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You will destroy Belle like you destroy everything else.

—Moe French to Mr. Gold src

Sir Maurice, currently known as Moe French, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the twelfth episode of the first season and is portrayed by guest star Eric Keenleyside.

Maurice is based on the merchant from the fairytale of "Beauty and the Beast", Beauty's real father from the Villeneuve version of the fairytale, and on the character of the same name from the Disney film, Beauty and the Beast.

History

Before First Curse

Sir Maurice marries a woman named Colette and they have a daughter, Belle. They live together in a castle in an unnamed kingdom, which Maurice rules over. ("Family Business")

Years later, after Belle has become a young woman, Maurice grows concerned over the frequent ogre skirmishes in the kingdom, as many soldiers have lost their lives in these battles. As a possible solution, he can get troops from Lord LeGume's kingdom, but for this to work, his daughter must marry LeGume's eldest son Gaston. He tells his wife Colette about the idea, and she agrees with it. Maurice tries to encourage Belle to at least meet Gaston, whom she believes is a vain womanizer as the rumors say. When Gaston shows up for the rendezvous, he realizes that Belle is unhappy with the set-up and even offers to leave to ease her discomfort. She then gives him a chance and agrees to go on a walk with him. In the woods, they find a young ogre trapped in a pit. Suspecting ogres are using their young to spy on them, Gaston suggests bringing the fledgling to Maurice's castle, but Belle objects, afraid the men will torture the ogre. Eventually, Belle fetches the mirror of souls, hoping to use it on the ogre to learn if it's evil or not. After getting the mirror, she goes with her father to find Gaston, who claims the ogre attacked him and escaped. Maurice decides the ogre is too dangerous, and after telling Belle to go home, he and Gaston head off with knights to hunt the ogre. The party corner the ogre, but Belle stops Gaston's arrow by shielding the ogre with the mirror. Only then, she notices the ogre has fresh wounds on its back, and that Gaston's reflection in the mirror has demonic eyes. Realizing Gaston tortured the ogre in her absence, she later allows the creature to escape unharmed. Sometime later, Maurice learns the ogres have breached the eastern region and that war is inevitable. He accuses Belle of causing the current dilemma because of her behavior earlier, while she implies humans are to blame for the war because of how they've been treating ogres. Letting the topic go, Maurice instead brings up her betrothal with Gaston, which must happen if he is to gain LeGume's army to protect their kingdom. For her people's sake, she agrees to marry Gaston. ("Her Handsome Hero")

One day, the ogres breach the castle walls, causing Maurice and everyone inside to evacuate. Belle and Colette become trapped within the library, hiding under a table, when an ogre storms into the room. When more ogres show up, Colette holds them off while a guard pulls Belle to safety. Shortly after, Colette dies. Belle, having passed out, is put on bed rest. Grieving for his wife, Maurice prepares a funeral casket and holds a vigil for her. Belle eventually awakens, with no recollection of Colette's sacrifice, and asks him for her mother's whereabouts only to see the ongoing wake. Later, he checks up on Belle. Desperate to remember what happened to her mother, she expresses an interest in tracking down rock trolls, beings who can restore memories, but Maurice doesn't want her to pay the price of magic. When she argues against his opinion, he forbids Belle from leaving the room until the doctors agree her health has improved. Defying his wishes, Belle vanishes to Arendelle, but she returns empty-handed. Realizing he cannot hide the truth any longer, Maurice admits the nature of Colette's death. He mentions the ogres have gotten stronger, to which Belle tells him about a wizard, Rumplestiltskin, who can help them. Despite that there will be a price of magic, Belle asserts she is willing in order to be as brave as her mother was. ("Family Business")

During the war, the ogres ravage the lands, with nearby towns in Maurice's kingdom being destroyed. After the town of Avonlea falls, he desperately waits to hear back from the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin, whom he contacted for help. While chaos reigns outside the castle walls, Maurice, Belle, Gaston and his knights are sheltered in a room. They fear the worst when there is pounding at the door, but instead of a horde of ogres bursting in, Rumplestiltskin magically appears. The Dark One agrees to protect Maurice's kingdom from the ogres if Belle becomes his eternal servant. Shocked at the request, Maurice refuses, but Belle consents to going so her father and kingdom's people will be safe. Months later, Belle and Rumplestiltskin grow to have mutual feelings for each other, but due to a misunderstanding, he suspects she is trying to strip him of his Dark One powers. Choosing his powers over her, he throws Belle out of his castle for good. Sometime after her departure, Belle is kidnapped by the Evil Queen and imprisoned in a palace. The Queen then pays a visit to Rumplestiltskin, claiming that his former maid returned home, where she received cruel treatment from her father because of her association with the Dark One. She tells him Belle had a tragic end after Maurice locked his daughter in a tower and had priests perform exorcisms on her, which ultimately resulted in the girl's death. ("Skin Deep", "Queen of Hearts")

Following many endless days as a prisoner, Belle meets Hook after he breaks into her cell to warn her that Maurice's life is in danger because of Rumplestiltskin. He urges her to tell him where Rumplestiltskin's greatest weakness, the Dark One's dagger is, so he can save her father. A bewildered Belle admits she doesn't know anything about a dagger and insists she can persuade Rumplestiltskin to let her father go. Hook, having made up the lie about Maurice in order to find the dagger, decides Belle is no longer useful and knocks her unconscious. ("Queen of Hearts")

During First Curse
After the casting of the Dark Curse, Sir Maurice becomes a florist named Moe French who runs a flower business, Game of Thorns. On the day prior to Valentine's Day, he is unloading flowers from his truck when his landlord, Mr. Gold, asks him to pay up on his late loan fees. Since he doesn't have the requested money, Mr. Gold takes his truck for time being. Moe attempts to stop the man's henchman from possessing the vehicle, but he is forced to jump out of the way as the truck is driven away. This heartless act angers Moe greatly, and Regina, having witnessed the entire spectacle, subtly suggests robbing Mr. Gold as revenge. He follows through with the scheme and steals various valuables from Mr. Gold's home. Unknown to Moe, Regina is setting him up to take the fall when she herself snatches a precious belonging from Mr. Gold. Sheriff Emma is able to retrieve all the stolen items except one, to which Mr. Gold takes matters into his own hands by kidnapping Moe to an abandoned cabin. While gagged and bound, Moe is continuously questioned by Mr. Gold about the missing item is, but when given the chance to speak, he protests that it wasn't his fault. This one sentence drives Mr. Gold into a rage as he starts beating Moe with a cane as he blames him for causing pain towards "her". Emma bursts into the room to stop the assault, and while Moe is sent to the hospital, she arrests Mr. Gold for physical battery charges. Later, at the hospital, Moe receives a full-body cast for his injuries. ("Skin Deep")

After First Curse
Upon remembering his true identity after the Dark Curse is broken, Moe searches for his daughter Belle. He has no success until Mr. Gold comes to his flower shop saying he is looking for Belle, who has just gone missing, and just wants to know she is okay. Moe rebukes Mr. Gold, and at some point, hires William Smee to find his missing daughter. Smee succeeds in doing so, to which daughter and father are tearfully reunited. When Moe demands that his daughter to leave Mr. Gold permanently, Belle refuses, saying that she is her own person and her father cannot tell her what to do. However, Moe believes he knows what is best for her. Sadly, he orders Smee to take Belle underground to the mines and across the town line so she will lost her Enchanted Forest memories. Later, David and Mr. Gold return to question him about Belle's disappearance after Ruby tracks the girl's scent to the flower shop. When pushed by Mr. Gold, Moe confesses he had Smee take Belle across the town boundary. With Moe in tow, everyone runs to the mines, where Mr. Gold uses magic to pull Belle back to safety. In addition to being angry with Mr. Gold, Belle tells Moe that she never wants to see him again for what he attempted to do to her. ("The Crocodile")

After Second Curse
Moe finally reconciles with his daughter, Belle, when she informs him of her plans to marry Mr. Gold after he proposed. Letting go his past feud with Mr. Gold, he agrees to give his blessing to the union. During an evening ceremony, Moe walks alongside Belle and leads her to a waiting Mr. Gold. With Archie acting as pastor, the couple exchange heartfelt vows and seal the marriage with a kiss as Moe looks on. ("There's No Place Like Home")

After Third Curse

With the imminent appearance of Charon, who is about to come to Storybrooke to drag all marked souls to the Underworld, this prompts Mr. Gold to encourage Belle to leave town. After giving his wife the keys to his car and a potion that will allow her to cross the town line with no side effects, Mr. Gold suggests she say goodbye to Moe and then leave for the land without magic. Unaware of the danger everyone in Storybrooke is exposed to, Belle meets with her father, warmly gives him a hug, before entering Mr. Gold's car and driving away. Before she leaves town for good, however, she learns the truth from Henry via a phone call and returns home to Mr. Gold. ("Swan Song")

As Moe tends to flowers in his shop, Mr. Gold arrives to request help with a cursed Belle, who needs true love's kiss. He figures out that Mr. Gold's attempt at true love's kiss didn't work, but he refuses to help his daughter on the latter's behalf. Mr. Gold criticizes Moe for not aiding Belle in order to get back at him, to which Moe spitefully agrees that Belle should stay asleep forever until Mr. Gold is gone from her life permanently. When Mr. Gold tries to threaten him with another cane beating, much like the one he gave him in the past, Moe vows that he'd rather die than give into his demands. Mr. Gold then slams the cane down onto the table, prepared to make good on his promise, but Emma intervenes, shooing Moe out of the room so she can talk to Mr. Gold alone. ("Last Rites")

Family

 
Maurice
Moe French
 
Colette
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gaston
 
Belle
 
 
 
Rumplestiltskin
Mr. Gold
Weaver
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gideon

Notes:

  • Solid lines denote parent-child blood relationships
  • Dashed lines denote marriage and engagement relationships that result in offspring
  • denotes the deceased
  • Gaston and Belle were formerly betrothed

Trivia

Etymology

  • The name "Moe" is of English origin and a diminished form of the name "Maurice",[1] which is the name of Moe's original counterpart.
  • Moe's last name, French, is a nod to the French origin of the fairytale, "Beauty and the Beast".

Disney

  • Maurice is a reference to the character of the same name from the Disney film Beauty and the Beast. However, he does not share the same occupation as the Disney adaptation of the character, who is an inventor.

Fairytales and Folklore

Popular Culture

Appearances

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

See also

References

  1. Maurice. Behind the Name. Retrieved on July 31, 2020. “Diminutives Mo, Moe (English)
  2. Jane Espenson's Season One Blu-ray/DVD Audio Commentary for "Skin Deep"
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