Straw Doll

The Straw Doll is an item featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the first episode of the third season.

History
As a child, Rumplestiltskin is given a doll by his father, Malcolm, as a friend to keep him company. Malcolm urges him to bestow a name for the doll, to which Rumplestiltskin names it "Peter Pan". Troubled by his father's notorious reputation as a coward and liar, Rumplestiltskin acquires a magic bean to take both of them to another world.
 * -|Before the Curse=

Leaving the Enchanted Forest for Neverland, Malcolm becomes fixated on reclaiming an old magical skill of flying with the aide of pixie dust. While his father climbs up a tree to retrieve the dust, Rumplestiltskin awaits his return and passes the time by playing with the doll. When Malcolm comes back down, he learns the dust didn't work for his father due to being a grown-up. In an act of betrayal, Rumplestiltskin is abandoned by Malcolm in favor of his desire to become young and regain the ability to fly. Malcolm allows a creature of Neverland, the Shadow, to grab Rumplestiltskin, who watches his father turn into a youthful boy, before being whisked off to the Enchanted Forest. In the process, Rumplestiltskin drops the doll to the ground, which Malcolm picks up. No longer an adult, he accepts the namesake of the doll, Peter Pan, as his new name. In an effort to rescue his grandson, Henry, from the grasp of Peter Pan, Mr. Gold embarks on a solo mission in Neverland to accomplish the task. He comes across one of Pan's Lost Boys, Felix, in the jungle. Though Felix warns him against getting in Pan's way, Mr. Gold stiffly exhibits little care for the threats. As he walks away, the Lost Boy throws him an item; stating it is a present from Pan. To Mr. Gold's shock, it is the long forgotten doll of his childhood. He picks the doll up and subsequently breaks down in tears while Felix sneers at his reaction.
 * -|After the Curse=

The doll brings to light Mr. Gold's greatest pain associated with his father's abandonment as well as a fear of turning out just like him; a coward. He is unable to come to a decision over self-preservation and prevent the seer's prophecy from coming true, or doing the right thing and saving Henry. A manifestation of Belle consoles him over the internal conflict as he wrestles with making a choice. She presses that he must let go of the past in order to move forward. Ultimately, Mr. Gold throws away the doll into the sea, but later, it drops out of the sky back to him. Unnerved, he uses magic to set the doll on fire, but once again, it reappears in its unburnt form. Decidedly, he retrieves the doll and tucks it into his jacket.

Mr. Gold regroups with his son, Neal, just as he makes the decision to sacrifice himself for Henry's life. Stunned at the revelation his own son is alive, Mr. Gold grapples again with the decision to be selfish or selfless. Through a confrontation with Pan, Neal discovers the truth about the prophecy, and in disgust, he leaves Mr. Gold behind. Shortly after, Mr. Gold pulls out the doll in contemplation when Belle reappears to give him encouragement.