History Characters / OnceUponATimeRumpelstiltskin

[[redirect:Characters/OnceUponATimeRumplestiltskin]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Rumpelstiltskin_2136.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Rumpelstiltskin:''' ''"[[{{Catchphrase}} All magic comes with a price]]!"'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Mr. Gold:''' ''"Magic... is power!"'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertCarlyle, Wyatt Oleff (child)
->'''Centric Episodes:''' "Desperate Souls", "Skin Deep", "The Return", "The Crocodile", "Manhattan", "Nasty Habits", "Think Lovely Thoughts", "Going Home", "The Apprentice", "Heroes and Villains"

Rumpelstiltskin is the manipulative and powerful "Dark One", who helps the Evil Queen / Regina Mills enact the Dark Curse for his own purposes. In Storybrooke, he enjoys a position of power as the wealthy pawnbroker, Mr Gold, and his memories of his former self are restored when he hears Emma Swan's name.
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* AbusiveParents: Like Regina, emotionally (''not'' physically) to his son. [[spoiler: He kills people in front of his child. He has massive overreactions to any injury done to Bae, best shown when he turns a man into a slug and stomps on him for hitting Bae with a cart. Bae also seems to have become afraid of his father. Lastly, he ends up unwilling to listen to Bae and uphold the deal made with him to go to a new world, choosing to drop Bae into the portal rather than let go of his power; a decision he immediately regrets and never stops regretting]].
* AdaptationalBadass: In the original Grimm's Fairytales, Rumpelstiltskin was little more than an evil gnome that engages in trading children for favors. ''Once Upon a Time'' makes him an immortal nigh-omnipotent sorcerer, MagnificentBastard and [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] who plays everyone else - with varying degrees of success that, ''usually'', come out on top for him - like a fiddle.
* {{Adorkable}}: Surprising given his character, but he's this whenever he's around Belle. With just a smile, Belle somehow manages to turn a man who's spent the better part of the last 300 years as a malevolent force of pure evil, into a nervous, stammering, lovestruck teenager.
** Typically Rumpel is quick with a quip and a line. When Belle enters a room he's reduced to monosyllabic greetings. From DeadpanSnarker to barely being able to get out the word "Hey." in a split second.
* AdultFear: He is living in one. After his years of weakness and [[spoiler:wife running off with another man]] he clung to the power of the Dark One like an addict to his fix. But because of this addiction and refusal to let the power go when there was a viable means [[spoiler:without killing him]], he has lost what he cared for most.
* AesopAmnesia: Or arguably not so much 'amnesia' as recognizing an addiction (to magical power) and being unable to kick it.
** By the end of the Season 1, he seems to have completely forgotten why he lost his son, i.e. wanting dark magic power.
** Season 2 has him admit as much to Belle, in that he at least openly says that his reliance of magic as a crutch has hindered... well, everything.
** Season 3 has him ''finally'' learn his lesson by [[spoiler: sacrificing himself to save everyone from Pan. But then he's brought back to life at the expense of Bae's life and becomes a slave to Zelena, which clearly does a number on him.]]
** Season 4, [[spoiler: he vows on Bae's grave to start a new leaf, and he does by secretly giving Belle the real dagger. But then he sees a small circular box, which turns out to be the iconic Sorcerer's Hat from ''Fantasia'', at which point he switches the daggers. After that, he's willing to let the Snow Queen kill everyone in Storybrooke if it enables him to gain the hat's power, free himself of the dagger, and leave Storybrooke with Belle without anyone (including her) finding out what he's up to.]]
* AffablyEvil: He may play your deal for his own gain or just abuse the heck out of you, but he will generally do it with a laugh and smile. When he doesn't have one on, it generally means things will go even worse for you.
* TheAgeless: As Rumpelstiltskin. Notice that he doesn't age a day between "That Still Small Voice" and the pilot, even though [[spoiler:Geppetto]] has aged from a young boy to an elderly man in the interim. He also tells [[spoiler:Mr. Smee]] only the Dark One has immortality.
* AllForNothing: All his attempts to reunite with Bae, and repent for his misdeeds end up meaningless when Bae sacrifices himself to bring Rumple back to life.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Almost the entire long-term strategy of Rumpelstiltskin[=/=]Gold boils down to [[spoiler:first keeping his son safe and then finding him]]. With all the bad things he's doing based on such a motivation it's no wonder he's a complex character. His most deplorable actions are often aimed at people [[WhosLaughingNow who insulted or injured him when he was weak]].
* AndShowItToYou: [[spoiler: To his estranged ''wife'']]. He taught it to Regina and Cora. And in the webisode "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzlRiUPo3Gw Good Morning Storybrooke]]", some of Dr. Whale's "advice" on love relationships suggests that if you are having a troubled relationship, you should go to Mr. Gold's shop, have him cut out your heart and put it in a box, and show it to your significant other. They should notice you a little more.
* AntagonistInMourning: [[spoiler: Admits to Regina that he actually deeply regrets orchestrating Cora's death, as he once held strong feelings towards her, but it was necessary as she ''was'' trying to kill him and steal his power, which would have been bad for ''everyone''. That, and as much as he may once have loved her, he prefers living a hell of a lot more]].
* AntiHero: Sometimes, NominalHero.
* AntiVillain: [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Types I and II]]. He has an honorable side and has been a great asset to the heroes many times, and his whole background and motivation for doing evil is based around his love for his son.
* ApologeticAttacker: While he's under [[spoiler:Zelena's control]], he repeatedly apologizes while [[spoiler:threatening Robin Hood's son]].
* BadassBoast: Gives one to The Blue Fairy when she tells him that creating the Dark Curse is beyond his abilities:
-->'''Rumpelstiltskin:''' I have all the time in the world. I will do nothing else! I will love nothing else!
* BadassBookworm: He's the one who wrote the curse in the first place, after all. Despite the huge amount of power he has, the most dangerous talent Rumple has is his mind.
* BadassGrandpa: He’s the oldest of the main cast and he’s also a very powerful sorcerer who’s not to be messed with. [[spoiler: It becomes literal in “Manhattan” after it’s discovered that he’s Henry’s grandfather]].
* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler: He's spent the last half of season three as Zelena's prisoner. Armed with his dagger, she's kept him locked in a cage in a storm cellar]].
* BadassNormal: Rumplestiltskin knows ''hundreds'' (maybe '''''thousands''''') of ways to kill. When he decides to ''forgo magic and'' '''''beat you shitless with his bare hands'''''... or cane... you know you're in trouble.
* BadSamaritan: His whole shtick. If you need help, he'll be there for you. And at some future point, you'll wish he hadn't been.
* BatmanGambit:
** Between this and his information dealing.
** [[spoiler:His actions to get Emma elected as sheriff. First, he sets up Emma so she would see his sheep skin-tanning supplies. Then he starts a fire at Regina's office when it was just Emma and Regina, so Emma would save Regina's life and discover circumstantial evidence that he was involved. He informed Emma of this fact when she found the evidence and told her she had no choice but to keep it silent. Instead she speaks up about this in a public debate for the election of sheriff. Seeing her stand up against Mr. Gold won her the election]]. Just as he planned it would. And then there's still the matter of the favor Emma owes him...
** Emma guesses he had one set up since before the Curse was activated as he foresaw her as the Savior and [[spoiler:could have gotten out of his jail anytime he wished with the AntiMagic Squid Ink he had in his cell]]. She believes that he set everything up to get to the point that [[spoiler:keeps Cora trapped in the Enchanted Forest and her own immunity to Cora's heart-removal attack]]. He denies it as he didn't create Emma, but bet on her, in most cases, because she was born of True Love.
** Pulls a major one over on Hook in the fourth season. Hook tries to blackmail him for his hand back, and Gold gives it to him, while warning him that the hand came from a time when Hook was a much worse man [[TheAtoner than he is now,]] but Hook doesn't believe him. When seems like the hand is influencing Hook badly, he demands to have it removed again, willing to do whatever Gold asks of him. Only after the deal is struck does Gold inform him that it was never the hand, just the suggestion Gold put in his head that any bad behavior after its reattachment wouldn't "really" be Hook's fault, screwing with his subconscious. Gold then caps with off with using the payment he extracts from Hook as blackmail to keep the man in his service.
** He gets ''another'' in Series 4 as well. When his [[spoiler: original plan to use the hat to gain ABSOLUTE POWER fails and he is banished by Belle]], he [[spoiler: uses Maleficent, Ursula and Cruella De Vil to get back to Storybrooke and unleash shit]]. Way to turn a miserable failure into revenge.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Rumpelstiltskin began his life as a kind, meek and fearful man, and turned into the ruthless and hyperconfident puppetmaster we all know.
** "Manhattan" reveals that he despised being labeled as "the coward's son", and yet he decided to desert out of both fear for his own life, and so as not to miss the birth of his son. Chronologically, this is hammered home when Bae angrily calls him a coward as he refuses to join him through a portal to another realm.
* BeenThereShapedHistory:
** Rumpelstiltskin seems to be an in-universe version of this; his deals have been a crucial factor in at least half of the fairy tale plots so far and he's occasionally usurped the roles of certain characters altogether, like Cinderella's fairy godmother and the Beast, and the "crocodile" that took Hook's hand.
** He also claims to have given DonJuan his talent for [[TheCasanova seducing women]].
* BeingGoodSucks: [[spoiler: His attempt to sacrifce himself to save his loved ones and Storybrooke from Pan ended up being negated when Zelena tricked Bae into sacrificing himself so the Dark One could be resurrected. It put him off heroics for the time being.]]
* BerserkButton: Try calling him a "coward" and find out who the real coward is... if you survive.
** Hurt Belle. Go on. Try it. He '''''WILL''''' own you if you do... however, if Belle is there you ''may'' be saved, as he would do anything for her.
** And it's a really, really bad idea to hurt his son.
** Do not touch his chipped cup. Seriously, just ''don't.''
** Oh also, don't break one of his deals. Remember how he reacted when Snow and Charming were going to leave without giving him their daughter's name.
** And lastly, and possibly the most serious of all infractions, ''don't'' abandon your child for your own personal goals and desires. [[spoiler:As his father abandoned him and his wife abandoned their child]].
* BettyAndVeronica:
** His LoveRedeems (well, at least somewhat) relationship with sweet, good-natured Belle vs. his LoveMakesYouEvil (well eviler) relationship with [[spoiler: Cora]].
** [[spoiler: And then the Betty ''became'' the Veronica when Belle became Lacey]].
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Rumpelstiltskin is an AffablyEvil GigglingVillain who generally behaves as though everything is a big joke...but piss him off and it may just be the last thing you ever do. (And that's if he doesn't decide to put you through a couple rounds of ColdBloodedTorture before killing you.)
** The Sheriff of Nottingham is clearly fooled by Rumpel's act and regards him as someone not to be taken seriously when he tells Rumpel that the price of giving him information is a night with Belle. The horrified expression on Belle's face when the Sheriff says this visibly affects Rumpel. While Rumpel doesn't rip his face off, the way both his expression and body language changed should have made it clear to the Sheriff that he'd just stepped way over the line...if he hadn't of been too drunk to notice. Rumpel does give him a chance to change his mind, the Sheriff keeps pushing for Rumpel to give him Belle, and finally Rumpel proposes a new deal...that the Sheriff does not like but has no choice but to accept.
* BigBad: For Season 4, after he forms a team of villains (known as the Queens of Darkness) to find villains a happy ending. However, the role eventually goes to [[spoiler: Isaac]] in the season finale.
* BigBadDuumvirate: In Season 4 with Ursula, Maleficent, and Cruella. He recruits the three villainesses to aid him in his plan. He's the leader of the operation but these three witches are just as manipulative as he is (especially Cruella and Ursula). Eventually the witches are picked off one by one with [[spoiler: Ursula]] finding her happy ending, [[spoiler: Cruella]] being killed and [[spoiler: Maleficent]] just plain out leaving, he forms a new duumvirate with Issac, the Author.
* BigDamnHeroes: While it's not shown on screen and regardless of his recently becoming a super-powered, virtually indestructible immortal, you have to admit that marching onto a battlefield and making the humans and ogres sign a peace treaty and bringing all the children home was a pretty awesome and impressive move on his part (also, he apparently saved Belle's whole village from ogres which even if he wanted payment for it is still awesome).
* BloodbathVillainOrigin: When he becomes the Dark One, he kills the soldiers who made him bow and kiss their boots. These are the first of many deaths by his hand.
* BookEnds: At least from Episode 1 to 12 - he's in a jail in either world. [[spoiler:And again in Season 2. Storybrooke is now his prison]].
** Similiar, [[spoiler: he lost his son because he couldn't hold on to the dagger and Neal/Bael at the same time and choose the dagger. He regained his son, if only for a little, because of that same choice, only choosing his son this time.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: After avoiding it for the most part in the first two seasons he's getting hit with it ''hard'' in Season 3, now that's he chosen to be a good guy, for starters his Daddy Issues pop up again, and his [[spoiler: relationship with Bae gets even worse after Pan lets it slip about the Seer's prophecy about Henry]]. The poor guy ends up in ''tears''.
** When Zelena brings him back from the dead, she has the dagger, meaning he was under ''her'' control. It had the unfortunate effect of un-doing all his previous character development he got in the first half of Season 3.
%%* BrokenBird
* BroughtDownToNormal: In the fairy tale, his magical powers were taken from him by Snow White, Prince Charming and Cinderella. [[spoiler:Taken further in Storybrooke where holding the Knife of the Dark One has no power over him anymore]].
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Rumpelstiltskin can't remember turning a butcher into a pig, but apparently [[YouKilledMyFather that guy's son]] does.
* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:After being resurrected by the Wicked Witch, he seems even more loopy than in the Enchanted Forest]]. "Quiet Minds" reveals [[spoiler:his insanity was due to a desperate attempt to save his son from the sacrifice he made to revive Rumple]].
* CampStraight: In the Enchanted Forest.
* CaneFu:
** In "Skin Deep" he uses it to deliver a particularly ''vicious'' beating upon the man who stole his teacup. (Incidentally, the same man is also Belle's father in the Enchanted Forest.) Seriously, bones are broken.
** The beating he gives to [[spoiler:Hook]] in "The Outsider" is ''even more brutal.''
** He surpasses himself once again in "Lacey", beating down [[spoiler: the Sheriff of Nottingham in Storybrooke]].
* CardboardPrison: His cell in the Enchanted Forest turns out to have been this. Upon examining his cell, it's revealed that he could have easily escaped at ''any'' time, but chose not to, preferring to make everyone''think'' he was helpless.
* CatchPhrase:
** [[EquivalentExchange "All magic comes with a price"]], in a singsong voice. [[spoiler:Except the one time when he opens up to Belle and he says it with a very sad voice because he's still trapped by the magic of his own doing]].
** To Regina: "''Please''".
* TheChessmaster: He has his hand in every plot that's going on in the show. We're ''not'' kidding. You try and find a plot that he ''isn't'' involved in!
-->'''Regina:''' I assume this was all ''your'' doing.\\
'''Rumpelstiltskin:''' Most things are.
* ClingyMacGuffin: In season 3, [[spoiler:Peter Pan]] gives him [[spoiler:a doll that was the last gift his father gave him before leaving him.]] Gold threw it off a cliff and it fell in front of him a short time later. Burned it and it just popped up a head of him. He decides to just take it along after that. The true significance of the doll is later revealed, specifically the name which Rumple gave it as a child: [[spoiler:Peter Pan]].
* ClothingReflectsPersonality: Before he became the Dark One and again in season one as. Mr. Gold, Rumpelstilskin's clothes seem two sizes too big for him. [[FridgeBrilliance It makes him look more vulnerable than he actually is.]] The only time his clothes actually fit is whenever he has magic.
* CombatPragmatist: With all his power, he tends to either [[DealWithTheDevil talk his way out of fights]] or [[CurbStompBattle just dispose of a nuisance with a wave of the finger]]. Because of this it's pretty obvious when he's fighting with Charming that he's just playing with him long enough to make Charming re-consider his offer.
* CompositeCharacter: Of Rumpelstiltskin, [[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast the Beast]] and the "crocodile" in ''Disney/PeterPan''. He was also Cinderella's fairy godmother, but only after killing her ''actual'' fairy godmother. [[spoiler: He also seems to be a stand-in for [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz the Scarecrow]] since Zelena needs his brain (and you know, there's the straw thing.)]]
* CorruptHick: As Mr. Gold to an extent, since he does not fit the part of the trope that requires the character be uneducated or a bumpkin. He is an extremely intelligent, cultured character (although Rumpelstiltskin is depicted as a "country hick" to a degree in his origin episode).
* TheCorrupter: [[spoiler:He teaches Regina, Cora and Zelena magic]]. That ended well.
* CorruptTheCutie: All things said and done, life in the Enchanted Forest didn't exactly conspire to make his a particularly nice path. He's drafted into a war fighting awful creatures with perhaps even more awful fellow soldiers. [[spoiler:His wife leaves him for another man]]. The war lasts long enough that his son becomes at risk of being drafted. Ends up in his current situation thanks to the previous Dark One pulling a gambit on him. Loses his son as a result. Loses his true love for over three decades thanks to his archrival. It's like the Enchanted Forest needed a villain and picked him.
* CosmicPlaything: Seeing how just ''miserable'' Rumpelstiltskin's life is, before and after becoming the Dark One, all because of a Seer and later learning that his [[spoiler: ''grandson'' is supposed to be his downfall]]? Poor Rumpel is just this; the Enchanted Forest keeps picking on him.
* CrazyPrepared: Doesn't even begin to describe him in regards to the events of Season 1.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: Rumpelstiltskin had a hand in the creation of ''every single villain we've seen''. And also apparently all the heroes as well. So far the only people we've seen who he hasn't manipulated into their current positions are those who are from our world. Even then, he did create the curse that brought Storybrooke into existence, as well as revive magic, which heralded in [[spoiler:Greg and Tamara's crusade on Storybrooke's magical creatures]].
* CursedWithAwesome: Rumpelstiltskin is cursed to be the most powerful sorcerer in the land and to have sparkly grey skin--which he may or may not be able to conceal with magic. That this ''is'' a curse is established in the Season 1 episode "Skin Deep", wherein Belle almost ends it with True Love's Kiss. In a slight departure, while the show clearly wants us to see him as cursed, Rumpelstiltskin himself never complains about his powers, and is quite sensibly freaked out at the prospect of losing them and being at the mercy of the Evil Queen, not to mention [[spoiler:losing any chance of finding his son. In Season 4, he tries to circumvent this by getting hold of the Sorcerer's Hat, an afrtifact that absorbs magical powers. He wants to use it to collect enough power to break the dagger's connection. He can have power and be totally free]].
* DaddyIssues: His father was called a coward, and abandoned Rumpel at an early age. Even as an immortal adult, his dad's legacy still haunts him. Rumpel's determination ''not'' to be his dad led to the mess his life is in now. [[spoiler: Turns out when he was a child, he and his dad went to Neverland together. But his dad was an adult and could no longer access Neverland's magic. In order to do so he gave Rumpel up and turned back into the boy who would call himself Peter Pan]].
* DangerousDeserter:
** According to the soldier enlisting kids in the Ogre Wars, Rumpel was the only survivor of his unit because he ran away at a key point in the battle. His supposed cowardice appears to be backed up by the fact that he's completely harmless... until his son is going to be [[CannonFodder drafted into the war]], at which point he [[BurnBabyBurn sets fire to a Duke's castle]], [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu stabs the Dark One in the heart to take his powers]] and [[BloodbathVillainOrigin slaughters the detachment of soldiers sent to collect his son]].
** We get some clarity on the situation in season 2. He comes across a seer who tells him that [[ExactWords his actions will leave his as-yet unborn son fatherless]]. He interprets this as him dying and so cripples himself with a maul to avoid combat and get sent home.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Seemingly the case at first by the time he meets Belle. Subverted, a short time later, when we learn he remembers quite well.
* DeadpanSnarker: As Mr. Gold. Sometimes as Rumpelstiltskin, too:
-->'''Regina:''' When Snow is dead, then they will see my kindness.\\
'''Rumpelstiltskin:''' Through the charred remains of their homes, yes, I'm sure that will be perfectly clear.
* DealWithTheDevil: His stock in trade. Everything from knowledge to babies to magic potions can be had... for a price.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler: After thinking that his son has been killed, Rumpelstiltskin thinks of the quest to rescue Henry as this, [[http://www.wetpaint.com/once-upon-a-time/articles/2013-07-30-season-3-robert-carlyle-suicide-mission-exclusive according to Robert Carlyle]]]].
** [[spoiler:As of "Nasty Habits", his discovery that his son is alive might have led him to change his mind about to whether he's alright with dying or not. He ends up going through with it anyway to protect his loved ones. As good for him as it would be to live for them, dying for them was the more selfless option. In his own words: "I'm a villain. And villains... don't get happy endings."]]
* {{Determinator}}: This PapaWolf will do anything for his son. [[spoiler:He's spent centuries plotting and gathering power, all for the purpose of creating the Dark Curse and getting someone to cast it so he could enter our world and attempt to find Baelfire]].
* DidYouThinkICantFeel: At one point Rumpelstiltskin is talking about the power of True Love (of which he happens to be holding a bottle). Prince Charming, rather dismissively, asks what ''he'' could possibly know about true love. Rumpel is not amused: "Well, not so much as you, perhaps, but not so little as you might think."
* DirtyCoward: His FatalFlaw, and the reason why he refuses to give up his power.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: His plan to have Emma sucked into the Sorcerer's Hat. Although thankfully it didn't work, he seemed to overlook the fact that Emma would be missed by almost the whole town.]]
* DisappearedDad: [[spoiler:Neal is rather bitter about being abandoned by his father (even if Rumpel did spend all the intervening time attempting to find him). Apparently, his own father abandoned him, as well]].
* DotingParent: To his son.
* DoWrongRight: In "Child Of The Moon", he scolds Regina for enacting a sleeping curse without fully understanding how it works, hinting that he holds this viewpoint.
* TheDragon: As of the second half of season 3, the Wicked Witch now possesses his dagger.
* DragonInChief: Regina may rule over Storybrooke with an iron first, but Mr. Gold has ''everyone'' in his back pocket, mayor included.
* DramaticIrony: Since stealing the Blind Seer's precognitive powers, many throwaway comments from various characters take on a different significance to him (and usually the audience). He even lampshades it in "The Miller's Daughter":
--> '''Cora:''' Brides have to be snow-white.\\
'''Rumplestiltskin:''' (''giggles'') When you can see the future, there is irony everywhere.
** From "Quite a Common Fairy", when he stumbles upon Regina having a solitary dinner:
--> '''Rumpelstiltskin:''' Roast swan. That's amusing! You'll get that later.
* TheDreaded: Mr. Gold makes everyone uneasy around Storybrooke, and Rumpelstiltskin is also rather intimidating once he gets his powers.
* DrivenToVillainy: Rumpelstiltskin's origins. To save his son, he took on [[TheCorruption dark powers]], [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide getting corrupted]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity in the process]].
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: Rumpelstiltskin ends up progressively worse as days pass in the wake of the end of the Ogre Wars.
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: When Mr. Gold [[spoiler:is poisoned by Hook's poisoned hook, he calls the amnesiac Belle and, without going into the the history of the Enchanted Forest, tells her that she may not remember who she is but he knows her to be a wonderful, beautiful, wise, and heroic woman. To him she will always be that. And at the time, he honestly thought he was going to die, either by poison or Cora stabbing him with his dagger]].
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:The prophecy that Henry would be his undoing turns out to mean he's the catalyst for Rumpel accepting that he's a villain, and he has to pay the price for that, by pulling a TakingYouWithMe with Peter Pan]].
--> "I'm a villain. And villains... don't get happy endings."
* EasilyForgiven: Only in the sense that as long as you aren't actively working against him, he really doesn't care what you do even if you've screwed him over in the past (though he'll still remember the score). [[spoiler: In the season 2 finale, he outright asks Hook if he's done trying to kill him. Hook replies to the affirmative. Gold remarks that that means he won't have to kill Hook first]]. However defied with his son, who has ''not'' forgotten that Rumpel chose magic over him, and all the years he spent alone because of it. Although Bae still loves his dad, he is still justifiably angry at what happened.
* EvilBrit: Mr. Gold sports Robert Carlyle's Scottish accent.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Loves Belle and Baelfire even more than his power, but...
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Does not approve of hurting children, using magic to make someone love you, keeping someone alive for the express purpose of killing them at a convenient time (granted he had a rather personal reason to be upset about that) or apparently of cheating (see the conversation he had with David in "Skin Deep"). He also considers Peter Pan more evil than him, and he's ''the Dark One''. Also, he appears to have a [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Lannister-caliber]] tendency to repay his debts (granted he usually does it in a way that makes everyone wish he'd just backstabbed them straight-out instead).
** In the Season 3 finale, we learn that his castle contains an ''entire vault'' of magical items that he stashed away simply because he considered them too dangerous and unpredictable to use. When ''The Dark One'', who fucks up shit on a regular basis, considers something ''too dangerous and unpredictable to use'', that's saying something. They're basically NamesToRunAwayFrom...
** [[spoiler: Defies this trope midway through Season 4. While attempting to trick Emma, ''the mother of his grandson'', into getting absorbed by the Sorcerer's Hat and called out on it by Hook, Rumple casually brushes the notion aside.]]
* EvilIsHammy: As Rumpelstiltskin.
* EvilLaugh: As Rumpelstiltskin, more like evil giggle.
* EvilMakesYouUgly: Upon becoming the new Dark One.
* EvilMentor: As the Dark One, he trained [[spoiler:Cora and Regina to become powerful sorceresses for his own personal long game plan]]. Later, [[spoiler:after the curse is broken, he seems interested in teaching Emma a bit about her innate magical powers]].
** TeacherStudentRomance: [[spoiler:His relationship with Cora had a tendency to include deals sealed with a kiss, [[{{Squick}} to the agonised cries of some viewers]].]]
* EvilSorcerer: Depowered shortly before the series began, but before that apparently quite a powerful one. [[spoiler:And now that the curse is broken it looks like he will be again]].
** Later reveals [[spoiler:in 2x09 that he was ''not'' without his powers and was remaining in the cell because it put him exactly where he ''wanted'' to be when the curse was enacted.]] And, yes, it was only to make everyone ''think'' he was powerless... while he was still fucking up all the shit. Without even doing anything.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: As a dogged nice-guy he dressed in white clothes and looked pretty normal, as a sorcerer/demon/whatever he looks like what would happen if Tim Burton had directed ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.
** It's even lampshaded in his choice of clothing before joining the quest to [[spoiler:Neverland]]. He claims it's a reminder of what he needs to become in order to succeed.
* ExactWords:
** Anyone, good or bad, making a deal with him had better pay real close attention.
** Belle calls him out on this at one point, and Charming points out that it's a bad idea in a real relationship.
--->'''Gold:''' I don't ''lie''.\\
'''Charming:''' No, but there's more to the truth than just not lying.
* ExtremeDoormat: Rumpelstiltskin in his first incarnation as a simple, kind, handicapped family father on the edge of poverty with gods and the world walking all over him. He gets better - that is, if upgrading himself to [[EvilSorcerer a cruel sorcerer]], [[spoiler:[[KickTheDog wife murderer]]]] and [[TheChessmaster expert puppeteer]] counts as "better".
* FatalFlaw: Cowardice. Even after becoming one of the most powerful creatures in the world.
** His addiction to power. [[spoiler:Every time he comes close to a HeelFaceTurn or earning a happy ending, he finds something powerful enough to slide him back into villainy, most notably Season 4a.]]
* {{Flanderization}}: In Season 4, all of his negative traits become amplified and his positive ones diminished. [[spoiler: He also plans to take over the world, once he cleaves himself from the dagger.]]
* FreudianExcuse: He has a ''multitude'' of them, for a variety of aspects of his character.
* FriendOrIdolDecision: [[spoiler:In "The Return", it is revealed that the reason he refused to be with Belle as she was his True Love was because he could lose his chance to see his son in another world]].
* FromNobodyToNightmare: "Desperate Souls" from Season 1 reveals Rumpelstiltskin's origins as a poor sheep farmer.
* GambitRoulette: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. His long convoluted plan ''would'' be one of these, since it depends on Emma, who doesn't even exist at the time of the plan's inception, taking some very specific actions. (Coming to Storybrooke, deciding to stay there, etc.) However, it isn't one because he knows everything that's going to happen for the next 28 years or so. There's no luck involved when you can see that far ahead.
* GenerationXerox: "Think Lovely Thoughts" reveals that Rumpelstiltskin's father [[spoiler: also traded away his son for magic powers, not to mention was just as manipulative and possessed similar mannerisms]].
* GigglingVillain: As the Dark One, a good part of his speech will either be outright giggling or doing so while talking. As Mr. Gold, he just [[PsychoticSmirk smirks]].
* GoldTooth: Appropriately as Mr. Gold.
* GrandpaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: As Gold he does have a certain charismatic appeal.
* HandicappedBadass: Mr. Gold walks with a limp as a result of [[spoiler:a self-inflicted injury]] during the Ogre Wars. Doesn't stop him from intimidating and manipulating everyone in town, as well as [[CaneFu delivering beatings with his cane]].
* HealingHands: Part of his power is incredible healing magic, including [[spoiler:repairing an arm ripped off Dr. Whale with a wave of his hand]].
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: He ''really'' wants to be the good man Belle and Bae want him to be, and he succeeds....until something tempts him to go back to his old habits.
** [[spoiler: In Season 4, he claims that all of his efforts to do good have come to naught...his son is dead, Storybrooke is in peril, and Belle is completely wrong about him. Rumple declares that he will always be a selfish, power hungry man, going as far as to try and kill ''the love of his son's life and mother of his grandson'' just to be free of the dagger.]]
* HellBentForLeather: Granted, in this show, a wardrobe consisting mostly of tight-fitting leather outfits appears to be a prerequisite for joining the dark side.
* HellishPupils: As Rumpelstiltskin.
* HeroicSacrifice: After much build-up, [[spoiler:he finally performs one in "Going Home".]]
* HiddenAgendaVillain: Rumpelstiltskin's overarching goal is to get his son back and he manipulates everyone and everything to work towards that goal, specifically to find a magic bean that can open a portal between worlds. Only a precious few characters discover this.
%%* HiddenDepths
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: Alot of Rumpel's personal problems stem from his inabilty to chose love and just be happy. [[spoiler: In Season 4, if he had just been content will Belle he would still be with her.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Season 2 [[spoiler:has him trapped in Storybrooke ''because'' he brought magic to the place. That allowed the memory-wiping spell on the town line to function]]. However, [[spoiler:he later finds a way to let him leave]].
* HotForStudent: During his time teaching [[spoiler:Cora, and she returns his feelings]]. He doesn't, however, fall for [[spoiler:her daughter, Zelena, though she falls for him]] in the third season.
* HumanityEnsues: What almost happens when Belle kisses him and what (technically) happens after the curse is cast.
* {{Hypocrite}}: While Cora started Regina down the road to darkness, Rumple made damn sure she continued down it.
* IAmNotMyFather --> NotSoDifferent --> LikeFatherLikeSon: Ironically, he went into the Ogre Wars determined to prove that he wasn't a coward like his father. Things only went to hell after a SelfFulfillingProphecy.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: As Rumpelstiltskin, he is the next avatar of the Dark One and thus is bound by the same problem. However, when Belle tries to break his curse with TrueLovesKiss, he rejects her, believing it to be a trick.
* IKnowYourTrueName: Knowing people's names gives him power over them.
* IdiotBall:
** For as wise and learned as he is, he does hold this in "The Outsider", as he failed to collect the gun Hook stole from Belle. This caused Hook to keep it and be in an opportunity to shoot [[spoiler:Belle, making her fall over the Town Line, forgetting her life as Belle]]. Though in his defense, he's had centuries imbued with overwhelming power with no real weakness - it's entirely possible he never even considered that to be a threat[[spoiler: or that someone would attack his loved ones]].
** In season 3, he fails to identify [[spoiler:the illusory Belle]] as a trick by Pan, even though he ''knows'' it's not real. Regina lampshades this, pointing out that he, of all people, ''really'' should have known better.
** Grabs it '''firmly''' in Season 4, where he becomes a villain again, even though he has good shot at a happy ending. [[spoiler: He gets banished from Storybrooke by Belle.]]
* InformedAbility:
** In the pilot, a guard warns Snow and Charming that Rumplestiltskin has power over everyone he knows the name and face of. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness This is never mentionned again.]] Perhaps in this case, it's justified/handwaved if you assume that the guard's statement is meant to be taken at metaphorical value rather than literally - if Rumpelstiltskin knows who you are, it means he knows how you relate to everyone else and thus can tailor his deals appropriately.
** He claims to be able to recognize a lie because he can recognize the burden. Like Henry and Emma, his LivingLieDetector fails when emotions cloud his judgement.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: There are several hints that he yearns for the days when he was just a simple weaver,
* IOwnThisTown:
** In Storybrooke, he does. We're not kidding. He owns all the land; the citizens are just his tenants.
** In a sense, also true in the Enchanted Forest. Despite not having any thrones or land, as the [[EvilSorcerer most powerful being]] in the world, he pretty much calls the shots wherever he goes.
* IWillFindYou: [[spoiler: To Baelfire]]. He manipulates ''decades[='=]'' worth of fairy tale history to make it happen, including the rise of the Evil Queen and the relationship between Snow White and Prince Charming, culminating in the Enchanted Forest being ''ripped apart!''
* InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers: Several of his deals involve having someone's child turned over to him.
* ItsAllAboutMe:
** Rumpelstiltskin[=/=]Gold never does anything that doesn't serve his own ends somehow. Even trying to reconnect with Bae after they are reunited and trying to restore Belle's lost memories are all so that Gold can fill the empty void in his soul. He doesn't even help those he loves for the sake of helping them, but purely so that they will love him back. Not once does it occur to him that selflessness is the one thing that could save him and give him his happy ending.
** Starts to become averted with the end of season two. He comes to realize that while Lacey makes things easy and killing [[spoiler: Henry]] would solve his problem (something Lacey even suggests), it's Belle and Henry that he needs and wants (and he says as much). He [[spoiler: uses the Blue Fairy's antidote to restore Belle's memories]] and embarks on a quest with the rest expressly for the purpose of honoring Bae, [[spoiler: who everyone thinks is dead]]. (A quest he doesn't expect that he'll come back from, no less.)
** [[spoiler: Played painfully straight in Season 4, where he's willing to kill the mother of his grandson for power and later chooses to condemn the entire town (sans Belle and Henry) to destruction simply because it's convenient for his plans. He outright says to Hook that he will value his own needs above everyone else's, every single time.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite his jerkish qualities, he genuinely loves his son and Belle. In season two, he gave Henry a protective charm to help with the after effects of the slapping curse and didn't ask for anything in return. This was before he knew that Henry was his grandson. In season three, he [[spoiler:sacrificed his life to save Henry from Peter Pan. When he was resurrected, he was willing to trade his freedom in an attempt to save Neal and Belle.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Mr. Gold has some positive qualities and genuinely loves Belle and his son (yet is shown to break promises and/or behave cruelly toward them because of his obsession with power), and in addition to his gambits with positive outcomes, likes to make deals to screw people over and has killed for poorly justified reasons.
** In the season 3 finale, not only does he [[spoiler: trick Belle into believing she has the Dark One's dagger when it's actually a fake and use the real deal to kill a powerless and imprisoned Zelena out of revenge, he also has the ''nerve'' to act offended when he's accused of having something to do with her death and use Belle (who utterly believes that he's changed his ways and is innocent) as an unknowing alibi]]. He keeps the act in season 4.
* KarmaHoudini:
** His only retribution for his crimes so far is being separated from his son [[spoiler: which he finds in Season 2]] and being separated from his girlfriend, Belle (who still has not regained her memories). Also, the curse of losing memories once crossing the town line was a direct consequence of him bringing magic to Storybrooke.
** [[spoiler: Karma catches up to him in Season 3, but he is able to accept it, endure it, and redeem himself...even though [[RedemptionEqualsDeath it costs him his life.]]]]
* KillItWithFire: Cinderella's poor fairy godmother never even got a chance to scream.
* KissOfDistraction: [[spoiler:Tries this on Zelena in an attempt to retrieve his dagger. Unfortunately, it doesn't work]].
* KnightTemplarParent: He is willing to destroy worlds to see his son again.
* KnowledgeBroker: Even in a jail cell, he knows a frightening amount about everything--but getting the information has [[DealWithTheDevil insanely steep price tags attached]].
* LargeHam: Robert Carlyle plays both ends of the spectrum. He takes this up to eleven as Rumplestiltskin, and masterfully subverts it as Mr. Gold. As Rumplestiltskin he leaves no scenery unchewed. Oozing menace, climbing the walls, theatrically gesturing, hissing his lines with malice or howling in rage, he owns every minute he's onscreen. In his Mr. Gold getup, Carlyle depicts him as a subtle, calculating, always in control schemer who is as smooth as the expensive silk suits he wears. He is always unruffled and subtly takes control of every situation he's in. It's notable that he always speaks in a low voice, which helps him manipulate others because they ''have'' to stop whatever they're doing and listen carefully to him in order to hear what he's saying. And as Mr. Gold, he ''also'' owns every minute he's onscreen.
* LaserGuidedKarma: After being a KarmaHoudini for a long time, he gets it ''hard''' in Season 4 where [[spoiler: After half a season lying to Belle, she banishes him from Storybooke and ends their relationship.]]
* LaughingMad: As Rumpelstiltskin. Taken UpToEleven in the second half of season 3, after the Wicked Witch [[spoiler:revives him from his HeroicSacrifice]].
* LighterAndSofter: You wouldn't think it would be possible but, despite being much more powerful, clever and dangerous in this version then in his original fairy tale, he somehow manages to come off as this. In this version, he's a baby broker who WouldNotHurtAChild. Also, as the beast, agreeing to rescue a village in exchange for the princess being his maid (and giving his assurance that he wouldn't expect her to take care of anything other then as a housekeeper, is at lot less evil then kidnapping and threatening to kill an old man if his daughter didn't take his place.
* LivingLieDetector: It runs in the family. He easily gets that [[spoiler:Wendy]] was lying because he was used to lies in his life.
* LoanShark: In addition to being a pawn broker and the landlord for pretty much the entire town, frequently operates as a particularly inflexible loan shark.
* LonersAreFreaks: And as Rumpelstiltskin, he's freakier than most.
* LovableCoward: Temporarily in "Desperate Souls," before he kills The Dark One and takes his power. And even afterwards, he has moments of this.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: EvenEvilHasLovedOnes. Unfortunately that [[KnightTemplar same love]] drives him to want to acquire ''more'' power.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:"Manhattan" reveals that Rumpelstiltskin is Henry's paternal grandfather]].
* MadnessMantra: Emma guesses he had one when he was trapped in his jail cell as he wrote [[spoiler:her name over and over]] and over and over again on one single page. [[spoiler:Subverted because the ink her name was written in was AntiMagic ink that would help them escape from his cell]].
** From "Witch Hunt": "You feed the madness, and it feeds on you!"
* MagicKnight: He prefers magic or manipulation, but he's no slouch with a sword either.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Mr. Gold. His name says it all!
* ManipulativeBastard: Rarely is forced into doing something he doesn't want to do. He's also [[MagnificentBastard another kind of bastard all together]].
* MayDecemberRomance: With Belle, as he's easily centuries older than her due to being the Dark One.
* MeaningfulName: His Storybrooke name Mr. Gold, is a reference to both the original and Enchanted Forest fairy tales, in which he spun gold from straw.
* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: From his cell, he arranged for the Evil Queen to unleash the Dark Curse on the Enchanted Forest. [[spoiler:He had the ink of a squid which is actually AntiMagic ink and could get him his freedom anytime he wanted]].
--> "I'm ''exactly'' where I wanna be!"
* MotiveDecay: His driving motivation was to find his son and earn his forgiveness and become a good man, but after [[spoiler: Neal is killed by Zelena, Gold's goals are less than noble. He tries to cleave himself from the dagger by ways of a complicated ritual that involves killing Hook. Belle banishes him when she finds out. So he teams up with Cruella, Ursula, and Maleficent to plot his vengeance.]]
* MurderTheHypotenuse: TheReveal of "The Miller's Daughter" that he had a budding romance with Cora before she went off with Prince Henry certainly puts a new spin on his arranging things so that Regina would have to kill Henry in order to enact the Dark Curse.
* MyGreatestFailure:
** The one promise he ever broke: [[spoiler:he was given a chance to live with his son in another world that was without magic, freeing him from the mantle of the Dark One, but couldn't let go of his power and lost his son]]. He set out making the Dark Curse as a means of fixing this.
** Perhaps replaced as of Season 2, as he considers himself indirectly responsible for [[spoiler: Baelfire's (apparent) death]]. This event (plus Lacey suggesting he should just kill the boy who will be his downfall) clearly mark the points at which he seriously starts to reconsider his stance on who he should be blaming. Both events hit right at home at the two things we know he holds sacred at any and all times of his life: his son and children.
--->'''Mr Gold:''' They didn't kill him. ''I'' did.
* NeutralNoLonger: He probably would have become relatively harmless (if unhelpful) after Bae's death. But then [[spoiler: Greg and Tamara]] just had to try and destroy the town (even if it was a distraction) which made him realize that he needed Belle and needed Bae [[spoiler: and by proxy, Henry]] which kicks him out of his funk and re-energizes him to change his mind.
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: He's an odd version of this in that he has killed a number of innocent people, he's just never killed anyone whom he actually believes is innocent. From his perspective his victims were a man who is basically the devil, evil child-kidnapping soldiers, a man who nearly killed his son with a horse and cart and then yelled at Bae for being in the way, spies trying to steal his dagger and control him, the man who kidnapped his wife and then later his girlfriend, the emotionally abusive ex-wife who abandoned their child and a bunch of people who wanted to kill him. His scary outburst at Belle was brought on by the fact that he honestly thought she was trying to turn him human so she could 'be the hero and kill the beast'. He even defends his pursuit of Robin Hood (who in all fairness did break into his house, rob him and try to kill him) by saying that anyone who'd steal magic is obviously evil. After finding out Robin just wanted to save his pregnant wife Rumpel not only gives up trying to kill him but lets him keep the wand. None of this changes the fact that he's done horrible things and killed people for poorly justified reasons, though.
** [[spoiler: He eventually drops this in Season 4. In an attempt to be free of his dagger, Rumple attempts to trick Emma, someone who he acknowledges as a hero, into being absorbed into his magic hat. He freely admits to Ingrid and Hook that he is betraying her for purely selfish reasons.)]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: After the battle with [[BigBad Zelena]] with Zelena being put in prison, [[LoveInterest Belle]] gives him the Dark One's Dagger, and then he proceeds to stab Zelena with said dagger, destroying her body but bringing back the time portal which led to Hook and Emma changing the past...]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:He spares Hook's life in "The Outsider", and in return, Hook shoots Belle, which causes her to cross over the town line and lose her memories. ''Ouch'']].
* NobleDemon: He's the fairy tale equivalent of the devil.
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: Calling him a coward will result in [[CaneFu him beating the shit out of you with a cane]].
* NotMeThisTime: Despite his past penchant for revenge and frame-jobs, [[spoiler:he tells Emma, Charming, and Snow he was not involved in Archie's "death" to hurt Regina]].
* NouveauRiche: He's a former peasant who grows rich after learning how to turn straw into gold. He even once called Belle "the help". He told Regina in "The Evil Queen" that his maid had a lot of potential.
* TheObiWan: Albeit an evil version with at least two of his apprentices, though his mini-lesson with [[spoiler: Emma]] seemed to go differently as he told her to focus on love and protecting people as opposed to hate and destruction. Given that he suggests magic is as much emotion as it is anything else, he knows and reads his students well enough to know which emotions he can get the best results from (or from which best serve his eyes, those usually being one and the same).
* ObviouslyEvil: Just look at the picture.
* OhCrap: Tends to have composed versions of this when certain parts of his plan don't go quite the way they're supposed to, but he has a spectacular escalating series of these in "Manhattan". [[spoiler:In the past, a Seer tells him his actions on the battlefield will leave his son fatherless. At this, he is shaken, but doesn't believe all of her words. He's then scared out of his wits when he finds out the Seer's prophecy that they would ride cows into battle came true, in a figurative sense. In the present, he has the silent, genuinely stunned version when he connects the dots of why Emma knows Baelfire already - Henry is Baelfire's son, making Rumpel Henry's paternal grandfather. If that wasn't enough, he then realizes that Henry is the boy in the Seer's last prophecy that would bring about his "undoing"]].
* OnlyOneName:
** Both his Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke personas. "Mr. Gold" has no known first name.
** When he first meets [[spoiler:Dr. Frankenstein]], however, he introduces himself as Rumpel von Stiltskin. Given that almost everyone calls him Rumpel it's possible that is his first name and Stiltskin was his last. But given [[TricksterArchetype who he is]], it's rather more likely that he's putting on airs; claiming a "von" in one's name is stating that one is a noble, and Victor von Frankenstein is far more likely to hear out a fellow member of the aristocracy than some strange commoner.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: [[spoiler:Bae's apparent death]] pretty much made him indifferent and almost a DeathSeeker.
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: While only ever called a demon on one or two occasions, it's probably what he is (doesn't much look like one though does he). However, he got that way via a curse as opposed to dying, falling from grace, being born/created that way or any of the other ways one generally goes about becoming one. Also, while it would originally appear that he is bound by some sort of demon rules that prohibit him from breaking deals or telling a direct lie. It turns out no, he's just got some sort of standards and can break or refuse to make deals without spontaneously combusting or having some horrific thing happen to him (granted given that the one deal he broke cost him his son, it might explain why he's reluctant to break his promises). Also, while he can't actually be summoned (your allowed to call for him, he just may not chose to answer), he can be controlled via magical artifact (providing he doesn't stab you to death with it first) in a similar way to genies.
* PapaWolf: He is willing to kill the Dark One to try and save his son from serving in the army. [[spoiler:Shame this ended up in turning him FromNobodyToNightmare]]. After becoming the Dark One, he becomes an evil version, turning a man into a snail and stepping on him just for accidentally injuring Baelfire with a cart.
* ParentalAbandonment: When he was a young child, his father left him too. Tragically, he didn't learn from this and did the same to his own son as well. At least he was more remorseful for his actions than his father.
* ParentsAsPeople: Before and after becoming the Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin shows himself to be a loving, if very flawed father.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: [[spoiler:Once he's freed from Zelena's control, he immediately plots to exact his revenge against her, since he promised his son he would do so]].
* PetTheDog:
** In Season 2, when [[spoiler:Regina calls him about Henry receiving burns from his dreams,]] Rumpel makes a house call, explains the situation calmly and even provides a means of controlling the situation. The Price: [[spoiler:As it was for Henry, he charged nothing]].
** When the Sheriff of Nottingham has something Rumpel needs and states that his price is a night with Belle, Rumpel (who is fresh off skinning someone alive repeatedly mind you) is... not amused with those terms and politely allows the Sheriff to adjust his offer.
** In "The New Neverland", after Charming returns to Storybrooke [[spoiler:still poisoned by dreamshade]], Rumple simply hands him the cure and accepts nothing in return.
** In the season 3 finale, he helps [[spoiler:Emma and Hook from the future reconstruct Snow and Charming's relationship. Later, back in the present, he and Belle are married]].
* PlayAlongPrisoner: [[spoiler: In the Season 2 episode "Queen of Hearts", it is revealed he had the key to his escape from the Fairy Tale prison all along. He just didn't use it because it would be detrimental to his long-term plans]].
* PhysicalGod: As The Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin has access to incredible levels of magical power, immortality from any weapon [[spoiler:save for True Love's Kiss destroying his curse and turning him normal or his cursed dagger outright killing him]], and bouts of super strength (though that could be magic as well). In the Enchanted Forest people ran in fear of the Dark One for good reason.
* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler:To Zelena: "I promised my son I would avenge his death. Rumpelstiltskin never breaks a deal."]]
* PsychopathicManchild: Very quickly went crazy with his dark powers once he got them, like a kid with a new toy. However that underneath that all power he has a ''lot'' of issues, most notably the fact his father abandoning him, and that he unwillingly recreated the same cycle with his son. It's probably why he can [[spoiler: hear Pan's magic flute as an ''adult'']].
* PoisonousFriend: Does terrible things in the name of his loved ones, even when they beg him not to.
* PragmaticVillainy: Rarely does he act on his emotions and approaches situations in a calm, calculated manner hidden beneath his smile and, for Rumpel, laugh. Only when his BerserkButton is pressed does he sometimes step away from this.
* PuppyDogEyes: When he needs help [[spoiler: looking for Belle]] his sad look even works on Charming.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: He lets fly with this in "The Stranger", though it's actually aimed at the departing Blue Fairy, one of the closest things the Enchanted Forest has to an actual deity, by all appearances.
-->'''Rumpelstiltskin:''' "I WILL FIND HIM!"
* ReadTheFinePrint: As Rumpelstiltskin he does not advocate those who make deals with him to look further than the simple wording of his promise. As Mr. Gold, he is amazed at how few people actually read the Town charter, which points out some holes in Regina's power.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** [[spoiler:Given one by Belle about his cowardice and his inability to let himself be happy]].
** Gives more than his fair share. Notably to Emma in season 3 for her inability to take a leap of faith and how she can only accept that which is before her.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:In "Going Home", he sacrifices his life to kill his father and save everyone he loves from him]].
* RedemptionRejection:
** [[spoiler:As Rumpel pushes away Belle lest TrueLovesKiss turns him back to normal]]. He later regrets the decision.
** [[spoiler:He also had a chance to travel to another world with his son and start over. However, since this meant giving up his powers, he hesitated and lost his son instead]].
** [[spoiler:And once again when he chooses to give into his desire for revenge and kills Zelena, despite Belle having absolute trust in him not to do so.]]
* ReformedButRejected: He pleads this to his son telling him that he's changed from his old ways, but his son isn't entirely convinced [[spoiler: until he sees proof that Rumpel removed his shadow like he claimed]].
* SanitySlippage: After [[spoiler:Belle loses all her memories after being shot by Hook]] Mr. Gold ''loses it'', even threatening to kill everyone if any harm befalls Belle.
** Even more so when [[spoiler:he comes back from the dead and is kept as Zelena's caged prisoner. It's made clear by the [[SanitySlippageSong creepy little tune he sings to himself]]: ''"You feed the madness and it feeds on you..."'']]
* SecretKeeper: In "Skin Deep", we learn [[spoiler:he's retained at least some of his memories; he knows his real identity and remembers Belle and what happened to her]].
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: is part of a long spanning centuries.
** First, he looses Bae to the world without magic, who by actions outside of Rumple's control, manages to become mature by the 20th century.
** Then, to get to Bael, he manipulates history to get not only people to enact the curse, but also sets up the counter for the curse to be born just in time for its activation. Said counter (Emma) grew up in the 20th century world without magic, maturing to adulthood.
** Next, by sheer coincidence, without Rumples direct input or influence, Bael and Emma met up and conceived Henry. Once Henry is put up for adoption, Rumple arranges Regina to adopt him, knowing he is the son of the savior, but aware that he is his grandson, and effectively, his own undoing.
** Which means, Henry only exists due to Rumples actions, and therefore, fulfils the prophecy.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: Well, according to one particular student:
--> '''Regina:''' Rumpel was a bully. He didn't suffer fools and he certainly didn't coddle his students. And if he tried to teach you how to swim and you couldn't learn... you drowned.
* SnakeTalk: As Rumpelstiltskin. You have to listen for it but it's there. Not as Mr. Gold. He also didn't have it initially as the Dark One but as we see him slowly slip into his singsong snake voice the less he has Baelfire around as a MoralityPet.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The show consistently spells Rumpelstiltskin's name as "Rumplestiltskin".
* SpoilerOpening: [[spoiler:Not many were surprised to see Rumplestiltskin alive and well during the second half of Season 3, due to Robert Carlyle's name not disappearing from the main cast credits]].
* StealthHiBye: He enjoys surprising those who summon him by showing up immediately behind them.
* StepfordSmiler:
** In a way. Most of the time he likes to act as flamboyant as possible when he knows people are looking. But in Episode 6, he's shown as being quite subdued when he's off to the side drinking as David and his mother have their own conversation.
** In Episode 12 we learn he has ''serious'' self esteem issues and thinks of himself as a monster.
* StrawCharacter: Mr. Gold is a man of many professions and he plays to the worst stereotypes about all of them: he's a pawnbroker who often shades into being a LoanShark, a heartless landlord who evicts his tenants at the slightest opportunity, and an AmoralAttorney who conspires against his own clients.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: As Rumpelstiltskin.
* SuperStrength: Or at least ''enhanced'' strength, which as Rumbelstiltskin he demonstrates several times. One notable instance is when Belle falls from a height of at least ten feet and he catches her effortlessly.
* TheSvengali: Rumpelstiltskin appears to have been this to Regina in the past [[spoiler:since he was the one who taught her magic and manipulated her into using it to kill in "The Doctor"]].
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:To his father Malcolm (aka Peter Pan) in "Going Home"]].
* ThereAreNoCoincidences: Stated by Baelfire to be one of the few things they agree on.
* TheyKilledKenny: [[spoiler: Dies. Multiple times. Keeps barely surviving]].
* TermsOfEndangerment:
** Likes to refer to everyone, male and female, as "dearie." Including his fans in real life.
** Used for character purposes on Earth: he doesn't do it there until it's revealed to the audience that he can remember the Enchanted Forest.
** However, he seems to reserve 'sweetheart' for Belle, as seen in one episode.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Shares it with Regina in Season 2 and season 3.
* TookALevelInJerkass: He was never particularly ''nice'' to begin with, but he's really taken his villainy up a notch in season four.
* TragicKeepsake: The chipped cup Belle broke. As Rumpel he moved aside a golden goblet to put it on a pedestal and as Mr. Gold he was willing to beat a man and give up on a secret of his just to get it back. His knife also qualifies as it always reminds him of his son and his inability to let go of his new-found power.
* TragicVillain: Fate and circumstance made him a monster. His cowardly, selfish choices only made things worse for him.
* TranquilFury: As Mr. Gold. He rarely yells and goes on a rampage when angry. He speaks in a calm voice. Even after [[spoiler:Belle loses her memory]], and he tells everyone he will ''kill all of them'' if any harm comes to Belle, he ''still'' speaks in a calm voice, taking it {{up to eleven}}.
* TraumaCongaLine: Season 3 puts him through a particularly vicious one at the hands of Zelena. [[spoiler:She tricks his son into bringing him back from the dead, eventually killing Neal - but not before Rumpel absorbs his son for a year in an effort to keep him alive, driving the Dark One insane once again. Once Neal dies - in front of Rumpel, no less - Zelena asserts control with his dagger to make him her puppet and force him to break all of his morals, including threatening to harm Belle and ''a child'', all the while gloating that it was his fault for not picking her to enact the curse (which would have required her to kill him, driving it further that all of this was pointless). Oh, and he's kept in a cage in her storm cellar the entire time, not even allowed to attend his own son's funeral or wake.]] By the end, it's no wonder that he wants her dead.
** Even before that, his life as a whole is one. His father is a manipulative sociopath who abandoned him, his wife hated him and abandoned him and his son [[spoiler:for Hook]], he keeps reuniting with and losing Belle and his son...
* TheTrickster: As Rumpelstiltskin; a classic example.
* {{Ubermensch}}: For the most part, his idea of morality is entirely based around Belle, Bae, and deals. Outside of that, anything is fair game.
* TheUnfettered: PlayedStraight with Rumpelstiltskin when he tries [[spoiler: finding his son]]. He clearly [[spoiler: WouldHitAGirl in "Manhattan"]].
* VerbalTic: "Dearie" as Rumpelstiltskin.
* VillainBallMagnet: For Baelfire's and Belle's sake, he does at least ''try'' to be good... but he's also aware he honestly can't help himself from invariably slipping back into his old ways.
* VillainousBreakdown:
** Has an epic one in Episode 12, [[spoiler:after Belle kisses him and he believes she's been working for the Queen (or trying to kill him) all along]]. In the present day, he's having another one as he batters Moe French with his cane.
** And then when he learns about [[spoiler:the line outside of town removing the Storybrooke residents' memories if they cross it, meaning that after all his years of planning to get to this point, he's still no closer to being able to find his son]].
* VillainsNeverLie:
** So far, both of his incarnations have never actually told a lie. Granted, either one may have said [[FalseReassurance something]] that is [[ExactWords "technically" true]], for [[FromACertainPointOfView certain values of "true"]], but not once has either one told an outright lie. He even tried to work his way out of a deal with Regina by technically not lying with each response until she closed every loophole with follow up questions leaving him with the final choice of lying or speaking the truth. He picked the truth. See SecretKeeper for more on what was said.
** He admits as much to Charming, who notes that there's a difference between not lying and being honest.
** He does lie right to Belle's face in that same episode, when he tells her that he doesn't care about her before sending her away.
** Also, when he's ''so'' close to fulfilling his master plan in the first season finale, he finally decides to flat-out lie and tell Emma that Regina abandoned her and sabotaged the elevator, so she'd better toss up that potion to him before he helps her up. She does so, he leaves, and then it's revealed he'd actually bound and gagged Regina while ''he'' sabotaged the elevator.
** Also, [[spoiler: he gave Belle a fake dagger when they married. When she finds out, she's '''not happy''']].
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Charming. To date, Rumpel has gone to Charming for dating advice twice. On one occasion, Rumpel was willing to go as far as to willing leave himself in Charming's debt, which has never happened before. On all occasions, however, Rumpel goes back to being his usual self as soon as Charming's done helping him.
* WhosLaughingNow: All the people who have wronged Rumpelstiltskin end up regretting it. Or dead.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: With his son as his MoralityPet he was still somewhat stable. However, once Bae was gone he dove into full-blown insanity.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: He "destroy[s] this world for the next." Probably one of the few instances where the Destroyer of Worlds actually succeeds!
* WouldHitAGirl: He knocks out Red because she was trying to stop him and Regina from cursing a well out of which Mary Margaret and Emma were going to come out.
* WouldntHurtAChild:
** For all his evil doings, he has never been seen harming, manipulating, or even raising a hand at a child. See PetTheDog for further details.
** In "Lacey", upon discovering [[spoiler: that the reason Robin Hood stole a wand from him was to heal Marian, who was deathly ill and pregnant, Rumpelstiltskin intentionally misses with the arrow he was aiming at them. Made more telling that the bow used was enchanted to ensure the arrow ''always'' find the archer's intended target]].
** [[spoiler: Averted when under Zelena's control he threatens Roland to get Robin to give up Regina's heart. He '''doesn't''' want to, but since Zelena has his dagger he really has no choice]].
* YouAreWhatYouHate: [[spoiler: He's essentially a watered-downed version of his deadbeat father, Peter Pan.]]
* YourDaysAreNumbered: [[spoiler: Centuries of evil deeds have essentially turned his heart into a black lump, with only a little bit of love left. If the darkness truly consumes his heart, he'll die, hence why he wants to find the Author.]]
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Looks exactly the same before Bae was born as he does when Bae is fourteen. Presumably life in the crapsack part of a CrapsaccharineWorld aged him prematurely.

* AesopAmnesia: Or arguably not so much 'amnesia' as recognizing an addition (to magical power) and being unable to kick it.

* BigBadDuumvirate: In Season 4, with Isaac, Maleficent and Cruella. Initially it was Rumple, Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula but with Ursula redeeming herself, Cruella [[spoiler: dying]], and Maleficent leaving, Gold and Isaac formed a new BigBadDuumvirate.
* BigBadEnsemble: With the Evil Queen/Regina in the Season 1 with a power struggle occurring between them.

* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:After being resurrected by the Wicked Witch, he seems even more loopy than in the Enchanted Forest]]. "Quiet Minds" reveals [[spoiler:his insanity was due to a desperate attempt to save his son from the sacrifice he made to revive Rumple]]. In Season 4 it may or may not be the reason for his regression back into villiany.

* LaserGuidedKarma: After being a KarmaHoudini for a long time, he gets it ''hard''' in Season 4 where [[spoiler: After half a season lying to Belle, she banishes him from Storybooke.]]

* TheCorrupter: [[spoiler:He teaches Regina what appears to be addictive, jerkassery-inducing, dark magic]]. That ended well. [[spoiler:He implies that he did the same to her mother]]. [[spoiler:And to her half-sister too]].

* {{Hypocrite}}: While Cora started Regina down the road to darkness, Rumple made damn sure she continued down it, but he always insisted that the choice was hers, and that it was her fault, not his.
** In ''Think Happy Thoughts'', calls Hook a ''cowardly pirate''. What was one of Rumpel's defining flaws?

* NeverMyFault:[[spoiler:In "Darkness on the Edge of Town", rather than accept that Belle banishing him from Storybrooke was entirely the result of his own bad choices/outright lying to her, Rumple blames the Author for his misfortune.]]

U BadassNormal: Rumplestiltskin knows ''hundreds'' (maybe '''''thousands''''') of ways to kill. When he decides to ''forgo magic and'' '''''beat you shitless with his bare hands'''''... or cane... you know you're in trouble.

* BigBad: For Season 4, after he forms a team of villains (known as the Queens of Darkness) to find villains a happy ending. However, the role eventually goes to [[spoiler: the Author]] in the season finale.

* Hypocrite: While Cora started Regina down the road to darkness, Rumple made damn sure she continued down it, but he always insisted that the choice was hers, and that it was her fault, not his.

* BigBad: For Season 4, after he forms a team of villains (known as the Queens of Darkness) to find villains a happy ending.

* BigBadDuumvirate: In Season 4, with Isaac and Zelena. Also with Maleficent initially.

** His addition to power. [[spoiler:Every time he comes close to a HeelFaceTurn or earning a happy ending, he finds something powerful enough to slide him back into villainy, most notably Season 4a.]]

* BigBad: For Seasons 1 and 4, with his deals and manipulations making him more behind the plot than Regina (whom he helped for his own purposes) in the former, and attempting to take over the world after his heart is consumed with darkness in the latter. It helps that he's a manipulative person.
* BigBadDuumvirate: In Season 4, with Maleficent and Zelena.

* BigBad: In Seasons 1 and 4.
* BigBadDuumvirate: In Season 4, with Maleficent and Zelena.
* BigBadEnsemble: With the Evil Queen/Regina in the first season.

* BigBad: In Season 4.
** BigBadDuumvirate: In Season 4, with Maleficent and Zelena.
* BiggerBad: Of the first season.

* MotiveDecay: His driving motivation was to find his son and earn his forgiveness and become a good man, but after [[spoiler: Neal is killed by Zelena, Gold's goals are less than noble. He tries to cleave himself from the dagger by ways of a complicated ritual that involves killing Hook. Belle banishes when she finds out. So he teams with Cruella, Ursula, and Malecifent to plot his venange.]]

** Also, [[spoiler: he gave Belle a fake dagger when they married. When she finds out she's '''not happy''']].

* WouldHurtAGirl: He knocks out Red because she was trying to stop him and Regina from cursing a well out of which Mary Margaret and Emma were going to come out.

* YouAreWhatYouHate: [[spoiler: He's essentially a watered-downed version of his deadbeat father, Peter Pan]]
* YourDaysAreNumbered: [[spoiller: Centuries of evil deeds have essentially turned his heart into a black lump, with only a little bit of love left. If the darkness truly consumes his heart he'll die, hence why he wants to find the Author.]]

* BeingGoodSucks: [[spoiler: His attempt to sacrifce himself to save his loved ones and Storybrooke from Pan ended up being negated when Zelena tricked Bae into sacrificing himself so the Dark One could be resserecuted. It put him off heroics for the time being.]]