Once Upon A Time: Characters I Want More Of

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At last, the ABC winter hiatus is coming to a close. My favorite current TV show, Once Upon A Time, is back on air starting tomorrow, March 9. I'm so excited to see what happened after that cliff hanger ending. (Also, I'm really excited that Once Upon A Time airs on Sundays. It's so handy during Lent.)

Although the plot of Once Upon A Time is occasionally filled with holes and somewhat strange, what keeps me and most other viewers coming back are the great characters that the writers and actors have developed. Everyone has a backstory, and everyone plays a crucial role in the story. The characters are usually interesting and well rounded, but sometimes, the writers introduce a character only to have them featured in one or two episodes, and then never seen again. Often I'm intrigued by these new characters, and wish I could learn more about their stories. Here's my favorites of these mysterious characters used to to serve the plot and then dropped. (Beware of spoilers.)

Ashely Boyd/Cinderella
2 episodes

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Ashley/Cinderella first made an appearance in the fourth episode of the show, which made it seem as though she would be a major player. The scene where Emma tells Storybrooke Cinderella (aka Ashley) to not care what people said about her, and to never give up, even though it was going to be hard, held so much potential for Emma to become Ashley's mentor. Sadly, it was not to be. Ella's spunk, courage, and fearlessness when dealing with the cunning Rumpelstiltskin made me instantly like this character, but alas, she wasn't seen again until the Valentine's Day episode "Skin Deep", where her Prince proposed to her. A happy ending, but still a slightly unsatisfying one, as I would have loved to see her personality and backstory fleshed out a little more. Plus, we missed out on all of the potential adorable family moments between Ashley, Thomas, and little baby.

Jefferson/Mad Hatter
6 episodes

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Honestly, the reason I want more of the Mad Hatter is because he's so unpredictable, and so interesting to watch. Everything he does, he does to protect his daughter. He's trapped in Regina's power, but yet he finds ways to rebel. I would really love to see more about his time spent in Storybrooke, as he created thousands of hats, hoping desperately that one would work, and slowly spiraled into insanity as not even one hat would do its job. Jefferson is such an entertaining character to watch, and I wish we could have gotten to see more of him.

Maleficent
2 episodes

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Although I find the character of Maleficent rather over done for this show, I really enjoyed her little cameos. She's basically a puppet of the Evil Queen, always gullible. She's a shape shifter, and can turn into a dragon at a moment's notice. Also, she has a strange tiny pet unicorn (and I'd really like to hear the story behind that one). The Evil Queen takes pity on Maleficent in one episode, saying that Maleficent is her only friend. I think it would be really interesting to get the story behind that shaky friendship. Also, Maleficent was never really given a proper ending--is she dead? I don't think so. (And when will we find the answer to that question? It's been almost two seasons.) 

Abigail and Frederick

Kathryn/Abigail was such a major player in season 1, it was strange when she suddenly disappeared from the show. The show's creators have assured fans that Frederick and Kathryn married and lived happily ever after in Storybrooke, but I wish we could have seen some of that. Even just seeing this couple randomly around town would have been nice. So many horrible things happened to this couple (mainly Kathryn, really) and I would have liked to see something pleasant concerning Kathryn for a nice change.

Jacqueline "Jack" the Giant Killer
1 episode

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Having a female Jack the Giant Killer was completely unexpected, but yet, really cool. Once Upon A Time is known for twisting the original fairy tales into fresh, new, and exciting (and often politically correct…but we won't go there) characters, and Jack is (was, I guess) a perfect example of this. We barely got a taste of the feisty Jack, as she was only in one episode before (spoiler alert!) she came to an unfortunate demise. I would have loved a flashback or two about her and Prince James's adventures in the Enchanted Forest, hunting giants and fighting bad guys.

Daniel the Stable Boy
2 episodes

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Daniel the Stable Boy had a ton of potential, as he was responsible for starting Regina's downfall. Sadly, his featured episode painted him as a very decent, hardworking young man, and then we saw no more of him…until he came to Storybrooke as a zombie (what?!) and tried to strangle Regina. I would love to see the Daniel/Regina romance fleshed out a bit more. As this was the beginning of the end for the Evil Queen, it would have been interesting to get some backstory on this guy and why he was so incredibly important to Regina.

Ruby/Red Riding Hood
30 episodes

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Ruby/Red Riding Hood is technically more of a major character, but she is one of the most underused characters of all time. She had a brilliant backstory, was part of a shocking plot twist, she has plowed through so many obstacles, and was always there for all of her friends whenever they needed her. However, she was almost always in the background of every episode. Red was one of the my favorite characters, but I totally understand why actress Meghan Ory decided to leave the show. She definitely wasn't being given enough to do. (However, I think we will get to see more of Red…producer Adam Horowitz announced she'd make an appearance in season three! Here's hoping it will be sooner rather than later.)

Hopefully one or more of these characters will make an appearance in the second half of Season Three, but it's not looking likely, as the show has been introducing more and more new characters. The Wicked Witch of the West will show up in this Sunday's episode, and I'm sure more will be coming as we follow Emma & Hook in our world, the rest of the gang in the Enchanted Forest, Robin Hood & Mulan off somewhere adventuring, and whoever else may feature.