Regina Mills

"Since when do I care about anyone's happiness but mine?"

- The Evil Queen Regina

Regina Mills, also known as the Evil Queen is one of the main characters and a primary protagonist villain of the ABC fairy tale drama, Once Upon a Time, serving as the main antagonist of the first season of the show, a secondary antagonist/anti-heroine in the second season, the tritagonist in the third and fourth seasons, and the deuteragonist of the fifth season.

From then on, she works to redeem herself for her adoptive son Henry's sake and eventually because she no longer wants to be a villain anymore. Before the breaking of the first Dark Curse, she was the Mayor of the town of Storybrooke, but her former identity in the fairy tale world is Snow White's evil stepmother. She is portrayed by actress Lana Parrilla.

Personality
Regina was ruthless, cunning, and downright evil. She cared nothing for others, but (still) genuinely loves her adopted son Henry, and will do anything to keep him. She even killed her father, the last human being she cared for, to activate the curse. When someone she dislikes interferes with her life, she often manipulated the late sheriff Graham to arrest that person. She had control over everyone in the town, and almost every citizen was afraid of her, except for Henry, Mr. Gold and Emma.

From the second season, she has been a complex character, eventually becoming neutral and we saw that she had a sense of standards. This was shown when she knew that her mother's plan was too extreme and she became a frenemy of the Charmings.

From the third season, she became nicer, being compassionate and hoping for true love, which she found in Robin Hood. However, after the season 3 finale, she became more bitter to a point where she wants to rewrite the storybook, about villains having happy endings, but she didn't lose her role as an anti-heroine.

Powers and Abilities
As the Evil Queen, she has an immense arsenal of magical powers including: teleportation, elemental manipulation, casting curses (notably the Dark Curse), casting various spells (i.e. barrier spell, immobilizing spell, preservation spell) and telekinesis. As Regina, once magic is introduced to her in Storybrooke she is shown wielding her powers of spell casting, elemental manipulation, telekinesis, and increased physical abilities (catching an arrow that was shot at her).

In the Season 2 Episode "The Doctor", it can be seen that magic was taught to her by Rumplestilskin. She hoped that he could teach her how to bring back her lover Daniel, who was killed by Cora, from the grave. This however ultimately fails and causes her to transform from sweet, innocent Regina into the Evil Queen.

Noble Beginnings
Regina is born to Prince Henry, the son of a wealthy king named Xavier, and Cora, the daughter of a poor miller. Cora comes into power by making a deal with Rumplestiltskin to teach her to spin straw into gold, which helps to make the kingdom rich, and thus, earning the hand of the prince in marriage. When Cora's daughter is born, she holds her up in front of her people and states that her name is Regina, for one day, she will be Queen. The people then all bow down before Cora which makes her smile as it means she's finally gained the power she craved for a very long time.

Regina grew up as a kind woman who developed a love for her family's stable boy, Daniel. Daniel taught Regina how to ride horses, but her mother frowned upon this. One day, Cora arranges for Regina to have some extra riding time with her beloved horse, Rocinante. This is so that Regina will be in the pastures at the right time, in order to see the horse of Snow White go wild and ride to her rescue, which is also down to Cora.

As Regina meets with Daniel, Snow White rides past on the out of control horse. Regina chases the girl down and saves her life. The King hears of this. As a motion of gratitude, the King asked Regina to marry him and be Snow White's mother, an offer Cora accepted for her.



She runs to Daniel and accepts a future with him after he gives her a ring. As they kiss, Snow White intrudes upon the moment and runs away, upset. Regina catches up to Snow White to explain what she has with Daniel is true love and swears her to secrecy about the relationship. On the eve of the night she and Daniel are to leave, Cora blocks their way. For a moment, Cora is convinced to allow Regina to be happy and the mother-daughter pair reconcile. Cora seemingly begins to accept Daniel, but suddenly rips out his heart. Regina cradles a collapsed Daniel as Cora squeezes the heart to dust; killing him. Cora believes she is doing what is best for her daughter, who will become queen. Somehow, Regina manages to put her grief aside for wedding dress fitting. Snow White happily praises how beautiful Regina looks and mentions Cora is a good mother for understanding her and Daniel's love for one another. When she questions this, a dismayed Snow White admits telling Cora about Daniel because she feared Regina would lose her mother like herself. Deep down, Regina is furious that a naive girl ruined her happiness, but keeps calm to spare Snow White's feelings. Regina lies, saying that Daniel ran away and she is happy to marry King Leopold and become her stepmother. As Snow White exits, her mother gives Regina credit for living up to her expectations. Regina realizes Cora set up the wild steed the princess was riding that day in an effort to get the notice of King Leopold, who was looking for a queen to fill his deceased wife's spot, but instead of blaming Cora, her anger towards Snow White grows. During the build up to her wedding to King Leopold, Regina tries to leave on her horse, but a barrier spell conjured by her mother stops her. Cora tells Regina that she cannot leave unless she is accompanied by Leopold. Later, while brushing Snow White's hair, she finds a necklace given to her by Daniel. When she asks where it came from, Regina imagines revealing her hatred to Snow and strangles her, however, in reality she says she doesn't know. Regina later reveals her growing hatred to her father and she asks how her mother became the way she is. He tells her of a man who gave her the book of spells and taught her the dark arts. Regina steals the spell book off her mother and summons the owner, Rumplestiltskin. He reveals that they have met before when she was younger. Regina seeks help from Rumple, so he gives her a portal to an "annoying world", to which she can banish her mother.

Gaining Freedom
On the day of the wedding, Cora steps into Regina's room and notices the mirror. As Regina looks into both of their reflections, Cora schools her on being the heart of the commoners once she becomes queen, and since the king is weak, they can kill him to own the throne entirely. This is not something Regina is looking forward to, and as she moves to give her mother a shove into the mirror, Cora freezes her in place. Cora chastises Regina for the attempt to get rid of her as Rumplestiltskin materializes in the mirror to give encouragement. Fueled by anger, Regina breaks free of the restraints and knocks Cora into the mirror, which then shatters into pieces. Free at last, Regina leaves down a road and returns Rumplestiltskin's book to him. She claims magic isn't for her, but Rumplestiltskin is more interested to know how it felt using magic. Grudgingly, Regina acknowledges that she loved it, which is all the more reason to stay away from it. She also fears turning out like her mother, but Rumplestiltskin promises that is entirely up to her.

Regina eventually marries King Leopold. At the king's palace, he allows his new queen grow a single apple tree in the garden. The marriage is not one of love, as the king has more affection for his daughter and Regina still cares for her old love, Daniel. Unable to let Daniel go, despite that he is dead, she magically enchants his body to remain in perfect condition. Regina begins to take magic lessons with Rumplestiltskin. He makes a fireball in his hand, trying to teach her how to do the same, however, although Regina manages to create one, it does not stay alight for very long, extinguishing almost immediately.

Soon after, Rumplestiltskin begins to teach Regina the ways of the dark arts. She seems to be learning the arts well, but when she's asked to kill an innocent unicorn, she refuses, disappointing her master. When asked what's holding her back, she later visits the preserved corpse of Daniel, unwilling to let go of him. When she's later asked why she wants to learn the dark arts, she tells Rumple, after much hesitation, that she wants to bring Daniel back from the dead. Rumple tells her that isn't possible, as dead is dead. He then refuses to teach her anymore so long as she lives in the past. After Regina witnesses a conversation between Rumple and a man named Jefferson, Jefferson offers to help her bring back her beloved with help from Viktor Frankenstein, a man from another realm. They later visit the man whom examines Daniel's condition, stating it's ideal for his experimental procedure. He tells Regina he hasn't yet been successful as none of the hearts he uses are strong enough. The three visit Cora's vault and take one of the many magical hearts she has stored. Later on, as Dr. Frankenstein performs the procedure on Daniel, Regina and Jefferson watch from outside. However, the procedure fails and Frankenstein claims the heart wasn't strong enough. Regina is devastated and finally says goodbye to Daniel, realizing he can't be brought back. Regina finds Rumpelstiltskin teaching a new apprentice, so to prove she's now ready to learn, she rips out the apprentice's heart and crushes it, killing her. It is later revealed the failed procedure was faked to make Regina finally able to move on. As Regina dines quietly to herself, she is approached by Rumplestiltskin, who points out that she didn't come for her magic lesson. Regina begins to reconsider the lessons, stating she doesn't want a dark future. She adds that she needs freedom as she’s trapped in a loveless marriage and living with a stepdaughter she despises. However, Rumple tells her that her fate is sealed to be dark. Later, an upset Regina goes to her bedroom balcony and bangs on the railing, but she ends up falling to the ground, however, she’s saved by a fairy named Tinker Bell. The next day, Regina tells Tinker Bell of her lost love and loveless marriage, so the fairy vows to help her new friend find love. Regina isn't so sure about this, so Tinker Bell asks her to believe in her. Tinker Bell steals pixie dust and visits Regina, asking if she wants to fly with her. The reluctant queen finally accepts, and the two fly across Neverland, following a trail of pixie dust to Regina’s apparent true love. The trail takes them both to a tavern, where Tink points out that man with a lion tattoo is her true love. She then leaves the queen to it; however, Regina becomes afraid and decides to not talk to the man. Tinker Bell later visits Regina to find out how her meeting with her love went, but Regina lies and said it went horribly, calling her a bad fairy. Tink notices Regina was afraid, but the queen insists she wasn't before telling Tink to leave.

Evil Queen's Rising
One day, King Leopold returns to his palace accompanied by the Genie, someone Regina finds to be a way out of her loveless marriage. During the King's birthday speech, Regina is upset when he comments on his love for Snow and his late wife. The Genie attempts to cheer her up by giving her a mirror so she can see herself as the fairest in the land. During the next few nights, Regina writes in her diary how she had found love again, but this is found by the king and she's locked up in her room. She requests aid from her father, who gives the Genie a box of Agrabahn vipers to take to Regina. As she prepares to kill herself using the snakes to escape her pain, he offers to kill the king instead. He does just this and uses the snakes to kill King Leopold. When the Genie comes to give Regina the news, she explains how the vipers were found and the Genie is being accused of the murder. He realizes he was set up, so Regina drops her act and explains she never loved him, she just used him. To punish Regina, the Genie uses his wish given to him by Leopold to be forever by Regina's side. He thus becomes trapped in any mirror near Regina for all eternity. Regina uses the Magic Mirror to find someone suitable to kill Snow White and he suggests she recruit the Huntsman. Regina has her guards bring the huntsman to her and she makes a deal with him; if the Huntsman kills Snow White, the killing of wolves in the kingdom will be outlawed. He agrees. Whilst the huntsman goes into the forest to kill Snow, Regina changes her palace to look dark. When the huntsman is finally given the chance to kill Snow, he cannot bring himself to kill her. He instead kills a deer and then brings this heart to Regina as proof. As Regina is about to place Snow's heart in her heart vault, she realizes it isn't a human heart and discovers she had been deceived. Angered by this betrayal, Regina drives her hand into the Huntsman's chest, taking out his heart so that he will never feel again. As Regina squeezes the Huntsman's heart, she tells him that he is now forever her pet and that he will share her bed with her whenever she chooses. Regina warns him that he will never cross her again, and if he does, she would kill him. After Snow White's escape, Regina begins to search the villages in her kingdom so she can find her step daughter. When there is no sign of her, she gathers the villagers and asks for information while also claiming Snow is evil. When nobody tells the queen her whereabouts, she has the entire village murdered by her guards. After returning to her palace, Regina wonders why the villagers are loyal to Snow and not her. She calls forth Rumple and asks him, but he points out that they’ll always be afraid of her. Regina then asks to be transformed into another form so she can find Snow White in secret. Rumple does this, but states she will have no magic while in the other form. While in her other form, Regina enters a village to begin her search. When she sees villagers express their hatred for the queen, she tries to stop them, but ends up getting caught by her own guards. Snow saves Regina from them and then takes her to the woods to assist her wounds. Whilst under Snow's care, Snow tells Regina, whom she believes to be a simple peasant, about Regina saving her life as a child, but doesn't state who saved her. Later on, Regina, seeing the kindness in Snow, contemplates forgiving her, so she asks Snow if she'd forgive Regina if given the chance. Snow says she would, but changes her mind when she discovers the deceased villagers. Snow finally realizes that the peasant is Regina and threatens to kill her, but doesn't and the queen escapes. Regina later visits Rumple to be changed back. She understands now she won't ever be loved, so decides to punish her kingdom and become "the Evil Queen". At some point, Regina's father, Henry, is kidnapped by the Queen of Hearts, because the Queen of Hearts believes that Regina is a threat to her power. Regina gets help from a man named Jefferson to take her to Wonderland, where her father is being held captive, using one of his magical hats. When they enter, Jefferson warns her that if two enter, two must exit. Regina and Jefferson find a maze leading the the entrance of the Queen of Hearts' castle. They manage to fight their way through the dangerous maze and to a small building filled with boxes. Regina retrieves one and her and Jefferson run back to the looking glass. However, Regina uses the contents of her box to get her father back, and, as the looking glass can only take two, Jefferson is left behind, meaning that he has to break his promise to return to his daughter. The Queen's knights continue to chase after Snow White, but she eludes capture once more and is rescued by a mermaid, Ariel. Regina spies on Snow White and her new companion at the Under the Sea celebration honoring the sea goddess Ursula. To kill two birds with one stone, she disguises herself as Ursula in order to tempt Ariel with a magic bracelet that can help her remain human, so she can be with her prince, Eric, but only if someone takes her place as mermaid. As Regina had hoped, Ariel clasps the bracelet on Snow White, making the princess helpless with a mermaid's tail. The Queen chooses this moment to reveal herself as Ariel discovers the trickery too late. Though Ariel balks at the idea of leaving a friend behind, the Queen proposes that Snow White will be harmed either way and gives her the opportunity to leave since there will be no second chances. Once the advice is heeded, the Queen begins using magic to choke Snow White before Ariel rushes back to stab her in the neck with a fork. While Regina works to dislodge the utensil, Ariel rips the bracelet from Snow White's wrist, reverting them to their original forms, and the two escape by swimming away. Even so, the Queen gets the last laugh once she deliberately takes away Ariel's voice while the mermaid is trying to call out to her prince near his castle balcony. Regina relishes in the fact that Eric will never know Ariel's feelings for him as this outcome is far worse than being outright rejected. Whilst serving Rumplestiltskin, Belle begins to bond with him and he eventually gives her permission to go into the town for some items. Whilst walking down the road, she runs into Queen Regina who is riding in her carriage. She asks to walk with Belle for a while. While walking, the Queen asks Belle who she is fleeing: master or lover. By Belle's silence the Queen learns that Belle is fleeing her master-lover. Belle states that she could love him but for the darkness that has taken root in him. The Queen informs Belle, to her delight, that true love's kiss can break any curse. Belle returns and tries to break his curse with true loves kiss, but he stops her when he learns of her encounter with Regina. He assumes Regina set Belle up to make him lose his powers and then locks her away. After Belle defeats the Yaoguai, a deadly monster who tormented a village, she leaves her companion to begin her search to find Rumplestiltskin. As she looks down on the village she saved, she states that she's coming back for him. Regina, who is riding by with her guards, overhears this and sarcastically states it's sweet that she's still fighting for true love, even to the bitter end. After being asked how she was found, Regina explains her former companions, including a man named Claude, gave away her position. She then orders her guards to arrest Belle. As she's being locked up, Belle insists that she can break Rumple's curse and save him, but Regina states she already tried and failed. She adds that Rumple is beyond saving and then says she's saving Belle a lifetime of pain and misery. As they head back to the palace with Belle captive, the prisoner states she'll never stop fighting for Rumple. ("The Outsider") Shortly after capturing Belle, Regina comes to Rumplestiltskin and informs him that Belle was turned away by her father and she committed suicide, however, this was was a lie.

As a follow-up, she goes to Rumplestiltskin's home and asks him about making a deal concerning a certain mermaid. Grumpily, he expresses disinterest in making deals at the moment, so she tells him about Belle's supposed death. Upset at the news, he orders her to leave. On her way out, she mocks him, stating that he should get a new girl to clean the dusty castle. Sometime before or after, the Queen exchanges the Dark Curse for the Sleeping Curse from the witch Maleficent. One day, while traveling in the woods, she captures a Woodcutter and later chances upon his two children, Gretel and Hansel. They are searching the forest for their father, but the Queen feigns ignorance. At first, she orders them to be seized, but they fight back and run away. The Queen corners them, however, and decides to use them to sneak into a blind witch's home to steal something she lost. If they find the item, she promises to find their father for them, so the children agree. After a death-defying experience, they successfully give her the bagged item. The Queen withdraws a poisoned apple and admires their work in retrieving it. She then offers the children the opportunity to live with her, but they refuse and continue to ask for their father. She grows angry at their noncompliance and curses them to the forest to search for their father. Once they are gone, the Queen has her guards bring out the children's father and interrogates him on why the children do not want to live with her. When he proudly retorts that family never abandons one another, she banishes him to the forest as well where the three will wander in search of each other forever. As for the apple, she infuses it with the Sleeping Curse. When the Evil Queen captures Marian and orders to give away the whereabouts of the bandit Snow White, the maid refuses to talk because, despite knowing what the Queen wants to know, she believes Snow to be innocent. Regina scoffs at the fact that this woman thinks silence is bravery, as opposed to stupidity, and orders that she be executed the very next day. She walks away, unable to bear the stench of peasant for much longer, when Marian yells that she feels sorry the Queen because if she had a family of her own then she'd know she shouldn't be doing what it is she's doing. The Queen, feeling patronized, tells Marian not to tell her what she does and doesn't understand; she knows what she wants and, right now, it's Marian's head on a spike. Marian then berates her for being a monster. Later, the Queen crashes an engagement party at King Midas' castle in order to search for Snow White. Though the bandit is spotted, she escapes due to help from Princess Leia, who is imprisoned by the Queen. She sentences both the princess and the previous woman to execution the next day, but unknown to her, they later manage to break free. That night, the Queen sits in front of a dresser admiring the poisoned apple when she coolly notices Snow White attempting to sneak up on her. Snow White hurls fairy dust, intending to turn her into a harmless bug, but the Queen easily neutralizes it. As she calls for the guards to take her away, Snow White insists what she did long ago—telling Cora about Daniel—was just an honest mistake.

In turn, the Queen snaps that she never learned the most basic lesson—all actions have consequences. Soon, Snow White is tied to a post in the courtyard as the Queen conjures a fireball to incinerate her. Before the flame hits its target, Snow White uses the remaining dust to transform herself into a bug, which is unseen to the Queen's eyes. Later on, she discovers Snow White is still alive and attempting to cross a bridge, so she has the trolls attack her. Snow White escapes again, to which the furious Queen turns the trolls into bugs and stomps on one of them. She threatens to do the same to a guard if he doesn't bring her Snow White. After taking a potion to make herself fall out of love with Prince Charming, Snow White becomes angry and full of blood lust. She thus decides to kill Regina. After getting a special bow from Rumplestiltskin, Snow White heads off to kill the evil queen. On her first attempt Prince Charming gets in the way and tries to stop her, because if she kills Regina, she will become evil too. He tries to break the spell that Snow is under by kissing her, but it doesn't work and she just pushes him away. As Regina rides through the forest in her carriage, Snow almost kills Regina but Charming gets in the way, hurting himself. He explains that Snow will turn evil if she kills Regina. Snow and Charming kiss again and this time the spell is broken. However, shortly after the kiss, King George's men arrest Prince Charming. Snow White tells him she will find him.



Learning that King George has captured Snow White's true love, Prince Charming, and intends to execute him, She intervenes in time and asks that the prisoner be turned over to her custody instead. To King George, she promises to make the prince suffer more if he uses his "son" to bring an end to Snow White. Keen on the idea, King George releases the prince to her. Later on, the Queen pays Prince Charming a visit in his cell to inform him she has no plans to kill Snow White and has another form of punishment that is far worse. She walks out smiling triumphantly; holding up the poisoned apple. Prince Charming tries to run after her, but the doors of his cell close via magic. After Snow White attacks King George's castle to free Prince Charming, she discovers he is not there and communicates with him through a mirror. The Queen interrupts their chat and sets up a parley with Snow White at the place "where it all began"—the horse stables of Regina's old home.



The place is important, as it is the place where Snow White found about the love affair between Regina and Daniel, and was also where the young princess was sworn to secrecy about the matter, which she did not keep. While waiting for the other party to show up, the Queen sadly glances, near tears, at the place where Daniel died. Once Snow White arrives, the Queen leads her to a grave, revealing Daniel did not run away, but that Cora killed him because she couldn't keep a secret. Snow White hopes for a truce since since Daniel is dead, but so is King Leopold, who Regina killed, and thus both of them have suffered enough. The Queen disagrees and instead offers Snow White a poisoned apple, stating she should comply in order to ensure Prince Charming's safety, to which the princess willingly takes a bite of the forbidden fruit. As her nemesis collapses to the ground under the influence of the Sleeping Curse, the Queen smiles smugly.



After the Evil Queen learns that the Huntsman allowed Prince Charming to escape her castle, she uses magic to force him up against the wall in preparation for punishment. She decides against it once the Magic Mirror shows her Prince Charming currently busy escaping through the woods. The Queen hinders Prince Charming's efforts by entrapping him in the Infinite Forest.

Kingdom Wars
As Regina tends to her apple tree in the garden of the Dark Palace, she is approached by Claude, who is carrying the Magic Mirror. She is infuriated to have been disturbed, but the Mirror explains that she hasn't been yet, and then shows her images of Charming and Snow together, having woke the latter up. When Snow tells her prince to take back the kingdom, Regina evilly says that they’ll see about that.

Regina visits a small village where Snow is rallying an army against the Queen, but mocks it when they all run away in fear of her. Regina proposes a deal to Snow, she asks her to give up her claim to the throne and she’ll allow her, the prince and the dwarfs to live in exile for the rest of their lives. She states that is Snow refuses; she’ll kill a peasant every day until she accepts. As she begins choking a girl, Snow charges at the Queen with a sword, causing her to disappear into smoke.

Regina returns the next day to see if Snow has complied with her offer, and is angered to discover she refuses to leave. The Queen begins to choke Grumpy, and knocks the other dwarfs to the floor. Snow charges at Regina, swinging her sword, but the Queen disappears, releasing the dwarf. The princess then turns around and swings her sword again, but the Queen appears in its way and gets cut on her cheek. Snow states that the kingdom is hers and she will fight for it, causing Regina to say she’ll see her on the battlefield. She then teleports back to her castle, causing everyone to cheer and celebrate.

The Queen joins forces with King George against Snow White and Prince Charming in their quest to take back the kingdom, but her ally is soon defeated. She meets Snow White in the woods, not realizing it is a trap, until the Blue Fairy freezes and binds her magic with fairy dust. Snow White and Prince Charming lock her up in a cell in their castle while deciding her fate with their council. There, Regina is visited by her father, who says that it is his fault that he did not take care of her properly. She affirms her love for him before being brought to the scaffold for her execution. To the public, she gives her last testament by voicing her she regrets in not causing more pain and misery. She is blindfolded and the Blue Fairy readies the arrows that will fire and kill Regina, but the execution is halted by a remorseful Snow White.

While Regina is in her cell, Snow White visits to give her a chance to redeem herself; surrendering her evil ways and turning back to the person "who saved her life". Once allowed out of the cell, Regina steals Snow White's dagger and attempts to stab her with it, but it has no effect. Suddenly, Prince Charming arrives to inform Regina that the dagger has a protection spell from Rumplestiltskin and it was a test to see if she is still evil and unwilling to change.

Seeing as Regina still has harmful intentions, Snow White banishes her out of the kingdom and promises death if she ever harms anyone within the land again. Shortly after, Rumplestiltskin visits Regina in her palace to remind her of Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding ceremony, and that the protection spell only works in the Enchanted Forest. From this, she recalls the power of the Dark Curse and what it can do. With another scheme in mind, she calls for her carriage to the wedding.

Dark Curse Preparations
Just as Prince Charming and Snow White say "I do" and kiss at their wedding, everyone in the church is startled by the sound of doors opening Regina enters, sarcastically saying "Sorry I'm late". She walks towards the married couple and two guards try to stop her, but she uses her magic to push them aside. Charming tells her she has lost and she won't ruin their wedding day. Regina states she doesn't want to ruin their wedding and states she has brought them a gift. She tells them that everyone will soon lose everything they love because it will be taken away from them. She says she'll destroy everyone's happiness if it is the last thing she does. As she leaves the church, Charming calls out to her and then throws a sword in her direction. However, she simply dissipates in smoke just as it's about to hit her, leaving everyone at the church to fear her vague warning.

After transporting out of the wedding ceremony, Regina takes the Dark Curse from Maleficent, her best friend, by threatening to kill her beloved pet Unicorn. Regina attempts to enact the Dark Curse. However, she finds out that it didn't work the way it was supposed to because she had to sacrifice the heart from the thing she loved most. As Regina fumes around her castle, her father suggests asking Rumplestiltskin for help. She does so, and visits Rumple in his prison cell. He tells her to sacrifice the thing she loves most, but Regina explains she killed her best steed. Rumple angrily tells her that isn't good enough and tells her to sacrifice the thing she loves most.

She is counseled by her father, and she tells him about her meeting with Rumplestiltskin. He realizes that he is the thing she loves most and tries to persuade her out of killing him, but she thrusts her hand into his chest and she removes his heart as she whispers an apology. He drops to the floor, dead.

Following the threat by Regina at the royal wedding, Snow begins to worry about her future. With their honeymoon coming up soon, Charming tries to persuade Snow that Regina's threats are nothing but words at this moment in time. Snow reluctantly agrees to go on her honeymoon, but deceives Charming into going to her parents old summer house...where a legendary beast is said to live in the caves nearby - and it could possibly help defeat Regina. The beast is Medusa, and Snow plans on chopping its head off so she can make Regina look into its eyes. As she secretly plans to set off, Charming finds her, but instead of stopping her, joins her, as he knows this is the only way his wife will be happy. As they attempt to defeat the beast, Charming unfortunately is turned to stone when he looks into Medusa's eyes. Regina uses the reflection of a mirror in a shield to gloat to Snow, stating that she's ruining her own happy ending so she needs to do nothing. However, now noticing the mirror, Snow gets an idea. She points the mirror at Medusa, forcing her to look at herself and turn to stone. This thus releases Charming from his stone form and he returns to normal. Sometime after this, a pirate, Hook, breaks into the castle intending to take Belle hostage from the cell. Upon discovering she does not know how to kill Rumplestiltskin, he tries to take Belle's life, but Regina enters the room to stop him by taking away his hook hand. She claims to know the crocodile he wants to skin and why he came from Neverland. Regina enchants Hook's hook hand with the power to rip out a person's heart and briefs him on his task of killing her mother, Cora, who she specifically doesn't want around once the Dark Curse is enacted and a new world is created. Since Hook will be getting to Cora in another world, Wonderland, Regina will be sending him there via a magic hat. The rule of the hat is the same amount of people who go in must come out, so she has him travel with the corpse of a guard.

She specifics Cora's heart must be ripped out, and then her mother's body must be brought back while the guard's corpse is left behind. Lastly, Regina promises Hook that in the new world, he can get revenge on Rumplestiltskin, though she neglects to tell him that everyone's memory, including his own, will be wiped out due to the Dark Curse's effects. After he returns with her mother's body, she asks for a moment alone to say goodbye. Remorsely, Regina is apologetic, stating that Cora taught her that love is weakness, and that she could not have her mother in this new world alive as she loves her. She then lays the rose upon Cora's chest and leaves the room, to go and enact the Dark Curse.

After Regina enables the Dark Curse, she rides to Snow White's castle in her carriage with the curse not far behind her. As the Dark Curse is taking effect on the Enchanted Forest, Queen Regina magically teleports herself into Rumplestiltskin's prison in order to gloat. However, he points out that her victory is flawed as she'll have no one to hold it over, and she'll eventually be left with a hole in her heart that revenge just cannot fill. Not liking what he's saying, Regina accuses the malevolent imp of trying to strike a new deal with her, but doesn't bite, but the Dark One refuses, assuring that Queen that when the time comes that she realizes he's right, she will come to him for a solution. Regina continues to refute this, continuing to theorize that Rumple wants to get out of their previous deal and escape the curse, but the Dark One asks her why he'd do that, given that, not only has he been promised a cushy new life in the world he's entering with obliviousness, but he's exactly where he wants to be. This confuses the Evil Queen, who leaves Rumple locked up in his cell so that she may go taunt her sworn enemy before she forgets who Regina is.

Evil Triumph
Regina finally arrives at the castle with the curse and her guard, whom kill several of the Prince's guards. They soon spot Charming and attack him, wounding him. He manages to send his newborn daughter to the land without magic, and then he collapses. Snow White finds her husband on the floor, injured, and Regina enters. Regina asks where the child is, and Snow explains she got away, stating Regina will lose. However, as the curse finally arrives at the castle, Regina doesn't seem to care at all. As the curse prepares to send everyone to a land without magic, Regina tells Snow White she will finally get her own happy ending. When Snow asks where they are going, Regina replies "somewhere horrible". Regina is then transported to the small town of Storybrooke in Maine, where she lives under the name of Regina Mills.

A New World
Though she finally had her victory, Regina became lonely, so she adopted a boy she named Henry. However, Henry turned out to be the son of Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White and Prince David, and the one person destined to break Regina's curse.

Eventually (in the 3rd season), Regina had fallen in love with Robin Hood, but at the beginning of Season 4, Regina discovers that he had been married to Marian (due to her being saved by Emma after changing a course of history), she became angry at Emma and walked out. She decided at first that she should kill Marian. However, Regina actually saves her by defeating Marshmallow with fire. Regina then tells the magic mirror that she should find the "writer" of the fairy tales written in the book. She decides that she would find a way for villains to have their "happily ever after". This eventually leads her to go undercover by infiltrating the Queens of Darkness and Rumplestiltskin.