The Enchanted Cloak is a magical item featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the first episode of the first season.
The enchanted cloak is based on Red Riding Hood's cloak from the fairytale "Little Red Riding Hood".
History
Reason: Origin of the cloak according to Red's Untold Tale
Some time ago, in the Enchanted Forest, Widow Lucas recognizes her granddaughter, Red Riding Hood, has inherited the werewolf shape shifting gene passed down in their family. Procuring a magic cloak from the wizard Knubbin, Granny gives the cloak Red for her thirteenth birthday. She always reminds Red Riding Hood to wear it. However, her granddaughter believes it is just an ordinary cloak since Widow Lucas never tells her about the shape shifting ability. While Red Riding Hood begins a budding romance with the blacksmith's son, Peter, she also transforms into a fearsome wolf during the night without realizing it. Soon, the mayor sends men to kill the beast, but they are murdered by the wolf. Red Riding Hood befriends Snow White, and after conducting their own investigation, they suspect the wolf may be Peter. During the night, Snow White masquerades as Red Riding Hood by wearing the cloak in bed while the latter talks to Peter about his condition. When the full moon rises, however, it is Red Riding Hood who turns into a wolf and kills him. Luckily, Granny arrives in time to knock her granddaughter unconscious with a silver arrow while Snow White throws the cloak onto her friend. Disheveled, Red Riding Hood, now in human form, discovers she is actually the wolf after seeing Peter's corpse. As another hunting party approaches to capture the wolf, she and Snow White flee. ("Red-Handed")
Eluding the hunters, the two women lay low in the woods. Noticing her cloak is torn, Red Riding Hood fears transforming again. Afraid of harming Snow White, she sends her away, though the latter promises to come back. In the morning, Red Riding, relieved the cloak's magic held, takes it off and goes to wash up at a stream. Another shape shifting werewolf, Quinn, steals the cloak and intends to burn it, but she stops him from doing so. Later, he takes Red Riding Hood to see his leader as well as her mother, Anita, who teaches her to stop depending on the cloak and embrace the wolf inside. By chance, Snow White stumbles into the werewolves' den and regroups with Red Riding Hood, who reassures her pack members that her friend is harmless. However, the Queen's guards, in pursuit of Snow White, storm in. A battle ensues, with Quinn being one of the casualties, which devastates Anita. Blaming Snow White for his death, Anita attempts to take her life, though Red Riding Hood interferes. During the dispute, mother and daughter shift into their wolf forms and attack each other. Soon, Anita accidentally impales herself on a spike as she accuses her daughter of siding with a human. Red Riding Hood attests to choosing herself because she is not a killer, and states that neither is Anita. After burying her mother, she resumes wearing the cloak and then leaves with Snow White. ("Child of the Moon")
On Snow White's request, Red Riding Hood arrives to the campsite of Prince Charles and Prince Charming to help them sneak into the Queen's palace and rescue Princess Leia. Shortly after meeting them, she strips off her cloak, to which Prince Charming gives her a questioning look. Only later, Red Riding Hood shifts into a wolf as they enter the prison. She deliberately attacks one of the guards while Prince Charming knocks him out. Having broken in as planned, Hook drops the cloak over wolf Red Riding Hood as she instantly reverts to human form. ("Snow Drifts")
Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- The enchanted cloak appears in the title card for "7:15 A.M.",[1] "Red-Handed",[2] "Child of the Moon"[3] and "Ruby Slippers".[4]
- There are at least three different cloaks:
- The cloak in "Pilot"[5] and "The Stranger".[6]
- The cloak in "7:15 A.M.",[7] "What Happened to Frederick",[8] "Heart of Darkness"[9] and "An Apple Red as Blood".[10]
- The cloak in "Red-Handed",[11] "Lady of the Lake",[12] "Child of the Moon"[13] and "The Cricket Game".[14]
- Widow Lucas mentions that she paid "an arm and a leg" for the cloak. ("Red-Handed")
Fairytales and Folklore
- In one version of the fairytale, "The True History of Little Golden-Hood" by Charles Marelle from 1888 (translated into English for The Red Fairy Book, an 1890 anthology by Andrew Lang), Red Riding Hood wears a golden cloak which repels the wolf because it's enchanted. On Once Upon a Time, Red Riding Hood's cloak keeps the wolf within her at bay while she wears it. ("Red-Handed" et al.)
Costume Notes
- One of the fans at Isaac's book signing is dressed up as Red Riding Hood and wears a replica of her cloak.[15] ("Operation Mongoose Part 1")
Appearances
Once Upon a Time: Season One | ||||||||||
"Pilot": | "The Thing You Love Most": | "Snow Falls": | "The Price of Gold": | "That Still Small Voice": | "The Shepherd": | "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter": | "Desperate Souls": | "True North": | "7:15 A.M.": | "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree": |
Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent |
"Skin Deep": | "What Happened to Frederick": | "Dreamy": | "Red-Handed": | "Heart of Darkness": | "Hat Trick": | "The Stable Boy": | "The Return": | "The Stranger": | "An Apple Red as Blood": | "A Land Without Magic": |
Absent | Appears | Absent | Appears | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Archive | Appears | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Two | ||||||||||
"Broken": | "We Are Both": | "Lady of the Lake": | "The Crocodile": | "The Doctor": | "Tallahassee": | "Child of the Moon": | "Into the Deep": | "Queen of Hearts": | "The Cricket Game": | "The Outsider": |
Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent |
"In the Name of the Brother": | "Tiny": | "Manhattan": | "The Queen Is Dead": | "The Miller's Daughter": | "Welcome to Storybrooke": | "Selfless, Brave and True": | "Lacey": | "The Evil Queen": | "Second Star to the Right": | "And Straight On 'Til Morning": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Three | ||||||||||
"The Heart of the Truest Believer": | "Lost Girl": | "Quite a Common Fairy": | "Nasty Habits": | "Good Form": | "Ariel": | "Dark Hollow": | "Think Lovely Thoughts": | "Save Henry": | "The New Neverland": | "Going Home": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"New York City Serenade": | "Witch Hunt": | "The Tower": | "Quiet Minds": | "It's Not Easy Being Green": | "The Jolly Roger": | "Bleeding Through": | "A Curious Thing": | "Kansas": | "Snow Drifts": | "There's No Place Like Home": |
Appears | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears |
Once Upon a Time: Season Five | |||||||||||
"The Dark Swan": | "The Price": | "Siege Perilous": | "The Broken Kingdom": | "Dreamcatcher": | "The Bear and the Bow": | "Nimue": | "Birth": | "The Bear King": | "Broken Heart": | "Swan Song": | |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | |
"Souls of the Departed": | "Labor of Love": | "Devil's Due": | "The Brothers Jones": | "Our Decay": | "Her Handsome Hero": | "Ruby Slippers": | "Sisters": | "Firebird": | "Last Rites": | "Only You": | "An Untold Story": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Comics | |||||||||||||||||||
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Once Upon a Time: Novels | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Once Upon a Time: Specials | ||||||||||
"Magic is Coming": |
"The Price of Magic": | "Journey to Neverland": | "Wicked is Coming": | "Storybrooke Has Frozen Over": | ||||||
Archive | Archive | Absent | Archive | Archive | ||||||
"Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
Archive | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Other Appearances | ||||||||||
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Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.