Personality

[thesavior]

Emma Swan is a tough nut to crack, mostly because of the way that she views herself. She has a difficult time getting past the abandonment from her parents, and feeling like a little Lost girl. That is why she identifies so much with Pan, even though his methods go against everything she holds dear. She was even adopted at one point but returned to the foster home after her "parents" conceived a child of their own. Adding, of course to her abandonment issues, which are a driving force in her life.

Emma was used to disappointment. Friends, lovers, even her foster families were a constant disappointment. She didn't feel needed by any one one of them. They treated her as a means to an end, and she began to see herself that way. She tried to make a go of things with Neal, who she viewed as a light in a dark tunnel, but when he chose himself over her, it left her feeling more isolated and alone. As a result of these things, Emma was a lonely young woman with no one to rely on but herself.

Emma was content to live her life alone, needing the constant companion of loneliness as a reminder never to let anyone close to her again. It is an issue that she still struggles with. It is much easier to run and move from place to place than have to deal with broken trust and betrayal.

It is funny that Emma's journey into loneliness started with Henry, and the end of her self-imposed exile ended when he showed up at her door. She wanted nothing more than to push him away, to send him back to where he came from, but one look at his face and she knew that she couldn't do that. The need to keep emotion out of things for her continued sanity is still there, but through being in Storybrook, she has learned that is okay to let people in and open up, although she struggles with it every day.

Emma is a fiercely protective individual. It mainly manifests in her protection of Henry, but since deciding to return to Storybrook, she has opened herself up to other people as well. It has primarily been her parents and a few close friends. She is still wary of giving her heart away since Neal shattered it, but she has moved on from completely exiling romance from her life.

Emma is a loner, so she tends to gravitate towards people that are in similar situations. She tends to help people that can't help themselves and tends to play the protector. She believes in fighting injustice as well. This is not because, as others think, she is the prophesied Savior, but because she didn't have anyone to protect her when she was a child, and knows what it is like to be abandoned with no help.

While she is getting better at understanding her own conflicting desires at protection versus isolation, she doesn't like it. As a matter of fact, she would like nothing better than to leave with her son and never look back, but those protective instincts does not allow for that.

She is a strong woman. She can come off somewhat abrasive and stubborn. She doesn't let people close enough to her to allow them to help. She is somewhat broken and had created a tough exterior to help her protect her heart. She feels that if she doesn't let anyone close than she will be able to protect herself to function. She is a walking talking contradiction of feelings and emotions. She is hard, but only because she has had to be. She thinks that she would not be good for her son, yet she will do anything to protect him. It has taken a long time for her to accept that she is a good mother.


Emma's views on right and wrong have changed over the years. She had no one to teach her growing up. when she turned 16, and ran away from her group home, fleeing to Portland, she had to do what she had to , in order to survive. She stole things, and broke into places that were off-limits. In the end, she survived. Her mentality is that only the strong survive. She was anything but weak.

Everything about Emma boils down to one thing: She is a survivor.