Rumpelstiltskin

When the kingdom resorts to using children as soldiers in yet another ogre war, Rumplestiltskin and his son flee into the forest, only to be found and bullied by royal knights. After the knights leave, Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire are approached by a mysterious old man who offers them help in exchange for a small amount of food and company. After Rumplestiltskin explains his reason for running away, the old man has a better idea and steers him towards stealing a magical dagger from the Duke's castle. As holder of the dagger, Rumplestiltskin can control the Dark One, a terrifying entity with unmatched magical powers who is the most feared being in all the land. He decides to steal the dagger with the hopes of protecting Baelfire and turning the Dark One into a force of good. However, Rumplestiltskin can't see himself keeping the Dark One as a slave as he is terrified of him. Convinced he has no other choice, Rumplestiltskin sets fire to the Duke's castle and makes off with the blade. Afterwards, he meets Baelfire in the forest and sends him home. Once alone, Rumplestiltskin summons the Dark One and cowers at the being's presence. When the Dark One taunts him about Baelfire not truly being his son, Rumplestiltskin stabs the entity in a fit of blind rage. Shockingly, he discovers the Dark One is the old man who told him about the dagger. The man briefs on all the horrible deeds he was forced to do as the Dark One and states death is welcome release and ominously warns Rumplestiltskin that "magic always comes with a price". Then, Rumplestiltskin's own name replaces Zoso's on the dagger, and he gains the powers of the Dark One, altering his appearance in the process. Relishing over his new-found status, he returns home to humiliate and kill the knights who harassed him and his son using his dagger and strength while Baelfire looks on in terror.

Eventually, Rumplestiltskin's Dark One powers corrupt his mind, causing him to continually hurt people and seek more power for fear that he will not be able to protect Baelfire from his enemies otherwise. As a downside, people begin to fear him, especially after Rumplestiltskin publicly demonstrates cruelty towards a peddler after Baelfire injuries his knee running into the man's wagon. Though Baelfire believes his father would not need so much power if he simply did not have any, Rumplestiltskin details the only way to rid himself of the Dark One's abilities is if someone killed him with the dagger. In a deal, Rumplestiltskin agrees to give up his powers, if there is way to do so without dying, if Baelfire can find a way. Baelfire comes back home with a magic bean given to him by the Blue Fairy so they can both go to a land without magic, thus making Rumplestiltskin without his powers. However, when the a portal is opened for them to jump into, Rumplestiltskin backs out of his promise to Baelfire, clinging onto his son's hand while the dagger keeps himself from falling in, until he finally lets go of Baelfire as the vortex closes. When he finally comes to terms with the fact his son is gone, Rumplestiltskin furiously calls the Blue Fairy and begs her to send him to Baelfire. She says it is impossible to do without any magical means, and accidentally lets it slip that a powerful curse can bring him to his son. From this point on, Rumplestiltskin vehemently swears to stop at nothing, even if it means sacrificing an entire world, to reunite with his beloved Baelfire.

A time gap passes, and Rumplestiltskin is promised a magic bean by William Smee. Rumplestiltskin agrees and promises the man eternal life in exchange, but if the bargain is not met, he will age him to dust. Before leaving the bar, Rumplestiltskin sees Killian Jones enter with his crew and stays to follow after them. In the alley outside the bar, Rumplestiltskin passes them and the pirates proceed to mock him. When Rumplestiltskin reveals himself, Killian recognizes him as the coward from his ship, but also as the Dark One. They begin a duel, with Killian nearly having his heart ripped out by Rumplestiltskin, until a very much alive Milah pleads on the pirate's behalf. He learns the truth of Milah's disappearance all those years ago, that the kidnapping was nothing but a cover story, and she willingly went with Killian because they fell in love. Rumplestiltskin is furious, but Milah offers him Smee's magic bean in exchange for both Killian's life as well as her own. They meet aboard Killian's ship the next day to seal the deal. Unable to hold back his inquiries, he questions Milah's judgement in leaving their son behind. Milah admits feeling guilty about her choice, which she made while miserable in the marriage with Rumplestiltskin. As the argument heats up, she denies ever loving him, causing Rumplestiltskin to rip out her heart out of rage. While Killian cradles a dying Milah in his arms, Rumplestiltskin crushes her heart to ash. Then, he procures the magic bean by cutting off Killian's clenched left hand. Though Killian stabs him with a hook, it has no effect on Rumplestiltskin, who departs unharmed. When he finally checks the severed hand, he discovers the bean is missing.

Since Rumplestiltskin's loss of his son, the seer, now much older, appears before him once more and proclaims the future she foresaw for him many years ago has recently come to pass. With magical force, he demands information out of her about how to reach his son. Eventually, she allows him to take her powers so that he may learn to see into the future. By doing so, the burden of future sight is no longer in her hands. Just as the seer is drawing her last breaths of life, she sees into his future one last time. She speaks of how he find his son under the most unusual of circumstances, and a young boy who will be the key to the reunion. Alas, this boy will also be his undoing. Despite her warning, he doesn't see the boy as a true threat and decides to kill him when the time comes.

One evening, Rumplestiltskin is summoned by Regina, the daughter of Cora, when she accidentally says his name out loud from her mother's spell book. After appearing before her, he shares knowledge about who she is as their families know each other in the past and future. To his surprise, Regina is a sweet-natured woman who doesn't wish to hurt anyone, particularly when he suggests she can kill Cora. He shows Regina a magic mirror to another world and tempts her into getting rid of Cora with a simple push into it. On the day of the wedding, Rumplestiltskin manifests inside the mirror reflection to beckon Regina into going through with their plan, to which she obeys. Now free of her mother, she returns the spell book to Rumplestiltskin on her way out of the kingdom. Though Regina insists she doesn't need magic, he continually prods her over how it felt using magic. She admits, with much hesitancy, that she loved it, but has fears of turning out like her magic-obsessed mother. Rumplestiltskin promises that is entirely up to her, and takes Regina in as a magic protege.

To start with, he instructs Regina how to conjure a rock, which she has difficulties learning. Rumplestiltskin later spies on her mastering this technique, but upon closer look, it is actually a red-haired woman donning Regina's clothes. The woman, Zelena, claims to be Cora's first-born child; something he refuses to believe until testing her genetics. Surprised by the unexpected, Rumplestiltskin teaches her magic, as he did with Cora, by helping her channel rage into power. As a cooling down period after exerting this much magical force, she is taught to think of a happy memory. When Zelena asks for an example, he tells her of his time growing up with spinsters who baked him meat-pies. Sometime following this, Rumplestiltskin send a letter to Cora about his discovery of Zelena, who he believes is even more powerful than her. After the lesson, Zelena makes him a meat-pie, but he cannot stay since Regina still needs his help learning magic. At this, an angered Zelena repeatedly insists she is casting his curse so he doesn't need Regina, to which Rumplestiltskin points out that her jealousy is literally turning her skin green. Realizing the potential danger, he masquerades as Regina to bait Zelena, who tries to kill her half-sibling. He disqualifies her from casting his curse since one one of the spell's main ingredients is the thing she loves most—him—and that makes her too dangerous. However, Rumplestiltskin is quick to change his mind after Zelena mentions she has a pair of slippers that can take him to a Land Without Magic. Zelena scornfully rejects his offer, and before disappearing, she promises that next time he will choose her. Soon after, Regina succeeds in conjuring the rock, which pleases Rumplestiltskin so much he dubs her his "best pupil". Furious, Zelena witnesses the exchange from Oz.

Rumplestiltskin's lesson with Regina continues, with him teaching her how to conjure a ball of fire, but when she copies him, she has trouble keeping the fire from burning out. Zelena, who is still spying on them from Oz, angrily remarks it's not that difficult, and as proof, she creates a massive fireball of her own.

Regina resumes her magic lessons with Rumplestiltskin, but she does not show up for one planned session. That night, while she is dining alone, he materializes in the seat across the table from hers. Regina voices concerns about continuing the lessons as she doesn't want her own future to end up like his, and when prompted, goes on the detail the unhappiness in her life. She talks about being Queen as well as feeling like a prisoner in a castle, having a husband whose only focus is on his dead wife and young daughter. With no freedom, she finds life intolerable. Rumplestiltskin interjects that leaving this life is not possible even though Regina thinks there are choices in having love or darkness. He states what she doesn't know is that darkness is what will consume her. Upset at his words, Regina orders him to leave. Instead, Rumplestiltskin explains further that once the darkness has started to eat away at her, it will progress until she is swallowed whole, and there's no way to fly away from fate. Before leaving, he sets up lessons for tomorrow and stresses she must bring the only thing inside herself, which is simmering rage.

Rumplestiltskin has further success in creating the Dark Curse and places a single drop of true love on the spell parchment as "a little safety value". Meanwhile, he approaches a struggling Prince Charming in the Infinite Forest, who can't seem to find his way out to reach Snow White. He steals Prince Charming's ring, enchanting it to glow when near Snow White, and suggests another deal. Prince Charming vehemently refuses, and draws his sword. Rumplestiltskin humors him with a fight, but with his powers, he easily defeats Prince Charming, and informs him they're after the same thing—he and Snow White being together. Then, he shows Prince Charming his true love potion. When asked what he knows about true love, Rumplestiltskin describes his own past love as "a brief flicker of light amidst an ocean of darkness", though she died. The fragile nature of true love combined with its unequaled power, the ability to break any curse, is why Rumplestiltskin wants it to be protected. He instructs Prince Charming to hide the potion "inside the belly of a beast". After Prince Charming successfully puts the egg inside the body of a dragon, he surfaces at a beach shoreline near Maleficent's castle. Rumplestiltskin hands over the ring, and then uses his powers to give the latter a princely outfit to match with the occasion. Prince Charming asks why Rumplestiltskin is helping him so much. Mysteriously, the Dark One states he is a fan of true love, and what it creates.

Having secured and enacted the deal with Prince Charming, Rumplestiltskin returns to his castle. While spinning gold at his leisure, he is visited by Prince Charming, who wants to bargain in helping a now curse-less Snow White to find the motivation to fight against the Evil Queen for the kingdom. However, Rumplestiltskin has nothing to give him. Instead, Prince Charming comes up with a plan of his own and manages to strengthen Snow White's resolve in battling for the right of the throne. Snow White, having the impression all this was possible because Prince Charming made another deal with Rumplestiltskin, decides she wants to pay the price of magic. In the forest, she summons the Dark One to explain her intention to reimburse him for his services rather than let Prince Charming do so. Rumplestiltskin inquires about the sword Snow White is holding, which she says is the legendary Excalibur of Camelot, and having pulled it out of proves herself to be true claimant to the kingdom. In disbelief, Rumplestiltskin shows her the sword is nothing but a forgery by using magic to dissolve it into dust. After spilling the truth that no deal was made between himself and Prince Charming, he rips a necklace from Snow White's neck as payment for wasting his time.

At a later date, Rumplestiltskin visits an unhappy Regina, who is still stewing over her inability to kill Snow and Charming. The Dark One stresses a particular caveat of the enchantment protecting Snow and Charming, in that they cannot be harmed in this land, but can in others. His words help her recall the effects of the Dark Curse, and she hurries off to Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding to announce her intentions of using it to destroy their lives for good.

When Snow White becomes heavily pregnant, she also grows even more concerned about the threat of the Dark Curse from her former step-mother. She and Prince Charming go to Rumplestiltskin, the only man powerful enough to counter the Queen's magic. Their escort warns them not to tell him their names, because it will give him power over them, but Rumplestiltskin already knows who they are. Rumplestiltskin agrees to give them information in exchange for their unborn baby's name, to which Snow White agrees, in spite of the guard's earlier warning. He tells the couple that the only thing that can save all the people in the land from the curse is their unborn child who will come back to save them all on her twenty-eighth birthday. As they turn to leave, Rumplestiltskin asks for their child's name. After a moment of hesitation, Snow White states the child's name to be Emma. To help himself to remember this vital piece of information, he repeatedly writes her name on a piece of parchment using squid ink.

After the Queen's first attempt at casting the Dark Curse fails, she comes to Rumplestiltskin to find out why and agrees to fulfill his price for this information by giving him riches, comfort, and influence in his new life under the curse, and that if he comes to her for any reason, she must give him anything if he uses the word "please". Rumplestiltskin tells her that she must sacrifice the heart of the thing she loves most for the curse to work, something Regina believes is impossible since the person she loved most has been dead for years, however, the Dark One nudges her to consider another person who she truly loves. Shocked, Regina admits there is someone else, to which Rumplestiltskin snaps at her to hurry up and stop wasting time.

On the day the Dark Curse is cast, he expectantly waits for it to take effect. The Queen materializes outside his cage to gloat about her success with the curse and boasts at the knowledge he, like all others will be affected by it, will soon lose their memories of everything. He relishes in asking her how it felt ripping out her father's heart for the curse to work, but she doesn't answer as it is of little importance. Rumplestiltskin can tell despite her triumphant front, she is still unsatisfied with something. He stresses that Prince Charming and Snow White's child will foil her curse, to which the Queen voices plans of getting rid of the baby. Additionally, Rumplestiltskin hints that now she has hole in her heart and will feel the need to fill it in the future. The Queen doesn't take his prophecy seriously, though he shouts she has underestimated the price of magic and will come back for his help someday. Soon after, the curse takes Rumplestiltskin and many other inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest to another land.

After the Dark Curse is cast, Mr. Gold becomes a pawnshop owner and rent collector in the town of Storybrooke. He walks with a noticeable limp while carrying a cane to support himself. During the first few days, Mr. Gold often limps down Main Street, past Marco who is fixing a sign above a store. A few days later, mayor Regina storms into his shop to express dissatisfaction with her life, so he inquisitively points her in the direction of Dr. Hopper's psychiatric office. Instead, Regina wants to speak with him about a deal they made in the previous land as it hasn't turned out as she wanted. Puzzled, Mr. Gold has no idea what she is talking about. When Regina expresses unhappiness, he doesn't see why since she's the most powerful woman in town as mayor. She explains how frustrating it is for everyone to submit to her will because they must, and not because they want to. Again, Mr. Gold has no inkling of what Regina is looking for, and she leaves dejected.

One day, ten years into the curse, Mr. Gold hobbles out from the back of his pawnshop to meet the former coma patient John Doe, actually David, who just regained his memories of his past life. David attempts to get the truth out of Mr. Gold, whom he believes has been pretending to be cursed this whole time, but a puzzled Mr. Gold responds by being concerned for his wellbeing and even directs him to Dr. Hopper's office. When Mr. Gold denies knowing anything about the whereabouts of David's daughter, David pulls out a sword to intimidate him, with the latter insisting that trying to frighten him isn't going to make him remember something he doesn't know. David, deciding the man actually doesn't remember anything after all, goes to leave as he notes out loud that he and Snow will have to find Emma on their own. At the mention of Emma's name, Mr. Gold's memories return in a flash, however, he still has no answers for David about where Emma is in this world. He finds out that it was the magic in the pixie flower that awoke David and Snow, and suggests that they can use the same flower dust to reunite with Emma. Upon finding out only ten years under the curse have passed, Mr. Gold cautions David and Snow against seeking out Emma because she won't be able to fulfill her destiny to break the curse in eighteen more years, and without this, the rest of the townspeople will remain cursed forever. He asks them to drink a potion to recurse themselves, which he himself will take as well, and wait out the years until Emma arrives. David, indignant over being given such a choice, states that Mr. Gold wouldn't understand since he doesn't have a daughter out there waiting for him, to which Mr. Gold coolly remarks that none of them have any idea what is out there for him. Rather than force the couple to comply, Mr. Gold hands a potion vial to Snow, telling her that they will realize this is the only way forward. Presumably, sometime after this, Mr. Gold drinks the potion to stop being "awake".

Eight years after the memory wipe, Regina requests Mr. Gold's assistance in finding a suitable child for her to adopt as the agencies she looked up all have long waiting lists. He questions if she is ready to be a mother, though Regina attests it's something she needs. Mr. Gold agrees to procure an infant, but advises once she becomes a mother, it means putting the child's interests before her own. In a short time, he informs her of a baby from Phoenix who was previously placed with a family in Boston, but the adoption did not go through, leaving her with the open opportunity. Much later, she bursts into the pawnshop carrying the baby, Henry, in a crib while angrily confronting him over something she learned about the child's birth mother, who was apparently found in the woods eighteen years ago. Mr. Gold understands even less when she starts rambling on about things he apparently told her in a previous life. He takes these furious outbursts as the pressures of motherhood getting to her head.

In ten years time, Mr. Gold heads into the bed and breakfast to collect the monthly rent from the owner, Granny, and meets a new town visitor, Emma. Upon hearing her name, he regains his memories from his former life as Rumplestiltskin.

At night, Mr. Gold takes a stroll and ends up in Regina's backyard as she is tending to her apple tree. He notices she is in in high spirits and congratulates her for banishing Emma, to which Regina replies that she has triumphed. Even so, he tells her not to get ahead of herself because he saw Emma and Henry together and that he would have been able to help her for a price. Suspiciously, she inquiries if Emma arriving in town was something he planned, but Mr. Gold asks her to drop the subject by saying "please", an enchantment that was part of a previous deal he made with Regina in their past lives, in which she must obey him if he ends the sentence with "please". Mr. Gold walks past as a shocked Regina is unable to disobey his command.

A few nights later, Mr. Gold locks up his shop for the evening. After he is gone, a pregnant Ashley breaks in to steal back adoption papers she previously signed for her unborn child. When caught in the act by Mr. Gold, she pepper sprays his face; causing him to knock his head and pass out. By the time he comes to, Ashley is gone and so are the adoption papers. Putting on the mask of a concerned citizen, he asks Emma to help him find Ashley as it is dangerous for a pregnant woman to be all on her own. Emma tracks down Ashley as she is going into labor. After bringing her to the hospital, she gives birth to a healthy baby girl. Mr. Gold comes to collect the child, but Emma promises to owe him a future favor if he will leave Ashley alone. He agrees to the deal and leaves the hospital empty-handed.

One night, while Sheriff Graham, Deputy Emma Swan and Mayor Mills, as well as many other townspeople, are busy rescuing Archie and Henry from a collapsed mine, Mr. Gold remains in his shop. When leaving, he passes a couple of puppets resembling a young man and woman.

One evening, Mr. Gold gives David directions to the Toll Bridge after he gets lost following Regina's instructions. David goes over to Emma's mobile from the Enchanted Forest, but then takes notice of a windmill. David stares at it, transfixed, and seems to gain some recollection of the windmill having belonged to him in the past. Mr. Gold smirks as David remembers his previous life pre-coma in the hospital as opposed to being Prince Charming.

To prevent Regina from gaining the upper hand over him, Mr. Gold buries his magic dagger in the forest when he sees Sheriff Graham stumbling about. Graham tells him about the wolf and strange dreams he has been having. With a casual smile, Mr. Gold indirectly hints at Graham's previous life as the Huntsman by saying that some believe dreams are memories of a former life, which does nothing to calm the sheriff's nerves.

After the sheriff's death, he offers Emma some of Graham's old things, which she declines. When he learns the mayor fired Emma, he brings over the town charter to her as it might help her contest Regina's decision to elect Sidney as the new town sheriff. Mr. Gold offers his assistance to Emma by becoming her benefactor. The next day, he purposely sets fire to the town hall building while Emma and Regina are inside. Emma carries Regina out from the danger and is branded a hero by the public. Mr. Gold is confronted by Emma with her suspicions about the fire. Emma plays right into his hand, beginning to feel guilt about winning the townspeople's favor through trickery, and at the electoral debate, she steps out of the running after publicly indicting Mr. Gold as the fire-starter. As planned, this is the exact path he wanted Emma to take so Regina would not gain the upper hand and become more powerful by setting Sidney as a puppet sheriff. He pays Emma a visit at the station the next morning to congratulate her on the victory, and lets her know everything was premeditated on his part. He explains the residents of Storybrooke had to see Emma is capable of standing up not only to the mayor, but himself, too.

When Emma is trying to help out two orphans, Ava and Nicholas Zimmer, from becoming a part of the foster system in Boston, she goes to Mr. Gold's pawnshop in hopes that he recognizes a compass that once belonged to the siblings' mother. Mr. Gold pretends to take out a paper with the name of the item purchaser, though it is actually blank, but states a man named Michael Tillman bought it. This leads Emma directly to the orphans' biological father.

In a deal with Regina, Mr. Gold agrees to make David's wife, Kathryn, disappear so Mary Margaret will be blamed for murder if she pulls some strings for the District Attorney to drop the physical battery charges pending against him. Additionally, he gives Regina the suggestion that when Mary Margaret is arrested, she could slip a key in the cell for her to escape since bad things happen to those who leave Storybrooke. Just as Kathryn is driving out of town to Boston in pursuit of her dream in law school, he kidnaps her. In a room, she is kept alive with food and water, but he never allows himself to be seen by her.

A few days later, Mr. Gold is led out onto the docks by Leroy, who wants to sell his boat in exchange for five-thousand dollars. Mr. Gold is unimpressed by the asking price, and insists three-thousand dollars is more reasonable. As an alternative, Leroy requests waiving a month's rental payment for the nuns, though Mr. Gold gladly remarks that he wouldn't mind kicking them out of the convent for good. He refuses either deal with Leroy. When Mary Margaret is arrested for the suspected murder of Kathryn, Mr. Gold offers to be her attorney. Emma is skeptical of his motives and advises Mary Margaret against trusting him. However, Mary Margaret knows that she will need all the help that she can get and accepts his help. He rejects money from Mary Margaret and simply claims that he is "invested in her future". Later, Emma relates to Mr. Gold her suspicions that Regina is framing Mary Margaret for Kathryn's murder. She is not only willing to do anything, but also go further, so Mr. Gold agrees to help her and concedes that fighting Regina and winning will be tough, but believes Emma is more powerful than she realizes.

Regina follows through with Mr. Gold's advice and plants a key in Mary Margaret's cell. As he and Emma enter into the sheriff's station, Henry is sitting in the hallway and notifies them that Mary Margaret is gone. Emma goes on a search and successfully convinces Mary Margaret to return. The following morning, Regina is astonished to see Mary Margaret is still in the jail cell. To the mayor, Mr. Gold credits Emma's resourcefulness in the situation. Regina presses that their deal only occurred so she could get results. He assures that she will since Mary Margaret is still a murder suspect. Mr. Gold advocates to Emma that Mary Margaret's personality could get the charges dropped if the District Attorney sympathizes with the schoolteacher. In an interview with the District Attorney, Mary Margaret accidentally admits she "wanted Kathryn gone", which is taken as a murder confession. She is later taken away by the police for the trial, while Emma blames Mr. Gold for not trying harder to defend her. He asks her not to lose faith when there is still time for him to "work a little magic." Mr. Gold picks the perfect time to drug Kathryn and leave her unconscious at a field outside of town, to which she crawls all the way to the diner and is discovered by Emma.

Using Henry as a distraction, August tries to infiltrate Mr. Gold's back office in the pawnshop. Once caught, he feigns innocence, but Mr. Gold is suspicious. When news breaks about Kathryn being alive, Regina comes to him in a panic upon realizing all the fabricated evidence setting Mary Margaret up as a murder will point back to herself. She accuses him of breaking their deal since they both agreed that something "tragic" would happen to the woman. Mr. Gold attests Kathryn did suffer a terrible fate by being abducted, which fits the bill of their deal. He attends a party held in honor of Mary Margaret's return home. Emma has reason to suspect Mr. Gold was involved in Kathryn's kidnapping. Mr. Gold evades the probe by asking her if she thinks he is working with or against Regina. He questions her about August, but she knows nothing about him except that he's a writer. After leaving the party, he breaks into August's guest room at the bed and breakfast and is stunned to find a drawing of his magic dagger. At the nunnery, he spies on Mother Superior in deep conversation with August. Once Mother Superior is alone, he threatens the convent's status for information about what she and August spoke of. She acknowledges that August sought advice and counsel on how to approach his estranged father, whom he has not seen or spoken to in years. Shocked, Mr. Gold takes all this to mean August is possibly his long lost son. Anxious and unsure, he goes to talk with Dr. Hopper about how to approach his son. The doctor replies that, despite everything that may have happened between them, honesty is his best solution. Mr. Gold resignedly agrees. Mr. Gold catches up to August in the woods, and gives him an emotional apology. The two embrace as August forgives him and asks for the dagger as proof he's changed. He digs it out and gives it to August, who then tries to control him with it. Stunned, Mr. Gold quickly realizes this is not his son and threatens August until he coughs up a reason for trying to use the dagger as a cure for his own terminal illness. August demonstrates knowledge that a "little fairy" told him that getting Rumplestiltskin's magic was one of his two hopes for survival while the other option is to get the savior to believe in the curse, but did not think he was going to live long enough to see it happen. Mr. Gold decides to let him go, and relishes in the fact August is going to die anyway, but Emma believes in the curse, he himself will "get something out of it."

Regina comes into his pawnshop in a huff over her apple tree dying. He casually remarks that she should change her fertilizer, though they both know the real reason is because Emma's presence in town is causing the curse to slowly weaken over time. She desperately wants to get rid of Emma so Henry will be hers alone, but of course, there is a catch. Emma can't be killed, lest the curse will break, so she decides to use the Sleeping Curse on her. Regina returns later to gloat about her success in the plan. Mr. Gold heeds there will be a price to pay for the use of magic, which occurs when Henry, not Emma, takes a bite of Regina's poisoned apple turnover instead and is befallen by the Sleeping Curse.

While Henry goes into a coma, Emma starts to believe in the curse. She and Regina team up and request Mr. Gold's help in the matter. He informs them about a true love potion capable of reviving Henry, which is hidden in the belly of a beast Emma must defeat, and gives her Prince Charming's old sword for the task. Despite this, Mr. Gold has a hidden agenda of his own. He gags Regina and tricks Emma into throwing up the potion. As he opens to check on the bottle in his shop, the entrance bell chimes, indicating a customer has arrived.

At the mouth of the wishing well, he pours the true love potion into its waters. Suddenly, purple clouds erupts from the well as magic is brought to Storybrooke.

Love Language: Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold, likes physical touch and Words Of Affirmation. He sometimes likes to be in control and be the dominant one in relationship. He uses the world “dearie” and for his partner he will use “sweetheart” “good girl” or “good boy”. He praises his lover when making love. He also likes being called a “good boy” when he wants to be more submissive. When he is having a rough day, he wants to be the one being taking care of.

He can go by Rumplestiltskin, Rumple, Rum, Mr. Gold or Dark One.

He likes spanking, choking, snd using restraints like handcuffs or rope. He likes using the world “slut” or “whore”. He loves swearing.

He dislikes being used for his magic or someone using him for his magic involved in any sexual encounter.

His enemies are Hook and Cora (and exlover).

His weaknesses are Dark One's Dagger: Rumplestiltskin can be controlled or killed by whoever holds the dagger. Pandora's Box: Rumplestiltskin and his power can be contained inside Pandora's Box. Squid Ink: He can be temporarily paralyzed if squid ink is used on him.

His powers: Dark One's Curse: As the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin has the ability to use the darkest of magic. Teleportation: Rumplestiltskin can teleport himself and others. Telekinesis: Using magic, Rumplestiltskin can move objects and people from one place to another. Elemental Control: Rumplestiltskin can control and conjure fire, as well as manipulate other elements. Healing: He can magically heal almost any injuries, including gunshot wounds. Heart-Ripping: Being the Dark One, Rumple can rip out people's hearts, either to kill or control them. Potioncraft: Rumplestiltskin has an acute knowledge of potions and the ingredients used to make them. Glamour: Rumplestiltskin can magically disguise himself as other people. Shadow Magic: Using the Dark One's Dagger, he can control his shadow.