelines and time itself are different in the Enchanted Forest than they do anywhere else.

I have more commonly seen that it is Flora and Fauna, but realistically it could have been any combination of the three women. However, there's not a lot to say on this theory, as it's a little more out there than others. Could it make sense? Absolutely. I mean, they didn't know what they were doing when they took Aurora as a baby, but they seemed to do better as she got older; possibly because they had already raised a child from an adolescent age.

While non-family connections are always intriguing, some can just make sense. Some of these really do make sense, while others definitely have holes you can poke in them. When family-connections are the most commonly found fan theories, it's actually quite refreshing to find ones that don't involve being direct family, but rather things like hidden mentorships or the like; personally, I don't find being raised by someone being a family connection, especially as you never see them again once he leaves their home.

What do you think about these connections? Which ones seem more plausible? Come join our community and let's discuss it! Meanwhile, join me tomorrow as we actually take a look at other possible family connections in the series that don't include the Charming Family tree! Keep on theorizing, Fanaticals!