King George is a character featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. Unable to conceive a child with his own wife, George employs Rumplestiltskin's child-snatching services to get himself a son. In Storybrooke, he is Albert Spencer, the district attorney. King George is portrayed by Alan Dale.
Biography
Background
After George's adopted son James is killed, Rumplestiltskin arrives and tells George that James has an identical twin brother, David. George arranges for Rumplestiltskin to get David to pretend to be James, and accompany a group of knights from George's kingdom to the dragon's lair. However, David actually slays the dragon himself when the knights start getting killed off one by one. Afterwards, Midas plans to unite the kingdoms and have "James" marry his daughter, Abigail. David wants to refuse, but George quietly tells him out of Midas' earshot that if he does refuse, then King George will have David's mother killed and her farm destroyed. Fearing his mother's safety, David agrees to marry Abigail. However, David falls in love with Snow White, a princess-turned-bandit on the run from her stepmother, Queen Regina. George realizes this, and David runs away to join Snow.
George's men manage to capture David and take him back to the castle. King George plans to have him executed, until Regina intervenes and makes a deal with the king; she gets to take David to her palace, and Regina will give George all the money that Midas promised him. King George is intrigued by what Regina has planned for David, to which Regina replies that what she has planned is worse than a simple beheading. Despite this, David breaks free, so George hires Sir Lancelot, former Knight of the Round Table. Lancelot takes Snow White to George's castle, where George gives her a cup of water. Snow drinks from the water, to which George later reveals that the water is cursed so that Snow will not be able to bear a child. However, this curse is later lifted when Snow drinks water from Lake Nostos, since its magical properties can restore anything. King George and Queen Regina eventually join forces and try to take down David and Snow. However, George's army is defeated however, and Regina is later imprisoned and then banished. In retaliation, Regina unleashes the first Dark Curse, which sends almost everyone - including George - in the Enchanted Forest to Storybrooke.
Season 1
In Storybrooke, George becomes district attorney Albert Spencer, who interrogates Mary Margaret about the apparent murder of Kathryn Nolan. Only when Mary Margaret makes herself sound guilty is Spencer satisfied.
Season 2
When the curse is broken, George vows revenge against David, and later frames David's friend Ruby by murdering Billy, before convincing the majority of the townsfolk that Ruby did it. David manages to prove that George was responsible for the murder when he finds Ruby's red cloak and an axe in the boot of George's car. George manages to escape, and later burns the Mad Hatter's hat, which David was hoping would be able to be reunited with Snow and his daughter Emma, who had been transported to the Enchanted Forest, telling David that he will never see his family again. George is proven wrong when Snow and Emma eventually return to Storybrooke by portal. It is revealed that George has been locked up in the mines. He is confronted by David and Snow, who question him about a giant named Anton. George tries to make a deal with David; he will tell him everything he knows about the giant, and in return David must kill him. David refuses George's deal and leaves.
Season 6
Having been relocated to the asylum beneath the hospital, George is confronted by David, who finds out that his father was killed on George's orders back in the Enchanted Forest. Seeking revenge, David challenges George to a knife-fight and nearly kills him until Hook intervenes.
Family
Status: Alive
Trivia
- George is very loosely based on King Henry VIII from the story The Prince and the Pauper.
- He also has elements of Claudius from the story Hamlet.
- It is implied that he and Cinderella are somehow related, since they shared a fairy godmother.
Appearances
- S1, E06: "The Shepherd" (flashback)
- S1, E10: "7:15 A.M." (flashback)
- S1, E13: "What Happened to Frederick" (flashback)
- S1, E18: "The Stable Boy"
- S1, E21: "An Apple Red as Blood" (flashback)