True Love, and its action True Love's Kiss, is a type of magic featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It first appears in the first episode of the first season of Once Upon a Time.
Uses
True Love is the most powerful and simple form of magic with capabilities of breaking curses through the act of true love's kiss. It is also able to reverse effects of any negative witchcraft. ("Skin Deep," "Heart of Darkness")
In his endeavor to capture the elusive and rare physical form of true love, Rumplestiltskin sought out to make deals with both Snow White and Prince Charming. On both occasions, he took a strand of each person's hair as payment. Combining both hairs in a bottle, he successfully created a true love potion. ("Heart of Darkness")
Numerous times, true love's kiss has been used to bring someone out of a Sleeping Curse. Emma's, and later Regina's, success in using true love's kiss on Henry proves that true love can exist in not only romantic relationships but also parental relationships. ("Pilot", "Lost Girl", "A Land Without Magic", "New York City Serenade", "A Curious Thing", "Broken", "Queen of Hearts")
As some practitioners of witchcraft can rip out another person's heart, those born as a product of true love, such as Emma, have the power to resist such magic. However, Aurora, who is also a product of true love, had her heart ripped out, meaning it is still possible to accomplish. ("Queen of Hearts"), "Enter the Dragon", "Into the Deep")
True love manifests in various ways, and it doesn't necessarily have to be romantic love, but can occur within family and friendship bonds and even through loyalty; such as Felix's loyalty to Pan. ("Going Home")
In special situations, when the love is extremely true and pure, then the pair sharing true love can survive with having one heart between the two (both metaphorically and literally); such as Snow White and Prince Charming sharing two halves of one heart. ("A Curious Thing")
According to Elsa, the only way to cure a freezing spell is an act of true love. Regina takes this to be a true love's kiss. ("Rocky Road")
Simple-looking objects, such as Ingrid and her sisters' ribbons, can be infused with true love, which causes them to have some magical abilities. ("The Snow Queen")
The first spark of two people's True Love can very rarely create a powerful sprout made of True love. ("Heartless")
A pixie dust flower has the ability to unite anyone who shares true love, and can return lost memories, awaken someone from a coma and even create Magic Doors. ("Awake")
Known Practitioners
- Aladdin
- Belle
- Emma Swan
- Henry Mills
- King Stefan
- Mary Margaret Blanchard
- Gideon
- Jasmine
- Prince Charming/David Nolan
- Prince Phillip
- Regina Mills
- Ruby
- Will Scarlet
- Zelena
Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- True love's kiss will not break a Dark One's curse if the dark one does not want to give up the power.[1] When the afflicted wants it, it is no longer a curse. Nor will true love's kiss work if both people involved are Dark Ones.[2] ("Skin Deep," "The Price")
- True lovers can feel the pain of one another if one of them is harmed in some way. ("An Apple Red as Blood," "To Catch a Thief," "The Final Battle Part 2")
- True love's kiss is so powerful that it can break not one, but two curses simultaneously. ("A Land Without Magic")
- True love magic is one of the main aspects of light magic. ("Kansas")
Props Notes
- The inscription on the True Love Scale reads "ΜΟΝΟ ΜΙΑ ΚΑΡΔΙΑ ΓΕΜΑΤΗ ΜΕ ΑΛΗΘΙΝE [sic] ΑΓΑΠE ΜΠΟΡΕΙ",[3] which is Greek for "only a heart full of true love can pass". (Note that "ΑΛΗΘΙΝE" is a misspelling of "ΑΛΗΘΙΝΗ", the Greek word for "true".) ("Firebird")
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 | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned |
"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": |
Appears | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Appears |
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": |
Appears | Absent | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Appears | Mentioned | Mentioned |
"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": |
Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Mentioned | 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 | Archive | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | 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": |
Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Appears | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned |
Once Upon a Time: Season Four | ||||||||||
"A Tale of Two Sisters": |
"White Out": |
"Rocky Road": |
"The Apprentice": |
"Breaking Glass": |
"Family Business": | "The Snow Queen": |
"Smash the Mirror": |
"Fall": | "Shattered Sight": |
"Heroes and Villains": |
Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent |
"Darkness on the Edge of Town": |
"Unforgiven": | "Enter the Dragon": | "Poor Unfortunate Soul": |
"Best Laid Plans": | "Heart of Gold": | "Sympathy for the De Vil": |
"Lily": | "Mother": | "Operation Mongoose Part 1": |
"Operation Mongoose Part 2": |
Absent | Mentioned | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent |
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 | Mentioned | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Mentioned | |
"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 | Mentioned | Absent | Appears | Mentioned | Appears | Mentioned | Mentioned | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
"The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "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": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Appears |
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland | ||||||||||
"Down the Rabbit Hole": | "Trust Me": | "Forget Me Not": | "The Serpent": | "Heart of Stone": | "Who's Alice": | "Bad Blood": | ||||
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | ||||
"Home": | "Nothing to Fear": | "Dirty Little Secrets": | "Heart of the Matter": | "To Catch a Thief": | "And They Lived...": | |||||
Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears |
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 | Archive | Archive | Archive | ||||||
"Secrets of Storybrooke": | "Dark Swan Rises": | "Evil Reigns Once More": | "The Final Battle Begins": | |||||||
Archive | Archive | Archive | Archive |
Other Appearances | ||||||||||
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Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.
Types of Magic | |||
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