Once Upon a Time is known for its heart ripping scenes, literally. It is part of one’s magical abilities, at least if they practice dark magic.

With the heart themed holiday upon us, we have but two choices: embrace its intended celebration of love, or rebel against the commercialized expectation that one’s success be defined by their having a significant other.

If you have a significant other, you should enjoy their company, perhaps with one of our Once Upon a Time ship lists: Captain Swan, Outlaw Queen, Rumbelle, or Snowing. You may also want to get yourselves in the mood by watching the clips in our top ten list of Once Upon a Time kisses.

Should you feel the need to find someone to share Valentine’s Day with, you can try out our most recent top ten list of Once Upon a Time pick-up lines, or check out the one we posted for New Year’s Eve.

If, however, you find yourself feeling rather derisive or sardonic at this time of year, then by all means, indulge in this list of heart ripping, heart breaking, and heart crushing scenes.

Image courtesy of Carlos Diaz/INFphoto.com

[new page = #10]

Rumple rips out Hook’s heart

Towards the latter half of season 4A, Rumple schemed to contain Emma’s power within the sorcerer’s hat. When Hook attempted to stop him, Rumple simply ripped out his heart and triumphantly antagonized Hook, calling him his “puppet.” This was quite an appropriate pet name considering that once Rumple possessed his heart, he could force Hook do his bidding.

[new page = #9]

Regina breaks Snow’s heart in half

Season 3 brought with it the Wicked Witch of the West, Zelena. She was a nasty foe, and the only way to defeat her was to cross over the line into the dark side of magic. In order to save The Enchanted Forest from Zelena’s destructive desires, Snow and Charming were forced to do the unthinkable. They re-cast the Dark Curse, an act that cost Charming his life. In her grief, Snow begged Regina to rip out her heart and break it in two. Her hope was that if she and Charming each had half a heart, they could both survive. So here her heart is literally broken:

[new page = #8]

Peter Pan crushes Felix’s heart

Also in season 3, was Peter Pan, though in the Once Upon a Time universe he is NOT a good guy. In fact, he is so “heartless,” that he is willing to sacrifice the person that he is closest to just to make everyone else eternally miserable.

[new page = #7]

Rumple crushes Tamara’s heart

Speaking of Neverland, you could blame Tamara and Greg for our characters having to go there, and Rumple does. Pan’s shadow and the Lost Boys took care of Greg and Tamara, except Tamara was still alive when Rumple found her. After learning where, or at least in which direction, Henry went, Rumple rips out her heart and crushes it in front of her!

[new page = #6]

Regina crushes a heart for the first time

As mentioned previously, the ability to rip out a person’s heart is part of practicing dark magic. When this is done properly, the heart is enchanted and continues to function as normal and so does the person from which it came; that is, unless you squeeze it hard enough to crush it into ash, killing its owner in the process. Rumple attempted to teach this vital skill to Regina, but she was reticent. However, when she mistakenly realized that she could never have true love again, she gave into her darkness and completed her initial training by ripping out a heart and crushing it victoriously in front of Rumple.

[new page = #5]

Regina crushes her father’s heart

We all know misery loves company, and Regina was so miserable that she desperately wanted to ensure everyone else would be miserable too. If she couldn’t have true love, then no one should! The only problem was that enslaving everyone into loveless misery required enacting the Dark Curse, which meant that she had to sacrifice the thing she loved most. Ironically, Regina killed her own father, the only person who truly loved her, in order to cast the Dark Curse.

[new page = #4]

Rumple crushes Milah’s heart

Despite all his efforts to prove otherwise, Rumpelstiltskin was a coward. He, like most of us, wanted to be loved. When he lost his wife, who was supposedly kidnapped by pirates, his son, Baelfire, was all he had left. The Ogre wars were taking such a toll on the local population, that the army started drafting all children age 14 and older. Shortly before Baelfire’s fourteenth birthday, Rumple endeavored to leave town with him to avoid his draft. The attempt failed, but he learned of the Dark One, whom he killed in order to possess his power and stop the children from being sent to war. Little did he know that killing the Dark One meant he himself would become the Dark One.

Many years later, Rumple runs across the pirate that kidnapped his wife, Milah. Only it turns out the he didn’t kidnap her. She ran away with him. They are still together and madly in love. This sends Rumple over the edge and his intended revenge on the pirate turns on her.

[new page = #3]

Regina crushes Graham’s heart

Jealousy can be a dangerous emotion, and Regina has lots of reasons to be jealous of Emma in the beginning. Emma is Henry’s biological mother, she is the daughter of her nemesis Snow White, and she cozied up to the closest thing Regina had to a boyfriend, her sex slave Graham. In retaliation for Graham and Emma’s budding relationship, Regina kills him. She crushes his heart. If she can’t control him, if she can’t have him, no one can.

[new page = #2]

Snow crushes Charming’s heart

When the Wicked Witch of the West seems to have won, Snow and Charming find a way to defeat her. Glenda, the Good Witch of the North, told them that light magic could stop her. Who had light magic? Emma. There’s a problem with that, though. Emma is here in our world. The rest of them, save for Henry who is with Emma, are trapped back in The Enchanted Forest. How can they get to Emma? There’s only one way. They have to re-enact the Dark Curse, which requires that the enactor sacrifice the thing he/she loves most. It is decided that Snow will cast the curse by sacrificing Charming!

[new page = #1]

Cora crushes Daniel’s heart

The death that started it all, at least from Regina’s point of view, was the murder of her true love, Daniel. Cora, Regina’s mother, couldn’t stand the idea of Regina running off with a stable boy when she had the potential to marry a king. Cora decides the best way to ensure this won’t happen is to do away with him. The catch is that Cora wouldn’t have even know if it weren’t for the fact that Regina told Snow White and Snow White broke her promise to keep it a secret; thus Regina’s incessant quest for revenge against her. Here we get to see Regina’s heart break as Daniel’s is ripped from his chest and crushed in front of her.




Whether you enjoyed this because you sympathize with the characters and their loss, or because you feel embittered towards love yourself, I must give you one piece of advice: Don’t try this at home!