Mr. Gold

"You fell in love with me because there was the man and the beast. Neither exists without the other."

- Mr. Gold to Belle French

Mr. Gold, also known as Rumple, the Dark One and the Crocodile, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He debuts in the first episode of the first season. He is portrayed by starring cast member Robert Carlyle. He is the Storybrooke counterpart of Rumplestiltskin, and the original counterpart of Weaver.

Mr. Gold is based on Carl Fredricksen from the Disney/Pixar film Up.

Trivia

 * -|Character Notes=

Etymology

 * His name is a reference to both the original fairytale and Mr. Gold's Enchanted Forest persona. In both, Rumplestiltskin is able to spin straw into gold.
 * Rumplestiltskin was known as Mr. Gold since long before the Dark Curse was cast. He is referred to in this way in some of his contracts, including the one he has Anna sign and the one Fendrake the Healer gives him.
 * On Twitter, episode writer Jane Espenson stated a first name has never been established for Mr. Gold.

Character Notes

 * Has a few gold teeth.
 * He has a noticeable limp and walks with a cane, much like he did before he was cursed with the Dark One's abilities. Being in a Land Without Magic, Mr. Gold is unable to use his powers to placate his disability. However, once magic was brought to Storybrooke in "A Land Without Magic", he no longer needed it, but chose to keep using it. Then, in "The New Neverland", he rejects the cane in order to move on from his past self.
 * Mr. Gold treats names as important. In many cultures and some beliefs about magic, to know someone or something's "true name" gives you power over that person or thing.
 * According to Granny and Ruby, Mr. Gold "owns" the town. This is due to the fact that he made a deal with the Evil Queen to "have comfort and a good life" and to "be rich".
 * Like his son Neal and his grandson Henry, who both collect clocks, Mr. Gold is also a collector and his pawnshop is filled with them.
 * He greatly dislikes nuns, as he does their counterparts, the fairies. According to Mr. Gold, "Wherever there's injustice in the world, there's always a fairy".
 * Mr. Gold is a licensed attorney, a quality which allows him to broker many of his Storybrooke deals. He alludes to having enough legal experience to represent Mary Margaret in a criminal trial.


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * The role of Mr. Gold was written specifically for Robert Carlyle.
 * For his part of Mr. Gold, Robert Carlyle wears heavy eye make-up to make his eyes look similar to his Enchanted Forest counterpart, Rumplestiltskin. It is meant to be the one, single visual connection between the two characters.
 * The reason why Mr. Gold cuts his hair in "Strange Case" is that Robert Carlyle cut his hair short for his role in the movie Trainspotting 2.


 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * When Regina visits Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer in 1983, Mr. Gold is polishing a teakettle, a reference to Mrs. Potts from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
 * During their honeymoon, Belle and Mr. Gold dress in similar clothes as their counterparts in the dance scene from Beauty and the Beast. They also dance to an instrumental version of the title song.
 * The broomstick that Mr. Gold uses to locate the Apprentice looks similar to the one Mickey Mouse enchanted and used in Fantasia.
 * Gold says regarding August, "Let's see if we can pull this puppet's strings." This references the song "I've Got No Strings" from Pinocchio.
 * The eyeball used by Mr. Gold to see the present, is similar to the one the Fates used to see the past, present and future in Hercules.

Lost

 * When traveling to New York City, Henry, Emma and Mr. Gold take an Ajira Airlines flight, an airline that appears on Lost. The total time of their flight is 42 minutes; a recurring number on the show.
 * As the trigger is destroying Storybrooke, Mr. Gold pours himself and Belle a glass of MacCutcheon Scotch Whiskey.
 * Cruella De Vil, Mr. Gold and Ursula go to a Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack restaurant, a famous fast food franchise in the show.
 * The Toll Operator charges Mr. Gold 15 dollars, a reference to the third Lost number.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * He has been called an imp many times in reference to the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale.

Popular Culture

 * In the library, Mr. Gold quotes Sir John Lubbock's famous utterance, "We may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the earth" from his book The Pleasures of Life.
 * According to Mr. Gold, his father taught him a sleight of hand called "Follow the Lady"; a gambling card game of Spanish origin.
 * The "professor" (aka Mr. Gold) who translated a spell for Belle is supposedly from Oxford, a reference to the famous British research university.
 * The poem that Mr. Gold recites for his unborn child is a Scottish poem called "Sleep Well" by Murdoch Maclean.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * The box that Belle opens in Hook's ship contains gold coins and a bell.

Set Dressing

 * The hotel that Mr. Gold is staying at in New York City is called Hotel d'Or, which is French for "Gold Hotel".

Costume Notes

 * The necklace Mr. Gold procures out of thin air and gives to Lacey is the same necklace from Belle's nightmare in "The Crocodile".
 * The tie worn by Mr. Gold in "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter", at the sheriff's station in "Desperate Souls", in "Heart of Darkness", and when he is reunited with his "son" in "The Return", is the same tie Henry puts on when he becomes Mr. Gold's assistant.


 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * When Emma goes to Mr. Gold to ask for his help, he is wearing a wedding ring on his left hand. While Robert Carlyle was filming the scene, he forgot to take off his own wedding ring.


 * -|Other Notes=

Script Notes

 * In the original script for "Skin Deep", Mr. Gold was supposed to own The Rabbit Hole.

Reawakened: A Once Upon a Time Tale

 * As the elevator inside the clock tower stops, Mr. Gold tells Emma that Regina had him take over for her. Unlike the events of "A Land Without Magic", Regina is not tied to the chair by Mr. Gold, and instead she runs off to the hospital to watch over Henry.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.