The Evil Queen

The Evil Queen is the main antagonist of the first instalment of the fantasy book series "Fairest" created by Fabian De Sousa and illustrated by drachenmagier.

The Evil Queen is based on the character of the same name from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", and the poor miller's daughter from "Rumpelstiltskin", both fairy tales recorded by the Brothers Grimm.

History
Originally the daughter of a poor miller, she wished desperately to become a queen, and one day when the Good King was roaming his kingdom, she claimed she could spin straw into gold on a whim. Impressed but wanting proof, the Good King locked the miller's daughter in a dungeon filled with straw and a spinning wheel and ordered her to spin it all into gold in three days.

For two days, the miller's daughter despaired, and on the third day when she was the most desperate, a little imp visited her and offered to spin all the straw into gold in exchange for whatever he wished. The miller's daughter agreed, but only if he could make her the Fairest queen of them all. The evil imp fulfilled his end of the bargain, spinning all the straw into gold and enchanting the miller's daughter to be incredibly beautiful, and the Good King was delighted and married her straight away.

Shortly after she became a queen, the Queen suspected she might be pregnant, but before she could tell her husband, the evil imp returned demanding her unborn child as payment for their bargain. The Queen begged to be released from her promise and keep the baby, and the evil imp agreed, but only if she could guess his name in three days.

For three days, the Queen searched and searched for the evil imp's name to no avail, but did discover she could wield a mysterious black magic and used it to enchant her favourite mirror. Now able to answer the truth to any question, the Queen asks for the evil imp's name, and discovers it is "Rumpelstiltskin".

Enraged at the Evil Queen for breaking out of their bargain, Rumpelstiltskin announces that she was experiencing the symptoms of a false pregnancy, and he curses her so that one day her royal heir will be her undoing and take away everything. Fearful of Rumpelstiltskin's curse, the Evil Queen vows to never get pregnant, leaving the Good King confused after years of trying to conceive a royal heir.

One day, a little girl named Snow White comes to the kingdom claiming she is the Good King's daughter, and the Good King accepts her as his daughter, royal heir and princess. Remembering Rumpelstiltskin's curse, the Evil Queen waits until the Good King dies of natural causes before sending her Huntsman to take Snow White into the woods and kill her. Using her Magic Mirror, the Evil Queen discovers the Huntsman failed and Snow White is living with Seven Dwarves, protected by their dwarven magic. Resorting to trickery, the Evil Queen disguises herself and sells Snow White an enchanted lace that keeps tightening her corset until she passes out breathless, but the Seven Dwarves arrive in time to cut the lace off and rescue her. Again, the disguised Evil Queen sells Snow White a poisoned comb that makes the princess pass out when she puts it in her hair, but again the Seven Dwarves arrive in time to save her by removing the comb.

Finally, the Evil Queen sells Snow White an enchanted poisoned apple, and she falls down dead with one bite. This time, the Seven Dwarves cannot save her, and they build a Glass Coffin and place her in the middle of the Enchanted Forest.

Fairest (Book One)
The Evil Queen learns from her Magic Mirror that Snow White is once again saved, this time by Prince Charming, whom she marries. Enraged, the Evil Queen appears at their wedding intending to kill them with her black Fairest magic, but is defeated when Snow White discovers her own white Fairest magic. Banished to the darkest edges of the Enchanted Forest, the Evil Queen despairs and almost gives up until she is visited by Carabosse the Dark Fairy (from the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty"), who guides her to recruit a select few other fairy tale villains to defeat Snow White once and for all.

The Evil Queen and Carabosse the Dark Fairy recruit the Big Bad Wolf, Dame Gothel and Galigantus the Giant King, before Rumpelstiltskin arrives and offers to join as well. A deservedly enraged Evil Queen refuses, but Rumpelstiltskin and Carabosse convince her by revealing that it was Rumpelstiltskin who first sold Jack the magic beans.

Growing a giant beanstalk, the Cabal of fairy tale villains travel to the castle home of Galigantus in Giantland, and the Giant King gives the Evil Queen the mysterious Crystal Ball. When Snow White and her team of fairy tale villains arrive, the two groups battle one another, with Snow White and the Evil Queen using their white and black Fairest magics against one another. The Evil Queen wins by using the Crystal Ball to absorb all of Snow White's Fairest magic, weakening the princess, but doesn't expect the Crystal Ball to also absorb her own Fairest magic.

Rumpelstiltskin reveals his betrayal and decades long plan to steal the three forms of the Fairest magic from the Evil Queen, Snow White & Rose Red, and also reveals that without her magic to keep her young and beautiful, every evil act the Evil Queen committed will make her age into nothing, and the Evil Queen crumbles into dust before everyone's eyes.

Appearance
The Evil Queen is described as very beautiful with skin as white as milk and hair as black as night, resembling the classic features of the Fairest epithet: White as Snow, Red as Blood and Black as Ebony. In this way she resembles a colder version of Snow White. She has a fondness for a gothic aesthetic and wears dark blue and black gowns that "sparkle like the night sky".

Personality
The Evil Queen is just as wicked as her name implies, but she is twice as vain and cruel. She is determined and stubborn, evident by her reaction to Rumpelstiltskin's curse and vow to never fall pregnant for fear of fulfilling his curse. Her stubbornness is also evident by her multiple attempts to kill her stepdaughter, even going so far as to attempt to destroy happy endings with the Crystal Ball just to keep her title as "Fairest of them all".

Powers
Because of her cruel heart, the Queen gained the dark side of the Fairest powers, which manifests itself as Black as Ebony. These powers allow her to cause pain and suffering in others in order to expand her own comfort.

She is able to teleport herself (limits unknown, although it is implied she cannot teleport to the land above the clouds), disguise herself so she is unrecognisable, craft deadly enchanted/poisoned items, move and redirect objects with her mind, and create blasts of black magic to attack her enemies.

It is unknown and unlikely that she can heal herself or other people, considering the dark nature of her powers.

Trivia

 * The Evil Queen from the Fairest series shares a few similarities with the Evil Queen from Ever After High.