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This article focuses on the main reality character.
For his Wish Realm counterpart, see Wish Pinocchio.
For the classic story, see "The Adventures of Pinocchio".
For the film, see "Pinocchio (film)".


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 src

Pinocchio, later known as August Wayne Booth, and briefly known as the Stranger,[2] is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the first episode of the first season. He is portrayed by guest star Eion Bailey, and co-stars Jack[1] and Jakob Davies and Rustin Gresiuk, and is the main reality version of Wish Pinocchio.

Pinocchio is based on the character of the same name from the children's novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio, and Pinocchio from the Disney film Pinocchio.

History

Before First Curse

Carved out of a magical tree in the Enchanted Forest by an old craftsman, Geppetto, Pinocchio gains the ability to speak and move, although he remains a wooden puppet. ("The Stranger")

At some point, Pinocchio runs away from home and obtains a ticket to Pleasure Island. While there, he meets Robert and takes interest in a coin that the man has, and even asks how much it's worth. Robert insists it's worth nothing to anyone but him as it was given to him by his son. Pinocchio speculates that his son ran away and suggests he should try looking in the sugar pit for him, but Robert reveals he is actually searching for his other son, Prince James, though Pinocchio mocks him by noting he doesn't look much like a king. After explaining that James was his son before he was the king's, Robert asks if Pinocchio has seen him. Pinocchio responds that he hasn't, but this causes his nose to grow, so Robert deduces that he's lying and forces the puppet to lead him to James. Pinocchio watches from nearby as Robert speaks with the boy and persuades him to return home with him. As Robert and James begin to leave, the puppet alerts them to Pleasure Island's staff, who are coming after them, and he urges them to run. Pinocchio never sees either Robert or James again after this. ("Murder Most Foul")

Many years after his adventures on Pleasure Island, Pinocchio and his father are among the crowd of villagers as the Evil Queen actively grills them about Snow White's whereabouts. Geppetto confronts the Evil Queen by saying they are good people and don't deserve to suffer, to which she exposes a female prisoner of hers, declaring she will face execution for being loyal to Snow White. ("Snow Drifts")

One day, Pinocchio and Geppetto are caught in a terrible storm at sea. Before the ocean's waves threaten to overturn their raft, Pinocchio insists that his father take the only remaining life vest. He then sacrifices himself by jumping into the sea. Only after this, a great whale, Monstro, tries to engulf Geppetto as an upsurge throws the older man overboard. Presumably drowning, Pinocchio washes up on the shoreline as an ordinary wooden doll. In his grief, Geppetto calls upon the Blue Fairy, who is impressed by Pinocchio's display of selflessness that she turns him into a real human boy. However, she stresses that he must remain kind, selfless and honest in order to retain this form. ("The Stranger")

On the night Snow and Charming learn the prophecy about their unborn daughter Emma and the Evil Queen's Dark Curse, Snow makes a wish to help Emma have a happy ending, which the Blue Fairy grants by causing everyone to break out into song. The next morning, Pinocchio is in the woodwork shop helping his father to carve a new toy. He sings about his son helping him to build it and how proud of him he is, to which Jiminy chimes in afterward with his own cricket singing. By the following day, everyone forgets that they ever sang, as the Blue Fairy intended it to be this way to ensure all the songs stay safe for Emma's sake. ("The Song in Your Heart")

During a clock repair lesson, Pinocchio mischievously ties up Jiminy so he is stuck inside. Only when the Blue Fairy arrives, Pinocchio, out of fear of turning back into wood, apologizes for his actions. Nonetheless, she did not arrive to punish him, and instead asks Geppetto to build a wardrobe from the last enchanted tree, which can ward off the Queen's curse. After they find the tree, she tells him that only two people can through the portal to another land. Since a prophecy states Snow White's unborn child is the savior who will break the curse in twenty-eight years, both mother and daughter must go together. Worried about his son, Geppetto agrees to make the wardrobe, but only if Pinocchio is one of the two who'll be saved. Left little choice, the Blue Fairy agrees. In front of the war council, father and son are present as the Blue Fairy lies to Snow White and Prince Charming about the wardrobe only able to save one person. Soon, Pinocchio and Geppetto finish carving the wardrobe when the curse arrives. Coincidentally, Snow White gives birth early, although she was supposed to go into the wardrobe while still pregnant. The Blue Fairy, believing the child must have someone to watch over her as she grows up, pleads for Geppetto let Snow White and her daughter leave together. After the Blue Fairy leaves, Geppetto ignores her request and places Pinocchio in the wardrobe. As they part, he makes his son promise to take care of Emma. Landing in world, Pinocchio is startled by a passing airplane and then attempts to go back into the tree, which ejects him. Suddenly, Snow White's baby arrives through the tree. Remembering his promise to Geppetto, Pinocchio picks up the baby and brings her into a diner across the street to seek help. ("The Stranger," "Pilot")



During First Curse

Pinocchio and Emma end up living at the same foster home in Boston. Keeping a close eye over the baby in the crib, he even helps soothe her cries by making funny faces. However, when the other children plan on escaping on their own, Pinocchio is tempted to leave the foster home. He wishes to take Emma along, but the other children reason that they have no way of caring for an infant. With some reluctance, Pinocchio leaves her behind. ("The Stranger")

In 1990, while keeping tabs on a young Emma, Pinocchio finds her homeless and attempting to keep warm by burning pages from a fairytale book, sometime after she has run away from a group home. He stops her from destroying the pages of The Ugly Duckling story and offers her insight into all fairytales being about transformation. While Emma believes the ugly duckling was always a swan without knowing it, Pinocchio explains his view of the duckling turning into a swan with the power of belief, and that if someone believes in something hard enough, they can change their fate. He uses this to persuade Emma that living on the streets is probably not the fate she wants and that despite running away from her previous home, it doesn't mean she won't find a good one someday. Encouraged by these words, Emma goes to the police for help, and when asked for her last name, she adopts the surname "Swan", to pay homage to Pinocchio's advice to her about the ugly duckling and the power to change by believing in oneself. ("Tougher Than the Rest")

At some point in his life, Pinocchio decides to adopt the name August Wayne Booth. ("Tallahassee")

Some years later, August catches Emma's boyfriend Neal in Portland after he and Emma successfully steal watches which they are planning to sell off. He insists that if Neal truly cares for Emma, he will leave her to her destiny and not allow her to be caught up in a life as a petty thief. Neal refuses because he truly loves Emma, so to weaken his resolve, August fetches a wooden box from his own motorcycle, revealing a typewriter with a piece of paper with the words, "I know you're Baelfire". Shaken by August's knowledge of his past identity, Neal agrees to disappear from Emma's life, allowing her to be arrested for theft of the watches. ("Tallahassee", "Manhattan")

After a few months, August meets up with Neal in Vancouver. Neal, torn over leaving Emma, asks where she is now. August states that she is sentenced to eleven months in jail and is in a minimum security prison in Phoenix, and though Neal wants to go to her, the latter reminds him of their deal. Since he can't visit her, Neal turns over keys to a car and the money he got from the stolen watches that he wishes Emma to have. Neal also asks that, if things ever change in Emma's life which allow him to be with her, he wants August to contact him. In turn, August promises to send a postcard if that happens. Instead of delivering the money to Emma, August keeps it for himself, eventually going to Phuket, Thailand. From there, he mails the car keys to her while she is still incarcerated. ("Tallahassee")

At some point during his time in Phuket, August meets the Apprentice, who guides him into learning more about the storybook. ("Operation Mongoose Part 1")

During a morning in October 2011, August awakens at eight-fifteen to a shooting pain in his leg as he begins reverting into wood. He goes to a hospital in Hong Kong for a remedy, but the doctor cannot see his leg is wooden. August desperately tries to prove otherwise by stabbing himself in the leg, but this frightens the doctor, who calls security to apprehend him. After eluding capture, he meets a man who claims that, for the right price, a healer called the "Dragon" can help him. At the Dragon's clinic, he sits in the waiting room for his turn. A female patient, Tamara, is called into the Dragon's office, she drops her cell phone, which August picks up and hands back to her. When it is August's turn with the Dragon, he discovers the healer already knows he is Pinocchio. As payment for the cure, the Dragon takes a whale-shaped necklace, something August's father used to animate him into a puppet. Secondly, August must give ten-thousand U.S. dollars, which he doesn't have. That night, he meets Tamara at a bar, and she details her miraculous recovery from cancer, all thanks to the Dragon after she forfeited a photo of herself and her grandmother. While Tamara takes a phone call, August steals her money and gives it to the Dragon. The Dragon gives the cure as promised, but he warns that only August can truly heal himself. When Tamara confronts him for stealing, August runs, until agonizing pain from leg makes him collapse and drop the cure. Tamara retrieves the cure, and before leaving, she bitterly remarks that he deserves whatever condition he has. A few days later, he returns to ask the Dragon to cure him again, but finds the man mysteriously dead, not knowing Tamara killed him. In the Dragon's belongings, August finds research about the storybook Author and takes it with him. Realizing he cannot outrun his fate, August decides to convince Emma to believe in the curse and break it, in the hopes doing so will reverse his wooden state. Before going to Storybrooke, he goes to Neal, who now resides in New York City, to fill him in on his plans. ("Selfless, Brave and True," "Poor Unfortunate Soul")

Sometime later, August rides into Storybrooke on his motorcycle, where he meets Emma and Henry for the first time. He asks them where he can find a place to stay, and Emma directs him to Granny's inn. Before he drives off, she asks him what he said his name was, to which he replies that he never gave it. The next morning, he is repairing his motorbike in front of the mayor's house, and Henry comes out to talk to him. August deflects most of the boy's questions, and just as Regina walks out and notices the stranger talking to her son, he drives off before she walks up. She asks Henry who that is, but her son does not answer her. Later, when Regina sends her to learn more about the stranger, Emma questions him at Granny's Diner, while he is drinking coffee. They have several minutes of back and forth banter, in which he taunts her about the wooden box he carries around, but he eventually agrees to show her what is inside if she will let him buy her a drink sometime. She agrees to this, and he opens the box to reveal a typewriter. Upon further inquiry, he states that he is a writer and that he came to Storybrooke because it was full of inspiration. As he gets up to leave, Emma asks him about the drink he promised her. He grins and says, "Sometime," then walks out the door. ("True North," "7:15 A.M.")

After Henry's castle is destroyed, August takes the storybook from its hiding place and brings it back to his room at the bed and breakfast. ("Fruit of the Poisonous Tree")

On his way out of the diner, August runs into Emma and suggests she take him up on his prior offer of buying her a drink. At first, she is reluctant, but after some encouragement from Granny and August telling her what his name is, she agrees, and he takes her to a "wishing well" that, according to legend, has magical water that can restore a lost item to a person. Secretly, August begins "repairing" Henry's storybook, adding the story of Pinocchio to it. The next day, after completing this story addition, August plants the book in a box on the street near Emma's parked car. He then goes across the street, hiding behind a corner, where he watches Emma approach the car and begin brushing leaves off of her vehicle. When Emma finds the book, she looks up and around herself, mystified about how it got there. ("What Happened to Frederick")

A few days later, while having a meal at the diner, August talks to Ruby, telling her about his adventures while traveling. He recounts visiting Nepal and how their temples were infested with lemurs. When Ruby inquires about his adventures further, her grandmother calls her over impatiently. August silently witnesses Ruby confronts her grandmother before quitting her job at the diner. ("Red-Handed")

Many days later, after Ruby and her grandmother reconcile, August finds Henry poring over his storybook. They have a quick discussion about Mary Margaret's arrest over Kathryn's disappearance, and August reveals that the storybook's tales just might be true. This excites Henry, and the mysterious writer admits his real reason for coming to Storybrooke is to help Emma believe in Operation Cobra. When Henry tells him that he wants to find proof of Mary Margaret's innocence, August implies that he should look in the book for answers. ("Heart of Darkness")

Reaching a dead end in her search for proof that Regina is responsible for Kathryn's disappearance, Emma receives advice from August, who tells her to go over the case again starting from the point of view she has now. Heading back to the scene where Ruby found Kathryn's heart, Emma finds a chipped piece of what seems to be a shovel. Later that night, August and Emma, with the help of Henry, enter Regina's garage and find a shovel with a missing section that fits the chipped piece they found earlier. The next day, Emma tries to confront Regina about it, but the shovel had been replaced with a new one. Emma later blames August for telling Regina about the shovel, and when he denies her accusation, she suspects he is lying. However, after finding a "bug" spying device in a vase left for her by Sidney, Emma apologizes to August for doubting him. They are interrupted by Ruby screaming, who tells them, "She's in the alley." August stays behind to calm down Ruby, while Emma enters the alley, finding Kathryn alive. ("The Stable Boy")

The next day, in his inn room, August wakes up with intense pain in his left leg and falls off the bed. When the phone rings, he drags himself to the desk to pick up the call. With Henry on the line, August tells him their plan is taking too long and it needs to be accelerated. With his own intentions of searching for Mr. Gold's dagger, he tricks Henry into sneaking into the pawnshop as a decoy. Henry, believing this is part of Operation Cobra, does as August asks. Sneaking through the backdoor, August snoops around until he is caught by Mr. Gold and feigns looking for a map. With the murder charges against Mary Margaret dropped, a party is held in her apartment to welcome her back. There, Henry inquiries about the pawnshop search, but August states it was unsuccessful. Later, August seeks guidance from Mother Superior about reuniting with his father, who he parted with on bad terms. A suspicious Mr. Gold interrogates the nun about what August told her, and when she discloses the reason, he mistakenly believes the man is his lost son Baelfire. That evening, Mr. Gold apologizes to August for abandoning him and asks for forgiveness. August plays along, eventually asking him for the dagger, which the latter gives willingly. However, when August attempts to use it against him, Mr. Gold realizes he is not Baelfire. Under duress, August confesses he is from the Enchanted Forest, and his sickness can only be cured with magic. Believing him to be useful, Mr. Gold allows him to live in order to get Emma to believe in magic. ("The Return")

In fear Regina may try to get back at her now that she is a free woman, Mary Margaret has August install new locks on her apartment door. Emma, also present, mentions to them that she is building a custody case against Regina with Mr. Gold's help. August later insists he can help her beat Regina, if she comes with him, but she refuses. At his inn room, August phones Mr. Gold, asking to meet him at the pawnshop. Upon arriving there, August walks in, seeing his father Marco collecting a broken clock from Mr. Gold. Marco, on his way out, greets August, who is too stunned to respond. After Marco is gone, Mr. Gold prompts him about why he seems more scared to talk to his own father than he is of dying. August avoids the topic, and instead, talks about needing help with Emma, because he can't get her to believe in magic while she is preoccupied with the custody battle. Mr. Gold expresses doubts about trusting August, considering his true nature, but he agrees to nudge Emma in August's direction. After being refused help by Mr. Gold, Emma turns to August for assistance with the custody battle. August takes her to the place where she was abandoned as a baby, confessing he was the seven-year-old boy who found her, and he shows her the tree they both came through from the Enchanted Forest. He reveals details about Emma only she would know about, such as the blanket she was wrapped in as an infant. When August admits he is Pinocchio, she does not believe him, so he shows her his wooden leg, but her doubt in magic causes her to only see a normal leg. As they argue, he becomes increasingly upset Emma doesn't want to believe she is the townspeople's only hope. She flat out refuses to be responsible for everyone else's happiness, and then leaves. Failing to help Emma, August accepts his inevitable fate of turning back into wood. With little time left, he decides to spend it with his father. While Marco is in his workshop fixing the clock, August tells him how to repair it while also asking to be his apprentice. Marco states he cannot pay him, but August is fine with that. ("The Stranger")

As his transformation into wood speeds up, August is visited by Henry, who is panicking over Emma's desire to leave Storybrooke forever. August admits he wasn't able to make Emma believe in magic, and now, he is paying the price for that failure. He reveals his now wooden arm, which he calls the "unvarnished truth", and Henry realizes from seeing the arm that August is Pinocchio. August explains how hard it is for him to continue moving and soon it will be hard to breathe, and he just wants to spend his last bit of time with Marco. Having failed at the mission, he encourages Henry to continue Operation Cobra without him. ("An Apple Red as Blood")

After Henry falls into a coma from taking a bite of the apple turnover, which Regina poisoned, Emma finally believes in the curse. She goes to August's room at the inn, hoping he can help her cure Henry. August cannot open the door and Emma enters, seeing him lying on the bed, mostly turned to wood. Emma doubts she can save Henry on her own, but he manages to tell her that she can succeed without him, just before completely turning to wood. ("A Land Without Magic")

After First Curse

After Emma breaks the dark curse and magic arrives in Storybrooke, August is still completely wooden as he lays in his bed at Granny's Bed and Breakfast, but is able to blink and is fully functional in his capacity to move. Sometime following this, he goes to Mother Superior and asks her to return him back to how he used to be, but she can do no such thing if he has not stayed selfless, true and brave. Too ashamed to let his father Marco and the other townspeople see him in his current state, August disappears into the woods, seeking refuge in an abandoned trailer. Later, Marco puts up missing posters, believing his son is still a lost child. After an uproar in which many citizens, including Marco, nearly leave town and lose their Enchanted Forest memories, Henry reveals August's true identity to Marco. Marco visits August's room in Granny's inn, but discovers an empty bed. ("We Are Both," "Selfless, Brave and True")

Keeping the promise he made with Neal years ago, August sends him a pigeon to New York City with a postcard, to let Neal know that the curse is broken. ("Broken," "Tallahassee")

Many weeks later in the woods, August is accidentally hit by an arrow loosed by Mary Margaret while she is practicing archery. After pulling the arrow out from his body, he retreats back into the trailer. Mary Margaret finds him there and tries, unsuccessfully, to convince him into returning to Storybrooke. She explains that many things have happened since he has been gone, such as Henry's father, Neal, returning. This gives August hope that Emma and Neal are back together, but she admits Neal is engaged to someone else. August is saddened by the news, as he was responsible for separating Emma and Neal years ago, and had hopes they reconciled. Despite the bad things he has done, August desires redemption, but he laments that there are things someone can't come back from. Mary Margaret believes everyone deserves a second chance, which August thinks is easy for her to say because she's never needed forgiveness or redemption, not knowing what has transpired between her, Regina, and Cora. She states it is time for him to stop feeling sorry for himself, but he asks her to leave if she truly wants to help him. Overhearing Mary Margaret tell Emma about August's location, Tamara pays him a visit, offering him the Dragon's cure, which he can get from her apartment in New York if he agrees to leave town and never return. Unable to deny his own selfishness, August uses Tamara's car to drive out of town, but in the vehicle, he spots a photo of Tamara and her grandmother, which helps him realize she lied about having cancer. Returning to town, he rushes into the sheriff's office to find Emma, but because she isn't there, he calls her instead. Before he can warn her about Tamara, the phone line cuts off, having been snapped by Tamara. August owns up to living a life of utter selfishness, cowardice, and dishonesty, and admits that he knows in his heart, only he himself can truly fix the problem without the use of magic or science. He threatens to expose Tamara for all she has done, but she uses the taser on him, mortally wounding him. August, collapsing outside the station in his father's arms, makes a final attempt to warn Emma about Tamara, but he only manages to say the word "her" before passing away in Marco's arms. However, since August was unselfish, brave and true, Mother Superior gives him another chance at life, reverting him to a eight-year-old Pinocchio. Emma asks him what he has been trying to warn the Storybrooke citizens about, but Pinocchio has no memories of the events that led up to August's death. ("Selfless, Brave and True")

Pinocchio resumes family life with Marco and one day meets Henry at the park. Much to Neal's amusement, the two boys get along well. ("Lacey")

While Mother Superior is attempting to make a memory potion to restore lost memories, she takes one of Pinocchio's hairs as one of the ingredients, due to him being "someone who returned to who he should be and who wasn't cursed". Succeeding in brewing an elixir, she gives it Leroy to restore Mr. Clark's memories. She also gives him a second vial to pass on to Mr. Gold to use on Belle ("And Straight On 'Til Morning")

After Second Curse

In Regina's quest to find the Author, she learns from Henry that August once added the Pinocchio fairytale to the storybook. Although August has since reverted to being Pinocchio, she suspects the boy is the key to her answers. With Marco, Pinocchio arrives to Regina's office, where he looks at the book pages, but cannot recall anything from his time as August. As her patience wanes, Regina asks Emma to help trigger Pinocchio's memories since she and August spent so much together in the past. Emma then talks with the boy about all the things he did as August, but he still cannot remember. Frustrated, Regina vents that Pinocchio is not trying hard enough and she states his head is still be made out of wood, which greatly angers Marco. To diffuse the situation, Emma and Henry take Pinocchio to grab a snack from the vending machine. While they are gone, Marco trades insults with Regina and tells her to stay away from his son. Later, she apologizes for her behavior, to which Marco provides her with August's old bag that may contain something useful. ("Unforgiven")

One night at the shop, Pinocchio and Marco finish constructing a wooden rocking horse when Regina enters, wishing to talk, but instead, she casts a sleeping spell on them. Having duped Cruella, Maleficent and Ursula into believing she is still a villain, Regina is instructed by them to kidnap Pinocchio, who the trio need in order to find the author. Sneaking in, Emma tries to talk her out of taking Pinocchio, but the latter insists on dealing with the situation alone and she promises to protect the boy if things get out of hand. By Cruella's car, Regina and Maleficent bring Pinocchio to a cabin in the woods, where Mr. Gold reverts the boy to August so they can torture him for information about the Author. ("Enter the Dragon")

Under intense questioning, August states he obtained research about the Author from the Dragon, but Mr. Gold suspects he is lying and steals a potion from the nuns to force him to tell the truth. After being force-fed the concoction, August briefly reverts to wood, which causes his nose to grow for every lie he tells. Eventually, he admits the Sorcerer trapped the Author behind a door. Mr. Gold demands to know where the door is, and although August has no idea where it is, he insists Regina knows about a storybook page illustration of the door. While Mr. Gold believes the door is in another physical location, in truth, the door on the page itself can be opened to free the Author, though August says nothing to correct Mr. Gold's assumption. Since August doesn't know that Henry currently has the page, the answer he gives Mr. Gold about the door's whereabouts is regarded as truthful and doesn't trigger the potion's lie detector. Once Regina and Maleficent leave with Mr. Gold to search the Sorcerer's mansion for the door, Cruella stays to guard him until Emma and her parents take her out to rescue him. They are stopped by Ursula, who relents after regaining her singing voice and reconciling with her father. While resting at the loft, August learns Regina is actually spying on the villains, and he reveals the door in the illustration can be opened to free the Author. ("Poor Unfortunate Soul")

As August's condition deteriorates because of the recent magic used on him, he is taken to the nunnery, where Mother Superior looks after him. While Emma continues to worry about August and how he is doing, Hook becomes jealous over her concern for the man. To reassure him that her feelings for August are entirely platonic, she elaborates on her difficulty in making friends after shutting out her first friend, and August has been the only exception since then. Once August gets better, David and Mary Margaret visit him and Hook notifies Emma. After showing August the key to the door illustration, Emma expresses interest in asking the Author questions about her story. However, there's no guarantee this Author wrote her story as August reveals there have been many Authors over time; each chosen by the Sorcerer and his Apprentice to record tales in the book. August also explains that the last known Author began manipulating stories so the Apprentice imprisoned him in the door illustration. Despite this, Emma recognizes the Author can still alter the course of things and she unlocks the door with the key. The Author, Isaac, is freed, but before Emma can ask anything, he flees. ("Best Laid Plans")

While everyone is checking the Sorcerer's library for clues on how to stop Isaac and Mr. Gold, Emma asks August for help. Upon arriving there, August shows them a picture of the Apprentice, who can help them stop the Author. Hook, recognizing him as the man Mr. Gold made him trap in the hat, admits what he did. Later, August joins them at the nunnery, where Mother Superior frees the Apprentice from the hat. ("Operation Mongoose Part 1")

Before Third Curse
At some point, August learns about Emma becoming the Dark One. But he's "busy writing on his typewriter in Marco’s garage".[3] ("Operation Mongoose Part 2")

After Third Curse

In an effort not to disturb a sleeping Marco, August goes into the house shed to write a story on his typewriter. As he is typing, Emma comes in and brings up a time in her past when he used The Ugly Duckling story to inspire her into changing her fate. She asks if he had known who she was then, and August confirms he did because he kept tabs on her and wanted to make sure she knew that she didn't belong on the streets. When Emma gives him the pages from The Ugly Duckling story, he muses about how happy he was to know she picked the surname "Swan", as he took it to be a sign that she was on her way to being who she wanted to be. Emma admits she is unsure of herself even now, however, she has belief that she can make her own destiny. August encourages her to continue on this path by telling her that belief is the first step. ("Tougher Than the Rest")

August is later visited by David and Hook, who want to know more about Pleasure Island and if August ever saw Robert, David's father, there. He recognizes David's lucky coin, which Robert was wearing at the time that he saw him, and reveals Robert was seeking his other son, James, though he never knew David had any connection to them. August offers to give David the pages he took from Henry's book that recount what happened there, but David declines, believing he already knows who was responsible for his father's death: King George. Despite this, August locates the pages and later turns them over to Hook outside of his and Emma's house before driving off on his motorcycle. ("Murder Most Foul")

After Sixth Curse
After the realms become united, he and his father Geppetto attend a coronation at the royal castle, where Regina, having been elected as Queen by the citizens of the United Realms, is crowned "the Good Queen" by Snow White. However, it is unknown if this Pinocchio is supposed to be August who was reverted into a child again, or the Pinocchio from the Wish Realm who was reverted into a child. ("Leaving Storybrooke")

Family

Donna
 
 
 
Stephen
 
 
 
 
 
 
Geppetto
Marco
 
 
Pinocchio
August Booth

Notes:

  • Solid lines denote parent-child blood relationships
  • Dashed lines denote marriages, adoptions, and relationships that result in offspring
  • denotes the deceased
  • Pinocchio/August is the adopted son of Geppetto/Marco

Trivia

Etymology

  • August is named after Wayne Booth,[4] 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

Baby found by Chantey's Lobster House.
7 YEAR OLD BOY FINDS
BABY ON SIDE OF ROAD
M. SOPARLO
NEWS REPORTER
A local boy discovers a newborn wrapped in a blanket on
a roadside. Police ask public for any information
regarding parents' identity.
Yesterday afternoon, a young boy
found a newborn infant by the side of
the interstate highway when taking a
shortcut home from school.
The boy, whose identity is not being
released, first thought that the baby
girl was a plastic toy, but upon
further examination he realized it
[illegible word] fact a child. "I didn't
hear any crying so I thought it was
[three illegible words] kid," he said,
"but when I got closer I saw its hand
[illegible word] I [illegible word] home and called
the [illegible word]".
[two illegible words] that the baby was
wrapped in a blanket with the name
"Emma" embroidered into it. The
[three illegible words] immediately to the
[three illegible words] inspection and
[two illegible words] appears to be
[illegible word].
[three illegible words] being referred to as
[two illegible words]" was but hours old
[five illegible words] any of
the local hospitals and it did appear
that the birth took place at the scene.
Authorities also are looking into early
departures of pregnant patients from
area hospitals but none have been
reported at this time.
A search is underway for the child's
parents and the sheriff's department is
asking for the public’s help in identify-
ing her. Anyone with information
regarding the identity of either [obscured]
mother or the father of Baby [obscured]
should contact the police inf[obscured]
The mother will not n[obscured]
charged if she is loca[obscured]
Sheriff's department. [obscured]
would like to make [obscured]
talk to her about th[obscured]
birth. The immedi[obscured]
insight into the ch[obscured]
Baby Emma is e[obscured]
Of the local sheriff’s [obscured]
being looked after at [obscured]
more information co[illegible] [obscured]
  • August claims to have spent a whole year without a roof over his head, visiting places as far as Nepal. ("Red-Handed")
    • 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. ("Red-Handed")
  • The complicated wooden lock August installed on Mary Margaret's door hints to skills he learned from his father. ("The Stranger")
  • August seems unaware Storybrooke is the "land without magic" until Mr. Gold points out his foolishness. ("The Stranger")
  • Pinocchio's statement to the police, found in Emma's file, says:[7]


I was riding my bike after school on a side street by
the highway. On this street there is a food place called
Chantey's [illegible word] seafood spot my friend's [sic] meet from time
to time. As I past [sic] the [illegible word] table by the shack, I saw a
weird doll lying on the ground. So I went to pick it up, but
it wasn't a doll at all. It was a small baby girl. She
was wrapped in a blanket with the word Emma on it. I
was super shocked. I didn't know what to do so I rushed
home and told my mom. She called the police and got help.
("Firebird")

Production Notes

  • When Eion Bailey auditioned for August, he didn't know that he was auditioning for adult Pinocchio. The audition material merely consisted of two scenes from the 1967 biographical crime film Bonnie and Clyde.[9]
  • August's scenes in "Hat Trick" were cut.
  • In the episode script for an "An Untold Story", the Dragon refers to August as a "conflicted man, but one who knew where to look".[10] That line did not end up in the final episode, as well as Emma's surprised reaction at the Dragon knowing him.
  • By the time of "The Song in Your Heart", Jakob Davies had become too old to play Pinocchio and the role was instead played by Jakob's younger brother Jack, who looks very much like him. Jack had never wanted to act but did this as a service to his brother, "to keep Pinocchio in the family".[1]
  • August was supposed to have been the one to teach Henry how to ride his motorcycle before his departure for the New Enchanted Forest. However, that part of the dialogue did not make to the final cut of the Season Seven premiere.[11]

Lost

  • August is the eighth month of the year; a reference to the second Lost number.
  • August's license plate features the number 23,[12] the fourth number from Lost. ("True North" et al.)
  • Phuket, where August traveled to, is referred to on Lost, including the similarly named episode "Stranger in a Strange Land". ("The Stranger," "Selfless, Brave and True")
  • The airplane Pinocchio is startled by has the Oceanic Airlines logo on it.[13] Oceanic Airlines is the airline of the pivotal flight 815 on Lost. ("The Stranger")
  • August woke up in Phuket at 8:15 A.M., two of the Lost numbers. ("The Stranger", "Selfless, Brave and True")

Props Notes

Set Dressing

Costume Notes

Goofs

Appearances

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hood, Amy (May 3, 2017). Pinocchios All Around! Brothers Jakob and Jack Davies Sharing the Classic Role for Once!. Once Upon a Fan. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. “Lucky for fan favorite Jakob Davies, he has a younger brother, Jack, who looks very much like him, This led to him being able to help bring Pinocchio back to our screens for the musical episode!”
  2. LISTINGS: ONCE UPON A TIME: Air Date: Sunday, January 15, 2012. Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC. Episode Title: (#109) "True North".. The Futon Critic. “Guest starring are Eion Bailey as stranger”
  3. Abrams, Natalie (August 16, 2015). The Hot Seat: 'Once Upon a Time' bosses answer your burning questions. Entertainment Weekly. “Is August (Eion Bailey) aware that Emma is the Dark One? HOROWITZ: He is aware, but he's right now busy writing on his typewriter in Geppetto’s garage.”
  4. Neumyer, Scott (September 27, 2013). Q&A: ‘Once Upon a Time’ Creators on Having a Role for Kelly Clarkson. Rolling Stone. “When we did August W. Booth, we named him after the guy who coined the term “unreliable narrator” and, we started to having him lying in scenes. Our audience is so clever and they’re so smart that they immediately picked up on it.”
  5. File:119Title.png
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  9. Who is August? Eion Bailey Speaks. Insider (April 22, 2012). “Insider.com: Once Upon A Time is a very mysterious show, on which you play the most mysterious character to date -- how much about the role did you know coming in? Eion Bailey: Nothing. [laughs] The audition material was from Bonnie & Clyde. I read a couple scenes from that, so I knew what tone they were going for based off that. But that's all I had to go on.”
  10. TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) on X, formerly Twitter: Here's another #OnceUponATime #scripttease -- hope to see ya Sunday for the 2 hour season 5 finale at 7/6c! (May 13, 2016). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  11. File:7x01 - Hyperion Heights - Sneak Peek 1
  12. File:109MotorBikeAboutToStop.png
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  14. File:119FindsDonkey.png
  15. Once Upon a Time - Behind the Magic, London: Titan Books, October 2013, p. 68
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    Once Upon a Time - Behind the Magic, London: Titan Books, October 2013, p. 173
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