Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin Character Analysis

[mickey]

“Don’t back down just to keep the peace. Standing up for your beliefs builds self-confidence and self-esteem.” ( Oprah Winfrey)
I just don’t understand why we should back away from certain topics.
Some posters tried to give reasons earlier why they find the character sympathetic. Not everyone has to agree with their reasoning, but their explanation seemed logical and solid.
Were their points argued plausibly? No. They got completely brushed off with a claim that the only reason why they find sympathy for the character is his gender. I didn’t like the comment and I made it clear. I am not going to apologize for it.

[midnight dreary]

@Ms. Pixie wrote:

@Midnight Dreary wrote:

Ms. Pixie, I understand what you’re saying, I just simply disagree. 😉

Perfect! =]
Let’s admit it: if we all had the same opinions it would be a very boring forum!

Sooo, let me bring another thing to the discussion:
I love Rumple’s character mostly because he seems to be ahead of everyone, or behind everything… whenever I’m really into the story, cheering for Emma to find out something, or happy ’cause something that I wanted to happen, happens, I always have this feeling that Rumple will show up and reveal he was behind it all along. So, it gives me this perpetual doubt about everyone else, if they are really getting somewhere, or if they’re just being puppets (and if I am being fooled, lead to believe on the motion of things!)

So, I can’t decide if Rumple is:

1. the master of the game – he planned everything and is always playing people to get where/what he wants, and so, is even more powerful then we know.

2. just always ahead, since he lived trough so many years and have the magic, he just understand how people work and is extremely good at seeing where things are going to.

3. can actually predict the future.

what do you guys think???

Awesome! *HUGS* 😀 😀 😀

Hmm…at first, I thought Rumpel was able to see the future, but other posters have pointed out that good planning skills could easily be mistaken for fortune-telling. To us, it may appear that Rumpel can see into the future, but the reality of the matter could be that Rumpel is facilitating things to happen a certain way. So, whatever Rumpel “predicts” will happen, will happen. Not because it’s meant to happen, but because he’s secretly facilitating it to happen. 😉

I do agree that Rumpel tends to be able to outsmart everyone, however, his judgement is easily clouded by emotional matters. The loss of Baelfire and Belle sent him over the deep end so to speak. So, as long as he’s able to keep his emotions under control, then he’ll come out as the winner. However, with the new development that both Baelfire and Belle are still alive, I doubt he’ll be able to hold onto his emotional and mental stability for much longer. 😯

[midnight dreary]

@mickey wrote:

“Don’t back down just to keep the peace. Standing up for your beliefs builds self-confidence and self-esteem.” ( Oprah Winfrey)
I just don’t understand why we should back away from certain topics.
Some posters tried to give reasons earlier why they find the character sympathetic. Not everyone has to agree with their reasoning, but their explanation seemed logical and solid.
Were their points argued plausibly? No. They got completely brushed off with a claim that the only reason why they find sympathy for the character is his gender. I didn’t like the comment and I made it clear. I am not going to apologize for it.

I wasn’t necessarily backing down. I was just trying to change the subject so that I could maintain the peace. Do I still disagree with what she said? Yes. But hjbau and I have been pretty friendly up until this point, and I didn’t what that to change. 😉

[eternalflame]

I REALLY like this character. But he’s a tough one to figure out isn’t he? When we first meet him, he’s behind bars telling Regina to murder her father and stalking Cinderella praying after her unborn child. But then we see him falling in love with Belle and trying to rescue his son. Very confusing. In the end, I think we’ll see him and Emma teaming up to defeat the Evil Queen. Or maybe not. We might see the Evil Queen redeemed before that ever happens. Either way, I’m excited to see him reunited with his son and hopefully Belle. Even though he’s the main villain, I’d like to see him have some sort of a happy ending.

[killianhookfan]

Personally I LOVE Rumple but some of the things he does – YIKES. Not good to be watching the show with your 10 year old when Rumple turns a guy into a snail and squashes him and then have your 10 year old yell “COOL!!” Oh. No. No. No. So very NOT cool.

But I think this is really what is so fascinating about the character for me – I don’t think I have ever had a character on a show before where one moment I LOVE him and am crying for him and the next I am cringing and feeling like Mother of the Year for allowing my child to watch the hideous acts he is performing on screen. He is one seriously messed up character, yet I love him anyway.

Someone else mentioned what it really comes down to for me was well – it’s the hope for Rumple’s redemption. We get to see flickers of this hope, in some episodes more than others – the last episode gave us some ‘three steps forward two steps back’ kind of progress. But I also agree that for Rumple it can’t just be about his own redemption – he has done too much damage to himself and allowed damage to be done to others by having Regina enact the curse for it to be only about himself. For some reason I keep thinking that at some point (if he hasn’t already) he is going to identify with the part of Regina that was once good and he will become determined to redeem her as well. I actually think that it would be more meaningful if his act of self-sacrifice happened in the pursuit of Regina’s redemption than in his own redemption or in trying to find Bae or save Belle.

I agree that technically Bae was Rumple’s price for desiring magic and power (even though I hope they are reunited) so while it is noble that he has made it his life’s work to find him, he has done it at the expense of EVERYONE else by allowing Regina to enact the curse. So finding Bae was really more of a selfish act now that I really think about it. And while I also hope and pray that he and Belle somehow end up together – it was really his fault that they couldn’t be together. Bummer that he was convinced she was dead, it will be nice when he knows she isn’t but still he has a lot more to work toward than just being accepted by Belle again.

[eternalflame]

SQUEEE!!! A new poster! Sorry, but I love chatting about this show!

Yes, Mr. Gold has A LOT to atone for. But like I said in another thread, I’d love to see Belle or Baelfire team up to save Mr. Gold from his own destruction. I feel like he needs to be saved. He can be very destructive and he needs someone (preferably some he loves dearly) to come in and help him.

[lissy]

I don’t think I have ever had a character on a show before where one moment I LOVE him and am crying for him and the next I am cringing

I am on the same page as you rumplegoldfan! It’s been awhile since I have found I deep emotional connection to a character. *applauds those brilliant writers and the sexy robert carlyle* The last time I felt this way was probably reading the Harry Potter books lol! I found myself holding back tears when he lost his son. The man has been through unbearable pain and committed countless mistakes. For him to be able to redeem himself would be breath taking.

[eternalflame]

Yes, Rumpelstiltskin can be very difficult and frustrating as a character. But I’m comforted by the hope that he’ll eventually be saved through the love of Baelfire and Belle.

[ms. pixie]

@Midnight Dreary wrote:

Hmm…at first, I thought Rumpel was able to see the future, but other posters have pointed out that good planning skills could easily be mistaken for fortune-telling. To us, it may appear that Rumpel can see into the future, but the reality of the matter could be that Rumpel is facilitating things to happen a certain way. So, whatever Rumpel “predicts” will happen, will happen. Not because it’s meant to happen, but because he’s secretly facilitating it to happen. 😉

I do agree that Rumpel tends to be able to outsmart everyone, however, his judgement is easily clouded by emotional matters. The loss of Baelfire and Belle sent him over the deep end so to speak. So, as long as he’s able to keep his emotions under control, then he’ll come out as the winner. However, with the new development that both Baelfire and Belle are still alive, I doubt he’ll be able to hold onto his emotional and mental stability for much longer. 😯

I also believe he’s this incredible planner, but sometimes I wonder if he’s THAT good or if he’s (also) exceptional at analysing people and foreseeing where things are heading to. Because, if the first is the case, then, oh my, I fear for Emma and Henry – unless, as you’ve said, Rumple’s emotions get in the way. But if the second is the case, I think the story might take more unexpected turns.

[vasalisa]

@EternalღFlame wrote:

Yes, Mr. Gold has A LOT to atone for. But like I said in another thread, I’d love to see Belle or Baelfire team up to save Mr. Gold from his own destruction. I feel like he needs to be saved. He can be very destructive and he needs someone (preferably some he loves dearly) to come in and help him

I agree. I keep thinking that if he’d had someone to talk to (other than Zoso The Previous Dark One) way back on that fateful night in Desperate Souls, he’d have made some very different decisions in his life, and found other ways to deal with his problems (“Finding another way” seems to be a regular theme in the show). Seems like he could have used a friend, or a coach, or a good therapist (Now he has Archie and he’s making great strides!), or even just some anti-anxiety meds. His response to his problems seems to be to isolate himself, and seek more power, magical or not. But he’s learning — His earlier quotes about love were that it caused more pain and destruction than any other force on earth … Bad news. More recently, he says that if you have True Love, you can do anything …

He’s built a lot of walls around himself over the years. A few people have gotten through — like Bael and Belle. He has done a lot of horrible things in his past–It’s true. Maybe one purpose of the Curse in having people forget everything was also to forget his transgressions against them. It was a new start for all of them–including Mr Gold. But they are still the same characters/personalities, and sometimes, they wind up with similar outcomes–like Mr Gold being the most powerful man in town, friendless, and not trusted by anyone.

He is making progress : In The Return, he tells Regina, “Murder is different here. You can’t just turn someone into a snail, and step on them.” He didn’t kill Katherine, he just abducted her. Still reprehensible, but he’s making progress … He didn’t torture her, and he made sure she had food and water. Also with August there in the forest — I was on the edge of my seat saying, “Don’t kill him, Mr Gold! Don’t kill him! There are other ways to deal with this …” He is evolving.

And I won’t apologize for liking Rumple so much. I just do … He is not pretty, not sexy, and those teeth (Eeesh!), but he is a compelling character. I’m not afraid to look at the Dark Side of our lives (Read up on the Vasalisa Story…). The writers have shown us he’s able to learn and grow. We haven’t seen much of that from Regina yet : She’s stuck, and may be a lost cause. If she’s a Sociopath, as Emma labeled her, she may indeed be a lost cause. We’ll see how it plays out. The best scenario would be for everyone to find their happy ending — even Regina.

[Author]

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