Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin Character Analysis

[RumplesGirl]

Here’s my question. With the death of Baelfire and Belle’s lack of screentime, is it possible that the writers aren’t necessarily making Rumple be evil for the sake of evil, but they’re just not taking the time to explore his motivations or reasoning beyond what is needed for the plot?

In short: yes.

Somewhere in the history of the show, the writers became more concerned with plot rather than character. This is why, IMO, we see more lands, villains, randomly inserted characters, prophecies, and magical mcguffins, but rarely see the characters talking about anything outside the plot (unless it’s our required Snow-Gives-A-Hope-Speech). The psychology of the characters, their motivations and agendas, was simplified to basic terms in order to give us more plot.

Rumple became : power mad (took out: son, self-loathing, and abandonment issues)

Regina became: redeemed but snarky (took out: self-confidence issues, broken heart, and struggle to find a family that accepts her)

Emma became: has walls (took out motherhood, orphan–except when it relates to her walls that only Hook can knock down, friendships with other women, bail bondsperson concerned with law and justice)

Snow became: has hope (took out survival skills–and bizarrely added baby snatching)

Charming became: well, honestly I don’t know because he’s about as bland as white paint. The most color they’ve given him in recent seasons was that he didn’t want to be remembered only for waking up a princess thirty years prior. He could have been a fairly interesting deconstruction of the White Knight or Soldier trope but his main job is to simply exist and occasionally say a line.

Belle became: arm candy + Google (took out complicated relationship with father, relationships with other women, and trying to build a life independent of everyone else)

Henry became: support beam for mothers (I guess you can argue that Henry was always that for his two mothers, but one would think that as the kid aged you’d give him more flavor. Even his tenure as the Author was brief and ended with a literal pen snap)

[RumplesGirl]

Here is the next–and probably last–question :

What can the writers do to get back Rumple back on a track that you personally feel is more palatable?

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Gaultheria]

What can the writers do to get back Rumple back on a track that you personally feel is more palatable?

I think he needs something to hate, pure “from Hell’s heart I stab at thee” blood-oath-of-vengeance hatred. Something that will make his fears insignificant, something that will make greed seem a waste of time.

It’s like in the Harry Potter books: it was Snape’s love for Lily that gave him purpose, but it was his hatred of Voldemort that gave him the burning strength to see his purpose through. (Or something like that. Snape is a complex character. But hatred was definitely part of him.)

Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher

[RumplesGirl]

t’s like in the Harry Potter books: it was Snape’s love for Lily that gave him purpose, but it was his hatred of Voldemort that gave him the burning strength to see his purpose through. (Or something like that. Snape is a complex character. But hatred was definitely part of him.)

That’s a pretty good analogy. Snape loved Lily but Voldemort killed her. It was his hatred for that act and the person behind it that gave Snape a purpose. It wasn’t because he cared for Lily’s child (certainly not!) but out of that hatred for killing the thing Snape loved most.

Since Nealfire’s death didn’t do it, it would have to be Belle’s death (but, knowing this show) after she gave birth to Rumple’s child. Thus his raison d’etre becomes fiercely giving his new child the life he couldn’t give Bae and was denied to Belle because of him.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[PriceofMagic]

I think bringing Baelfire back is the only way to get Rumple back on track. We’re not going to get Nealfire but Baelfire could work. Obviously because of Dylan’s age it’s going to be an older Baelfire but could still work if it’s post-Neverland pre-Emma Baelfire.

There you’ve got chance for Rumple to get a do-over with his son and have his family which includes both Baelfire and Belle and the RumBelle baby if they are writing in Emilie’s pregnancy. He gets to show Baelfire how he’s change and finally being able to choose family over power.

Also it gives Henry some storyline, where he can get to know Baelfire and is aware that Baelfire is his dad whereas Baelfire doesn’t know who Henry is so you’ve kind of got that tragic circumstance where Henry and Baelfire are friends but Henry can’t reveal that Baelfire is his father. Baelfire eventually finds out and freaks out about it but then steps up to the plate, learning from his experience with Rumple both what to do and what not to do.

You’ve also got a parallel with Emma as Emma is the same age as Snowing and now Henry is the same age as Baelfire so he can turn to her for help. It kind of re-centres the show on Emma/Henry rather than Hook yet without coming between CS which is one of the reasons why Neal is seemingly forgotten by every other character.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[thedarkonedearie]

What can the writers do to get back Rumple back on a track that you personally feel is more palatable?

I would be happy to see his final motivation and led that drive him to the end.  No more going back and forth.  Stay evil, tell us why we took back the darkness, and let that play out until the end.

[thedarkonedearie]

I also think at this point, I’m sick of Belle being naive and in some instances, just plain stupid.  Let her in on what Rumple is doing.  Cement their relationship with the baby.  Have Belle admit she likes the dark part of Rumple, and let them be a team (I’m thinking Harley Quinn type character here).  No more Belle not realizing what is going on.  Let her be villainous with Rumple.

[RumplesGirl]

I also think at this point, I’m sick of Belle being naive and in some instances, just plain stupid. Let her in on what Rumple is doing. Cement their relationship with the baby. Have Belle admit she likes the dark part of Rumple, and let them be a team (I’m thinking Harley Quinn type character here). No more Belle not realizing what is going on. Let her be villainous with Rumple.

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Oooh, I don’t know. I agree that Belle is more often than not presented as a naive fool (while fulfilling the sexy librarian/Google trope), but while she love all parts of Rumple (even the darkness) that doesn’t mean she wants him to embrace those parts, and certainly has no desire to embrace those parts herself. Even as Lacey she was just a bit more forward than Belle, but certainly not evil. I think having Belle become a Harley Quinn type character would be pretty egregious character assassination. So, naturally, it’s totally plausible thing to happen on this show.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[thedarkonedearie]

Oooh, I don’t know. I agree that Belle is more often than not presented as a naive fool (while fulfilling the sexy librarian/Google trope), but while she love all parts of Rumple (even the darkness) that doesn’t mean she wants him to embrace those parts, and certainly has no desire to embrace those parts herself. Even as Lacey she was just a bit more forward than Belle, but certainly not evil. I think having Belle become a Harley Quinn type character would be pretty egregious character assassination. So, naturally, it’s totally plausible thing to happen on this show.

Haha certainly would spice things up a bit.  But this is how much I hate her character as it currently stands.

[nevermore]

I think for me the show needs to decide what it’s about, and then maybe Rumple’s story can unfold more organically. So if

Option 1. “Redemptive morality”: anyone can be redeemed (through the power of forgiveness, whether “social” or “cosmic”) then Rumple’s story could be about a second chance with Belle and/or hypothetical baby and/or Nealfire. I personally think the idea of returning a young Bae could be really powerful — and also remind us that this is a fairytale and that most of us don’t get a second chance with our kids. So better get it right the first time.

Option 2. “An eye for an eye”: Not everyone can be redeemed and some people just need culling. Then Rumple’s going to remain a villain and then likely die/be sacrificed/sacrifice himself at the end of the arc. He might live on in his child I suppose, another Stiltskin growing up without his father. Heroes win, villains get their comeuppance, classic fairytale denouement. I personally think it’s not what the show was about and by now it’s problematized its heroes and whitewashed its villaims so much that I don’t find Rumple any better or worse than the lot of them with the exception of Henry who is the only truly positive character left since he hasn’t had a chance to screw it all up yet.

Option 3. “Karma”: Rumple goes back to being Chaotic Neutral. The show finally aligns its stated ideology with its moral universe. Characters mature enough to  move beyond the hero/villain dichotomy. As a result, abstaining from not slaughtering people no longer gets you a hero biscuit (ex: Hook in 4A). Conversely, not jumping into the fray to save everyone no longer gets you labeled a villain. Rumple is NOT given a second chance with Nealfire, but does get the opportunity to say goodbye and grieve.  Belle and Rumple come to some sort of understanding where Belle is OK with Rumple not being a hero, and Rumple comes to terms that she accepts him as long as he isn’t harming others. The two of them realize that no one in SB gives a damn about either of them, except when they need something, and leave them all to their own thing. Rumple doesn’t get to “start over” with Belle, because his past actions have consequences and the void left by Neal can never be filled, but they get to move on with their lives.

 

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