Nine Characters Who MUST Be Brought Back On "Once Upon A Time"

The showrunners have worked their magic before—pun intended. Can they do it again in September? MINOR SPOILERS!

MALEFICENT HAS RETURNED! She's been back in our lonely lives for four glorious months so far.

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Oh, don't look so despondent. You're not being squandered like you were in season one.

But the resurgence of the goddess divine we know as Kristen Bauer van Straten wasn't the only return. Sidney Glass/Magic Mirror (Giancarlo Esposito), Pinocchio/August (Eion Bailey), and Ruth (Gabrielle Rose) all appeared after loooooong absences.

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Which is important, because we all need more "elevator eyes"-ing Gus Fring in our lives, now and always.

OUaT's season finale is next Sunday. Facing that fact, let's pressure creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz to bring back some beloved characters who haven't featured this season, but who are overdue for a return.

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THIS IS WHY REGINA HAD YOU KILLED, LEOPOLD. Shpff!

9. Ursula, the Sea Goddess (Yvette Nicole Brown)

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Yes, we did just have the sea witch version of Ursula (played by the excellent Merrin Dungey) feature as a Big Bad in season 4.5, so this could be a bit confusing. But here's the problem: Community may or may not come back for a seventh season, and people need to keep giving roles to Yvette Nicole Brown so she can continue to display her genius.

8. Sir Lancelot (Sinqua Walls)

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Everyone's favorite (handsome) Arthurian knight was barely around for half an episode in season two before it was revealed he was Cora in disguise. But judging by how much of an asset and ally he was to Snow White, it would be a shame if he never came back.

Besides, we didn't see him get killed on-screen…

7. Daniel (Noah Bean)

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Daniel was where it all started for Regina; he was her first love, and both she and her mother killed him. And with things being a little weird with Robin Hood at the moment, couldn't Regina have a dream sequence where her past lovers visit her?

Also, I want a Damages mini-reunion. Anastasia Griffith, who appeared with Bean—though not in the same scenes—in the episode "The Stable Boy," played Bean's sister in Damages, and for them to be credited for the same episode and not share screen time is…infuriating.

6. Young Cora (Rose McGowan)

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Speaking of homicides in Regina's life, let's talk about her mommy issues. Cora was a glorious villain, portrayed equally superbly by Barbara Hershey and McGowan (#ForeverCharmed), and even though she's long-dead, there's no reason she can't appear in flashbacks every now and again.

EDIT: Okay, so she came back. That was fast! Let's focus then on Cora's younger incarnation. Cora was a truly diabolical person, and I think it would be interesting to explore the first few years of her marriage.

5. Nova/Sister Astrid (Amy Acker)

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Why, casting directors—WHY would you give us Winifred Burkle/Illyria for a single episode and then never feature her again?! Shame on you! Honestly, if ABC isn't going to pair Acker with Alyson Hannigan for the Fred/Willow spin-off every fan of the Whedonverse knows should already be a thing (cough), the least that can be done would be to make Nova a recurring character.

Plus, she really added another layer to Grumpy.

4. Huntsman/Sheriff Graham Humbert (Jamie Dornan)

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Okay, okay—I know that Fifty Shades of Grey exists and pays his bills, as will the sequels. But Sheriff Graham was more than a foxy guy in a cardigan; he was the far more subtle heart of the show—no pun intended—and was killed off all too soon. Would it be too much to hope for season five to involve zombies so he could come back?

3. Mad Hatter/Jefferson (Sebastian Stan)

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Just look at that simultaneously dazzling, creepy, and Cheshire Cat-esque smile. Jefferson was one of the sexiest I MEAN "MOST MULTILAYERED" characters the writers conjured, and even though Stan's film career has really taken off, I rue the day the showrunners decided to subtly write him out of the show.

2. Red Riding Hood/Ruby (Meghan Ory)

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Red was the perfect complement to Snow White; she was fiery where Snow was vanilla, she had an attitude where Snow was…uptight, and she was complex where Snow was a bit one-dimensional. Though she was a bit irritating as Ruby, she really came into her own once her memory was restored. Ory was absent for almost all of the third season due to her leading role in the CBS show Intelligence, but that series has been cancelled for a year now, and Ory has yet to return. What's going on here?!

1. MULAN! (Jamie Chung)

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When she first appeared, I was so excited that couldn't stop screaming and my dog got scared. Chung did a great job with the character, and I felt it was such a shame that the unrequited crush she had on Princess Aurora—which could have been a solid B-plot—was aborted. We haven't seen Mulan since the first half of season three, and I have to say that her return is the most overdue.

So get on this, writers! You have a great show already, but when there's such a wealth of characters available, why create so many new ones at this point?

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Did I get any of these right? Who am I missing? Let me know in the comments below!

And check out the two-part season finale next Sunday night. I'm so excited!