Anastasia

Anastasia, also known as the Red Queen, is one of the main characters of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. A beautiful and elegant woman, the Red Queen's personality and moral conduct are unfortunately not as pleasing as her alluring appearance. Driven by a lust for power and a bitter sibling-like rivalry, the Red Queen has great, shady plans for Alice's return to her turf, Wonderland, wherein she reigns supreme and forces all its creatures to abide by her will.

Before the Curse
After Will Scarlet helps the Merry Men pull off a heist, he is accepted amongst their ranks by their leader, Robin Hood. Here, he is taught by Robin that the Merry Men are not thieves as they do not steal for themselves, they steal for others. Will suggests that they break into Maleficent's castle and steal her gold, as rumor has it it's enough to end poverty in the entire kingdom. Knowing how dangerous Maleficent is, Robin is reluctant, but he eventually agrees to do so. Will then returns home and tells his true love, Anastasia, that he's managed to fool the Merry Men into believing that he agrees with their cause, and that they'll finally get what they're looking for after the heist of Maleficent's castle. The Merry Men manage to break in and steal the gold, however, when inside, Will steals something else also. He is seen celebrating with the rest of the group when the heist is successful, however, Maleficent uses her magic to project her voice and tell them to keep the gold if they must, but to return the other item they stole, or there shall be consequences. An incredibly angered Robin Hood asks who stole something else, and a guilty Will doesn't own up. When Will tries to leave, he is approached by Robin who realizes he stole for himself in Maleficent's castle, and he is bitterly disappointed in him, telling him that he is going to do to him the worst thing of all: nothing. Will then rides his horse back to Anastasia, who is later to become the Red Queen, and reveals that the thing he stole was a Looking Glass. The two of them then use the Looking Glass to open a portal and make it to Wonderland.

Before Will and Anastasia can jump through the Looking Glass portal, the latter's mother enters the small home in order to talk them out of it, but they jump anyway. They spend a few weeks in Wonderland and become very hungry, being too poor to pay for food and not being able to find good sustenance in nature. When looking for berries to eat, they see a carriage full of bread drive past and learn that it's for the upcoming royal ball, and so they decide to rob noble attire and attend. Whilst there, Will is caught stealing food and gets him and Anastasia thrown out, much to Ana's dismay as she was having a nice time, chatting to the King. Now hating her life as a pauper, Ana suggests that the two of them steal the crown jewels and return home to the Enchanted Forest, where they will have escaped their crime and be rich. Will agrees to engage in this one final heist. Anastasia breaks into the palace and finds the Crown Jewels. As she takes the crown, the King comes in behind her. The latter asks Ana what would possess her to try and steal from him. She tries to justify herself, pointing out that he's rich and she's poor; he doesn't need the jewels whereas she does to survive. The King tells the girl that that is social order, but suggests that instead of stealing the jewels, she simply owned them. Ana asks what she would need to do to make that happen, and the King requests her hand... in marriage. Liking the way she looks in a crown and knowing that she'll never get anywhere in life with Will dragging her down, Anastasia accepts. Outside, Will is waiting when the King steps forward and gives the people his new queen: Anastasia. She glances briefly at the shocked Will and then ignores him, waving to the cheering crowd.

Early Life
A young girl by the name of Alice is led to Wonderland by the powerful White Rabbit, and when she finally comes home after her adventures in that wondrous place, her father is surprised to find her back, alive and well, as he thought she'd died, claiming she'd been gone a long time. Alice's stories about Wonderland fail to be bought by the people around her, and a psych professional even claims that she's lying and perhaps unstable. Alice, determined to prove the truth, returns to Wonderland as a young woman to bring evidence of her stay there, and meets a genie by the name of Cyrus, who grants her three wishes. Alice and Cyrus share many adventures in Wonderland and fall in love, eventually leading to him proposing to her. However, their proposal is cut short when the villainous Red Queen - who is in cahoots with the equally nefarious Jafar - shows up and throws Cyrus into the Boiling Sea. Alice believes he's fallen to his death, but in truth he lands on Jafar's magic carpet, all part of a plan he and the Queen came up with. Jafar then traps Cyrus in a giant cage in his palace, up in the clouds that soar over Wonderland.

Season 1
The White Rabbit shows up in Storybrooke, Maine to recruit Will, the Knave of Hearts, to rescue Alice from the asylum where she was incarcerated after being deemed insane due to telling people about her adventures in Wonderland. Will and the Rabbit inform Alice that her beloved genie, Cyrus, is alive, so they all set sail to Wonderland with the intent to reunite the two torn lovers. However, there they learn that the Rabbit didn't actually see Cyrus, and rather says that the Dormouse did. It is soon revealed to us that the Rabbit brought the pair there under directions of the villainous Red Queen, who instructs him to report to her everything that Alice says, does and thinks, under a death threat. Jafar, who had an agreement with the Red Queen, shows up on one of her palace's balconies and she informs him that Alice is back and looking for her genie, which she implies is what they wanted. Jafar moves closer and tells her that what they want can't be accomplished without the genie's bottle, and Alice's made all her wishes. He tells her not to be so pleased with herself, and she scolds him for talking down to the Queen. He tells her power is fleeting, which she takes as a threat, but he makes it clear that he's not just threatening her... he's ready to dispose of her. Jafar starts to choke the Queen through magic, but she is able to murmur that he doesn't know where Alice is. He releases her, and the bitter Queen reminds him that he's in her turf now, and if he wants her help, their deal remains. The Queen promises to get him his wishes, and he asks what she wants in return, to which she responds, "All in due time." She then tells him to get back on his carpet and let her deal with Alice. He tells her he hopes she does, for her sake, and then his carpet appears and he steps on it and flies away. Later, Jafar goes to pay a little visit to Cyrus, whom he's got locked up in a giant cage in his palace in the clouds over Wonderland.

When the villagers of Wonderland reunite at the Red Queen's palace to discuss their woes with her, they are frozen by Jafar's magic, for the dark wizard wishes to discuss his plans with his partner-in-crime. The Queen has agreed to find Cyrus' bottle for him, in exchange for getting her unholy desires fulfilled. She asks Jafar if he can truly change the laws of magic using the bottle's power, to make the impossible possible, and the villain confirms this. Later, Jafar realizes that the Queen knows where the bottle is hidden. She tries to maintain some leverage by imposing that Jafar proves that he can do what he claims he can do before she tells him where the bottle is, but the wizard isn't having any of this. He freezes the Queen and lets her know they are not partners and he doesn't owe her anything; he's given her his word, and that's more than most ever receive. The Queen, looking intimidated, finally tells him where the bottle is: Mimsy Meadows. Jafar flies there on his magic carpet, hoping to find it, and his presence is witnessed by Alice and Will. It turns out that Alice kept telling everyone it was there so that she could know who she was up against. Unable to find anything, Jafar demands that Cyrus tell him where the bottle is, and the Queen shows up and tells him she has it, finally gaining the leverage she wanted. Later, she asks the White Rabbit how he knew where the bottle was, and he tells her he saw Alice and Cyrus burying it.

Cyrus is woken up to witness as the Red Queen and Jafar have dinner before him. Jafar shows him the message he sent to Alice, where she wrote back that she's coming for him. The two villains decide to send a horrid creature after Alice, hoping to scare her and force her to waste away one wish. As the Queen skims through a book of Wonderland's most terrifying inhabitants and suggests them one by one, Jafar admires the look on the genie's face each time she brings up a name. When the Queen suggests the Bandersnatch, Cyrus looks particularly worried, and Jafar picks up on this. It's settled then, the two partners decide to send a Bandersnatch after the young girl. On their way, Jafar stops to compliment the Queen, starting to acknowledge that there is more to her than her exquisite exterior. The Bandersnatch attacks Alice and Will at the Grendel's house, but Alice, having learnt about such beasts because of Cyrus, is able to overpower it and have it killed. When the female Bandersnatch dies as well (for they mate for life), the Queen believes Alice must have made her wish already. However, Jafar claims that he would have known about it, and is livid once he realizes they were tricked by Cyrus. Later, the two villains visit the Grendel and ask him what happened. He says - hoping to be reunited with his deceased wife in the process - that he was saved from the beast by a man and a woman. Jafar asks him who the man was, wanting to know who's helping Alice, and Grendel recounts that Alice called him "Knave" (a name that triggers a reaction from the Queen). He then asks if he can be reunited with his wife, and Jafar confirms this... right before he jams the bottom of his staff into the Grendel's chest and kills him.

Jafar confronts the Red Queen about her not telling him that Alice had company in Wonderland: the Knave of Hearts. The Queen explains that he's irrelevant, and Jafar demands that he is removed from the playfield. The Queen is conflicted, since Will is her ex-lover. She manages to capture him and locks him up in a cell. Jafar, however, is not satisfied, and demands that Will be executed so that people learn what happens when one helps Alice in Wonderland. Anastasia then concocts a plan to have the White Rabbit save Will, but the Knave turns it down, daring Anastasia to kill him. The Queen is distraught, but goes through with the execution plans. Jafar shows up to witness it, but so do Alice and the Lizard, who go on to save Will. The villains follow them into the maze gardens, and eventually corner the heroes. Jafar tortures Will to get Alice to make a wish, and Alice does make one: that, if the Knave dies, she dies. Anastasia is delighted, and the Knave is spared. Alice is then further tortured herself, but she refuses to wish and put Cyrus at the villain's mercy, so Jafar decides to leave, promising to explore her one weakness - her heart - to get her to wish. He turns Will into a stone statue. Alice begs the Queen to help him, claiming that she cares, a claim Anastasia denies. The Queen then leaves Alice alone with the statue, telling her that to make everything better she just has to wish. Later, however, the Queen returns to the site, and caresses the statue...

The Red Queen goes to the edge of a cliff and extends one foot over the edge. After a moment she pulls her foot back. Later, while Alice tries to comfort the stone form of Will, she's approached by the Queen, who offers her a deal; if she retrieve some magical dust that will help protect her against Jafar, then she will help her locate Cyrus. After much reluctance, Alice agrees. When they reach their destination, they find that the gap they must cross is too long, however, Alice is shown a riddle which states a person pure of heart can succeed. Believing her love with Cyrus is pure, she attempts to cross the gap. At first it works and Alice magically walks through the air, however, this suddenly comes to an end and she falls down into the pit beneath her. She is confronted with a vision of her child self, who uses its power to knock the Red Queen down into the pit with them and then the tries to persuade Alice into killing the defenceless queen. Alice tells a begging queen that she must pay for her crimes and then swings her sword at her, however, she misses on purpose, stating she won't be the one to make her. Alice's child vision suddenly becomes innocent and clean looking, stating she passed the test. When both Alice's touch hands, the child version dissipates into dust...the dust the Red Queen wanted. Alice collects it up and once they escape the pit, the Red Queen betrays Alice and takes the dust without revealing Cyrus' location. When Alice says that she gave her her life, the Queen insists that everything she had, she had to take. Alice asks about what she's lost, and the Queen warns her to take care as she walks away. Then, the Queen goes to the Knave's statue and strokes its face. She says that she's sorry and then sprinkles the magic dust on him. The Knave is restored and she quickly walks away before he can see her.

The Red Queen goes to Jafar's dungeon with Tweedledee, and discovers that both Cyrus and the guards are gone. She turns to the old prisoner and asks what happened, but he refuses to talk. The Queen slams him around and the prisoner tells her that Jafar took Cyrus away. She points out that Cyrus' cage is cut open and demands the truth, and the old prisoner says that the Queen will never catch Cyrus because he carries the greatest power of all: true love. Later, the Red Queen and Tweedledee follow Cyrus' trail. When he says that she can't follow him dressed as she is, the Queen slaps him and says that she wasn't always queen, and that she knows how to get her hands dirty. She explains that if she finds the genie then she alone will have him and his bottle; Jafar will have nothing and she will win the game. Finally, the Queen follows Cyrus' trail to the stream and uses magic to track him to his true location. As Cyrus comes to the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean far below, the Queen comes up behind him. The genie realizes that the castle is on an island of rock floating high in the sky. Cyrus vows that he'll see Alice again, but the Red Queen warns that sometimes love isn't enough to conquer reality. However, Cyrus sees Alice's necklace glowing in the distance and diving off of the cliff. A shocked Red Queen rushes to the edge and watches as the genie falls into the ocean below them.

Tweedledum makes his way towards his Queen, telling her that they've searched the shores and there are no signs of Cyrus. She tries to maintain a certain composure as she tells her lackey to keep looking, for he couldn't have just vanished. Dum turns around and, with a provocative look, turns back to face her again and starts to ironically imply that vanishing is actually something genies can do. The Queen gets up and orders him to shut up, as she walks past him. The Tweedle theorizes that Cyrus could have simply not survived the fall, seeing as how he dove a thousand feet down into the water. She asks him if he's considered the possibility that he's a lazy imbecile; the Tweedle asks if it's a rhetorical question. The Queen starts to tell him that, with Jafar out of Wonderland, she has the opportunity to gain the upper hand. She says she already has the bottle, and wants the genie in her possession too. Unbeknownst to her, Jafar is standing right behind her. Noticing the Tweedle's reaction to his presence, she asks what it is, only to hear Jafar telling her to continue. The Queen plays it off, acting dumb, and telling him she had been worried sick. Jafar claims not to have time for her games, and asks to be told where he can find Alice. Ana tells him she'd be quite happy to tell him, saying Alice is easy to find, unlike that genie of hers. Jafar asks what she's talking about, and Ana explains that Cyrus got away while he was gone. Jafar, irate, immediately turns to the red army and orders them to find the genie immediately, but Anastasia reminds him that they listen to her and already have orders, and the genie will be back in their hands before the sun sets. She starts to walk back to her throne but Jafar stops her, grabbing her hand and her attention, and tells her not to forget that even if she holds the genie and the bottle, she can't live out her twisted dreams without someone changing the laws of magic, and he is the only one who will have that power. The Queen, amused, tells him, "Of course you are, darling." And heads back to her throne. Jafar isn't entertained.

In the palace, Tweedledum tells the Queen what he's heard through the Grapevine: Cyrus is caught in a plant snare. As she goes to retrieve him, Tweedledum says that his brother gave a bag to Jafar. She orders him to leave and goes to her treasure cabinet... and discovers that the genie's bottle is gone. Later, the Queen comes to collect Cyrus, dropping him into her carriage, and they stop by her old wagon to collect his bottle. They then return to the Queen's palace and see it's been wrecked by Jafar, meaning he's after her and wants to kill her, so the two of them make their way to the Outlands to find Alice and Will. When Cyrus is reunited with Alice, the latter is less than happy to see the Red Queen with the genie, but he assures her that she's there to help them. A deadly storm created by Jafar is fast approaching and they need to escape Wonderland, but Alice refuses to as she cannot trust the Queen's word, and nor can Will. Cyrus, having previously suspected that the Queen had a secret desire, believes her. Anastasia reveals that the only reason she formed an alliance with Jafar was so he could change the laws of magic and she could change the past, going back to a time where Will loved her. When the White Rabbit begins to dig a portal, a lightning strike from the storm soon zaps down, and the Queen deflects it with Cyrus' bottle. It hits the Knave instead. The Queen rushes to her love as Alice suddenly collapses. The Queen reminds Cyrus that Alice's first wish was to die if the Knave died. Will uses his wish to end Alice's suffering. Not only does this save her from the brink of death, but it frees Cyrus from his binds also, meaning he isn't a genie anymore... but Will has disappeared, much to Ana's sadness. The Knave is now a genie.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.