Belle

"No one decides my fate but me."

- Belle

Belle is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the twelfth episode of the first season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Emilie de Ravin, and is the Enchanted Forest counterpart of Belle.

Belle is based on a titular character from the fairytale "Beauty and the Beast".

Before the Curse
Belle's father, Sir Maurice, requests the assistance of Rumplestiltskin in a war he is losing against the ogres in his town of Avonlea. Rumplestiltskin offers to protect the town in exchange for Belle's servitude. Defying her father and fiancé, she agrees to the terms of the deal. She is taken to his castle and is promptly thrown into the dungeon.

Belle misses her family very much, and spends every night in the dungeon crying. One night, Rumplestiltskin cannot tolerate her weeping anymore, and bursts in to question her about it. He conjures a pillow for her, which she thanks him for the gesture so she can sleep more comfortably, but he replies it's for muffling her noisy cries. Suddenly, a loud thud is heard, and both rush into the main room to see a hooded thief trying to steal a wand. The thief smugly boasts about the ability of his bow and arrow to never miss, and though Rumplestiltskin teleports away again and again, the arrow eventually hits him in the chest. But as Rumplestiltskin is immortal, the arrow has no effect. He stops the thief and imprisons him in a dungeon. Belle constantly overhears Rumplestiltskin torturing the man. She does not believe the thief has bad intentions, and while Rumplestiltskin is away, she frees and allows him to run away with the wand. When Rumplestiltskin finds out, he is furious and makes Belle tag along as he sets out to find the man. They ride in a carriage, and on the way there, Rumplestiltskin asks her what people would think if he let a thief go. She replies if he allowed a man to walk free without being harmed, people would see Rumplestiltskin is also a man and not a beast. She voices her belief that Rumplestiltskin does have good in his heart, and he loves something more than power. He agrees, and for a moment Belle thinks she has won the argument, but Rumplestiltskin corrects her by saying he loves his things more than power. She is speechless for a moment, and then tells him he really is as dark as people say.

In the woods, they come across a sheriff who recognizes the thief's bow and arrow Rumpelstiltskin carries, but in exchange for information about the man's whereabouts, the sheriff wants to spend a night with Belle. Rumplestiltskin refuses, and rips out the sheriff's tongue to show he means business. After he places the sheriff's tongue back in, the sheriff explains the thief goes by the name Robin Hood, and he hates him because Robin Hood allegedly stole his beloved.

Rumplestiltskin spots Robin Hood in the distance by a tree, and sticks Belle into the ground so she can't stop him as he kills the thief. She pleas for him to stop, and for a brief moment he halts to see Robin Hood hurrying to a carriage on the side of the road. A sick woman, Marian, is lying on the carriage, and Robin Hood uses the power of the wand to heal her. Belle points out this proves the man did not have bad intentions, but this doesn't deter Rumplestiltskin's bloodlust. As he readies the bow and arrow, the woman gets up from the carriage, and Belle sees she is pregnant. Belle implores Rumpelstiltskin not to kill Robin Hood or else the woman's baby will end up fatherless. The arrow flies toward the couple, but it hits the carriage instead. The twosome are alerted to the danger and make a quick getaway. Belle is surprised and wonders why he let them go, but Rumplestiltskin says he's lost interest in the chase.

They go back to the castle and Rumplestiltskin shows Belle to an extensive library. He mentions he expects the whole room to be spotless while Belle is pleased because he did all this for her. She happily lets him know he does have good in him, which catches Rumplestiltskin off guard.

Over the course of a couple of months, Belle slowly gets to know Rumplestiltskin and they develop a friendship. One day, she is altering his decor to bring more light into the Dark Castle and ends up pulling the curtain a little too hard and falling off. Rumplestiltskin catches her in time. She thanks him, and he awkwardly sets her back down on the ground. Belle also becomes curious about his motivations for spinning so often and the small clothing which once belonged to his son. Although Rumplestiltskin becomes suspicious of her curiosity, she responds kindly by saying that she would like to know him if she is not to know anyone else for the remainder of her life.

Rumplestiltskin in turn asks her why she accepted the deal. She tells him that there is little opportunity for women in their land to show their bravery. She has always thought when the time came, she ought to do the brave thing and that bravery would follow. She tells him also that she wanted to see the world. When asked about her fiancé, she explains that her idea of love was of something "layered"--a mystery to be uncovered--and that she could never have given her heart to someone as superficial as Gaston. Shortly after, he allows her to go to town to fetch him some straw; saying he expects her never to return.

While walking in the forest, the Evil Queen's carriage stops on the road and she asks to walk with Belle for a while. While walking, the Queen asks Belle who she is fleeing: master or lover. By Belle's silence, the Queen learns that Belle is fleeing her master-lover. Belle states that she could love him--Rumplestiltskin--but a darkness has taken root in him. The Queen informs Belle, to her delight, that true love's kiss can break any curse. She quickly returns to Rumplestiltskin with the intention of kissing him and freeing him from the curse.

When the curse begins to visibly disappear, she asks him to kiss her again saying with delight that it is working--that true love's kiss can break any curse. When he hears this, he becomes extremely angry demanding to know where she learned this. Belle is confused by his reaction and becomes further confused when he begins yelling at his mirror--because the Evil Queen can spy on him through uncovered mirrors--about how "you turned her against me". He then accuses Belle of "working alone", wanting to be the hero by "killing the beast". Belle responds with desperation claiming that she truly loves him, however he is unable to believe that anyone can love him. Instead, he imprisons her in the dungeon. Shortly after, he tells her to leave his castle and never return claiming that he does not want her anymore and that his powers are more important to him than she. Belle does not believe this. Instead, she calls him a coward - being unable to believe that she could love him and being unable to free himself and be happy. Before leaving, she also tells him that he will regret his decision forever being left with nothing but an "empty heart and a chipped cup". After Belle's departure, Rumplestiltskin is visited by the Queen who wants to make a deal. She informs him that Belle was not received kindly upon her return home because of her association with him. Belle's fiancé has gone missing and her father locked her in a tower, forcing her to undergo an exorcism of sorts. The Queen also claims that Belle killed herself by jumping from the tower. Rumplestiltskin is obviously upset by the news, sending the Queen away and placing the chipped cup on a pedestal as his most prized possession.

Belle spends time at a pub as the seven dwarves are celebrating (it is uncertain whether this is before or after she returns home--or indeed whether she returns home at all). One of the dwarves, Dreamy, tells the others that he is feeling strange. While the others scoff, because dwarves do not get sick, Belle declares that Dreamy is in love. After being prompted, Dreamy tells her about how his love, a fairy named Nova, had been talking about going to Firefly Hill. When Dreamy asks her what love is like, she replies that it is the most wonderful and amazing thing in the world—but also that it does not always last forever. She adds that she has already has her heart broken enough to know when someone is reaching out (referring to Dreamy's account of Nova's description of Firefly Hill). She tells him to seize the opportunity and to be with Nova while he still has a chance.

Belle returns to the tavern the next day, where Dreamy returns and thanks Belle for her good advice and that he will be running away with Nova. Belle tells him she is happy for him when a group of men burst into the tavern, stating that they will be heading to a far off land where they will defeat a beast called the Yaoguai. Dreamy tells Belle that this is the perfect opportunity to have a real adventure, and at first Belle says she shouldn't go on this journey, as the best adventures she has experienced are in books and they all have happy endings. But due to Dreamy's urging, she eventually gives in and goes after the men as they leave the tavern to join the adventure. Before she goes, Dreamy gives her some fairy dust, and at first Belle refuses, saying she has seen what magic can do. Dreamy responds that she has seen dark magic, but not what light magic can do. Belle takes the fairy dust and leaves.

Some time later, Belle is seen on the back of a wagon reading a book written in a foreign language that details the Yaoguai. Her traveling companions, particularly a man named Claude, give her a hard time as to why she is reading the book. She tells them that the book will give them clues as to where to find the Yaoguai, and when pressed tells them that the Yaoguai can be found by a lake. The men then kick Belle out of the wagon and throw her book after her, laughing at her. Belle stands up and dusts herself off, revealing that the Yaoguai does not in fact prefer lakes, but rather mountainous areas. Belle finds the cave of the Yaoguai and draws her dagger, striding up to the cave to kill it, but steps on a branch and awakens it. Belle runs for her life, and is saved when Mulan shoots an arrow at the Yaoguai and drives it off. Mulan then berates Belle for startling the Yaoguai, stating that it took her months to track it and Belle has ruined all her effort. Belle states she only wanted to help, and Mulan tells her the best way she can help is to go away.

Belle is drinking water from a well in Mulan's village when Claude and one of his cronies accost her for tricking them and sending them to the lake. They are about to attack her when Mulan shows up out of nowhere and attacks them, injuring them both and driving them away from Belle. When Belle asks her why Mulan saved her, Mulan replies that it took Belle only hours to track the Yaoguai and that if she is willing to help her track the Yaoguai, Mulan will kill it. Belle agrees. The two go into the forest and are able to track the Yaoguai down, but Mulan sustained an injury to her leg while saving Belle. She tells Belle that it is up to her to save her village and defeat the Yaoguai. Belle is reluctant, but Mulan encourages her, and she takes the sword and heads into the valley. She lures the Yaoguai into Mulan's village, where she cuts a pipe holding water and douses the Yaoguai's flames. Belle is about to kill it when she sees the creature writing in another language on the ground, and reads that it says, "Save me." Belle sheathes Mulan's sword and takes out the fairy dust given to her by Dreamy, and uses it on the Yaoguai. In a cloud of purple smoke, the Yaoguai transforms into a human man, Prince Phillip.

Prince Phillip tells Belle his story and states that he is forever in Belle's debt. Belle says he can repay her by taking her injured friend to a doctor. She leads Phillip to Mulan who is waiting for her in the woods. Belle briefly introduces them before she leaves. Mulan asks why she is not going with them, and Belle replies that she must tackle a beast of her own. She leaves Mulan and Phillip in the clearing, but at the top of the hill is accosted by the Evil Queen and her soldiers, who are led by Claude and his companions to Belle. Regina has her soldiers take Belle and places her in a caged wagon, stating that Belle should be thanking her as she has just saved Belle from a lifetime of heartache and misery. Belle tells her that she cannot keep her and Rumplestiltskin apart forever.

When Rumplestiltskin gives Prince Charming the true love potion to hide within the dragon, he gives Prince Charming some advice about love. When asked what he knows about love, Rumplestiltskin answers that he might not know as much about it as him but that he knows more than Prince Charming initially thought. He describes Belle as a "brief flicker of light amidst an ocean of darkness" and states that she is dead.

Hook comes to her cell in the Dark Palace to free Belle from the Evil Queen. When asked why, he says he needs her help killing Rumplestiltskin and in addition that Rumplestiltskin is holding her father captive. Belle does not believe him and states that she can talk and reason with Rumplestiltskin. When Hook does not budge, Belle states she does not know how to kill him, and she does not want to. He finds her useless, knocks her unconscious, and prepares to kill her when the Evil Queen comes and stops him. She says that Belle is a valuable pawn piece.

For events occurring after the casting of the Dark Curse, see the counterpart page.

Trivia

 * The name "Belle" is of French origin derived from the word "belle" that means "beautiful".
 * She is one of the few people in the Enchanted Forest who speak highly about Rumplestiltskin.