Bigby Wolf is a fictional character in the
American comic book series ''
Fables
Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular moral ...
'' published by
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
and its alternative imprint
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
. The character first appears in ''Fables'' #1 (July 2002) and was created by
Bill Willingham
William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series '' Elementals'' and '' Fables''.
Career
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. During his father's military career the f ...
and
Lan Medina
Rolando Medina, commonly known as Lan Medina (born December 22, 1961), is a Filipino comic book artist best known for his work on '' Fables, Aria, District X'', and '' The Punisher: MAX'' imprint.
Awards
In the 2007 Glyph Comics Awards, the Fan ...
. He frequently serves as the lead character among the ensemble cast of ''Fables'' and is the central protagonist of ''Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland'' as well as ''
Fables: The Wolf Among Us'', the comic book adaptation of the 2013 video game ''
The Wolf Among Us
''The Wolf Among Us'' is an episodic graphic mystery-drama adventure game developed by Telltale Games, based on Bill Willingham's ''Fables'' comic book series, to which it serves as a prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were re ...
''.
Within the series, Bigby Wolf is a member of the "Fable" community – fantastical characters from
fairy tales and
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
who formed a clandestine society centuries ago within
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
known as Fabletown, after their
Homelands have been conquered by a mysterious and deadly enemy known as "the Adversary". Bigby is the embodiment of the
Big Bad Wolf
The Big Bad Wolf is a fictional wolf appearing in several cautionary tales that include some of '' Grimms' Fairy Tales.'' Versions of this character have appeared in numerous works, and it has become a generic archetype of a menacing predatory ...
, a villainous
wolf character appearing in several
cautionary tales
A cautionary tale is a tale told in folklore to warn its listener of a Risk, danger. There are three essential parts to a cautionary tale, though they can be introduced in a large variety of ways. First, a taboo or prohibition is stated: some a ...
that include ''
Grimms' Fairy Tales
''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first publi ...
'' such as
Little Red Riding Hood
"Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brot ...
,
Peter and the Wolf
''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и Bолк, r="Pétya i volk", p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk, links=no) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's s ...
, and
The Three Little Pigs
"The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house t ...
, as well as some of ''
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...
''. Effectively immortal like most other Fables, Bigby is capable of shapeshifting between human form, a
therianthropic
Therianthropy is the mythological ability of human beings to metamorphose into animals or hybrids by means of shapeshifting. It is possible that cave drawings found at Les Trois Frères, in France, depict ancient beliefs in the concept.
The b ...
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
wolf-like creature form, and a giant wolf form. After gaining the ability to
shapeshift
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...
and pardoned for his past deeds, Bigby assumed the role of Fabletown's sheriff, and in the following centuries he has mostly remained in his human form and tries to put his dark past as a menacing predator behind him.
Bigby Wolf has received a positive reception for his complex characterization as an anti-heroic figure, and is considered by critics to be the closest character the ''Fable'' series has to a protagonist. The video game iteration of Bigby in ''The Wolf Among Us'' has also been well received.
Concept and design
Bigby Wolf's first appearance is in Chapter One of the first story arc of ''Fables'', titled "Old Tales Revisited", which has been collected in the trade paperback ''Fables: Legends in Exile''. The story arc involves the mystery around Rose Red's apparent murder, where her boyfriend
Jack Horner informs Bigby that she has been killed. Bigby informs Rose's sister,
Snow White
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
, and then proceeds to investigate the crime scene as the sheriff of Fabletown. In these early appearances, Bigby's well-muscled body, shaggy hair and habitual scowl on his face is similar to
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
's
portrayal of the
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
character
Wolverine
The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...
.
Bigby's visual design evokes a
film noir feel, and invited comparisons to
Clint Eastwood's
Dirty Harry
''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department (SFP ...
character, and to
Humphrey Bogart's various private detective characters:
he has a constant five o'clock shadow over his face, who chain-smokes and wears a beige trench coat and loosened tie over his dress shirt, which is itself rolled into sleeves.
As a character patterned after the outlaw cultural hero archetype, Bigby shares similar traits with the likes of
Jesse James or
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
than traditional fairy-tale oriented ones. Bigby is depicted as primarily a champion of what he believes is right, who has never taken the law too strictly as he has shown a willingness to bend his own rules.
Though Bigby resists the typical binary representation of man and animal, the series begins following a fairly typical transformative man/animal trajectory for his character arc. The creative team of the comic book series,
Mark Buckingham and
Bill Willingham
William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series '' Elementals'' and '' Fables''.
Career
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. During his father's military career the f ...
, confirmed that Bigby started off with a malevolent personality as part of his origin story, but his fascination with Snow White and his desire to protect her was a turning point for his character arc. Bigby's ongoing personal journey to redemption, as depicted in the series, is constantly interspersed with multiple opportunities to revert to his bestial, violent nature, which is never completely absent according to Buckingham and Willingham.
His constant internal struggle to keep his true nature in check is deemed necessary for him to coexist peacefully with other beings in a community, and that it is the only way for a creature like him to find redemption and forgiveness. While he serves an instrumental role to protect Fabletown from various threats, he often terrifies the very people he works to protect due to their knowledge of his dark past.
Bigby is featured as the central protagonist of a graphic novel spin-off, ''Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland'', which follows the character as he searches for a new home on behalf of Fabletown.
Bigby appears in the
crossover comic ''
Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham
''Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham'' is a six-issue comic book miniseries that was published by DC Comics from September 2021 to February 2022.
Synopsis
Batman meets Bigby Wolf.
Prints Issues
Collected editions
Reception
Hannah R ...
'', which was published by DC Comics from September 2021 to February 2022.
Fictional character biography
Having reformed from his violent ways, Bigby became the cigarette-smoking,
trench coat
A trench coat or trenchcoat is a variety of coat made of waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the trenches.
Originally made from gabardine, ...
-clad sheriff of Fabletown. He is extremely cunning and resourceful, in addition to being an excellent
detective. Due to Snow White's possession of a
lycanthropy-stained knife, he is now a werewolf and can change between wolf form, human form and an intermediate "wolfman" stage at will. In "The Great Fables Crossover", it is revealed that Bigby's nature as one of the North Wind's sons allows him to change forms at will. He is the son of the North Wind, and, as such, has control over the lower-tier winds, plus the "huff and puff" of legend. Despite his reformation, he can still be vicious if he believes the situation calls for it.
He develops feelings for Snow White and the two have a litter of seven children together. He quits his position as the sheriff due to the election of Prince Charming as
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
, whom he despises, and leaves Fabletown. He has since returned and married Snow, and now lives with her and their cubs on a specially set-aside area of land up at the Farm. In "The Destiny Game", Bigby forces The Lady Of The Lake to change his fate: he will never grow old, but he will continue to grow in strength and power; fall in love with Snow White; father seven children who will become gods and monsters who will lay waste to worlds; and he will die seven times, outliving all of his cubs. So far, it is unknown how often Bigby has died.
Bigby eventually meets his end at the hands of Prince Brandish, who turns him into a glass statue and then destroys it. While the 13th-floor residents try to piece him together in hopes of reviving him, Mrs. Sprat removes a part of his glass body. Bigby is seen in his personal Heaven, where he meets Boy Blue and his son. Boy Blue tells him that while he can return to the living world, it would be a daunting task. Blue states that Bigby was meant to be one of the great destroyers, but that his fate was altered due to his love for Snow White. Bigby eventually is revived, but in a feral state. In the final arc he kills several
mundy
Edmond Enright (born 19 May 1975), known professionally as Mundy, is an Irish singer-songwriter and founder of the independent record label Camcor Records.
Biography
He released his debut album ''Jelly Legs'' in 1996 on the Epic Records label ...
officers, along with Ozma, Beast, and Thrushbread. It is unclear if this state is due to Mrs. Sprat's actions or the challenge Boy Blue spoke of, but Winter's narration suggests the former. He is restored when Conner stands up to him. He and Snow live happily ever after and have many descendants.
In other media
Bigby Wolf appears as the protagonist of ''
The Wolf Among Us
''The Wolf Among Us'' is an episodic graphic mystery-drama adventure game developed by Telltale Games, based on Bill Willingham's ''Fables'' comic book series, to which it serves as a prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were re ...
'', a
graphic adventure game
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...
played from a
third-person perspective
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...
.
Bigby is voiced by
Adam Harrington, who also voices
the Woodsman from Little Red Riding Hood, Bigby's longtime rival.
Players control Bigby as he investigates the brutal murders of fairy tale characters and slowly unwinds the mystery of the Fabletown killer. When exploring an environment, Bigby can interact with objects and talk with
non-player characters, many of whom are established series characters including Snow White, the Woodsman, and Sleeping Beauty. Dialogue options chosen during conversations may have a positive or negative effect on how other characters view Bigby, and their perceptions have far-reaching consequences which influence future events in the narrative.
Some scenes are more action-oriented, which subjects Bigby to a series of
quick time event (QTE) prompts for players to respond to.
The video game's branching narrative is adapted and streamlined into a single canon plotline as ''
Fables: The Wolf Among Us'', with its first issue released on December 10, 2014 and published by Vertigo Comics. It was written by Matthew Sturges and Dave Justus, and serves as a canon prequel story to the comic book series. The series concluded on November 3, 2015 and collected as ''Fables: The Wolf Among Us'' Vol. 1.
Bigby is the main character of the upcoming sequel ''
The Wolf Among Us 2
''The Wolf Among Us 2'' is an upcoming episodic graphic adventure game being developed and published by Telltale Games with the assistance of AdHoc Studio, a studio that consists of former Telltale staff. It is a sequel to the 2013 game '' The ...
'', which will continue events after the first game, though it still serve as a prequel to the comic series. Harrington is set to reprise his role as the character. The game is being developed by LCG Entertainment,
doing business as
A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...
Telltale Games
Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...
, in association with
AdHoc Studio which is composed of former Telltale Games staff.
Reception
Bigby Wolf has been positively received by critics. Some sources consider Bigby to be the closest thing the series has to a protagonist the ''Fable'' series, known for its large ensemble cast of characters, has to a leading man due to the central role he plays throughout much of the narrative.
Kannenberg found that Bigby's initial depiction as a trenchcoat-wearing cynical detective with a chainsmoking habit in his early appearances adds a convincing touch of noir to the story. ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' picked Bigby as one of their favorite ''Fables'' characters, describing him as "
Wolverine
The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...
and
Cyclops of the Fables team rolled into one", and "probably the most unlikely family man in all of Fabledom" which adds to his appeal as a main character.
Justin Clark from ''
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' described Bigby as a "brusque, cold, and brooding" Wolverine who wears
Sam Spade's trench coat, noting his physical resemblance to the
''Lost'' series character
James "Sawyer" Ford
James Ford, better known by the alias "Sawyer" () and later as "Jim LaFleur", is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Lost'', portrayed by Josh Holloway. Created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, he first a ...
and that his "past misdeeds weigh on him constantly". While ultimately a malleable character by nature, he felt that the video game iteration of Bigby is a "different, lighter, more human character" even in light of any cruel decisions the player could make as Bigby.
David Hinkle from ''Engadget'' praised the game's "intoxicating" mingling of mature themes like penance and redemption with fairy tale magic and superstitions as part of Bigby's character arc. He noted that Bigby is neither truly benevolent or malevolent and that he exists somewhere in the middle in terms of morality, showing empathy one moment yet purposefully provocative in another moment.
Josiah Harrist from ''Killscreen'' found that Bigby "steals the spotlight as the seemingly irredeemable anti-hero craving redemption" and that it is ironic that "Fabletown’s biggest, baddest monster happens to be the one keeping the peace".
Ozzie Mejia from ''Shacknews'' called Bigby "an interesting, multi-dimensional character" who can be moulded into "a heartless pursuer of vengeance" or an individual with "a heart of gold underneath his gruff exterior" depending on player choice.
Bigby Wolf from ''The Wolf Among Us'' was named Most Memorable Character for New Game Network's Game of the Year Awards 2014.
For his work as Bigby Wolf, in 2014 Harrington received nominations from the
BAFTA Games Awards for "Story and Performer" and from the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards for "Performance in a Drama, Lead".
Following the initial announcement of a sequel to the ''Wolf Among Us'' in July 2017, Alex Walker from ''Kotaku'' expressed a preference for a story that revolves more around Bigby’s desires, as opposed to Snow White or the political machinations of Fabletown which dominated the first game's narrative.
Analysis
In his essay "Negotiating Wartime Masculinity in Bill Willingham's Fables", Mark C. Hill described Bigby's characterization as "part hard-nosed detective, part soldier, part anti-hero", and that his role as the protector of Fabletown involved an eclectic cross between "small town sheriff and clandestine spy-master". He noted that Bigby's stereotypical Hollywood police detective persona is only one aspect of the disparate narratives and centuries of cultural ideologies that makes up the character's personal history. Hill linked Bigby to
Joseph Campbell's
hero myth pattern studies as an outsider marked with supernatural powers from birth, to the
Beowulf legend with his ability to assume the alternate form of a werewolf-like creature, and to the politics of conflict and war that surround the creation of the ''Fables'' series with the character's service history and involvement in a counter-insurgency storyline. Hill argued that the character serves as a "liminal margin", a concept originally developed by
Homi K. Bhabha
Homi Kharshedji Bhabha (; born 1 November 1949) is an Indian-British scholar and critical theorist. He is the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He is one of the most important figures in contemporary post ...
, "where pedogogical, nationalistic and resistant narrative discourses construct, maneuver and negotiate identity."
Claudia Schwabe agreed with Hill's observation that while Bigby's masculinity and heroism are further emphasized through his involvement with military conflict, she called to question his argument that the "War Stories" story arc does not question or challenge the courage, duty or righteousness of America's war effort but instead glorified the cultural memory of the masculine hero-soldier in a war worth fighting for, and drew attention to what she perceived as the subversive nature of Part 2 of the story arc which presents the question of monstrosity or "otherness" versus evil. She pointed out that Bigby, a supernatural werewolf creature based in America, eventually befriends his "enemy", a Nazi-created version of the classic
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...
who in fact harbors no hostile intentions towards Bigby, after he was tricked into beheading the creature, claiming that the outcome of the story arc demonstrates the series' willingness to challenge readers' imagination of classic monsters and fairy-tale creatures as evil beings.
To her view, the ''Fable'' series indicates that all evil acts may be forgiven and that any villainous character could find redemption if they are willing and able to make the attempt.
In her book ''A Tour of Fabletown: Patterns and Plots in Bill Willingham's Fables'', Neta Gordon observed that new elements of Bigby's character were introduced in the series' later story arcs, where he is often depicted an interested, caring and protective father. Gordon opined that Bigby's fatherly persona augments his function as a "purveyor of wartime masculinity", and that it is "unusually rich" when compared to conventional fairy tale and folklore fathers.
[Gordon, 34.] By the final volume of ''Fables'', Bigby's importance in the series' narrative is greatly reduced, operating mostly as Snow White's domestic partner.
The potential for Bigby to unleash his anger and rage at other characters in ''The Wolf Among Us'' has been subject to discussion and analysis. Brian Albert from IGN compared Bigby to
Lee Everett
Lee Everett is one of the protagonists of Telltale's '' The Walking Dead'' video game series, debuting as the playable main protagonist of the first season. Tasked with protecting a girl named Clementine in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, Le ...
from
''The Walking Dead'' video game and opined that, unlike Lee, Bigby's reputation dominates his conversations, his work, and his relationships and never has the chance to be seen as a new person. Albert felt uncomfortable projecting his personal views onto what he believes to be a defined character during his playthrough, and as a result he came to appreciate the power of the game's narrative. Within this context, he felt that Bigby's circumstances justify the moments where he is allowed to embrace his dark nature and bring harm to other characters.
G. Christopher Williams from ''Pop Matters'' was amused by the possibility of Bigby (at the player's discretion) retaliating against non-player characters over their
misogynistic
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...
misuse of the word "
bitch", which literally means a female dog, as a form of insult. Williams argued that Bigby has the potential to become an "instructional tool for those who are concerned with casual misogyny" as well as "the kind of numbing effect that overused language has on its meanings and implications".
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Bigby
Fables (comics)
Comics characters introduced in 2002
DC Comics characters who are shapeshifters
DC Comics characters with accelerated healing
DC Comics characters with superhuman strength
DC Comics fantasy characters
Characters created by Bill Willingham
Fictional characters from New York City
Fictional characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability
Fictional murderers
Fictional sheriffs
Fictional werewolves
Fictional World War I veterans
Fictional World War II veterans
Male characters in comics
Vertigo Comics characters
Video game protagonists
Fictional characters with immortality
Fictional characters with air or wind abilities