This article is about the first iteration of this character from Once Upon a Time. For the second, see Rapunzel Tremaine.
Princess Rapunzel is a minor character who appears in ABC's fantasy series Once Upon a Time. She is introduced in the fourteenth episode of the fourth season and makes a single appearance throughout the show.
Role in the series[]
Before the Dark Curse was cast, Rapunzel was born as the second child to her parents, the King and Queen of an unnamed kingdom, and lives an unworried life knowing that her elder brother, instead of herself, will ascend the throne in the future. Though her parents warn Rapunzel against swimming in the stream, she disobeys them, becoming entrapped in the river, and is later saved by her brother. Tragically, her brother dies as a result, leaving Rapunzel as the next heir to the royal seat.
Many years later, Rapunzel, afraid she won't live up to her parents' names, as a rule, digs up and ingests a plant called night root, which is rumored to rid the user of their fears, but it has no effect. Before leaving for home, she is chased up a tower by a cloaked witch, who refuses to allow her to ever leave.
Unbeknownst to Rapunzel, the witch is a manifestation of herself as her own greatest fear, as a consequence of consuming the night root. After the curse was undone, Rapunzel notices from her tower window a man digging up night root. Since he is the first person she's seen in a long time, the princess calls to him for help.
The man, Prince Charming, climbs up the tower using her long, braided hair as a scaling rope. After she tells him of her past, he promises to rescue her. When the cloaked witch climbs up the tower, she is finally unmasked as Rapunzel herself due to the effects of the night root. While Prince Charming pushes Rapunzel to fight this manifestation of her own fear, the witch throws him out of the tower. As he is clinging onto a vine, the witch begins ascending up using Rapunzel's hair.
Advised by Prince Charming to fend off the fear or risk dying alone, she severs the length of her hair, causing the witch to fall and dissipate. Prince Charming helps Rapunzel out of the tower, bringing the princess to her parents, whom she happily reunites with.
Trivia[]
- There are some key differences between this version and the animated character:
- This Rapunzel has black hair while the original has golden blonde.
- This Rapunzel has dark skin, while the original character is light skinned.
- The original meets Flynn Rider, whom becomes Rapunzel's husband, while this Rapunzel does not meet a variant of Flynn, but encounters Snow White's prince who rescues Rapunzel instead of Flynn Rider.
- This version of the character has an unnamed brother, while Rapunzel in the film is an only child.
- Rapunzel's fear manifestation is based on Dame Gothel from the same fairy tale, and Mother Gothel from Tangled.
Gallery[]
