When you first watch Once Upon A Time, you think it’s all about fairytales and magic. But it has a much deeper meaning than that—it’s about family. All of the characters are based on fairytale legends, including the ones in Disney movies, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, The Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, and more. And they all have some kind of connection to each other no matter what fairytale they’re from.
The fairytales and magic is definitely a lot of fun to watch, but the complex family structure in the show is what keeps fans interested. The family tree branches off of the main character, Henry Mills. He ends up being related to almost everyone and the family gets more complex as the show goes on.
Let’s take a look at the huge family tree in Once Upon A Time.
10 Henry’s Adoptive Mom Is Also His Step-Great-Grandmother
In a confusing twist of events, it turns out that Regina is not only Henry’s adoptive mom, she is his step-great-grandmother too. According to Bustle, “In the Enchanted Forest, Regina used to be married to Snow's dad, Henry's great-grandfather. Little did she know that she would be adopting Snow's grandson one day in a magical twist of fate. That also technically means that Henry and Snow are siblings.” Even if Regina isn’t Henry’s biological mom, it’s still crazy that she’s his step-great-grandmother on top of being his adoptive mom.
9 Regina’s Boyfriend Used To Sleep With Henry’s Grandmother
Things get even crazier with Henry’s mom. She slept with the same guy that her son’s grandmother did. According to Bustle, “Henry's paternal grandmother, Milah, betrayed her husband Rumplestiltskin and left him for everyone's favorite guyliner wearing pirate. Weirdly, though, that means that Hook has had his way with both Henry's grandmother and his mom. Gross.”
8 Henry's Grandmother Kills His Other Grandmother
Henry has a lot of grandparents in Once Upon A Time, but he lost one of them when his grandmother, Snow White, killed his adoptive grandmother, Cora Mills. “In Season 3, Snow's dabbling in the dark side results in Cora's untimely death. But honestly, it's probably a good thing—Cora was arguably the most evil villain to ever enter Storybrooke,” according to Bustle. It seems like Snow did the wrong thing for the right reason.
7 Henry Has Seven Grandparents
Before Cora got killed, Henry had a total of seven grandparents. Even though one of them isn’t alive anymore, he still has more grandparents than most people do. According to Bustle, his grandparents are “Rumple, Milah, Belle, Snow, Charming, Cora, and Prince Henry. So many awkward family reunions.” This is only a small part of his huge family. Scroll down to see who else is in his family tree.
6 Henry Has At Least 17 Great-Grandparents
Henry’s seven grandparents are just the start of the gigantic Once Upon A Time family tree. He has seventeen more great-grandparents. According to Bustle, his great-grandparents are “Peter Pan and Rumple's mom, Milah's mother and father, Sir Maurice and Belle's mother, Snow's parents and step-mother (Queen Eva, King Leopold and Regina), Charming's adoptive parents and his birth parents, Cora's parents and Regina's father's parents."
5 Regina And Zelena Are Half-Sisters
In another twist of events, Zelena is Regina’s (evil) half-sister and Henry’s adoptive aunt who will do anything to hurt Regina. According to Bustle, “The only thing that could hurt Regina more than Robin Hood having a relationship with her sister (even unwittingly) would be Robin Hood having a baby with her very evil sister.” Zelena did turn out to be pregnant with Robin Hood’s baby. She knew this would hurt Regina since they both slept with him.
4 Almost Everyone Has Slept With Each Other
Pretty much every TV show has at least one character sleeping with someone, but this show has almost every character sleeping with each other. “Like most dramas, there's a decent amount of sex going on in Storybrooke. But the intricate nature of the character's relationships means that everyone has slept with each other, at least by extension. Emma and Regina, Hook and Rumple, Hook and Neil are all connected via mutual relationships,” according to Bustle. This is probably the reason why Henry has such a big family.
3 Henry's Grandmother Is About The Same Age As His Biological Mother
Henry’s adoptive mom, Regina, cast a dark curse to get revenge on Snow White, Henry’s grandmother. The curse was broken when Henry’s biological mom, Emma Swan, kissed him on the forehead, but it messed everything up. According to Bustle, “Regina's first curse really screwed up the whole aging thing. We know Emma was 28 years old when she first came to Storybrooke, and though it's never explicitly stated, Snow was about the same age when Emma was born.”
2 Henry's Great-Grandfather Kept Trying To Kill Him
Peter Pan isn’t a nice guy trying to take kids to Neverland in this fairytale. He is the complete opposite of the cartoon Peter Pan and tries to kill his own great-grandson. According to Bustle, “Peter Pan, formerly known as Malcolm in the Enchanted Forest, is Henry's dad's dad's dad, but it didn't stop his homicidal rage when Pan finds out that Henry has the heart of the truest believer.”
1 Henry’s Biological Mom Married Hook
At the end of the last season, Henry’s biological mom, Emma, married Captain Hook and made the family tree even bigger. According to Cinema Blend, “In Episode 2 of Season 7, Jennifer Morrison returned as Emma Swan, to help complete the fan favorite's storyline. That included leaving her romance with Killian aka Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) on a happy note. Towards the end of Season 6, Emma and Killian actually got married. When Morrison returned to wrap-up Emma's story in Episode 2 of Season 7, it was revealed they were having their first baby.” Captain Hook marrying Henry’s biological mom and becoming his step-dad was definitely the perfect ending to the fairytale family.