Martin

Martin is the father of Jiminy. He and his family, including wife Myrna, travelled along the Enchanted Forest, putting up shows for the populations of the villages they stepped foot in, while robbing from them at the same time. It was always Jiminy's dream to be set free from his parents and their lifestyle, but Martin and Myrna nearly made this impossible for him.

Before the Curse
As a young child, Jiminy was taught by his parents the lifestyle of a robber. While his parents entertained crowds with a travelling puppet show, Jiminy would steal precious belongings from the people. Jiminy fancied crickets ever since he was a small boy, longing to be as free and independent as they were. However, his parents, Martin and Myrna, don't want him to be good, which they think is a synonym for 'weak'. Several years later, when Jiminy is a grown man, his family is still living on scams and stealing from others, and Jiminy wants to quit, but his parents insist that he stay with them, just until they die. One night, it's pouring and a young boy comes up to Jiminy, who is setting up the show for the following day, and comments that he must love his job. Jiminy, however, doesn't appear all that excited. The boy tells Jiminy that he came out there to listen to the crickets, and then gives Jiminy his umbrella. This small talk and the ensuing gesture of kindness awaken something in Jiminy. Jiminy then does a favor for Rumplestiltskin, the famed dark magician, and tells Rumple that he wants to be free but his parents keep holding him back. Rumple gives him a potion, and tells him that after he uses it on his parents, he'll be free. As payment, he just has to leave his parents where they are and Rumple will come and collect them. Jiminy takes the potion, albeit rather reluctantly. One night, Jiminy and his parents make their way to a house in the woods and ask of the lovely young couple living in it to provide them with some shelter. The couple welcomes them in, and after supper, Jiminy's parents make up a story of how a plague afected the nearing town, and add that they are immune to the plague because of an elf tonic. The couple, concerned, asks to buy some elf tonic from them, and thus another scam is set in motion. The couple gives them some of their most precious possessings, and keep the bottled tonic. Outside of the house, Jiminy scolds his parents for taking from good people. He then hears the crickets, and, feeling as though he has no other choice, he throws the content of the bottle at his parents... only to find out that his parent switched the bottles, which means that Jiminy gave the nice young couple whatever was meant for his parents. He rushes back to the house to find that the tonic has been drunk and that the couple has been turned into a pair of wooden, lifeless puppets. His parents mock the puppets, and then a young boy arrives at the house, calling for his parents... and it's the same boy that gave Jiminy his umbrella. Jiminy is horrified. Some time later, a depressed Jiminy makes a wish upon a star, and the Blue Fairy shows up. She tells him, however, that it's not possible to bring back the boy's parents. Jiminy says that he has to make it right, but she tells him that there might be another way. She suggests that he help the young boy, who will grow up to face many challenges. Jiminy wants to, but he can't escape his parents. The fairy asks him what he'd like to be if he could be something else. He doesn't reply, only thinks about it, bathed by the sounds of the crickets, but she hears him loud and clear. She then turns him into a talking cricket, complete with the top half of a suit and a top hat, as well as a tiny umbrella. She then tells him that he will live as many years as he needs to help the boy, and urges him to find Geppetto.