Origin

Grimhilde married Snow White's father, becoming her step-mother, only to then have her father killed and takeover the kingdom. She exiled her own step-daughter when she was only seven, and became over focused on her appearance. She used her Magic Mirror to confirm her suspicions that Snow White is fairer than her. The Evil Queen attempted to have Snow White killed, but after the Huntsman failed. She chose to do it herself, becoming "The Old Hag" or "Wicked Witch"

The Evil Queen gifted Snow White a poisoned apple with a sleeping curse. It worked for a while, but Snow White was awoken by true love's kiss of a random prince, who she married. Now with royal power again, Snow White punished the Evil Queen by having her wear heavy iron shoes and dance for the rest of her life until she dies from the torture. The ending in most iterations is either skipped or changed due to later writers believing it made Snow White come across as evil instead.

Creation

The Evil Queen originates from fairy tale folklore, which was written down by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. In this story she was only called "The Queen" and wouldn't use the name "The Evil Queen" until later versions to make a distinct differences between her and Snow White's real mother. She was later given the name Grimhilde, referencing the Grimms.

Other Versions

Disney's Snow White

In Disney's version of Snow White, the Evil Queen's actions are censored to fit a child friendly film. The story follows a similar beat as the original story, with the only change to the Evil Queen being her fate, the movie ends with the queen falling off the edge of mountain. She's also given a more flashy wardrobe to show her evil personality.

She also often appears in Disney comics and children books, which are non-canon to the movie. She almost always appears in the Wicked Witch guise in Disney comics. The Evil Queen's box has also made an appearance in comics.

She also appears in multiple crossover material with other Disney properties such as Mickey's Magical Christmas and it's sequel movie, Mickey's House of Villains.

Fables (DC Comics/Vertigo Comics)

Despite Snow White being a main character of the series, the Evil Queen is a very small character in the series, with the comic series taking place after the original versions of fairy tales, therefore Grimhilde is already dead. She only appears in flashbacks, and is occasionally mentioned by name.

Once Upon A Time

The Evil Queen, now named Regina Mills is a main character of the ABC live action TV-series Once Upon a Time. The Evil Queen in flashbacks was shown to have been raised by the Queen of Hearts (Cora Mills) as a farm girl, who's mother used magic to control Regina into doing whatever it she wanted. Regina fell in love with a stable boy named Daniel. Once Regina saved Snow White who riding on an uncontrollable horse, resulting in Snow White's father purposing to Regina. Regina didn't want to say yes but her mother forced her too. After Snow White told Cora about Daniel being Regina's secret lover, Cora killed Daniel as a means to force Regina into marrying the king for wealth and power. Regina would end up getting revenge on the people who put her in this loveless marriage, first trapping her mother in Wonderland, then tricked the Genie/Magic Mirror into killing her husband and finally she exiled Snow White from her own kingdom. Regina learned how to use magic like her mother, from Rumpelstiltskin and used it to rule her kingdom with an iron fist. Snow White eventually overthrew her, and as a final ace up her sleeve, Regina cursed the inhabitants of Enchanted Forest into traveling into the real world with no memories of what happened.

In the real world, Regina was the mayor of Storybrooke, a town of fairy tale characters living normal lives. Regina adopted a son, naming him Henry Mills, only to later discover that he was the son of Emma Swan, who was the adult daughter of Snow White. Regina finding this out originally tried to give Henry back to adoption agency, but found herself unable to let him go, and despite the risk of Emma finding her parents, decides to keep her son. Henry when older figured out he was adopted and went out and go out to find Emma. Emma ends up coming to Storybrooke where she starts a child custody war with Regina. By the end of season one, Regina confessed to Emma the truth when Henry was in danger, leading to the two women working together to save their son. However in doing so, everyone woke up again, knowing the truth of who they were.

In season two, Regina was hunted by the people of Storybrooke for cursing them, but Henry stopped them from hurting her, still loving his mother. Regina came face to face with her mother again, and in the moment it seemed like they were about to be together. Snow White tricked Regina into killing her own mother, creating a new reason why Regina hates her. Regina would slowly start to redeem herself by working with the heroes to stop two normal mortals trying to harm Henry. The season ended with Henry being kidnapped to another realm.

In season three, Regina joined the heroes on a trip to Neverland to save Henry, where Regina gained the trust of Emma Swan, after teaching her how to use her magic. Henry told Regina that he still needs her to be his mother, and that he loves her, regardless of the things she's done. In the second half of season three, Regina and Emma worked together to find out who cast the new curse, which is revealed to be Regina's secret sister, the Wicked Witch. Regina with the help of Robin Hood, who she sparked a romance with were able to overpower her sister and save the day, becoming a hero in many people's eyes.

In season four, Regina pretended to be a villain again in order to be a mole on Rumpelstiltskin's team of villains, however when she was found out, they kicked her off the group. Regina found out that her sister was still alive, and had tricked Robin Hood into getting her pregnant, resulting in Regina nearly killing her sister but only held back in order to protect the baby.

In season five, Regina became the savior, after Emma became the dark one. Regina protected the town from the darkness, and helped her sister reach redemption. The season ended with Regina losing the love of her life, as Robin Hood was killed by Hades.

In season six, Regina was split into two, Regina Mills and the Evil Queen. The Evil Queen tried to kill Snow White and Prince Charming again, but Regina continued to fight her evil self, believing the only way to beat her is to kill her. However she concluded that it wasn't true, her darkness was part of her, and decides to take back some of the darkness, and gives the Evil Queen some of her goodness. She helps her other self become a person in her own right, and accepts her as her sister.

In season seven, Regina became the main character with Emma's absence in the final season. She trained Drizella in magic, seeing herself in the girl. Drizella however proved to be a cruel sorceress, killing innocent people. Regina managed to break through to her student, and help change her heart to pure again. Regina fought against Mother Gothel to protect Henry, nearly dying. Regina was saved by Henry through the true love kiss. Regina met a wicked version of her son who wished to kill her, but after a conversation with the ghost of Robin Hood, knew how to talk her son down and turn him to the kind hearted boy he once was. Regina's story ended in the series being given the title of the Good Queen, as the new ruler of the combined realms.