Belle (Once Upon a Time)

Belle French
Background information
Television programs	Once Upon a Time
Portrayed by	Emilie de Ravin
Inspiration	Belle
Character information
Full name	Belle Gold (nee French)
Affiliations	Good
Relatives	Maurice (father) Colette (mother) Rumplestiltskin (husband) Black Fairy (mother-in-law) Peter Pan (father-in-law) Baelfire (stepson) Gideon (son) Henry Mills (step-grandson) Lucy Mills (step-great-granddaugher)
Allies	Emma Swan, Regina Mills, Ruby Lucas, Snow White, Zelena
Enemies	Regina Mills (formerly), Zelena (formerly)
Fate	Dies of old age while living on the Edge of Realms with Rumplestiltskin; later reunites with him in the afterlife

Belle is a character on Once Upon a Time. She was a guest character in Season 1 and Season 7, and a starring character from Season 2 to Season 6.

Biography

In the Enchanted Forest, she allows herself to be taken hostage by the immortal Dark One Rumplestiltskin so that he can protect their kingdom from the Ogre Wars; she becomes his maid and soon warms up to him. However, she is manipulated by the Evil Queen Regina Mills into trying to make Rumplestiltskin human again with true love’s kiss, but he rejects her and lets her go. Belle is then taken hostage by Regina until she casts the Dark Curse.

In Storybrooke, she remains in an asylum, frozen in time for 28 years. When the Dark Curse breaks, Jefferson frees her for revenge on Regina, and she reunites with Rumplestiltskin, now known as Mr. Gold. Belle and Gold begin a relationship, and occasionally help the heroes as they try to live in Storybrooke in peace. Later, Belle is shot by Captain Hook, who wants revenge on Rumplestiltskin, and she loses her memories after falling over the town line. She remains in the hospital, with no memories at all, until Regina gives her fake ones as a party girl, Lacey. Gold comes to accept Lacey when she supports the darkness in him. However, when the town is threatened to be destroyed and kill everyone, Gold manages to restore Belle’s memories. Fortunately, the town is saved.

Belle remains in Storybrooke when Gold goes with his family to save Henry, who has been kidnapped to Neverland. Upon returning, Gold kills himself to destroy his evil father Peter Pan, who reverses the Dark Curse that will return everyone to the Enchanted Forest. Belle is devastated, and returns to the Enchanted Forest and goes with her stepson, the boy Rumplestiltskin lost before he met her, Baelfire, to try and resurrect him from the Dark One Vault. It is discovered that Baelfire must die in order for Rumplestiltskin to permanently live, but Rumple refuses to accept this and absorbs Baelfire into himself so that they can share a body. Belle must flee when Wicked Witch of the West Zelena arrives to take control of Rumplestiltskin. Belle moves in with Snow White, Prince Charming and a redeemed Regina in the latter’s palace. To defeat Zelena with their daughter Emma’s light magic, Snow White casts the Dark Curse again to send everyone back to Storybrooke, as Emma is in the real world.

In Storybrooke, Belle discovers that Gold is alive and under Zelena’s control, who wants to destroy her half-sister Regina. Baelfire is removed from Gold’s body to save him, therefore dying, and when Regina defeats Zelena, Gold kills her for revenge, however she tricks him and lives. Belle marries Gold shortly after, and helps the heroes defeat the Snow Queen. Belle discovers that Gold has reverted to his villainous ways, and catches him torturing his nemesis Hook. Belle, heartbroken, uses the Dark One Dagger to banish Gold from town, and he is unable to return. Six weeks later, Gold returns with the help of the Queens of Darkness, Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula, who want to get their own happy endings. Belle begins a new relationship with Will Scarlet, but Gold makes it up to her and they rekindle their relationship. After the evil author Isaac Heller rewrites reality his own way, Belle becomes the happy wife of the Light One Rumplestiltskin in an alternate timeline. However, Henry and Regina manage to restore the timeline back to normal.

When Emma becomes the Dark One when the darkness becomes unleashed from Gold, Belle travels with the heroes to Camelot to save Emma. Eventually, with Merlin’s help, they are nearly successful, but Hook, who has redeemed and fallen in love with Emma, begins dying because Emma’s dark magic saved him for a nasty wound. Emma tethers Hook’s life to Excalibur and he becomes a second Dark One. Hook immediately succumbs to the darkness and casts the Dark Curse to return to Storybrooke and kill Rumplestiltskin, however Emma uses a dreamcatcher to erase everyone’s memory, including Belle. In Storybrooke, Hook is strong enough to become a hero again, and sacrifices himself to save Storybrooke from all the previous Dark Ones. Belle takes care of Snow’s infant son Prince Neal and Zelena’s unnamed child while the other heroes and Gold journey to the Underworld to save Hook. Zelena, having been banished, returns to Storybrooke to take her baby back, but Belle refuses, and a portal suddenly takes the two and Zelena’s baby to the Underworld. Belle realises Gold must need her, and leaves Zelena without giving her the baby. After Belle gives the baby back to its father Robin Hood, she discovers that Hades brought her to the Underworld because Gold inadvertently sold his second child to him, and she is pregnant with his second child.

Furious with him, Belle asks Zelena for the Sleeping Curse so that she can put herself to sleep and that way her baby will remain safe. Gold puts Belle safety in Pandora’s Box, with intentions to wake her with her father’s kiss. After returning home to Storybrooke after Hades’ death at the hands of a redeemed Zelena, Belle’s father refuses to wake her because he does not want her with Gold, so Gold uses the Olympian Crystal to gain all of Storybrooke’s magic for himself, then flees to New York to try and use the magic to wake Belle. However, she is taken by Mr. Hyde, who proposes a deal with Gold; if Gold allows him and all the citizens of the Land of Untold Stories passage to Storybrooke, he will get Belle back. Gold agrees.

Gold travels to the Dream World to find Belle, and discovers her in a vision of their past in his castle in the Enchanted Forest. Gold tries to make her fall in love with him again, but the dream is also inhabited by their unborn child, who appears as an adult and convinces Belle not to trust Gold. Their son kisses Belle in the dream, allowing to wake up, but at the same time know not to return to Gold. Belle finds a place to stay on the Jolly Roger, which Hook offers to her to make up for shooting her and hitting her in the Enchanted Forest. After Gold’s feud with Hyde becomes known, Gold casts a spell to keep Belle trapped on the boat, and refuse entry to Hyde, who wants to go after Belle to hurt Gold. Jekyll, Hyde’s separated self, gets on the boat, but Belle is saved by Hook, who kills Jekyll (and therefore, Hyde). Later, Zelena tells Belle that Gold has a secret romance with Regina’s separated dark half, the Evil Queen. Belle also discovers that Gold wants to use the Shears of Destiny to change their son’s path; making him love Gold. Belle, with Zelena’s help, attempts to flee town, but Gold stops her. Soon after, the Evil Queen accelerates Belle’s pregnancy, and Emma helps her give birth to her son, Gideon. Belle gives Gideon to the Blue Fairy to protect him from Gold. However, Gold’s estranged mother the Black Fairy, who abandoned him, abducts baby Gideon and takes him to a realm where time moves differently, and Gideon grows into an adult while only a day passes in Storybrooke.

As Belle and Gold argue, Gideon returns to Storybrooke, revealed to be the hooded figure that Emma has been seeing as her killer in mysterious visions. When Gold vows to help stop Gideon from becoming a villain, Belle reluctantly aligns with him, and it is soon revealed that Gideon is good, but under the Black Fairy’s control; she wants to kill Emma, the savior, and gain ultimate power. Gold helps the heroes try and stop this, but the Black Fairy casts the Dark Curse to separate Emma from her family. Belle loses her memories and becomes a timid, lonely woman who lives alone. Gold, furious at what his mother has done to Belle, kills the Black Fairy, and the curse is broken. Gold and Belle travel underground to find where Gideon’s heart is kept; however, Gold finds that Gideon cannot be stopped, and even after his master’s death must still kill Emma. Emma lets herself die, and light wins; Emma is resurrected with Henry’s kiss, while Belle and Gold discover that Gideon is now an infant again.

Some time after the Final Battle, Belle, Gold and baby Gideon attend a family dinner with the heroes at Granny’s Diner. Sometime around a year later, Gold decides to grant Belle’s wishes to the see the world, and travel with Gideon around all the realms. After Gideon ages into an adult, Belle tells Gold that they can try and make him mortal again so that they can live and die together. They move to the Edge of Realms, where Belle says that when the sun eventually sets, Gold will be able to become mortal again. However, Belle grows elderly and reveals that she lied, so that they could have a peaceful life without worry. Belle dies in Gold’s arms, and he dedicates his life into finding the Guardian, the key to making him mortal again so that he can reunite with Belle in the afterlife.

Years later, after Gold becomes Detective Weaver under a new curse, he sacrifices his heart to stop his evil Wish Realm counterpart and save Wish Realm Hook, whose heart is cursed. Rumplestiltskin finds himself in the afterlife finally, and reunites with Belle.