<P> Courtney was mentally unsound and wanted to be Ali so badly that she tried to drown her when they were children . One day, when she was home from the mental institute, Courtney stole Ali's ring and imitated her when she saw Spencer and the others sneaking into their backyard . Ali was sent to the new mental institute, the Preserve, in Courtney's place, and was forced to take her sister's messed up life . On the night of the sleepover, she spied on the girls, followed Courtney after her fight with Spencer, and killed her in revenge for taking her perfect life . She hates the girls for ruining her life and tries to kill them too by boarding up the entire home and setting it on fire . The girls, including Melissa, manage to escape, but no one knows whether Ali is alive . It's hinted that she might be, as Emily hears a faint giggle in the distance as she visits Courtney's grave in the evening . </P> <P> By the end of Crushed, the Liars know that the Second "A", Alison, has had an accomplice the whole time, and that this accomplice is the Third "A". They believe that Alison did indeed survive the fire in the Poconos house, and thus that the Second and Third "A" are currently operating together to bring them down (and eventually kill them). The helper later is revealed to be Nick Maxwell, Alison's boyfriend when she was hospitalized . Nick was caught by the police when he and Alison planned to kill the Liars via poisoning . However, months later, the Liars visit Nick in the prison in order to discover some clues about Alison's whereabouts, and he gives them some information . </P> <P> Original A was the first "A" and revealed to be Mona Vanderwaal . Mona began torturing Alison by sending her gifts, threats and soon attacking her while wearing a zombie costume . "A" continued to mess with Ali and her mother Jessica DiLaurentis, whom she believed it to be Spencer Hastings . After Alison's disappearance, "A" went away for a year but after the corpse of Bethany Young (believed to be Alison at the time) was found, she reemerged . "A" began sending the Liars messages about things only Alison knew about them and soon even began messing with their parents . Doctor Anne Sullivan had previously dealt with the person behind the hoodie and when "A" trashed her office she immediately recognized the person . She almost exposes her identity to the Liars but "A" kidnaps her and went as far as to threaten her son's life . But the Liars are still close to figuring it out and during the second half of season two they manage to get a hold of "A's" phone . They hatch a plan to catch her with this and it works . They find out that "A" had a lair at the Lost woods resort and Spencer and Mona ("A's" newest victim) head over there and find a room full of pictures of Alison and the girls along with a sketch of "A's" costume to the ball, The Black Swan . However, Spencer begins to notice other clues and soon realizes "A" is right there with her . She turns around to see Mona in a black hoodie, who reveals herself as "A". She kidnaps Spencer and gives her an opportunity to join the "A" team but Spencer declines and the two get into a fight, where Mona is pushed off of a cliff . Though Mona survives, she is sent to Radley Sanitarium for medical assistance . While in the psychiatric hospital, Mona takes up a partnership suggested by the then unknown CeCe Drake that starts off the second game . After this, Mona became another henchmen in the "A" hierarchy, obeying the orders of CeCe, whom she knew as Red Coat . Mona was kicked off of the A-Team in the season three finale . However, Mona joins the new "A.D." team in Season 7, after "A.D." sends Wren to kill her and she offers to help instead . She helps them kidnap Spencer and wears a Melissa mask, but ultimately turns on them and brings the Liars to them, as well as a cop . However, this turns out to be a ruse and the "cop" is actually Mona's French boyfriend, who helps her take Mary and Alex (the two remaining members) to France to live in her own personal Dollhouse . Mona is the final "A" of the series, being the "winner" of the game . </P> <P> Big A was the person who took over the "A" game from Mona Vanderwaal after she was admitted to Radley Sanitarium and revealed to be CeCe Drake . She had visited Mona in Radley and used her to get information about the Liars before taking over the game herself and had used Mona, Toby and Spencer to do her dirty work and sometimes went under the Red Coat disguise . Big A often hid out at a lair situated in Room A at an apartment building at Mayflower Hill and a mobile RV which was stolen but Toby gave it back to "A" in exchange for information about his mother's death . However, the Team was disbanded in the third - season finale and CeCe acted on her own with a few minions and an ally, who is Sara Harvey . It is revealed that Charlotte had been hiding out in the basement of the DiLaurentis house and drilled holes through the floor to spy on the family in her Red Coat disguise and shared the identity with Alison . Her disguise as Red Coat was exposed in the fourth season mid finale when Emily was trapped on a saw at Ravenswood and later got into a fight with Aria who discovered her identity and Charlotte later fell off a platform and escaped . In "A is for Answers" the Liars are under attack by "A" who shoots Ezra Fitz on the rooftop . However, in the fifth - season premiere, the shooter is revealed to be Shana Fring who attempted to kill Alison but was later shoved off a stage by Aria and died from the impact . After all of this, Charlotte fled to France under the Vivian Darkbloom identity to escape custody for Wilden's death but returned . In the series's 100 episode, Charlotte placed a bomb in the Cavanaugh house which detonated, signalling her return to Rosewood . In season five, CeCe breaks into the Vanderwaal home and kidnaps Mona just as she is about to tell the Liars that Alison is "A" and covers up her kidnapping as a homicide . She then brings Mona to the Dollhouse and tortures her and forces her to dress up and act like Alison . Just as the Liars are being brought to jail, CeCe kidnaps them and tortures them inside the Dollhouse . Inside, the Liars discover that Big "A" is named Charles DiLaurentis . CeCe / Charlotte reveals herself as "A" and tells her story; saying that she is transgender, was formerly known as Charles DiLaurentis, and became' A' because the Liars were happy that Alison was gone . She worked with Sara Harvey, who was the Black Widow and a decoy Red Coat, and was also responsible for the "death" of Alison and the death of Wilden, and after telling her story, she attempts suicide by jumping off Radley but is stopped . She is admitted to Welby State and her reign as "A" finally ends and stays in the psychiatric hospital for five years . When she is released, Charlotte is murdered by Mona Vanderwaal and her death causes the birth of "A.D.", the new Uber A. After her death, it is revealed that Noel Kahn was also working for Charlotte . It is also revealed that her birth mother is Jessica's twin, Mary Drake, and her birth father is Ted Wilson, while Spencer is her sister . </P>

Who was wearing the black swan in pretty little liars