Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-34563899-20180202235154/@comment-34563899-20180203124135

Tysonjackson wrote: I agree that he wasn’t necessarily a villain in 1-3, but I definitely think he was in 4. He was our Big Bad for this season and was definitely out for evil.

In season four he was still the dark one, and was influenced by the curse to act in the way he did. Saying that Rumple was out for evil in season four is like saying Emma or Hook were out for evil in season five: they weren't they were influenced by the dark one curse.