The History of Rumpelstiltskin

He has a backstory; a reason he is the way he is. He does everything he does for his son Baelfire. He goes about this task in the wrong way entirely, thinking he can win Baelfire's love with power and magic. He is manipulative and conniving. His identity has become the nameless characters in all the other fairy tales. For example, he is the Beast from "Beauty and the Beast." In this version of that story the Beast, or Rumpelstiltskin, turns himself into the Beast by becoming the Evil One. His role in this story is why Belle's character is able to influence Rumpelstiltskin to do the right thing and make selfless decisions. .
             In the old versions and the new Once Upon a Time version, Rumpelstiltskin is a blackmailer and an oppressor (Zipes 43-60). This being said making selfless decisions is not something that Rumpelstiltskin is accustomed to doing. He is without a doubt a villain. That is to say he preys on the vulnerability of people. Such as the miller's daughter, and Snow White. .
             Vulnerability is something that we encounter even today with feminism, child abuse, and the Civil rights of the LGBTQ community. These groups are considered to be vulnerable. The character of Rumpelstiltskin appears when people are at their most vulnerable and when they are most desperate. So he can convince them to give up things that are important to them. .
             When people are desperate they seek control. That is what Rumpelstiltskin did in Once Upon a Time when he thought he had no other way to keep his son Baelfire, in fact the entire storyline of Rumplestiltskin in Once Upon a Time revolves around the person of Baelfire ("Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin"). ABC has this to say about their character, "If you've found yourself in a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, your luck has just run out. Magic always comes at a cost, and everyone foolish or desperate enough to make a deal with him finds this out the hard way.