Origin
In his story, a miller lies to a king about the abilities of his daughter, claiming she could spin straw into gold. The King then had the girl shut in a tower room with straw and a spinning wheel, ordered to spin the straw into gold or be executed. The girl is in distress until Rumpelstiltskin appears and offers her a deal. He would spin straw into gold for her… for a price. For the first night his payment was her necklace, for the second one her ring. Having nothing left of value and needing one more night to finish the job, the girl is forced to promise him her first-born child would become his.
The impressed king married the girl and she soon became pregnant. When she gave birth, Rumpelstiltskin appeared to claim her child. She offered him all her wealth in exchange but the goblin remained indifferent. He at last offered her a challenge. Having never told her his name, the young queen had to guess it or forfeit her child. Then he returned to his remote mountain cottage to wait. He danced and started singing in anticipation of his prize, his song revealing his name. The name was overheard by a spy and told to the queen. She was thus able to say his name and have Rumpelstiltskin depart empty-handed.
Creation
Rumpelstiltskin is the protagonist of a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. His first published was in the 1812 edition of their “Children’s and Household Tales”. The name derives from “Rumpelstilzchen” (German: Little Rattle Stilt) and is a reference to the rumpelstilz, a type of goblin. In tradition a rumpelstilz would make noises by rattling posts and rapping on.
Character Evolution
Rumpelstiltskin’s name has been spelled many ways, sometimes different ways in the same depiction of the story. These spellings include of; Rumpelstiltskin, Rumplestiltskin, Rumplestilzchen, Rumpelstilzchen, Rumpelstilz, Rumpel (Short form), and Rumple (Short form.)
Other Versions
Shrek Forever After
Rumpelstiltskin is the main villain of the final Shrek film from 2010, tricking Shrek into making a deal with him to give him his old life back, but magic always comes with the price. This new world is nearly apocalyptic, all to Rumpelstiltskin’s plan. After defeat, everything goes back to normal. This Rumpelstiltskin is based more off the villainous depictions with the devil red hair. Rumpelstiltskin was voiced by Walt Dohrn.
Once Upon A Time
Rumpelstiltskin is a main character of all seven seasons of the ABC live action drama. Rumpelstiltskin was once a regular father of a young boy named Neal and husband of a snarky woman named Milah. Milah usually verbally abused her husband for being coward after he injured himself to avoid war. After Milah left him, Rumpelstiltskin tried his best to raise their son and protect him, however with the war continuing and drafting of the older children occurring, Rumpelstiltskin knew that his son would soon be dragged to war. In order to protect Neal, he broke into the Dark One’s lair, where he was tricked into killing and freeing the Dark One, ending in Rumpelstiltskin becoming the new Dark One. Using this new power he would protect his son, but slipped into villainy quick. After Neal left, no longer wanting to live the life he was, Rumpelstiltskin let him go and continued to be the Dark One.
Rumpelstiltskin became known for his magic deals, making deals with both heroes and villains, as long as something is given to him in exchange. He also trained multiple sorcerers and witches, such as the Evil Queen, the Queen of Hearts, the Wicked Witch, and the Mad Hatter.
One of these deals was with a kingdom to protect them from ogres, and in exchange he’d get their princess, Belle to be his maid. The Beast from the story of Beauty and The Beast would be a metaphor for Rumpelstiltskin as he slowly found himself caring for Belle. Rumpelstiltskin foresaw the birth of the savior, Emma, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. He was at one point captured by the heroes, where he gave them advice on how to prevent the Evil Queen’s curse, however they fail to do so.
After the curse, Rumpelstiltskin in Storybrooke goes by the name of Mr. Gold. Rumpelstiltskin was aware of the truth, but continued to pretend to Regina to just be Mr. Gold. He was eventually reunited with both Belle and Neal, discovering his son was the father of Henry Mills, making him his grandson.
In season three, Rumpelstiltskin went through a redemption arc when his father, Peter Pan kidnaps Henry. Rumpelstiltskin sacrificed his life to stop his father. He however was resurrected by Neal and Belle soon after, but just before being turned into the slave of Zelena after she kills his son, Neal. Rumpelstiltskin was eventually freed, and helped the heroes defeat the Wicked Witch. Rumpelstiltskin got his revenge when he stabbed Zelena, thinking he had killed her.
Rumpelstiltskin returned to his villain ways in season four, forming a team of villains to try to find the author and give them their happy endings. Rumpelstiltskin lost the darkness in season five, he went back to trying to help the heroes before becoming the Dark One again. In season six he was revealed to be the son of The Dark Fairy. Rumpelstiltskin had another son with Belle, named Gideon. Gideon was briefly kidnaped by Belle, but they reunited. After a magic mishap, Gideon was deaged back into an innocent baby.
In season seven, a new curse takes place, removing his memory of being Rumplestlitskin, and now believes he is Detective Weaver. While in flashbacks he is revealed to have lost Belle to old age, after having spent years in a realm where time goes faster. After being shot by Alice, he regained his memories and helped defeat the villain of the season, Mother Gothel. His story would end as he finally dies being freed of the Dark One’s curse and gets to be with Belle in the afterlife.