Jefferson (Enchanted Forest)

> I hate Wonderland.
>       —Jefferson to the Evil Queen

**Jefferson**, also known as the **Mad Hatter**, is a character on ABC's *Once Upon a Time*. He débuts in the seventeenth episode of the first season. He is portrayed by guest star Sebastian Stan, and is the Enchanted Forest counterpart of **Jefferson**.

Jefferson is based on the Mad Hatter from the novel, *Alice in Wonderland*.

## History

### Before First Curse

Jefferson works as a portal-jumper with the power of a special hat and has the ability to travel from world to world. At Rumplestiltskin's behest, he goes searching for a crystal ball and a pair of slippers. Only finding the crystal ball, Jefferson returns to the Dark One's castle to deliver it. Prior, he also promised to assist Rumplestiltskin in a scheme to force one of his magic pupils, Regina, to move on from her past. Since she wishes to resurrect her dead lover, Daniel, and stubbornly refuses to give up, Jefferson mentions knowing a wizard from another world who can revive the dead. In return for bringing this man to her, he asks for a royal pass to travel throughout the kingdom without restrictions, which she consents to. After the wizard, Victor, is brought to the Enchanted Forest, he examines Daniel's corpse, which is in suitable condition for the resurrection, and then hand-picks a heart from a vault. As Jefferson and Regina wait outside a tent, Victor attempts the procedure on Daniel and fakes a failed revival. While this leaves Regina heartbroken and left with no choice but to let go of her deceased lover, Rumplestiltskin gives Victor a heart as payment for his services, to which Jefferson then transports the doctor home through the hat. *("The Doctor")*
Later, Jefferson has a daughter, Grace, but loses his child's mother because of his work as a portal-jumper. Fearful that Grace will be left without a father as well, he retires. Making a meager living as a mushroom seller, he and his daughter are playing hide-and-seek in the woods when they spot the Queen's carriage outside their house. Jefferson instructs Grace to wait outside, and he goes into the house where the Queen, Regina, asks for his help retrieving something from another land. Temptingly, she promises him riches so he can lavish his precious daughter. Jefferson refuses her request, which she seemingly accepts with no argument. During a market trip, Grace wants a rabbit doll, though he cannot afford it. He tries bargaining with the vendor, an old woman, but she turns him away. Despite that, Grace is not upset, but Jefferson begins to worry that he cannot give his daughter a happy life. Unseen to them, the old woman is Regina in disguise. Returning home, Jefferson gives Grace an improvised toy rabbit he made for her, and the two enjoy a make-believe tea party. Wishing to give her a better childhood, he decides to take up on the Queen's offer. Jefferson informs Grace of this, which she pleads against, but he promises to be back in time for tea. After sending his daughter off to the neighbors, he and Regina jump into the hat and arrive in a room of portals to other lands. Jefferson warns that if two people enter Wonderland, then only the same amount of people can exit out. In Wonderland, Regina burns a route through a hedge maze and reaches a vault where she snatches a box. After outrunning the Queen of Hearts' guardsmen, Regina reveals the item in the box is her father, and she intends to return home with him. Thus, Jefferson is entrapped by her while the pair leave for the Enchanted Forest. The guards catch up, and then haul Jefferson to the Queen of Hearts, who beheads him, yet he remains alive. Panicked, he admits what happened with Regina and his hat, so the Queen of Hearts orders him to make another one. Following numerous failed attempts to do so, Jefferson manically works on a new hat while the room is already filled with thousands of them. *("Hat Trick")*

*For events occurring after the casting of the first curse, see Jefferson (Storybrooke).*

### Character Notes

* The name "Jefferson" is of English origin derived from an English surname that means "son of Jeffrey".
* The rock band Jefferson Airplane has a hit song called "White Rabbit". The song uses imagery from *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland* and *Through the Looking-Glass*, and was written by lead singer Grace Slick. Grace is the name of Jefferson's daughter.
	+ Fittingly enough, the playing card Regina puts on Paige's bike plate in "An Apple Red as Blood" shows a White Rabbit.
* Among the many fairy tale illustrations pinned to the wall in Henry's room is "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - A Mad Tea-Party" (1907) by by the famous book illustrator Arthur Rackham. It is an illustration of a scene from *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland*, with Alice at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party with the March Hare, the Dormouse and the Mad Hatter. *("The Price of Gold", "The New Neverland")*
* He is one of the few characters in the Enchanted Forest to call the Evil Queen by her given name.
* He is a former business associate of Rumplestiltskin and Victor Frankenstein. The exact reason why he left is unknown, but in a conversation with the Evil Queen in "Hat Trick", it is implied his business cost him his wife.

## Appearances

 "Home":*Absent*

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

* The Mad Hatter is mentioned in *Once Upon a Time'*s Season One novelization, *Reawakened: A Once Upon a Time Tale*.

* The Mad Hatter appears in Henry's storybook for "Hat Trick", "We Are Both" and "Selfless, Brave and True".
* Jefferson appears in a drawing made by Paige in "Lady of the Lake".

## References

1. ↑ http://www.behindthename.com/name/jefferson
2. ↑ File:104ShoeOff.png
3. ↑ File:202HatterDrawing.PNG