Ingrid

"''Mirrors reflect our mood, our desire, our essence. They are a temporary receptacle for some tiny fraction of our soul."

Ingrid, also known as the Snow Queen, is a supporting character on Once Upon a Time. Growing up, Ingrid was remarkably close to her sisters, Gerda and Helga, until she and the latter vanished under mysterious circumstances, leading the royal family of Arendelle to opt to let go of their memories of them. Trapped in a magical urn by people who feared and misunderstood her magic, Ingrid was set free by her niece Elsa, with whom she attempted to form a strong bond, in an immense desire to replace the family she'd once lost. Things didn't go as planned, and Ingrid eventually found herself in a land without magic, where she became a foster mother to a young Emma. Many years later, in the town of Storybrooke, Ingrid, under the alias of Sarah Fisher, posed as the innocent local ice cream lady, waiting patiently for her plans to regain a family to unfold and bring forth her happy ending.

Before the Curse
"Ingrid, you killed our sister... You're... you're a monster!"

- Gerda

A children, Ingrid and her two younger sisters, Helga and Gerda play in the gardens of their castle in Arendelle. They come across a man who attempts to kidnap the latter two, but Ingrid accidentally kills him with ice magic. She fears she's an uncontrollable monster, but her sisters promise to be there for her and they make ribbon bracelets to symbolise their love. Many years later, a ball is held at their castle to find suitors for the girls. As Helga and Gerda prepare themselves, Ingrid reveals she isn't going because of her unstable magic. However, as the ball takes place, Ingrid pays a quick visit to it, but when she sees her sisters having fun, she becomes sad and decides to leave. As she packs her things she's caught by her sisters who persuade her to stay as Gerda has heard of a powerful sorcerer that can help contain magic; it is none other than Rumplestiltskin. They visit Rumple and he gives them a magical urn, which can trap any magical being, in return for their ribbon bracelets, as they're a symbol for love and this makes them tainted with magic. Once they return home, the Duke of Weselton, Helga's suitor, makes a move on Ingrid, but she defends herself with magic. He attempts to lie to Helga about what happened, but she doesn't believe him. A fight breaks out and the Duke makes threats, so Ingrid attempts to stop him with magic. However, Helga gets in the way and she turns to ice before crumbling into pieces. Gerda discovers Ingrid beside their sisters dead frozen body and she begins to fear her. Despite Ingrid's pleas for help, Gerda uses the magic urn to trap her. Gerda then visits Grand Pabbie and asks him to remove everyone in Arendelle's memories of her two sisters.

When Prince Hans and his twelve brothers declare war on Arendelle, they seek out an ancient urn that can subdue any magical being. However, Kristoff over hears this and reports it to Elsa. The two seek out to find the urn, but once they do they're stopped by Hans and his brothers. Hans threatens to kill Kristoff if Elsa doesn't hand over the urn. Eventually she agrees to and Hans opens the urn. A while liquid pours out and everyone assume it will consume Elsa, however, it ends up taking the form of the Snow Queen. She turns Hans to ice for calling her a monster and the brothers run away in fear. Elsa is grateful for being saved, so the Snow Queen explains nobody should be trapped in that urn...especially someone as special as her. Eventually they head back to Elsa's castle and the Snow Queen shows signs of nostalgia, especially when noticing a painting of the late king and queen. She reveals to Elsa that the queen was her sister, making her Elsa's aunt. Elsa points out that she never knew of a sister, but the Snow Queen supposes it was to spare her of a hurtful past. When she asks where the queen is now, Elsa reveals she died at sea. She then explains that her sister Anna is missing, so the Snow Queen promises to help find her as that's what family does.

Anna finally returns home to Arendelle after finding disappointing information during her expedition. After a joyous reunion with Elsa, she's introduced to Ingrid, who is revealed to be her aunt. A confused Anna points out that her mother never mentioned a sister, but Ingrid explains that memories for her were probably too painful. She then reveals that she was trapped in a magic urn by people who didn't understand her magic; Anna is shocked to discover someone else in the family has ice magic. The young princess later visits her fiancé, Kristoff, and expresses her suspicions over Ingrid, stating that she'll visit Pabbie to get some answers. However, Ingrid overhears this entire conversation. Anna goes on her journey to Pabbie and on the way she meets Belle. Once she reaches her destination, Pabbie reveals that Anna's mother in fact had two sisters and after a tragic incident took Ingrid and Helga, the second sister, away, he was asked to remove all memories of them from everyone in Arendelle. This news startles Anna so she hurries back home, however, on the way a storm approaches. Anna senses that it's the work of her aunt. The storm knocks Anna off a cliff, and after being left to drop by her new companion Belle, she is taken hostage by Ingrid. Ingrid also comes into posession of the magic hat Anna obtained during her adventures in the Enchanted Forest. Ingrid locks Anna up in a cell and explains that she can't be a part of her happy family as she doesn't understand her. Despite Anna's pleas, Ingrid reveals that she will turn Elsa against her and find a replacement.

After burying the sorcerer's hat in Arendelle, Ingrid visits the sorcerer's apprentice in the Enchanted Forest to find a third sister. He tells her such a person is rare but Ingrid insists on waiting. Back in Arendelle, Ingrid reveals to Elsa what Anna learned during her journey and lies that Anna intended to use the hat on her. Elsa is doubtful so Ingrid explains that Gerda trapped her in the urn and Anna will never understand her. Instead of turning on one another, the two sisters conspire to trap Ingrid in the urn, however, Ingrid is one step ahead and traps Anna again. Under duress, Anna tells a story of a grief stricken king who cursed his kingdom with a mirror which makes people see the worst in others. Ingrid reveals she wants to cast this spell, but states it's hard to enact and she'll need many pieces. With one shard, she casts the spell on Anna. Elsa is shocked at Anna's anger, but Ingrid explains that its a spell to help her true emotions to surface. She urges Elsa to freeze Anna, but she refuses and Anna ends up trapping her in the urn. A shocked Ingrid becomes enraged and embraces her inner monster, freezing Anna, Kristoff and the whole of Arendelle. Having learned the magic of the rock trolls, Ingrid removes Elsa's memories. Rumplestiltskin shows up asking for the hat, but Ingrid claims not to know where it is. As a result he takes the urn from Ingrid and promises to return it once she hands over the hat. Later, as Ingrid goes to get the hat, the apprentice finds her and reveals that he located a third sister. Ingrid gives him the hat and gains passage to another realm, where she shall wait patiently for her third sister to arrive.

Shortly after arriving in a land without magic, Ingrid walks around the streets of Boston. Still dressed in her Snow Queen's outfit from Arendelle, she attracts curious looks from people. While roaming the streets of the new world, Ingrid eventually comes across a "psychic" known as Madam Faustina. She enters the psychic's shop in order to learn more information about her third sister, who will arrive in a town named Storybrooke in twenty-eight years. Madam Faustina, posing as a real psychic, is more than happy to cooperate...but demands payment first of all. Ingrid uses her necklace as payment and Faustina accepts. She begins looking into her crystal ball and acts as if she knows the future. When Ingrid demands the name of the person she wants to learn about, she is told it's Susan. However, due to the apprentice's scroll, she knows for a fact that it is Emma. She storms out of the shop, berating the charlatan for her trickery. Madam Faustina follows her out, yelling at her with a thick New York accent and threatening to hit her with a baseball bat. Ingrid tries to punish the trickster with magic, but she is shocked to find out her powers don't work any more.

Early Life
The video camera Emma stole from the mansion she once squatted in is taken by Kevin, an obnoxious boy in her new home, but soon returned to her by her foster mother Ingrid. However, Kevin threatens to make her life a living hell if she does not give him the camera the next day, and so she tries running away that night. She is caught by Ingrid, who heavily hints how frightened Kevin is of spiders, and so Emma decides to stay a little longer, able to use this information against him. A while later, Emma and Ingrid are seen at an amusement park together, and the former is having trouble with the claw machine. Ingrid teaches her how to utilize her concentration and, eventually, Emma is able to receive a toy. She soon spots a suspicious envelope in Ingrid's bag and suspects that she's to be moving home soon, but Ingrid quickly reveals that the envelope in fact contains adoption papers, much to Emma's delight. Ingrid realizes that it might be hard for Emma to see her as a mother, but promises to be the best big sister ever, and later, the two are seen strolling together when Ingrid suddenly pulls Emma in front of a car and orders her to stop it with magic. Emma is stunned, only just able to get out of the way in time, and demands to know what Ingrid was thinking. She explains that a traumatic experience when she was a child unlocked her magical powers, and she thought the same could happen for Emma, but Emma simply thinks that Ingrid is crazy, and she runs away. Many years later, Ingrid goes in search of Storybrooke in order to wait for Emma, who, according to prophecy, should arrive on her 28th birthday.

Season 1
Emma walks into Ingrid's ice cream shop, Any Given Sundae, wanting to buy a couple pints of ice cream for Henry; however, she immediately recognizes her old foster mother and is shocked, wondering such things as what she's doing there and why she doesn't appear to have aged in a decade. Ingrid explains that she came to Storybrooke soon after Emma ran away in order to wait for her, and time works differently there than anywhere else. She tries convincing her that everything Henry has been telling her about magic and fairytales is true, but Emma simply believes that Ingrid is insane, and tries calling Sheriff Graham. Before Emma can dial, however, Ingrid takes out a purple rock and uses it to harvest the blonde's memories, making it so that she is unable to recall any encounter that she's had with Ingrid in the past. Emma then happily accepts those pints of ice cream, as well as some rocky road on the house. She tastes it first and finds it delicious, at which Ingrid reveals that her secret is a lot of patience and a lot of love.

Season 4
"Soon I will have what I want: a family that loves me."

After the power cut caused by Elsa's ice wall is fixed and Elsa becomes able to control her magic, she tries to unfreeze the wall... however, she can't. She points out that this is odd because she's the only one with ice powers. Grumpy decides to visit the local ice cream parlour. The woman working inside serves the dwarf and gives him his chocolate ice cream with a smile. He thanks her and questions if she lost a lot of merchandise during the power outage. She points out to him that she didn't lose anything, supposing she must be lucky. She gives him a creepy smile, but Grumpy is oblivious to this. He smiles in return and leaves the shop. After the dwarf leaves the shop, she looks down at a bucket of unfrozen ice cream and with the wave of her hand, she freezes it. She dips her finger in and licks the ice cream off of her finger. She menacingly walks to the fridges at the back of her shop and she leans against them. The moment her back touches the wall, it instantly freezes over.

When Robin Hood, Marian and Roland visit the Snow Queen's ice cream shop, she acts welcoming to the new arrival to Storybrooke, treating her with a free ice cream. However, she secretly puts a magical curse on it which slowly begins to freeze her. When a true love's kiss from Robin fails to wake Marian up, members of Storybrooke go into chaos and begin blaming Elsa. The Snow Queen witnesses this, pleasing her. Soon enough, the fully frozen ice cream shop is discovered, but the Snow Queen is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Hook and Elsa manage to track her down in the woods as she plays with her magic. She and Elsa seemingly know each other, but Elsa claims to not remember. The Snow Queen explains that the Rock Trolls pulled her memories because Anna trapped her in the urn. She tells Elsa that she's trying to show her eventually everyone fears people like them, which is why she froze Marian, to teach her a lesson. She then tries to kill Hook with her magic, but Emma and Charming show up in the nick of time. Once the Snow Queen sees Emma, she calls out her name with recognition, but soon brushes this off as her simply being well known. After a minor magic battle, the Snow Queen vanishes without a sight, leaving Emma to wonder who she knows her. Later on, the Snow Queen encounters Rumple, who seems to know a lot about her and her plans. When he asks if she needs his help, she tells him she'll make a deal when she's ready.

Emma is annoyed to discover that a large puddle of water has appeared beneath her car, and she believes the Snow Queen is behind it, barely able to enjoy herself on her date with Hook because she's worried about being attacked. Later, Emma is driving when her car slips and slides on a patch of ice, making her distraught. She exits her vehicle and spots the Snow Queen watching her, proceeding to draw her gun and chase her through the streets. She demands to know why she's playing these games with her, but the Snow Queen remains eerily silent and simply continues to casually walk away. Emma follows her via the trail of ice she's leaving behind, but this trail soon disappears, as does the Snow Queen herself. At the Sheriff's Station, David confirms that the Snow Queen's alias in Storybrooke, Sarah Fisher, isn't on any official records, which means that she made her own way to town as opposed to being a victim of either curse.

In her icy lair, the Snow Queen carves a fake Anna out of ice, using it to lure Elsa out into the woods and into a trap. She uses chains made of ice to bind her supposed niece to the ground, telling her that those shackles will strengthen the more scared she is. Elsa asks what it is the Snow Queen is going to do and she tells her that she's going to build a snowman. Said snowman, an Ice Warrior, then attacks Emma and Regina, who she had similarly lured out into the woods by assigning Sidney - who's revealed to have changed his allegiance to that of the Snow Queen - as their guide. The two women defeat the warrior with ease once they combine their magic, at which the Snow Queen turns up to steal Regina's compact mirror. She attacks Emma and Regina, but Elsa, having briefly mastered her fear, soon shows up to fend her off. Having what she needs, the Snow Queen retires to her lair, where she sets Sidney free. He wonders what it is she wants with Regina's mirror and the Snow Queen explains the importance of mirrors in general, for they contain our essences and act as temporary receptacles for small fractions of our souls, and for what she needs to do, Sidney's former home shall do nicely because the woman who trapped him inside imbued it with much dark magic. She goes on to say that she wants what has been denied to her for too long, and Sidney wonders what that is, but she tells him that that is between her and her reflection. He leaves, and she uses a shard of Regina's compact to complete her own, larger mirror, made up of shards of many other mirrors. When the glass smooths over, she says to herself that she can now have what she wants... a family that loves her.

Continuing their hunt for Ingrid, the group search inside her ice cream truck and discover some files left by Ingrid that reveal she had been following Emma since she landed in this world. As Emma looks through all the files, she realises that she and Ingrid were once close, almost like family. Rumple finds Ingrid to warn her of this discovery, but she reveals that it was all part of her plan. Rumple then reveals his true intentions and "asks" Ingrid to make a deal with him, for she has something he needs. He warns her that she'll regret it if she doesn't accept, but she points out he lacks leverage. Belle then goes in search of the magic hat, which leads her to Ingrid's Snow Lair. Once inside, she discovers the magical mirror which makes her see the worst in herself and Rumple. However, before it can go too far Rumple intervenes and takes her to safety. Now knowing more about her plans, Rumple visits Ingrid and warns her not to harm those he cares about. Ingrid tells him she cannot make promises over who will or not survive, so this forces Rumple to threaten her with the magic hat, finally giving him leverage. Meanwhile, Emma and Elsa discover that Ingrid is the latter's aunt and they soon realise she wants the two of them to replace her deceased sisters, making them a perfect family. Belle then arrives and reveals Ingrid's plan, the spell of Shattered Sight which will turn everyone in Storybrooke against each other.

Ingrid plants a fake mirror in the clock tower and waits around for Emma to arrive, who quickly apprehends her using a spell discovered by Belle. Once at the station, she is questioned by Elsa and Emma. However, the former becomes aggravated when Ingrid taunts her about Anna. Emma suggests that Elsa leave to calm down. Once alone, Emma questions Ingrid about their past. The Snow Queen explains not all families are perfect, but Emma insists they’re not family. Ingrid states their powers make them family, for her biological family fear her. When it’s discovered the mirror in the tower is a fake, Ingrid freezes the doors to the sheriff station. She then uses this time to upset Emma, reminding her of how mad she was at her parents as a child and that Snow and Charming are happy her brother is “normal”. She keeps reminding Emma that her loved ones will grow to fear her as they don’t understand her. Emma’s emotions reach a boiling point and a sudden burst of magic emits from her hands, breaking the wall to the station. A pleased Ingrid unbinds herself and escapes, leaving Emma with her uncontrollable emotions and magic. From afar, Ingrid watches as Emma freaks out and scares her family before finally fleeing to isolation. Later, Ingrid visits Rumple and asks for her three ribbons in exchange for telling him the last thing he needs to be free of the dagger’s control. She tells him the secret and receives the ribbons in return.

After Henry tries to reach out to his frightened mother and gets injured in the process, Ingrid advises Emma that her only solution is to accept her magic. However, she rejects this idea in fear of hurting her loved ones and she drives away. Later, Rumple visits Ingrid in her lair and he implies that he has plans for Emma that will clash with her own. An angry Ingrid tries to attack Rumple, only to discover he's trapped her in a circle of the urn's dust. Although temporary, this buys him enough time to keep Ingrid from interfering. Ingrid locates Emma using her mirror and uses her magic to manifest herself in front of Emma, who is driving, this causes her to crash her car. Ingrid warns Emma that Rumple is using her, but Emma doesn't believe this and leaves. Emma becomes so intent on getting rid of her magic, she almost falls for Rumple's trap of being absorbed into the sorcerer's hat, but Elsa thankfully persuades her to accept the good and bad that comes with magic. Due to this acceptance, the power of the ribbons is unlocked. The ribbons magically appear on Emma and Elsa's wrists and they begin harnassing their magic into Ingrid's. When Rumple returns to the lair Ingrid explains the functions of the ribbons and threatens that its power will be enough to kill even him. However, Rumple cautions her to not overestimate her own strength. As he departs, Ingrid warns him that he should not underestimate it before finally shattering her mirror, activating the curse of Shattered Sight and sending out a dark cloud to engulf the town.

As Ingrid stands in the woods watching as her curse approaches, Rumple visits her, congratulating her. She points out that he's not as confrontational as usual, so he reveals that he wants to make a deal. However, Ingrid tells him he has nothing she wants. Rumple supposes he does and then says when the curse hits it'll bring out the worst in everyone in town. Ingrid corrects him, explaining they'll tear each other apart until everyone is dead. Rumple makes the threat that he can't die so he'll spend his immortal life trying to rip her heart out. Ingrid asks what he wants, so he tells her it's to leave with Belle and Henry, as the curse will get them too. He asks the Snow Queen if they have a deal and she coldly accepts it, telling him to enjoy his trip. Meanwhile, several members of Storybrooke, including Belle and the Blue Fairy, attempt to come up with a cure for the curse. However, when Rumple sends Hook to absorb all the fairies with the sorcerer's hat, the plan is ruined. The curse thus hits the town, cursing everyone in it. Ingrid watches as her plan all comes together. However, unknown to her, Anna made her way from Arendelle to Storybrooke, and she has now teamed up with Elsa and Emma to take down Ingrid.

As her curse begins affecting the people of Storybrooke, Ingrid heads to her ice cream shop to collect the memories she formerly took from Emma and Elsa. However, outside she is stopped by the two girls who attempt to attack her with magic. Due to the fact they're wearing the ribbons. Ingrid explains that her love for them is channelled into the ribbons, this preventing them from hurting her. The two blondes counter Ingrid's love with Regina's hatred to remove the ribbons. After successfully removing them, Emma and Elsa head to the Snow Lair. Emma denies that she and Elsa will ever love Ingrid, but the Snow Queen reveals the stones containing their lost memories. She believes that by returning the memories and letting them remember the good moments they had together, then they will love her once again. As Ingrid urges them to be her sisters, Anna hurries into the lair holding a scroll written by Gerda before her death. She reads out the scroll, which reveals that Gerda was remorseful about taking the people's memories of her sisters. The note asks Anna and Elsa to use a crystal to restore the kingdom's memories and for them to free Ingrid from the urn, for she now realises that she loved her sister and regretted traping her away. However, Ingrid believes all of this to be lies and she begins to choke Anna, who desperately talks her out of it. After releasing Anna, Ingrid touches the crystal contained to the scroll and she is reminded of all the happy times she had with Gerda and Helga. Realising that she always had her sisters' love, Ingrid decides to destroy herself in order to stop her curse from destroying Storybrooke. As mirror shards destroy her body, Ingrid returns Emma and Elsa's memories and then before disappearing completely, she reveals a prophecy once told her Emma would lead her to her happy ending, and now knowing Helga and Gerda loved her, she can happily join them in death.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.