Reply To: Why is Hook such a divisive character within the fandom?

[Keb]

I don’t think it’s that Rumple has no desire to be a hero–he clearly does want to be a better man for Belle on some level, as he’s said so, in private, to his son’s grave, as well as publicly where his motives are more questionable. But even in his most heroic moment, he never believed he actually COULD be a hero–as he was sacrificing his life to save everyone, facing down his greatest fears, he declared that he was a villain and villains don’t get happy endings. He hasn’t believed anyone could truly love him since Cora dumped him (and he still seems to lack faith that Belle truly can DESPITE the bit of hope he’s got that compelled him to marry her etc–if he really believed 100% that he was worthy of her love, he’d quit lying to her. But he doesn’t.)

Rumple knows he’s not a good guy and while he’s happy to hide his crimes in the dark, he seems to recognize that most of them WERE wrong. His rare apologies (at least in the present) come off as sincere. And his worst crimes generally come back to bite him in the end, and we see that–even now, while he’s got his “happy ending,” it’s without his son and with this shadow of the dagger hanging over him like a bomb that’s going to explode it any second and we all know it. He knows it, too–or he wouldn’t have made a single deal with Hook.

Regina, meanwhile, has paid a lot of consquences for her wrong actions, no denying, but is in her own words without regret. Even while she’s saving people and being miserable, she’s still doing evil queen things behind the scenes with Sidney and possibly even Operation Mongoose. But she has apologized believably for at least some of her crimes…

Hook’s recognized that when he tried to go back to piracy it a) didn’t feel right to him anymore and b) he did some bad stuff. But when Emma asked him about it, he just covered it up until she was like, meh, whatever, keep your secrets, you’re still hot. She briefly lost trust in him over the kiss thing (rightfully so), but that’s about the biggest thing he’s had to confess to her, and he didn’t until his hand was forced. (To be fair, Rumple and Regina aren’t exactly forthcoming to their loves either.)

But he also seems to believe, as Regina did in S2, that changing is simple. That seems to be where his arc is right now. Rumple doesn’t believe he CAN change, but he’s at a point where he thinks maybe–just maybe–he can be happy and have it all. Regina’s in  a backslidey place where she thinks she’s changed a lot but it hasn’t done her any good at all, so she’s looking for another way–easy fixes.

They’re all at different points on their individual redemption arcs. And while Hook’s done fewer very horrible things on screen (he’s only successfully murdered 4 people on screen, by my count, compared to literally a whole village for Regina + another ten individuals, and 17 for Rumple now–but he’s certainly threatened and attempted to kill people, including his lady love, a lot more and quite believably), he’s aiming to be the true love of True Love incarnate–he’s got a long way to go yet.

Since I’m mainly a Belle fan, I guess I tend to measure the villains on how they treat her :p All three of them have wronged her, all three have apologized at some point to her. Hook’s was a meh-have-to-cuz-Emma’s-watching apology; I did not get the slightest impression he was at all sorry for hurting & nearly killing Belle. Regina’s apology was a bit desperate–I-need-your-help-so-I’m-sorry but she actually did seem sincere and was offering to actually help Belle in the same moment. Rumple keeps screwing up in ways that hurt her, but when he apologizes his whole dang heart is breaking…so I believe him most even if he’s being a jerk to her right now.