Black Fairy

"I created the Dark Curse, you were born to break it. We've been destined to clash since the beginning of time. I never should have sent an emissary to do what only I can."

- Black Fairy to Emma Swan

Fiona, also known as the Black Fairy is a character and the main antagonist of the ABC series Once Upon a Time. She is the mother of Rumplestiltskin and is first referred to in "The Thing You Love Most", but makes her first appearance in "Changelings".

Powers and abilities
Tinker Bell once said that she was one of the most powerful fairies that ever existed.
 * Flight: As a fairy, the Black Fairy has the ability to sprout wings and fly.
 * Size Manipulation: The Black Fairy has the ability to change her form, shrinking her size.
 * Telekinesis: The Black Fairy has the ability to move objects with her mind, as seen when she opened and closed the door to Gideon's dungeon.
 * Immortality: Like all fairies the Black Fairy doesn't age, and can seemingly live forever, if not killed.
 * Limited Portal Creation: While in the Dark Realm, the Black Fairy was able to create portals between worlds, though this was limited to a short moment, as she was always taken back.
 * Heart-Removal: The ability to remove a persons heart, and take control of them.
 * Teleportation: The Black Fairy is able to teleport herself and objects in a cloud of black smoke. This extends to magical items like the Dark One's Dagger.
 * Sharing Visions: The Black Fairy has the ability to share her past memories in the form of visions with people.
 * Resistance: She is immune to some forms of magic, as seen when Zelena tried to attack her.
 * Transformation: This ability to turn something to something else. This was used to turn Snow White's wedding dress black.
 * Shapeshifting: The ability to change one's form, including clothes.
 * Spellcasting: The ability to cast spells with various magical results. Fiona used this ability as a mortal to become a fairy.
 * Energy Blast: The ability to blast a ray of energy onto someone. This was attempted on Emma Swan, who managed to block it.
 * Dark Magic: The Black Fairy has the ability to enact dark curses which is magic designed to punish. She showcased this by creating using another version of the Dark Curse.


 * Knowledge of Fairy Lore: As a mortal woman, Fiona studied Fairy Lore, in order to understand a prophecy. This led to her gaining the knowledge to turn herself into a fairy.
 * Dark Curse Creation: Using her knowledge of magic and fairy status, Fiona was able to create the Dark Curse.

Weaknesses

 * Squid Ink: The Black Fairy can be immobilized by squid ink. Although because she is so powerful it only lasts for less than a minute.
 * Laws of Magic: Like any magic user, the Black Fairy is subject to the laws of magic. As a result, she is unable to raise the dead, create love and time travel.
 * Entering a land without magic: Should the Black Fairy enter a Land Without Magic, she will be unable to practice her powers unless she brings a magical totem with her.
 * Dark One's Dagger: If the Black Fairy is immobilized. The dagger has the power to cut immortal ties. That means that the Dark One's Dagger can kill her.
 * Black Fairy's Wand: Fairy wands are similar to the Dark One's Dagger, they are connected by their wielder of it's magic. Its seen that if her wand is possessed by someone else, they have the ability to somewhat control, weaken, or kill her.

Before the First Curse
Long ago, Fiona meets a man named Malcolm. She falls pregnant with his son, and as she is gives birth, two fairies arrive. They introduce themselves to the couple, and inform Fiona that one of them (Tiger Lily) is to be her sons fairy godmother, as he is a child born of great light magic, and will become the Savior.

Having learnt about her son's fate as the Savior, she reads upon fairy lore and discovers he is destined to die. While Fiona sings to her baby, Tiger Lily arrives with more books for Fiona to read upon in order to save her son. Tiger Lily comforts an upset Fiona and insists she should focus on raising him, as it's a fairy's job to protect him. Fiona then offers Tiger Lily a chance to hold the infant, to which she accepts. As Tiger Lily places her wand down to hold him, Fiona grabs it and recites an incantation, transforming herself into a fairy, to Tiger Lily's astonishment.

A fairy now, Fiona travels the land, accompanied by Tiger Lily, looking for a child born in winter, with a crescent scar, destined to kill her son. Unable to find the child, Fiona suggests combing two ancient spells she knows of, located in the Sacred Fairy Vault, and convinces Tiger Lily to help grant her access. The two then enter the Vault, and as Fiona prepares the two ancient spells together, but Tiger Lily clarifies that what she is creating will not be a spell but a curse. Ignoring her warnings, Fiona finds an ingredient needed for the curse to work, but Tiger Lily uses her wand to disarm her, warning Fiona that what she's making is a dark curse, capable banishing all children to a Land Without Magic. Fiona pleads for Tiger Lily to help, but she refuses to do so, knowing the good her baby is destined to do. Now against each other, Fiona rips out Tiger Lily's heart and attempts to crush it, causing her to turn into a dark fairy. Tiger Lily then notes the crescent mark on Fiona, the mark belonging to the one destined to kill her son, to both their shock. Tiger Lily pleads with Fiona to find another way, but Fiona refuses. The Blue Fairy then enters and returns Tiger Lily's heart to her. Tiger Lily suggests severing Fiona's fate with the Shears of Destiny, so she's no longer the threat destined to kill her child, but Fiona refuses to do so, not wanting to give up her magic. She then suggest severing his destiny, so that he is no longer the Savior, and despite the pleads from the Blue Fairy, Fiona takes the Shears and cuts his fate anyway. This act dooms the future individuals, Fiona's son was meant to save, and as punishment, the Blue Fairy banishes Fiona to the Dark Realm. Before she is sucked through the portal, Fiona promises her son she will spend every minute of every day trying to find her way back to him.

Entrapped within the Dark Realm, Fiona eventually becomes the Black Fairy and skilled in dark magic. Despite being stuck, she is able to rip open portals long enough to kidnap children, before she is sent back. She uses the children she steals to mine dark fairy dust for herself.

Through unknown means, her Dark Curse ends up in Bald Mountain, where it's guarded by the Chernabog, until stolen by her son, now the Dark One.

Years later, Rumplestiltskin uses the kidnapped child of Jack and Jill along with an incantation to summon her. She arrives to kidnap the infant, but is immobilized by Rumplestiltskin's squid. The Black Fairy recognizes Rumplestiltskin through his status as the Dark One, and warns that her paralysis won't last long. Angered at his mother, he reveals his identity, much to her shock and dismay, and questions why she ever abandoned him. She taunts him over it, claiming that the two aren't so different, having both chose power over the love of children. When the effects of the squid ink wear of, she laughs as she refuses to answer any more questions, and flies off, leaving her son.

After the Third Curse
Having seen Mother Superior fly off with her grandson Gideon, the Black Fairy rips into Storybrooke and the two fairies fight for control of the infant. Mother Superior is defeated at the hands of the Black Fairy, who takes the baby to her home, the Dark Realm. Upon arriving to her realm, she orders that Gideon be looked after like he was hers and confiscates the book Belle sent him off with.

Years later, the Black Fairy catches Gideon reading Her Handsome Hero the book she took from him while still an infant. She asks if Gideon wants to be like the hero character he was named after, and he replies that he does, causing her to laugh. The Black Fairy then takes Roderick, the boy in the cell opposite Gideon, into her tower and whips him while keeping Gideon's cell unlocked so that he can hear the boys suffering, in order to prove his cowardice, knowing he won't do anything.

As the years go by, the Black Fairy trains Gideon in his magic abilities.

In order to test his loyalty, the Black Fairy conducts a test. Pretending to lose the key to her vault, she orders Gideon to find which one of the miners was responsible for stealing it, and to make them pay, handing him a vile of dark fairy dust. When she realizes that Gideon isn't loyal to her as previously though, and was conspiring against her, she makes herself known to him. She is angered by his betrayal and when Gideon begins to stand up for himself and fails at an attempt to throw Dark Fairy Dust on the her, she orders the guards to take ahold of Roderick, and sprinkles the dust on him, transforming him into a bug. So she can hurt Gideon, she crushes Roderick with her foot. Gideon vows to the Black Fairy that he will find the Savior, and she in return tells him of plans she has to deal with her. She then rips Gideon's heart out, and uses it to control him from then on, ordering him to kill the Savior when he finds her, and use Hrunting to free her from the Dark Realm.

Gideon arrives in Storybrooke, while being controlled by the Black Fairy. The Black Fairy uses Gideon as her pawn in order kill Emma Swan, though fails. Using Gideon, she tries forming an alliance, so that he can betray Emma and kill her. She summons a giant spider to kill Emma, and just as her life essence begins to fade, she uses Gideon to create a portal. While the portal only lasts a few short moments, she is able to slip through, much to the dismay of Gideon.

Her arrival in Storybrooke results in the blossoming of pixie flowers, which only grow in the presence of great evil.

Entering Gold's pawnshop with Gideon, she makes herself known to her son and meets her daughter-in-law. When Belle tries to summon Gideon, he is unable to leave the Black Fairy, as she still has control over him. She then summons the Dark One's Dagger to prevent Gold from throwing squid-ink on her, only to return it to him, insisting that Gold will join her, and on his own free will when the darkness arrives, and they will be the family they were always meant to be. Later on in the evening, while in the woods surrounded by pixie flowers, she encounters Emma and Snow White, and introduces herself to the Savior. She tells Emma that the Final Battle is to arrive and orders Gideon to destroy the pixie flowers, ridding Snow's chance to end her sleeping curse. The pair then teleport before one of Snow's arrows hit her. Later outside the Library, she meets with Gold, who tells her that he is aware she possesses Gideon's heart. Gold then vows to return his son's heart, only for the Black Fairy to threaten him in return, though he is unaffected.

The Black Fairy arrives in Zelena's Farmhouse and comforts her crying baby. Furious as to her reason of being there, she takes back Robin. The Black Fairy proposes an alliance with Zelena, though she is rejected. Heading to the mines, the Black Fairy collects Fairy Crystals and finds Regina and Zelena in there too. She orders Gideon to attack Regina, rendering her unconscious, and then barricades the tunnel from Zelena. The Black Fairy leads Zelena into a cave surrounded by Fairy Crystals, and Zelena attacks, though it is ineffective, as the Black Fairy is more powerful. She then uses Zelena's magic to power the Crystals, turning their light power dark, allowing her to weaponize them. She reveals that she needs them to begin the Final Battle, and powers the crystal, while teleporting the sisters away. However, before she can use the crystals to their full effect, Zelena removes her magic, destroying the dark magic within the crystals and delaying the Black Fairy's plans. She and Gideon then head to the well, where they witness through a crystal ball, the heroes attempt to wake Mother Superior so they can use a fragmented piece of a wand to destroy her. Fearful of this, she confesses to Gideon that she isn't scared of the wand, but of her darkest secret, which the Mother Superior knows - the reason she gave up her son.

Disguising herself as Snow and having Gideon to disguise himself as David, the pair wait with everyone for Mother Superior to regain consciousness. As she does so, the Black Fairy and Gideon reveal themselves before Mother Superior can tell them of location of wand, and teleports her to the mines. The Black Fairy threatens Mother Superior, though she still refuses to talk, and so instead uses tools to extract the information from her mind. Learning of the location, she heads to Granny's Diner, where she finds it has already been found by the heroes. After Regina and herself exchange threats to one another, the pair go out to duel for the wand, and just as the Black Fairy is about to kill Regina, she is run over by Zelena, causing her to leave. Later that night, she is confronted by Gold, who has the wand and is ready to banish her, having learnt the past-truth about his past, but before he can do so, she gives him a memory of the moments leading to her banishment. The vision she shares with him gives Gold a new perspective on his mother, now having learnt that she always loved him. She reveals it was easier to let him hate her, until they were reunited. The pair talk over the mistakes they've made, and their statuses as villains, and the Black Fairy tells her so she still loves him, and asks for his forgiveness. Gold then allies himself with his mother and fakes her banishment. They later meet together and she comments that despite his birth status, he enjoys being dark. She then Gold of her plan to kill Emma the following day, on her wedding.

The Black Fairy manages to gather enough dark fairy dust, and rounds it up in the clock tower, where the curse will be enacted at six o'clock. She also takes back Gideon's heart, unbeknown to Gold.

The following morning, as Emma looks at her mother's wedding dress, the Black Fairy arrives, transforming it black. She makes her presence known, revealing she wasn't banished. She requests for Emma's heart now, so she saves them the trouble of fighting, but Emma refuses to do so. The Black Fairy requests them to go to the clock tower, and warns of the upcoming final battle, where they will face each other, before leaving. Heading to the pawnshop, she finds Gold knocked unconscious by Hook's Dreamshade, and she captures him. Emma and the Black Fairy meet in the Mayor's Office, where she reveals she has her friends and families captive, and ridicules Emma, with a song she sung as a child, knowing the painful memories of the time associated with the song, leading Emma to flee. When Emma returns, she offers her heart in exchange for the safety of her family, much to the delight of the Black Fairy. She snags Emma's heart, though finds she is unable to crush it, to her confusion. Henry then reveals to Emma that her families songs have been inside her all along, giving her the strength she needs to fight. Emma then breaks into song, and the Black Fairy's magic is undone, causing her family to unfreeze. Angered by her refusal to give up, the Black Fairy warns that despite everything, her curse it still coming, and the final battle will begin. Later as the clock strikes six, the Black Fairy's curse is enacted, and a dark smoke engulfs the town.

During the Fourth Curse
With the new curse cast, many inhabitants of Storybrooke return to the Enchanted Forest, with an except few remaining. The curse's effect has all the residents, under a memory curse, forgetting who they are, except Henry. The Black Fairy now goes by her old name of Fiona, and has taken the place of Regina Mills, becoming the mayor of Storybrooke and the adoptive mother of Henry.

Aware of Henry going to seek out Emma, who is now placed in a mental ward, she rushes him away, but takes his Once Upon a Timebook first. With her curse enacted and control of Storybrooke, the final battle has began - the battle for Emma's soul, hope and belief. As the Savior, if Emma stops believing, the magical realms will cease to exist. Fiona tempts Emma into burning the book, by claiming it will help Henry in the long run, but to her disappointment, Emma is reluctant to do so, knowing the book has meaning to Henry. She then threatens to keep Emma locked up within the asylum if she refuses to her demands, and places an enchantment on the mirror, so she can taunt Emma's family as they watch her helplessly, unable to do anything. Fiona then goes to the pawnshop, to drop of her watch to be fixed and comforts Gold on the anniversary on Belle's disappearance. Her curse has given Gold and Gideon a happy life as father-and-son, but she makes Belle a recluse who's unable to leave her house, though under false pretenses due to the curse's design, she has officially disappeared. Fiona then departs and gets a call that Emma has escaped. Heading to Dr. Hopper's office, she finds Henry with a hold of the storybook. They talk directly, having both retained their memories and Fiona confesses that stopping Emma's belief is harder than she thought. Henry tries to escape, but his evil great-grandmother uses her magic to throw him down a flight of stairs, injuring him. As an ambulance arrive, Gold requests Fiona to reopen the case on Belle's disappearance. She then shares with him false information on Belle, claiming that she didn't disappear, but abandoned her husband and son. As she holds the storybook, Fiona finds a piece of parchment with ancient runes on them which hold the key to winning the final battle. Heading to the hospital where she finds a torn up Emma, she banks on Henry's injuries to prevent Emma from believing, claiming Henry is acting delusional. She the convinces an upset Emma to burn the storybook, in hopes that Henry will be 'cured' of his delusions. As Emma places the book into the fire, Fiona smiles as her plans have come to fruition - the Enchanted Forest and other realms are meeting their destruction.

She places the burnt pages of the book on a tray to present to Henry, tormenting him to prove that Emma no longer believes. She informs her great-grandson of Emma's departure and tells him of the incoming doom his family face. She however discovers Emma's return to the town who, despite her best efforts, still retains some belief. Threatened, she heads to the pawnshop in search of her wand, so she can translate the runes she found. A confused Gideon is unsure of how to handle the situation, and attempts to call his father, but Fiona commands him not to, not wanting to involve Gold. He manages to locate it for Fiona, who reunites with the wand after centuries, and translates the ancient language. She then commands Gideon to locate Emma and kill her. Before she leaves, she finds Gold entering, who quickly makes her aware, he retained his memories. She tries to explain to her son she only separated him from Belle as she tried to tame his dark instincts, but once the final battle is won, she will have unchecked powers, which will even allow her to break the laws of magic. She tempts Gold by letting him know she can resurrect Baelfire, his firstborn son that he lost, and make Belle and Gideon love him, but he resists her offers, as he's unwilling to trust her. She pleads with him, arguing of all the sacrifices she made to protect him, ensuring his survival and their reunion. The two then embrace in a hug, but to Fiona's surprise, Gold turn on her. Snatching away her wand, he wants to make her suffer for the hardships she's caused on their family. She assures him that her death will not prevent the command she gave Gideon, and shares with him what she learnt from the runes only light can snuff out the light - she isn't the one destined to kill the Savior, Gideon is. She assures Gold that her death will not stop her command, though Mr. Gold decides to kill her anyway. Using her own wand, he transforms her body to dust.

Her death breaks the seal of the dark curse, returning everyone back to Storybrooke, and the memories of those cursed.

Episode Appearances
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Season One

 * "The Thing You Love Most" (First Mentioned)

Season Three

 * "Going Home" (Mentioned only)
 * "There's No Place Like Home" (Mentioned only)

Season Five

 * "Souls of the Departed" (Mentioned only)
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Season Six

 * "Changelings" (First appearance)
 * "Wish You Were Here" (Mentioned only)
 * "Tougher Than the Rest"
 * "Ill-Boding Patterns" (Mentioned only)
 * "A Wondrous Place" (Mentioned only)
 * "Mother's Little Helper"
 * "Awake"
 * "Where Bluebirds Fly"
 * "The Black Fairy"
 * "The Song in Your Heart"
 * "The Final Battle Part 1"
 * "The Final Battle Part 2"

Season Seven

 * "The Eighth Witch" (Archive)
 * }

Trivia

 * Her abandonment of her son Rumplestiltskin is the reason for his hatred of fairies (after presumably accepts he was responsible for becoming separated from Baelfire).
 * She is shown to be more powerful than the Blue Fairy.
 * The Black Fairy bears a similarity to her ex-husband Peter Pan. Both abandoned their son Rumplestiltskin. Both later ruled over dark mysterious realms in which time works differently than in other realms. During their time ruling over these realms, both made a career of kidnapping children, among them their own grandsons (Gideon and Baelfire & Henry, respectively), and have tried to use something of their great-grandson Henry to further their plans (the runes he wrote and his heart, respectively), and both are killed by their son, who rejects their offer of starting over.
 * Ironically, it was the Black Fairy who partly helped defeat Pan, as it was her wand that Rumplestiltskin used to return Pan and Henry to their proper bodies back in Season 3.