"All magic comes with a price." Rumplestiltskin'due south iconic quote from One time Upon A Time represented the transactional nature of all magic and the events that defined Rumplestiltskin's life. He was the most cunning and powerful villain of the bear witness, whose elaborate schemes were e'er ten steps ahead of everyone else. Just like his memorable quote well-nigh magic, though, many of Rumplestiltskin'southward gains likewise came with losses and vice versa.

He was oftentimes responsible for other characters' suffering, but he also suffered a corking deal of tragedy and loss in his ain life. His path to redemption was not a straight line as he ofttimes regressed and slipped dorsum into his old ways before he finally changed for the amend and earned lasting redemption.

ten Felt Bad: Unable To Go Through The Portal With His Son

Baelfire wanted to be with his father, but non while his father continued to be corrupted by his Night I magic. Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire agreed to get to a land without magic so they could be together and Rumplestiltskin would no longer be corrupted by his magic.

When the portal opened upward, Rumplestiltskin's cowardice got the best of him and he was unable to get through the portal. He let go of Baelfire's hand and his son roughshod through the portal, leaving them in dissimilar worlds. He immediately regretted what he'd done and wanted to exist reunited with his son. This mistake haunted him for the rest of his life and he spent centuries trying to correct it so they could be together again.

9 Hated Him: The Deal With Cinderella

Desperate to escape her wretched life and attend the royal ball, Cinderella made a deal with Rumplestiltskin and signed a contract so he could transform her into a beautiful princess. The problem was she didn't know what she'd agreed to in return, which turned out to be that she would have to requite her firstborn child to Rumplestiltskin.

It was roughshod of him to accept reward of a drastic, mistreated immature woman. He held this deal over her afterwards she got married and became significant and tried to take her child from her in Storybrooke.

eight Felt Bad: Abandoned By His Father

In order to regain his youth and achieve the ability to wing, Rumplestiltskin'due south father Malcolm was willing to abandon his son. Malcolm stayed in Neverland and became Peter Pan while the Shadow took Rumplestiltskin back to the Enchanted Forest.

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Rumplestiltskin grew up without parents and the knowledge that his father valued his youth and power over his ain son. All Rumplestiltskin wanted was to be with his begetter, even so Malcolm abandoned him and had the audacity to tell Rumplestiltskin that he was holding him back.

7 Hated Him: Rejecting & Replacing Zelena

When she was a baby, Cora abased Zelena in the wood. Zelena's adoptive begetter constantly belittled her and shamed her for her magic. Zelena idea she finally found a positive mentor in Rumplestiltskin. He taught her how to control and channel her magic, all then he could use her to bandage the Nighttime Curse.

The caster of the Dark Curse needed to kill the person they love most. When Rumplestiltskin realized he was the person Zelena loved the most, he knew there was no indicate in her casting the Dark Curse for him. He cast Zelena bated and soon after relied on her sister Regina to bandage the Dark Curse instead. Rumplestiltskin became yet another person who made Zelena experience worthless.

vi Felt Bad: Controlled & Held Captive By Zelena

With the Dark One dagger in her possession, Zelena was able to command Rumplestiltskin and go along him captive. She kept him imprisoned in a prison cell and tried to provoke him into resisting her, though they both knew he was powerless to do anything while she possessed the dagger.

She repeatedly humiliated him and used him to complete tasks that could make her time travel spell possible. This would've been brutal under any circumstances, but was even worse when because that Rumplestiltskin was grieving over the death of his son. Rumplestiltskin had also been resurrected confronting his will, just to be Zelena's puppet.

5 Hated Him: Using Claw's Expiry To Get The Dark Ane Once more

Hook sacrificed himself so he and Emma could destroy the Darkness and save anybody. Rumplestiltskin took advantage of Hook's death by turning Excalibur into a conduit. This meant that instead of destroying the Darkness, Excalibur was actually transferring information technology to Rumplestiltskin. He was now the Dark One again and had the combined power of every Dark One who ever lived.

This selfish betrayal meant that Hook died in vain. Rumplestiltskin had fooled everyone over again and constitute a loophole for his own gain, only this time the consequences were deadly.

4 Felt Bad: Baelfire's Death

Rumplestiltskin spent centuries trying to reach the State Without Magic so he could reunite with his son Baelfire. They somewhen reunited, but information technology wasn't long until Baelfire lost his life for good. Zelena manipulated Baelfire into resurrecting Rumplestiltskin.

Rumplestiltskin relinquished the Night I dagger and absorbed his son's torso to prevent him from dying, yet this merely worked for so long. Baelfire'south fate was already sold and in the cease, he did die. Rumplestiltskin lost the son he'd worked and then difficult to reunite with and who he'd missed dearly.

3 Hated Him: Lying To Belle About The Dagger

Unable to relinquish his power, Rumplestiltskin led Belle to believe that he was a inverse man. He gave her the Dark One dagger to show that he didn't intendance about his power and only cared about her.

The dagger he gave her was a fake, though. He continued to deceive her and do deplorable things behind her back with the real dagger until she finally discovered the truth and banished him from Storybrooke. He was a terrible husband for constantly lying to his sweet and supportive married woman who saw the good in him when no one else did.

2 Felt Bad: Losing Belle

Rumplestiltskin finally inverse for the meliorate and became the good human Belle ever saw in him. They built a beautiful, blissful life together, shown to the audience in a montage inspired by Carl and Ellie Fredricksen's love story in Up.

Belle grew old and somewhen passed away. Rumplestiltskin lost the love of his life and had to live on due to the immortality of being the Night Ane. He was ultimately reunited with Belle in the afterlife, only it was still devastating to see him lose Belle and have to live without her for a while.

1 Hated Him: Throwing Milah Into The River Of Lost Souls

Milah was unable to motility on from the Underworld because of the guilt she felt for abandoning Baelfire. Yet bitter over her leaving him and Baelfire, Rumplestiltskin told her, "Congratulations, Dearie. I've finally become the man you lot always wanted me to be. The one who takes what he needs."

Equally she cried out for help, he used his magic to throw Milah into the River of Lost Souls. This was a fate worse than expiry as information technology meant her soul would be forever trapped and tormented, unable to ever move on. Rumplestiltskin even manipulated the scene of the crime so Emma and Hook believed that Hades was the one responsible for Milah'southward fate, a prevarication and horrific activity that Rumplestiltskin never reconciled with or revealed.

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About The Writer

Matthew Rudoy (284 Articles Published)

Matthew Rudoy is a freelance writer who loves to write virtually his favorite movies and TV shows. In addition to Screen Bluster, he too currently contributes to Dork Side of the Force. He has previously self-published two fantasy/sci-fi novels titled CORRUPTION and DESTRUCTION. While his favorite movies and Television set shows tend to also fall in the fantasy and sci-fi genres, he enjoys and is open to anything that provides an engaging story, strong grapheme development, and in-depth globe-building. Matthew is grateful for the opportunity to write for Screen Rant and looks forward to continue contributing to the site.

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