Shadow

The Shadow - that might be the ripped shadow of Peter Pan - is a shady, mystical creature that is responsible for bringing many boys to Neverland.

Before the Curse
Peter Pan's shadow is sent to collect a boy from the Darling house, and Wendy Darling and her brothers are fascinated by its magic. It visits them many nights, but when Wendy tells the new addition of their family, Baelfire, about the shadow, he warns her against it, believing magic to be bad. When the shadow comes that night, it wants to take Wendy to Neverland, but Bae doesn't like this. He tries to wrestle Wendy away from the shadow but it ends up flying away with her, with Wendy declaring that Bae just doesn't believe. She returns the next morning devastated. She tells Bae that the children the shadow takes to Neverland never come home, and that the only reason she was returned is because it wanted a boy; Bae assures her that this won't happen. When the shadow returns that night, Bae attempts to defend Wendy and her brothers, but Michael's left stranded in the middle of the room when the others hide. Needing to save him, Baelfire offers himself over, and the shadow takes the boy and flies away with him. As Bae and the shadow approach Neverland, Bae gets an idea and lights a match; this then makes the shadow confused and he drops Bae into the ocean. The shadow searches around a little but is unable to find Baelfire, and so gives up and flies back to the main island.

Season 3
Henry arrives in Neverland, his hands tied with a cable tie, accompanied by his captors, Greg and Tamara, who inform him of where they are. They try to contact the Home Office, but find that the communicator given to them was false. They then set up a fireplace in the woods, and are found by the Lost Boys, who reveal to be the Home Office. Realizing they have been duped, Greg and Tamara refuse to hand Henry over to them, but a shadow descends from the sky and rips Greg's own shadow aways from his body, and Tamara is shot with an arrow by a Lost Boy. Henry, however, manages to get away, and is intercepted by a young man, who claims to be an escapee, and that he is being sought after because he stole pixie dust that doesn't even work - the young man is eventually revealed to be Pan.

Neal, who's stranded in the Enchanted Forest, concocts a plan using Robin Hood's son Roland to get to Neverland in order to save Emma and Henry. Roland is placed before a window in a nightgown and made to say "I believe..." Everyone watches the window for a few moments, but nothing happens, so Neal asks if he can say it once more. However, Robin apologizes and tells him that's it as he doesn't want to further endanger his son. All hope seems lost until suddenly, the windows burst open and loud wind is heard roaring. The shadow flies into the room and reaches for Roland, but Robin grabs his son as well, holding him back. Roland screams as the shadow attempts to take him away. Mulan then suddenly jumps in and cuts Roland free with her sword, and the frustrated shadow turns to leave. Mulan yells at Neal to "go", which he does. He runs and jumps out the window, grabbing the shadow by the foot. Mulan, Robin and Roland then watch as Neal hitches a ride back to Neverland. The shadow soon drops Neal off in a random place in the island, where he's found by Felix, a Lost Boy.

Trivia

 * Series co-creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have hinted that the shadow might not belong to Peter Pan.

Origins
The shadow is based on the shadow of Peter Pan, of the popular popular novel Peter Pan and Wendy. The first published version of this tale was a novel by J.M. Barrie, in 1904. There are many adaptations of the story, the most popular - and the one followed closely by Once Upon a Time - being the 1953 film adapation by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The general story is that of a young boy named Peter Pan who spends his never-ending childhood in the magical world of Neverland, where he interacts with various fairies, mermaids, native americans, and pirates, most noticeably his arch enemy, the notorious Captain Hook.