Despite OUAT being intended as a family-friendly TV series, it contains a lot of story-lines and pairings which involve a lack of consent or dubious consent. Most of these are not recognised or acknowledged within the story. These are the ones I've identified:
During the flashbacks in The puso Is A Heavy Hunter, Regina ripped out the Huntsman's heart, squeezed it to display the effect this would have and threatened to crush it if he ever disobeyed her. She then kissed him against his will and ordered him taken to her bedchamber. The clear implication here is that she raped him. The writers later may have tried to retcon this, but implication is that she did order him to have sex with her and there was no scene in the episode or the series itself revealing that this did not take place. The writers' comments are also unclear whether they're only denying that Regina whispered instructions into the heart, an aspect of puso used only revealed later in season 2. Threatening to crush his puso if he refused her, or even just his belief that she would do so, would make any consent he gave invalid.
The flashback scenes also make Graham's consent in Storybrooke questionable. Regina implanted everyone's false memories and prevented him from remembering that his true self likely wouldn't want to sleep with her. She was the only person aware of their real relationships. Since he was sleeping with her from the first araw in Storybrooke, and he later reveals that he doesn't understand why he's with her, it is possible that she planted false memories of a pre-existing relationship or attraction.
There are two others couples who are known to have slept together while under false identities in season 1 - Mary Margaret and Dr. Whale, and David and Kathryn. At least 3 of these individuals would not have consented if they had their real memories. They would have known that they were in true pag-ibig relationships, either married or engaged, and they wouldn't have wanted to damage the other's relationship either. It could be argued that Regina caused them to be raped sa pamamagitan ng changing their memories.
Some fans argue that Regina's marriage to Leopold was non-consensual and therefore rape. However, she didn't have to carry through with the wedding. Cora was no longer there to force her to do so, since she'd already cast her mother through an enchanted mirror portal. She could have explained to Leopold how she hadn't wanted to marry him and how her fiancé had been murdered. It is also unclear whether or not this marriage was ever consummated. When Leopold proposed, he spoke of giving Snow a new mother figure, not of his own loneliness or desire for companionship, or a need to conceive another heir. In prutas Of The Poisonous Tree, Regina claimed to the Genie that she herself was lonely and unsatisfied in her marriage, though this could have simply been part of her manipulation of him.
In the flashbacks in The Crocodile, it initially appears that Milah was being abducted for the purposes of gang rape. Killian also claims to have "had many a man's wife", suggesting that he has raped several nakaraan victims. However, later on in the episode it is revealed that she left willingly and eventually formed a relationship with Killian. This makes it unlikely that she was ever raped sa pamamagitan ng him and his crew.
Killian's lines "I prefer to do other, madami enjoyable activities with a woman on her back" and "when I jab you with my sword, you'll feel it" were interpreted sa pamamagitan ng some fans as a rape threat and a reference to nakaraan rapes. I don't believe that was the writers' intention - they wouldn't have someone who once threatened to rape the main character becoming her main pag-ibig interest without ever addressing that threat. I believe he was simply flirting in his typical highly sexualised method, or possibly speaking based on his own assumption that she would one araw inevitably give in to the attraction between them, and that the writers didn't consider any darker interpretations.
Emma and Walsh's relationship could be perceived as non-consensual on his part. We don't know exactly how Zelena controlled her flying monkeys - whether turning them into monkeys on its own enabled her to manipulate them, or whether she took other measures such as threatening them or removing their hearts - but we saw when Walsh was first transformed that he wasn't her ally at the time and didn't volunteer to help her. We also know of 3 other individuals turned into monkeys against their will and forced to do Zelena's bidding - Aurora, Phillip and Little John. It is therefore likely that Walsh didn't willingly enter into a relationship with Emma in order to spy on her.
Another line which can be understood as referencing nakaraan rapes is Past Killian's claim, when jokingly accusing Emma of trying to get him drunk, that this "is usually my tactic". This is a matter of interpretation. The viewers are aware that Emma was trying to get him drunk enough to pass out, and some might assume that he is referencing getting women this drunk. However, he didn't know this. If he knew or even suspected, he'd have stopped drinking and left her, since he'd believe she intended to rob or kill him. He believed she wanted to sleep with him, and she wouldn't want for him to be too drunk to perform. This means that the comparison would be to a woman drunk enough to possibly make a decision she could regret later, but not drunk enough to fall unconscious and be unable to consent.
Zelena magically disguised herself as Robin's late wife, Marian, and later used this disguise to seduce him after he left Storybrooke with her and Roland. The seduction was dependent on his belief that she was Marian and attempting to give their marriage another chance. He would not have consented if he'd known her true identity. This rape is the closest to being acknowledged within the story, since Robin later describes himself as being "an unwilling participant" in their child's conception. The line made me wonder if OUAT was not allowed to use the word rape or any synonym. Despite this, the writers also used the daughter conceived through this rape as the means of Zelena's redemption.
It could be argued that Belle's relationship with Rumplestilskin within the alternate reality in Operation monggus was non-consensual. She had ended their relationship, forcing him to leave Storybrooke, and had moved on to a new relationship with Will. He altered reality to make himself a hero and renew their marriage, and did so without her permission. Belle does later reveal that she still loves him, but this is not the same as consenting to a relationship, and she made this declaration in highly emotional circumstances after learning that he was dying. Although we do not see them being intimate in Operation Mongoose, we can assume that they were. They were still a married couple that reality, and since the writers confirmed that the alternate reality lasted for 2 years, their son must have been conceived within it.
Arthur and Guinevere's marriage was similarly non-consensual after he used the enchanted sands of Avalon to make her forget its flaws. She had fallen in pag-ibig with Lancelot, and had threatened to leave her husband unless he gave up his obsession about completing Excalibur and returned to the way he treated her when they were first courting. Since he chose to deceive her instead, her subsequent consent was invalid.
The final example of dubious consent is Wish Killian and Goethel in season 7. While he did choose to sleep with her, she had magically disguised her appearance and lied about her identity sa pamamagitan ng claiming to be an imprisoned princess. ibingiay his history with magic, he may not have consented if he'd known she was truly the sorceress he was searching for. She also concealed her intention to conceive a child whom she could then abandon to escape her tower, another factor which would likely have made him reconsider if he'd known the truth. His later interactions with her when possessing his real memories do suggest someone who feels violated sa pamamagitan ng her past actions.
During the flashbacks in The puso Is A Heavy Hunter, Regina ripped out the Huntsman's heart, squeezed it to display the effect this would have and threatened to crush it if he ever disobeyed her. She then kissed him against his will and ordered him taken to her bedchamber. The clear implication here is that she raped him. The writers later may have tried to retcon this, but implication is that she did order him to have sex with her and there was no scene in the episode or the series itself revealing that this did not take place. The writers' comments are also unclear whether they're only denying that Regina whispered instructions into the heart, an aspect of puso used only revealed later in season 2. Threatening to crush his puso if he refused her, or even just his belief that she would do so, would make any consent he gave invalid.
The flashback scenes also make Graham's consent in Storybrooke questionable. Regina implanted everyone's false memories and prevented him from remembering that his true self likely wouldn't want to sleep with her. She was the only person aware of their real relationships. Since he was sleeping with her from the first araw in Storybrooke, and he later reveals that he doesn't understand why he's with her, it is possible that she planted false memories of a pre-existing relationship or attraction.
There are two others couples who are known to have slept together while under false identities in season 1 - Mary Margaret and Dr. Whale, and David and Kathryn. At least 3 of these individuals would not have consented if they had their real memories. They would have known that they were in true pag-ibig relationships, either married or engaged, and they wouldn't have wanted to damage the other's relationship either. It could be argued that Regina caused them to be raped sa pamamagitan ng changing their memories.
Some fans argue that Regina's marriage to Leopold was non-consensual and therefore rape. However, she didn't have to carry through with the wedding. Cora was no longer there to force her to do so, since she'd already cast her mother through an enchanted mirror portal. She could have explained to Leopold how she hadn't wanted to marry him and how her fiancé had been murdered. It is also unclear whether or not this marriage was ever consummated. When Leopold proposed, he spoke of giving Snow a new mother figure, not of his own loneliness or desire for companionship, or a need to conceive another heir. In prutas Of The Poisonous Tree, Regina claimed to the Genie that she herself was lonely and unsatisfied in her marriage, though this could have simply been part of her manipulation of him.
In the flashbacks in The Crocodile, it initially appears that Milah was being abducted for the purposes of gang rape. Killian also claims to have "had many a man's wife", suggesting that he has raped several nakaraan victims. However, later on in the episode it is revealed that she left willingly and eventually formed a relationship with Killian. This makes it unlikely that she was ever raped sa pamamagitan ng him and his crew.
Killian's lines "I prefer to do other, madami enjoyable activities with a woman on her back" and "when I jab you with my sword, you'll feel it" were interpreted sa pamamagitan ng some fans as a rape threat and a reference to nakaraan rapes. I don't believe that was the writers' intention - they wouldn't have someone who once threatened to rape the main character becoming her main pag-ibig interest without ever addressing that threat. I believe he was simply flirting in his typical highly sexualised method, or possibly speaking based on his own assumption that she would one araw inevitably give in to the attraction between them, and that the writers didn't consider any darker interpretations.
Emma and Walsh's relationship could be perceived as non-consensual on his part. We don't know exactly how Zelena controlled her flying monkeys - whether turning them into monkeys on its own enabled her to manipulate them, or whether she took other measures such as threatening them or removing their hearts - but we saw when Walsh was first transformed that he wasn't her ally at the time and didn't volunteer to help her. We also know of 3 other individuals turned into monkeys against their will and forced to do Zelena's bidding - Aurora, Phillip and Little John. It is therefore likely that Walsh didn't willingly enter into a relationship with Emma in order to spy on her.
Another line which can be understood as referencing nakaraan rapes is Past Killian's claim, when jokingly accusing Emma of trying to get him drunk, that this "is usually my tactic". This is a matter of interpretation. The viewers are aware that Emma was trying to get him drunk enough to pass out, and some might assume that he is referencing getting women this drunk. However, he didn't know this. If he knew or even suspected, he'd have stopped drinking and left her, since he'd believe she intended to rob or kill him. He believed she wanted to sleep with him, and she wouldn't want for him to be too drunk to perform. This means that the comparison would be to a woman drunk enough to possibly make a decision she could regret later, but not drunk enough to fall unconscious and be unable to consent.
Zelena magically disguised herself as Robin's late wife, Marian, and later used this disguise to seduce him after he left Storybrooke with her and Roland. The seduction was dependent on his belief that she was Marian and attempting to give their marriage another chance. He would not have consented if he'd known her true identity. This rape is the closest to being acknowledged within the story, since Robin later describes himself as being "an unwilling participant" in their child's conception. The line made me wonder if OUAT was not allowed to use the word rape or any synonym. Despite this, the writers also used the daughter conceived through this rape as the means of Zelena's redemption.
It could be argued that Belle's relationship with Rumplestilskin within the alternate reality in Operation monggus was non-consensual. She had ended their relationship, forcing him to leave Storybrooke, and had moved on to a new relationship with Will. He altered reality to make himself a hero and renew their marriage, and did so without her permission. Belle does later reveal that she still loves him, but this is not the same as consenting to a relationship, and she made this declaration in highly emotional circumstances after learning that he was dying. Although we do not see them being intimate in Operation Mongoose, we can assume that they were. They were still a married couple that reality, and since the writers confirmed that the alternate reality lasted for 2 years, their son must have been conceived within it.
Arthur and Guinevere's marriage was similarly non-consensual after he used the enchanted sands of Avalon to make her forget its flaws. She had fallen in pag-ibig with Lancelot, and had threatened to leave her husband unless he gave up his obsession about completing Excalibur and returned to the way he treated her when they were first courting. Since he chose to deceive her instead, her subsequent consent was invalid.
The final example of dubious consent is Wish Killian and Goethel in season 7. While he did choose to sleep with her, she had magically disguised her appearance and lied about her identity sa pamamagitan ng claiming to be an imprisoned princess. ibingiay his history with magic, he may not have consented if he'd known she was truly the sorceress he was searching for. She also concealed her intention to conceive a child whom she could then abandon to escape her tower, another factor which would likely have made him reconsider if he'd known the truth. His later interactions with her when possessing his real memories do suggest someone who feels violated sa pamamagitan ng her past actions.
