So far Once Upon a Time season 2 has given us Hook, Mulan, the Queen of Hearts and Frankenstein. These are the characters from fairytales and literature we want to see next!
Before season 2 of Once Upon a Time began airing, Hypable released a top 10 list of fairytale characters we wanted to see on the show – including Hook and Mulan, who have both appeared.
Since then, we have also received hints that both Aladdin and the Little Mermaid will be appearing sooner or later. It is also likely that we’ll be seeing Peter Pan – but we’re still waiting on some of the others like Robin Hood, the Pied Piper of Hamelin and the Sandman!
Now that the story has opened up more and we know that characters from classic literature like Frankenstein are likely to appear as well, here’s our new list of characters we’d like to see next.
Note: We realize that half of these would never be able to appear on the show, and that the other half would be very silly indeed – but it’s a wishlist, we’re dreaming big.
Dracula
Since we already have Frankenstein and zombies, it doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch to imagine that Once Upon a Time will eventually bring in vampires – and specifically Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula.
What would make Dracula a unique addition to the show would be that, no matter what context, this character will always have a unique timelessness which might nicely contrast the modernisation of a lot of the stories already adapted for Once Upon a Time.
When Dracula appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he felt very out of place, this posh and traditional persona trying to keep the old ways alive in the postmodern, fast paced Sunnydale setting. And he ended up looking a bit ridiculous, clearly out of his element.
He’d fit right in on Once Upon a Time, where the tone is light and slightly over-the-top, to give the show a real fairytale feel. And we can imagine some hilarious scenes where he and Hook try to out-swagger each other.
Sherlock Holmes
How could Once Upon a Time resist introducing Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal legend, Sherlock Holmes himself? Especially seeing as the character is currently experiencing an unprecedented popularity in pop culture what with the movies, the Sherlock series and Elementary.
Sherlock Holmes would be an interesting addition to Once because, like Frankenstein, he is very decidedly not from any land that could be considered fairytale-y. A classic gentleman from Victorian-era London, he’d be a right sight in modern-day Storybrooke, and with his handy detective skills, couldn’t you just see him working with Emma trying to solve Sheriff cases?
Introducing Sherlock Holmes would probably be the smartest move Once Upon a Time could make in terms of bringing in new audiences to the show right now, but if they do it, we hope they manage to make their version of the character stand out from Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Lee Miller’s portrayals.
Hercules
We have already seen echoes of the Hercules story on Once Upon a Time (most notably when the characters entered the underworld full of fire), but so far, the show has largely stayed away from mythological figures and themes. Enough of that, we say; give us some Greek Mythology, Percy Jackson style!
There is so much scope both for humour and drama by delving fully into this genre: cyclopes and demigods, Troy, and of course the origin story for King Midas (who has already appeared in the show). And Hercules, we think, would be a particularly interesting character to explore. He is half human, half god, and his strength is legendary, yet as the Disney version has shown us, he has a lot of faults and doubts about himself, too.
Maybe if they go back to the underworld later in the show we’ll find out that it’s actually Hades there, and we’ll see Hercules trying to lead Meg out without looking back at her…
Merlin
We need a powerful force in Storybrooke/fairytale land who, for once, fights on the good side. Seeing as we’ve already had Lancelot (played by Sinqua Walls), it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine more characters from Arthurian Legend appearing in the future, and while we’d love to see King Arthur and Queen Guinevere appear too, we think the old and wise wizard Merlin would be the most interesting.
Finally, here’d be a person who could fight Rumpelstiltskin on his own terms. Magic wielders, other than Emma, have so far mostly been seen as evil and corrupted, but we know that every coin has two sides. Merlin might appear in Storybrooke to teach Emma how to wield her magic, or we might see him fighting alongside Snow and Charming to defeat Regina. Either way, we hope they cast Colin Morgan in the role – he’ll be looking for a job.
Santa Claus
Um, ok, so Christmas is over. But we’ve got it on good authority that there’ll be another one next year. And talk about classic fairytale characters, are we right?!
How epic of a holiday episode could Once Upon a Time pull off if they actually had Santa Claus appear? The show has a number of different children that have gone through some horrible ordeals – Henry, Grace and Hansel and Gretel, for example – and we could see the adults calling upon an old friend to restore their faith in Christmas.
So many other dramas have had holiday specials, and it would be perfect for a feel-good family show like Once Upon a Time. Plus, we can’t help but wonder what kinds of neat twists they might put on Santa’s backstory… are we talking The Santa Clause, here? We need to know.
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