Directions: Emma Swan character profile

Emma Swan is the main character of the TV series Once Upon A Time (2011-) played by American actress Jennifer Morrison. The name Emma means 'whole' or 'universal', probably signifying that Emma will one day reunite the people of Storybrooke when she helps them recover from their cursed memories, and that as 'The Savior' she possesses the power to travel through all realms. 

Emma also has her own musical theme, "Tallahassee", titled this because it was where her and Neal always dreamed of settling down together (see history below). 

Overview:

Birthday: 22nd October 1983

Parents: Snow White/ Mary Margaret Blanchard, and Prince Charming/ David Nolan

Children: Henry Mills (Born 2001-)

Partners: Neal Cassidy (Dated 2000-2001), Captain Killian 'Hook' Jones (Married 2017-)

Occupation: Bail-bonds woman (2010-2011), Storybrooke sheriff (2011-)

Traits:

As a character, Emma has many conflicting traits, both positive and negative. They mainly come from the absence of her parents in her earlier life, and her prophesied title of 'The Savior'.

Emma eats as if she will never see food again due to being homeless, and in group homes all her life. Therefore, she can be seen in the background or during scenes eating, usually junk food such as doughnuts or her favourite type of sandwich grilled cheese, due to her lack of discipline earlier in life, and having been used to contending with other kids for food, and never knowing when or where her next meal will be or come from. 

Emma has also never been taught how to get a job or fend for herself as she has never had her parents around. Therefore, she has been known to steal in order to survive, however, this may be why when she does get a job, it is in law enforcement. Because of her parents absence, she also acts like a teenager even as an adult, frequently slouching, putting her hands in her pockets, and complaining. She is also often cynical, not believing Henry when he first takes her to Storybrooke.

This is because Emma claims to have a superpower which means she can detect when somebody is lying. This is true when she is looking for a lie, as this power does not always work when she is emotional.

As 'The Savior', Emma is determined to save those around her, so much so that she sometimes puts herself in danger as a consequence. However, she is usually optimistic and rarely gives up, which combined with her selflessness makes her the main hero of the show.

This title also means she has the greatest capacity for light magic, which is why when she arrives in Storybrooke for the first time, the power line sparks when she gets out of her car. 

Costume:

Due to the influence of her mentor, Cleo Fox (see below) Emma is known for wearing a red leather jacket. This reflects her style which is fairly masculine, as she tends to wear leather jackets, and jeans with little makeup, and hair which is not styled, but usually worn down or sometimes in a ponytail, along with little or no jewellery except for small hoop earrings. As a young adult, she wears glasses, which act as a signifier to let the audience know when they are watching Emma during this time period.  

Emma also has a small tattoo on her left wrist, a black flower. It is similar to her parent's coat of arms, so it could symbolise her connection to them even before she had met them.

 

History:

The Enchanted Forest:

As the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, Emma is prophesied to be 'The Savior', who will return to her parents on her 28th birthday and break the curse the Evil Queen has cast. To save her from being caught up in this curse, she is placed in a magic wardrobe and magically transported to the Land Without Magic, also known as the real world. She is sent with a young boy, August Booth (the cursed Pinocchio), but he leaves her at a roadside cafe. 

Childhood (1983-2000):

Emma ends up in the system, having her own foster family until she is three years old, but then moving into a group home.

Eventually, she runs away at the age of 7 (1990), and begins living on the streets where she burns book pages to stay warm. When she goes to burn a page from the Ugly Duckling she is warned by a young boy, who is actually August although she does not recognise him, not to. By talking to young Emma about the story he convinces her to go to the police and get help. It is from this story that Emma gets her surname of 'Swan'. 

After moving around several group homes, Emma ends up in Boston, where she begins to think she is now too old to find another foster family. She runs away to Minnesota at age 15 (1998) where she meets Lily, a girl who Emma thinks has also run away from the system. However, when she discovers Lily is lying and has a foster family, their friendship ends. Although, a year later (1999) once Emma is settled again with another foster family, Lily turns up, and in the end gets Emma thrown out when she steals from them after Emma discovers she is now a criminal, guilty for a robbery.

That same year, Emma then goes to live at a group home in Minnesota, where she meets Ingrid, her new foster mother. Ingrid becomes somewhat of a mentor for Emma, until she begins acting weirdly. This is because Emma has begun to show signs of magic, which Ingrid understands as she is the cursed persona of the Snow Queen. Emma runs away again because she starts to believe Ingrid is crazy, as she puts her in front of a moving car, and tells her to use her magic to save herself.

Young adult (2000-2008):

When she is seventeen (2000), Emma goes to Portland, Oregon, where she attempts to steal a yellow beetle for herself, only to discover it has already been stolen by Neal Cassidy. They become friends, and eventually date, working together to steal food, and sneak into hotel rooms to survive. To get enough money to escape to Canada, Neal steals a case of expensive watches. He is reluctant to take Emma with him, but after she persuades him, he leaves her with the watches, agreeing to meet later, and looks for somebody to sell them to. However, Emma is found by the police with the watches, and is sentenced to eleven months in jail for stealing them, later finding out it was Neal who turned her in. 

Whilst in jail, Emma discovers she is pregnant, later giving birth to a son in 2001. She decides to give him up in a closed adoption, as she does not believe she is capable of being a good mother. 

After serving her sentence, Emma is let out of jail in 2009, traveling in the yellow beetle Neal left her with to the cafe in Maine where she was left by August as a baby. Here she meets Cleo Fox, who turns out to be a bail-bonds woman who is tasked with bringing Emma in for robbing a couple of convenience stores in Phoenix, Arizona. After trying to run unsuccessfully, Emma goes back to Cleo's hotel with her to discover that bail-bonds men all have access to a database of information. She persuades Cleo to take her to the county court house so she can look up information about her birth parents, as Cleo is sympathetic towards Emma about this after hearing her conversation with a waitress at the cafe, and Emma can also get out of handcuffs easily by picking the lock. Therefore, they go to the courthouse, but find that there is nothing about Emma's parents stored in her file. This frustrates Emma as it is yet another dead end in her search for her birth parents and where she comes from. Therefore, instead of going with Cleo as she promised, Emma breaks into the county courthouse, attempting to dig up any more hidden information they might have stored about her. Cleo tracks her down here, and so do the police, forcing the two of them to get out of the courthouse by smashing a window so they can escape. However, Cleo cuts herself on the broken glass of the window when they jump out, and cannot run any further. She encourages Emma to leave her, and go and find her birth parents, which Emma reluctantly agrees to do.

In 2010, Emma begins working as a bail-bonds woman, as Cleo had done. She goes to Boston to find the daughter Cleo had given up, Tasha Morris, of whom she had found a picture in Cleo's wallet. She gives Tasha all the information she has found about Cleo, and reveals that Cleo died, presumably from her injuries due to the broken glass from the window. Whilst in the clothing store where Tasha works, Emma finds a red leather jacket. Cleo also wore a leather jacket, which she dubbed as 'her armour', allowing her to shield herself and her emotions from the world. This is why Emma decides to buy the jacket, creating her signature style.

Present narrative of Once Upon A Time:

Whilst working as a bail-bonds woman in 2011, Emma comes home on her birthday when a young boy knocks on her door, Henry Mills. He claims to be the son she gave up ten years ago. As Emma can tell he is being truthful due to her superpower, she agrees to take him back to his hometown of Storybrooke, Maine, which is where the present narrative of the show begins...