August Booth

"I've lived a life of selfishness, cowardice and dishonesty. And only I can cure that...not magic, not science. Just me."

- August to Tamara

August Wayne Booth, formerly known as the Stranger, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the ninth episode of the first season. He is portrayed by guest star Eion Bailey, and is the Land Without Magic alias of Pinocchio.

Trivia

 * -|Character Notes=

Etymology

 * The name "August" is of Latin origin, and is derived from the diminutive form of the name "Augustus" that means "great" or "venerable".
 * August is named after Wayne Booth, a literary critic who coined the term "unreliable narrator". An "unreliable narrator" is a narrator, usually in fiction, whose credibility is severely compromised and therefore cannot be trusted on the validity of their story. August's fairy tale counterpart, Pinocchio, is known for lying.

Character Notes

 * August claims to have spent a whole year without a roof over his head, visiting places as far as Nepal.
 * August also claims to have seen lemurs in Nepal. However, lemurs are only found in Madagascar, an island off the cost of Africa. There are none in Nepal.
 * He seems unaware Storybrooke is the "land without magic" until Mr. Gold points out his foolishness.


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * His scenes in "Hat Trick" were cut.
 * In the original "Only You" script, the Dragon refers to August as a "conflicted man, but one who knew where to look". That line got cut from the final episode, as well as Emma's surprised reaction at the Dragon knowing him.


 * -|Cultural References=

Lost

 * August is the eighth month of the year; a reference to the second Lost number.
 * August's license plate features the number 23, the fourth number from Lost.
 * Phuket, where August traveled to, is referred to on Lost, including the similarly named episode "Stranger in a Strange Land".
 * August woke up in Phuket at 8:15 A.M., two of the Lost numbers.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * He has a wooden hand-carved donkey paper weight, a reference to The Adventures of Pinocchio, in which all boys sent to Pleasure Island are turned into donkeys.
 * The complicated wooden lock he installed on Mary Margaret's door hints to skills he learned from his father.
 * The pages he added to Henry's book tell Pinocchio's story. According to Henry, this tale was not initially in the book.

Costume Notes

 * August has a necklace with the image of Monstro the whale on it.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.