Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin Character Analysis

[Daniel J. Lewis]

@TheDarkOne wrote:

Hi guys! I’m new here and I just thought I’d give you a few thoughts on what I think of Rumpelstiltskin.

I personally see Rumpelstiltskin’s character as more of a tragic figure rather than an evil villain. Traditionally, tragedies are described as when good or decent make one fatal mistake that leads to their downfall. This is exactly what happened to Rumpelstiltskin. Before he became the Dark One, Rumpel was a good and decent man. A bit of a coward, however that doesn’t make you any less good. Most people possess some form of cowardice anyway, so I don’t fault him for that.

His wife abandons him and Bae for whatever reason (an affair, frustration or probably even death), so he’s left alone to raise a child that many don’t even believe is truly his. So from the outset, you have Rumpel already doing something that many men would refuse to do, especially given the time period they’re living in, and that’s raising a child on their own. Many would have given up their child or refused to a child whose whose paternity is under question. I feel like these are things that are conveniently overlooked when people talk about Rumpel’s character. Rumpel probably still has questions about whether or not Bae is his biological son, and yet he still created the curse and sacrificed everything just to find him.

Someone in another thread on this forum brilliantly said that if a man has the common decency to raise the child of another man, then that makes him a REAL MAN. A lot of people have no idea how difficult it is to raise a child, and given everything that Rumpel went through before he became the Dark One, I’d say he did a stellar job. UNTIL he actually became the Dark One. That’s when he screwed up.

Another thing people tend to forget is that after Rumpel became the Dark One, he saved thousands of innocent children from the Ogre Wars. That is no small thing. He ended an entire war. I think that should be highly commended. In the beginning, Rumpel meant to use his new-found powers as a source for good. Saving people, protecting his son. But the evil power of the Dark One slowly began to eat away at his goodness, at his decency. To me, I classify this as the ultimate tragedy. A good man has been lost all because he wanted to help.

I COMPLETELY AGREE!!! That fact that Rumpel’s intentions were so pure and honest when he became the Dark One is what makes this whole situation so unbelievably tragic. In fact, that seems to be a major theme in this show. Intent. I think Mr. Gold even mentioned that to Regina in “The Return.” Even if your intentions are pure and honest, even if you intend to help people with your new-found powers, it can so easily become corrupted.

The scene between Baelfire and Morraine was so odd. You have Morraine telling Baelfire about how Rumpel came into the middle of the battlefield and save all the child warriors. But then, a few minutes later, that inspirational image is coupled with Rumpel having just killed his maid. As time past, the powers of the Dark One began to eat away at him. He started out helping children and ending wars, but it ended with him becoming evil. It was an extremely tragic transformation to watch.

[midnight dreary]

@TheDarkOne wrote:

Hi guys! I’m new here and I just thought I’d give you a few thoughts on what I think of Rumpelstiltskin.

I personally see Rumpelstiltskin’s character as more of a tragic figure rather than an evil villain. Traditionally, tragedies are described as when good or decent make one fatal mistake that leads to their downfall. This is exactly what happened to Rumpelstiltskin. Before he became the Dark One, Rumpel was a good and decent man. A bit of a coward, however that doesn’t make you any less good. Most people possess some form of cowardice anyway, so I don’t fault him for that.

His wife abandons him and Bae for whatever reason (an affair, frustration or probably even death), so he’s left alone to raise a child that many don’t even believe is truly his. So from the outset, you have Rumpel already doing something that many men would refuse to do, especially given the time period they’re living in, and that’s raising a child on their own. Many would have given up their child or refused to a child whose whose paternity is under question. I feel like these are things that are conveniently overlooked when people talk about Rumpel’s character. Rumpel probably still has questions about whether or not Bae is his biological son, and yet he still created the curse and sacrificed everything just to find him.

Someone in another thread on this forum brilliantly said that if a man has the common decency to raise the child of another man, then that makes him a REAL MAN. A lot of people have no idea how difficult it is to raise a child, and given everything that Rumpel went through before he became the Dark One, I’d say he did a stellar job. UNTIL he actually became the Dark One. That’s when he screwed up.

Another thing people tend to forget is that after Rumpel became the Dark One, he saved thousands of innocent children from the Ogre Wars. That is no small thing. He ended an entire war. I think that should be highly commended. In the beginning, Rumpel meant to use his new-found powers as a source for good. Saving people, protecting his son. But the evil power of the Dark One slowly began to eat away at his goodness, at his decency. To me, I classify this as the ultimate tragedy. A good man has been lost all because he wanted to help.

All extremely valid points. 😉

For me, “Desperate Souls” and “The Return” are the saddest Rumpel-centric episodes of the season. His intentions, his goals, his main reason for seeking out the Dark One was so that he could prevent his son from being sent to war. He even spoke to Baelfire about how once he had control over the Dark One, he would free all of the children from the war and send them home. And he did that. In fact, that was one of his first deeds after becoming the Dark One. He wanted to use the powers as a source of good and protection. But, like you said, it slowly began to overtake him.

I’m curious to see how other Dark Ones handled their new-found power. Did they have wives, children, families, friends? Did they give them up when they became the Dark One, or were they taken from them as the cosmic “price?”

[Josephine]

I’ve been reading too much fan fiction, something I swore never to do after Harry Potter, but I got sucked right back into it with Rumbelle. But something clicked tonight when reading a few different stories. What if Rumple has to break his curse first before Bae can return to him.

Bae’s one wish, and his deal with his father, was for Rumple to get rid of his powers without killing him or hurting Bae. Those were the parameters set in the deal. He chickened out on the vortex, but really, I don’t think the vortex was a solution because that would only rid him of his powers in our world. If say, somehow he got back to FTL by some rare chance, he’d probably still have the curse attached. Bae wanted it completely gone. We know of only one way now for this to happen and fulfill Bae’s deal with Rumple…True Love’s Kiss. Right now, he’s still cursed we assume judging by the whole purple smoke monster thing even though he’s in our world. And the reason magic is back to begin with is True Love, so if he wants Bae to return, maybe he just has to open himself up completely to love, meaning breaking his own curse.

So maybe in the end the best thing to do is to just kiss Belle and sit back and wait for Bae to come back to him. Not going to happen, but I can dream.

Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.

[elle]

@Josephine

That a really interesting theory. But why wouldn’t the Blue Fairy mention that. Granted, she might have thought that Rumpelstiltskin would never find love, but he kept asking her for different ways until he came upon the curse route. Wouldn’t it have been better to tell him about True Love then to create a curse?

I also wonder why the Blue Fairy didn’t tell Bae about True Love’s kiss. Emma’s kiss worked on Henry, and it was an unromantic kiss. Why couldn’t Bae simply kiss his father and break the curse?

[thedarkone]

I completely forgot about true love’s kiss. A kiss on the cheek or forehead from Bae would have definitely worked. I don’t know why the Blue Fairy didn’t tell him that. But then again, this could all just be a simple plot hole. The writers needed to find a reason why Rumpel to created the curse, and that couldn’t happen if his own personal curse was already broken. Sometimes details are sacrificed for the greater plot. Sad, but true.

[an empty heart]

@TheDarkOne wrote:

I completely forgot about true love’s kiss. A kiss on the cheek or forehead from Bae would have definitely worked. I don’t know why the Blue Fairy didn’t tell him that. But then again, this could all just be a simple plot hole. The writers needed to find a reason why Rumpel to created the curse, and that couldn’t happen if his own personal curse was already broken. Sometimes details are sacrificed for the greater plot. Sad, but true.

I’ve been wondering about this too. A simple kiss from Bae could have solved this whole fiasco. But like you said, if Bae broke Rumpel’s curse, then there’d be no show. I just hate it when writers ignore details in order to push the plot forward. Especially when it makes otherwise good characters appear to be shady. The Blue Fairy could be perfectly benevolent, but because of the writers’ attempts to use her as a harsh plot device, the audience views her with suspicion.

[midnight dreary]

@An Empty Heart wrote:

@TheDarkOne wrote:

I completely forgot about true love’s kiss. A kiss on the cheek or forehead from Bae would have definitely worked. I don’t know why the Blue Fairy didn’t tell him that. But then again, this could all just be a simple plot hole. The writers needed to find a reason why Rumpel to created the curse, and that couldn’t happen if his own personal curse was already broken. Sometimes details are sacrificed for the greater plot. Sad, but true.

I’ve been wondering about this too. A simple kiss from Bae could have solved this whole fiasco. But like you said, if Bae broke Rumpel’s curse, then there’d be no show. I just hate it when writers ignore details in order to push the plot forward. Especially when it makes otherwise good characters appear to be shady. The Blue Fairy could be perfectly benevolent, but because of the writers’ attempts to use her as a harsh plot device, the audience views her with suspicion.

You may be right. The writers have placed the Blue Fairy in an awful lot of strange situations. Situations that all made her appear less than honorable. Of course, it could all just be a writing inconsistency with her character, but it would be more interesting if she had something up her sleeve. But nothing bad though. I’m no sure if I could see the Blue Fairy as a villain.

[elle]

I never really saw the Blue Fairy as something evil. I see her more as someone with limits. She is powerful, but her power is limited. She only uses magic for situations that are needed. and in then only when the price is not too high. Her situation with Rumpelstiltskin was not entirely her fault–he is more to blame than her for what happend to Bae. With Dreamy and Nova, she only told what was known to both Fairies and Dwarfs. I don’t agree with her, but it is noted that her intentions were good and were for Nova. As for her and Gepetto, she did not truly know what would happen to Pinocchio–she could only help so far.

[Daniel J. Lewis]

The only thing about the Blue Fairy that troubles me is that she agreed to Gepetto’s deal. She agreed to lie to Snow and Charming about the wardrobe. She aided in the possible destruction of the plan to break the curse. That’s what gave me pause. All the other “questionable” actions committed by the Blue Fairy didn’t really bother me that much. But her arrangement with Gepetto was definitely unethical.

[beauty the beast]

If the Blue Fairy is in fact good and pure, then the writers need to do a better job at demonstrating that. Her agreement with Gepetto was blantantly wrong. At least Gepetto was trying to protect his son. What was the Blue Fairy fighting for? I don’t buy that Gepetto was the only one who could have built that wardrobe. She could have easily found another person to do it.

[Author]

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