Characters / Once Upon A Time Hook

Beware of spoilers.

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Captain Killian "Hook" Jones

Captain Hook: A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets.

Played By: Colin O'Donoghue, Oliver Bell (child)

Centric Episodes^note "The Crocodile", "Queen of Hearts", "And Straight On 'Til Morning", "Good Form", "The Jolly Roger", "Poor Unfortunate Soul", "Birth", "Broken Heart", "Swan Song", "The Brothers Jones", "Dark Waters", "A Pirate's Life"

A notorious pirate who was shielded from the Dark Curse and has history with Rumplestiltskin. He quickly develops a strong relationship with Emma Swan.

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Main universe Hook

• Adaptational Attractiveness: In the Disney film, he's much older, with a large nose, long face, and baggy eyes. Here, he's a lot better looking. Although J.M. Barrie, the writer of Peter Pan, described Hook as the most handsome man he'd ever seen (but also the most disgusting) in "Captain Hook at Eton".
• Adaptational Heroism: Book and Disney film; charming but amoral and treacherous pirate. Here: charming and honorable pirate with a Fatal Flaw of vengefulness for real wrongs which he grows out of.
• Adaptational Name Change: Barrie notes that Hook was not his real name in the original book making him a case of Named by the Adaptation here, but his first name James is Adapted Out.
• Affably Evil: Oh so very much. He's a firm believer in manners and "good form", despite being a pirate. After falling in love with Emma, he drops the Evil part altogether.
• All Love Is Unrequited: He spends almost all of Season 3 sending "yearning looks" towards Emma, who does reciprocate but definitely isn't going to act anytime soon. Happily subverted when they hook up in "There's No Place Like Home".
• And I Must Scream: "Heroes and Villains" has the horrifying implication that he's fully aware while being mind-controlled by Rumplestislken, but can't do anything more than try to grab Emma's arm.
• And Show It to You: He tried this on Cora when Regina enchanted his hook to allow him to do so for one heart. Obviously, it failed, but it still had one use left, which he used to take out Aurora's heart when she was captured, but did not show it to her; she didn't even know it had happened.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Reveals his darkest secret in "Ariel" through this—that kissing Emma made him realize he's in love with her and can move on from Milah. He quickly reassures her that he doesn't expect her to return his feelings, though.
• Apologetic Attacker: Says he is "truly sorry" before absorbing the Blue Fairy into the Sorcerer's Hat on Rumplestiltskin's orders.
• The Atoner: As an Anti-Hero, he probably exhibits the most self-loathing of his past self and past deeds than anyone else, very frequently lamenting them and considering himself unworthy of the "hero" label.
• Babies Ever After: Emma becomes pregnant with their first child approximately two years into their marriage. In the Season 7 finale, he appears at Regina's coronation with Emma and their daughter Hope.
• Back from the Dead: After dying, Zeus "resurrected" him after helping defeat Hades.
• Badass Boast: After Cora reveals her plans, Hook states as a matter of fact that he will kill Rumplestiltskin, the most powerful magical being known to any of them.
  "Excellent. You'll be able to see your daughter, and I can skin me a crocodile."
• Badass Longcoat: Hook wears a black weather longcoat for two seasons straight, only appearing in different apparel in a flashback to before he was a pirate. It's a big deal when he puts on a more contemporary outfit in Season 4 for a date with Emma. Past that, he still keeps the longcoat, but he only uses it for select occasions.
• Badass in Distress: He's been kidnapped, gagged, and bound by Tamara and Greg. They planned on using him to help in their attack against Storybrooke. He was tortured by Hades after he died. The look of him when he tried to escape his prison, as well as his painful groans before being set free, say it all.
• Badass Normal: Doesn't posses any powers, but can still hold his own in a battle.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Emma. Later, as they work together, develops into regular Unresolved Sexual Tension before blossoming into the loving marriage they enter at the end of Season 6.
• Big Bad Ensemble: With Cora in Season 2. It started as a Big Bad Duumvirate, but he later separates from Cora and Regina becomes her chief follower instead. He reappears to become an ally to the new Big Bad Duumvirate of Tamara and Greg.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Despite his charisma and scheming he is handily defeated by Emma in his first encounter. His only successful cruel actions mostly come from sneaking up on his enemies.
  • He is beaten up by Rumplestiltskin with no magical assistance on their first encounter.
  • As the Dark One he faces a powerless Rumplestiltskin and is still defeated handily.
• Big Brother Worship: As shown in Season 5, he idolizes Liam as being the only member of his family who was ever truly noble and pure. This leads him to continually ignore the growing evidence that Liam in fact made a deal with Hades in the past until Liam himself practically admits it.
• Broken Pedestal: Three times in Season 5. First with Emma, who turns him into a Dark One against his will and tries enslaving him with Excalibur, pushing his anger. Then in the mid-season finale. Young Killian Jones is rocked to find out his father had abandoned his sons and sold them into servitude. Especially when earlier on in the episode, he told his father "I want to be just like you". Then later with Liam, who as it turns out was more flawed and less noble than Killian had thought he was.
• Buffy Speak: At one point he refers to Emma's car as "that yellow contraption thing".
• Card-Carrying Villain: Fully admits to being a villain, and even when others call him a hero he feels unworthy of the title.
• Carpet of Virility: Possibly the Spear Counterpart of the villainesses' Navel-Deep Neckline.
• Character Development: "And Straight On Til' Morning" shows that he just needed reminding that he can care for others. "The Jolly Roger" shows how his love for Emma has changed his life and is causing him to rethink being a pirate. "There's No Place Like Home" then reveals he traded the Jolly Roger for a magic bean so he can go to New York and find Emma.
• The Charmer: Oh, yes. Spends most of "Tallahassee" flirting with Emma and winks at both Aurora and Snow (who are unimpressed). Tinker Bell, like Snow, is also unimpressed with him, although there may or may not have been something in the past. Emma? As of Season 3, well... things get complicated.
• The Chessmaster: When he actually takes time to plan stuff out, it goes really well. He plays Aurora like a fiddle to get her under Cora's control, and manages to out-gambit Regina.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Despite the above-mentioned flirting and innuendos, he behaves rather gentlemanly with women who aren't his enemies or affiliated with his enemies.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: It looks like he'll work with anyone who will help him get revenge on Rumplestiltskin. Later invoked by Pan to try and get him to kill Charming and offered him a chance off the island with Emma. Although in this case it was an aversion, he saved Charming and later told Emma that he wants her honestly.
  • Ironically, one of his most notable traits is his unwavering devotion and loyalty to the people he cares about, too bad they're both dead. He later develops that same loyalty towards Emma.
• Consistent Clothing Style: Killian is almost always seen wearing leather jackets/coats and black pants, as he's a pirate.
• Consummate Liar: He even managed to trick Rumplestiltskin, though at the cost of his hand.
• Cool Boat: The Jolly Roger, a brig made of enchanted wood which can sail at incredible speed. It's one of the few things he has from before his brother died, and he loves it so much that he betrays Ariel in order to keep it. Not long after he trades it away in Season 3 to save Emma.
• Create Your Own Villain: Unintentionally helped set in motion Rumplestiltskin becoming the Dark One, who later came back for revenge and thus set in motion the cycle of revenge between the two.
• Cycle of Revenge: Between him and Rumplestiltskin, starting when he ran off with Rumple's wife. He breaks the cycle in the Season 2 finale, though, when Greg and Tamara's plot to destroy Storybrooke makes him realize that living actually does matter more to him than killing Rumplestiltskin.
• Deadpan Snarker: One of the biggest ones on the entire show.
• Death Seeker: Strongly implied to be thus in "The Outsider". He apparently wants to meet Milah in death.
  • He's gotten over it as of Season 3, having found someone else to live for.
• Defector from Decadence: His reason for becoming a pirate. He was a naval officer until the king he served under sent him and his brother on a secret mission to Neverland to get Dreamshade, telling them it was medicine when in fact it was deadly poison. It killed Hook's brother, and Hook would no longer serve the king whom he blamed for his brother's death. He and his men went AWOL and became pirates rather than serve such a king.
• Defiant to the End: When Rumplestiltskin threatens to crush Hook's heart in the mid-season finale of Season 4, Rumple expects Hook to start begging for his life. Hook responds that it's never going to happen, as between the two of them, he isn't the cowardly one.
• Demoted to Satellite Love Interest: In Season 4, Hook's stories tend to revolve completely around his relationship with Emma. Come Season 5, however, the show returned to exploring other facets of his character, backstory and relationships with other characters.
• Determinator: He spent 300 years planning revenge, after all.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Poor Emma. Not only is Hook the fifth love interest to leave her in some way, but he begs her to kill him so that he can take the darkness to the Underworld.
• The Dragon: His relationship with Cora falls somewhere between this and Big Bad Duumvirate, as he works with her rather than for her, it's just that Cora is always the clear dominant force in the partnership, and Hook ends up being defeated by Emma and co. before they have their final confrontation with Cora.
• Dragon with an Agenda: As you can expect from a Wild Card, Hook attaches to other villains and frequently turns on them as soon as he has an opportunity to better himself. This is why he abandons Cora.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After centuries of seeking revenge, Hook finds love again by giving up his revenge, redeeming himself and ends up marrying Emma, settling down to a normal life in Storybrooke. Season 7 possibly overwrites this by having him cursed in Hyperion Heights, but it's quickly revealed that he's actually still enjoying his happy ending, and the one who's in Hyperion Heights is the Wish Realm Hook.
• Enemy Mine: Surprisingly, he puts aside his hatred of Rumplestiltskin in order to go after Peter Pan and rescue Henry in Season 3.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Genuinely loved Milah, tells her to run after Rumplestiltskin almost rips his heart out, and still wants to be reunited with her.
  • Related to this, this is why he tried to make a connection with Baelfire/Neal, and why he ultimately chooses to help out on the quest to find Neal's son, Henry, in Neverland.
  • He was very close to his brother when they were both in the Navy. His death devastated him, and drove him to piracy.
  • After getting to know her through their escapades through the Enchanted Forest and Neverland, Emma. He gave up his prized ship to help her get her memories back.
  • He's also become quite fond of Henry in Seasons 3 and 4.
• Even Evil Has Standards: "Good form", in his own words (well, maybe his brother's too).
  • His past actions may have been pretty bad, to say the least, but he does adhere to some sort of personal code. For example, despite magically taking Aurora's heart, he's uncomfortable with the idea of her being permanently without it. So after he accomplishes what he wants with the item, he ensures that it gets returned to Aurora as it's "good form."
  • He also seems to show some disdain for Cora's plot to win Regina back, even if he does go along with it.
    Hook: Did you get what you wanted?
    Cora: Yes, my daughter has lost everything now.
    Hook: Well, aren't you mum of the year.
  • He really dislikes cowards, as shown by his character quote.
  • Also, he helps Greg and Tamara cancel out Regina's magic and capture her. But when Greg asks for his assistance in submitting Regina to Cold-Blooded Torture, he declines in disgust, noting that he didn't sign on for that.
  • He's horrified when Rumplestiltskin announces that he's going to abandon all of Storybrooke in the face of the Spell of Shattered Sight, which will force the townsfolk to kill each other.
• Everyone Can See It: According to Regina, everybody in Storybrooke can tell that he and Emma are carrying torches for each other.
• Expy:
  • As Word of God states, he's pretty much a pirate version of Han Solo. This becomes explicit in "There's No Place Like Home," where his date (Emma) goes under the alias "Princess Leia".
  • Other times, they mentioned they took inspiration from Westley, aka "The Dread Pirate Roberts".
  • A charming Hell-Bent for Leather Evil Brit with a Badass Longcoat and Guyliner who pulls a Heel–Face Turn after falling in Second Love with the story's blonde Chosen One heroine: are we talking about Hook or Spike? It doesn't hurt that OUAT shared writers with Buffy.
• Face Death with Dignity: To Rumplestiltskin's chagrin, he doesn't break down even moments before the Dark One is about to crush his heart.
• Face–Heel Turn: After being brought back to life as a Dark One, he quickly gives in to his more negative traits just to spite Emma, seeing her as a Broken Pedestal.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • His thirst for revenge usually gets him into horrible situations.
  • His low sense of self-worth. After his Heel–Face Turn, he has issues with how heroic he actually is, which causes him to seek opportunities to better himself. Normally this would be a good thing, but not in a series full of villains who are prone to using your flaws against you. Gold in particular takes advantage of this.
    • It's also a big reason why, halfway through Season 5, he gave into becoming evil so easily after being made a Dark One...he didn't feel like he was strong enough to resist the darkness, and the moment his inspiration for resisting the darkness - Emma - made him angry, he figured there was no point in resisting since falling prey to the darkness is an inevitability for him. The 5A finale and entire arc of 5B thankfully has him overcoming these issues.
• Fate Worse than Death: He begs Emma to let him die rather than turn him into a Dark One, as he knows that he was be easy prey for the Darkness and cannot abide the thought of becoming its slave.
• The Fettered: He may be a pirate, but he fights with a code of honour.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Sometimes has issues adjusting to modern-day Storybrooke, at least in regards to technology. He tells Emma that he doesn't know what Netflix is but still wants to do it when she suggests it. He also admits to Elsa that he doesn't know how his phone works beyond Emma answering when he hits the right button and that he thinks it's utterly useless otherwise. He does eventually come to understand voicemail.
  • Also tells David in Season 4 that he still pays for things with doubloons.
• Foil: Often acts as one to Rumplestiltskin.
  • Particularly prevalent in the first half of Season 4, where Hook is trying desperately to better himself while Rumple is quickly backsliding into evil. It becomes a plot point when the latter takes advantage of Hook's desperation.
  • Also in the 5A finale, he, as the Dark One, overcomes the darkness and sacrifices his life. Rumple, as an uncursed man with a clean slate, chooses to deceive Emma and re-absorb the darkness, becoming the Dark One again.
• Freudian Excuse: Many of his negative traits stem from being abandoned and sold into slavery by his father as a child, and then being let down by the allegedly good and heroic system that he had pledged his loyalty to, resulting in his brother's death.
• Genre Blind: He seriously thinks trying to blackmail Rumple, the Dark One, and then make a deal with him is a good idea, even after knowing him for over three hundred years. It bites him in the arse, when Rumple being the Magnificent Bastard that he is turns the tables and starts blackmailing him.
• Good Stepmother: Even before he married Emma, he was incredibly protective of Henry, due to his friendship with Neal/Baelfire. Likewise, while not officially his stepdad, he had a very strong bond with Bael due to him being the son of Milah.
• Guile Hero: He may not be the strongest nor does he possess magic, he gets by on his sole, cunning wit.
• Guyliner: One of his trademark features.
• Handsome Lech: He seems fond of hitting on just about every pretty woman he meets. Possibly to fill the void Milah was in.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: In Season 2, he keeps switching sides every other episode. Season 3 has him settle on Face.
• Heel–Face Turn: Finally decides to drop his revenge in the Season 2 finale.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Nearly his whole outfit. When he later gets a more modern wardrobe, he still has a leather jacket.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Hook clearly has issues thinking of himself as a hero even after his Heel–Face Turn. It gets him into trouble in the first half of Season 4, as Rumplestiltskin uses his efforts to be a better man against him.
• Hidden Depths: He's surprisingly perceptive, and is able to read Emma "like an open book" after only knowing her a few hours.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: In "The Jolly Roger". He acts the way he is simply because he doesn't have enough confidence in himself to really change.
• Hook Hand: Courtesy of Rumplestiltskin, the "crocodile".
• I Hate Past Me: During a time travel excursion, he punches his past self in the face likely due to jealously, since his past self was making out with Emma. He also tried to warn Emma that his past self is not the same man he is. Also see the entry for Magic Feather.
• I Lied: He told Charming there was a magical sextant that could help them leave Neverland on top of a tall mountain. In truth there was no sextant, but a cure to the poison in Charming's body. Hook knew it would need to be a big lie to get Charming away from his wife and daughter.
• Iconic Sequel Character: He's one of the most recognizable faces of the franchise but didn't officially appear until the second season.
• The Ingenue: A male example, before he was a pirate. Especially to Pan's The Vamp.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: When he was in the navy, otherwise Subverted.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He's willing to stand aside and let Neal have Emma if it makes them both happy.
• It's All About Me: To say Hook previously didn't care about anyone but himself^note or at least his own goals, he shows a disturbing lack of regard toward his actual life as he pursues revenge would be a gross understatement. However, it ends up subverted in the Season 2 finale, where Hook finally finds it in him to put someone else before himself.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He was originally a chivalrous, self-serving pirate who would do anything to anyone if it meant to serve him right, no matter who gets hurt, but he eventually grows caring and committing selfless acts to save Emma and her family to the point where he risks his life many times. Even after his Heel–Face Turn, he can be a bit arrogant and snarky.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Goes hand in hand with being a Well-Intentioned Extremist. Hook does not hesitate if it would further his own goals.
  • A more drastic case of it happens when he becomes a Dark One. He tries to resist the pull of the Darkness for a few hours, but then Emma lies to him about Excalibur and even uses it to control him. He gets pissed, and he dives into full-on evil like he has nothing to lose.
• Lack of Empathy: As a villain. He doesn't even seem to care much about himself personally, just about getting revenge. As the Dark One in Season 5, he's an outright sociopath.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Whenever Rumplestiltskin is involved.
• Limited Wardrobe: Does the man actually own a change of clothes or is his closet filled entirely with black leather coats, vests and pants with the occasional touch of red thrown in for variety's sake?
  • Even when he switches to modern clothes, it looks almost exactly the same.
• Love at First Punch: He first displays an attraction to Emma after she ties him up and interrogates him at knife-point.
• Loveable Rogue: After his Heel–Face Turn, his better qualities come out, turning him into this.
• Made a Slave: He and his brother got sold into slavery to a ship's captain by their father when they were boys.
• Made of Iron: In the course of his first ten episodes alone, he loses his hand, gets buried under falling debris, beaten up by a very angry Rumple, run over by a car and knocked out by magical attacks several times, yet the worst injury he ever suffers is a few broken ribs, and not even that stops him from getting back up.
• Magic Feather: A quite dark variant when he has Rumplestiltskin reattach his hand. After being warned that the hand is part of the nastier person he used to be, he soon finds himself growing much more violent and begs to have it taken off again. Then Rumple reveals that the hand had nothing to do with it, and it was just hearing that excuse that let him indulge his darker urges subconsciously. He's noticeably horrified at this revelation.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Granted that the series isn't allowed to be too graphic, but Hook reacts to Rumplestiltskin cutting his freaking hand off with far less screaming and flailing around than he by all rights should have done. Probably was still reeling from Milah's death but even still.
• May–December Romance: With Emma, due to him spending a few centuries in Neverland.
• Meaningful Name: Killian means "church" which is quite fitting because he does have a special relationship with the Savior.
• Moral Myopia:
  • He thinks leaving Emma, her mother, and their companions to rot in Rumplestiltskin's jail cell is fitting payback for her decision to leave him behind on the beanstalk after ensuring that he would be able to leave after she was gone.
• Mr. Fanservice: His brief appearance on the promo of the episode "We Are Both" was enough to grasp the attention of female fans everywhere (and some male fans as well) and cause a mass array of comments on the Internet regarding his attractiveness. This is in keeping with his description in J.M. Barrie's "Captain Hook at Eton".
• My God, What Have I Done?: His reaction when he remembers his cruel murder of a prisoner of King George's. The prisoner was David's father.
• My Greatest Failure: Given his deep self-loathing, he has seven big ones:
  • He sees himself responsible for his brother's death because he disobeyed Pan's warnings to not leave Neverland.
  • Abandoning Bae when he didn't want to stay any longer and to protect his own skin.
  • Chose to reacquire his ship from Blackbeard rather than to locate Prince Eric's whereabouts and help Ariel.
  • Betraying Ursula and stealing her voice out of anger toward her father.
  • Giving into darkness when he was made the Dark One and turning on Emma and her family. Even after snapping back and performing a Heroic Sacrifice for them, he still beats himself up over succumbing so easily.
  • Killing his own father, orphaning his younger half-brother in the process.
  • And last but not least, killing David's father.
  • While not as profound as the above examples, he also expresses regret for bullying Rumplestiltskin when he was just a powerless spinner, claiming that "he was the villain" at that time, although also not excusing how Rumple became a devious, manipulative killer afterward.
• The Navigator: His brother brought him on his voyage to Neverland as navigator and presented him with an ornate sextant as a gift. In the current time, he's the one who charts most of the courses.
• Officer and a Gentleman: Before becoming a pirate, he was a straight-laced Navy lieutenant on his brother's ship. He still retains shades of it as a pirate, with his insistence on "good form". For example, as of Season 3, he states outright that he wants to win Emma's heart honestly, without any tricks or lies, even of omission.
• Official Couple: With Emma, as of Season 3's grand finale.
• Only Mostly Dead: The entire point of Season 5B and the Underworld arc is to rescue Hook from purgatory after his Heroic Sacrifice. Emma and co. succeeded in rescuing him from Hade's prison in episode 5x14 - now all they need to do is defeat Hades and get back to Storybrooke.
• Oh, Crap!: Has a epic one in his introductory episode, when he suddenly realizes that the beggar he's been bullying and kicking is actually The Dark One. In fact, it goes beyond Oh Crap, he looks like he's about to totally brown his pants.
• Parental Abandonment: His father Brennan absconded on him and Liam when they were boys, selling them into servitude on a ship to cover his debts.
• Parental Substitute: Temporarily. Oddly enough Baelfire probably would have remained a happily adopted pirate if he hadn't found out that his mother left him and his father for Hook.
  • As of Season 3, he has now become this to Henry, offering to spend time with him while Emma works on bringing down Zelena.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Decides to not use the bean to get him out of Storybrooke to help the gang. He's too late but he genuinely tried. Though it does let them travel to Neverland and save Henry, so there's that.
  • Saves David from Dreamshade by getting him to drink the Neverland waters. He didn't really have any reason to do that, other than for Emma and Henry.
  • Gives up winning over Emma's heart so that Neal could win her back.
  • Genuinely wanted to help Ariel find Eric, after how he betrayed her last time.
  • His biggest one to date: trades his ship to come get Emma to rescue her and the kingdom. That ship meant a lot to him, by the way, being all he has left of his brother Liam and lover Milah.
  • In Season 6, he doesn't hesitate to provide Belle with a place to stay on his ship, and offers her a sincere, heartfelt apology for his past misdeeds towards her. He proceeds to generally dote on her while in her company, asking if he could get her anything, and later providing her with a means of contacting him should she ever need help.
• Pirate: He's Captain Hook, this goes without saying.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: ABC and producers upgraded Colin O'Donoghue to a series regular for the last 9 episodes of Season 2 — even before his character's first centric episode has aired.
• Proud Beauty: He repeatedly refers to himself as "devilishly handsome".
• Really 700 Years Old: He spent 300 years plotting his revenge against Rumplestiltskin, making him one of the oldest characters in the main cast. Notable in that unlike other series examples of this trope, Hook is a Badass Normal human with no magical powers of his own.
• Rescued from the Underworld: Well, more like help Zeus defeat Hades and get resurrected for it.
• Revenge Before Reason: His MOA in Season 2, where he is single-mindedly focused on killing Rumplestiltskin, who's "the crocodile" who took his hand.
• Sailor's Ponytail: Sports one of these in his pre-pirating days.
• Second Love: He and Emma are this for each other, since they meet just after Hook gives up on avenging Milah and after Emma lets go of Neal.
• Self-Made Orphan: Killed his father for abandoning him and his brother.
• Serial Homewrecker: In the past, Killian Jones (AKA Captain Hook), started a relationship with a woman named Milah, the wife of Rumplestiltskin. She eventually ran off with him, leaving behind her husband and their son Baelfire. When Rumplestiltskin came to confront him about it, Killian nonchalantly said that he's been with many men's wives.
• Start of Darkness: He started out as young Lieutenant Killian Jones, serving proudly in a King's Navy, running a tight ship with no tolerance for drinking rum, under the command of Captain Liam Jones, his elder brother. They were sent on a mission to Neverland to find dreamshade, believing it was a medicine. When they arrived, Peter Pan was actually kind and helpful, warning them they had been lied to about the plant but also its location. Then when they found it, Killian was worried Pan was being honest about the plant, so the elder Jones injected himself with the poison and after a few second of standing upright, collapsed in pain. The Pan showed up again and gave Killian magical water that would save the Elder Jones but at a price (Pan didn't mention the exact nature of the price). The brother was saved. Soon after, they left Neverland with plans on revealing the truth to the world when the elder brother died, for the healing waters did work but they bound him to Neverland and should he leave he would perish. Angered by this turn of events, Killian became captain of his brother's ship and convinced all the good men who respected his brother so to turn pirate and raid against their dishonorable king.
  • He was also sold into slavery with his brother by their father, who was a fugitive and ran off to escape the authorities. Years later, he was recruited by Regina to kill her mother, but had to pass a test first. The test? To kill his father. After confronting his father, Hook actually had a change of heart and was going to let the man go. But after seeing his father with his new son, saying the exact same words he told Hook before abandoning him, as well as finding out his half brother's name was Liam, Hook lost it and killed the man.
• Straw Nihilist: As the Dark One, Hook stops believing there is anything good within himself or within others, deciding to commit himself completely to revenge without any moral restrictions, saying he doesn't give a damn about what happens to anyone, including himself, so long as he achieves his revenge.
• Suicide by Cop: Semi-inverted. His goal is revenge, but seems oddly obsessed with Gold killing him. He encourages the man to rip out his heart! Presumably, he wants to be with Milah again.
  • Seems to get over it at the end of Season 2, making efforts to move on instead when he realizes that the thing he wants to die for, revenge, is overrated.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome and Snarky
• Tomato in the Mirror: In Season 5 when he's turned into a second Dark One, which Emma then wipes everyone's memories of until Zelena restores his with a magic dream catcher.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: After making a full Heel–Face Turn and claiming he was a changed man, what does Hook do in the fourth season? He decides it's a good idea to try to blackmail Mr. Gold, threatening his relationship with Belle, to try to restore his hand. While the first time he did it was a success, this makes him cocky and thinks he can pull it successfully again. Naturally, doing such a thing only ended up badly for him as this started a chain of events which reignited his feud with Gold and eventually turned him into the Dark One's puppet, even getting his heart ripped out. Had it not been for Anna inadvertently revealing Rumplestiltskin's intentions and Belle saving him at the last second, he most likely would have died from being this Genre Blind.
• Tragic Villain: Back when he was a villain, in any case.
  • He becomes even more of one as a Dark One, since he got turned into one against his will and only because he suffered a mortal wound doing something heroic.
• Undying Loyalty: If he really cares about someone, then come hell or high water he will stick with them.
• The Unfettered: When he was a villain, there were some lines he couldn't bring himself to cross. This is NOT an issue when he's turned into the Dark One.
• What You Are in the Dark: Peter Pan puts him in these situations twice.
  • First, Pan tries to convince him to kill Charming in exchange for passage off Neverland with Emma. He refuses.
  • Second, Pan tells him that Neal is still alive, just as he and Emma might be getting somewhere, to test whether he'd let an old friend die for a shot with a woman. Again, Hook does the right thing and tells the rest of the Five-Man Band.
• Wicked Cultured: A bloodthirsty pirate he may be, but he also possesses the meticulous style and old-school manners of a proper gentleman.
• Wild Card: Played straight for most of Season 2. Averted from the end of Season 2 onward.
• Would Hit a Girl:
  • He ripped out Aurora's heart, backhanded Belle and then tried to stab Belle with his hook.
  • Then there's "The Outsider", where he shoots Belle in the shoulder.
  • He later threatens to shoot Ursula, apparently forgetting that Ursula has tentacles and can easily disarm him.
• You Are What You Hate: As if being in love with the new Dark One after centuries of hating the last one wasn't enough, he's mortally wounded and Emma turns him into a second Dark One to bring him back. He quickly gives in to the previous Dark Ones manipulations to spite Emma. Actively subverts this trope during his Heroic Sacrifice at the end of Season 5A.

Captain Killian "Hook" Jones (Wish Realm) / Rogers

Captain Killian "Hook" Jones (Wish Realm)/Rogers

Played By: Colin O'Donoghue

Centric Episodes: "A Pirate's Life", "Eloise Gardener", "Knightfall"

An alternate version of Hook created by the Evil Queen's wish for a world where Emma never became the Savior, who comes to the regular world in search of the same happiness the original found.

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• The Alcoholic: The original Hook enjoyed his rum, but this one let it take him badly to seed. Subverted in 7x02 when after acting drunk to get the original Hook's guard down, he reveals that he "hasn't touched a drop of rum for years".
• Alternate Self: He is an alternate Hook who was created along with the Wish Realm by the the Evil Queen's wish.
• Ascended Extra: Who would have expected a one-scene gag character to become a regular in the next season?
• By-the-Book Cop: His cursed identity Rogers is the one good cop in Seattle.
• Capture and Replicate: In "A Pirate's Life", he knocks out the original Hook, takes his blood and convinces Tremaine to use a spell to make him resemble his younger self so he can go back to Storybrooke with Emma to steal a true love's kiss, hoping it'll cure his poisoned heart.
• Chess Motif: He's been repeatedly alluded as the White Knight. Alice even carried around a White Knight chess piece representing him.
• Clueless Detective: Downplayed. He's not incompetent, but he runs into this problem in Hyperion Heights due to being Locked Out of the Loop on what's really going on there.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: He takes up this role in the seventh season once the original Hook is gone. While he shares the exact same backstory as the first Hook, he evolves into a completely different character. Compared to the original Hook, he's a bit more lawful and by-the-book as Rogers. Also, the original Hook and Gold only ever tolerated each other's existence at best while Rogers comes to eventually befriend and make peace with Weaver/Rumplestiltskin. And while the original Hook took a long time to give up on revenge (and even relapses back into it on occasion), Wish!Hook chooses to give up on vengeance early on to concentrate on raising his own daughter.
• Deal with the Devil: In "Knightfall", in order to gain the magic he needs to free Alice from the witch's tower, Hook enters into one of these with Wish!Rumple – information on how to obtain an artifact that will free any prisoner from their confinement, magical or otherwise, if he will agree to use it to free Rumple from his cell too. In the end thanks to Ahab's taunting, he doesn't go through with it, but the result is still devastating.
• Donut Mess with a Cop: In "The Garden of Forking Paths", he takes a bear claw from the donuts Henry brought over.
• Enemy Mine: Once Zelena reveals that Gothel took her daughter, Hook immediately wishes to join her quest as payback to Gothel for what she did to him and Alice. Lampshaded when Hook quotes "the enemy of my enemy is...", defied when Zelena insists she works alone, but it eventually becomes a genuine version of the trope once he impresses on her how much she needs help and she realizes how much they have in common.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Back when he was still the ruthless Captain Hook who wanted revenge against Rumplestiltskin he found a woman in a tower, believing her to be Rapunzel, and slept with her. The woman turned out to be Mother Gothel who sped up her pregnancy in order to leave their newborn daughter behind in the tower she was trapped in so she could escape. Disgusted that Gothel would leave her daughter to die Hook abandoned his revenge to look after his newborn daughter. This also explains why he gave up on his Capture and Replicate scheme since he didn't want to separate a father from his child the same way he was separated from Alice.
• Fair Cop: He's a detective and quite handsome.
• Good Parents: It's revealed that this version of Hook is a father and stayed with his daughter after her mother trapped her in a tower. Hook even willingly gave up his revenge to be with his daughter.
• Heel–Face Turn: After learning the original Hook and Emma are expecting a baby, he abandons his Capture and Replicate scheme and goes back to make amends.
• Heroic Sacrifice: A non-fatal example; Hook is given a magic token which would ensure that he and Alice would remain related post-curse, but gives it away to Ella to keep her and Lucy together.
• Heroic Willpower: In "Is This Henry Mills?", Rogers discovers when trying to free Tilly from the ritual circle that he can't touch her due to the return of the poison on his heart; once the curse is broken and he has his memories back, however, he refuses to accept this, fighting to overcome the magic enough to be able to stand by his daughter's side and lend her his strength. In a realistic touch, however, this didn't cure the poison nor did it leave him without side-effects, since afterward he's shown being wheeled away to the hospital on a stretcher.
• Honor Before Reason: Hook's Fatal Flaw. Even though he willingly gave up a life of freedom to raise and protect his daughter, and even though he promised he would return to her as soon as he had the means to free her, Hook can't help succumbing to Pride when Ahab taunts him – not just about "going soft" but that he's actively working with the Dark One Rumplestiltskin to free him. This leads to the duel mentioned above... and despite winning and surviving it, the cost is still great.
• Irony: The Dark Curse turns a notorious (former) pirate into a By-the-Book Cop.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Just like the original Hook. In "The Eighth Witch", he even sacrifices his chance to be with Alice during the curse so Cinderella can be with Lucy.
• Last-Name Basis: In his cursed identity, virtually everyone refers to him by his last name. According to his actor, a first name hasn't even been thought of for him.
• Literal Change of Heart: In "Leaving Storybrooke", Rumple sacrifices his own life by giving Wish!Hook his heart, saving the latter's life and curing the poison separating Wish!Hook and Alice.
• Locked Out of the Loop: He doesn't regain his memories under the curse, which is what lets people like Eloise and Weaver manipulate him to their ends. Despite his growing suspicions, he remains ignorant of what's really going on in Hyperion Heights right up to when the curse is broken.
• Meaningful Name: 'Rogers' as in Hook's ship, the Jolly Roger.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Rogers is obsessed with the disappearance of Eloise Gardener. Unfortunately Eloise is Mother Gothel and finding her just let out a dangerous witch in charge of a Coven even Zelena refused to join.
• Mythology Gag: The original Hook became a deputy in Storybrooke at the end of Season 6. In Season 7, The Dark Curse turns this Hook into a cop then promoted to detective in Seattle.
• Odd Friendship:
  • Strikes one with Rumplestiltskin/Weaver in Hyperion Heights. It lasts after the curse is broken and he regains his memories.
  • He also strikes one with Zelena back in the New Enchanted Forest, after he helps her rescue Robin from Mother Gothel and Madame Leota. It probably helps that their daughters are in a relationship.
• Papa Wolf: To Alice and eventually, Robin, very much seeking to protect them.
• Parental Substitute: He takes on this role for Robin after he helps Zelena save her from Gothel's machinations. It only grows over time as Robin gains romantic interest in his daughter Alice.
• Playing Drunk: Wish!Hook appears to be slurring and swaying to the disgust of Hook. However, he suddenly states "I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in years" before knocking Hook out.
• Police Are Useless: Unfortunately, he's this in Hyperion Heights despite his good intentions. His investigations are either being manipulated by someone else or they ultimately don't go anywhere.
  • In "Garden of Forking Paths", he investigates and arrests Victoria's unethical business partner, but the guy is released to act as The Mole by Weaver later in the episode.
  • In "Eloise Gardner", he solves the Eloise Gardener case and arrests Victoria Belfrey, but it's because Ivy was manipulating the evidence and it leads to Eloise/Gothel's freedom. Victoria also gets released by Weaver two episodes later anyway.
  • In "Sisterhood", he unknowingly warns the Candy Killer himself that he and Weaver were investigating his case. In the next episode, he figures out Nick's identity and rescues Henry, it ultimately doesn't matter since Nick is immediately killed by Samdi before he can be questioned.
  • Finally, he investigates Samdi and seems to be close to finding out about magic, but he ultimately drops it after getting his memories back.
• Recovered Addict: Rogers apparently used to be a bit of an alcoholic in his curse until Eloise Gardener was kidnapped while he was too drunk to be able to do anything making him quit. When Rogers receives false information telling him Eloise is dead he almost hits the bottle again.
• Redemption Equals Death: Almost, as he accepts his impending death as just desserts for his evil acts. Luckily for him, neither Emma or the original Hook are having any of that.
• Timey-Wimey Ball: A particular glaring one. Wish!Hook is able to interact with the New Enchanted Forest's timeline over 30 years prior to the Wish Realm actually being wished into existence.
• The Un-Reveal: We never do learn the first name of his curse identity.
• What You Are in the Dark: Wish!Hook could have left his daughter to rot in the tower while he simply left to live his life, and no one but he and Gothel would have ever known. Instead, he chose to stay and look after her.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Wish!Hook gives Zelena a speech like this to encourage her to prove her love to Robin and save her from Gothel.

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