Prince Neal

"Nothing more innocent than a newborn babe. And you, my sweet, are the most innocent of all. The product of the truest love."

- Zelena

Prince Neal is a supporting character on Once Upon a Time. He is the newborn son of Snow White and Prince Charming. Being the product of the truest love, this child and the innocence he represents was sought after long before he was even born by the Wicked Witch of the West, who planned to use him as an ingredient in her spell to go back in time. The attempt ultimately failed, however, and the little prince was reunited with his parents. They then went on to name him Neal, after a beloved hero who had recently sacrificed himself for the sake of the town and its people.

Season 3
"People of Storybrooke, it is our great joy to introduce you to our son... Prince Neal."

- Snow White

After spending about three months living in her old palace, Snow tells Charming some very good news indeed: she's pregnant. He is stunned by this and doesn't react very positively, leading Snow to ask him if he's happy. He says that he isn't happy, he's thrilled, and the two of them share a hug. However, Charming still appears worried, leading him to go on a quest for a root that vanquishes all fear, being afraid that he'll fail this child the way he failed Emma. On this venture, he comes across Rapunzel, who was on the same quest when she became locked in a tower, and realizes what eating this root really means, helping the fair princess to face the physical embodiment of her fears. He returns with the Rapunzel, going on to reunite her with her royal parents, and Snow asks her prince what he was doing out in the woods all night. He admits to being afraid, and she realizes that it's because they lost Emma and he fears losing their next baby, but Snow assures him that everything will be okay because they'll be raising this child the same way they do everything else: together.

Snow and Charming are discussing whether or not they should announce their pregnancy to the people, but Phillip and Aurora advise them not to, explaining that Zelena wants their child for something. Zelena then shows up, turning Phillip and Aurora into flying monkeys as she does so, and comments that Snow's baby will do nicely for her plan. Eight months later, Snow is heavily pregnant and discussing with the royal council what to do about Zelena's threat, and so she, Charming, Regina, Belle and Robin Hood break into Rumple's castle to ask the resurrected Dark One - who's lost his mind and is under the Wicked Witch's control - if he knows a way to defeat his captor. With Belle's aid, he reveals that the answers they seek will come from Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, and Snow, Charming and Regina manage to track her down in the dark forest. She explains that Zelena's magic resides in her pendant, but only the powerful light magic within Emma Swan is able to defeat her. To get back to their daughter, the Charmings realize that they must re-enact the Dark Curse, much to Regina's objection. Despite this, the Queen gathers the ingredients for them, but Snow must sacrifice Charming's heart in order to complete it. They say their teary goodbyes to one another and the prince's heart is ripped out by Regina before being crushed by Snow and added to the mixture. The curse begins to enact, but Zelena flies by on her broom, sprinkling a forget potion into it so that Snow and Regina won't remember what they're setting out to do back in Storybrooke. Not wanting her husband's sacrifice to be in vain, Snow comes up with a plan to save him and asks Regina to rip out her heart and break it in half so that she and Charming can share it, thinking they are able to do this because they are each other's true love. Regina does what Snow asks and Charming revives in time to see the curse wash over the land.

When Emma returns to the newly-cursed Storybrooke, having regained her memories thanks to Captain Hook and a potion he gave her, she first visits her old apartment and knocks on the door; to her delight, David answers and remembers who she is. They hug, and he explains to her that they were cursed again when they were in the Enchanted Forest and so don't remember anything since Emma left town, meaning they lost a year of their lives. Emma wonders how he knows it's been a year if he can't remember anything that happened, at which point a heavily pregnant Mary Margaret descends the stairs, being a clear indicator of how much time has passed. She shares a joyous hug of reunion with her daughter, who is surprised that her mother is pregnant and that they've been cursed again; they are only left to wonder who is responsible...

Mary Margaret and David sit with Emma and Hook in Granny's Bed & Breakfast where they discuss the fact that people from the town have begun going missing, including three of the seven dwarfs. The next day, Henry wonders who the Charmings are and so Emma tells him that they're old friends, leading Mary Margaret to accidentally lead herself into a false story in which she was Emma's old cell mate. Regina soon sees Henry and remains distraught that he cannot remember her, and whilst Emma deals with everyone at town hall, and David deals with the fact that Little John was carried away by a flying monkey, Mary Margaret stays with Henry and begins reading her pregnancy book, shocked to find out about a head rash known as cradle cap. When Henry leaves for the bathroom, Zelena appears and assures Snow that cradle cap doesn't harm the baby, introducing herself as a former midwife back in the Enchanted Forest who missed the original curse. Mary Margaret asks Zelena to stick with her during the remainder of her pregnancy, not knowing she's actually the Wicked Witch of the West, and she says that nothing would make her happier. That night, Mary Margaret returns to the apartment with her family and is shocked to learn that people who go missing are being turned into flying monkeys, as is what happened with Little John. This leads them to realize that they're dealing with the Wicked Witch of the West, and they wonder what she's doing in Storybrooke and who she is.

Mary Margaret stays in the apartment whilst Emma, David and Hook work on tracking down the Wicked Witch, and Regina takes care of Henry. She arranges a meeting with her midwife, Zelena, who would very much like to meet with David also, so that she can prepare both halves of the couple for their upcoming baby. David arrives soon after Zelena, having been sent a text from his wife, but Mary Margaret picks up on the fact that he really doesn't want to be there. As the two of them discuss whether or not Zelena can be trusted, she is in the kitchen making tea for the both of them and drugs David with night-root whilst she's at it. The meeting ends with David having drunk a sufficient of drugged tea and Zelena allows him to get back to the important town business she pulled him away from. However, due to the night-root he ingested, his fears manifest into a cloaked version of himself which he has to defeat, eventually stabbing it with the hilt of his sword and turning his weapon into a symbol of his courage. But his courage is stolen by Zelena's magic, and she keeps the hilt safely tucked away in her purse as she leaves the apartment of Mary Margaret, who remains totally none the wiser.

Having learned that Rumplestiltskin is in fact alive and was being kept in the Wicked Witch's storm cellar, now on the loose, David and Emma leave to find him, with Mary Margaret being left at home, sad that she can't go with them in her condition since she's the best tracker in the family. Worried about the fact that her baby hasn't been moving lately, she phones Zelena, who arrives quickly, having heard panic in her patient's voice. She assures Mary Margaret that babies don't move much when labor is near, meaning she must be close to her due date; Zelena offers her a drink which helps the baby move, before stating that the little prince or princess could be arriving any day now and she won't be letting Mary Margaret have this baby without her. Later, David and Emma come bursting into the loft, weapons at the ready, wanting to know where Zelena is. Utterly confused, Mary Margaret reveals she's in the bathroom, but when they check, she is gone. Snow demands to know what is going on and they tell her that Zelena is in fact the Wicked Witch of the West, and has been playing them all along. But that isn't the worst news, for Emma reveals that she found Neal... and he died. Mary Margaret steps in to comfort her devastated daughter, and is later seen going into Mr. Gold's shop to break the news to Belle, who's in need of desperate comforting also.

Mary Margaret attends the funeral of Neal Cassidy, watching as multiple townspeople shovel dirt into his grave, and proceeds to the wake at Granny's Diner afterwards. She tries to comfort Emma, who's highly depressed over Neal's passing, but soon enough, Zelena bursts in with the Dark One's dagger held firmly in her hand; she mocks the death of Neal and Emma attempts to step in and do something, but Mary Margaret pulls her daughter back, pointing out that too many people will get hurt. Zelena tells Emma to listen to her mother, and Charming makes a point of shielding his wife's belly, leading the Wicked Witch to say she isn't there for his baby... not today, anyway. She soon reveals herself to be Regina's half-sister and challenges the Evil Queen to a fight on Main Street at sundown, allowing her time to unveil the truth of their familial connection. Emma and Mary Margaret head down to Regina's vault with her where Snow worried about Cora having booby trapped her belongings, thinking that a sleeping curse can't be good for the baby. Regina soon finds a letter which confirms Zelena being her half-sister and she leaves, incredibly distraught. Mary Margaret and the others head to Zelena's farmhouse where they plan to use Belle to lure Gold away from the Wicked Witch's cage, but their attempt fails and he remains in her control. That night, Zelena arrives on Main Street and Regina turns up late, battling her sister and soon being thrown through the face of the clock tower. Zelena then tries to rip out Regina's heart, needing it for her plan, but the Queen reveals that she took it out before she came to the fight. The witch flies away on her broom and the Charmings run to the Regina's aid as she explains that it appears Zelena is gathering ingredients, for she already has David's courage and now wants her heart.

Mary Margaret sits quietly at the apartment whilst Emma and David struggle to put together the baby's new crib. She soon suggests calling Marco, for he's an expert carpenter, but they refuse, wanting to do this themselves. Regina then stops by, having installed a protection spell around the building to keep out the Wicked Witch, and Emma mentions wanting to go to the Mayor for some lessons in magic. The Charmings offer to take care of Henry whilst she does so, however, she reveals she's already asked someone else to take care of him. They wonder why, and Emma is forced to tell her parents that Henry finds them boring, especially in comparison to Hook, much to their dismay. Mary Margaret and David are later strolling along the beach when they notice a crowd has gathered, at the center of which is Ariel, who's washed ashore. She explains that she's been traveling the realms in search of Prince Eric, who's been missing ever since the new curse took place. They dress the mermaid and bring her to Granny's Diner, where they ask Hook if he's seen Eric during the missing year, but he says he hasn't, going on to take Ariel to Gold's shop to see if a locator spell can be cast on one of the prince's possessions. Meanwhile, David tries to prove he's fun by teaching Henry how to drive his jeep, but it goes horribly wrong and Mary Margaret watches as several mailboxes are destroyed by the young man's reckless driving. When they return home, the others are shocked to hear what the Charmings let Henry do, and Mary Margaret wonders what became of Ariel. They assure her that she's living happily on an island with her prince, and Snow is overjoyed to hear her friend received such a happy ending.

After having her heart stolen by the Wicked Witch, Regina summons Mary Margaret, David, Emma and Hook to her house in order to talk to Cora and find out more about Zelena's past, which she's able to do via a spell which needs the deceased's murder weapon and murderer, Snow. The spell is successful and a portal to the afterlife opens in the ceiling, however, nothing comes out of it, which they take to mean Cora isn't interested in discussing her past with them. Mary Margaret stays behind when everyone else leaves to help Regina clean up, giving her time to apologize for killing Cora, and Regina concedes that it was a complicated situation. The two of them are then distracted by a noise upstairs and discover the ghost of Cora lurking in the house, and she tries to attack Mary Margaret, presumably wanting to avenge her own death. More than once, Regina stands in her way, holding her mother off with magic and demanding to know what she did to Zelena. Instead of answering, Cora simply possesses Mary Margaret, filling her head with memories. Regina is able to extract her mother from Snow's body and send her back into the afterlife, but Cora's memories still linger in Mary Margaret's head, and she explains that Cora didn't want to give Zelena up, but Princess Eva, Snow's mother, forced her to by spilling her secret. The others return, along with Belle, and they realize that Zelena wants Snow's baby as part of her spell to go back in time and kill Eva so that she would never have been abandoned, meaning Mary Margaret, Emma, Henry and maybe Regina will never have been born. Knowing what happened, Mary Margaret finds it hard to believe that her mother could have been so cruel to Cora, and, following a conversation about their past, Snow White and the Evil Queen finally decide to make amends and focus only on their future.

Mary Margaret and the others are discussing how to break the curse and they deduce that the key lies in Henry remembering and believing in magic, but to achieve this, they must first find his book of fairytales. Having found it in her closet one day back when the first curse was in order, Mary Margaret thinks it may be there again, and so they begin to search. Only Snow is able to pull it from a box that Emma previously searched, and she soon realizes that her daughter didn't want to find the book because she'd rather Henry's memories didn't return so that she and him can continue their harmonious lifestyle back in New York, but she agrees to do this if it means defeating Zelena once and for all. After discovering Henry is missing, they locate him down at the docks where he and Hook are being attacked by a flock of flying monkeys. The monkeys are slain and Henry is given the book, returning his memories at long last. However, just as Emma's about to kiss his forehead and break the curse, Zelena snatches him away and threatens his life. Emma is able to use her magic to take back her son, but the Wicked Witch threatens them severely before she leaves, mentioning that Hook failed the task she had set him. Finally, Regina is the one to kiss Henry's forehead and finally break the curse, and the memories of everyone in town are restored. Snow and Charming explain that they cast the curse themselves to find Emma so that her powerful light magic could defeat Zelena. On their way out, Emma demands to know what Zelena meant when she said Hook failed her, and he explains that his kiss was cursed so that, if his lips touched Emma's, her magic would be taken. Mary Margaret and David advise their daughter against trusting the pirate for he obviously lied about them sending him a message with the memory potion he used on Emma in New York, and the Charmings go on to take Henry to see Neal's grave. Whilst there, Mary Margaret goes into labor...

Snow White is driven to the hospital as she goes into labor with her child and soon gives birth to a son (Neal) in a delivery room. However, as soon as the baby's born, Zelena bursts in and uses her magic to steal the baby, taking him back to her barn to be used as an ingredient in her time travel spell. He is placed in a basket which is then placed on a dish symbolizing the West, for he is a product of the truest of love and therefore extremely representative of innocence. Meanwhile, Prince Charming vows to get back his son, and so he, his daughter Emma, the formerly Evil Queen Regina, Captain Hook and Robin Hood show up at the barn just as the spell begins to enact. A blue light emanates from the baby, swirling with the light from the other ingredients to form a time portal in the center of the compass-like symbol they've been placed around. Soon enough, Regina is able to use light magic to defeat Zelena, who is then locked up and later killed. When the battle is done, David approaches his newborn son and carries him out of the basket; Emma asks if the baby's okay, and David replies that he's fine, commenting that his son is resilient, just like his big sister. The baby is then brought back to its mother in the hospital who is overjoyed to be reunited with her child. The child itself becomes the center of a tender moment shared between Mary Margaret, David, Emma and Henry, his nephew.

David and Mary Margaret's baby is brought home to the latter's loft and his sister, Emma, wonders what her parents are going to name their baby because she keeps just calling him "Hey There". They tell her that, in the Enchanted Forest, there's a royal tradition that a new baby is announced at a coronation before the entire kingdom, and so they decide to hold a similar event at Granny's Diner. When Henry brings up an unrelated and uncomfortable subject for Emma, she dodges it by joking that his grandparents don't know what to call their child and are using a fairytale tradition as an excuse to by themselves some time. The baby is soon brought to Granny's Diner where he's read the story of how his parents met out of Henry's book of fairytales. Emma is annoyed to be hearing this story again when she can't even hear her own brother's name, but David replies that he wants his son to know where he comes from. After Emma is provoked into storming out, everyone at the coronation becomes distracted by Zelena's time portal, which was opened at the time of her death. Emma and Hook inadvertently fall through it, accidentally altering the past.

After getting time back on track, Emma and Hook return to the future by replicating the magic that took them back in the first place through means of a powerful fairy's wand. She returns to the coronation at Granny's Diner where she's finally able to call her parents "mom" and "dad", going on to explain to them her escapades in the Enchanted Forest of the past. Now that she's made it into Henry's book of fairytales, Snow and Charming point out that she's a proper princess now, and so she requests for her first "princess-ly" act that she be told her little brother's name. Mary Margaret agrees to her daughter's terms and an announcement is then made. The royal couple explain that they have decided to name their newborn son after a hero who recently sacrificed himself to save the town and everyone in it; someone who loved them and who they loved back; thus, the child's name is revealed to be Prince Neal. Emma is touched to hear that her brother is named after her lost love, Henry's father, and Neal remains in his mother's arms as she and David share a tender moment late into the night.

Season 4
Commotion breaks out at the little prince's coronation ceremony when Regina storms out due to her boyfriend's wife having returned from the grave. Neal's parents storm out in order to see what the ruckus is all about, but they're too late to help stop the former Queen from walking away in a huff. The next day, Neal sleeps in his stroller as mother, father, sister and nephew walk with him. Henry and David lag behind so that the former can attempt to phone Regina and find out where she is, whilst Mary Margaret and Emma talk about the latter's relationship with Hook. Hook soon arrives with some news, but everyone becomes distracted when a giant snow monster attacks the town. However, Regina defeats it with ease, leaving soon after. It is now evident that someone with the magical powers to control ice and snow is loose in the town.

Elsa, the Ice Queen, decides that no one is leaving town until she finds her sister, Anna, and so she erects an ice wall around the perimeter of Storybrooke and unintentionally cuts off all the electricity as she does so. With David and Emma off dealing with the ice threat, Grumpy, Granny and Happy head over to Mary Margaret's place under the guise of visiting Neal but really in order to goad her into getting the power back on, pointing out that they helped her take back the kingdom and she cast the new curse, so Storybrooke is her kingdom now and she has to rule it. At the local power station, Snow struggles to accomplish anything and yells at her apparent royal subjects when they complain at her, causing them to storm off and leave. When Neal needs feeding, Mary Margaret gets the idea that the reason the power isn't turning back on is because fuel is needed, and so she follows the fuel pipe and manages to turn it on, thus restoring electricity to the town. She and Neal then return home where Charming helps Elsa discover the fact that her missing sister is alive, although they're still unaware of her whereabouts. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent that someone with similar powers to Elsa is preventing her from being able to thaw the ice wall.

As Mayor, Mary Margaret hosts her very first fireside chat in what used to be Regina's office, deciding to multitask by bringing baby Neal with her as well. As the meeting goes on, however, all anyone seems interested in is the ice wall surrounding the town... and then Marian collapses thanks to an ice curse. Everyone is quick to blame Elsa, but Emma defends her new friend and works with Charming to prove her innocence, eventually finding out that the real culprit is, in actuality, the mysterious Snow Queen. Meanwhile, Mary Margaret is struggling to both hold her baby and assemble his stroller when Archie approaches, noticing her dilemma and realizing that the reason she's spending so much time with her newborn son is because she missed Emma's childhood completely and wants to soak up every second of his. She doesn't appreciate the impromptu therapy session, but the conscience continues in assuring her that she and her son will be much happier if she lets him go once in a while. Mary Margaret ponders this whilst Regina, who doesn't appreciate the slight tweaks made to the decor of the office, finds a way to stall Marian's affliction.

When Emma asks Hook out on a date and dresses to impress, baby Neal is present whilst Mary Margaret is happy to see her daughter being courted and takes a picture of her before she leaves, she and David thinking that this makes up for them never getting to take her to a ball when she was growing up. Hook arrives and the Charmings are all shocked to see that he has two hands, at which he explains that he made a deal with the Dark One to make it so (which he later goes back on, due to extenuating circumstances). Later that night, following the goodnight kiss, Emma arrives home to find her two parents waiting on the couch. Mary Margaret is excited and wants to know everything whereas David is more relaxed and would rather not hear about what the pirate's been getting up to with his daughter. Feeling swamped, Emma continuously comments that she needs to get her own place, and as she heads to bed, Mary Margaret takes note of how happy she seems which leads David to comment that it seems Hook really has changed. Emma exclaims that she can hear them.

Mary Margaret has reservations about leaving Neal behind with Belle so that she can go on a hike with David, not wanting to be separated from her child, but he assures her that everything's going to be okay and manages to convince her to come. First, however, they make a quick stop at the Sheriff's Station where they soon realize that the thief, Will Scarlet, has escaped. David suggests tracking and capturing him, to his wife's confusion, but he points out that it will be like the old days: Snow White and Prince Charming on an adventure but without the Evil Queen on their backs. The two of them then head off in search of the thief, but Mary Margaret wants to go home whilst David continues to search. He goes on, but she almost immediately spots Will digging something up nearby. She approaches to find that he's searching for his travel bag, which is buried along with the map he needs to find his travel bag. Not believing anyone could be that stupid, Mary Margaret deduces that David actually set this man free so that she could feel good about capturing him. She gets Will to admit all of this in exchange for a pardon, and he walks away a free man. Back at the apartment, David returns home and his wife, who's lying in bed with baby Neal, who's survived the hour with Belle, reveals that she "caught" the thief, going on to explain that she knows all about his plan. However, David reveals that Will really did escape and really is that stupid and lied to her to get a pardon. This stuns Mary Margaret, but David urges that maybe Will earned his pardon if it means it's helped her find that part of herself again.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.