Belle (Once Upon a Time)

Belle Gold
Once Upon a Time character
Promotional photograph of Emilie de Ravin as Belle.
First appearance	"Skin Deep"
Created by	Adam Horowitz Eddy Kitsis
Portrayed by	Emilie de Ravin
Information
Aliases	Lacey Belle French Margie, Verna [1]
Occupation	Librarian Barfly (formerly) Maid (formerly) Noblewoman (formerly)
Family	Sir Maurice / Moe French (father) Colette (mother, deceased)
Spouse(s)	Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold (husband)
Significant other(s)	Gaston (ex-fiancée, deceased) Will Scarlet
Relatives	Baelfire / Neal Cassidy (stepson, deceased) Henry Mills (step-grandson) Peter Pan (father-in-law, deceased)
Abilities	Intellectual

Belle Gold (née French), briefly known as Lacey, is a fictional character in ABC's television series Once Upon a Time. She is portrayed by Emilie de Ravin, who became a series regular in the second season and onwards after making recurring appearances in the first season, and has become a fan favorite since her debut.^[2] She is both based on the character from Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, and the Disney princess of the 1991 film of the same name.

Character background

In the Enchanted Forest, Belle is the daughter of Sir Maurice and his wife Colette. She is the true love of Rumplestiltskin.

During the Ogre Wars during an Ogre attack Colette protected her daughter at the expense of her own life. Belle does not remember this and to get back her memories she travels to Arendelle where she meets Princess Anna, and is partially responsible for her being caught by the Snow Queen. When her father's realm is again threatened by the ogre wars, Rumplestiltskin offers to protect it in exchange for Belle becoming caretaker of his estate. Belle accepts the deal and the pair form a bond until Rumplestiltskin mistakenly believes that Belle is working for Regina and forces her to leave forever. Belle later joins an expedition to hunt the Yaoguai, a monster terrorizing a distant kingdom. Using her knowledge of books, she teams up with Mulan to defeat the beast, which turns out to be a cursed Prince Phillip. She then intended to return to Rumplestiltskin, though the Evil Queen captures her, even as Belle defiantly tells her that she will never keep her apart from Rumplestiltskin. Then, the Evil Queen falsely claims to Rumplestiltskin that Belle committed suicide, upsetting him.

In Storybrooke, Belle is kept beneath the town's hospital for 28 years by Regina. She is later released by Jefferson and finds Mr. Gold (Rumplestiltskin), professing her love for him when the curse is broken and standing beside him as he brings magic to Storybrooke. When Gold finds a way to leave Storybrooke without losing his memories, Belle is shot by Captain Hook, causing her to fall across the border and lose her memory again. Belle later "remembers" her cursed self as a scantily-clad barfly named Lacey, who encourages the darker urges in Gold. Gold later finds a potion that returns her original identity, after which she does not use the name "Lacey". As Mr. Gold, along with Emma Swan, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, and Captain Hook travel to retrieve a kidnapped Henry from Neverland, he gives Belle a protection spell to cast around Storybrooke.^[3] He encounters a form of Belle frequently in Neverland as an illusion to act as a crutch to his cowardliness;^[4] she is later revealed as his father Peter Pan's shadow in disguise. The two are reunited when the group return to Storybrooke after retrieving Henry, though Gold sacrifices himself to kill his father. However, Pan's curse remains and Belle, along with the other inhabitants are sent back to their original worlds.

In the Enchanted Forest, Belle and Neal travel to the Dark One's vault. To the disapproval of Belle, Neal unlocks the vault, resurrecting Rumplestiltskin but sacrificing himself. Belle is returned to Storybrooke when Snow and Charming enact a new curse to stop Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West from taking their baby. Upon his freedom, Mr. Gold proposes to Belle after trusting her with his dagger (unknown to her, it is a replica) and the two are married. Belle eventually learns of his deception, banishing her husband from the town. Gold manages to return to the town, only to find Belle in a romantic relationship with Will Scarlet. As Gold's condition worsens, being consumed by the Dark One's powers, Belle confesses to him that she does not love Will. The Apprentice removes the darkness from Gold's heart, though he remains in a comatose state whilst the darkness is taken in by Emma Swan. With the other residents, Belle transports to the Enchanted Forest, taking Emma to Camelot in order to find Merlin and remove her darkness. However, weeks later, they return to Storybrooke with missing memories as to how they failed.

Character development and reception

The producers had planned to make the Belle character a recurring role in the series,^[5] but after sporadic appearances in the first season, she was promoted to a series regular in the second.^[6]

Had de Ravin not accepted the Belle role, she would've gone on to star in a television series called Americana; ABC decided to pass on the pilot in 2012.^[7]

de Ravin's fellow co-star on Once Upon a Time, Keegan Connor Tracy (who plays The Blue Fairy/Mother Superior), also played Belle in the 2015 TV movie Descendants.

References

External links

• Belle at the Internet Movie Database

Once Upon a Time Edward Kitsis Adam Horowitz Episodes Season 1 2 3 4 5 Characters Mary Margaret Blanchard Emma Swan Regina Mills David Nolan Henry Mills Mr. Gold Hook Belle Zelena Robin Hood Universe Creatures and races Items Sequences Related Awards and nominations Once Upon a Time in Wonderland characters Category