Once Upon a Time
TV Show • 2011 • Drama
ReportThis tv show contains 77 potentially triggering events.
| Season | |
| Episode |
Yes
13
No
27
5
lillpon
Cruella kills and skins her mother's dalmatians, though. Though that happens off-screen, since we see her boasting about it while putting on the fur coat she made out of their fur, it could still be upsetting.
5 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
41
No
3
5
MD1456
S1 Ep2: Regina sacrifices the heart of her horse Rocinante (offscreen)
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
37
No
1
2
MajaLouiseVesterdorfLange
I'm sure there are other animal deaths, but I specifically want to mention that a big snail is crushed beneath someone's foot (the snail was a person until a few moments before, but still).
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
4
No
19
1
cmm_2025
There isn't a time when dogs attack each other, but dalmatians ravage Cruella De Vil's mother, killing her.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
17
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
1
Yes
0
No
32
Yes
5
No
0
Yes
38
No
0
2
Nazetel
And several other magical creatures
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
36
No
0
1
MD1456
S6 Ep16: A giant spider appears.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
1
No
0
Yes
34
No
0
2
.
Season 1 episode 11, S2 Ep3,
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
1
No
0
Yes
32
No
0
3
cmm_2025
In season 6, there is a giant tarantula spider that attempts attacking Gideon and Emma.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
1
Into the system, both with Emma and Henry.
1 comment | Add comment
0
lillpon
The main way the writers chose to redeem their villains was by having them do a few good things (if not just one single thing), barely even apologizing, and their victims forgiving them, even if said victims had spent their entire lives suffering because of them. Worse enough, sometimes the victims also make mistakes and are then judged in the same lens that the villains are. It's the whole thing of the show, sadly. Very black and white morality.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
36
No
0
5
cmm_2025
Since the show revolves around curses and remembering certain events and stuff like that, gaslighting is a very common theme. Generally, the people who inflict gaslighting the most are definitely Rumplestiltskin, Regina, and other numerous villains. There are several times when even Mary Margaret/David are manipulative and lie to Emma, and Henry sometimes lied about things.
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
21
No
0
1
sweetlybc
Regina Mills stalks Mary Margaret throughout season one for just one example.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
3
No
1
Yes
35
No
0
6
sweetlybc
Henry Mills is abused by Regina Mills. Zelena is abused by her unnamed father. Archie Hopper is abused by Myrna and Martin. Captain Hook is abused by his parents. King George abuses both James and then David. Regina goes on to abuse Snow White by concocting a murder plot before she even turns thirteen. Malcolm abuses Rumplestiltskin. This is not an exhaustive list. As this is a show about fairytales, child abuse is heavy. Caution.
7 comments | Add comment
Yes
23
No
2
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
6
No
0
Yes
26
No
1
3
cmm_2025
Addiction to physical substance, not really. But we see characters such as Rumplestiltskin addicted to power and the Evil Queen is addicted in a sense, to harming people.
5 comments | Add comment
2
cmm_2025
Not "drugs", per se, but there are substances used that are like drugs. E.g. in season 4, in a flashback scene, Maleficent describes a concoction of sleeping curse, water, and a few other ingredients, and states that it "takes the edge off."
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
26
No
4
3
cmm_2025
In season 7, Roni is a bartender and we often see her with a glass of liquor or a martini or something, but she doesn't drink abusively.
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
0
lillpon
S2
E11
Heavily enough too to be knocked unconscious. I think it's the only case where a man slaps a woman, there may be a couple other scenes where a woman slaps another woman.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
8
No
0
0
cmg
A lot of times people are restrained with magic or tied up. One of the earliest examples I can think of is in a flashback when Regina’s mother uses magic to wrap what looks like a belt around Regina and lift her into the air
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
27
No
1
8
sweetlybc
Graham in S1 by Regina Mills. Wish Hook in S7 by Tremaine. Robin Hood is during S4 but it's a tricky matter involving mental illness, how consent works with mental illness, and the pressures on women to think that marriage/having a child will fix the problems in their lives, including their mental illness. This is still sexual assault but may be twice as triggering.
All sexual assault in OUAT is woman-on-man and poorly handled. Please act with extreme caution as this is severely triggering.
All sexual assault in OUAT is woman-on-man and poorly handled. Please act with extreme caution as this is severely triggering.
6 comments | Add comment
Yes
2
No
0
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
5
No
0
0
S1
E17
Minute 8 tee
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
1
0
rheene
zelena often mocks robin falling victim to her deception, flaunting the consequent pregnancy in his face, either to get at regina or to assert dominance and it is hard to watch
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
4
Yes
31
No
1
2
cmm_2025
In season 3 Zelena shaves Rumple and knicks him a few times.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
0
No
25
6
cmm_2025
No heads get squashed, but Regina threatens Isaac Heller by saying something along the lines of, "I'll drive a sports car of your choice over your head until it squashes like a pumpkin." The threat is empty, and more of a sarcastic remark than anything, but the inferred imagery isn't pleasant, lol.
1 comment | Add comment
2
Mychael
Emma kicks Hook in the balls at the end of season 3 episode 11 but he seems completely fine
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
31
No
5
2
.
Season 1 episode 6 they fight a dragon and people die from the fire,
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
17
No
12
3
sweetlybc
In Manhattan (2x14) Rumplestiltskin uses a hammer to crush his entire foot. None of the mutilation is seen but you hear the noises and see the swing of the hammer.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
2
No
0
Yes
0
No
18
4
cmm_2025
No one is buried alive, but Kristoff and Anna are locked in a chest by Hans to drown alive. (They survive tho)
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
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0
Yes
14
No
2
5
cmm_2025
Technically yes. The Blind Witch eats children, as we see in the Hansel and Gretel scene (it doesn't show her actually eating any of the children though.)
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
14
No
13
3
.
S2 Ep14 a psychic has stitches over her eyes and her eyes in the palm of her hands,
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
0
i mean 90% of the time if the person has powers like rumple or regina etc their gonna choke someone, way too many to count bro
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
1
No
1
Yes
0
No
10
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
1
2
Mychael
Residue's of drowning and choking, most noticeably in the season 5 fanale where Hyde chokes Hook, he's shown struggling for breath afterwards. There's lots of physical choking and magical choking throughout the show - almost every episode - but I don't think any characters actually die this way, it's more of a threat/warning or the character is stopped before the victim is killed.
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
6
No
0
Yes
22
No
1
1
lillpon
One particular scene I remember is in s02e12, a character has just been hit by a car and when someone goes to check how he is, they nudge his sides and he screams in pain, confirming he's broken some ribs.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
34
No
0
2
Aliena
2x21 a main character is restrained and tortured with electricity
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
19
No
0
3
cmm_2025
Zelena cuts off her hand (in season 4 I think).
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
18
No
3
2
Mychael
Not onscreen however some characters are shown to have broken teeth and black teeth.
1 comment | Add comment
0
cmg
In season 7 the black fairy pushes Henry down the stairs. He is taken to the hospital in an ambulance and has a broken arm, but is ultimately ok
1 comment | Add comment
1
cmm_2025
Yes. Mary Windgate is shoved out a window by Dr. Jekyll, Johanna is shoved out of the clock tower by Cora, Walsh is thrown from a high building by Emma (this was an act of heroism and self-defense), and Cruella De Vil is thrown off a cliff with magic by Emma.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
0
No
1
Yes
0
No
20
Yes
2
No
14
1
lillpon
It's not exactly hanging; in s05e14, a character gets tied up with chains around their chest and is left to hang from the ceiling, obviously in pain all throughout. The opening card for that episode shows that exact character in that way, from afar.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
8
No
0
1
Jools
(spoiler) snow and charming take maleficent's baby
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
10
No
17
1
.
***SPOILER***SPOILER*** in the last episode of season one Henry appears to die
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
7
No
0
Yes
4
No
0
Yes
3
No
0
0
honestly a lot of major characters die, rumplestiltskin dies is the last episode of season 7, belle dies a few episodes before that i forgot which one. Technically snow and charming died but that was in a alternate reality thing, Jesus what is this show 😭
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
Yes
0
No
8
Yes
1
No
0
Yes
0
No
7
Yes
34
No
0
1
.
Season 1 episode 1 a parent appears to die, Season 1 episode 2 a parent is killed, Season 1 episode 7 there is grieving of a lost parent although you don’t see him die,
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
23
No
0
0
MD1456
Apart from the memory wipes in Season 1, Gold and the Evil Queen (Serum) have an affair in early Season 6.
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
12
No
1
1
cmm_2025
Not a toy, but in season 6 the Fiona convinces Emma to throw Henry's storybook in the fire.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
Yes
23
No
0
1
.
S1 Ep12, S1 Ep17, S2 Ep4, S2 Ep10 last scene,
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
18
No
3
3
Nazetel
Few minor ones.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
9
No
13
3
cmm_2025
There is not a scene with a couple in the shower (i.e. a sexual scene), but in season 4 we see Robin Hood briefly in the shower, only about shoulders up though (no nudity.)
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
2
No
0
Yes
1
No
28
Yes
1
No
0
Yes
25
No
0
1
cmm_2025
If someone has the heart of another person, they can use magic to control the actions of the person by speaking into their heart, and this happens several times. In season 3, Mary Margaret is briefly possessed by Cora's spirit.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
1
No
0
Yes
32
No
0
1
planetpoet
also a ritual to contact a spirit of a dead parent
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
13
No
2
Yes
0
No
1
Yes
0
No
7
Yes
2
No
0
0
chachanowyall
S1
E9
Nobody is eaten on-screen, but a character talks about/threatens eating them and there is evidence that she's previously eaten people.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
2
No
24
4
eliseramshaw
as an emetophobe this is a completely safe show for V :)
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
9
No
0
1
cmm_2025
There are times we hear screams, flesh being torn, etc. Like when the wolf killed Peter for example.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Yes
2
No
0
0
lillpon
Many scenes throughout the seasons where people are kept in dungeons, cages, or a cell at a sheriff's station. Also a scene of a character in a federal prison in season 2 episode 6, and that same character being cuffed to a hospital bed while giving birth, in season 3, episodes 1 and 11.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
7
No
3
3
angstdroid
There are two major characters who are sheriffs, and they are both good guys, but there doesn't seem to be much copaganda, if any. They are not shown to abuse their position in any way that portrays it as a positive. They are sometimes manipulated into unknowingly misusing their power. The show has a fairly neutral stance on police overall.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
0
No
1
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
1
No
0
Yes
26
No
2
4
MD1456
S2 Ep 21: When Greg tortures Regina.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
23
2
cmm_2025
In season 2, Tamara consults The Dragon for a magical solution to her "rare type of cancer" (that in reality, was actually just a hoax.)
1 comment | Add comment
3
sweetlybc
Multiple throughout seasons 1-6. It's in the "basement" of the hospital and portrayed in an archaic style so it will be very triggering.
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
30
No
0
1
Aliena
I believe 5x23 has a scene with an injection
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
38
No
1
2
cmm_2025
There are many hospital scenes. The series starts with "John Doe," or David in the hospital in a coma, then we see Henry in the hospital, Emma in the hospital (in flashback), Zelena in the hospital, and many more accounts with patients, including Greg Mendel, Mary Margaret, Hook, Mr. Gold, and Lucy. Of course, since there are characters who play the roles of doctors, we see them in that setting as well.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
15
Yes
9
No
1
Yes
3
No
0
Yes
5
No
1
Yes
22
No
0
2
cmm_2025
The only time something that truly resembles an anxiety attack occurs is in season 6, when Emma starts to shake while having visions of the future.
2 comments | Add comment
0
Dreamdust1600
I think Dr Heckles situation could be triggering
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
1
No
18
Yes
4
No
1
1
essvee
in season 2 a character is shown to be in deep depression, she goes to another character and begs her to kill her. The second character looks as though she will kill the first, and even tries, but stops before she dies.
While this may not seem like a suicide attempt to some, some people may still find it triggering
While this may not seem like a suicide attempt to some, some people may still find it triggering
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
18
No
5
5
Mychael
Dr Whale attempts to commit suicide in season 2 after drinking but is stopped by Ruby and doesn't try again
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
2
No
0
Yes
0
No
22
1
Mychael
You could argue that a lot of characters have some form of PTSD, though it's not very prominent in the show and is never mentioned
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
14
No
7
2
CaptainFrostyPaws
Belle is stuck in a very small prison-like room under the hospital for the entire first season.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
11
No
13
2
ScarletBee03
at least one person has their hand cut purposely, not by themself but it could be triggering, it’s shown quite graphically. another person cuts their arm, in that case with a plant to prove it’s not poisonous, again quite graphically. there may be more
2 comments | Add comment
Does someone say "I'll kill myself"?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
Yes
19
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
1
angstdroid
The worst scene for this is the start of S03E03. It's a dream scene which suddenly starts flashing.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
1
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
12
No
0
0
Mychael
In any scene where someone gives birth
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
Yes
0
No
7
Yes
0
No
21
Yes
0
No
7
Yes
9
No
0
Yes
0
No
21
Yes
31
No
0
2
Anonymous
Throughout the show, about 5 or 6 children are born, with some being shown multiple times.
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
2
No
14
Yes
4
No
17
6
cmm_2025
The only people who are canonly LGBT are Ruby/Red, Dorothy, Alice/Tilly, and Robin/Margot. None of them die.
2 comments | Add comment
4
Mychael
No but Cora does say "You ride like a man" when trying to shame Regina for having fun
1 comment | Add comment
0
There are dwarfs
1 comment | Add comment
1
There are clear Jewish stereo types in many of the villains and a lot of dogwhistles. There are even clearly swastikas in the window designs of the "dragon's" space
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
12
No
3
3
Ellie_red
One of the main characters uses a walking stick for his leg and is called a 'cripple' as an insult. The show does not handle his disability well and connects it to his character of being a 'villain'. There's a big storyline about how he injured his leg so that he wouldn't die in war, and the show repeatedly frames him as a 'coward' for injuring himself instead of fighting to his death. He even says his disability reminds him that he's 'a coward'.________Also, in S5 ep5 the same character is repeatedly called a coward for not fighting an able bodied person and is forced into fighting them. Basically a LOT of ableism mixed with toxic masculinity being promoted throughout the show.
6 comments | Add comment
Yes
20
No
3
3
cmm_2025
There's a point when Snow is pregnant and Regina tells her "it appears Haagen-Dasz is smitten with your stomach"
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
14
Yes
0
No
11
Yes
0
No
19
Yes
5
No
11
2
sweetlybc
Billy (Gus the Mouse from Cinderella) is a person of color and is murdered to frame Ruby. He's killed to fuel the "woman pain" of the show and it's a pretty pointless and irritating death. This will be triggering/anger-inducing. Be warned.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
2
There's lots of talk about "true love" but it's shown that true love can be a mother and her son
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
5
No
1
0
cmg
There’s a few relationships where one character is a few hundred years older than their partner, such as Rumple x Belle, Neal x Emma, and Captain Hook x Emma. With Neal and Emma, they are also in a relationship when she is a minor (17) and he appears to be physically in his 20s.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
1
Yes
19
No
5
2
cmm_2025
There's no nudity, but there is a scene when Mary Margaret and David are in bed, (as well as Graham and Regina), and there are parts that allude to people sleeping together. (Mary Margaret/Dr. Whale, Regina/Robin Hood, Zelena/Robin Hood, Regina/Dr. Facilier...). There are also some steamier kissing scenes and sexual jokes strung throughout, but nothing too mature.
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
5
No
15
2
angstdroid
No, but some characters who are in relationships are distantly "related" through marriage with no actual blood relation between them.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
1
No
0
Yes
0
No
0
Yes
0
No
5
Yes
7
No
0
Yes
1
No
4
Yes
0
No
4
0
Dreamdust1600
No but Charaters memories are erased, this could be triggering
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
1
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
3
No
0
1
chachanowyall
S6
E11
Wish Realm Hook wears a fake stomach
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
8
No
0
0
Mychael
Snow White lives in the woods for a lot of the flashbacks after being casted out by Regina
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
1
Yes
0
No
2
Yes
0
No
1
Yes
0
No
20
Yes
7
No
16
2
Paraskevi
It really depends on which characters you like. While the ending is considered to be a happy one, there are a few main- and generally beloved - characters who die.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
20
Yes
25
No
0
0
.
S2 Ep11,
2 comments | Add comment
0
Mychael
During the car crash in season 2 episode 11
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
38
No
0
2
cmm_2025
There are "crashes," but the person who crashed the car is never in the scene and they aren't gorey
5 comments | Add comment
Yes
21
No
1
1
lillpon
In s03e01, a character falls into the sea, hits her head and loses consciousness. She is quickly dragged out and revived.
In s03e20, a character is pushed facedown into a pool of water until he loses consiousness. He's revived immediately after.
In s03e20, a character is pushed facedown into a pool of water until he loses consiousness. He's revived immediately after.
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
25
No
0
0
lillpon
Probably the most heavy example is in season 5, episodes 12-15. A character has been heavily tortured and is covered in blood, there are a few cuts shown but there isn't actual gore.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
21
No
0
0
.
S1 Ep12 and S1 Ep17 guns are drawn but not fired, S1 Ep22 gun is fired, S2 Ep6 gun is drawn but not fired, S2 Ep11 someone’s shot, S2 Ep21 and 22 someone’s shot,
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
1
No
18
2
cmm_2025
No explosions, but there are fires, like in season 1 when the town hall catches fire and Emma saves Regina.
2 comments | Add comment