status: active counterpart: evangeline gender: female orientation: bisexual nicknames: katie, kat, evie age: appears to be 25 occupation: employee at mr. gold’s pawnshop portrayed by: anamaria vartolomei
evangeline was born in the enchanted forest to a small village witch known around as crazy, weak, and useless because the woman could rarely control her magic. she was cast aside by the villagers who deemed her dangerous. in a desperate attempt to gain control of her magic, the witch made a deal with rumpelstiltskin, signing off her four-year-old daughter to the dark one.
the moment the woman called for him, the dark one saw something in her daughter. he knew the child possessed a gift far stronger than her mother's and took her in, intending to teach her everything from a young age to use her as an advantage in the future. she was raised in the dark castle her whole childhood, mastering the arts of potion making and witchcraft.
as evie grew up, she showed immense talent in the arts, but everything comes at a price. in this case, the years rumpelstiltskin had spent on training the girl became a waste of his time. as she matured and started thinking for herself, he realised she wasn't nearly as reckless and cruel as he required. her final test came when she was tasked with brewing a poison to ruin an entire village. evangeline hesitated, deliberately altering the recipe into a harmless sleeping draught. the dark one caught the deception immediately. deeming her a failure and a waste of his resources, he immediately ended her apprenticeship, handed her a few gold coins and locked the castle doors on the 18-year-old girl.
evangeline never truly hated him for sending her away, she felt mostly relieved to finally be out of the darkness she had spent most of her life in. the sadness came from the rejection of the man she saw as both a father and a master. the girl travelled to a small coastal kingdom, settled and opened a small apothecary. she used her skills to brew remedies, hexes, and potions for the villagers on her own terms and morals. she built a life of independence, going where she wanted, when she wanted, until the curse came and everything changed.
under the curse, she became katherine, raised by mr. gold as his legal ward and foster daughter. she didn't know much about her past and what truly brought her to his care, having only heard a story about a woman who didn't want to be a mother and later passed away in labour. katie ran the front counter of his pawn shop, spending her days organising antiques, reading and waiting for customers that rarely ever came.
when the curse was broken, katherine became evangeline again, or at least she tried to. living a lie longer than being herself tends to alter one's mind, and the revelation brought an intense identity crisis: she remembered mr. gold as both the safe, protective father figure of her recent life and the monster who had taken her away from her mother only to abandon her to the world at eighteen. ultimately, she chose to stay at the pawn shop, but the dynamic there changed permanently.
She’s precise, observant and can read a person’s body language.
She’s not cruel, but she operates on a survival basis. She will never intentionally harm another person unless her own life or safety is directly threatened.
She doesn’t believe in heroes. Katherine finds their self-righteousness exhausting, their goodness feels forced to look good rather than actual, genuine intent.
Always has a smile on her face to greet people but never really means it, she’s honest, sarcastic and not afraid to say what’s in her mind.
Alchemy and potion making
Katherine keeps her work area at the pawn shop meticulously well-organized.
She absolutely hates the smell of lavender. It reminds her too much of the endless hours she spent processing it back in the Enchanted Forest.
The pawn shop is her sanctuary. If people bring dramatic arguments and personal feuds across the threshold, Katherine will not hesitate to insert herself into the conflict and escort them out of the shop.