Belle

"No one decides my fate but me."

- Belle

Belle is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the twelfth episode of the first season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Emilie de Ravin, and is the Enchanted Forest counterpart of Belle.

Belle is based on Beauty from the fairytale, "Beauty and the Beast".

Before the Curse
Belle's father, Sir Maurice, requests the assistance of Rumplestiltskin in a war he is losing against the ogres in his town of Avonlea. Rumplestiltskin offers to protect the town in exchange for Belle's servitude. Defying her father and fiancé, she agrees to the terms of the deal. She is taken to his castle and is promptly thrown into the dungeon.

Belle misses her family very much, and spends every night in the dungeon crying. One night, Rumplestiltskin cannot tolerate her weeping anymore, and bursts in to question her about it. He conjures a pillow for her, which she thanks him for the gesture so she can sleep more comfortably, but he replies it's for muffling her noisy cries. Suddenly, a loud thud is heard, and both rush into the main room to see a hooded thief trying to steal a wand. The thief smugly boasts about the ability of his bow and arrow to never miss, and though Rumplestiltskin teleports away again and again, the arrow eventually hits him in the chest. But as Rumplestiltskin is immortal, the arrow has no effect. He stops the thief and imprisons him in a dungeon. Belle constantly overhears Rumplestiltskin torturing the man. She does not believe the thief has bad intentions, and while Rumplestiltskin is away, she frees and allows him to run away with the wand. When Rumplestiltskin finds out, he is furious and makes Belle tag along as he sets out to find the man. They ride in a carriage, and on the way there, Rumplestiltskin asks her what people would think if he let a thief go. She replies if he allowed a man to walk free without being harmed, people would see Rumplestiltskin is also a man and not a beast. She voices her belief that Rumplestiltskin does have good in his heart, and he loves something more than power. He agrees, and for a moment Belle thinks she has won the argument, but Rumplestiltskin corrects her by saying he loves his things more than power. She is speechless for a moment, and then tells him he really is as dark as people say.

In the woods, they come across a sheriff who recognizes the thief's bow and arrow Rumpelstiltskin carries, but in exchange for information about the man's whereabouts, the sheriff wants to spend a night with Belle. Rumplestiltskin refuses, and rips out the sheriff's tongue to show he means business. After he places the sheriff's tongue back in, the sheriff explains the thief goes by the name Robin Hood, and he hates him because Robin Hood allegedly stole his beloved.

Rumplestiltskin spots Robin Hood in the distance by a tree, and sticks Belle into the ground so she can't stop him as he kills the thief. She pleas for him to stop, and for a brief moment he halts to see Robin Hood hurrying to a carriage on the side of the road. A sick woman, Marian, is lying on the carriage, and Robin Hood uses the power of the wand to heal her. Belle points out this proves the man did not have bad intentions, but this doesn't deter Rumplestiltskin's bloodlust. As he readies the bow and arrow, the woman gets up from the carriage, and Belle sees she is pregnant. Belle implores Rumpelstiltskin not to kill Robin Hood or else the woman's baby will end up fatherless. The arrow flies toward the couple, but it hits the carriage instead. The twosome are alerted to the danger and make a quick getaway. Belle is surprised and wonders why he let them go, but Rumplestiltskin says he's lost interest in the chase.

They go back to the castle and Rumplestiltskin shows Belle to an extensive library. He mentions he expects the whole room to be spotless while Belle is pleased because he did all this for her. She happily lets him know he does have good in him, which catches Rumplestiltskin off guard.

Over the course of a couple of months, Belle slowly gets to know Rumplestiltskin and they develop a friendship. One day, she is altering his decor to bring more light into the Dark Castle and ends up pulling the curtain a little too hard and falling off. Rumplestiltskin catches her in time. She thanks him, and he awkwardly sets her back down on the ground. Belle also becomes curious about his motivations for spinning so often and the small clothing which once belonged to his son. Although Rumplestiltskin becomes suspicious of her curiosity, she responds kindly by saying that she would like to know him if she is not to know anyone else for the remainder of her life.

Rumplestiltskin in turn asks her why she accepted the deal. She tells him that there is little opportunity for women in their land to show their bravery. She has always thought when the time came, she ought to do the brave thing and that bravery would follow. She tells him also that she wanted to see the world. When asked about her fiancé, she explains that her idea of love was of something "layered"—a mystery to be uncovered—and that she could never have given her heart to someone as superficial as Gaston. Shortly after, he allows her to go to town to fetch him some straw; saying he expects her never to return.

While walking in the forest, the Evil Queen's carriage stops on the road and she asks to walk with Belle for a while. While walking, the Queen asks Belle who she is fleeing: master or lover. By Belle's silence, the Queen learns that Belle is fleeing her master-lover. Belle states that she could love him—Rumplestiltskin—but a darkness has taken root in him. The Queen informs Belle, to her delight, that true love's kiss can break any curse. She quickly returns to Rumplestiltskin with the intention of kissing him and freeing him from the curse.

When the curse begins to visibly disappear, she asks him to kiss her again saying with delight that it is working—that true love's kiss can break any curse. When he hears this, he becomes extremely angry demanding to know where she learned this. Belle is confused by his reaction and becomes further confused when he begins yelling at his mirror—because the Evil Queen can spy on him through uncovered mirrors—about how "you turned her against me". He then accuses Belle of "working alone", wanting to be the hero by "killing the beast". Belle responds with desperation claiming that she truly loves him, however he is unable to believe that anyone can love him. Instead, he imprisons her in the dungeon. Shortly after, he tells her to leave his castle and never return claiming that he does not want her anymore and that his powers are more important to him than she. Belle does not believe this. Instead, she calls him a coward - being unable to believe that she could love him and being unable to free himself and be happy. Before leaving, she also tells him that he will regret his decision forever being left with nothing but an "empty heart and a chipped cup". After Belle's departure, Rumplestiltskin is visited by the Queen who wants to make a deal. She informs him that Belle was not received kindly upon her return home because of her association with him. Belle's fiancé has gone missing and her father locked her in a tower, forcing her to undergo an exorcism of sorts. The Queen also claims that Belle killed herself by jumping from the tower. Rumplestiltskin is obviously upset by the news, sending the Queen away and placing the chipped cup on a pedestal as his most prized possession.

Belle spends time at a pub as the seven dwarves are celebrating (it is uncertain whether this is before or after she returns home—or indeed whether she returns home at all). One of the dwarves, Dreamy, tells the others that he is feeling strange. While the others scoff, because dwarves do not get sick, Belle declares that Dreamy is in love. After being prompted, Dreamy tells her about how his love, a fairy named Nova, had been talking about going to Firefly Hill. When Dreamy asks her what love is like, she replies that it is the most wonderful and amazing thing in the world—but also that it does not always last forever. She adds that she has already has her heart broken enough to know when someone is reaching out (referring to Dreamy's account of Nova's description of Firefly Hill). She tells him to seize the opportunity and to be with Nova while he still has a chance.

Belle returns to the tavern the next day, where Dreamy returns and thanks Belle for her good advice and that he will be running away with Nova. Belle tells him she is happy for him when a group of men burst into the tavern, stating that they will be heading to a far off land where they will defeat a beast called the Yaoguai. Dreamy tells Belle that this is the perfect opportunity to have a real adventure, and at first Belle says she shouldn't go on this journey, as the best adventures she has experienced are in books and they all have happy endings. Due to Dreamy's urging, she eventually gives in and goes after the men as they leave the tavern to join the adventure. Before she goes, Dreamy gives her some fairy dust, and at first Belle refuses, saying she has seen what magic can do. Dreamy responds she has seen dark magic, but not what light magic can do. Belle accepts the fairy dust and leaves.

On a wagon ride to the foreign country, Belle passes the time by reading a book written in a language detailing the Yaoguai's whereabouts. Her traveling companions, particularly a man named Claude, give her a hard time about being a bookworm. She informs them the book will give them clues as to where to find the Yaoguai, and when pressed, tells them the creature can be found by a lake. Having obtained the necessary information, they kick her off the wagon. However, Belle is undeterred and simply dusts herself off as the knowledge she gave out was false. Instead, she consults the book to track the Yaoguai to a cave in a mountainous region. As Belle approaches the den with a dagger in hand, she accidentally gives her presence away by stepping on a branch. Chased by the large beast, Belle is forced to flee until a female clad warrior, Mulan, shoots an arrow at the Yaoguai to drive it off. Upset, Mulan berates Belle for startling the Yaoguai, which she spent months trying to find. Belle states she only wanted to help while the latter advises her the best way is to go away.

Later on, Belle makes a stop in a village to take a sip of water from the well. Unexpectedly, she is accosted by Claude and one of his cronies for previously misleading them to the lake. They try to punish Belle by throwing her down the well, but Mulan scares the men away while sustaining an leg injury. Having a change of heart, Mulan proposes they team up towards hunting down the Yaoguai. Belle agrees, and helps to track down the animal again. On the way there, Mulan can go no further as her wound is getting worse. She entrusts Belle with the task of killing the Yaoguai so her people can be safe from harm. Belle is reluctant, but is encouraged when Mulan offers her sword.

Heading into the valley, she lures the Yaoguai into the village and uses the sword to cut a pipe containing water; dousing the beast's bodily flames. The Yaoguai collapses onto the ground, and to Belle's amazement, she watches as it begins to scrawl a message on the ground that reads, "Save me." After sheathing the sword, Belle takes out her pouch of fairy dust and sprinkles some onto the Yaoguai. In a cloud of purple smoke, the weakened animal transforms into a human man, Prince Phillip.

Freed of a curse, Prince Phillip tells Belle how he came to be trapped in a form of the Yaoguai. He feels deeply in her debt, to which Belle wishes for him to repay by taking a friend to a doctor for treatment. She leads Phillip back to a clearing in the woods where Mulan is waiting. After introducing the two, Belle begins leaving the area. Mulan wonders why she is not going with them, though Belle mysteriously states there is another beast to tackle on her own. She travels out of the woods until reaching the very top of a hill. As Belle looks out at the scenery, she asks Rumplestiltskin to wait for her to come back.

Instead, she is ambushed by the Evil Queen and her soldiers. As it turns out, Claude and his companions gave away Belle's location for a reward. Belle is promptly forced into a caged wagon while the Evil Queen comments she is saving her from a lifetime of heartache and misery. Stubbornly, Belle retorts she can't keep her and Rumplestiltskin apart forever.

Kept as the Evil Queen's prisoner in the Dark Palace, she is shackled to a bed post and kept alive for an unknown period of time. Outside the room, Claude, employed by the Evil Queen, guards the cell. When a stranger approaches pretending to deliver food for Belle, a fight breaks out, in which Claude meets his demise at at the hand of Hook. He opens the door and claims to be rescuing Belle. When asked why, Hook explains she needs to help him kill Rumplestiltskin, who is holding her father captive. Belle does not believe him and states that she can talk and reason with Rumplestiltskin. When Hook does not budge, Belle admits she does not know how to kill him, and does not want to. As she is not buying his lies and refuses to comply, Hook knocks Belle unconscious, and prepares to kill her when the Evil Queen stops him.

Trivia

 * The name "Belle" is of French origin derived from the same word that means "beautiful".
 * She is one of the few people in the Enchanted Forest who speak highly about Rumplestiltskin.