Elsa (Once Upon a Time)

Queen Elsa of Arendelle, also known as the Ice Queen, is a supporting character on Once Upon a Time. She was born in Arendelle with innate magical powers that allowed her to control - a term used loosely - snow and ice, and was isolated for the majority of her growing up due to her inability to master such powers and her fear, added to her parents' fear, that she could hurt someone. Her sister Anna became of great assistance, but when their mysterious aunt Ingrid came about, the two sisters were separated, and Elsa was trapped inside a magical urn. She was ultimately accidentally released in Storybrooke, Maine, where she set off on a quest to find her sister and get some closure on what happened to them.

In Arendelle, Anna and Elsa place flowers at their parents' grave markers. Elsa assures Anna that they would be proud of her, and Anna says that they would be proud of both of them. Elsa says that she has a surprise for her wedding and leads her back. She takes Anna into the palace to show her the surprise: their mother's wedding dress. Anna hesitantly touches it and Elsa insists that she wear it for her wedding, giving her a necklace to wear with it. As Anna tries it on, Elsa looks around and notices a book on her parents' desk. Opening it, she realizes that it's her mother's diary. Anna comes out in the dress and notices that snow is filling the air. She asks what's wrong and Elsa says that their parents' death was her fault. She runs out and Anna goes after her. Anna catches up to Elsa in the forest and asks what is wrong. Elsa finally tells her that their parents didn't go off on a diplomatic mission as they thought. Anna reads the diary and in it their mother says that they have to figure out a way to stop Elsa's powers. She doesn't believe it and points out that it doesn't say where they were going or what they had planned. Elsa doesn't believe it and apologizes, and Anna insists that she's not a monster and will prove it. Anna takes Elsa to the troll field over Elsa's objections, and calls to Grand Pabbie. Anna asks what her parents were really doing on the voyage. Grand Pabbie doesn't know but he says that he knows that they were going a land called Misthaven. After Grand Pabbie goes back to sleep, Anna asks for two weeks to go to Misthaven. Elsa says that her parents said the same thing and walks away. Later, after Kristoff reveals Anna's plan to her, Elsa goes to the dock and realizes that Anna's ship has left. Kristoff assures her that Anna will be fine. Elsa worries that Anna acts before she thinks and worries that they don't know anything about Misthaven. Sometime after Anna has left for the Enchanted Forest, Elsa sends out scouts to find her, worried for her well-being. She even considers going after her younger sister herself, but is talked out of it by Kristoff, who reminds Elsa that Arendelle needs their queen. Elsa soon learns that Prince Hans and his twelve older brothers are marching an army through the Southern Mountains to attack Arendelle. Kristoff offers to sneak up there and eavesdrop on Hans' plans, but Elsa won't hear of it, wanting to handle the situation herself. However, the soon-to-be prince disobeys Elsa and spies on Hans. He returns the castle, revealing that Hans is after a magical urn that can trap people like the Ice Queen. Kristoff then suggests he bring a few soldiers with him to find the urn and destroy it himself. Elsa decides instead of sending him with soldiers, she'll accompany him. They soon reach the cave where the urn is located, and Kristoff offers to let Elsa destroy it. She refuses, however, when she discovers ancient words written on the urn, which may have information about others like her. Kristoff continues insisting that the Ice Queen destroy the urn, but it is too late, for Hans has arrived with three of his brothers. They surround Elsa and Kristoff; Elsa tries to fight back with her ice magic, but Hans threatens Kristoff's life. Elsa promises Hans the urn in exchange for Kristoff's safety; she then apologizes for not listening to Kristoff in the first place. Putting her trust in him, the Ice Queen tells Kristoff that once she's gone, he must go after Anna and save Arendelle. Hans tells Elsa that a monster like her should not rule Arendelle, and proceeds to uncap the urn, pouring out a white liquid. The Snow Queen soon arises, and having taken insult to Hans' previous comment, turns him into an ice statue while his three brothers flee in terror. Elsa and the Snow Queen are next seen back at the castle, chatting away about their ice powers. Seeing a portrait of Elsa's parents, the Snow Queen finally decides to confess to Elsa that the late Queen of Arendelle is her sister. Still concerned about Anna, Elsa relates these fears to her newly discovered aunt, who promises to assist her in finding the young princess. The Snow Queen begins training Elsa, helping her learn to control her powers. One day, as Elsa practices alone, she is interrupted by the surprise return of Anna. The two sisters embrace in a hug, and Elsa proceeds to catch her sister up on recent events. She then asks what all Anna found out in the Enchanted Forest, but not wanting to tell her sister that their parents wanted to find a way to strip the Ice Queen of her powers, she lies, saying that she's waiting on answers from people she met. She also realizes that Elsa has begun learning how to control her powers, to which Ingrid enters, introducing herself to Anna as the girl's aunt. As Elsa wholeheartedly welcomes the magical woman into her life, Anna grows suspicious. Anna then seeks out Grand Pabbie, who reveals Ingrid is in fact her mother's sister, and aside from Ingrid, there is another sister named Helga. Pabbie goes on to tell that after the two sister's disappearance, Gerda had both Ingrid and Helga wiped out of the records and everyone's memories. Anna tries to return home and inform Elsa of her shocking discovery, but is captured by the Snow Queen before she can. Ingrid lies to Elsa and tells her that Anna planned to use the magic hat on her which would take away her powers, causing Elsa to storm into the dungeons, where her sister is being held, and angrily confront her. However, this is soon revealed to be a ruse for the guards' benefit so that Ingrid doesn't found out that Elsa is freeing Anna; the two sisters make amends as Elsa returns Anna's necklace to her and all soon becomes clear. They search the castle for the magic urn so that they can trap Ingrid and eventually find it in the closet with a frozen Hans, much to Anna's surprise. They then station Anna back in her cell so that Elsa can send Ingrid there and Anna can trap her; however, Ingrid is already lying in wait and she seizes the urn so that she may cast the spell of Shattered Sight over Anna, which only allows her to see the absolute worst in her sister. Because of this, she berates Elsa for all she put her through during childhood and ends up throwing her necklace into the fireplace. She then traps her sister in the urn, but Elsa doesn't care, knowing that Ingrid has done something and that these aren't her sister's true feelings. When Elsa is trapped, Anna comes to her senses and tries confronting Ingrid, along with Kristoff, but the Snow Queen simply embraces the fact that everyone thinks she's a monster and freezes them, as well as the entirety of Arendelle. Ingrid proceeds to use the magic of the rock trolls to steal Elsa's memories so that she and her niece may have a fresh start, and Rumpelstiltskin pops by for a visit, taking both Anna's necklace from the fire and the urn containing Elsa, which he transports to the dark vault within his own castle, refusing to give her back until he once again possesses the sorcerer's hat. However, Ingrid decides to follow a prophecy and head into a land without magic instead of giving the hat back, in the hopes that she and Elsa will be reunited one day, along with their third magical sister.