- “This castle belongs to the Dark One. It is you who trespasses.
He hasn't been seen since the Queen's curse. If he ever shows up, I would be happy to vacate.” - ―Mulan and Robin Hood[src]
Rumplestiltskin's Castle (also known as the Dark Castle) is a location featured in the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time. It was the home to Rumplestiltskin before Belle decided to join him and work for him in exchange for him protecting her father's kingdom from the ogre wars. It serves as one of the main settings in the series.
It is based on the Beast's Castle from Beauty and the Beast.
History[]
Before the First Curse[]
Rumplestiltskin is residing in his castle when Jiminy Cricket hands him goods while on his rounds. For his services, Rumple gives him gold straw, but he thinks the young man is wanting something else too. Jimminy reveals he wants to be free from his parents as he feels isolated with them. The Dark One gives him a potion but Jimminy can't pay him. Rumplestitltskin says he can give him his parents as payment, which makes him wonder what will happen to them while in the Dark One's possession, but he assures him they will be in safe hands. Jimminy is then free of his parents and they are eventually turned into puppets.
Some time later, Ingrid from Arendelle visits the castle with her sisters Gerda and Helga. The sisters ask for help from Rumplestitltskin in hopes of him removing her ice magic. Rumple gives Ingrid special gloves that will help her conceal her magic. However, Helga and Gerda don't agree with the deal as they think their sisterly bond with Ingrid will be enough to protect her, but Ingrid agrees to the gloves and urn, so they can keep her from endangering anyone she encounters.
Regina Mills later asks Rumplestitltskin for help in resurrecting her deceased lover, Daniel Colter and agrees to train her in magic. He soon learns that she has a half-sister named Zelena, whom Rumple also trains. Rumple returns to his castle to find Zelena there, but he tells her he can't stay as he must continue training Regina. This angers Zelena as she believes she is far more powerful than Regina. Zelena's anger causes her to suddenly turn green as she looks in the mirror. During this, Regina is excelling in magic and is desperate to bring Daniel back to life, but Rumple tells her it is impossible to bring the deceased back to life. Regina is heartbroken and Jefferson, who has made a deal with Rumplestitskin, offers to help Regina by bringing a doctor from another world to revive Daniel. Regina agrees and gives Jefferson a free passport which allows him to roam the kingdom freely.
At an unknown point in time, Sir Maurice asks Rumplestitltskin's help in stopping the ogre wars, to which he agrees, but with one condition; Maurice's daughter, Belle to work for him and live in the castle. Although Maurice denies it, Belle agrees and goes with Rumple in order to protect her kingdom. Belle is thrown in the dungeon of Rumplestiltskin's castle and he lists all of Belle's tasks and when he jokes about one of the duties, she accidentally drops a tea cup and chips it.
After becoming Rumplestitltskin's servant, Belle spends her time in the dungeon, where she cries during the night, much to Rumple's annoyance. Rumplestiltskin storms in and 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 to see a hooded thief stealing a wand. The thief comments that if he aims the arrow, he never misses, aiming it at Rumple, who locks him in the dungeon. That evening, Belle, feeling sorry for the thief, sets him free. When the Dark One returns, he learns Belle set the thief free, he tries to go after him, but Belle persuades him to not give into his vengence and he gives her a library because she loves books. This makes Belle believe that he does have some good in him. Gaston, Belle's fiancee' later attempts to rescue Belle from the castle, but Rumplestiltskin turns him into a rose and gives it to Belle, who, not knowing it is Gaston, cuts the stem, which kills him.
After Regina's husband, King Leopold, dies, she makes a deal with Rumplestiltskin to have a disguise so she can see how the kingdom's people really see her and as a way for her to kill Snow White. Rumple then tells Regina that in order for the disguise to be removed, she must say his name. After seeing how the townspeople really see her, Regina orders Rumple to remove the disguise, saying he was right about how people see her. Now filled with vengence and anger, Regina vows to punish all the townspeople and Rumplestitskin removes the spell, returning Regina back to normal. She smiles wickedly, claiming that the queen is dead and she is now the Evil Queen.
After the First Curse[]
After Neal is shot by Tamara, he falls through a portal and presumed dead by Emma, Mr. Gold and the rest of the family, while in reality, he survives and ends up back in the Enchanted Forest, where he is left unconscious and saved by Princess Aurora, Prince Philip and Mulan, who bring him to their castle and tend to his injuries.
When Neal recovers, he asks Mulan's help returning to his father's castle in an attempt to find out where Emma and Henry went after being assumed dead. When having entered, the castle looks in a bad state, but he can tell that someone has lived here. Robin Hood then suddenly appears and suspects that they are intruders. Neal reveals he is the son of Rumplestitskin, to which Robin imminently believes as he thinks no one would want to admit to that fact. Robin then comments that Rumplestitskin spared his life once in the past.
Neal becomes desperate to find Emma and Henry so searches for anything in the castle that might help him return to them. He finds his father's old walking stick, which opens a door and Robin mentions that he picked up the walking stick hundreds of times but no door appeared. Neal says that that is because it is enchanted with blood magic and since Neal is Rumplestitskin's son, it allows him to use it because he is a blood relative to Rumplestitskin. When Robin opens the door, he finds a crystal ball and Neal comments that magic is the only thing that can help him now and touches the crystal ball in hopes to activate it, but nothing happens. Mulan says Neal should think of Emma and the magic will guide him to her. Neal takes Mulan's advice and the crystal ball shows him an image of Emma in Neverland. Neal then uses Pan's shadow, with the help of Robin's young son, Roland, which takes him to Neverland.
Before the Second Curse[]
Learning that the wicked witch of the west is causing danger, Neal and Belle travel to Rumplestiltskin's castle in hopes to find answers. When they enter a room, Belle finds a candelabra and lights it, which reveals his identity as Lumiere. He claims to have been imprisoned by Rumplestiltskin for breaking a deal with him. In reality, Lumiere is actually working for the wicked witch and tricks them into using a key to open the Vault of the Dark One and resurrecting Rumplestitskin.
After agreeing to set out the following day to find the vault, under Lumiere's direction, Belle and Neal leave as the candle is blown out. Seconds later, Zelena appears and relights it to awaken Lumiere again, who congratulates him into tricking Belle and Neal. Lumiere asks Zelena to free him from his prison, but she forces him to continue under her orders until Rumplestitskin is revived, which is later successful when Neal uses the key to open the vault. However, after opening the vault, Neal is badly injured and Rumple absorbs him, which saves his life. A year later after being in pain from realising his father is inside him, which is keeping him alive, Neal asks Emma to separate him and his father so Rumple, who knows Zelena is the wicked witch, can warn everyone. Neal then dies in Emma's arms. At least a week after Neal's death, the curse is broken and the Charming family, Regina and Hook still don't know who sent Hook the message and memory potion for Emma, for her to return to Storybrooke. It is then revealed that when Rumple was in his castle, after he absorbed Neal, his son managed to briefly leave his father's body and send Killian the message and memory potion, before going back into Rumple's body.
Alternate Timeline[]
When Killian Jones and Emma Swan accidentally find themselves in the past from Zelena's time portal, they realise they need help from Rumplestiltskin in order to return to Storybrooke. The two visit the castle, where Rumple finds them outside, but he tries to kill Hook until Emma is able to convince him they are from the future and that Hook won't hurt him. Emma and Killian explain their situation to Rumplestitltskin that she interrupted her parents' meeting, revealing she is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. When Rumple agrees to help them, Belle comes in and Emma, not wanting to make the timeline worse, introduces herself as Leia. Belle is working for Rumplestitskin at this point in time, and Emma comments it is a miracle that he and Belle fell for each other, much to his surprise, as she is the help. Emma tells Rumplestitskin that Snow White was supposed to steal Prince Charming's ring, which was how they met. Emma tries to show the storybook, but finds the ending is no longer there. Rumple explains that because the past was changed, the story is no longer there and explains it as the ripple effect and agrees to help them open a portal to get them home.
When Emma and Killian are successful in getting the story back on track, they return to the castle, where Rumple tells them only the person with light magic and went through it is able to reopen it. He then mentions he is making a potion for himself so he won't remember this whole thing. He then sends them into a underground section of the castle, to where even Rumplestitskin doesn't want to go. While down there, Emma finally accepts that Storybrooke is her home and not New York. She admits to Hook that being with her parents, but not in the same way, has made her realise how much she has been driving Snow and David away. This allows Emma's magic to return and she is able to reopen the portal to the present day. However, Rumple stops Emma after Hook goes through with a knocked out Marian. Emma demands Rumple lets her go, but he wants to know about finding his son. Emma reveals to him that he does find his son, but he dies and begs that he doesn't let him die in vain or take away his sacrifice. Emma tells Rumple he needs to drink the forgetting potion, which he does as she goes through the portal. Having drank the potion, Rumplestitskin suddenly questions to himself as to why he is in the room, before teleporting away.
After the Third Curse[]
When Belle is under a sleeping curse, Rumplestitskin uses special sand, which teleports him into a dreamland. In this dreamland, Belle is still working for Rumplestitskin in the castle as his servant. The castle is shown to be a lot darker and grimmer compared to what it looked before. When Belle approaches Rumple, he is more like a beast and promises to get him what he wants. Rumplestiltskin is kinder to Belle in this dreamworld and vows to get her to fall in love with him again so her curse can be broken, to which Morpheus tells him there is a time limit for Gold to complete his task. Mr. Gold tells Belle that he has lost his son because of his own desires and selfishness and he will be the best man he can be for her. The two kiss and with a kiss of true love, the curse is briefly lifted, but Belle regains her memories for a short time and denies Gold's desires to be together again and after he says their child will be safe. Belle tells Gold that their relationship is too broken from lies and broken promises to be mended. With Gold's time up, Morpheus appears to Belle and reveals that he is her and Gold's son and tests her about believing her husband's lies. With the test completed, Morpheus warns Belle not to let Mr. Gold destroy them as a family, like he did with his last one. Morpheus then kisses Belle on the forehead, which takes her away from the dreamworld castle and returns her to the real world.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It is shown in "Skin Deep" that there are several items that resemble characters from Beauty and the Beast (1991):
- While the characters don't appear properly, there is a candle and clock that resemble Lumiere and Cogsworth.
- There are segments in some episodes where Belle serves Rumplestiltskin some tea, which is a reference to the 1991 film where Mrs. Potts and Chip serve Belle.
- The chipped cup and tea set are references to Chip and Mrs. Potts from the film.
- There is a hat in the castle that resembles the sorcerer's hat from Fantasia.
- A hammer that looks similar to Thor Odinson's hammer Mjölnir, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, can be seen on a pedestal.
- The wish realm version of the castle is significantly a lot darker than the Enchanted Forest castle. This is to reflect on the fact that Wish Rumple himself, is a lot darker than the original character.
See also[]
External links[]
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