Characters We Love: Rumpelstiltskin Spellbound - ONCE UPON A TIME

"All magic comes with a price." 

One of the most diabolical, warped, yet delightful characters on Once Upon a Time has cast a spell on Oncers for the past four seasons on the show. Played by the very talented Robert Carlyle, Rumpelstiltskin a.k.a Mr. Gold, is a mastermind of evil and manipulation, but has a heart of...well gold...underneath. It is no wonder why fans have fallen in love with this character for the past few seasons and now Rumpel has been given a chance at redemption in season five.
In the original story, fairy tales coined Rumpelstiltskin as the wicked man who could spin straw into gold and had a strange obsession with babies. In the first concept, Rumpelstiltskin does help a daughter spin straw into gold overnight, a miller's daughter. (Ring any bells?) After aiding her, he requests one thing from her on the third day, which is her firstborn child. He is willing to strike the deal if the daughter can guess his name in three attempts. Of course, in the original stories, Rumpelstiltskin was more like an imp, but seeing the makeup they did on Carlyle in the show, he comes pretty close to a imp-like creature. 

Oncers get a first glance at Rumpel when Snow White and Charming make a deal with him in the prison he is trapped in as the curse is about to occur. Rumpel strikes a deal with Snow White as long as she gives him the name of her unborn child: Emma Swan. In the cursed world of Storybrooke, Oncers assume Rumpel has no memory of who he is, but in that land he is known as Mr. Gold.

As the Oncers followed the crazy and insane adventures of Rumpelstiltskin, fans enjoyed the psychotic tendencies he had. Throughout the season, fans discovered that there were elements to this character. Though the writers followed the regular tale of a creature spinning straw into gold, Oncers discovered Rumpelstiltskin had a son and a wife before he was this creature. In an effort to not seem like the town coward, Rumpelstiltskin took on the powers of what Once Upon a Time coined as The Dark One; a powerful, evil sorcerer under the control of a dagger or whoever possesses the dagger. The Dark One is the most dangerous and darkest of the Enchanted Forest, therefore unstoppable, except by one thing: the person holding the dagger must kill The Dark One and become The Dark One in order to eliminate him. Basically, the darkness never disappears. Rumpelstiltskin took this power on to prove he wasn't weak, but the darkness overcame him instead and he became a monster. He lost his son, but throughout the season, Oncers discovered that Rumpelstiltskin was capable of loving someone. 

In an interesting twist to Rumpelstiltskin, aside from straw spinning and The Dark One, he became the love interest for Belle, the young female from the known Beauty and The Beast tale. Suddenly, Rumpel became the beast as well, not just what he already was. The beautiful thing about Rumpelstiltskin is that he has a lot of depth to him. The darkness within him is powerful, but the man underneath is capable of feeling all of these emotions and genuinely cares about people. Belle becomes the one woman in his life he truly loves and has a connection to. In all reality, Rumpel never really loved Milah. In season two, fans got to dive into Rumpel's past a little bit more when they discovered he was also the Crocodile in the Peter Pan tale as well. Rumpelstiltskin made friends with a familiar pirate. 

Rumpel murdered his own wife after she chose to leave with Captain Hook instead, leaving behind him and their son, Baelfire. As a result, Rumpel cut off Hook's hand, making him the crocodile that gave Hook is infamous new hand attachment. It's safe to say, in the series, Rumpelstiltskin and Captain Hook have a very complicated history. Hook even met Rumpel when he was a coward and weak, but Rumpel returned to duel with him, revealing he was no longer scared or weak. After Milah died, Hook spent years finding a way to kill The Dark One. However, it wasn't Rumpelstiltskin's history with Hook or Belle that made his character so interesting. It was Baelfire. 

Rumpelstiltskin chose power over his son. Baelfire fell through a portal to a land with no magic, so Rumpelstiltskin spent years and years searching for a way to find his son. When he discovered that Baelfire was alive and in this other world, he followed the destiny a seer gave him. Which goes back to the original Rumpelstiltskin tale. Rumpelstiltskin met a woman named Cora, who promised the king she could spin straw into gold in order to marry the prince. To prove him right, Rumpelstiltskin decided to help her for her firstborn child. Cora promised Regina to him, so Rumpelstiltskin began training Regina when she was older to become a powerful witch. Regina learned magic and the fans discovered the only reason Rumpelstiltskin was teaching Regina magic was so she could cast the dark curse that would send all fairy tale characters to Storybrooke. His motivation was purely to go to a land without magic so he could find his son again. It took him years to find Cora, to find Regina, but he did in an effort for this curse to be cast, which was successful, but there was another part of the puzzle that the seer informed him of. The curse must be broken and a young boy would lead him to Baelfire, but the boy would be his undoing. Rumpelstiltskin asks for the name of Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, which is Emma Swan. When Rumpelstiltskin first greets Emma, it begins. She breaks the curse and Mr. Gold brings magic back to Storybrooke in an effort to find his son again. In season two, Mr. Gold asks Emma to come with him to New York City to track down his son, Baelfire, who turns out to be Emma's old boyfriend, Neal Cassidy. 

Neal had been running from his father for years, but when reunited, Neal returned to Storybrooke, so Rumpel finally had what he wanted: his son. However, Rumpel couldn't stop at that at all, because his character was full of darkness. Once Neal supposedly died and Neal's son, Henry was kidnapped, Rumpel decided to honor his son, rescuing Henry, knowing full well Henry would be his undoing. Rumpel discovers Neal didn't die after all, so they try to team up to save Henry, but what becomes even more interesting throughout Season Three is the fans got to find out one of the coolest twists on the show.

Rumpelstiltskin turned out to be the son of Peter Pan! His father was a coward and a thief, so when little Rumpel took a magic bean and both of them disappeared to a place called Neverland, Rumpel's father had his shadow take his son away from him so he could have eternal youth and power. Talk about family dysfunction. Oh wait! Rumpel did the exact same thing for Baelfire. The only difference is Neal assured Rumpelstiltskin that he wasn't anything like his father because he came back for his son and wanted to start a new life with him. Unfortunately the only way to get rid of Pan was to kill him with the dagger, which killed The Dark One. Still can't understand that one to this day. Pan cast another dark curse on Storybrooke taking all fairy tale characters away, but while back in the Enchanted Forest, Neal wanted to get back to Emma and Henry so he went back to the castle to try and find a way to resurrect his father. The resurrection cost Neal his life in return, so Rumpelstiltskin wanted revenge on the woman who killed his son, which was the Wicked Witch. Heading into season four, Rumpelstiltskin decided to make peace with his dark past and married Belle. However, he continued to lie to her and kept the real dagger. After years of searching for Baelfire and losing him, his new goal in season four was to free himself from the control of the dagger. For that time, it seemed to make sense since Zelena controlled him with it at the end of the season three, but through that endeavor, Rumpelstiltskin sacrificed another loved one: Belle.

She used the dagger on Rumpelstiltskin to force him across the town line so he could never return. However, it was The Dark One, so the writers would never get rid of him. This character was too good to lose. He united some fellow villains, Ursula and Cruella De Vil to get back to Storybrooke. This time, Gold was searching for the author of the book to change his fate and make sure villains got their happy endings. Fans soon discovered the new motivation for this angle was that Rumpelstiltskin's heart was becoming blacker and blacker as he made worst decisions. Once his entire heart was black, there would no longer be a Mr. Gold, but just The Dark One. In an effort to change his fate, Rumpel searched for the author, but in return, Emma once again thwarted his plan and Rumpel ended up almost dying. The sorcerer's apprentice attempted to trap the darkness in the hat and left Rumpelstiltskin in a preservative state with a pure white heart. Now, the question that remains is whether or not Gold is now light magic instead of dark and will he be a different person once he awakens? He is the only one who has lived with the Dark One's powers the longest, so it's been hinted that he could be the only one to help Emma understand its power now that she has taken on the darkness.

Oncers love Rumpelstiltskin and have grown quite fond of his antics. It's no surprise that Carlyle has cast a spell on the fans with his portrayal of the evil creature, but what is it about Carlyle that makes Rumpelstiltskin one of the most loved characters on the show? Fans are rooting on the epic relationship between Rumpel and Belle, the happy ending that he deserves. Perhaps, what made Rumpelstiltskin truly shine with depth was his unconditional love for his son, Baelfire.

Michael-Raymond James & Robert Carlyle are unstoppable human beings and there was no denying the connection these two had on the series. The energy in the scene was top notch whenever Neal & Rumpel were together. Aside from Belle, Neal had this great effect on Rumpel, bringing out the best in him because there was truly nothing that Rumpel wouldn't do for his son. After years of searching for him, there is a sense of fear that comes from anticipating the moment these two characters finally unite. Thankfully, Once did it with panache by settling Neal into the show as Emma's love interest and getting fans attached to him automatically.

Perhaps it's the infamous Rumpelstiltskin laugh that everyone loves so much. Maybe it's the eccentric style that Carlyle irradiates when playing the character. There is no doubt that Rumpelstiltskin is crazy, evil and downright heartless. There is also no doubt that Mr. Gold, the alter Storybrooke ego, irradiates intimidation and he's manipulative in a phenomenal sinister way. Gold is more subtle in that lovable villain approach, which makes it less obvious, but that's why Rumpelstiltskin is such a treat. Rumpelstiltskin gives Carlyle the chance to tap into that electric energy that makes his character so fun to watch. In a way, Robert Carlyle dominates the cast with the ability to play a character that kind of reminds fans of a person with split personalities really. Not to mention, he juggles both versions of Rumpelstiltskin and Mr. Gold and plays off of every other cast member so well, it's almost hard to imagine a world without his energy he brings to the show. Rumpelstiltskin is quite similar to the mind of a mental patient. One of the best deliveries Carlyle had was in Season Three when Rumpel was possessed by himself and his son. Watching him dissolve into the psychotic, twisted version was a real treat for fans. Nobody does Rumpelstiltskin better than Robert Carlyle and that's why he truly is a beloved character on the series. No matter what fate has in store for Rumpelstiltskin in Season Five, good or bad, Carlyle has proven himself a worthy performer to transform into the shapeshifter of his craft.

Season Five of Once Upon a Time airs on ABC on September 27, 2015 at 8/7c.