Rumplestiltskin wasn’t always the fearsome creature we know now. A long time ago he was a frightened widower—the village coward, in fact—desperate to protect his son, Baelfire, from the ongoing and bloody Ogre Wars. But when he and Baelfire were caught trying to escape before the boy’s conscription, a chance encounter with an old beggar set him on the path to becoming the Rumple we know. He set out to steal the magical dagger that controlled The Dark One that served the brutal Lord. Rumplestiltskin set fire to the Lord’s castle and stole the dagger, but that wasn’t enough. He had to kill The Dark One with it. The Dark One, who turned out to be the old beggar who set Rumple on this path, was all-too-glad to lose his life and pass his curse on to Rumplestiltskin. But, after his initial horror at the curse wore away, Rumplestiltskin was taken in by his new, magical power and turned from the village coward to the most fearsome person in the land.