Jiminy Cricket

Jiminy Cricket is one of the main characters of Once Upon a Time. He was a poor robber whose wish to become as free as a cricket was granted by the Blue Fairy. After this, he became a friend and confident, as well as the 'voice of reason', of Geppetto and his son, Pinocchio. Following the enactment of the Dark Curse, he became trapped in Storybrooke as Dr. Archibald "Archie" Hopper, a local psychiatrist.

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.

Many years later, Jiminy Cricket is called by the seven dwarfs to moderate an intervention hosted for their friend Snow White, who has lost all the love in her and thus become a bitter woman after drinking the potion given to her by Rumplestiltskin. Snow is grossed out by the presence of a cricket in the house and tries to flick Jiminy away, until the conscience opens the room for the dwarfs to read out their thoughts to Snow. However, she is uninterested, and shares with them that she is going to kill the Evil Queen. Jiminy tries to prevent her from doing this, but Snow encases him inside a glass dome and walks away. Later, after she's tied Prince Charming to a tree, it is Jiminy who finds the prince and sets him free, whilst trying to give him advice. Charming tells him that he tried to get Snow to remember him by kissing her, and Jiminy says that he's going about this the wrong way: how can she remember who he is, when she's lost sight of who she is? This leaves Charming thinking of how to solve everything.

One time, when Geppetto is teaching Pinocchio to fix clocks, the elderly man learns that his son tied Jiminy Cricket to the bird of the clock. The Blue Fairy shows up to talk to Geppetto, and Jiminy and Pinocchio leave the office to give them some privacy. The fairy tells Geppetto to build a vessel for the unborn child of Snow White and Prince Charming from an enchanted tree, to protect the baby from the Dark Curse. The fairy then takes Geppetto, Pinocchio and Jiminy to the place where the last enchanted tree in all the realm rests, and Geppetto says he can make a nice wardrobe out of it. The fairy tells him that the tree has enough power to protect exactly two people, and so the royal couple will use it to transport themselves into the other world, where they'll give birth to their child and prepare her for the battle against the Evil Queen. Geppetto, however, learning that they're all going to a world without magic, is horrified with the idea that his son Pinocchio might go back to being made of wood. Jiminy warns him that he's scaring the child, and Geppetto tells the fairy that he'll build the wardrobe, but only if Pinocchio goes through it. Jiminy tells him that he can't bargain like this, not while the entire realm is in danger, but Geppetto replies that if he doesn't he will lose the boy. Jiminy asks him to think of the example he's setting for the boy, and Geppetto tells him that he might be a conscience, but he has no right to say what he should do about the child. Jiminy claims to only be trying to help, and Geppetto brings up that he didn't help his parents. A guilt-ridden Jiminy is thus silenced. Geppetto tells him that his debt to him can never be paid, but a start would be for him to stay out of this. Jiminy claims to understand. The Blue Fairy then has no choice but to tell the Prince and Snow White that the tree contains magic to protect only one.

The royal council meets, and when the idea of fighting is thrown around, Jiminy Cricket says, "Fighting is a bad idea. Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything.", to an amplifier, and next to a magnifying glass. The Blue Fairy then comes in and tells everyone of the wardrobe. She asks Geppetto, pretending that it's the first time, to build it, and Geppetto says that he and his boy, Pinocchio, can do it. The fairy then tells Prince Charming and Snow White that the tree only has power in it to protect one person, abiding by Geppetto's terms of agreement. ("Pilot"/"The Stranger")

After the wardrobe has been built, the Blue Fairy tells Geppetto that the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming has arrived early, and since only two people can go through the portal, they should be mother and daughter, which means that Pinocchio can't go. The fairy begs Geppetto to tell the truth to the royal couple, as she must go and tend to her fellow fairies for their final preparations before the curse gets to them. She reminds the woodcarver that Emma, the child, is the key for their salvation, but Geppetto, concerned over losing his son, tells him that he will go into the wardrobe. Jiminy tells him he can't do this, because the circumstances have changed and the baby needs her mother, but Geppetto denies this, saying that the baby needs someone to tell her the truth about the curse and to get her to break it, and that someone will be Pinocchio. The child is reluctant to leave his father, but Geppetto makes him. Pinocchio promises to do the right thing and help Emma save everyone. Jiminy tells him "There will be many temptations in this new world, Pinocchio. But as long as you remain brave, truthful and unselfish, you will not fail." Afterwards, the child is placed in the wardrobe, and father and coscience watch as the child disappears after being transported to another world.

Season 1
Dr. Archie Hopper, the real world counterpart of Jiminy Cricket, is first seen when Emma brings Henry back to Storybrooke. He is walking his dog Pongo when he comes across them, and brings with him a signature umbrella. Archie asks who Emma is, and she explains she's just someone trying to give Henry a ride home. Henry says "She's my mom, Archie", and the therapist is surprised. Emma asks him if he knows where Henry lives, and Archie points the way, indicating that he is the Mayor's son, a fact that surprises Emma. Archie asks the boy where he was that day, since he missed his session, and Henry says he went on a field trip and forgot to tell him. Archie sees through his response, crouches down and reminds him of what he said about lying. Emma interrupts their talk, telling the therapist that she really should be getting him home, and Archie tells them to have a good night, and tells Henry to behave, before parting ways with them, whistling as he goes. Emma, having been told about the curse, asks her birth son who Archie is supposed to be, and Henry tells her that Archie is Jiminy Cricket. Emma makes a joke about Henry's nose growing, and Henry tells her he is not Pinocchio. Dr. Hopper is walking his dog one morning when he notices that the town's clock has started working. Later, Emma Swan stops by his office, hoping to get some information on her son, and his strange obsession with fairytales. She comments that it's a little crazy that he thinks everyone around him is a fairytale character, and the doctor tells her that he hopes she doesn't talk like that around Henry, because the word 'crazy' is quite damaging. He goes on to say that these stories are his language, because he has no idea how to express complex emotion. Emma tells him that Henry got the book only one month before, and asks if Henry's been seeing him for longer than that. Archie says that he has, and Emma concludes that the problem is Regina. Archie then reaches for his case and takes out a file, handing it to Emma and telling her to go over it, so that she'll see what he means. Emma is surprised and asks why he's doing this, and he says that she is important to Henry. Before she leaves, Archie advises her to not destroy Henry's imagination. Once she's gone, he gets on the phone with Regina, and we find out it was her plan all along that Emma take the files. Archie then reports it as a theft to Sheriff Graham, and the latter arrests Emma. Some time later, after Emma's been released, she shows up at Archie's office to apologize to Henry. Dr. Hopper tries to apologize to her in his place, but she isn't very much interested. Emma tells Henry, before his therapist, that she thinks the curse is crazy, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. Henry reminds her that she told his mother he was crazy, and Emma turns this around by explaining that she was throwing Regina off the trail, by having her think they're non-believers. Archie is relieved that Emma didn't shatter Henry's beliefs. Archie asks Henry during one of his sessions with the child why he thinks the doctor is Jiminy Cricket, and Henry tells him it's because of what he is, a conscience, helping people to see right from wrong. Archie then inquires if he thinks all the crickets in town were people, and Henry points out that they have never had crickets. Henry says that this is proof that there's a curse, but he knows it isn't proof enough, so he's looking for more. Archie wonders why it is important to him that the curse is real, and Henry says it just is. Archie asks him to think about his answer, because he thinks there's more to it. When Emma is made deputy sheriff, there is an earthquake due to a mine collapsing. Regina wants to seal off the mine, and a suspicious Henry tells Emma and Archie, who is apparently also in on "Operation Cobra", that they have to investigate what is inside the mine that the Queen doesn't want anyone to know. Regina then bullies Archie into shattering Henry's belief, because she's grown tired of it. She threatens to take away everything Archie has should he fail to take Henry's dellusion from him. Archie, preoccupied, tells Archie that his dellusion might grow into a psychosis, which is why he must stop with this curse nonsense. Henry is hurt, but also more determined than ever to prove to everyone that he is right. When Henry doesn't come home to Regina, Archie realizes where he is: at the old mine. The entrance to the mine is sealed shut by an earthquake that occurs after Henry finds a peculiar piece of glass, and after Archie has made his way inside. The doctor finds Henry and they make their way to an elevator shaft, but as they try to get out through it the entrance is blown up with dynamite by the rescuers and the elevator thus stops working. A horrified Regina begs Emma to go into the mine and save their son, and inside, Archie tells Henry that he didn't mean the things he said to him at the office. Henry explains to an incredulous Archie that Jiminy Cricket, before being a guy, was a guy who took a long time to figure out who he wanted to be, much like Archie. Emma then makes her way down the elevator shaft and rescues Henry. The elevator starts to shake and give in, and Archia almost goes down with it, but he is fortunately able to use his umbrella to grab on to her harness before the elevator plunges down. After they've left the mine, Archie tells Regina that he is going to continue to treat Henry his way, and she's going to allow it because someday she might find herself in a custody battle, and in those cases the courts always consult an expert, particularly one who's treated the child. Regina therefore backs off, and Archie commemorates the rescue in the company of his best friend, Marco, whom Henry reveals to be Geppetto, in a conversation with his mother. They then hear the crickets singing for the first time, yet another sign that things are changing. It is then revealed to us that the piece of glass Henry found belonged to Snow White's glass coffin... Archie, along with several members of the town's community, is excited to see Emma Swan running for the position of Sheriff, and thus he starts rallying in her favor, particularly after she saves Mayor Mills from a fire. Archie then serves as the presenter of the debate between the candidates, and gives the opening speech, rather awkwardly. He tells the attendants that tragedy has brought them all there, but now they are faced with the decision of electing a new sheriff, so he asks only that they listen with an open mind and conscience - the last part annoying Regina. He then introduces both candidates, and tries to make a joke about their names, "Glass - Swan", saying it sounds like something a decorator would make him buy. The joke clunks. After Mary Margaret is arrested for her possible involvement in the alleged murder of Kathryn Nolan, David starts wondering if maybe he had some sort of involvement in the murder as well, for he seems to be suffering through memory lapses and confusion, so he theorizes that maybe he forgot about his part in the disappearance of his wife. This confusion brings him to the office of Dr. Hopper, where he claims to need help remembering what happened during the blackouts in his memory. Archie wonders why, and David tells him that he might know something that can help Mary Margaret. Shortly afterwards, during the consultation, David is lying down, eyes closed, and Archie tells him to go back to his last memory of the last time he and Kathryn spoke. He remembers the night she left, that he called her on his cell and she said she realized she needed to start a new life without him, and that he and Mary Margaret should be together. Archie asks how the conversation ended, and he claims that Kathryn said she was hurt, but that he should be happy. Archie asks if he remembers anything after that, and David says that he remembers seeing the teacher in the woods. Archie asks what she was doing there... and David suddenly has flashes to his previous life as Prince Charming, of the time he tried to stop Snow White from murdering the Evil Queen. Archie is forced to wake David up because he went too deep into hypnosis, and something was disturbing him. Archie asks his patient what he saw, and an alarmed David, now believing that his flashes were of Mary Margaret planning to kill Kathryn, rushes out of the office, despite the doctor's will to help him sort out what he remembered. Mr. Gold, conflicted over whether the new man in town might be his long-lost son, comes to Archie's building to maybe have a talk with him. He knocks on the psychiatrist's door, but then appears to have a change of heart and starts walking away. However, Dr. Hopper opens the door, and asks if Gold is there for the rent. When he realizes that he isn't, Archie asks him if he'd like to talk, and Gold replies that he doesn't know. Archie encourages him to come in if he'd like to get something off his chest. Gold does just this, and later, Archie is surprised to find out that he had a son. Gold tells him that there is someone acting the way he would expect his son to act, and Archie asks if this means that he recognizes him, but Gold replies that maybe he's just seeing what he wants to see. Archie asks if the son wouldn't recognize him, and Gold says that there was conflict, so the son might not be willing to reunite with him. Archie suggests that, if he has sought Gold and is yet holding back, maybe he's checking for a sign that all is forgiven, to which his patient replies that he is the one who needs to be forgiven. Gold thinks that the son might still be angry, and the doctor tells him that anger between a parent and a child is very natural. Gold then suggests that the man is there to try to kill him. A surprised Archie tells him that's not as natural. An emotional Gold says that he let his son go, and spent his entire life since trying to fix his error, but now he doesn't know what to do. Archie tells him to be honest, and tell him face-to-face what he just told his therapist, and Gold tells him that honesty was never his best color. But Archie says there is no other way. Mayor Mills has a horrible dream one night in which the population of Storybrooke is able to remember their true identities, and plan to punish her for what she did to them. In the dream, Regina is tied to her apple tree, in the middle of a road, by Ruby and Archie, the latter telling her that his conscience is clear. Emma then proceeds to presumably cut off her head with a sword before Archie and everyone else. Regina is awoken from her nightmare before the blade gets her. Some time after this, Emma meets with Archie at Granny's Diner to get his opinion on her wishes to adopt Henry, and the therapist tells her that she has no case for custody, because she can't prove the things that Regina has done. Archie asks her who she thinks will be getting hurt with this war raging on, and Emma acknowledges that Henry will. He then tells her that the courts would look into how Henry's been doing since Emma came into the picture, and it's not a clean record, for he has skipped school, stolen a credit card, endangered himself on multiple occasions... Emma asks him what he thinks, subjectively, of her influence on Henry, and Archie regrets asking her to engage in his fantasy life, because it has only helped him retreat further into it. Emma asks if he thinks that Henry's better off with Regina, and he denies saying this. She then asks him if Regina would ever hurt Henry, and he says she never would. Emma then asks him to say if Henry has been better off since she arrived, to which he replies that that is not the matter at hand, what she needs to do is come up with a way for her and Regina to both be in his life without anyone being harmed. When the Dark Curse is finally lifted by Emma Swan's kiss of true love, planted on her beloved and presumably deceased biological son, Henry, waves of magic spread through Storybrooke, and its residents, hit by them, are finally able to remember their true identities and past. Archie is hit by these waves as he leaves his office, and is thus able to remember everything.

Season 2
After Emma Swan is able to break the curse, Archie is able to remember his past as Jiminy. However, he has no time to address this issue properly for he becomes far more concerned when Dr. Whale rallies a group of the town's people to attack Regina, who cursed them and changed their lives. Archie reaches out to Emma's group, which includes Prince Charming, Snow White and others, and urges them to detain the angry mob, because they mustn't stoop the Queen's level, and no matter what she did she doesn't deserve to be killed. Therefore, they all rush to the Mayor's house to rescue the evil witch. Dr. Archie Hopper starts providing counseling after the breaking of the curse and after the Wraith's attack, and Ruby warns the population of Storybrooke that the therapist has prepared a sign-up sheet. When everyone starts channelling their concerns towards Prince Charming, Archie notices Henry wondering if his mother knows that when people cross the border of the town they revert to their cursed selves, with no memory of their past identities. This prompts Archie to come see Regina, thinking that she might want to talk. He tells her it might prove to be helpful and might help her find out who she is, to which she tells him that she knows who she is, therefore foregoing any conceling. Archie then attends a meeting at the assembly hall that is to be presided by Charming, and Regina shows up to claim her son. Archie begs her to think about what she is doing - horrifying the populus - and Regina says the word "Bug" and hurls him away with magic. Henry then goes with his foster mother, to appease her. The scare that she gave everyone, however, leads them to try and leave the town, even if it means them losing their memories. However, Charming and Red get to them in time, and prevent them from leaving. Archie tells the prince that they have a right to leave, but Charming gives a speech that makes everyone change their mind and go back to their business.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character.