Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4637931-20150214205951

I shared this on the show's fanpop page but I wanted to also share it here. It's a theory on Cruella's backstory assuming her power is shapeshifting.

When Cruella was a little girl, her parents got her a dalmatian puppy as a present. She loved it very very much and would play with it every day. As time went on, and Cruella and the puppy grew older, Cruells continued to love and play with the dalmatian. However one day, the dog appears to be mysteriously dying. Cruella is devastated and terrified and is willing to do whatever it takes to save it. She gets a visit from Rumplestiltskin who tells her that there is one way to save it and that's becoming it. Cruella is confused and Rumple shows her the history of shape-shifters who have the ability to turn into animals. In order to save the dog, Cruella must combine herself with the dog and after learning how to from Rumple, it's too late. The dog has died. Cruella breaks down crying. Rumple disappears. Cruella develops a drinking problem during her depression. (Got that idea from when Rumple saw Cruella in "Heroes and Villains," he said "Thought I caught a whiff of desperation and gin.") Soon after, Cruella discovers that the dog's death wasn't an accident. It was poisoned. Enraged, Cruella goes out to discover who it was. It was a group of people who were preying on innocent animals for their fur. The people also happen to be shapeshifters. Confronting them, Cruella feels a strange magical presence in her. Her anger for her dog's death and deep compassion for dalmatians is causing her to become a shape-shifter. We see the spirit in her encounter the spirit of her lost dog and they run together and when they join, Cruella has officially become a shape-shifter and her hair turns black and white and feels a large amount of power come into her. Instead of killing the dog murderers, she merely thanks them because now, she no longer has to miss her dog because she has now become her dog and walks away. The shape-shifter group looks on. 