Hook

"Time's up, Crocodile."

- Hook to Mr. Gold

Captain Hook, also known as Killian Jones, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the fourth episode of the second season. He is portrayed by starring cast member Colin O'Donoghue, and does not have a Storybrooke counterpart.

Hook is based on a character of the same name from the play, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up.

History
As a young boy, Killian Jones and his father plan to sail and explore other worlds together on a ship. Unfortunately, Killian receives an emotional blow when his father secretly disappears during the night to avoid capture as a fugitive and leaves him to fend for himself.
 * -|Before the Curse=

Killian grows up to become a Lieutenant of a ship named the Jewel of the Realm and is invited along for a sea expedition with his brother, Captain Liam Jones. On orders of the king, they must travel to a far off island and obtain a plant, Dreamshade, rumored to heal any affliction. On way there, they is attacked from behind by two other ships firing cannons. To escape them, Liam commands for the sail to be released down, which is made of Pegasus feathers, and glides the ship off the water's surface into the clouds. Once in Neverland's waters, they row to shore with a boat. They are surprised by a young boy, Peter Pan, though Liam shows him the drawing of the Dreamshade. Pan attests that Dreamshade is dangerous, but Liam pegs his claims as nonsense while Killian also disagrees. However, Pan presses the plant only leads to doom and exemplifies how easy it is to kill an entire army with poison instead of a messy onslaught of bloodshed in battle. Beginning to have doubts, Killian tugs Liam aside to discuss the possibility Pan is telling the truth, though his brother doesn't buy it. Liam takes back the drawing and the two brothers head onto Dead Man's Peak where Dreamshade grows. In a misguided attempt to put his brother's worries to rest, Liam purposely cuts himself with a branch of Dreamshade and passes out from the spreading poision. Killian is panic-stricken and pleads for Pan's help until he allows passage to the island's remedial spring, though the boy warns they should not leave Neverland unless willing to pay for the price of magic. Killian promises to give him whatever he wants and hurries to deliver the water to Liam, who is completely healed by it. He turns to repay Pan for his services, but the boy is nowhere to be seen. Journeying home, Liam proposes they must expose their king's true nature to everyone, however, he collapses and dies after the Jewel of the Realm leaves Neverland's seas. Liam's death has a profound effect on Killian, who takes his place as captain of the ship and renames it the Jolly Roger. Killian reveals to the crew what type of man their king is, to which they agree not to serve someone so horrible any longer and embrace the life of pirates "with honor" instead.

During his many adventures as a pirate, Killian and his crew stop in a town tavern where a woman named Milah frequents. They become acquainted and begin gambling and drinking together. Killian entertains Milah with stories of the lands he has visited. One day, they are interrupted by the appearance of Milah's husband, Rumplestiltskin. Rumplestiltskin asks Milah to come back home with him, though she refuses. Rumplestiltskin and Milah's son, Baelfire, who had been told to wait outside, comes into the tavern calling for his mother. Seeing her son, Milah forfeits her stay and goes home. The next day, Killian and his crew seemingly kidnap Milah, but in actuality, she goes willingly with them. Not knowing the truth, Rumplestiltskin goes to his ship to plea for his wife back. Killian references himself as a man with a code of honor, and if Rumplestiltskin can fight him and win, he will allow Milah to return home. When Killian throws the sword to Rumplestiltskin so they battle man-to-man, the latter backs out of the duel.

Several years later, Killian bumps into by a seemingly helpless beggar, whom he makes fun of by referring to as a crocodile. The beggar begins to laugh hideously, and casts off his cloak to reveal he is none other than the Dark One. Rumplestiltskin asks for Milah, and at first, Killian feigns ignorance, but then, he lies and states that she died many years ago. Rumplestiltskin takes his words as truth, and challenges him to a sword fight. Killian nearly has his heart ripped out, but Milah interrupts to stop Rumplestiltskin. Previously, she caught Rumplestiltskin's associate, William Smee on Hook's ship trying to steal a magic bean. She promises to give it to Rumplestiltskin if he will spare both her and Killian's life. Rumplestiltskin agrees to the bargain and will meet them on Killian's ship. Rumplestiltskin confronts Milah over her abandonment of Baelfire. When Milah spitefully claims to have never loved him, he moves to grab the bean, which she tosses to Killian, who catches it. Killian clenches his fist in shock as Rumplestiltskin tears out Milah's heart, and runs to hold her in his arms as the Dark One crushes the heart to ash and she dies. Afterwards, his refusal to fork over the bean causes Rumplestiltskin to take extreme measures by cutting off Killian's left hand clutching the bean, or so he believes. In actuality, Killian switched the bean to his right hand. A furious Killian grabs a hook and stabs Rumplestiltskin. Unaffected, the Dark One teleports away. In a rage, Hook takes the hook and replaces his left hand with it before burying Milah at sea. He takes out the magic bean and throws into the ocean. It opens a portal, to which the ship leaves the Enchanted Forest for a world where people remain young, a place called Neverland.

During the journey towards the island of Neverland, Killian and his crew members haul a boy out of the water aboard the Jolly Roger.

Hook learns the boy's name is Baelfire, and thus, this makes him Rumplestiltskin's son. When the Lost Ones of Neverland climb aboard searching for a certain boy Peter Pan wants, he hides Baelfire below deck in a vent. After the Lost Ones leave empty-handed, Smee chastises Hook for not handing over the boy them. However, Hook has a plan of his own to get close to Baelfire as a way of learning more about Rumplestiltskin and getting revenge. Despite this scheme, he develops a true friendship with Baelfire by teaching him how to steer the ship, and they bond over being abandoned by their fathers. Baelfire discloses how his father feared his magic powers would all be gone if someone stabbed him with a special dagger. This tidbit gives Hook knowledge of a way to kill Rumplestiltskin, which conflicts with his growing kinship with Baelfire. All this comes to an end when the boy finds a drawing of his mother Milah and demands answers from Hook. He tells Baelfire the true fate of his mother, who ran away to be with him because they were in love, but she died when Rumplestiltskin tore out her heart and crushed it. Hook tries to alleviate the betrayal of lying to Baelfire by bring up Milah's past desire to go back for her son so the three of them could be together. Since she is gone, he believes they can live out her dream and become a family. Baelfire rejects the notion and opts to go to Neverland. The renunciation crushes Hook, who strays back into darkened emotions as revenge becomes his main and only focus.

After finally arriving to the island's jungle, Hook is adamant that they find a way out of Neverland and back to the Enchanted Forest so he can put his plan of killing Rumplestiltskin with the dagger into action. Smee struggles to keep up with the walk until he is knocked out by an unknown assailant. As Hook goes to check up on him, a woman named Tinker Bell threatens him at knife point. He explains his reason for being in Neverland to find magic and return to the Enchanted Forest. Upon guessing Tinker Bell is fairy, he wonders why she won't help him find his "happy ending". She briefs him on having lost her wings and states that he'll have to figure out his "happy ending" himself. As Hook grabs his rum bottle, Tinker Bell mistakenly believes he is taking out a weapon and hastily pulls out another blade at him. They share the drink while Hook tells her about his quest for vengeance against the Dark One for killing the woman he loved. She is surprised that he'd go that far for something that might get him killed. Hook claims he would only risk his life for two things; love and revenge. While he lost his love, dying for revenge is well worth the sacrifice.

Sometime later, Hook returns to the Enchanted Forest and breaks into the Evil Queen's palace to procure information from Belle on where Rumplestiltskin hides his dagger. She proves to be useless, so he knocks Belle out and prepares to kill her as the Evil Queen, Regina, intervenes. She requests his assistance to kill her mother, Cora, by taking out her heart and in return, he'll be able to get his revenge on Rumplestiltskin once the Dark Curse is cast. Before he goes, the Evil Queen enchants his hook with the ability to remove a heart. She also requires that her mother's corpse be returned to the Enchanted Forest, so she sends a dead soldier with him. Via a magic hat, he ends up in Cora's palace in Wonderland. Hook fails at ripping her heart since it's already been moved and placed elsewhere. She begins tearing out his heart until Hook admits Regina sent him to kill her. Eventually, Hook is swayed into a partnership with Cora when he learns it will be impossible to enact his revenge on Rumplestiltskin once the Dark Curse is cast as everyone's memories will be wiped out. He promises to help Cora get close enough to Regina to take out her heart in exchange for immunity against losing his memories. Hook returns to the Enchanted Forest to present the body of Cora, who feigns being dead, to Regina. After leaving the two alone in the mausoleum, he comes back in after Regina has left to find Cora has changed her mind. Instead, they travel to an island where Cora casts a protection spell to keep herself and Hook unaffected by the Dark Curse.

In the present day Enchanted Forest, Hook stands by a seashore near the small island hamlet where the survivors of the Dark Curse live. Cora approaches and shows him the ashes of the wardrobe. They talk about using the ashes to get them to the other world. Hook says that Cora will get to meet her daughter and he will get to skin a crocodile, referring to Rumplestiltskin.
 * -|After Broken Curse=

When Emma, Mary Margaret, Mulan and Aurora come to Safe Haven, they discover Hook beneath a pile of bodies. He attempts to deceive the four of them by saying he survived Cora's attack on the camp by playing dead and that he was a blacksmith who had lost his hand in an ogre attack. Emma is not buying his story and puts a knife to Hook's throat, saying that she can tell when a person is lying. She ties Hook to a tree, whistles for the ogres to come get their bait, and begins to walk away. Unable to best Emma, Hook reveals his true identity as a shocked Mary Margaret pulls his hook out of his satchel. Hook admits to working with Cora, but offers to join forces with Emma and her team as he knows a way to get to Storybrooke. Most of all, he wants to go to Storybrooke to get revenge on Rumplestiltskin for taking away his hand. Emma decides to cut him free. Then, he leads them to a giant beanstalk stretching up into the sky, and explains there is an enchanted compass at the top, but first they must deal with the giant guarding it.

Since Hook possesses a counter spell to allow himself and only one other person to journey up the beanstalk, Emma joins him. During the climb, Hook prods Emma about her past, but she is reluctant to talk about it. He turns the conversation to her son. Hook can tell she is an orphan, just like the Lost Boys of Neverland, since he spent time in their company. He also guesses Emma doesn't want her son to grow up like she did. When he asks if she has ever been in love, Emma denies it. At the top of the beanstalk, Emma and Hook arrive in the realm of the giants. She suggests they use the poppy dust to put the giant to sleep. As Hook passes the powder, she notices the tattoo with Milah's name on it and assumes he must have really loved her. Hook lures the giant out towards Emma, who manages to knock him out by throwing the dust. They wander through the giant's lair, with Emma looking for the magical compass, while Hook seems to have more of an eye on the treasure. Emma notices a tripwire and stops him in his tracks by grabbing his arm. He jests that she likes him, which she strongly refutes. They spot the compass on a top of a golden bird cage, but before retrieving it, the giant storms in. Large stones bury Hook underneath, though Emma later comes to show him the compass. As Hook reaches for it, she tucks it away and entraps him; claiming he can't be trusted.

Hook manages to escape the giant and climbs down the beanstalk where Cora is awaiting him. He admits to her that Emma took the compass. While Cora believes Hook has betrayed her and ponders killing him, she ultimately decides a fitting punishment is to leave him in the Enchanted Forest with his vengeance unfulfilled. He moves to attacks her, but she disappears, leaving him face-down in the dirt. Hook earns back Cora's trust by sneaking into the cell of her prisoner, Aurora, and ripping out her heart. When Aurora awakens and is startled by his presence, he graciously frees her, though she has no idea of what transpired while unconscious. He asks Aurora to deliver the message that his deal with Emma still stands, and still wants to help her back to the land without magic if he can go as well. Later, in the cell, Hook is apprehended by Cora, though he gives her much delight by presenting Aurora's heart. Using it, he and Cora listen to Aurora and her three companions speak. They learn about the foursome's next journey to Rumplestiltskin's old cell to find squid ink, which will entrap and render Cora powerless. Cora congratulates him on taking out a heart, to which Hook proposes they leave for Storybrooke together.

With Aurora's heart in hand, Cora manipulates the girl into triggering a switch to lock all four of them in Rumplestiltskin's old cell. Out of the darkness, Hook and Cora make themselves known. When the three women attempt to confront Aurora over her "betrayal", Cora unveils Aurora's heart from beneath her cloak and squeezes it as a test. Hook confronts Emma about leaving him atop the beanstalk. She tries to make him reconsider helping her, but Hook is not interested and shows Emma a "souvenir", a magic bean, which was procured from the giant's neck. Tauntingly, he affirms she is very much like the bean as it was once magical and full of hope, but is now "dried up, dead, and useless." Hook makes it clear he's done with her, and leaves with Cora for Lake Nostos. Once there, Cora has Hook dump the wardrobe ashes into the lake, and create a portal. They are stopped at the last minute when Mulan fires an arrow to knock the compass out of Cora's hand. While he and Emma fight for the compass, Cora nearly drops Aurora's heart into the portal. Hook catches and returns it to Mulan, who then hurries back to Aurora. He and Emma continue their sword duel until she is pinned down by him. While throwing her an innuendo, Emma reveals the compass in her hand and promptly knocks him out cold. He wakes up only after Emma and Mary Margaret have left in the portal. Though Cora is disappointed, Hook suggests they restore the withered magic bean with the lake's waters. This idea works, and they sail into Storybrooke's waters on the Jolly Roger.

At the Storybrooke harbor, they discuss Hook's desire for vengeance against Rumplestiltskin, which is now more difficult to execute with the presence of magic in Storybrooke. When a local resident sees the ship, Cora hides the vehicle with magic and then turns him into a fish, to which Hook kicks into the water. Sometime later, he and Cora observe Regina leaving the diner alone after her talk with Emma. Cora sets Regina up for the murder of Archie and kidnaps the man aboard the ship for Hook to use for interrogation.

Below the deck of the Jolly Roger, Hook demands Archie for knowledge on the dagger. Archie pleads ignorance on the topic, and Hook sees he is telling the truth. However, Hook knows Rumplestiltskin must have a weakness, and threatens to "dissect a cricket" if Archie does not talk, which he agrees to do. He learns Rumplestiltskin, who goes by Mr. Gold in this land, has a beloved named Belle. He goes to the library and corners Belle inside the building. When he threatens to kill her, she hastily seeks shelter inside an elevator. In truth, this is just a ploy to force her to call Mr. Gold for help, therefore drawing him out of the pawnshop so Hook's associate Smee can steal Baelfire's shawl. Hook disappears back onto his ship with the shawl. He catches Belle rifling through the lower deck for the shawl after freeing Archie and grabs her gun. He reveals the truth to her about Milah and how she died, though Belle believes Mr. Gold has changed. After Hook is knocked in the head, she runs away to the deck, though he arrives there first. Suddenly, Mr. Gold approaches and begins beating Hook, who openly taunts his cowardice. Belle convinces him to stop as Hook is left in a battered bloody mess when the two leave the ship. At nightfall, Hook shoots Belle as she is bidding Mr. Gold farewell while both are standing on opposite sides of the town border. This causes Belle to fall across the town line and lose her Enchanted Forest memories. While Hook is reveling in causing Mr. Gold pain, a car speeds into town and hits Hook.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Gold is so enraged at what has unfolded and hurts Hook further by crushing his already broken ribs, though David and Emma stop him. Hook is taken into the hospital as a patient. Emma interrogates him about the location of Cora, but he deflects her questions with flirtatious remarks. In frustration, she pokes him in the ribs until Hook admits he has no idea where Cora is. Even in his wrecked physical state, he is pleased to have damaged Mr. Gold by harming Belle and finds it well worth it since his nemesis started everything by killing Milah.

Having recovered from his injuries, Hook is taken out of the hospital by David, Leroy and Mary Margaret for questioning about Cora's plans. He takes them aboard his ship to show them a giant, Anton, who Cora shrunk and kidnapped from the Enchanted Forest. He denies knowing anything about Cora's intentions and suggests they ask the giant. Mary Margaret lets Anton out, but the giant is worked up into a rage when he sees David. During the commotion, Hook escapes into town to attempt contact with Cora by using a Queen of Hearts card. Instead, Regina appears to tell him Cora is laying low from the public to avoid repercussions. She still blames him for failing to kill Cora, even though the two have now made amends. When she asks about Cora's things on his ship, he specifies that the giant has escaped. From this, Regina devises a plan to use the giant to her advantage to cause trouble in town.

Hook discovers Mr. Gold is no longer in town, which could make it easier to kill him as there is no magic outside of Storybrooke. Cora promises him that much, but first, he teams up with them to find the one thing capable of controlling Mr. Gold--the dagger. They scour the library after Regina retrieves a call number for a book from Belle's purse. In place of the missing book, there is a treasure map. Previously, Hook placed it there himself to fool Cora and Regina. After he outlines the area on the map where the dagger is located, he passes out when Cora flings him into a book shelf.

Awakening, Hook takes matters into his own hands by going to the Storybrooke jail, where he attacks David, steals keys and uses them to open a drawer where his hook is kept. Reattaching it as his missing hand, he leaves and sails the Jolly Roger to New York. Tracking Mr. Gold to an apartment complex, he knocks Emma out of the way to stab Mr. Gold with his hook, which is coated in Dreamshade, stating he took Milah and his happiness from him, and now Rumplestiltskin's life is his. Emma manages to knock Hook out before he can hurt Mr. Gold any further. Neal runs down the stairs and sees the scene, recognizing Hook. To keep Hook from harming anyone else, Emma locks him in the Neal's storage closet while they make plans to sail back to Storybrooke on the Jolly Roger.

Later, Neal notifies Emma that when his fiancée, Tamara, went to get her bags from the storage closet, Hook was not there. In truth, though Neal and Emma are under the impression Hook somehow escaped, he is actually taken hostage by Tamara and Greg. They sneak him into Storybrooke via hiding him in the back of a truck, and want to use him for their own means.

On the top level of the clock tower, Tamara and Greg tie Hook to a chair. He guesses they are going to interrogate and torture information out of him, and laughs at the situation. Hook doesn't care about following their rules as he believes he has already accomplished his life's goal of killing the Dark One. Tamara and Greg show him the truth by easing his chair close to the clock tower's face and handing him a telescope. Hook uses it to peer down onto the ground level of the town, and becomes enraged seeing Mr. Gold alive and well walking beside Belle. Greg makes him see he cannot win against the Dark One unless he has help, and if they help him, he must also do as they want. Greg wants Hook to get close to Regina under the pretense of becoming her ally, which he agrees to do.

Hook comes to Regina in her office and pretends to spill Tamara and Greg's secret plan of wanting him to become aligned with and betray her later on. He gives his condolences upon hearing of Cora's death, and pulls at Regina's heart by talking about the one thing Cora wanted for her daughter was to see her win. Regina lets Hook in on her escape plan from Storybrooke by using magic beans to go back to the Enchanted Forest. Before she leaves with Henry, Regina wants to activate a "fail-safe" that will eradicate the whole town and its inhabitants. Hook asks if the "crocodile" will also perish, which Regina confirms.

Hook and Regina travel down to the basement level of the clock tower where inside a cave hides the "fail-safe". Hook grimly talks about how revenge is all he is living for, and once his vengeance is fulfilled, he'll have nothing to live for. But, Regina believes otherwise; that after vengeance is a fresh start. She notices Hook is wearing her mother's armband, and demands it back. Inside the cave, Regina explains the "fail-safe" is guarded by Maleficent, and the magic in the cave prevents her from dying so she can continue to keep the "fail-safe" from intruders. Hook becomes Maleficent's bait and distraction after Regina pushes him into her pit. Despite stabbing Maleficent, she regenerates and reforms into a bigger version of her current self. Using unknown means, Tamara and Greg save Hook from her.

Hook is waiting in the library by the time Regina makes her way back up from the cave to the ground floor of the clock tower. She is astounded he survived, but he states that's the thing he's best at. Hook reveals he felt a genuine connection when she spoke of starting over with a new life after vengeance, and it almost made him put a stop to his "plan". Upon further inquiry, he unveils it as Tamara and Greg's plan, and they walk into the room to face off with Regina. Despite Regina's attempts in using magic against them, it does not work as the armband is designated by science to cancel out magic. Hook lets Greg take the lead in speaking to Regina, and watches as Tamara, on Greg's orders, puts a bag over Regina's head and take her to an unknown location.

Greg has Regina tied up with the intentions of torturing her until she admits where his father is. He asks Hook to give him a hand, "preferably his good one". Hook refuses, telling Greg that he will only help them when they're interested in killing Rumplestiltskin, before walking off.

Hook is incredulous Greg and Tamara plan to use the trigger to bring about the destruction in town and murder everyone just to get rid of magic. With his own safety at risk, too, he aligns himself with David, Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina. The trigger can't be stopped, but Regina can slow it down. David suggests the delay will give them more time to steal back the remaining beans from Greg and Tamara, use them to open portals, and traveling to the Enchanted Forest. Emma points out no one knows their current whereabouts, though Hook chimes in he knows. To keep the pirate from betraying them, David goes along with him.

Outside the cannery, they witness Greg burning documents. Inside the building, David threatens to pull the trigger unless the beans are handed over. As Greg pulls out a small clear bottle containing them, Tamara ambushes from behind and shoots, though David manages to dodge while getting grazed by the bullet. Hook tackles Greg to the ground; causing the bottle to break on the floor. While David chases after Tamara, Hook wrestles for the beans and eventually grabs one while Greg makes off with the other.

Hook catches up to David, who was just bested by Greg. David is upset at their failure, but Hook shows him the bean he was able to get and puts it into his belt container. This does little to cool David's anger at letting Greg and Tamara escape, but the latter attempts to calm him down. Rejecting Hook's words, he grabs the box containing the bean and stalks off.

Returning to the diner, where some of the townspeople are grouped, David gives Emma the news about the procured bean. Henry questions where his adoptive mother is, and Emma tells him that she is in the mines slowing down the trigger, but will not be able to make it out. This cause anger on Henry's part since Regina will basically be left behind as everyone else escapes to the Enchanted Forest. He points out this situation isn't any different from the Wraith attack, which gives Mary Margaret the idea they can use the bean to send the trigger to another dimension. After much debate, Mary Margaret sways Emma into getting Regina out safely. As David tosses the boxed bean to Emma, Hook snatches it in mid-air. Not settling for wasting time and energy on saving someone who clearly wants to die so others can leave the trigger's catalyst, Hook declares he is leaving alone. Emma reasons that he's only ever known to rely on himself as she has, but they are going through with the plan whether he is a part of the group or not. Impressed by her speech, Hook forks over the bean, or so he makes it appear. In actuality, he gives back the box, but hid the actual item for himself. Then, he asks the real reason she's going out on a limb for Regina. Emma tells him Henry's father is now dead and vows to not let her son lose his mother. To Hook's surprise, he is finding out for the first time that Neal, who was known to him as Baelfire, is Henry's father.

After this conversation, Hook gets back on his ship and plans to use it to save himself from the trigger that is destroying town. On deck, he notices the wood indentation on deck where he carved "S" for starboard and "P" for port when he taught Baelfire how to steer the ship. He is reminded of the genuine affection he had for the boy and how he once cared for someone, and decides not to use the bean to make his getaway. Confronted at the docks by Emma, Mary Margaret, David and Regina, he forfeits the bean. Emma still has the impression he has only ever cared for himself, but Hook says he needed some reminding of his own capability to care for others. He allows them to board to start a journey in traveling to another world to find Henry, who has been kidnapped by Greg and Tamara and taken to another land.

Aboard the Jolly Roger, Mr. Gold directly asks Hook if he's done trying to kill him. Grudgingly, Hook responds affirmatively, and the two trade glares. Then, Mr. Gold uses the globe to track the realm Henry is currently in—Neverland. After Hook casts the magic bean into the water to open a portal, he, David, Emma, Mary Margaret, Mr. Gold and Regina set sail for the land.

As they sail towards the island of Neverland, Hook talks to Regina about how embittered he feels having his sworn enemy, Mr. Gold, on his ship, especially after spending a lifetime trying to leave Neverland and seek revenge on him. From this, Regina is reminded of something Greg said, which is that villains like her don't get happy endings. She asks for Hook's opinion on it, though he hopes Greg isn't right or they've wasted their lives. Later, Mr. Gold announces his intent of getting him back on his own and proceeds to list off reasons why Emma will fail in this mission; not believing in her parents, in magic, or even herself. Below deck, Hook gives Emma a weapon that used to belong to Neal. Then, they have a toast in Neal's honor. Suddenly, mermaids begin slamming against the ship. Hook attempts to maneuver the ship into outrunning them to no avail. Emma and Mary Margaret catch one on the fishing line while Regina scares off the rest with flame. She then teleports the caught mermaid on board. Hook is disgusted and warns mermaids absolutely cannot be trusted. As they discuss what to do with the sea creature, the mermaid sounds a conch shell and threatens them all with death if they don't free her. Thunder begins brewing in the sky; giving the impression that the mermaid called the storms to arms. Regina decides to freeze the mermaid, which only speeds up the storm. Hook and David begin a fistfight as Mary Margaret and Regina trade physical blows. He is so caught up in his animosity towards David until seeing Emma deliberately jump into the sea and get knocked out by a fallen rigging rope pulley. As David ties a rope around his waist and dives in to save Emma, Hook, Regina and Mary Margaret team up to pull the both of them up, causing the storm to halt. When they reach the shoreline of Neverland, Emma gives everyone a pep talk by admitting the best thing is to not believe in magic, but in each other. She doesn't expect friendship, but cooperation is necessary to save Henry as well as the handiness of each person's skill. Hook follows as David and Mary Margaret trail after Emma into the jungle.

While treading through the jungle upwards to a cliff ridge, Hook stops David from using his sword to cut through a bush of thick thorns, and schools them on the black substance coming out of it, Dreamshade, which is very deadly, even mentioning it's the same thing he used on Mr. Gold. Though Hook advises they go left, David ignores him and goes right. Up ahead, the ridge allows them to get a view of the island, but too much has changed since Hook was last in Neverland and he can't tell the difference between anything. They can't comb the jungle, either, because Hook advises it's not safe to travel through. They take a rest for the night, though everyone is awakened with news of Emma's encounter with Pan in the jungle and the map he gave her to find Henry. The catch is Emma must "stop denying who she really is" and only then will the map unlock for her. Regina would rather try using magic on the map, a move Hook highly disagrees with, as does everyone else. Emma makes the effort to unveil the map by stating facts about herself, with encouragement from her parents, but nothing works. Tired of playing games, Regina snatches the map and casts a locator spell on it, which leads them straight to Pan, who then sends the Lost Boys to engage them in combat. During the battle, Hook duels with Felix, which quickly ends when Pan assembles his Lost Boys and leaves. Shortly after, Emma manages to unveil the map. With a strategy planned to travel towards Pan's camp, the group breaks apart to assemble for departure. Hook offers Emma some rum and asks how she got the map to work. Emma briefs that she just followed Pan's instructions. He's curious about who she really is, but Emma isn't interested in sharing that information. Hook presses further, though she simply walks away.

Heading north by following the map, the plan is a failure once when they notice Pan's camp location keeps changing, making their journey fruitless. Hook considers a fairy named Tinker Bell who Pan trusts and can likely get them into the camp with pixie dust. Despite that David is trying to keep up, Hook sees he is clearly beginning to feel the effects of the poison. He gauges, from accessing the wound, that David has days or weeks at most, and pushes him to tell Mary Margaret the truth. David decides not to; hoping the problem can be easily fixed by Tinker Bell's pixie dust. Regina stays behind to rest while everyone else goes to Tinker Bell's empty tree house, which strangely has a ladder, even though fairies have wings for flying. David finds a white cloth, which is Regina's and they rush off to rescue her. They corner Tinker Bell outside a cavern, but an unharmed Regina attests to the fairy's innocence. Regina tells them that Tinker Bell lost all her fairy powers a long time ago and can't help them infiltrate Pan's camp. Though Tinker Bell has the capabilities to get into Pan's camp, she wants to know what's in it for herself. Emma and Mary Margaret offer her safe passage to Storybrooke as a new home, to which Tinker Bell agrees and goes back to camp with them.

At the camp base, Hook listens to Emma go over the strategy for entering Pan's headquarters from the back after Tinker Bell talks her way in through the front. Briefly, Tinker Bell warns them about Dreamshade, which they already know about, but the topic makes David uncomfortable as he catches Hook's knowing look. Before they put the plan into action, Tinker Bell wants to know their escape route off the island, but no one has a clear answer. She stresses that no one ever leaves the island without Pan's permission. To show them just how dangerous Pan is, she proves to them that Greg and Tamara were murdered by him. Tinker Bell weighs the risk as not worthy unless they have a way to leave Neverland and she makes off for her tree house. Emma sees reason in Tinker Bell's words, and recalls what Neal once taught her that it is "unwise to break into a place without knowing the way out." The group talk about how Hook left Neverland, which was through a special one time deal with Pan. The only person Hook can think of who managed to escape on his own is Neal. They set off for a cave Neal once inhabited as a boy, where David pulls up a vine with Hook to gain access to the entrance, even though he is getting weaker. Hook prompts him on when exactly is he going to tell his family about the wound. David sees the situation as hopeless, to which Hook remarks that the one thing he’s learned from “hero” types is hope never dies and there is indeed a cure, but it's too far away to reach. He orders Hook not divulge their conversation; lest it sidetracks the mission to get Henry back. From searching the confines of the cave, a coconut half with holes is discovered to be a perfect match for Emma's candle holder. After the light is snuffed out, the two halves combine to make a star constellation map with an escape route. However, despite that Hook taught Neal how to navigate using the stars, he also coached him that all map makers never reveal their secrets. This renders the map useless since only Neal can read it.

Returning to the cave, everyone searches for something that might be useful. From Emma's observation of Neal's tally marks on the wall, she recognizes that he stopped counting the days due to losing hope of ever leaving, which is the same thing Pan wants for Henry. In the hopes of sending Henry a message, Mary Margaret comes up with an idea and files out to show them. Hook stops Emma to sympathize with her about knowing what it's like to lose hope, too. Not in the mood, she shuts him down for attempting to bond with her and walks out. Disheartened, he moves to leave when David confronts him over his growing interest in Emma, and states that she will never like him since he's just a pirate. Back at camp, the group begin making a net out of vines to capture a Lost Boy. Hook eyes Emma, who ignores him. He refuses to go gather vines with David until Emma presses him. Once alone, David threatens him to stay away from Emma. Hook proposes they find the cure, but David refuses and accuses him of selfishness. Agitated, Hook emphasizes the danger he is putting himself in for their sake, but David knows he is only here for Emma. After David passes out, Hook plants his own brother's military insignia in the dirt. Hook fakes a story about his brother's satchel on a peak that contains a sextant for decoding the star map, which is just a ploy to get David to the Dreamshade cure. They leave for the peak after notifying the others of the revelation. Hook learns David had a brother as well and the two reminisce how their siblings remind them of each other. As Hook climbs up first, Pan offers him his old job back and asks as proof of accepting, he must kill David at the top of the peak. Luckily, Pan disappears just as David climbs up. At the peak cliff, Hook is accosted by David, who overheard Pan's deal, and demands the sextant. Despite his attempt to explain his real reason for bringing David to the peak, the latter aggressively tries to fight him. He knocks David out, procures the spring water and offers it to him while warning of the price for the cure is being bound to the island forever. David drinks it and is healed. They arrive back to camp and make up a story that Pan got to the sextant first. Nonetheless, David announces that Hook protected him from a Dreamshade arrow after they were ambushed on the way to the peak. This is, of course, a stretch from the truth, but Hook plays along. They each take a sip of Hook's rum, except Regina, until it passes into Emma's hands. When she and Hook are alone, Emma gives him a sincere thanks for saving her father's life. He flirts and presses for a different kind of thanks. After some playful banter, she pushes Hook into a long, passionate kiss, but pulls away stating it's a one time thing, which hurts his feelings. He obeys her request to fetch firewood by saying, "As you wish". Later, Hook smugly boasts to Pan that Emma is finally coming around to him. However, Pan presents him with a conflict in his budding romance--Neal is alive and in Neverland--and leaves it up to Hook to tell Emma or not.

Conflicted, Hook returns to tell David and Mary Margaret how Pan kidnapped Neal from their campsite to be put in a cave. David is curious why Pan chose to let them know about this, but Hook has no answers. Mary Margaret catches sight of a snapped branch near the brush as well as footprints resembling a struggle. She plans to tell Emma, but both Hook and David convince her not to. They agree to prep a good cover story in order to search for Neal themselves, which quickly falls apart when Hook and David give different excuses after Emma asks them where they are going. Neither are able to come up with a response to her suspicions, so Mary Margaret blurts out to Emma that Neal is alive. While Emma is on the fence on about the possibility, Regina cannot stand that everyone is falling for Pan's trickery and leaves the group. They follow the footprints to a cavern known as the Echo Cave, where Hook briefs them on only way to rescue someone inside is for each of them to reveal one of their deepest, guarded secrets. Once inside, they are at a dead end while a caged Neal lies on a separate strip of land in the distance. With much reluctance, Hook confirms he and Emma shared a kiss. Emma discloses that she already told Mary Margaret about the kiss, so it's not really a secret. Hook replies that it's what the kiss exposed, which is he's never been able to forget his first love, Milah, or believe his future could be with someone else until meeting Emma. Mary Margaret tells David about her longing for another child while he finally tells her about the price of the Dreamshade cure. A bridge forms for Emma to cross over to Neal and after disclosing her own secret to him, he is freed. When they reach the outside, they decide to regroup with Tinker Bell first and then continue the mission. Hook heads back with the rest of the gang, but purposefully lingers behind to eavesdrop on Emma and Neal's conversation. He hears Emma express guilt about what she told Neal earlier and is sorry her feelings can't be changed. Neal disagrees and doesn't think she has anything to apologize for after everything he put her through. Then, Neal tells Emma his own secret; he won't ever stop fighting for her, which causes worry on Hook's part.

Neal familiarizes the group on a tactic for flying off the island using Pan's shadow. Since the Shadow is mostly solitary, they can capture it without going near Pan. Emma steps up on "shadow duty" with Neal as Hook enlists himself as well. They all agree to meet back at Tinker Bell's tree house once the Shadow is nabbed. Hook, Emma and Neal They all agree to meet back at Tinker Bell's tree house once the Shadow is nabbed. Hook, Emma and Neal revisit the Lost Boy cavern. While Emma goes off to fetch the star map, Hook accidentally discloses the kiss he shared with her, which Neal was unaware of until now. After obtaining the star map, they go in search of Dark Hollow; a place home to all captured shadows. Emma lends Neal her sword to cut through the tall grass. He recognizes it as his old cutlass, so Hook admits giving it to Emma as a memento of Neal. To this, Neal angrily snips at him and stomps away. Left little choice, Hook admits to Emma what he said to Neal, and had hopes the kiss meant something to her as it does to himself. Instead, she is grateful that he did not keep quiet about Neal's alive status. Hook explains the reason Pan tested him, which was to see if he'd pick his friend or the woman of his dreams. Though Emma isn't taking it seriously, he is invested in winning her heart fair and square and points out she'll have to choose him or Neal somewhere down the line. All she cares about is Henry's safety, but Hook warns after she's accomplished that, he won't be holding back. Eventually, they head into Dark Hollow. Neal briefs on drawing the Shadow in by lighting the candle and trapping it by putting the lid on. He and Neal end up fighting over the lighter when three shadows show up to attack just as Emma grabs the coconut halves. Both men are thrown against trees and begin having their shadows ripped out. Emma saves the day by using magic to light a flame on the candle and entrap the Shadow inside. On the journey back to Tinker Bell's tree house, Emma settles the competition between Hook and Neal by stating the only person she is choosing is Henry. After showing Tinker bell proof of the Shadow as their ticket off the island, she agrees to do her part in taking down Pan.

While moving ahead to Pan's camp, a rustle from the jungle causes the entire group to assemble for battle, but it turns out to be only Regina and Mr. Gold. Regina tells them about the power of Pandora's Box while Neal's distrust in his father causes him to blurt out Mr. Gold's objective to kill Henry and prevent a seer's prophecy from coming true. Subsequently, Hook and everyone begin regarding Mr. Gold as an enemy by drawing their weapons. Things cool down only when Neal forces him to hand over the box Some time later, Hook is approached by Emma about an alternative to removing David's ties to the island because of the Dreamshade cure. He concludes that nothing can be done, but then Mr. Gold steps in to offer his potion-making skills to concoct an elixir cure for David. Emma agrees to his bargain, though in return, Mr. Gold wants a favor of equal value. Neal puts a full stop to his asking price by demanding that he help for the right reasons rather than personal gain. After Tinker Bell gains access into the perimeter of the encampment and the Lost Boys are put to sleep by Regina, neither Henry or Pan are found there. Instead, Neal frees a young prisoner, Wendy, and brings her back to camp to inquire about Henry. Forced to act on Pan's wishes, Wendy lies to them, but with some encouragement, she yields and tells the truth. Emma gains insight on Pan's real reason for needing Henry's heart, which is to save himself from dying and then become immortal. As a trade, Pan lives, but Henry will die. Hook stays behind at camp while Emma, Mr. Gold, Neal and Regina set out for Skull Rock to stop Pan. After Henry sacrifices his heart to Pan, Hook feels a powerful wave of magic gust through Neverland.

Hook returns to the Lost Boy camp and learn from Emma that Henry gave up his heart to Pan and Mr. Gold is trapped inside Pandora's Box. Regina casts a preservation spell on Henry to last one hour until they can track down Pan. Emma manages to get some of the Lost Boys to open up about Pan's current location at his "thinking tree" in Pixie Woods after promising to bring them off the island. While Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina go to find Pan, Hook and the rest of their party plan to regroup aboard the Jolly Roger. The three women come back in time to place the heart back in Henry as he gasps to life. With Regina's power, the Shadow becomes the ship sail and flies them homeward.

Following a safe journey out of Neverland to Storybrooke, Mr. Gold seals the box in his pawnshop to keep Pan at bay. Hook informs Neal that he will back off from chasing after Emma so Henry's parents have a fair chance of getting back together. Even so, Hook craves a distraction from Emma and unsuccessfully tries to offer Tinker Bell a drink, though she knows he obviously wants more from her than just that. A scream from outside interrupts the chat, so they rush out to investigate and are joined by David and Emma. When Emma has the suspicion the two of them are now involved, Tinker Bell immediately denies it, though Hook begs to differ. The foursome catch up in time to witness the Shadow ripping away Mother Superior's shadow. After regrouping with the others, it's suspected Pan is behind the attack. Hook, Neal and Tinker Bell go to fetch the lighter and coconut halves from the ship in case they need to catch the Shadow again. They attempt to enter the vault where Regina took Henry to keep him safe, but the door is locked. Belle, Emma, David, Mary Margaret and Mr. Gold bring back a released Pan, who is actually Henry, since the two switched bodies. When Mr. Gold breaks open the vault, it is discovered Pan took the scroll for the Dark Curse.

Mr. Gold shares with everyone of the only viable way to stop Pan's curse is for Regina, as the original caster of the Dark Curse, to undo it by destroying the scroll, though there will be a steep price for this. They plan to switch Henry back to his own body so he will be in possession of the scroll and bring it to Regina. Mr. Gold can perform the spell, but needs a strong outlet in order for it to work. Tinker Bell has knowledge of a powerful Black Fairy wand that Mother Superior kept, so she, David, Hook and Neal ask the convent nuns for the item. The Shadow bursts in as the group take cover behind the church pews. Hook volunteers to distract the Shadow, citing his own life is at stake, but fails when the creature knocks him away. He takes a hard hit while David pulls him to safety. Tinker Bell uses pixie dust to light a flame on the coconut half and flies into the air to trap the Shadow; disposing the being for good by burning it in a fire. Afterwards, Tinker Bell recognizes Hook's reason for risking himself earlier was for Emma. With the Shadow gone, Mother Superior returns alive and hands the Black Fairy's wand to them. The three men arrive at the pawnshop with the wand. Once Henry's spirit returns to his own body, everyone except Mr. Gold runs off to find the boy. With Granny's tracking skills, they reunite with him. Regina passes out after taking the scroll and awakens with knowledge of the price for stopping the curse. They are accosted by Pan as he steals back the scroll and freezes them in place. The showdown ends when Mr. Gold summons the dagger and stabs Pan as well as himself with it; killing both of them. After this, Regina admits the price is all former Enchanted Forest inhabitants will be sent back to their old world while Storybrooke will disappear out of existence. To keep Henry from being alone, Emma will leave town with him and Regina rewrites new memories for both of them so they forget everything. Before this, Hook offers Emma parting words; saying that he will think of her often. As the two cross out of Storybrooke, Regina stops the curse from taking over as everyone inside the town is sent back to the Enchanted Forest. While the others lead to the Queen's palace, Hook decides to go back to his life as a pirate. He and Prince Charming talk about his plans and Hook leaves in search for his ship. Snow White balks at the idea of him returning to living a pirate's life now that Emma is gone, but Hook remarks that he has never actually changed from his old ways.
 * -|After Undone Curse=

After finding his ship, Hook resumes traveling at sea. He receives a messenger bird, attached with a vial of memory potion, as well as a note asking him to seek out Emma. A year later, Hook, under unknown circumstances, shows up at Emma's New York apartment to tell her that her family in trouble, though she does not recognize him or understand anything he is saying. He attempts to give her true love's kiss, but it has no effect and she kicks him away. Though he tries to explain, she slams the door closed.
 * -|During New Curse=

On another attempt to shake some sense into her, he ambushes Emma while she is out on a date and her boyfriend is away from the table. He gives Emma a written address of a New York apartment that she must see in order to know the whole truth about her family, who desperately need her help. Before leaving, Hook asks her to find him in Central Park when she is ready to talk. Later, Emma shows up to confront him about the camera strap she found at the written address—Neal's apartment—which has Henry's name on it. He tries once more to talk about her parents and the curse, but she brushes it off as nonsense. Hook exemplifies the camera strap as proof Emma was once at Neal's apartment a year ago except she doesn't remember it. She demands answers, so he offers a potion to restore her lost memories. Instead, she cuffs Hook and has him arrested for assault and criminal harassment. While jailed, he is bailed out by Emma, who presents him with copy of the photo from the camera, which shows herself with Henry in a town called Storybrooke. He pushes Emma into taking the potion, despite that she will have to give up her life in New York, because knowing the truth is important. She ingests it and regains her memories. That night, Hook explains that her family has been re-cursed by someone powerful. When Emma's boyfriend, Walsh, shows up, she goes onto the rooftop with him. Hook hears a scuffle, rushing up to help, but finds Emma alone and Walsh gone. The next morning, Emma introduces Hook to Henry as a client from work, rather than admit the truth, since things are complicated as it is. The three arrive in Storybrooke via Emma's car.

As Emma is brought up to speed on the effects of the new curse, which have wiped out everyone's memories of the last year, Hook confirms to David and Mary Margaret that the undoing of Pan's curse did indeed bring them back to the Enchanted Forest, and that the last he saw of them prior his split from their group, they were all headed for the Queen's old palace. Once Happy and Leroy report two more dwarves missing, Emma decides to conduct an investigation. When another resident goes missing, Hook goes along with David and Emma to the town line where Robin Hood and the Merry Men describe how Little John was kidnapped by a winged beast. He, David and the Merry Men search for Little John; eventually finding finding the unconscious man with a sustained bite wound. After whisking him to the hospital, Little John rapidly transforms into flying monkey and takes off. Reporting back to the apartment, Hook, David, Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina conclude that the Wicked Witch of the West cast the new curse.

While Regina keeps Henry company, Hook, David, and Emma search the mayoral office for any evidence the Wicked Witch left behind. David discovers a holly berry in the room and pinpoints the plant's location in the northwestern region past the Toll Bridge. He is called away due to a phone call from Mary Margaret requesting him to come to the apartment and meet their new midwife, Zelena, and promptly leaves. As the remaining pair comb the woods near the holly berry bushes, Emma, believing Hook is hiding something, pries him about what happened in the Enchanted Forest, but he refuses to say. The pirate asks if she was seriously considering marrying Walsh. Emma confirms she was, due to being in love, but disappointingly, as usual, the guy of her dreams had secrets and broke her heart. Hook is pleased, remarking that if her heart is broken, it means she is still capable of love, to which Emma throws him an unsure look. They reach a farmhouse and deduct that someone is living in it. Hook advises her against breaking open a locked storm cellar and believes they'd be safer with Regina's magic as back-up. As Emma prepares to phone the mayor, she plays a voice message from David, who believes he has cornered the Wicked Witch. After picking up Regina, they meet up with David in the woods. He recounts fighting a version of himself created by the Wicked Witch's magic and killing it with his sword hilt, but both disappeared afterwards. Altogether, they investigate the farmhouse cellar, which is now mysteriously open. Inside, the cell's occupant is gone, but a spinning wheel with strands of spun gold litter the floor; evident proof that Mr. Gold is alive.

In a morning meeting at the closed diner, Hook and his allies discuss searching for Mr. Gold while Regina opts to search the farmhouse alone for evidence. Hook mentions that Neal, while in the Enchanted Forest, wanted to bring back Mr. Gold; hoping he could have been a link to reaching Emma and Henry. At the pawnshop, David and Emma inform Belle about Mr. Gold's alive status and ask her to research how he could've been revived. Hook stays behind with Belle, which she balks at, but he intends to make amends after previously trying to kill her twice. As he is helping her take books off the shelf when a noise erupts from pawnshop's front door. Hook follows Belle to the door, where the door is being rammed open from the outside, but instead of Mr. Gold, Neal bursts in and collapses. They take him to the hospital to recuperate and call David and Emma. After a strange marking is found on Neal's palm, Belle begins looking in it. Hook keeps Neal company and expresses disapproval that he tried to bring back the Dark One. Refusing to be cooped up, Neal attempts to leave, but is blocked by Hook. Unexpectedly, the pirate gives him an affectionate hug; recalling the brotherhood they had when Neal was still just a boy. He apologizes for being at odds with him due to their shared feelings for Emma, and then allows Neal to depart from the hospital. Soon after, Belle discovers Neal's palm marking is a symbol from a key to the vault of the Dark One and realizes he must have used it to revive Mr. Gold. Consequentially, she also learns reviving the Dark One will cause the demise of whoever uses the key. Though Neal should be dead, he is kept alive due to inhabiting the same body as Mr. Gold up until Emma magically separates them. Inevitably, Neal passes away. At the pawnshop, Hook and Belle receive the bad news from David and Mary Margaret.

Trivia

 * The casting call describes him as, "A handsome, fearsome and confident pirate ship captain, Hook relishes every challenge and never backs down from a fight, whether the reward is power, riches or women. He possesses the meticulous style and old-school manners of a proper gentleman, but beneath that veneer lies a vindictive enemy who will not rest until all his enemies have been defeated… and humiliated."
 * Colin O'Donoghue's portrayal is inspired by Dread Pirate Roberts from the movie The Princess Bride.
 * His wardrobe is inspired by the electronic band Depeche Mode.
 * The name "Killian" is of Irish Gaelic origin derived from the name "Cillian" and itself derived from the word "ceall" that means "church".
 * The surname "Jones" is of Welsh origin derived from the given name "John" and itself derived from the Latin name "Johannes" that means "God is gracious".
 * Hook is one of very few Enchanted Forest characters to have a known surname.
 * Has a tattoo with Milah's name on his right wrist. It shows the Dark One's Dagger going through a heart.