Gideon (Once Upon a Time)

Gideon is a character on the ABC series Once Upon a Time. He is first mentioned in "Devil's Due" when Mr. Gold learns of Belle's pregnancy, and is first shown in "The Savior". Gideon is the son of Belle and Mr. Gold.
==Powers and Abilities==
===Former Powers===
*True Love: While in Belle's dream world, he was able to wake his mother from the Sleeping Curse with true love's kiss.
*Conjuration: Gideon has the ability to magically summon objects. He displayed this ability while in Belle's dream.
*Telekinesis: Gideon is capable of manipulating objects or people without physically touching them. This was shown when he threw the Evil Queen to the other side of the street.
*Transfiguration Gideon is able to transform something into something else. This was shown when he turned the Evil Queen into a snake.
*Teleportation: Gideon has the ability to move from one location to another, through a cloud of smoke. This ability extends through objects too.
*Immobilisation: Gideon was able to freeze multiple people at once, stopping them from moving.
*Shapeshifting: The ability to change one's appearance.
*Disintegration: The ability to destroy matter through a cloud of smoke. Gideon demonstrated this by destroying the field of pixie flowers.
===Abilities===
*Skilled Swordsman: As shown in Emma's vision, Gideon is a skilled swordsman, shown to be able to best her in a sword-fight.
*Memory Potion Immunity: While being raised by the Black Fairy, Gideon was able to build an immunity against memory potions, so that they have no effect on him.
*Limited Resistance: After the Black Fairy took Gideon's heart, she had control over him, but Gideon was able to slowly defy her commands.
===Weaknesses===
*Laws of Magic: Like any magic user, Gideon is subject to the laws of magic. As a result he is unable to raise the dead, create love and time travel.
*Leave Storybrooke/Land without magic: Gideon is unable to use magic if he were to leave Storybrooke, unless he brings a magic item along with him.
*Squid Ink: Like all magical beings, he can be immobilized by squid ink.
==History==
When his son, Baelfire, is lethally poisoned by a snakebite, his parents, Rumplestilskin and Milah, go Frederick the Healer for a cure. The cost is expensive, so Milah insists Rumple steal the cure and kill Frederick should it come to it. Rumple is unable to go through with it, but Frederick gives him an alternative: the medicine in exchange for Rumple's second child. Milah is dismayed by what her husband has done, which further deteriorates their marriage. Centuries later, Rumple, now the Dark One, starts an affair with his protege, Cora, and pays a visit to Frederick. To prevent any child he has with Cora from being taken, he kills Frederick to nullify their contract.
While trapped within the Underworld, Mr. Gold creates a crystal ball through a few select ingredients to look for his deceased son whom he believes is trapped there. The spell is enacted in the crystal ball with the intention of finding his son, though instead it shows Belle to him. Initially confused and thinking the crystal ball isn't working, Mr. Gold learns that it showed Belle to him because the spell did work, as its aim was to find his child, and Belle is seen in the ball because she is pregnant and carrying their child. Upon learning this, Hades blackmails Gold into doing his bidding, revealing that Frederick had signed the contract for his child over to him.
When Belle is transported to the Underworld, she learns of her pregnancy from Mr. Gold and how Hades plans to take their baby. Fearing her pregnancy will be sped up like Zelena's was, she places herself under a sleeping curse so that their child is safe from the Underworld god until Rumple finds a way to break the contract. With his father's help, he gets Hades to tear the contract up by holding Zelena, whom the god loves, hostage.
After Hades is defeated, Gold is unable to wake Belle up as she has lost faith in him. His old adversary, Mr. Hyde, gives him a way to awaken her from the curse and directs him to the temple of Morpheus where he sprinkles magical sand on her, transporting him to Belle's dream world. Unbeknownst to him however, the magical sand affects the unborn baby, who appears before Gold as a grown man, under the alias of Morpheus. He leads Gold to the dream world version of his old castle and explains that in Belle's mind, she is still a servant and Gold is still a beast. He warns that if Belle is not awoken within one hour, she will return to the Netherworld, where she will remain forever. Upon seeing his father trying and failing to romance his mother, he finally reveals his identity to his parents. Belle is warned by her son to not let Gold jeopardize their lives like he did with his last family. He then kisses her on the forehead with True Love's Kiss, awakening her from the Sleeping Curse. Taking her son's warnings, Belle distances herself from Gold, not wanting to suffer more heartbreak.
In Storybrooke, Emma begins to receiving visions of a hooded figure who is destined to kill her, though she is unaware that it is Gideon.
Gideon awaits for Belle when she falls asleep and is transported into the Dream World where the two meet and hug. He warns her of how he is in danger from Gold who plans to cut the string of his fate with the Fates' Shears, and tells her that she has the answer in saving him, but she needs to be willing to see it. After Belle's pregnancy is sped up, Gideon comes to her in another vision of the Dream World and tells her she knows what she must do to keep him safe. In the real world, Belle gives birth to her son and names him Gideon. She asks Mother Superior to be his fairy godmother and has him taken away from Storybrooke, where he will safe from Gold.
While travelling to keep him in a safe location, Mother Superior is ambushed by the Black Fairy, his malevolent paternal grandmother. She kidnaps Gideon and takes him to her domain, the Dark Realm - a world where time runs differently. He lives under her ruthless dictatorship and has a suffering childhood as she tries to turn him to the dark side, though throughout his years, he remembers the values his mother tried to impart onto him and tries to be good.
As a child, Gideon finds a copy of Her Handsome Hero amongst the Black Fairy's belongings - the books his mother sent him away with. He keeps it beneath the mattress in his cell and considers it the only thing to get him through the nights. One night the Black Fairy catches him reading it to the boy across his cell Roderick and questions whether he wants to be like the hero of the book he was named after. She then takes Roderick to her tower where she whips him. She leaves his cell door unlocked in order to prove his cowardice, knowing he won't leave.
Over the years Gideon grows strong as he is tutored by the Black Fairy in magic.
As an adult, Gideon arrives to the Black Fairy's chambers where she congratulates him on his 28th birthday. When the Black Fairy realizes the key to her vault is missing, she orders Gideon to find who stole it, and gives him a vile of dark fairy dust to use on the perpetrator. Entering the mines, he orders the young prisoners to confess which one of them are responsible, but when no one steps up, Gideon takes a random person to use as an example before Roderick quickly stops him and admits. Shocked to see his old friend, having believed he was dead, Roderick urges Gideon to do the right thing and help him defeat the Black Fairy. Roderick then goes to tell him of the creation of the Black Fairy's Dark Curse, created by the mining of dark fairy dust. Gideon apologizes to him, admitting he regrets his lack of actions every day and that he was weak. Roderick accepts and then goes on to tell him of a Savior who can help them, but they need a magical orb to help communicate with her. The two then head to where the Black Fairy keeps her most powerful possessions, and there, they find the orb. Just as Gideon is about to use it, the orb shatters and the Black Fairy arrives, revealing that this was a test, that Gideon had failed. The Black Fairy is angered and disappointed at Gideon, but he expresses his regret at now standing up to his "mother" sooner and as Roderick is captured, he attempts to throw the dark fairy dust on her but fails. Angered by this act of treason, the Black Fairy then uses the dust on Roderick, transforming him into a bug, then squashing him, much to the horror of Gideon. He then vows to find the Savior who will defeat the Black Fairy, but she, in retaliation, takes his heart, forcing Gideon to do her bidding - from thereon he is under her control.
Gideon arrives through a portal. Wearing a hooded black cloak, he sees the Evil Queen and turns her into a snake, and heads to his parents' pawnshop. He enters the building and removes his hood to reveal his face and greets his parents with a grim expression.
He explains to them that he is there to kill the Savior, so he can take her powers and become the new Savior, so he can rid the Dark Realm of the cruel reign of the Black Fairy. The following morning, Gold locates his son and Gideon speaks of his determination to kill Emma, thinking he is there to stop him. He arrives on the contrary, insistent on helping him, however Gideon declines his offer and leaves. Later that night, Emma arrives from the Wish Realm and is confronted by Gideon. The two meet each other and begin sword-fighting, though are interrupted by their families. He freezes both parties in attempt to to stop them from interfering and gets ready to kill Emma, before her hand begins trembling. He is ready to kill the Savior, but is blasted by her magic, breaking the sword in the process. Emma holds a piece of the blade to Gideon's throat. Though Gideon is spared, he warns her that he will still kill her before teleporting away.
Gideon breaks into the sheriff's station and unlocks the safe to retrieve the damaged blade, but before he can leave, he is confronted by Mr. Gold, who renders him unconscious. He wakes up to find he is bound to a chair with a cuff preventing him from performing magic, and trapped in the clock tower with his father. Gideon expresses his fear of the Black Fairy, and talks of his determination to defeat her, but Gold warns him that his dark path will only lead to more darkness. Gideon convinces Gold to let him free, and recalls a childhood incident in which the Black Fairy was hurting a boy and Gideon chose not to do anything about it out of fear. Gold concocts a memory potion in order to help him forget his past ordeals and they hug. Gideon however, takes the dagger from Gold and tells him that a memory potion is ineffective on him, having been raised by the Black Fairy. Learning that the sword needs the blood of its forger in order to be repaired, Gideon uses the dagger to force Gold into making him the Blue Fairy created Hrunting - his fairy godmother. Although he is conflicted, he sets of to leave, believing he is doing the right thing. That night, he finds Mother Superior who apologizes for not being able to protect him. He immobilizes her so that he can take her blood, which will remove her magic and reforge the broken blade, but before he can do so, Gold arrives, and volunteers to do so instead, so that Gideon doesn't darken his heart. Fazed by what his father did for him, Gideon thanks his father and gives him back the dagger.
While Hook is aboard the Nautilus, Gideon orders for the vessel to be submerged in order to keep Hook away from Emma.
Going under the alias of Aesop, Gideon disguises himself as a bartender. Comforting an upset Emma, he pretends to have been a citizen of the Land of Untold Stories, and gives Emma a tissue to wipe away her tears, as she talks of her troubles with Hook. Later that night, while Emma comes into contact with Hook through a magical conch shell, his voice is suddenly silenced. Gideon arrives and reveals his true form to Emma, and blackmails her into doing his bidding by using the tissue he gave her, which contain the tears of a Savior, powerful enough to prevent any portals from being created. If she ever wishes to see Hook again, she must do what he says and he orders Emma to do what he never could - kill the Black Fairy.
Attacked by an angered Emma, he tells her that she has no effect on him, that the Black Fairy is the enemy, and that he won't give up his mission, before leaving. The following morning while in the clock-tower, Emma arrives and tells Gideon she will help him defeat the Black Fairy, but as a sign of good faith, he is required to give her pain to her first. Gideon leads Emma to the Sorcerer's Mansion where the nexus of the most powerful magic in Storybrooke is located. He tells her that together, they will be able to create a portal in order to bring Hook back. He instructs her to arrange ingredients, and gives her, her tears. However, before they are able to create a portal, the Black Fairy intervenes in their plans, and sends a giant spider to attack them. Gideon attacks the spider with Emma, though they fail to do any harm and run. Heading downstairs, after the spider seemingly disappears, Gideon pushes Emma into a wall of web and takes the sword. He then leaves as he waits for the spider to kill her so that he can channel her powers to create a portal to the Dark Realm and free the Black Fairy. He leaves as the spider comes to attack Emma and as her life force begins to fade, Gideon uses the swords magic to create a portal. However, before Emma can die, she is saved, destroying the portal. Gideon, tries communicating with his mother, happy that her plan failed, but to his surprise he finds that she was able to come through the portal. She states that despite being under her thrall, a part of him still wanted to help, to which he admits. She then tells him they have work to do.
Gideon accompanies the Black Fairy to Gold's pawnshop where she makes her presence known. Belle urges Gideon to come back to them, but he is unable to do so. Gideon watches as the Black Fairy tells Gold that he will join them willingly and they will become a family. Later at night, Gideon and the Black Fairy come across Emma and Mary Margaret, who are looking for pixie flowers to break a sleeping curse. The Black Fairy introduces herself to the Savior and orders Gideon to destroy all the flowers, though, unbeknownst to her, he manages to keep one alive, faintly resisting control of the Black Fairy. This leads to Gold learning his mother really possessed his son's heart.
While underground helping the Black Fairy look for fairy crystals, the pair confront Regina and Zelena who are there to defeat the Black Fairy and on her order, Gideon throws Regina across the cave. Gideon and Regina then head to the Zelena and the Black Fairy, where he witnesses the Black Fairy use Zelena's magic to turn the crystals light magic, dark. When Zelena removes her own magic to stop the crystals turning dark, the Black Fairy and Gideon look through a crystal ball, where they see Emma use the now-light crystals to wake Mother Superior. She confesses to Gideon that she is scared because the Blue Fairy knows her darkest secret - the real reason she gave up her son.
Eventually, the Black Fairy is defeated, but the spell on Gideon's heart is not undone even with Fiona's death. Gideon finds Emma in the hallway of the mayoral office just after the curse breaks and lunges at her with his sword. His nephew Henry knocks him down with a fire extinguisher, allowing himself and Emma some spare moments to run out, before Gideon groggily gets up to follow them, only for Emma to put a shield on the door to temporarily prevent him from leaving the room. Out on the streets of Storybrooke, Gideon teleports in after grabbing Snow and holding his sword to her neck. He then lets Snow go when Emma tells him to before she begins a duel with him. In the mines, Mr. Gold finds where Fiona hid Gideon's heart and commands his son to stop, but Fiona's fail-safe on the heart prevents Gideon from coming to his senses. Unable to kill Gideon with the risk of darkening her own heart or allowing him to kill her and extinguish all light magic, Emma eventually surrenders by dropping her sword. Gideon apologizes to her, as he had hoped she could save the both of them, before stabbing her in the stomach, causing a bright light to emit from her body. After the light is gone, Gideon seemingly disappears while Emma dies and is restored with Henry's kiss of true love. When Mr. Gold goes back to Belle to tell her of his failure to save their son, the couple embrace as they grieve their shared loss, only to be startled by the sound of a baby's cry. The two turn around to see that, miraculously, baby Gideon has returned to them in his infant form, waiting for his parents in his bassinet. One night sometime after the final battle has ended and peace has resumed in Storybrooke, Belle brings Gideon with her as she accompanies her husband to Granny's, where the reunited family sits down with the other heroes for a peaceful supper.
Gideon grows up happily travelling realms with his parents. When his mother dies of old age, he is overcome with sadness, noting to Mr. Gold that every time he came back, it was like time stood still. Seeing how glum his father is now that Belle is no longer with him, he offers to take the dagger and release him from his Dark One powers so he can be with her in death. Mr. Gold refuses, recalling he once took the dagger for one son and he won't make a similar mistake by giving it to Gideon, and then explains stating that the Guardian is destined to receive the darkness from him, and only then will he be reunited with Belle.
Presumably after the Light Curse where all the magical realms are merged, Gideon reunites with his other relatives.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*With the deaths of his parents, grandparents, his father's ex-wife, and half-brother, Gideon is now the only paternal relative of his nephew, Henry, still alive.
*Gideon has a few similarities with his half-brother Baelfire:
**They both went by different names; Morpheus and Neal Cassidy.
**Both were abducted by their evil grandparents, who they label as villainous figures; the Black Fairy and Peter Pan.
**They temporarily shunned their father for his status as the Dark One.
*Gideon is the Once Upon a Time counterpart of the God, Morpheus from Greek Mythology, although it is never explained why or how he got this title as he is the son of Belle and Rumplestiltskin and not considered a God like Hades or Zeus.
*Gideon also pretends to be Aesop and runs a bar with drinks and decorations that reference fables attributed to Aesop.
==See also==
*Ben (the son of Belle and the Beast in the Descendants franchise).
*Morpheus
Category:Once Upon a Time characters
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