Red Lucas, also known as Red Riding Hood, and Ruby, following the Dark Curse, is a character who appears in the ABC fantasy-drama series, Once Upon a Time, and is portrayed by Meghan Ory.
History[]
Red Riding Hood lives with her grandmother, Granny, in a poor village that is terrorized when there is a full moon by a large and malevolent wolf. She often dreams of running away with her true love, a blacksmith's son by the name of Peter. During the third night of the full moon, Peter secretly visits Red at her home. After a short conversation and a kiss, she is called away by her grandmother to the front door where Mayor Tomkins, the leader of the village, is asking for more volunteers to help the hunting party kill the wolf. Widow Lucas, who is called Granny by Red, refuses and calls them fools. Red helps her lock down the house. On her way to her room, Granny reminds her to wear her red cloak, as the color red repels wolves.
Red meets Snow White the next day, who is running away from her stepmother. As Red is hauling water from the well, she marvels at the red color of the water. As a result, Red turns around and stares, horrified, at the mangled corpses of the hunting party.
That night, in Red's bedroom, Snow White mentions how the wolf was keeping her from leaving the town with Peter. Red realizes that she's right, and presents the idea of killing the wolf. However it is revealed that it is Red who is actually the wolf and that the cloak was given to Granny from a powerful sorcerer which prevents whoever wears it from turning into a wolf.
One day in the Enchanted Snow White and Red Riding Hood run into the queen's men and fight them off managing to escape. But Red's hood has torn, and she worries it won't prevent her from turning into a wolf during that night's coming full moon. She insists that they separate for the night, for Snow's safety, and they plan to reunite in the morning. Snow reaffirms her commitment to their friendship. As she leaves, Red is watched by a man with glowing eyes. The following morning, he appears and steals the hood. After a physical altercation, he introduces himself as Quinn (Ben Hollingsworth), a fellow werewolf. He tells her that she can learn how to control the wolf, and leads her to a subterranean community of werewolves. Their leader Anita (Annabeth Gish) is revealed to be Red's mother. Anita tells Red that Granny (Beverley Elliott) kidnapped Red as baby and lied about her parents, to prevent her from learning her true identity. Anita says she can teach her to learn control by accepting the wolf as a part of herself, and she persuades Red to remove her hood.
Red with her mother Anita.
During the night, Anita teaches Red that her blackouts are caused by her belief that the wolf is an invader; by instead recognizing the wolf as herself, she can retain control. In the morning, Red remembers the entire experience and is no longer afraid. Snow later arrives, having tracked Red. Red persuades Anita that Snow is not a threat, and informs Snow that she's going to stay with her "pack" and her mother, a decision Snow regretfully accepts. However, the queen's men then arrive and kill Quinn before being killed by the werewolves. Anita holds Snow responsible and tells Red to kill her. When Red refuses, Anita turns into a wolf in order to do it herself. Red also transforms and inadvertently kills Anita by knocking her onto a skewer. Snow places the red cloak onto Red, changing her back into her human form. Red apologizes to her mother, who says Red chose Snow, but Red explains that she chose herself and is not a killer. Red and Snow bury Anita, and Red tells Snow that she didn't lose her family; she protected it, because Snow was the only person who truly accepted both aspects of her dual nature.
Many months later, Red and her grandmother join in on the council yet again when Prince Charming seeks advice on how to defeat the Evil Queen's dark curse. They listen to the Blue Fairy's solution of using the magic wardrobe to send a pregnant Snow White to a land without magic for 28 years until her child can save them from the curse. She, along with everyone else are engulfed by the Dark Curse.
In Storybrooke, she is Ruby Lucas, a rebellious young woman. She works at Granny's Diner as a waitress. Her relationship with her grandmother is strained, as her grandmother disapproves of her loose behavior and her provocative attire. During the early days of the curse, Ruby often has argumentative disputes with her Granny over getting the early waitressing shift at Granny's Diner. Granny's response usually remarks upon that Ruby should have not stayed up partying so late. Her rebellious nature goes in hand with her wild style of fashion and makeup; usually clad in a red themed outfit with a lot of skin showing. She has plans to get out of Storybrooke and move to Boston. However, these plans are halted by her grandmother's sudden heart attack, and Ruby has been working at Granny's Diner ever since.
In the town bed and breakfast, Ruby and her grandmother are in a middle of an argument, but fall silent when they see Emma, who is looking for a room to stay in for a week. After Mr. Gold collects the rent, Emma Swan inquires about him, and Ruby says that he owns all of Storybrooke.
During her shift at Granny's Diner, she brings Emma a cup of hot chocolate and tells her that someone bought it for her. Emma turns around to see Sheriff Graham, and instantly assumes it is him, but it was actually sent by Henry Mills.
The next day, while on a date with Mary Margaret Blanchard in the diner, Dr. Whale becomes distracted and begins ogling Ruby's figure. The date ends on a bad note, and Mary Margaret asks Ruby for the dinner bill.
She proves to be very helpful when David Nolan starts acting strange and goes missing, and she is able to locate him. In this way, Ruby proves her talent of finding lost things.
After the curse is broken on the first curse-free night for Ruby, is cleaning up the diner following a celebration when David and the dwarves find fairy dust in the mines. To her, Billy confesses his identity in the Enchanted Forest was Gus, a mouse who lived in Cinderella's pantry. He asks her out on a date, but she struggles for an answer. Belle, noticing her discomfort, intervenes by telling him they are having a girls' night out. After Billy has left, Ruby notices the time and hurries to the backroom where Granny is fixing up the freezer. As it is the first wolfs time without the curse, Ruby is staying in the freezer as a cage when she shapeshifts. During the night, a belligerent Albert, hell-bent on ruining David's life, releases Ruby while she is a wolf, and then kills Billy to give the appearance she did it. In the morning, Ruby wakes up in the forest as a human after a worried David and Granny discover her there. Soon, Billy's butchered body is found, and Ruby believes she is to blame.
Red and Dorothy Gale share true love's kiss.
Albert rallies the townspeople against David; forcing him as sheriff to choose between "justice" or defending a friend who looks guilty. Ruby is locked in a jail for protection, but knowing the angry residents will come for her, she is later chained up in the library as Belle keeps her company. Rather than hide, Ruby believes the townspeople's hatred towards her is justified. She tricks Belle into letting her go, and then heads to face the mob. Reverting to a wolf, Ruby faces Albert as he readies his gun at her. Suddenly, David and Granny arrive with the bloody weapon as well as Ruby's magic cloak that were found in Albert's truck. With coaxing from David, Ruby allows him to place the cloak on her. Ruby convinces David not to punish Albert out of vengeance. That same evening, she takes off the cloak and goes on a run through the woods as a wolf in control.
After Season 2, the character of Red appears sporadically until "The Bear King", where it ends with Red and Mulan setting off to find Red's wolf pack, but in "Ruby Slippers" they wind up in Oz where Red finds out she's in love with Dorothy Gale. When the Wicked Witch of the West puts Dorothy under a sleeping curse, Red wakes her up with true love's kiss.
Trivia[]
- Unlike the original fairytale, Red is both Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf, while they are separate characters in the original story.
- Red is one of few Once characters who are part of the LGBQ+ community, but is the only one who is bisexual, while characters like Dorothy and Mulan are lesbians.
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Variants[]
