Baelfire

"The deal is struck."

- Baelfire to Rumplestiltskin

Baelfire is a character on Once Upon a Time. He debuts in the eighth episode of the first season and is portrayed by guest star Dylan Schmid. His Storybrooke counterpart, if he has one, is currently unknown.

History
When Baelfire was young, his mother abandoned him and Rumplestiltskin because of Rumplestlitskin's cowardice on the battlefield during an Ogre War. Milah, Baelfire's mother, is quite disinterested in playing housewife to Rumplestiltskin, and spends her days at the tavern bar. Rumplestiltskin returns home one day to find Baelfire all alone without his mother. He goes to the tavern to look for Milah, and finds her having a drink with Captain Hook and his men. Milah refuses to leave. However, Baelfire calls out, "Mama?" to which Milah gets up to leave for home.

Milah is very unhappy with the life she leads, and wishes to explore and see the world. Rumplestiltskin still hopes she will try to be family for Baelfire, at least. She reluctantly agrees to try. The next day, however, she turns up missing, and is kidnapped by Captain Hook. Rumplestiltskin tries to get her back by pleading with Captain Hook, but nothing comes out of it when Rumplestiltskin refuses to sword fight. ("The Crocodile")

Before Rumplestiltskin became the powerful sorcerer he is today, Baelfire was his only family and greatest treasure. Just a few days away from Baelfire's fourteenth birthday, all the children in the land are being forcefully drafted to fight in the Ogre Wars upon turning fourteen.

To prevent his son from being taken, Rumplestiltskin slays Zoso, "The Dark One", taking on his powers in an effort to be able to protect Baelfire. He brutally kills all the soldiers who attempt to recruit Baelfire, an act he relished in, which terrifies his son. ("Desperate Souls")

Later, his father ended the The Ogre Wars and saved thousands of children's lives, but people are afraid of him and Baelfire wants things to back to the way they were. Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire make a deal: if Baelfire can find a way for Rumplestiltskin to safely give up his powers, Rumplestiltskin will do it. Baelfire's friend Morraine tells him about the Reul Ghorm she heard of during war from eavesdropping on other soldiers. Baefire goes and finds the Reul Ghorm, which turns out to be the Blue Fairy. She gives him a magic bean to take him and his father to a "land without magic".

Baelfire takes his father into the woods and uses the magic bean, which creates a green, glowing portal. Rumplestiltskin is afraid of going to a place without magic or his powers, and backs out of the deal at the last moment. He lets go of his Baelfire, who calls him a coward before disappearing into the portal.

Rumplestiltskin then calls for the Blue Fairy to help him get to his son, but it's no use as that was the last magic bean and he chose power over his only son. This has caused Rumplestiltskin to hate fairies, especially the Blue Fairy, because he blames her for taking away Baelfire, while she declared he was the one who drove off his own son. ("The Return")

Years later, Rumplestiltskin as the Dark One seeks out Captain Hook again. Hook tells him Milah died, but Rumplestiltskin still wants to humiliate him. They sword fight, and just as he is about to rip out Hook's heart, Milah reappears to intervene. In fact, she did not get kidnapped by Hook that day so many years ago. Instead, she went with him willingly because she fell in love with him. After much words are exchanged, Rumplestiltskin expresses intense anger at her abandoning Baelfire. She is regretful and guilty, but ultimately she didn't want a loveless marriage because she didn't love Rumplestiltskin. He kills her instead, and chops off Hook's hand that holds the magic bean he was promised. The magic bean was his way to finding Baelfire again. As it turned out, Hook tricked him into cutting off the wrong hand that did not contain the bean. ("The Crocodile")

Belle mentions finding children's old clothes in one of the rooms in the castle, which Rumplestiltskin says belongs to his son. ("Skin Deep")

So, he created the Dark Curse in order to be able to go to the same place Baelfire went. Even though the curse worked in transporting Rumplestiltskin into "a land without magic," he has not yet found his son in the last 28 years while in Storybrooke. ("The Return")

Baelfire's current whereabouts are still unknown because the inhabitants of Storybrooke cannot leave the town without losing their memories. ("We Are Both")

Baelfire is still a driving force for Rumplestiltskin as he confesses to Belle that he is using magic to try and break the new curse so that he can leave the town to find his son. ("The Crocodile")

Trivia

 * The name "Baelfire" (Old English spelling) or "balefire" (modern spelling) means "great (or "fatal" or "evil") fire."
 * Baelfire was sent to a "land without magic" through the power of the magic bean prior to his father creating the Dark Curse. "A Land Without Magic" is also the Season One finale.
 * He is the only person who his father has broken a deal with.
 * Rumplestiltskin's motivation in making the Dark Curse was to be able to go to the same world Baelfire was transported into. As the Blue Fairy warned, he would have to pay a very high price of giving up his homeland (Fairytale Land) in order to be able to accomplish this.
 * His only friend seems to have been Morraine while all the other kids became too scared of him due to the reputation of his father, Rumplestiltskin. However, as shown in The Return, Pinocchio/August Booth knows his habit of calling Rumplestiltskin "papa".
 * According to the Blue Fairy, he is the light that kept his father human at his core.

Appearances
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