Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin is a fictional character in an Earth fairy tale.

In 2369, one of a group of aliens from the Gamma Quadrant who were studying the imaginations of the inhabitants of Deep Space 9 took the form of Rumpelstiltskin after Miles O'Brien read the story to his daughter Molly O'Brien. The alien was unable to fathom why someone would imagine a dwarf who terrified him and advocated abandoning their study, although the being posing as Buck Bokai was determined their mission continue. The alien later offered to solve the mystery of the subspace rupture that was threatening Deep Space 9 in exchange for taking Molly as his daughter. The alien posing as Rumpelstiltskin disappeared with the others after the crew realized the anomaly was also part of their imagination. 

In 2370, Molly called Quark an old gnome like Rumpelstiltskin. Odo became agitated when he heard, being reminded of the events that took place on the station.