This article is a list of characters in the
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
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 ...
'' and its spin-offs (including ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'', ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'', ''
Fairest'', ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
'', and ''
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel'') published by
Vertigo Comics
Vertigo Comics, also known as DC Vertigo or simply Vertigo, was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, ...
.
New York Fables
Bigby Wolf
Snow White
Snow White is a major character in ''
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 ...
''. She is based on two stories recorded by the
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
, ''
Snow-White and Rose-Red
"Snow-White and Rose-Red" (german: Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot) is a German fairy tale. The best-known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 161). An older, somewhat shorter version, "The Ungrateful Dwarf", was written by Caroli ...
'' and the more famous ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves''.
Snow was born in a small cottage and lived there with her younger twin sister
Rose Red. In their youth, they were inseparable, swearing to each other that nothing would ever come between them. However, with time, they had a falling out. Snow got married with Prince Charming, but they divorced after she found him in bed with Rose.
Snow White was a long time member of Fabletown government, where she gradually climbed in ranks to become deputy major.
Snow White appears also in the 2013 video game adaptation of ''Fables'', ''
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 rele ...
'', which is
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western can ...
to the comics and serves as the
prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term " ...
. She is voiced by
Erin Yvette
Erin Yvette is an American voice actress best known for her roles in character driven, narrative-heavy video games like Snow White in ''The Wolf Among Us'' by Telltale Games, Alex in Night School Studio’s debut ''Oxenfree'' and Chelsea Stevens i ...
.
Beauty and the Beast
Still together after nearly one thousand years,
Beauty and Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...
escaped from the Homelands with barely more than the clothes they were wearing. Both take relatively low-paid jobs, Beast maintaining the Fabletown buildings and Beauty working in a bookshop, earning between them enough to make ends meet. Their lives are hampered by Beast's tendency to shift back and forth between his human and beastly forms depending on his wife's mood towards him, but the two are nevertheless a loving couple. With the election of Prince Charming to Mayor of Fabletown during the events of "The Mean Seasons", their lives take a turn for the better. As neither Bigby Wolf or Snow White are willing to work alongside Charming, they resign, and the Prince offers Beauty and Beast the available jobs.
Beast, now sheriff, allies himself with Frau Totenkinder, the most powerful witch in Fabletown and finally had his curse fixed, allowing him to transform into his Beast form at will. Whether he's aware that it was Totenkinder who inflicted the curse on him in the first place is unknown; this occurred pre-amnesty, so he is legally unable to retaliate. While initially overwhelmed by the complexities of the job, he eventually grows into the role.
Beauty takes Snow's position as deputy mayor, and also learns to cope with all of the responsibility. Early in her tenure, Prince Charming tries to seduce her, but she rebuffs him, threatening to send her husband after him if he tries again. It is notable that Beauty realizes, as a result of remarks made by Prince Charming during this seduction attempt, that her actions and words toward her husband are not generally as kind as she herself perceived; she subsequently resolves to be nicer to Beast.
After the arrival in Fabletown of the Imperial Emissary, Lord
Hansel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hanse ...
, during the "Sons of Empire" story-arc, and the subsequent need to keep track of both him and his staff, Beast asks for, and is given, additional funding and manpower. This includes the zephyrs, provided by Bigby Wolf's father, the North Wind, which act as spies. During the war against the Empire, as depicted in the "War and Pieces" arc, Beast remains in Fabletown, commanding the troops stationed there in case of a retaliatory assault by the Empire.
According to the answers given in the "Burning Questions" issue, the couple ask Frau Totenkinder what it is she is always knitting. Totenkinder responds that it is a garment for their firstborn child. Though Beauty laughs, saying she's not even expecting, Frau answer "All things in time" and shows them the progress of her knitting: a pair of
footed pajamas
The blanket sleeper (also known by many other #Terminology, synonyms and trade names) is a type of especially warm Babygrow, sleeper or footie pajama worn primarily during the winter in the United States and Canada. The garment is worn especially ...
with a lion head sewn on the front, and four arms, two legs, and a place for a tail. Beast and Beauty are left flabbergasted by the implications
As shown in the "Great Fables Cross Over", after having a brief argument with Beast about his behavior with Bigby, Beauty and her husband retire to a tent for
makeup sex
Makeup sex is an informal term for sexual intercourse which may be experienced after conflict in an intimate personal relationship. These conflicts may range from minor arguments to relationship breakups. Sex under these circumstances may be more ...
. Afterwards, Beauty feels that there was something magical about this sex. In a subsequent, Beauty reveals she is pregnant. The child is born premature, but there are no apparent complications. The child, a little girl, is named Bliss, and seems normal. As Frau had predicted, though, there is a complication: When Bliss becomes angry, she transforms into a six-limbed, tailed beast. Since the birth of little Bliss, her father is unable to transform into his beastly form. When Beast is examined by Ozma she is unable to detect any trace of his ancient curse. In ''Fables'' #143 (the third chapter of the "Happily Ever After" story arc), it is confirmed that Bliss has adopted his curse as her own.
In the ''
Fairest'' story "Lamia", it is revealed that Beauty hides a dark secret. She is, in fact, a
lamia
LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
who was driven from her home after a man got her in the family way. The man's wife had some friends run Lamia out of town. They followed her to another world, where Lamia met a beautiful woman. Lamia, having so recently been abused for beauty's sake, hated the woman on sight and killed her, because "everything beautiful leads to ruin in the end". Lamia then took the woman's form in order to adopt her peaceful and simple way of life. She kept the form so long that the woman's personality became her. She met Beast, and they fell in love. Every few decades, Beauty becomes herself Lamia again. When this happens, Beast tries to catch her in time and lock her away. Sometimes she escapes, and embarks on a killing rampage, targeting rapists and men who abuse women (going after innocents is "not her style"). Beast then assumes the identities of famous heroes of detective fiction (such as
Auguste Dupin
''Le Chevalier'' C. Auguste Dupin is a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin made his first appearance in Poe's 1841 short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", widely considered the first detective fiction story. He reappears i ...
,
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
,
Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more ...
,
Sam Spade
Sam Spade is a fictional character and the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel '' The Maltese Falcon''. Spade also appeared in four lesser-known short stories by Hammett.
''The Maltese Falcon'', first published as a serial in the pulp ...
and
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe () is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler, who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The hardboiled crime fiction genre originated in the 1920s, notably in ''Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashiel ...
) and has to stop her before the mundy authorities can catch her. Bigby Wolf has threatened Beast to deal with the matter permanently - even if it means killing Beast as well. Beauty never remembers the incidents afterward and Beast never tells her the truth.
Beast is considering making a new home for himself, his wife and their daughter in Flycatcher's kingdom in the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
, because Beauty will be safer there, as the "mundy" police keeps getting better and better at investigating and collecting evidence, and will catch Beauty sooner or later. The story's ending suggests that Beauty may be turning into Lamia again sometime in the near future. In the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All The Lands'', Lamia is gone for good: Beauty becomes the victim of a serial killer, and even though Beauty is brought back to life, Lamia is not. Beast is ultimately killed by a feral, controlled resurrected Bigby Wolf. It remains to be seen if he will stay dead. In the final story, it reveals that years later, a grown up Bliss and Beauty have a business where they solve the problems of people (such as murders and kidnappings) using Bliss' beastly abilities.
Trusty John
The doorman at the Woodland building,
Trusty John
"Trusty John", "Faithful John", "Faithful Johannes", or "John the True" (german: Der treue Johannes) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1819 (KHM 6). Andrew Lang included it in ''The ...
was almost universally popular. Amiable and good-natured, John enjoyed his job and was always pleased to see everybody. As such, it came as a complete shock to everyone when Kay unmasked John as a spy for the Adversary. Baffled as to how the 'most faithful Fable in history' could turn against them, John was interrogated by Prince Charming, Beauty and Beast; he explained to them that, long before signing up to the Fabletown compact, he had sworn an unbreakable vow of loyalty to his King, who he believed had been killed leading his forces against the Adversary. It turned out that this had not been the case, that his King, now working for the Adversary, had contacted John and ordered him to spy on his fellow Fables. Bound by his vow, which overruled the later compact, John had no choice but to obey and spent the next four years passing information to the enemy before Kay, with newly regrown eyes, caught him. Despite being sorely tempted to forgive him, given the circumstances, Charming realised that treason, no matter what the situation, must be dealt with harshly. Hardening his heart, he gave John the option to jump down the Witching Well under his own power as a gesture of mercy, the alternative being that he would be executed on the spot and his corpse put down there anyway. John accepted the former offer. Few people explicitly know what happened to him, as revealing such a beloved Fable to be a traitor was deemed to be bad for the morale of Fabletown.
On his mission into The Witching Well, as depicted in the story-arc ''The Good Prince'', Flycatcher recruited John as his squire, offering him the possibility of redemption by accompanying him. Following the completion of his quest, Flycatcher, now King Ambrose of Haven, announced that John would henceforth be known as Trusty John once more, and appointed him to be Lord High Chancellor of the kingdom, putting him in charge of the day-to-day running of the new realm.
Grimble
The security guard at the Woodland apartment building that forms the centre of Fabletown, Grimble is the troll from the tale of the ''
Three Billy Goats Gruff
"Three Billy Goats Gruff" ( no, De tre bukkene Bruse) is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their ''Norske Folkeeventyr'', first published between 1841 and 1844. It has an Aarne-Thompson type of 122 ...
'' and quite possibly many other tales where a troll features. He has possession of an expensive glamour spell. He has been shown to assume troll form for battle. During the Fall of Fabletown due to the actions of Mister Dark, it is Grimble who snaps King Cole out of his melancholy and encourages him to carry on. It is also he who motivates the former mayor during the evacuation to Haven after Mister Dark discovers the location of the Farm. He was turned into a harmless bird by
Prince Brandish/Werian Holt
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
when he began to unravel behind his alias. It is unknown if it is a permanent spell or a temporary one, since Brandish didn't want Grimble to reveal that he and Mrs. Sprat were not Mr. Dark's prisoners. In his bluebird form, Grimble becomes crucial in the death of Prince Brandish, having been sent on a secret mission by the Thirteenth Floor to locate Brandish's heart. Under the protection of layers of stealth spells by Maddy and magic that will send him to far reaches where Brandish's heart in contained in an entrance-less fortress, Grimble sneaks in through the air grills in the fortress and destroys Brandish's heart, causing Brandish to collapse and die of heart failure during his duel against Flycatcher. Over the many years that follow, Grimble bitterly assumes that the Thirteenth Floor did not bother to provide him the magic to return to Fabletown after he had completed his task and gradually becomes accustomed to living as a bird. He learns from Clara that several members of the Thirteenth Floor died in the conflict between Rose Red and Snow White, explaining why he had not been provided the means to be recalled, and it is implied that he and Clara begin a relationship after she reveals that she is no longer seeing Vulco Crow.
Bufkin
A
winged monkey
Winged monkeys are fictional characters created by American author L. Frank Baum in his children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). They are jungle monkeys with bird-like feathered wings. They are most notably remembered from the fam ...
from the
Oz tales, Bufkin acts as Fabletown's
librarian
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...
and thus is generally found in the cavernous business office, where he both works and sleeps. Close to Boy Blue, he hid for a week when his friend left for the Homelands, thinking that he would be blamed for not stopping him. Bufkin lacks wisdom, although he is certainly not stupid, is occasionally mischievous and prone to drinking heavily and stealing the Mayor's booze, nevertheless, he is generally a good worker and rarely complains. During the events of the ''Storybook Love'' arc, when everybody was out of the office, Bufkin came to the conclusion that he was now in charge and decided to rename Fabletown Bufkintown, a change that only lasted as long as it took somebody else to find out about it. He apparently reads a lot of the books in the library, and it is suggested that he has learned skills like
lockpicking
Lock picking is the practice of unlocking a lock by manipulating the components of the lock device without the original key.
Although lock-picking can be associated with criminal intent, it is an essential skill for the legitimate professi ...
from this. On learning this Prince Charming threatened to kill Bufkin if he stole his alcohol again, Bufkin is then seen with another book—one relating to Political assassination. After the magics holding Fabletown together have been unravelled he was stranded in the business office along with all the formerly imprisoned fables. During this time he was able to bottle the Djinn and kill Baba Yaga and her knights by utilizing everything he has read (in this volume, several indirect allusions to the
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...
are made). He was aided by the Magic Mirror, Frankenstein's monster's head, the Barleycorn maidens and several heads of the captured wooden soldiers.
After this, Bufkin climbs the Business Office's tree and finds himself in
Ev (a neighbor to the
Land of Oz
The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow.
Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Country in the north, Quadli ...
). He is accompanied by Lily, one of the Barleycorn maidens who has a huge crush on him. While sitting in one of Ev's magic lunch box trees, he accidentally rescues a group of Oz-Fables from the
Nome King
The Nome King is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is introduced in Baum's third Oz book ''Ozma of Oz'' (1907). He also appears in many of the continuing sequel '' Oz'' novels also written by Baum. Although the c ...
enforcers. Bufkin then forms a resistance movement in order to overthrow the evil Nome King. Afterward, he, Lily and Hangy – a
hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
rope which Lily brought to life, had many adventures in many different worlds before his as well as Lily retirement and death. It is also stated that he had become Lily's husband three times thanks to a mad scientist experiment, a wishing fork and a transformation gas and has many children in the species which they transform into which includes flying monkeys, Barleycorn and Korob birds.
Prince Charming
Although charming and handsome,
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...
is a pathological
womanizer
Womanizer may refer to:
* "Womanizer" (term), a promiscuous heterosexual man
* "Womanizer" (song), a 2008 song by Britney Spears
* "Womanizer", a 1977 song by Blood, Sweat & Tears from '' Brand New Day''
* ''Womanizer'', a 2004 album by Absolute ...
, a liar, a narcissist, and an all-around rogue. He was also raised as a prince, to understand sacrifice necessary to be an effective leader, and the kind of king that sacrifices all to safeguard his subjects. His (known) previous wives in chronological order were Snow White, Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) and Cinderella; the latter two of his ex-wives were introduced to him by their shared fairy godmother. It is also revealed in the Jack of Fables' comic that Prince Charming is Jack Horner's father. It is most likely that Charming never knew of their relations to one another. He lived in Europe after leaving the Homelands, living off the kindness of various nobles and ex-nobles. He returned to Fabletown just prior to Rose Red's "murder". He hatched an intricate scheme, killing
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...
in a duel during the ''Storybook Love'' arc, putting Bluebeard's substantial wealth directly into Fabletown's
treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
, then, during the events of ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' and ''The Mean Seasons'', successfully running for the position of Mayor of Fabletown against Old King Cole, so he would have access to those funds. However, he made some false presumptions (and thus promises) and had a difficult time in office with public opinion turning against him. Following his victory, he appointed Beauty and Beast to the positions of deputy mayor and sheriff respectively. Spending a large amount of time with Beauty on the job, he attempted to begin an affair with her; she rejected his advances, threatening to set Beast on him if he persisted.
In spite of his persistent unfaithfulness and narcissistic ego, Prince Charming has a good side few are aware of. During the ''Storybook Love'' story-arc, he expressed deep regret that his betrayal of Snow White hurt her so badly, and took it upon himself to kill Bluebeard partly because he knew Bluebeard planned to murder Bigby Wolf, whom Snow had grown fond of. Before the Battle of Fabletown in ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'', he supervised building the barricades, then fought bravely during the battle itself, defying the gun-carrying wooden soldiers while armed with a sword. In the battle's aftermath, he led the firefighters that went into the damaged buildings to extinguish the last blazes. Despite the fact that he took the job of mayor primarily for its economic benefits, he eventually dedicated himself sincerely to the duties of mayor, including setting up defenses for Fabletown against the Adversary and, in the ''Happily Ever After'' arc, giving Bigby Wolf land next to the farm in order to live with his new wife, Snow White, and their children.
In the run-up to the war against the Empire, Charming resigned as mayor, returning the job to King Cole, in order to focus on the war effort. During the ''War and Pieces'' storyline, he held the position of Combat Commander on the skyship ''Glory of Baghdad'' built by the Arabian Fables and commanded by Sinbad, running the offensive and defensive operations of the ship during the war and the ''Glory's'' mission to bomb the gates connecting the Imperial homeworld to the rest of the Empire. After the ''Glory's'' destruction, Charming, despite serious injuries, dragged a bomb by foot to the last remaining gate, with Sinbad accompanying him to defend against hostile forces. Arriving at their destination against considerable opposition, Charming dragged the bomb into the gatesite, stating that he would set the longest fuse possible to give himself the best opportunity to get clear of the blast.
Charming failed to emerge before the bomb detonated. His body was never found, and a coffin containing his uniform, medals and some personal effects was buried at the Farm cemetery in absentia. A statue of Charming in Fabletown is dedicated to his memory.
In ''1001 Nights of Snowfall'', a prequel to the Fables series, the real reason Prince Charming cheated on Snow White with Rose Red in the first place was given. Contrary to popular belief, he had not yet known of his inability to remain faithful in marriage. By request of a wedding gift, he taught Snow fencing lessons and had taken charge of investigating a series of murders around the kingdom (the victims were revealed to be the Seven Dwarves). He states one of the violent of prisoners did it and had him executed. This kept peace with the dwarves. He had known it was really Snow White, as the sword wounds indicated progressive swordsmanship. Because he had lost his trust in her, he had Rose Red move in with them in the castle, and shortly after, cheated on Snow with Rose Red, revealed in the ''Rose Red'' story arc to be a result of Rose Red seducing him, despite his initial resistance.
Theories both on and off the page speculate that he gives off powerful/magic pheromones, which are responsible for his strong ability to seduce nearly any woman he wishes. According to the answers given in the ''Burning Questions'' issue, Prince Charming had no less than 1,412 romantic conquests by the age of fifteen.
He stated that he is able to win any courtship, be it that of a single woman, or a political election.
In the ''
Fairest'' story arc ''The Return of the Maharajah'', it is revealed that Charming survived his injuries.
Nathoo (from
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
's ''
Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...
'') found him and brought Charming to the Indu (the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
version of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
), where he was nursed back to health. Because Charming is a popular Fable, his wounds healed quickly. He soon became the leader of a group of villages that joined forces in order to overthrow the
Maharajah
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
. Charming then became Maharajah Charming, after killing the original Maharajah. Charming eventually relinquishes his title, and decides to go back to Fabletown. His story will be continued in the pages of ''Fables''.
Cinderella
Prince Charming's third wife,
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
is often seen as loud and rambunctious by her fellow Fables, and usually goes simply by the name Cindy. She is the owner and manager of her own shoe store, the Glass Slipper, in Fabletown. This is her first job, and possibly main income, but she also has another important job: she secretly works for the Sheriff (first Bigby Wolf and then later Beast) as one of his off-the-record spies.
Cinderella was recruited as his off-the-books agent shortly after her arrival in the mundane world, approximately two centuries prior to the present-day setting of the comics. Missions shown have included seducing
Ichabod Crane
Ichabod Crane is a fictional character and the protagonist in Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Crane is portrayed, in the original work, as well as in most adaptations, as a tall, lanky individual with a scarecro ...
in Paris to get him to reveal that he was willing to turn traitor and provide valuable intelligence to the Adversary. She served as an envoy to giants of the Cloud Kingdoms, aiming to forge an alliance with them, a mission that ultimately put her in debt to Frau Totenkinder, but that also cleared the way for Bigby Wolf's covert insertion into the Homelands depicted in ''Happily Ever After'', a mission where Cinderella served as his briefing officer. She also participated in the interrogation of the wooden soldiers captured after the Battle of Fabletown, and later helped with the interrogation of
Baba Yaga
In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga, also spelled Baba Jaga (from Polish), is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. In fairy tales Baba Yaga flies around in a ...
. She has had a long vendetta with Dorothy Gale, both on a physical and ideological level. Whereas Dorothy was a mercenary motivated by the thrill of murder and chaos, Cinderella is motivated by duty and pragmatism. After finally defeating Dorothy, Cinderella took her magical slippers as bounty, and is now presumably also able to use them for assuming disguises.
Cinderella considers herself to be the finest secret agent who has ever lived, on the grounds that, being immortal, she has had multiple human lifespans to perfect her craft and, uniquely among Fables, has had access not only to the magical resources of the Fables, but also all the technologies and techniques perfected by the mundane population. Her public persona is loud, brash and carefree, with most of her fellow Fables dismissing her as a shallow and largely irresponsible playgirl. On a mission, however, Cinderella is calm, calculating and frequently ruthless, displaying no qualms about killing when required. Cinderella eventually meets her end after finally killing Frau Totenkinder, partly at the request of Snow White given Totenkinder's decision to side with Rose Red and to even the score between them.
Old King Cole
Cole's realm was easily overwhelmed by the Adversary's forces. Only with the assistance of his loyal and loving subjects, was he able to hide in the woods and survive long enough to reach Earth.
As Mayor of Fabletown since its foundation,
Old King Cole
"Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index numbe ...
preferred to leave the actual running of the place to Snow White, his deputy, focusing more on the more ceremonial and formal aspects of the role himself, an arrangement that generally worked well. He was eventually challenged for the position by Prince Charming who won after making a series of rash promises that he would prove to be unable to keep. Leaving the Mayor's penthouse apartment, he briefly roomed with Boy Blue, who had lost his roommate Pinocchio during the Adversary's assault on Fabletown. He then moved into Beauty and the Beast's home, they themselves moved into Snow White's old place. A well-meaning and amiable man, King Cole found his defeat profoundly depressing. When the Arabian Fables arrived in Fabletown, Cole found renewed importance as one of the few Fables fluent in Arabic, and his diplomatic acumen led to a close friendship with Sinbad. Before this, Cole had been portrayed as a figurehead whose primary duty was glad-handing Fabletown's budget; his diplomatic sessions showed a shrewdness and cunning that he had not displayed before then. He has since become the ambassador to Fabletown East in Baghdad. He returned to Fabletown briefly to preside over the wedding of Snow White and Bigby Wolf.
At the start of the war with the Empire Prince Charming resigned his position as mayor, returning the job to King Cole.
Cole remained mayor after the war and, as before, delegated official duties over to the deputy mayor, who was now Beauty. When Mister Dark escaped his imprisonment, the enchantments upon Fabletown began to fade and caused the entire building structure to crumble. Cole had a brief moment of uncertainty until Grimble gave him an impassioned speech of his responsibility as mayor. Cole led the Fable community to evacuate to The Farm so as to regroup and figure out what to do from there. In addition, he and Beauty have also taken over babysitting duties of Bigby and Snow's cubs while the parents were sent to investigate Jack Horner's claims regarding the Literals as well as Rose Red descending heavily into depression following Boy Blue's death.
Cole's diplomatic skills later served the Fable community when more Mundies became aware, and thus frightened, of them.
Hobbes
Originally
butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
to
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...
, Hobbes the
goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
stayed on to work for
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...
after the Prince slew his former master. Calm and dignified, Hobbes is nevertheless a formidable fighter and fought savagely during the Battle of Fabletown. Hobbes worked tirelessly in Charming's
election campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
and has generally proved invaluable to his master. He possesses a glamour for use in public, presumably provided by his masters, and notes proudly that he maintains an unblemished record of reliability with it. His great expertise as manservant leads him to be apparently very well paid; when asked about it, Prince Charming dryly noted that Hobbes was better paid as a servant than he was as Mayor himself. The name Hobbes is an obvious pun on the word ''
hobgoblin
A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nigh ...
''. He is the first to notice that the gold covering
Mr. Dark is cracking. He is also the first to fall to the now freed Mr. Dark. Mr. Dark keeps Hobbe's skull, intending to eat the goblin's teeth later, in order to summon his spirit to serve him. Mr. Dark is killed by the
North Wind before this happens.
He is presumably named after the English philosopher
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...
.
[Nevins, Jess, Willingham, Bill, Buckingham, Mark (2013). ''Fables Encyclopedia''. New York. ]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 ...
.
Pinocchio
Briar Rose
Better known as
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
, Briar Rose was
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...
's second wife. She escaped from the Homelands with close to nothing, but a blessing received on her christening day, which promised that she would always be wealthy, came to her rescue, and she rapidly gained great wealth through successful speculation on the
stock market
A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...
. As such, she lives in a luxurious apartment filled with expensive furnishings. Her
curse
A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...
, however, remains in effect, with the slightest prick of her finger causing her falling asleep, followed by everybody else in the building, which is then surrounded by rapidly growing thorn-bearing plants. A kiss from a (genuinely) loving "prince" resets the curse back to the start. It has been revealed during a talk with Bigby that in one incident when her finger was pricked, the police sent in a police dog named "Prince" and his innocent dog kiss awoke her, the affection of a dog being honest and true (though Briar threatened Bigby never to tell a soul of the incident).
While generally a hazard, forcing Rose to take extreme care and wear gloves at all times, the curse has proved useful on at least two occasions. The first was in the story ''A Two-Part Caper'' when journalist
Tommy Sharp threatened to reveal what he had discovered about the Fables, the curse was employed to put the inhabitants of his building to sleep while a team led by
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a fictional character in the American comic book series ''Fables'' published by DC Comics and its alternative imprint Vertigo. The character first appears in ''Fables'' #1 (July 2002) and was created by Bill Willingham and Lan Medi ...
ransacked his apartment. When it came time to awaken her, Prince Charming's kiss did not work, most likely because he no longer loved her. Flycatcher's kiss woke her up, which ended up with her tasting flies when she awoke. Presumably, the love has to be genuine but does not have to be romantic. It has never been revealed if she knew Flycatcher awoke her or not.
The second occasion was during the war against the Empire, as depicted in the "War and Pieces" story-arc, when the curse was deployed within the Imperial capital, putting the inhabitants of the entire city to sleep, depriving the Empire of most of its senior officials and the majority of their combat-ready sorcerers. Recently, the city was burned to the ground, but not before Briar Rose and the
Snow Queen were carried away, still asleep, by a mysterious cadre of
goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
s.
In the ''Fairest'' story arc ''Wide Awake'', a bottle
imp
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Clan ...
tells
Ali Baba
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...
, who is seeking treasures in the burned down city, about the sleeping girl that is blessed with eternal wealth and riches, but needs to be woken with true love's kiss from a prince. Ali Baba sneaks into the goblins' encampment and kisses the sleeping Briar Rose, who awakens from the spell, along with the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen seeks vengeance on Rose for putting her to sleep for years, and takes both of them captive. Instead of killing them, the Snow Queen forces Jonah the bottle imp to tell her stories of Briar Rose's life, as the Snow Queen "is addicted to good stories", and Jonah is very good at telling stories. While Ali Baba and Briar are forced to spend time with Lumi, Ali Baba realizes that he has no feelings for Briar after all, but is in love with Lumi. It is revealed that because Ali Baba risked his life to wake and rescue Briar Rose, his actions fell under the definition of true, but not romantic, love.
Briar also defeats
Hadeon the Destroyer, the
evil fairy from the fairy tale. Briar's fairy godmothers then turn Hadeon into a car that can travel to any world, and the spaces between worlds. The car has to serve one thousand times before it will revert to Hadeon. Briar uses the car to travel back to the newly re-built Fabletown, as seen in the ''Fables'' story arc ''Snow White''. When the car has been used nine hundred and ninety-nine times, she plans to take it to the
junkyard and have Hadeon destroyed in a
car crusher
A car crusher is an industrial device used to reduce the dimensions of derelict (depreciated) cars prior to transport for recycling.
Car crushers are compactors and can be of several types: one is a "pancake", where a scrap automobile is flatt ...
. In the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All the Land'', Briar Rose is revealed to be having a secret relationship with the
dryad
A dryad (; el, Δρυάδες, ''sing''.: ) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. ''Drys'' (δρῦς) signifies "oak" in Greek, and dryads were originally considered the nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved to ...
Prince Aspen, something no one in Fabletown knew about. Unfortunately for her, a murderous
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
did and murdered the two for giving into "carnal" desires, burning them both together. Cinderella is able to resurrect her, but unfortunately, she could not bring back Prince Aspen.
Briar Rose's ultimate fate is given in the next-to-last compilation, ''Fables: Happily Ever After''. After many years of adventuring, Briar Rose, who had been scratched by an undead blade, begins to succumb to a zombie-like curse. She returns to Fabletown to collect Hadeon, who has exactly one ride left before returning to her own form. Briar Rose commands Hadeon to take her "to the end of the universe" and then pricks her finger, declaring that if she must turn into an undead horror, she will not be awake for it and will keep her oath to prevent Hadeon from harming anyone ever again.
Doctor Swineheart
One of ''
The Three Army Surgeons
"The Three Army Surgeons" (KHM 118, ''Die drei Feldscherer'') is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale.
Synopsis
Three traveling army surgeons perform surgery on themselves to impress an innkeeper. After removing their own organs, they will put them bac ...
'' from the
Grimm
Grimm may refer to:
People
* Grimm (surname)
* Brothers Grimm, German linguists
** Jacob Grimm (1785–1863), German philologist, jurist and mythologist
** Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm
* Christian ...
story of that name, Swineheart works at the Knights of Malta Hospital in New York, where the Special Research Section is in fact a cover for the private Fables-only medical facility. Swineheart took charge of Snow White's recovery after she was shot in the head by Goldilocks during the abortive rebellion at the Farm, and also dealt with her extensively during her pregnancy with Bigby's children. A battlefield surgeon without peer, his services proved invaluable during the battle of Fabletown. He appears to have taken on some mundane attitudes, most likely because he deals with mundane patients as well as his work with the Fables, to the extent that he starts to suggest the possibility of abortion when Snow expresses her unhappiness about the scandal her pregnancy has resulted in. The appalled Snow stops him going any further, threatening to throw him out of Fabletown if he persists.
Rapunzel
Cursed by
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
(for displeasing her by being a 'slutty little girl'),
Rapunzel
"Rapunzel" ( , ) is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of ''Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Brothers Grimm's story developed from the French literary fairy tale of ''Persinette ...
's hair is constantly growing, at a rate of four inches an hour, so she has to live under the most restrictive conditions to prevent any mundanes from noticing. She has three haircuts each day. She was part of the group of Fables who were part of the last stand in the old territory and she was also present at the Remembrance Day for those who died in the battle at the Last Castle. It is revealed in ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'' that Cinderella's Fairy Godmother showed Rapunzel's prince the way to the tower she was kept in, mainly to spite Frau Totenkinder. In ''
Fairest'' it is revealed that Rapunzel does not believe Totenkinder has reformed, and has a disdain for her. It is also revealed that in order to survive the winter, Rapunzel's mother sold her for a handful of gold to Totenkinder to be the witch's apprentice. Rapunzel and the prince had a passionate love affair which resulted in Rapunzel's pregnancy. When Totenkinder found out, she threw Rapunzel out. Despite the bad history Rapunzel does call Totenkinder "Mom", though it could be to get on Totenkinder's good side.
After being thrown out by Totenkinder, Rapunzel tried to find her lost lover. Unbeknownst to her, Cinderella's fairy godmother forbade the prince to contact Rapunzel again, as the godmother had "plans for her". No one would take the homeless Rapunzel in, because of her past as Totenkinder's ward. As Rapunzel was giving birth to her children, a strange woman came to her aid. The woman drugged her and stole the children, who were twin girls. Rapunzel spent centuries looking for her daughters across a hundred worlds. Eventually, she gave up and sailed off the edge of the world in a ship, planning to die. Instead, she washed up on the shore of one of The Hidden Kingdom, a Fable
Homeland
A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...
populated by people and creatures of
Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of year ...
and culture. There, she became a member of the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
's court, and had a lesbian romance with a female
kitsune
In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to ''yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employing t ...
named Tomoko.
It is also revealed that Rapunzel is
Okiku from the famous Japanese ghost story; while spending time at the Emperor's court, she took Okiku as her new name. The
shogun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
had Rapunzel's lover banished, along with many other
yokai. He confiscated the kitsune's foxfire - her soul, which she kept outside her body. The shogun kept the foxfire in a safe locked with a
sliding puzzle
A sliding puzzle, sliding block puzzle, or sliding tile puzzle is a combination puzzle that challenges a player to slide (frequently flat) pieces along certain routes (usually on a board) to establish a certain end-configuration. The pieces to ...
. When Rapunzel tried to get the foxfire back for Tomoko, she discovered that she was unable to solve the puzzle slide, and broke a plate in anger. The shogun caught her trying to break her into the safe, and beat her up and threw her limp form down a well. Rapunzel was unable to climb out the well, and ate her hair in order to survive. She coughed up hundreds of
hairballs
A hairball is a small collection of hair or fur formed in the stomach of animals, and uncommonly in humans, that is occasionally vomited up when it becomes too big. Hairballs are primarily a tight elongated cylinder of packed fur, but may includ ...
, which talked to her with spiny mouths. Rapunzel knotted several of them into her hair, which gave her the purchase she needed to climb out. She escaped from the well, and killed the shogun and his men.
Centuries later, in the mundy world, Rapunzel and Joel Crow venture with
Jack Horner (before his break with
Rose Red) to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, where the Japanese Fables have started a new life after the Adversary's invasion. Rapunzel is caught in a war between Tomoko's group and the other Japanese Fables, but eventually manages to help her former lover and the Japanese Fables find their way back to their homeland via a magical portal. Frau Totenkinder reveals to Joel Crow that she knows who took Rapunzel's children, and that this person is an enemy of Totenkinder, who would use Rapunzel to bring her and all of Fabletown down. This is why the twins were stolen, and why she can't tell Rapunzel. She persuades Joel to give Rapunzel a memory potion that will make her forget about her daughters, Tomoko and The Hidden Kingdom. It is implied that Joel gives the potion to Rapunzel.
Kay
Once a captive of
the Snow Queen
"The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...
, Kay is now grown and living in New York, away from Fabletown itself. It has never been stated what happened to his friend Gerda or their home. He still has the troll mirror shards in his eye, with the result that he sees all the bad that people have ever done. The pain that this causes him leads him to routinely gouge out his own eyes, although they subsequently grow back over a period of around ten years. Kay has proven very useful in the past at detecting traitors, and it is with this in mind that Beast asked Frau Totenkinder to magically restore Kay's sight to assist him in rooting out Fables who might be secretly working for the Adversary. Because of his ability, Kay is the only other person in Fabletown to know the full details of Bigby's past deeds and how Frau Totenkinder truly gets her powers. The "bad" he sees is defined so by Fabletown morals and not by Mundy justice, as he sees the "bad" in Bigby (though he was mostly doing what he did because of an understandable (from a wolves perspective) dislike of humans, and from hunger rather than for the sake of evil) and in Frau Totenkinder (though what she does is perfectly legal from a 21st-century Mundy American justice point of view). After seeing the evil in The Adversary, he is so overwhelmed he gouges his eyes out again. Soon afterward, he is killed by Mr. Dark, who devours his teeth to make him a witherling. When Totenkinder destroys Mister Dark's teeth by feeding him candy, most likely this ended Dark's control over Kay's body.
Mrs. Sprat
Mrs. Sprat, whose first name is Leigh, works as a nurse in the Knights of Malta Hospital special research wing and like the poem says, she is indeed fat. Mrs. Sprat is a rather ugly and grumpy individual, which does her no good in a community filled with beautiful men and women. Her husband was another of Ghost's victims. In ''Fables'' #100, Snow White scolds her for her nasty, spiteful attitude towards Sheriff Beast and Beauty while the latter is going into labor. Snow explains that, while one can get away with being mean if she is beautiful, one can also get away with being hideous if she's pleasant, and since Mrs. Sprat is both ugly and mean she will have to do something about her attitude before someone has had enough of her. On the verge of tears, Mrs. Sprat reveals that she hates all the beautiful Fables, and became a nurse for the chance to have them under her care and at her mercy. When the Fables depart for Haven, Mrs. Sprat stays behind, unbeknownst to everyone else. When Mister Dark shows up at the Farm looking for the other Fables, she offers to reveal their location for three things: to become beautiful, for all the other beautiful Fables to become ugly like her, and for a prince to love her with "true love". Mister Dark agrees to all three conditions, and the two depart together.
Mr. Dark shows Nurse Sprat how to make herself beautiful by exercising and fighting her eating disorder by eating more lean and less fat. Mrs. Sprat is delighted with the great progress, but eventually becomes impatient with her transformation and asks Mr. Dark to speed up the process. Using an extremely painful spell, Mr. Dark transforms her into a beautiful, young woman in a black dress. Mr. Dark leaves to deal with the Fables, and promises to summon Mrs. Sprat to his side so that she will see the beautiful Fables be made ugly before they die. He also plans to make her his bride and the mistress of Castle Dark, his fortress in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Sprat adopts her maiden name, Duglas, since the name Sprat is from a dead past. However, Mr. Dark is killed by Mr. North, the North Wind, before any of his plans are carried through. When Leigh's fellow Fables come to claim the castle as their own following Mr. Dark's death, Leigh dresses in rags and hides in a dungeon, pretending to have been Dark's prisoner, and claims that the reason for her slim figure is that Dark starved her. Since her transformation, she has tried gaining favor with King Cole and has been approached romantically by Dr. Swineheart, much to her shock. It is recently revealed that she withheld the last shard from Bigby after he had been turned into glass and shattered by Brandish. Now ready to take on the mantle of Mister Dark, she resurrects Bigby in a feral form and unleashes him onto the Fables. When the Fables demand Bigby's death, Leigh vehemently accuses the Fables of lacking mercy, especially Rose Red as the supposed champion for the hope of second chances. Enhanced by the magic as the leader of the Knights of the Endless Table, Rose eventually sees Leigh's true form and notices her glass ring, made from Bigby's shard. Killing Leigh, Rose Red takes the ring and assumes control over Bigby.
"The Cubs"
Snow and Bigby's seven children are a rowdy, unpredictable bunch of hybrids that seem to have inherited abilities from all facets of their heritage. All, but Ghost, can fly, at first uncontrollably so, flight having been their natural state; they needed to be taught how to ground themselves. They can transform into wolf form.
One of the seven, later named Ghost by Bigby, is a
zephyr
In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind.
Zephyr may also refer to:
Arts and media
Fiction Fiction media
* ''Zephyr'' (film), a 2010 Turkish ...
, a rogue wind whose invisible nature meant his parents were initially unaware of his existence. This entity fed off the air of living beings, accidentally killing them before he learned control. Snow White, after a rash of deaths, discovers that they were inadvertently caused by her last child. She sends Ghost to find his self-exiled father. The family has since been reunited. On their fifth birthday, the other six cubs were introduced to Ghost, but were sworn to secrecy as to his existence, as zephyrs are considered dangerous aberrations, and their grandfather Mr. North is obligated by a prior vow to exterminate any zephyrs known to exist. Ghost appears sweet, if anything confused since he cannot feel normal things the others do. He's not hungry, thirsty or sleepy. But he is good at finding people, which was what convinced Snow to find Bigby.
Ambrose, the chubby and sweet cub named after Flycatcher, is portrayed as the weak link, often too scared to transform or fly when in danger. Ambrose narrates certain events such as the family's trip to his grandfather's castle, as well as his narrow escape from his six wild uncles, with whom his father later fought. These are done in the form of
memoirs
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...
.
Darien is shown as the leader of the pack, something that Bigby has commented on. Another female cub, Winter (named after Bigby's mother), is portrayed as being shy and cuddly, often shown sucking her thumb or holding a stuffed animal, usually the only one of the cubs to do so. Her brother Darien has referred to Winter as the runt of the litter, despite her being the firstborn. She also stands out because, unlike her other siblings, she was the only one who was born completely human in appearance. The remaining cubs are Conner, who isn't too different from Darien in personality and possesses similar facial characteristics like Prince Charming; Therese, a blonde-headed cub who is observant, but tends to confuse things; and Blossom, who bears a great deal of resemblance to Rose Red, seems to have inherited some stereotypical "Fairytale Princess" qualities, and is often seen with cute cuddly forest creatures and butterflies following her around.
During the Fables Forum panel in the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, a one-page story was handed out to attendees that would foretell the fate of the cubs possibly within the next one hundred issues. Ambrose meets one of the Thirteenth Floor Witches, Ozma of Oz, the young childlike second in command to Frau Totenkinder, who at his behest tells him of a prophecy she had. She explains:
* The first child will be a king (Winter)
* The second child a pauper (Blossom)
* The third will do an evil thing (Therese)
* The fourth will die to stop her (Darien)
* The fifth will be a hero bold (Conner)
* The sixth will judge the rest (Ambrose)
* The seventh lives to ages old, and is by heaven blessed (Ghost)
The Witch further explains that her vision made no real detailed specifics as to which child is which and she leaves it up to Ambrose to decide if he should tell the others.
When the Cubs approach their ninth birthday, and the first result of the prophecy is revealed. After the death of
the North Wind, Bigby's father, a successor is chosen among his grandchildren. After a series of tests are performed, Winter is named the winner and the new king of the North Wind's kingdom. Winter will be sent away soon for her training, but she admits to her father that she's deathly afraid as a result of recently having nightmares of her older self as the North Wind. In her dreams, she is no longer her sweet and shy self and sees herself as a cold and selfish person that hurts people. If this will happen is not known. By the time the events of ''Camelot'' occur, it is revealed that Winter has fully assumed the powers of the North Wind, including the ability to appear in multiple places at once wherever the North Wind exists. While she takes on the form of a young girl to keep her mother from worrying, Winter actually possesses an adult form reflecting her age and knowledge inherited from her predecessors and is considerably more ruthless than her childlike form appears. Unbeknownst to Snow White, Winter has taken it upon herself to gather all the powers under her demesnes, including the other cardinal winds, the Snow Queen, and Santa Claus, as part of an army against the forces of Rose Red and the Knights of the Endless Table.
Subsequently, the third and fourth children mentioned in the prophecy are revealed to be Therese and Darien respectively. After receiving a red plastic tugboat (Mr. Steampuddle) for Christmas from an unknown admirer, Therese is carried away to Toyland, a mysterious land where discarded toys go, and is delighted to be crowned Queen of Toyland. Dismayed when she finds she cannot fly nor go home, she begins to starve as nothing grows in Toyland and learns that all the inhabitants in Toyland are toys that caused their child owners to die in accidents, such as choking or drowning, and she is the latest in a long-line of ill-fated children who starved to death before they could restore the toys. Back in the "mundy" world, Darien realizes that as the pack leader, it is his job to look after the rest of the cubs. With the help of Lord Mountbatten, a magical clockwork tiger capable of taking physical form, he travels to Toyland to rescue his sister. However, the toy army attack them, injure Darien, and take Mountbatten prisoner. Therese, with her diminishing condition and the dark influence of the land, orders Mountbatten to be killed for her sustenance, savagely eating his raw flesh before ordering toys to be burned in order to cook her meal, thus committing the "evil thing" outlined in the prophecy. To save his sister, Darien realizes he must sacrifice himself, and impales himself on a broken mini pool cue. His blood goes into a magical cauldron and his body goes into the soil; because of Darien's magical bloodline, his blood invokes an ancient magic that allows growth to come to Toyland and restores the cauldron so it magically fills up with hot and fresh food every day. Therese grieves over her brother for a long, long time and, upon maturity, decides to put her brother's sacrifice to work and begins the restoration of Toyland. Forcing everyone to accept that they are killers including herself, she commands Mr. Steampuddle to lead a series of new voyages and for the toys to save lives. Over many years, the toys are gradually restored and Therese returns to the mundy world to inform her family of Darien's fate. However, while she has grown, little time has passed and her siblings are all still children. Therese also reveals that she is tied to Toyland as its queen due to the consequences of her actions and must eventually return.
The sixth child of the prophecy is revealed to be Ambrose, reinforced by his response to Therese's story as the "one who will judge the rest" through his role as a historian for the Fables. In the Fables story ''The Destiny Game'', an adult Ambrose appears to be in a well-established relationship with the
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...
. In that story, it is also revealed that, no matter their nigh-immortality (due to their nature as Fables and part-gods), they will all die, eventually (as Bigby is fated to outlive them all). Still according to Bigby's new fate, all of his cubs will lay waste to worlds (meaning they will all do terrible things, eventually - though this is contradicted by Dare's noble suicide before he had any opportunity to commit any crime of any kind at all). However, as noted earlier, the Lady can reassign fates. In the Fables story ''Snow White'', the adult Ambrose narrates the events that led to Bigby's death, and reveals he is the child who judges the rest as the witch foretold, by telling the histories. Ambrose himself is eventually revealed to be an established author of popular children's books and histories, as well as having six children with the Lady of the Lake
The remaining portions of the prophecy are confirmed in the last volume of the series, ''Farewell''. Blossom becomes the "pauper", a huntress who lives without material possessions or comforts, living off and protecting beasts and lands, which is a point of contention between her and Winter; Conner is the "hero bold", a swash-bucking adventurer who travels through worlds, though his flamboyant attitude has put him at odds with the more grounded Ambrose; and Ghost is revealed to be the one "who lives to ages old, and is by heaven blessed" by virtue of outliving all his siblings after a long eventful life.
Other New York Fables
* The Forsworn Knight: A human figure in full medieval armor, the Knight hangs from a noose tied to the tree in the Fabletown business office in the early issues of Fables. All that was known about him was that he had apparently killed himself sometime in the 13th century and that, when plied with alcohol, he's prone to singing and uttering prophecies; it is mentioned that things got decidedly messy the last time that this happened. In ''The Good Prince'' story arc, it is revealed that the Forsworn Knight is the ghost of
Lancelot
Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
, who has pledged his service to Flycatcher, as well as knighted Ambrose to become the Once and Future King.
*
Cock Robin
"Who Killed Cock Robin" is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 494.
Lyrics
The earliest record of the rhyme is in ''Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book'', published in 1744, which noted only the first four verses. The ...
: He was killed by another bird fable during the Farm revolt. Mark Buckingham has pointed out that the second robin that appeared later on in the 'Animal Farm' story-arc was a different robin, and not Cock Robin himself.
* Jack Ketch: The executioner who killed Dun and Posey Pig after the revolution at the Farm. He is named after
the infamous executioner. According to
Bill Willingham
William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series ''Elementals (Comico Comics), Elementals'' and ''Fables (comics), Fables''.
Career
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ...
, Jack Ketch in ''Fables'' is an office, and not a single person.
*
Edmond Dantès
Edmond Dantès () is a title character and the protagonist of Alexandre Dumas's 1844 adventure novel ''The Count of Monte Cristo''. Within the story's narrative, Dantès is an intelligent, honest and loving man who turns bitter and vengeful after ...
: Better known by his famous alias of '
The Count of Monte Cristo
''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. Li ...
', Edmond owns and runs Fabletown's
Chateau d'If Fencing Academy. He can often be found in the Branstock Tavern. He is killed by
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
in the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All the Land'', during a fencing lesson with Snow White, who was Goldilocks' intended victim. Although Snow is resurrected by
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
, Dantès is not, as Cindy can only bring half of Goldilock's victims bring back to life.
*
Crow brothers: Joel, Vulco, and Ephram Crow are the three survivors of the original
twelve brothers. The brothers, warriors all, fought fiercely against the Adversary's forces and the Crows were instrumental in ensuring the escape of the last ship to leave the Homelands, as the then-surviving seven, armed only with daggers, took on and defeated a pair of dragons who were threatening the fleeing vessel, at the cost of four of their number. These days, Joel's sole task is to cut Rapunzel's hair three times a day, Ephram works as a security guard at the Knights of Malta hospital and Vulco runs the I Am the Eggman diner. The three Crows were brought in to assist with the arrest of the visiting Arabian Fables. Vulco is known to date Clara, the former dragon turned bird, in his bird form; as well as a fair maiden named Katrinelje while he is in human form.
* The
Magical Mirror: Served as an adviser to Bufkin while the latter was stranded in the business office. Other people who have asked the mirror questions are Flycatcher, Prince Charming and Jack Horner. In the ''Witches'' story arc, the mirror is also identified as the mirror from the tale of ''
The Snow Queen
"The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...
''.
*
Thrushbeard: Still as hirsute as his name suggests, Thrushbeard apparently managed to escape the Homelands with some of his royal fortune, as observed by Jack when he tried to sell the exiled King the magic beans; Thrushbeard, wise to Jack's ways, wanted nothing to do with it. He can often be found drinking in the Branstock Tavern. Whether his wife escaped the Homelands with him is unknown.
*
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Boy Who Cried Wolf is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 210 in the Perry Index. From it is derived the English idiom "to cry wolf", defined as "to give a false alarm" in e''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' and glossed by the ''Oxford E ...
: Referred to in the ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' story arc. When Snow White does not believe
Jack Horner's story about
The Wooden Soldiers, Snow asks if he did ever hear about the Boy Who Cried Wolf; Jack replies: "Sure Snow. He lives up on the second floor" (of the Woodlands building).
*
Little Miss Muffet
"Little Miss Muffet" is an English nursery rhyme of uncertain origin, first recorded in 1805. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20605.
Wording
The rhyme first appeared in print in ''Songs for the Nursery'' (1805), and there have been ...
and the spider: Now apparently married to the spider and calling herself Mrs. Web, she is Fabletown's biggest gossip. Her husband, the Spider, was one of the victims of Snow's son Ghost. He was later among the ghosts who went with Flycatcher to Haven.
*
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 ...
: Frankenstein was animated by Nazis during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Bigby fought the monster (in a reference to the 1943 film ''
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
''Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of later called "monster rallie ...
'') when he and a squad of Allied soldiers stormed the castle where the experiment was being performed. The Monster's still-animated head is kept in the business office in the Woodlands building where Bigby chats with him from time to time. He often has phantom thirst and is given drinks by Bufkin though the last time this happened, the bottom of his cage rusted out. He is Bufkin's dear friend and ally, he teams up with Bufkin and the others when they discover they're stuck with Baba Yaga. In the ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' story arc,
Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
can be seen reading the ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...
'' novel, establishing its existence in the Mundane world of the series; it has yet to be clarified whether the Monster is a true Fable (i.e., a migrant from a Homeland where the events of the novel occurred) or a rare case of a non-Fable paranormal native to the Mundane.
*
The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs: Believed killed in the Adversary's assault on the Homelands, Gudrun actually escaped and now lives in a secret den within the Woodlands building. Her eggs provided Bigby with an untraceable source of funds for his covert activities. With Bigby moved on, Gudrun now fulfills the same role for his replacement, Beast.
*
Shylock
Shylock is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Merchant of Venice'' (c. 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal antagonist. His defeat and conversion to Christianity form the climax of the ...
: In ''The Mean Seasons'', Bigby talks about a man who converts the Goose's eggs into currency. Bill Willingham has identified the person as Shylock, the central character from
Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
''
The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
''. It seems that Shylock still works with money in some unspecified manner.
*
Jack Sprat
"Jack Sprat" (or "Jack Spratt") is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19479.
Rhyme
The most common modern version of the rhyme is:
Origins
The name "Jack Sprat" was used of people of small stature in t ...
: Killed off-screen by
Ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
during ''The Mean Seasons'' story arc. He is also mentioned in the
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
story ''Jack O' Lantern''.
*
Barbara Allen: Referred to in the story arcs ''The Mean Seasons'' and ''Rose Red''. The character of a folk song. She was accidentally killed by Ghost.
* Hakim: A newly freed Arabian slave, he has had trouble adjusting to modern-day New York. He became the bodyguard to
Briar Rose when she agreed to use her curse to disable the Empire's capital city. Years later, he was still asleep together with
Mrs. Someone, who acted as Briar Rose's magical guardian. Recently, the sleeping Briar Rose was carried out of the city by goblins, before the city was burned to the ground, and it is assumed that Mrs. Someone and Hakim were killed in the fire.
*
The Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick-Maker: Appear in ''Happily Ever After'' and ''The Great Fables Crossover''. Jack Horner, having met the revised version of the trio at the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village, claims that they are spies of
Mr. Revise and not the real ones. When he orders the other Fables to arrest them, the Baker runs for his life.
[''Fables'' 84: ''The Great Fables Crossover'', part 4 of 9]
*
Bean Nighe
The (Scottish Gaelic for 'washerwoman' or 'laundress'; ) is a female spirit in Scottish folklore, regarded as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of ( ga, bean sídhe, anglicized as "banshee") that haunts desola ...
: She was first referred to in a map of Fabletown, printed in the ''Wolves'' trade paperback, which says that Ford Laundry is run by "the washer woman at the Ford". She makes her first appearance in the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All the Land'', which reveals that Bean Nighe has the ability to predict the deaths of other people. In this story, Bean Nighe, along with
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay (, meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morg e, Morgant Morge , and Morgue namong other names and spellings ( cy, Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, kw, Morgen an Spyrys), is a powerful ...
, were victims at the hands of
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
. Cinderella is able to bring back the victims of Goldilocks, but she's only allowed to choose half, and chooses Morgan Le Fay, seeing her more valuable an alley for Fabletown.
*
Fair Katrinelje: She is dating Vulco Crow when he's human
* S.O.S.: The Society of Seconds, a faction composed of Fables who were born in the Mundy world, most likely from before the Pied Piper's Curse. They want to go back, and establish a country in one of the now liberated Homelands.
* Seamus McGuire, a member of
Boy Blue's band who plays the
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
. He is referred to in ''
Peter and Max: A Fables Novel'', and can be seen with the band in the ''Fables'' story ''"All in a Single Night"''.
* Baby Joe Sheppard, a member of
Boy Blue's band who plays the
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
. He is referred to in ''Peter and Max: A Fables Novel'', and can be seen with members of the band in the ''Fables'' stories ''Single Combat'' and ''"All in a Single Night"''.
* Crispin Cordwainer: The famous shoemaker of ''
The Elves and the Shoemaker
"The Elves and The Shoemaker" (German: ''Die Wichtelmänner'') is a set of fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 39) about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from three young helpful elves.
The original story is the first o ...
'', named for
St. Crispin
Saints Crispin and Crispinian are the Christian patron saints of cobblers, curriers, tanners, and leather workers. They were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 October 285 or 286.
History
Born t ...
, the patron of cobblers. He runs the Glass Slipper while Cinderella is off doing her spy work. The elves still have a working relationship with him, though their magic gifts come with unexpected side effects. This is seen when ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'' while Cindy goes on another mission (though she told him it was a business trip) he decides to run the shop his way. He convinces the elves to make magic shoes for the Fabletown women, such as jogging shoes that jog for you. However, despite their warning, he gets what he wants. And it comes with a side effect, as the women (like Rapunzel who bought jogging shoes) cannot take the shoes off and it is exhausting them. This causes the angry women to organize a protest where mundys can see, which puts Crispin in trouble with Sheriff Beast. Eventually, when Cindy returns, she makes the elves take back the shoes (though Cindy must pay them for their efforts, but she takes it out of Crispin's paycheck). She also makes Crispin give all the Fabletown women long foot massages for their tired feet. The elves decide to send their shoes back to the Homelands for the soldiers that served the "Emperor".
* The huntsman: From the ''
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 Ta ...
'' fairytale. He first appears in flashbacks during the ''Rose Red'' and ''Camelot'' story arcs, playing the same role as he does in the fairy tale. In the ''Fairest'' story arc ''Of Men and Mice'', it is established that he is a resident of Fabletown. It is implied that he and Crispin are close friends; when Crispin is in a coma after a bomb attack meant for Cinderella, the huntsman remains at Crispin's bedside for days.
Thirteenth Floor Fables
These are the spellcaster Fables who live on the 13th floor of the Woodlands building.
Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder (a pseudonym which literally translates as "dead children" in German) is the leader of the magicians of Fabletown, representing many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends. Her outward appearance as a rather frail old woman masks the fact that she is one of the most powerful Fables to have escaped
The Homelands. She has appeared throughout the series as an integral part of the Fabletown community, both defending it against the Adversary's mages and making her own deals with its residents.
Ozma
Ozma, Princess of Oz, a little girl witch who is often seen with Frau Totenkinder. While the Fairy Witch's great task was the creation of Fabletown and the Woodland building and Totenkinder's great task was the battle against the Empire, Ozma sees her task as the battle against Mr. Dark for the sake of Fabletown. Was voted the new leader of the 13th floor after Frau Totenkinder went to find Dunster Happ. She participated in a power struggle in The Farm along with Stinky and Gepetto, and in the end was named one of Rose Red's three advisers. With Totenkinder gone to live with her new husband, Ozma is the leader of the thirteenth floor witches. She's killed by a resurrected feral Bigby Wolf (unknown to all is being controlled by Mrs. Sprat).
Great Fairy Witch
The former leader of the 13th floor who has gone a little crazy. She is the witch from ''
Thumbelina
Thumbelina (; da, Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in t ...
'', as seen in flashbacks in the Fables story ''The Barleycorn Brides''. It is hinted that Frau Totenkinder was the one who caused her to go mad after she took over the Fairy Witch's role – besides, when Totenkinder gave her knitting needles and her bag of wool balls their true forms and names back and stopped knitting, the Great Fairy Witch continued to knit with no needles and no wool. She has gone by other names including Ardelia, Cherish, Birdie and Bulah.
Maddy
A black
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
with a demon-like, pointed tail who has appeared in a few panels with Frau Totenkinder and other witches. She is the acknowledged specialist in matters of locating and hiding and is a shape-shifter. Her powers at hiding are so great that Mr. Dark couldn't detect her, when she went to spy on him, although she had trouble keeping away from his detection, calling Mr Dark the most paranoid and dangerous of any subject she had spied on before. Ozma used her to find Frau Totenkinder before she went into seclusion. The character has been revealed to represent both
Sycorax
Sycorax is an unseen character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Tempest'' (1611). She is a vicious and powerful witch and the mother of Caliban (character), Caliban, one of the few native inhabitants of the island on which Prospero, the he ...
from ''
The Tempest'' and
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
from
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
. Maddy seems to be second in command to Ozma, the same way that Ozma herself was always second to Totenkinder.
Mr. Grandours
Mr. Grandours (in French, literally "large
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
") is the title character from the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
fairy tale ''
The Wizard King
The Wizard King (''Le Roi Magicien'') is a French fairy tale published in ''Les fees illustres'' by the Chevalier de Mailly. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Yellow Fairy Book''.
Synopsis
A king was lord over many lands and had mastered mag ...
'' (from
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...
's ''
The Yellow Fairy Book
''The Langs' Fairy Books'' are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections ...
''), about a
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 ...
ing wizard king; this is revealed in the ''Fables Encyclopedia''.
The local Imperial Governor instructed Mr. Grandours to guard a tower, filled with various treasures, including the magic barleycorns. He helped
John Barleycorn
"John Barleycorn" is an English and Scottish folk song listed as number 164 in the Roud Folk Song Index. John Barleycorn, the song's protagonist, is a personification of barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it: beer and whisky. ...
and Arrow retrieve the jar and joined Fabletown. He eventually returned to his human form and lives on the 13th floor. He's the man in a big fur coat and hat with bear eyes. He was the one that originally revived
Boy Blue and
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a fictional character in the American comic book series ''Fables'' published by DC Comics and its alternative imprint Vertigo. The character first appears in ''Fables'' #1 (July 2002) and was created by Bill Willingham and Lan Medi ...
when they were almost killed by a magic arrow.
Prospero
Protagonist of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play ''
The Tempest''.
Prospero
Prospero ( ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''.
Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose usurping brother, Antonio, had put him (with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda) to sea ...
is seen agreeing with Mr. Grandours that haste is a "mundy quality". It is unknown how the relation between Prospero and Maddy is, as he used her son as a slave for years. However, this would fall under the Fabletown Compact which pardons any crimes done before signing.
Mr. Kadabra
Depicted as a stereotypical Stage Magician wearing a top hat. In earlier appearances, he is seen wearing a button with "yog" on it which refers to meditation and concentration. His name derives from the magic phrase
abracadabra
''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic.
Etymology
''Abracadabra'' is of unknown origin, but according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', its first known occurrence i ...
. He has recently been killed by an unknown assailant in the first issue of ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever''. In the ''Fables'' story ''In Those Days'', it is revealed that Mr. Kadabra's real name is Karrant. Karrant was a powerful sorcerer who cast a spell on
the Adversary that made the Adversary ignore any land in which Kadabra dwelled. The cost of Karrant's actions was that he forgot all about the spell and his enemy. He wandered from world to world until he ended up in Fabletown in the mundane world, where he made a living as a stage magician, adopting the stage name "Master Kadabra". He was eventually killed by
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
, who needed a dead body to send a message to her archenemy,
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
.
Geppetto
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay (, meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morg e, Morgant Morge , and Morgue namong other names and spellings ( cy, Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, kw, Morgen an Spyrys), is a powerful ...
, from the saga of
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
, is the witch with the long dark hair and beauty mark on her face. Her identity was first revealed in the ''
Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All the Land'', and later in ''Fables'' 136 (''Camelot'', Part 6). She is also known as Mrs. Green, as revealed in ''Fables'' 128 (''Snow White'', Chapter Four). Morgan was part of
Ozma's super team put together to defeat
Mister Dark, where she was given the "superhero name" The Green Witch. She has the power to fly.
In the ''Snow White'' story arc, after the story arc's title character is taken captive by
Prince Brandish, Morgan is seen discussing rescue plans with her fellow witches, Ozma and
Maddy
Maddy or Maddie is a shortened form of the feminine given names Madeleine, Madelyn, Madison, etc.
People
* Maddy Crippen (born 1980), American medley swimmer
* Maddy English (1925–2004), American professional baseball player
* Maddy Evans ( ...
. Because Brandish has bewitched himself so that any injury inflicted on him will also hurt Snow, the task is easier said than done, especially since the spell is difficult to break. Morgan comes up with a plan. They will not try to break the spell, but add to it instead: She will build in a delay between cause and effect, which will give them some wiggle room between the moment Brandish is killed, and when the same thing happens to Snow. Morgan begins the hard work of casting the spell, while
Rose Red rescues Snow while Brandish is distracted. Snow then engages Brandish in a sword fight, while Morgan slowly, but carefully manages to unwind the spell that Brandish has cast on himself, allowing Snow to stab him straight through his heart.
Unfortunately, the spell is not broken, merely delayed. In the ''Camelot'' story arc, Morgan breaks the bad news to Snow: Sooner or later, the fatal wound is bound to be inflicted on Snow herself, which will kill her. In ''Fairest In All the Land'', Morgan, along with
Bean Nighe
The (Scottish Gaelic for 'washerwoman' or 'laundress'; ) is a female spirit in Scottish folklore, regarded as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of ( ga, bean sídhe, anglicized as "banshee") that haunts desola ...
, a Fabled oracle, were victims at the hands of
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
. While
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
is able to bring back the victims of Goldilocks; she's only allowed to choose half. She ultimately chooses Morgan Le Fay, seeing her more valuable an alley for Fabletown. Snow White's fate is resolved in the same story; she is stabbed through the heart (as Morgan predicted) by Goldilocks. Fortunately, Cinderella is able to bring her back to life.
The Farm
This article is a list of
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
s in the
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 ...
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
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 ...
'', ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'', ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'', ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever'' and ''
Fairest'', 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 ...
. These are the characters who live at The Farm.
Rose Red
Snow White's sister, ex-girlfriend of
Jack Horner, brief
fiancée
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
of Bluebeard, and brief wife of
Sinbad. For centuries,
Rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
's relationship with her sister was defined by wild carousing and partying, serving as an embarrassment to her sister. Snow's then-husband Prince Charming got tangled with Rose Red in an adulterous relationship when she had stayed with the couple as Snow White's companion, thus putting an end to the already troubled marriage. In the first ''Fables'' story arc, she is believed to be murdered, until Bigby Wolf solves the mystery: She and Jack had faked her death as part of a complex plan to avoid her impending marriage to Bluebeard after using a great deal of his money to finance one of Jack's ill-fated get-rich-quick schemes.
In the second story arc, she and Snow White go up to the Farm for Rose to do as punishment for her faked death, where they are caught up in a revolution. At the end of that story, Rose finally finds her niche, managing the Farm, which allowed her to stand equal to her sister, the then-deputy mayor. At the end of the arc Rose is shown to have matured greatly and has fixed her relationship with her sister and broke off her bad relationship with Jack for good. She continues to run the Farm, doting on her nieces and nephews, and has occasionally provided assistance to covert operations. Though her life as the original party girl is well behind her, she still maintains a cheerful attitude and independent spirit, evident in how she runs the Farm, regardless of how the current administration would like her to manage things.
She was briefly involved with Weyland Smith before his death in the battle of Fabletown. Rose was also the one who persuaded her sister to trust Frau Totenkinder and take her with them to the mundane world while they were escaping from the Homelands and the invading armies of the Adversary. She had shown interest in Boy Blue while overseeing his labor sentence, but rejected his advances on the eve of Fabletown's strike against the Emperor in order to preserve their friendship. Boy Blue did not take the rejection well.
Following the "War and Pieces" story-arc, Rose marries Sinbad, but immediately divorces him on account of her despair over Boy Blue's post-war condition. She attempts to revive her romantic relationship with Boy Blue in his last moments, but is denied by Blue himself, who tells her that she is hopelessly attracted to whoever seems to add the most excitement to her life, and that he deserves better than that, but he hopes someone else can "fix her".
Emotionally destroyed by Blue's rejection and death, Rose descends into self-loathing and depression, refusing to leave her bed for any reason. She reunites briefly with Jack on her descent toward rock-bottom, believing that she deserves someone as terrible as Jack. After reconciling with her past, Rose decides to take charge of the Farm again, stopping Ozma, Brock, and Geppetto's bids to take control of the farm and appointing them as her advisers. She also makes it clear to Cole, Beast, and Beauty that she will accept their advice but wants them to respect the fact that they're on the Farm and not at Fabletown. To show no hard feelings with Brock, she wears a blue scarf to show her support that Boy Blue could come back, but maintains that while she wants as much as anyone for Blue to come back, it is the job of everyone to fix their own problems instead of waiting for Blue to return and fix everything. While it has not been said, Rose does feel guilty for divorcing her husband, as Colin points out to her in a dream, by asking what she felt guilty about.
Rose Red usually dresses in red and almost always has some sort of rose motif in her clothing, even if it is just a scarf tied in the shape of a blossom.
Boy Blue
Weyland Smith
Based on
Wayland the Smith
In Germanic mythology, Wayland the Smith ( ang, Wēland; , ; Old Frisian: Wela(n)du; german: Wieland der Schmied; goh, Wiolant; ''Galans'' (''Galant'') in Old French; gem-x-proto, Wēlandaz, italic=no from ', lit. "crafting one") is a master ...
, a figure in
Germanic mythology
Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism.
Origins
As the Germanic language ...
, Weyland Smith served as the administrator of the Farm facility and thus bore the brunt of much of the resentment of those Fables confined there. He was imprisoned during the revolution there and was magically compelled to turn his mechanical prowess to the task of adapting mundane weapons so that they could be used easily by non-human Fables. Once the rebellion was foiled, he was replaced as administrator by Rose Red. He then intended to leave the Farm, but Snow White asked him to stay on and continue the task of adapting weapons, in preparation for the inevitable conflict with the Adversary. He agreed and stayed at the Farm, and became close with Rose, shortly before they were called into action to defend Fabletown against the incursion of the wooden soldiers. He fought bravely, smashing the enemy close up with his massive mallet, but ultimately fell in battle alongside many of his compatriots, his body committed to the witching well. He was eventually resurrected by Flycatcher and was tasked with building farms and other medieval era infrastructure for Fly's kingdom of Haven.
He now holds a position of distinction as Haven's Chief Builder in service to King Ambrose. He's later murdered by Prince Brandish, who takes the opportunity to retaliate in Rose Red's absence.
The Three (or Four) Little Pigs
The "original"
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 ...
, Dun, Posey and Colin were heavily involved in the revolt at the Farm. Colin, who appeared to be considerably less enthusiastic about the idea of rebellion than his cousins, was sent down to Fabletown to attempt to steal or duplicate a key to the main business office in the Woodlands building, and also to determine which of the city Fables might be sympathetic to their cause. Colin failed in these missions, largely because Bigby Wolf kept a close eye on him before sending him back to the Farm. For this failure, he was killed by the ringleaders of the rebellion (the implication is that Goldilocks did the actual deed) and his head put on a pole in the centre of the Farm as a message that it was time for the rebellion to begin. When it ultimately failed, Dun and Posey were tried as ringleaders and were beheaded for their crimes.
This posed something of a problem, as the Three Little Pigs is a popular myth and thus they were needed to fulfill their roles, but it also presented a solution to another problem. As part of Snow White's plan to stem the revolution, three
Giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
Fables, Lonny, Donny and Johnny, who had been kept sedated for centuries due to the impossibility of hiding their huge forms, had been awakened. Rose Red, in her new position as Farm administrator, persuaded her sister to authorize the expensive spells required to transform the three giants into pig forms, allowing the three to take up their new roles as the new Three Little Pigs.
The late Colin appeared to Snow White on four occasions after his murder, still appearing as a head on a pole (possibly in reference to the famous scene of ''Lord of the Flies''). The first occasion was when she lay in a coma after being shot by Goldilocks, where they discussed death briefly and Colin pointed out that, while he was dead, she probably wasn't. The second was shortly before the assault on Fabletown by the wooden soldiers, giving her warning that bad things were coming that would require all of them to defeat. The third occasion was in a dream after her return to the Farm with her children, to warn her that things weren't going to improve any time soon. His final appearance was apparently while Snow was awake, to tell her that things were finally going to get better for her (unbeknownst to Snow, Bigby was on the way back) and to say goodbye, that she didn't need him anymore and that he should move on to whatever came next. Whether this was simply a function of Snow's unconscious mind or whether Colin's spirit survived his murder in some manner is unclear. The guiding spirit of Colin appeared again behind Santa Claus when Santa prophesied a coming battle to Flycatcher, and to Rose Red, warning her that she would have to lead Fabletown during the crisis of Mister Dark.
Posey and Dun were among the Fables that were dumped down the Witching Well and were met by Flycatcher during his quest there.
Recently in Jack of Fables, it was revealed that there was a fourth Little Pig, Carl, who made a house out of cloth. He was Snow White's "favourite of The Four Little Pigs", prior to being eliminated from the story by Mr. Revise before he could find out what happened to his brothers—temporarily making Colin Snow White's "favourite of The Three Little Pigs".
Recently since Fables: Rose Red, it is revealed that the spiritual guide they thought was Colin Pig may not be him after all, during Colin's final attempt to help Rose Red from her depression. He soon transforms into Boy Blue, but immediately decides to change again, believing it would be too cruel for her. Instead, he takes the form of Rose and Snow White's mother. It is also noted that the spirit knows things about Rose and Snow that they had never told others, such as their child pet names, and he explains that their mother and the king (from
Snow White and Rose Red
"Snow-White and Rose-Red" (german: Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot) is a German fairy tale. The best-known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 161). An older, somewhat shorter version, "The Ungrateful Dwarf", was written by Caroli ...
), the father of Prince Brandish, were the ones behind Snow's separation from her family. When Rose realizes that Snow is not to blame for all her grief and that she needs to move on, she looks to her "mother's" spirit and tells her to stop trying to fool her. At this point she sees that this being is neither Boy Blue, Colin, nor her mother, and asks it to show her its real form, to which request it complies. Although its form is never seen, Rose is shown bathed in a golden light, and it is seen that this form impresses and shocks her.
The final issue of the ''Super Team'' story arc reveals that the mysterious being is
Hope
Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large.
As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...
, from the story of
Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...
and
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem ''Works and Days''. Hesiod reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing phys ...
. She was previously seen in her true form in an illustration for the ''Rose Red'' story arc, where she is described as one of the great powers and belonging to the same group as
Mr. Dark and
The North Wind.
Colin appeared in a video game, as it is a prequel to the comics. He is seen hanging around Bigby's apartment, and Bigby must choose whether to let him stay or send him back to the farm. He is voiced by Brian Sommer.
The Three Bears
Residents at the Farm due to their non-human appearance, the
Three Bears got involved with the rebellion there, largely manipulated by Goldilocks, who was sleeping with Boo, the now-grown Baby Bear. After the revolt failed, the three were sentenced to one hundred years of hard labor. Some time later, when it became apparent that Fabletown would soon fall under attack, the three volunteered to join the defense, hoping to demonstrate their new loyalty. They fought bravely, but Papa Bear was badly injured and Boo was slain by enemy fire in the closing stages of the battle. Boo's body was committed to the depths of the Witching Well along with his fallen comrades, watched by his grieving parents. With the popular story requiring three bears, Mama Bear fell pregnant not long after her son's death and a new Baby Bear now completes the family once more. Boo Bear was among the ghosts who accompanied Flycatcher to Haven.
Reynard the Fox
Reynard the Fox
Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...
is a resident of the farm who stayed loyal during Goldilocks's revolution. He is a trickster, and a rogue, but also very cunning and brave, a characteristic that makes him very similar to Charming and Jack Horner as the three are depicted as a stereotype of
lovable rogue
The lovable rogue is a fictional stock character, often from a working-class upbringing, who tends to recklessly defy social norms and social conventions, but who still evokes empathy from the audience or other characters.
Description
Characte ...
. He often puts himself at risk for just causes, when he isn't driving his fellow animals crazy with his tricks. He helped Snow White escape the clutches of The Three Pigs and helped her defeat Shere Khan and free Weyland Smith from his bonds. He flirts with Snow White shamelessly, who is, in turn, is playfully appalled by the fox's advances. During preparations for Bigby and Snow's home, Reynard tells Prince Charming that he blames him. When he asks why, Reynard explains if Prince Charming had kept his promise for glamour spells, he could have become a human and swept Snow off her feet. Charming, not wanting to be reminded of his broken promises, tells him to leave him alone. In the Homelands, he was the one who led King Noble the Lion's subjects (a large number of anthropomorphic animals) into the Mundy world, enabling them to escape the slavery of the Adversary's army. He did this despite the fact that, as a trickster, he was disliked by most of his neighbors. In a display of power, Ozma bestowed the ability to shapeshift between fox and human forms, and his human form is apparently very attractive. Currently, he is amusing himself by transforming back and forth and is very excited to be off the farm. He eventually becomes one of the Knights of Rose Red's New Camelot.
Brock Blueheart ("Stinky")
A
badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united b ...
who may or may not be the same character as
Mr. Badger from ''
The Wind in the Willows
''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets ...
'' (who appears in the ''Fables'' graphic novel ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
''). Though he is usually referred to as "Stinky" (even in the "Who's Who In Fabletown" section of every volume), he specifically stated on several occasions that it is not his real name (while "Brock Blueheart" was invented in memory of Little Boy Blue; ''Brock'' is an old word for
European badger
The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to almost all of Europe. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List as it has a wide range and a large stabl ...
). The others agree to use the new name. After Blue's death, Brock starts a religion based on pure delusion. A belief the returning Jack of Fables is Blue is found false and Brock turns on Jack and Rose. She is hidden away from and Jack is ejected from farm territory. During the ''Rose Red'' story arc, Brock meets clandestinely with Ozma and Gepetto to discuss the future of the leadership of the Farm in Rose Red's absence. However, when Rose clarifies her leadership, Brock backs her. Due to Brock's belief in Blue, he is able to manifest a more powerful form at times – however, magic based on beliefs and religion is extremely weak and easily destroyed by proper magic, as revealed during a skirmish.
He very briefly went by the code-name or hero-name of "Captain Blueheart." During a small portion of the volume "Snow White", his eyes unexplainably stop being blue.
Peter Piper
From the famous tongue twister ''
Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pepper'', the nursery rhyme ''
Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater
"Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13497.
Lyrics
Common modern versions include:
Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell ...
'', and the tale of ''
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 ...
''. Peter was first mentioned in part 2 of ''The Ballad of Rodney and June'', and went on to become one of the title characters in ''
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel''. He is the younger brother to
Max,
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany.
The legend dates back to ...
. When the adversary invaded Peter's
Fable Homeland of Hesse, he was forced to make a living as a thief in the homelands version of
Hamelin
Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
H ...
. He and his wife,
Bo Peep, eventually managed to escape to Fabletown and the mundane world, where they settled in on the Farm. Peter is a
flutist
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with Reed (instrument), reeds, a fl ...
, and the holder to the magic
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
Frost, and he is also in
Boy Blue's band. In addition to his main appearance in ''Peter and Max'', he also appears in several issues of the ''Fables'' comic: In ''Fables'' 91 (chapter five of the ''Witches'' story arc), Peter and his wife can be seen among the Fables standing in the background when the
dryad
A dryad (; el, Δρυάδες, ''sing''.: ) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. ''Drys'' (δρῦς) signifies "oak" in Greek, and dryads were originally considered the nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved to ...
s are enjoying the falling
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
. He can be seen playing his flute alongside another member of the band while the Fables are partying in ''Fables'' #100. He appears with his wife and his band in the ''Fables'' Christmas story ''"All in a Single Night"''.
Peter and his wife have their first speaking parts (in the comics) in ''Fables'' 127 (chapter three of the ''Snow White'' story arc), where they partake in the plans to rescue Snow White from
Prince Brandish. They also appear as supporting characters in the ''
Fairest'' story ''Aldered States'', where Peter and his wife have become friends with Princess Alder the
dryad
A dryad (; el, Δρυάδες, ''sing''.: ) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. ''Drys'' (δρῦς) signifies "oak" in Greek, and dryads were originally considered the nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved to ...
. When
Reynard the Fox
Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...
- in human form - asks the dryad out, Peter gives the fox advice on the customs of dating and courtship.
In the ''Camelot'' story arc, Peter is one of the candidates for a seat at
Rose Red's new
Round Table
The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...
, but Peter says no, because he's already had more than his share of adventures.
In the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All the Land'', Peter is almost killed by Goldilocks. The latter is out to murder the beautiful women of Fabletown, and goes after Peter's wife in their home. Fortunately, Bo catches her by surprise, and Goldilocks flees the scene of the crime.
Peter is a supporting character in ''The Boys in the Band'' story arc.
Bo Peep
From the nursery rhyme
Little Bo Peep
"Little Bo-Peep" or "Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6487.
Lyrics and melody
As with most products of oral tradition, there are many variations to the rhy ...
, and wife to
Peter Piper
"Peter Piper" is an English-language nursery rhyme and well-known alliteration tongue-twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19745.
Lyrics
The traditional version, as published in John Harris' ''Peter Piper's Practical Principles of P ...
. She is also the wife from the nursery rhyme ''
Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater
"Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13497.
Lyrics
Common modern versions include:
Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell ...
''. She was crippled by a magic song from
Max Piper's flute, Fire. After the death of Max, Peter used Fire to heal her, and then he turned Fire over to the authorities of Fabletown. In her youth, she was a member of the Assassin's Guild of the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
version of
Hamlin Hamlin may refer to:
Places
* Hamlin, Iowa, a city
* Hamlin, Kansas, a city
* Hamlin, Kentucky, a town
* Hamlin, Maine, a town
* Hamlin, Michigan, a former community
* Hamlin, New York, a town
** Hamlin (CDP), New York, a census-designated pl ...
. She keeps lambs, and
Mary's lamb used to be one of them. Bo is one of the supporting characters of ''
Peter and Max: A Fables Novel'', and is mentioned in the ''Super Team'' story arc. She and her husband make a brief appearance in ''Fables'' 91 (chapter five of the ''Witches'' story arc), where they can be seen among the Fables standing in the background when the
dryad
A dryad (; el, Δρυάδες, ''sing''.: ) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. ''Drys'' (δρῦς) signifies "oak" in Greek, and dryads were originally considered the nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved to ...
s are enjoying the falling
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
. They also appear briefly in the ''Fables'' story ''"All in a Single Night"'', celebrating Christmas with their fellow Fables. They have their first speaking parts (in the comics) in ''Fables'' 127 (chapter three of the ''Snow White'' story arc), where they partake in the plans to rescue Snow White from
Prince Brandish. Bo and Peter both appear as supporting characters in the ''
Fairest'' story ''Aldered States'', where they have become friends with Princess Alder the
dryad
A dryad (; el, Δρυάδες, ''sing''.: ) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. ''Drys'' (δρῦς) signifies "oak" in Greek, and dryads were originally considered the nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved to ...
. Bo advises the dryad on the customs and mores of modern courtship.
In the ''Camelot'' story arc, Bo and her husband are among the candidates for
Rose Red's new
Round Table
The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...
. Even though Peter says no, Bo decides to attempt to win a seat, and is ultimately chosen as one of Rose Red's Knights, who will take their place at the New
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
.
In the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All the Land'', Bo is one of many Fables killed by Goldilocks, although Cinderella is able bring her back to life. Bo's husband, Peter, is also one of the intended victims, but Goldilocks is interrupted by Bo before she can go through with her plans. Because Goldilocks took Cinderella's form, Bo attacks the real Cinderella when the latter shows up at their house a moment later. She almost kills her in a knife fight, but fortunately, Cinderella survives the deadly wounds, and is able to explain.
Other Farm characters
*
Chicken Little
"Henny Penny", more commonly known in the United States as "Chicken Little" and sometimes as "Chicken Licken", is a European folk tale with a moral in the form of a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes that the world is coming to an end ...
: A Farm resident prone to panic attacks.
*
Puss in Boots
"Puss in Boots" ( it, Il gatto con gli stivali) is an Italian fairy tale, later spread throughout the rest of Europe, about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for hi ...
, or The Marquis De Carabas, an orange
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
who plays the
fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
. He became a spy for
Cindy in exchange that Cindy would someday help him reclaim his lost estates.
*Dickory, the
Mouse who Ran up the Clock. He appeared briefly in the ''Animal Farm'' storyarc, before appearing in ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'' and the ''Fairest'' story arc ''Of Men and Mice''. He is one of Cindy's animal spies, and can make time around him move slower that he seems so fast that can move between the ticks of a clock.
*
The Clock, seen during the ''Animal Farm'' story arc
*Luna,
The Cow who Jumped over the Moon. One of the Fables who managed to escape on the last boat out of the Homelands, and the only living member of the species Bovalunaris (an obvious combination of the words "bovine" and "lunar"). She was felled by
arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
s in the war between Fabletown and the Empire, but recovered.
*
The Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the List of natural satellites, fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth ( ...
, much smaller and nearer than
Earth's moon, explaining how the cow is able to leap over it. In the ''
Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest in All the Land'', it is revealed that the moon is female. She becomes the victim of a serial killer who is after the women of Fabletown.
*
The Dish and the Spoon. The Dish is male, and the Spoon is female, according to ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
''.
*The
Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat ( or ) is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and known for its distinctive mischievous grin. While now most often used in ''Alice''-related contexts, the association of a "Ch ...
, briefly seen during the ''Animal Farm'' story arc. Also mentioned in the ''Fables'' spin-off ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever''.
*Walrus from "
The Walrus and the Carpenter
"The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in his book ''Through the Looking-Glass'', published in December 1871. The poem is recited in chapter four, by Tweedledum and Tweedledee to Alice. The poem is co ...
". Identified in the ''Fables Encyclopedia'' annotations.
Makes an appearance in the ''Animal Farm'' story arc. A revised version of the character is a prisoner at the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village.
*
Br'er Rabbit
Br'er Rabbit (an abbreviation of ''Brother Rabbit'', also spelled Brer Rabbit) is a central figure in an oral tradition passed down by African-Americans of the Southern United States and African descendants in the Caribbean, notably Afro-Bahami ...
, one of the “Br’er Group”, which actively sided with the revolutionaries during the Farm revolt
*
Br’er Bear: During the farm revolt, he led one of the teams hunting for
Reynard the Fox
Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...
*Br'er Gator: Never referred to by name, but has been identified by
Bill Willingham
William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series ''Elementals (Comico Comics), Elementals'' and ''Fables (comics), Fables''.
Career
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ...
as the
bespectacled
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples or t ...
alligator
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...
seen in several stories. He is from the
Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a planta ...
' stories of
Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post-Reconstruction era Atlanta, a ...
, where he is referred to as "B'er Gater".
*
White Rabbit
The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! ...
*The
Three Blind Mice
"Three Blind Mice" is an English-language nursery rhyme and musical round.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 306. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number o ...
, Leland, Thaddeus and Prescott, who are often out on their own adventures. When the
Adversary
An adversary is generally considered to be a person, group, or force that opposes and/or attacks.
Adversary may also refer to:
* Satan ("adversary" in Hebrew), in Judeo-Christian religion
Entertainment Fiction
* Adversary (comics), villain fro ...
invaded their homeland, they took part in an expedition to gather food for their beloved King,
Old King Cole
"Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index numbe ...
, who was near death from starvation. They succeeded, but were caught stealing by the farmer's wife, who cut off their tails with a carving knife.
*
The Tortoise and the Hare
"The Tortoise and the Hare" is one of Aesop's Fables and is numbered 226 in the Perry Index. The account of a race between unequal partners has attracted conflicting interpretations. The fable itself is a variant of a common folktale theme in wh ...
: Jack Horner, having met the revised version of the duo at the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village, claims that the Tortoise and the Hare at the Farm are not the real ones, but spies of
Mr. Revise. To which the Hare replies, "What? I ''never''!
*The
Three Billy Goats Gruff
"Three Billy Goats Gruff" ( no, De tre bukkene Bruse) is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their ''Norske Folkeeventyr'', first published between 1841 and 1844. It has an Aarne-Thompson type of 122 ...
: All three have the first name of William. In the graphic novel ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
'', it is revealed that they were enchanted by
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
, in order to eliminate a bridge troll that was causing problems for a village that won her favor, back in the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
.
*
The Owl and the Pussycat
"The Owl and the Pussy-cat" is a nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published in 1870 in the American magazine '' Our Young Folks: an Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls'' and again the following year in Lear's own book ''Nonsense Songs, S ...
. The duo makes a brief appearance during the ''Animal Farm'' storyarc. They have their first speaking role in the ''Fairest'' story arc ''Clamour for Glamours'', where they listen to Reynard's tales of exploit from the human world.
*Animated playing cards, from ''
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
''
*
Flying monkeys
Winged monkeys are fictional characters created by American author L. Frank Baum in his children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). They are jungle monkeys with bird-like feathered wings. They are most notably remembered from the famo ...
, briefly seen during the ''Animal Farm'' story arc and the story ''Waiting for the Blues'' (not counting
Bufkin, a regular character who lives in Fabletown).
*Mr. Sunflower: Identified by name in the ''Wolves'' story arc. He resents being restricted to the Farm and often vocally agitates the community by taking on the grievances of other residents and vocally bringing them up, claiming unfair treatment, whenever he can. According to ''Fables'' artist
Mark Buckingham, he is from the nursery rhyme "Mister Sunflower", from a
Victorian book of nursery rhymes written and illustrated by artist R. Andre.
*
Thumbelina
Thumbelina (; da, Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in t ...
: She moved to Smalltown during the 18th century and was the only woman there for a while, causing many fights over who would win her hand.
*
Tom Thumb
Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangl ...
, who's been dating Thumbebelina and lives in his own miniature castle
*
Mr. Toad
Mr. Toad, of Toad Hall, is one of the main characters in the 1908 novel ''The Wind in the Willows'' by Kenneth Grahame, and also the title character of the 1929 A. A. Milne play ''Toad of Toad Hall'' based on the book.
Inspiration
The inspiration ...
,
Mr. Mole and
Mr. Badger from ''
The Wind in the Willows
''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets ...
''. Mr. Toad was one of the casualties in the war between Fabletown and the Empire, and was one of many who received a hero's burial. Mr. Mole actively sided with the revolutionaries during the Farm revolt. Mr. Badger appears in the graphic novel ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
''. He may or may not be the same character as the
badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united b ...
Brock Blueheart ("Stinky").
*
Red Cap the
Troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
, identified by name in the prose story ''Pinocchio's Army'' in the ''Rose Red'' trade paperback. He is the little
goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
who appears in several stories, in which he is depicted with the taloned hands, red cap and iron-shod boots of a
redcap
The redcap (or powrie) is a type of malevolent, murderous goblin found in Border folklore. He is said to inhabit ruined castles along the Anglo-Scottish border, especially those that were the scenes of tyranny or wicked deeds and is known for soa ...
.
*
Bagheera
Bagheera ( hi, बघीरा / ''Baghīrā'') is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in ''The Jungle Book'' (coll. 1894) and ''The Second Jungle Book'' (coll. 1895). He is a black panther ( melanistic Indian leopard) who ...
,
Shere Khan
Shere Khan (Hindi- शेर खान/ English pronunciation) is a fictional Bengal tiger and the main antagonist of Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book, Jungle Book'' and its adaptations. According to The Kipling Society, the word ''shere'' ...
,
Kaa
Kaa is a fictional character from ''The Jungle Book'' stories written by Rudyard Kipling. He is a giant snake who is 30 feet long.
In the books and many of the screen adaptations, Kaa is an ally of main protagonist Mowgli, acting as a friend a ...
,
Baloo
Baloo (from hi, भालू ur, بھالو ''bhālū'' "bear") is a main fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' from 1894 and ''The Second Jungle Book'' from 1895. Baloo, a sloth bear, is the strict teacher of ...
, and
King Louie
King Louie is a fictional character introduced in Walt Disney's 1967 animated musical film ''The Jungle Book''. He is an Orangutan who leads other jungle primates and wants to become more human-like by gaining knowledge of fire from Mowgli. Lou ...
: Characters from ''
The Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...
'' (King Louie the
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
was in
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's adaptation, but did not appear in
Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...
's original book), they aided the revolution, and Khan was shot dead by Snow White. Baloo danced for a week on Khan's grave, doing a show everyday and a matinee on Sunday, and Bagheera urinated on it. Bagheera was the only revolutionary who chose confinement over hard labour. He was eventually freed after Mowgli, who owed Bagheera a life debt, took on his burden of service and brought the self-exiled Bigby Wolf back to Fabletown. Khan is shown to be one of the many whose bodies were dumped down the Witching Well which means he is among the Fables dwelling below the well. As a ghost, Khan returned to the Homelands and joined The Adversary. His fate after the war's end is unknown. Bagheera recently returned to his homeland with Mowgli and Bigby's brothers to see if they can safely move back in.
*
King Noble the
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
: From the
Reynard cycle
Reynard the Fox is a list of literary cycles, literary cycle of medieval allegorical Folklore of the Low Countries, Dutch, English folklore, English, French folklore, French and German folklore, German fables. The first extant versions of the cyc ...
. His lands were shown being taken in the graphic novel ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
''. He was one of the few who sided with Snow White during the (attempted) Farm revolution.
*
The Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe
"There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" is a popular English language nursery rhyme, with a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19132. Debates over its meaning and origin have largely centered on attempts to match the old woman with historical ...
: She and her children live in the Farm and were heavily armed during the Revolution. According to ''
Peter and Max: A Fables Novel'', she could choose to leave the Farm any time she wished, but not without her beloved shoe-house, so she chooses to stay where she is.
*
Baba Yaga
In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga, also spelled Baba Jaga (from Polish), is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. In fairy tales Baba Yaga flies around in a ...
's cabin on chicken legs
*Clarathea ("Clara"), a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
who, for practical purposes, chose to be transformed into a fire-breathing
raven
A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...
. She is Rose Red's friend and enforcer, and is dating Vulco Crow when he is in bird form.
*Johhny, Donny and Lonny,
giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
s of renown, who were kept sedated for centuries due to the impossibility in hiding their huge forms. After they awoke, they agreed to transform be transformed into
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
forms, allowing the three to take up their new roles as the new Three Little Pigs.
*
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character w ...
and
Piglet make an appearance in ''Fables'', albeit obscurely, since Winnie the Pooh is under copyright. In part five of the ''Animal Farm'' story arc, when the foiled revolution threatens to flare up again, the duo appears in two panels; from a distance when
Boy Blue tells everyone to move back, and then from behind in the following panel. Also, in the ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' story ''Jack 'n' Apes'', a character looking remarkably similar to Winnie the Pooh (but drawn slightly differently) can be seen in flashbacks from the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
, barbecuing
marshmallow
Marshmallow (, ) is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar c ...
s with Saunders in what appears to be the
Hundred Acre Wood
The Hundred Acre Wood (also spelled as 100 Aker Wood, Hundred-Acre Wood, and 100 Acre Wood; also known as simply "The Wood") is a part of the fictional land inhabited by Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Winnie-the-Pooh series of children's s ...
. Saunders was a
sock monkey
A sock monkey is a stuffed toy made from socks fashioned in the likeness of a monkey. These stuffed animals are a mixture of folk art and kitsch in the cultures of the United States and Canada. The typical sock monkey is brown and white with ex ...
who was one of the
"civilized apes" that
Jack Horner met (at least according to Jack). In the works of author
A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...
, ''Sanders'' is the name of the person who resided at Pooh's home prior to Pooh making it his house,
and Winnie the Pooh and several other characters from the books were based on the stuffed toys of
Milne's son. In addition, it is implied that Fabletown's Edward Bear's Candy Shop, which specializes in
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
-based treats, is run by Winnie the Pooh: Edward Bear is Winnie the Pooh's original name. In the ''Fables'' story ''Around the Town'',
Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
says that he is not sure if a
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
actually owns the shop, but if he does, he does it from a distance, meaning the Farm.
*The
Lilliputians: A group of men from the small kingdom of
Lilliput formed an army and tried to fight the Adversary. Their group caught the attention of goblins, so to save their kingdom from destruction they left for the mundane world and founded Smalltown. But they had no women, until Thumbelina came along.
*The Mounted Police, also referred to as the Mouse Police, a police force of Lilliputians mounted on Fable
mice
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
. The Mouse Police are inspired by the song ''And the Mouse Police Never Sleeps'' by
Jethro Tull (from the album ''
Heavy Horses
''Heavy Horses'' is the eleventh studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978.
The album is often considered the second in a trio of folk rock albums released by the band at the end of the 1970s, alongsi ...
''), even though the song is about cats.
*
John Barleycorn
"John Barleycorn" is an English and Scottish folk song listed as number 164 in the Roud Folk Song Index. John Barleycorn, the song's protagonist, is a personification of barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it: beer and whisky. ...
: Formally Johnny Bullhorn, he was a resident of Smalltown back when there were no women. He ventured to the Homelands and retrieved the magic barleycorns that Thumbelina was born from, bringing women to Smalltown.
*Arrow: A
falcon
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene.
Adult falcons ...
who serves as commander of the Farm's air patrol. He accompanied the then-Johnny Bullhorn on his mission into the Homelands and Cinderella on her diplomatic mission in the Cloud Kingdoms.
*Mustard Pot Pete: A talking
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
who lives in a
mustard
Mustard may refer to:
Food and plants
* Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment
* Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment
** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...
pot, Pete handles the night shift in the administration office at the Farm. He previously lived in the old cottage of one of the 13th floor witches in the Homelands, until he met John Barleycorn and Arrow.
*Miss Mousey, and possibly the frog, from the folk song ''
Frog Went A-Courting''. In the ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' story arc, Mustard Pot Pete can be seen writing down the mouse's complaints; the text says, "Miss Mousey complained about the
frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
s again". In addition, Flycatcher is singing the song when he is first introduced to the readers during ''Legends in Exile'', as does one of the Three Blind Mice in issue 100, ''Single Combat''.
*The
rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
from (presumably)
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
's "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin" (from ''
Just So Stories
''Just So Stories for Little Children'' is a 1902 collection of origin stories by the British author Rudyard Kipling. Considered a classic of children's literature, the book is among Kipling's best known works.
Kipling began working on the ...
''). Identified in the ''Fables Encyclopedia'' annotations.
Appears in the ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' story arc, where he is slain in battle.
*
Mary and her Lamb: Mary and her
lamb
Lamb or The Lamb may refer to:
* A young sheep
* Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep
Arts and media Film, television, and theatre
* ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut
* ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...
lived on The Farm when her lamb was killed by Ghost. Mary was inconsolable over her lamb's death in spite of Rose Red's and the other Farm fables' best attempts to console her. Mary was later seen at Snow and Bigby's wedding enjoying herself and she, along with the other Fabletown women, was trying to catch the bouquet. Mary's lamb was among the Fables living below the Witching Well and followed Flycatcher to Haven. In the ''Super Team'' story arc, it is revealed that the lamb is called Bonny Lamb, and was one of the lambs of Bo Peep, who kept lambs on the Farm. With the loss of her lamb,
Mary takes up gardening, and forms a relationship with one of the maids who milk Luna.
*The Fat Yellow Bird: Identified in the ''Fables Encyclopedia''. Created and designed by
Mark Buckingham.
*Jill: A Lilliputian who helped Jack steal some of Bluebeard's fortunes in exchange for freedom from the farm and to be able to see and experience the world. She is kept virtually a prisoner while Jack makes a name for himself in Hollywood and retaliates by tipping off his activities to Beast. So far, it remains unclear whether Fabletown justice condemned her for helping Jack steal their money and almost revealing their existence to the mundy world. Even though the ''Fables'' story ''Jack Be Nimble'' implies that she is the Jill of ''
Jack and Jill
"Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...
'' fame (one of the chapters is called "Jack and Jill", and another one is called "Broken Crowns and Candlesticks"), this was not the case, as a story in ''Burning Questions'' shows Jack calling "his Jill" on a pay phone before leaving Fabletown for
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
.
*
The Little Dog who Laughed, also known as Squire Pup, identified through his dialogue in the graphic novel ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
''. (Note that the ''Fables Encyclopedia'' erroneously states that the character 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 (Comico Comics), Elementals'' and ''Fables (comics), Fables''.
Career
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ...
.
)
*Mersey Dotes, now a
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
who escaped the Adversary's aquatic forces and lives in a lake on the Farm. According to the ''Fables Encyclopedia'', any similarity between her and the title of the song ''
Mairzy Doats
“Mairzy Doats” is a novelty song written and composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. It contains lyrics that make no sense as written, but are near homophones of meaningful phrases. The song's title, for example, ...
'' is likely coincidental.
*Col. Thunderfoot: A
rabbit
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
colonel who was cursed to remain a human until a female rabbit could love him back. Bill Willingham cites ''
Watership Down
''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Berkshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural ...
'' as the inspiration for this character.
*Miss Silkytail, a female rabbit. Col. Thunderfoot tried, unsuccessfully, to woo her.
*
Peter Cottontail
Peter Cottontail is a name temporarily assumed by a fictional rabbit named Peter Rabbit in the works of Thornton Burgess, an author from Sandwich, Massachusetts In 1910, when Burgess began his ''Old Mother West Wind'' series, the cast of anim ...
, hired by Bigby to train his and Snow's children to hunt, though the Cubs were instructed not to kill, hurt or lay fang or claw upon Peter.
*
Isengrim: From the
Reynard cycle
Reynard the Fox is a list of literary cycles, literary cycle of medieval allegorical Folklore of the Low Countries, Dutch, English folklore, English, French folklore, French and German folklore, German fables. The first extant versions of the cyc ...
. He and Br'er Wolf tried, unsuccessfully, to catch and murder Peter Cottontail.
*
Br'er Wolf: From the
Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post-Reconstruction era Atlanta, a ...
stories.
*
Incitatus
Incitātus (, meaning "swift" or "at full gallop") was the favourite horse of Roman Emperor Caligula (). According to legend, Caligula planned to make the horse a consul, although ancient sources are clear that this did not occur.
Legend
Accordi ...
, or "Tate",
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
and former senator of the Homelands version of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. He appears in the ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' story ''1883'', where he assists
Bigby in tracking down the title character during a flashback sequence set in the Old West.
*Lord Mountbatten: A
clockwork
Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight.
A clockwork mec ...
tiger capable of taking physical form.
Mowgli
Mowgli () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' stories. He is a feral boy from the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, who originally appeared in Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" (co ...
met him in The Indu, the Homelands version of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and brought him to the Farm. Mountbatten was killed while accompanying
Darien on a mission to save Darien's sister
Therese
Therese or Thérèse is a variant of the feminine given name Teresa. It may refer to:
Persons
Therese
*Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1773–1839), member of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and a Duchess of Mecklenburg
*Therese of Br ...
in Far Mattagonia, a.k.a. Toyland. According to the ''Fables Encyclopedia'', one possible inspiration for ''Fables Lord Mountbatten is
Tipu's Tiger
Tipu's Tiger or Tippu's Tiger is an eighteenth-century automaton or mechanical toy created for Tipu Sultan, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in India. The carved and painted wood casing represents a tiger mauling a near life-size European ma ...
, the mechanical tiger of
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...
. The historical Lord Mountbatten is
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...
, the last Viceroy of India.
*Bad Sam, a
kinkajou
The kinkajou ( /ˈkɪŋkədʒuː/ ''KING-kə-joo''; ''Potos flavus'') is a tropical rainforest mammal of the family Procyonidae related to olingos, coatis, raccoons, and the ringtail and cacomistle. It is the only member of the genus ''Potos'' ...
who loves to drink. He is the companion of Lord Mountbatten, and came with him to the Farm.
*Jenny Wren: From a cycle of nursery rhymes,
including "Cock Robin Got Up Early"
(from ''The Happy Courtship, Merry Marriage, and Pic-nic Dinner of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren'', 1806
) and "Jenny Wren Fell Sick"
(from T. Evans' ''Life and Death of Jenny Wren'', circa 1800
). She works for Cinderella as one of her animal spies. She hopes to find those who murdered her lost love
Robin Redbreast during the Emperor's invasion of her homeland and take revenge.
*Mrs Finch. She was killed by Mr Dark while on a reconnaissance mission and, since birds have no teeth, she was not temporarily resurrected as a slave by her murderer. She may or may not be the "pert" and "saucy" Mrs. Kate Finch from ''
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
''Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens'' is a novel by J. M. Barrie, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, and published by Hodder & Stoughton in late November or early December 1906; it is one of four major literary works by Barrie featuring the widely k ...
''.
*Grandfather Oak: The oldest tree in the forests surrounding the Farm. After Geppetto escapes imprisonment brought onto him by animals on the Farm such as Reynard and King Noble, he seeks aid from Grandfather Oak. Grandfather Oak provides Geppetto with two dryads, Prince Aspen and Princess Alder, to be his bodyguards.
*Prince Aspen and Princess Alder: Two
dryad
A dryad (; el, Δρυάδες, ''sing''.: ) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. ''Drys'' (δρῦς) signifies "oak" in Greek, and dryads were originally considered the nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved to ...
s that have been provided for Geppetto by Grandfather Oak to be his bodyguards. They are highly protective over Geppetto, particularly when Ozma appears to threaten him, but they will not obey any order that will force them to kill someone. Their service ended when Rose Red resumed her position on the farm. In the ''
Fairest'' story ''Aldered States'', it is revealed that they are now living on the outskirts of the Farm, where Princess Alder has become friends with
Peter Piper
"Peter Piper" is an English-language nursery rhyme and well-known alliteration tongue-twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19745.
Lyrics
The traditional version, as published in John Harris' ''Peter Piper's Practical Principles of P ...
and
Bo Peep. Alder's unfamiliarity with the customs of modern courtship and rules of "recreational pollination" leads to several awkward situations, and what she describes as her "deplorable dating life". She attempted to date
Reynard the Fox
Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...
, who now had a human form, like Bigby Wolf. But due to her unfamiliarity with dating customs, the date did not go well; Reynard left, embarrassed that he had vomited in front of her. Geppetto and Aspen convince to give up dating; especially after Geppetto promises to grow her an ideal mate. Aspen appeared to fare no better, nor did he appear to care for the people of Fabletown. However, in ''Fairest In All the Land'', it was revealed that he had become attracted to the now awakened
Briar Rose and the two had started a sexual relationship.
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
was especially disgusted with the relationship and took especial pleasure in murdering Briar Rose, with Aspen as the second victim demanded of the sword Goldilocks was wielding, and then incinerated their bodies. Though Cinderella ultimately finished off Goldilocks and was told that Goldilocks' victims could be resurrected, Cindy could only choose half to be resurrected. Cinderella ultimately chooses Briar Rose; it is unknown how Alder or Grandfather Oak feel, or whether they know about this.
*Mr. Pickles: The fishmonger from ''The Magic Fishbone'' by
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
. Appears in flashbacks in the ''Fairest'' story ''Aldered States''. He tries to woo Princess Alder but unfortunately, her plant-based perspective turns his seemingly romantic gesture on its head: When he brings her roses, she points out that dead flowers have all the sentimentality of a person handing over the corpses of her distant relatives.
*Trotty Veck: From ''
The Chimes
''The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In'', commonly referred to as ''The Chimes'', is a novella written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1844, one year after ''A Christmas Carol''. It is th ...
'' by
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
'. An elderly man who works in the milking sheds. Another man who tries - and fails at - courting the dryad.
*Farme Giles: From
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
's ''
Farmer Giles of Ham
''Farmer Giles of Ham'' is a comic medieval fable written by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1937 and published in 1949. The story describes the encounters between Farmer Giles and a wily dragon named Chrysophylax, and how Giles manages to use these to ...
''. Referred to in ''Aldered States'', he had a one-night stand with Princess Alder.
Villains
The Adversary
Albeit one that's rarely seen, the Adversary's actions are responsible for the entire premise of the comic book, in that the real Adversary masterminded the conquest of the Fable homelands, and centuries ago forced the Fables to flee into the mundane world.
During the Boy Blue's encounter with the heavily armoured and massively imposing figure Adversary, he is shown to be a figurehead and literal puppet, with this fact and the true identity of the Empire's ruler unknown to even most of the Empire's top leaders. The Adversary is eventually revealed to be
Geppetto
Geppetto ( , ), also known as Mister Geppetto, is an Italian fictional character in the 1883 novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi. Geppetto is an elderly, impoverished woodcarver and the creator (and thus 'father') of Pinocchio ...
. He was the primary antagonist for a long time in the series, but later on, his role is replaced by Mister Dark.
Willingham originally intended for the Adversary to be revealed as
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
.
The term "The Adversary" appears based on "The Enemy," the common term for
Sauron
Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middl ...
in the ''Lord of the Rings''. Peter Pan did eventually make an appearance in
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
. It has also been theorized that the title "The Adversary" could be derived from Jewish and Christian literature where the name "Satan" actually comes from the Hebrew word for "Adversary."
Goldilocks
The girl who broke into the
Three Bears' home and ate their porridge has grown up. Now
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
is a gun-toting
Leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
political agitator. She led about half of the Farm against Snow White in a rather foolish revolution. Despite her claims to be fighting for the 'rights' of the Farm Fables, and even becoming Little Bear's lover, her actions make it quite clear that she didn't care about the cause in the slightest, simply the power that such a position would provide. It was hoped that she had been killed after attempting to assassinate Bigby and Snow White (being, in order, hit in the head with an axe, knocked off a cliff and then finally hit by a truck off another cliff into a river), all the while still attempting to kill the two. Her popularity as a Fable allowed her to regenerate from her horrendous injuries and she eventually reappeared on the scene in the spin-off series ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' as a prisoner of Mr. Revise. During this time, she once again leads a revolution; this time, she leads her revolutionaries to believe Bookburner and his army is coming to save them from their captivity at Golden Boughs. Bookburner's army shot the revolutionaries down when they finally arrived. However, Goldilocks survived (or came back to life) and reappeared in ''
Fairest''.
In ''Fairest In All the Land'', it was revealed that Goldilocks may have a taste for, as
Reynard
Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...
puts it, "
forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden which God commands mankind not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are exiled from Eden.
As a ...
", as she attempted to seduce
Brock Blueheart (in addition, the ''Animal Farm'' story arc revealed that she once had a sexual relationship with
Boo Bear). It also revealed that she was more psychotic than Fabletown really knew. In this story, Cinderella had started investigating the murders of powerful women (i.e. Snow White, Rose Red, Beauty, and even Briar Rose). With help from Bo Peep, she discovered it was Goldilocks behind the murders while utilizing a sword of regret that would guarantee the wielder a kill at the price of a second victim but had become cursed so only half the victims could be resurrected. Though her reasons varied, some she had an obvious vendetta against people like Snow; other murders, she apparently justified by finding them tainted in a way. While she boasts about her Briar Rose's death, she murders her and Prince Aspen mostly because she found them involved intimately; though Goldilocks herself did worse than all the women she murdered. Ultimately, Goldilocks fought a final showdown with Bo Peep and Cinderella, with Bo losing her life. Cinderella apparently killed her off for good using the same sword Goldilocks used, but due to the sword's ability, Cinderella could only resurrect half the victims.
Goldilocks is quite adept at tracking enemies in the wilderness, and is extremely skilled with a rifle, easily incapacitating Bigby in his giant wolf form when ambushed from behind. Contrary to her innocent-looking appearance, she has very keen senses, and is shown to be quite reckless and determined when she intends to kill someone.
Cinderella later tells Snow White that Goldilocks had to die because if they had not killed her, she would have continued the murdering like a ravenous animal.
Bluebeard
The former nobleman and serial killer who has reformed, or rather pretended he had,
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...
was involved with various shady dealings in Fabletown. He was enormously wealthy, nearly singlehandedly supporting the Fabletown government (which had no way to levy taxes, and thus relied on donations from wealthy patrons) and was able to afford even the top magical spells (his entire palace was hidden inside a room of his apartment). He considered himself to be the nemesis of Bigby Wolf, using every opportunity to try to put the Sheriff down. When he pointed out to Wolf that his threats lost their value if Bigby didn't follow them through, Bigby responded that he never needed to because Bluebeard, a terror against weaker and/or helpless opponents, always backed down when faced with a stronger one. This observation caused Bluebeard to shed tears, and to hate Bigby even more and he attempted to engineer his assassination and that of Snow White, working in conjunction with Goldilocks. Bluebeard was killed by Prince Charming who, out of some guilt over his own mistreatment of Snow White, sought to prevent Bluebeard from ordering that assassination attempt on Snow and Bigby. However, it had already been put into motion. As well, Charming wanted to seize his vast assets. Contrary to what his name might suggest, he is not, nor ever was, a pirate (though Willingham identified that Bluebeard's character design was supposed to be that of Captain Hook, absent from Fables because of copyright). His body was dropped down the witching well. Bluebeard appears along with other deceased Fables, Bluebeard says that he has learned to be virtuous, though Lancelot and Fly believe that his position of villain has not changed. After being caught conspiring with Shere Khan to kill Flycatcher, his flesh form was taken away. He aided the Adversary's troops in attacking Fly's new stronghold, as Fly anticipated. Afterwards, he stayed with the Adversary, whose magicians are attempting to make him once more corporeal.
With the fall of the Empire in the ''War and Pieces'' story-arc, his current situation is unknown.
Ichabod Crane
Ichabod Crane
Ichabod Crane is a fictional character and the protagonist in Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Crane is portrayed, in the original work, as well as in most adaptations, as a tall, lanky individual with a scarecro ...
's main appearance is in ''Cinderella Libertine'', where it is revealed that Fabletown's former Deputy Mayor lost his job after he sexually harassed Snow White and embezzled government funds. He spent his years hiding through
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, then recently
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, which was where Fabletown's spy,
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
, found him. Cindy tricked Ichabod into believing her to be a spy for
the Adversary and coming to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
with her. Using her wits and feminine charm, she exposed him as a traitor willing to turn to the Adversary for revenge on the Fables. She even seduced him into signing a full confession.
Bigby then executed Crane by bashing him in the head with a
headless statue of
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. Flashbacks from Crane's time as Deputy Mayor appear in the story ''Barleycorn Brides'', the story arc ''Sons of Empire'', the ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' story arc ''1883'', and ''
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel'', with the character also playing a role in the events 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 rele ...
''.
Baba Yaga
One of the Adversary's most powerful sorceresses,
Baba Yaga
In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga, also spelled Baba Jaga (from Polish), is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. In fairy tales Baba Yaga flies around in a ...
arrived in Fabletown after taking the form of Red Riding Hood. In this disguise, she seduced, interrogated and tortured Boy Blue, and then led an army of wooden soldiers to attack Fabletown. She was defeated in a magical battle with Frau Totenkinder on the roof of the main Fabletown building where Totenkinder had spent years laying down protective spells, giving her the advantage. The rest of Fabletown believes Baba Yaga died in this battle; however, Bigby and Totenkinder kept her alive and restrained, regularly drained of magical power, in a secret prison cell in order to extract information from her.
Her legendary chicken-legged hut was sent to the mundane world during the battle between Baba Yaga and the Boxers, an elite team of sorcerers whose mission is to seal away "Great old powers". To detain the witch, they had to remove her hut, as it protected her from the Boxers' lures. A conjured Field Gate was set up to send the hut to a random world, which turned out to be the mundane world, leaving Baba Yaga behind. Without the hut's protection, she was quickly captured. After fifty years of being "boxed away" she struck a deal with the Empire to serve it instead of being trapped forever.
The hut was stored at the Farm, kept under tight magical control. It awoke during the Baba Yaga's mission, broke through the controlling spells and went on a rampage when Baba Yaga came through in disguise, providing Frau Totenkinder with a clue to her true identity. It was shown tied down on the Farm shortly after Baba Yaga's escape.
Baba Yaga is served by the three demigod knights of the
Rus
Rus or RUS may refer to:
People and places
* Rus (surname), a Romanian-language surname
* East Slavic historical territories and peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia
** Rus' people, the people of Rus'
** Rus' territories
*** Kievan ...
, Bright Day, Radiant Sun and Dark Night, who rank among the most formidable warriors in the Empire. All three faced and were defeated by Boy Blue during his return to the Homelands, but due to their irrevocable bond with Baba Yaga, none of the three were able to die. Bright Day represented his mistress at the Imperial conference, appearing only as a head.
Later, after Mr. Dark was released and unbound the various enchantments that had drawn on his power, including those holding her, Baba Yaga escaped from her cell, only to find herself trapped in the labyrinth rubble. She summons her knights, fully reformed, and plans her escape. However, before she can flee, she is defeated and killed, by the unlikely Bufkin who had been trapped within the Woodland office as well.
The Wooden Soldiers
The Empire's main military force consist of Geppetto's living wooden children. Although Geppetto maintains a large number of human troops, the wooden soldiers do the most difficult work, including the invasion of foreign lands, due to their extreme resiliency. Early on in the development of the Empire, they were used to take over kingdoms through trickery, by killing a king and replacing him with a wooden look-alike. Pinocchio was the first one Geppetto created; however, since then his creations have altered significantly. In addition to being created as adults rather than children, in both genders, they are brought to life with spells compelling them to obey Geppetto (these spells are obtained from Geppetto's main power source, the comatose body of the Blue Fairy). Aside from the Emperor, most wooden soldiers are highly derisive of all non-wooden life forms, human, Fable or otherwise, referring to them contemptuously as "meat" and commenting at great lengths about what they see as the many failures of human anatomy (the need for
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
and
sleep
Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...
and a relatively low resistance to injury). Sometimes they will even assault and murder "meat" without provocation, as seen as when Hugh, Drew, and Lou (the first three soldiers to infiltrate Fabletown) murdered a gun salesman. In contrast, they are very close to each other, addressing themselves as "Brother" and "Sister"; they also look "up" to
Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
, whom they see as their oldest sibling, since he was the first of their kind (despite the fact that he has since become human).
A force of them were sent to Fabletown in ''March of the Wooden Soldiers''; they were defeated in the bloody Battle of Fabletown. Although they were sent ostensibly to collect every single magical item that was taken out of the Homelands and return it to the Empire, they also came with the clear intent to kill as many of the Fables as they could, something that they seemed to take pleasure in anticipating. These soldiers are all identical, with hands and heads enchanted to look human, allowing them to more easily pass through the mundane world without suspicion. These soldiers all appear in matching suits, sunglasses and toupees (one observing mundane assumed they were a procession of
Young Republicans
The Young Republican National Federation, commonly referred to as the Young Republicans or YRNF, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization ...
). Generally, they are only distinguishable from each other by wig color. Three of the soldiers, Hugh, Drew and Louis are apparently the leaders; they are the first to appear in New York (with Baba Yaga), and are the first to visit Fabletown, warning that they will return to confiscate all magic items. They also steal guns (from the murdered gun salesman) to use in the battle, and oversee the construction and arming of their brothers. When every wooden soldier is assembled into an army of hundreds, they invade Fabletown en masse. Eventually, due to the leadership of Snow White and the nick-of-time appearance by
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a fictional character in the American comic book series ''Fables'' published by DC Comics and its alternative imprint Vertigo. The character first appears in ''Fables'' #1 (July 2002) and was created by Bill Willingham and Lan Medi ...
, the soldiers are defeated, but not before killing many Fables. The soldiers afterwards are incarcerated as severed heads, and interrogated by Bigby Wolf and Cinderella; each individual soldier, when separated from his brothers, starts talking relatively quickly. Their bodies were thrown down the Witching Well.
In ''The Good Prince'' a large host of them marched on Flycatcher's kingdom of Haven. After surrendering to them, Fly used his magic to revert them into the Sacred Grove they were carved from. Not only did this supply Haven with its own defensive barrier, it also deprived Geppetto of his resources, as only one Sacred Grove can exist at a time.
In "Witches", the captured and beheaded Wooden Soldiers at least partially overcome the xenophobia they nurture for every flesh being (other than Geppetto and Pinocchio) and assist Bufkin in his quest for survival, because of the kindness he had shown them.
The Snow Queen
A sorceress of great power, Lumi (
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
for "snow"
), better known as
the Snow Queen
"The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...
, is the commander of the Emperor's personal guard.
According to
Jack Horner, she is one of four sisters, each representing one of the seasons, who jointly ruled four kingdoms with each moving in a yearly cycle to bring the seasons in a predictable manner to their subjects. She was once naive and good-natured, with a childlike and somewhat gullible personality. That changed after Lumi had a relationship with Jack. Feeling unwell as the seasonal change approached, she naively gave her powers to Jack, creating the persona of
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...
, trusting him to arrange the transfer of the winter season to the next kingdom in the cycle. Jack immediately ignored her wishes, heading off to seek out new women to seduce and generally misuse the abilities given to him, abandoning Lumi, who quickly came to realise that she was not, in fact, unwell, but was instead pregnant with Jack's child. Jack's misadventures quickly wrecked the flow of the seasons, turning the population against her. Eventually, Lumi's three sisters were able to persuade Jack to return the powers that he'd taken. Angered by his betrayal, Lumi grew as cold as the season she controlled. While Jack is a compulsive liar, casting doubt on some of the details, Lumi took offence at a mention of "Jack Frost" during the ''War and Pieces'' story-arc, suggesting that at least some of this backstory is accurate.
She was present when Boy Blue cut off the head of the Emperor during the ''Homelands'' story-arc and even detected his presence before he revealed himself, but was unable to determine who he was masquerading as and thus prevent his attack. When Blue escaped from captivity, Geppetto swore to send the Snow Queen after him to get revenge. In the ''Sons of Empire'' story, she acted as host of the Imperial conference called after Bigby's destruction of the magic grove. At the conference, she set out a four-stage plan for the invasion and destruction of the mundane world, which was generally approved, although she was instructed to make alterations after Pinocchio gave details of the likely response to such an assault.
At the climax of the war between Fabletown and the Empire, as shown in ''War and Pieces'', Lumi was present in the Imperial capital when Briar Rose, the legendary
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
, intentionally activated her curse within the city. Lumi immediately fell asleep with the rest of the population. When she fell into slumber, her powers were transmitted to her son, the new Jack Frost. However, he returned them to her shortly afterward, but apparently this was not sufficient to wake her up. Recently, the city was burned to the ground, but not before both Lumi and Sleeping Beauty were carried away, still asleep, by a mysterious cadre of goblins.
Lumi eventually awakens when
Ali Baba
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...
kisses Briar Rose, as seen in the comic ''Fairest''. After killing and torturing all the goblins, who "dared to put their warty hands on her and dump her in a cart, like a bag of thrash", the Snow Queen, seeking vengeance on Briar Rose for putting her to sleep for years, sends her ice giants after Briar Rose, Noah and Ali Baba. Eventually, both are captured and taken to the Snow Queen. Instead of killing them, she asks the imp Noah to tell her the story of Briar Rose, as Lumi "is addicted to good stories". It is revealed that Lumi's actions while serving Geppetto were a result of Geppetto giving her his loyalty potions (the same ones he used to bind Pinocchio and all the other wooden soldiers to him) that made her utterly loyal to him. After being asleep for years, the spell has worn off, and she is gradually becoming a more sympathetic person. Ali Baba eventually realizes that he has no feelings for Briar Rose after all, but is in love with Lumi. Lumi discovers that she likes and is attracted to Ali Baba, and believes that love can grow from that. The two go back to Lumi's homeland, and start a new life together. Lumi would make an appearance in the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All the Land'', being round up among many female Fables who were possible targets of an unknown murderer. It was eventually revealed that the murderer was
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
. Goldilocks murdered both Lumi and Ali Baba. Cinderella, unfortunately, could only pick half of Goldilocks' victims to resurrect. She choose Lumi because, although Cinderella never knew the Adversary, she saw Lumi as a victim at his hands.
The Snow Queen has repeatedly shown a sharp mind and a cunning aptitude. Tall and quite beautiful, she is generally surrounded by an aura of cold, to the extent that it is usually snowing in her vicinity, often to the annoyance of those around her, not that any of them would dare say anything. She is capable of pulling in the winter weather surrounding her if she so chooses, but rarely does so. She commands legions of frost creatures, including giants. She seems to have either always known who the true leader of the Empire was or has known for quite some time, as she has been repeatedly shown as one of Geppetto's closest and most trusted allies.
Rodney and June
Spies for the Adversary, Rodney and June started out as two of Geppetto's wooden children, Rodney a highly decorated junior officer in the forces assaulting the Arabian Fablelands and June a medic assigned temporarily to his unit. Meeting when Rodney was injured, the pair swiftly grew to enjoy each other's company and began to court each other, despite not really having much of a clue how to go about it. Eventually, Rodney wrote a letter to Geppetto, asking that they be made flesh, so that they could marry and be together properly. The letter was read before dispatch by Rodney's superior officer who was shocked by the content, as it revealed a number of facts about Geppetto's true position within the Empire that would cause immense problems should they get out. He initially locked Rodney up, unsure how to proceed, then ultimately relented. Destroying the letter, he announced that Geppetto should be reassured that there had been no letter and that the situation was under control and dispatched Rodney to do so, with June accompanying him to provide additional witness, observing quietly to the pair that had somebody wanted to ask Geppetto what had supposedly been in the non-existent letter, then it would make much more sense to ask him in person.
Reaching Geppetto after months of travel, Rodney and June made their request. Geppetto talked with them for some hours, then told them that such a great gift would always come with a price and asked them to think about whether they'd be willing to pay it. Rodney and June accepted, were made flesh and were married in a grand ceremony presided over by the Emperor himself. They settled down happily and swiftly conceived a child. Shortly thereafter, they were visited by the Snow Queen, who explained the service that was required of them. They were briefed on life in America, then were sent through and were installed in a small apartment in New York under the name Greenwood, only a couple of blocks from Fabletown, with orders to spy on the Fables there and to study up on sabotage and murder techniques in case they're required to take a more active role. They write their reports in a journal which is magically linked to an identical volume in the Homelands. Orders are passed to them in the same way; occasionally they are provided with specific instructions detailing tasks to be carried out, sometimes involving violent acts. Though both appear to be highly ambivalent about what they do, and June in particular worries about how the recent birth of their daughter (Junebug) will affect things, they nevertheless remain loyal to the Empire - the magic that changed them to flesh ensures that.
Rodney was one of the attendees at the Imperial conference called after Bigby's destruction of the magic grove. He was apparently horrified by the genocidal plan suggested for the mundane world by the Snow Queen and consulted with Pinocchio about how this could be prevented.
In recent events, Pinocchio convinced Rodney and June to surrender to Fabletown authorities. Pinocchio also gave them the ability to defy the loyalty magic of Geppetto by explaining that although they need to do what is best for father Geppetto, they don't need to do what he orders since Geppetto may indeed be mentally unsound, and thus defying the empire might, in fact, be the best thing for Geppetto, since he is acting in a way that harms himself.
Hansel
Lord Hansel, of
Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hansel ...
fame, holds the position of Head of the Imperial Inquisition and is one of the most feared men in the Empire. After their misadventure in the Homelands involving Frau Totenkinder, whom the children push into her own oven, Hansel and Gretel emerge from the forests to find their land overrun by the Adversary's forces. They flee, staying ahead of the invading armies and taking sanctuary in one church after another until they learn of the mundane world. Arriving there in the mid-17th Century, they made their way to the newly established Fabletown, where they are shocked to discover Frau Totenkinder among the Fables already present. Hansel immediately demands her execution, only to be informed that, under the terms of the Fabletown Compact, Totenkinder had been granted amnesty for her actions in the Homelands. Disgusted, Hansel announces his intention to live among the mundane population, leaving his sister behind in Fabletown.
Hansel moves to Europe, where he swiftly establishes a name for himself as a witch hunter, testifying in numerous trials and taking part enthusiastically in the executions. It reaches the point where his word is considered sufficient to convict a suspect of witchcraft. Hundreds of people are executed at his word. When the
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...
break out in 1692, Hansel immediately returns to America to participate. Reports of his activities greatly concerned the Fabletown authorities, but as he remained within the letter of the Fabletown laws, no action can be taken against him.
Nearby for the first time in many years, Hansel visits Fabletown, asking to see his sister. He begs her to leave Fabletown, as it has only been her presence that stops him from assembling the forces required to obliterate the place. Gretel refuses, explaining to him that she has spent time studying with Frau Totenkinder in the intervening years and has gained a new appreciation for the magic arts, seeing them not as the devil's work, but as a useful tool. Horrified and enraged, Hansel strikes her viciously with a chair, snapping her neck instantly. As no witnesses are present, he tries to claim that it had been an accident, but he is not believed. Hansel is stricken from the Fabletown Compact and banished forever. He continues with his witch-finding activities, but as time passes and the witch-hunts cease, his fame becomes infamy and he vanishes from the mundane world.
Returning to the Homelands, Hansel is tasked with investigating and punishing any unauthorized use of sorcery. It is implied that his job is not to give alleged sorcerers fair trials but simply to stamp out illegal sorcery through terror. He is one of the attendees at the Imperial conference called after Bigby's destruction of the magic grove, although he is not apprised of the war plans outlined by the Snow Queen so that he could not reveal them were he to be subjected to interrogation. Geppetto designates him as the Empire's official envoy to Fabletown; however, his real mission in the mundane world is to recover Baba Yaga and the wooden soldiers and return them to the Homelands. He is initially given three years to accomplish this, as Geppetto is intent on a full-scale attack on the mundane world in 2009.
His initial discussions with Fabletown, however, meet with no success, as Prince Charming, having been informed by Frau Totenkinder that the Empire has no real interest in negotiation and was beginning to mobilise for an invasion, simply stalls Hansel at every opportunity, making demands that the envoy finds increasingly outrageous.
Hansel is next seen during the ''Skulduggery'' story-arc, where he and his men intercept Pinocchio in
Santiago, Chile
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...
, as he returns to Fabletown from the Homelands. Pinocchio's escort, Cinderella, while initially also captured, is able to escape and rescue Pinocchio, slaying most of his captors. Uncertain whether Hansel is still officially an accredited envoy to Fabletown, Cinderella elects not to kill him and settles for shooting him in both knees.
In ''The Great Fables Crossover'', Kevin Thorn summons Hansel and Sam, hoping they can inspire him in writing his masterpiece. After numerous disagreements, Sam eventually dumps Hansel out of his wheelchair and off a cliff.
In the Fables spin-off, "Everafter", Hansel is revealed to have joined the Shadow Players as an agent tasked to protect the Mundy world from its new magic. Upon finding the "package", a newly manifested mundy witch with incredible powers, his bigotry against witches manifests once more, driving him to attempt to murder her. In a turn of events, he was swiftly blown apart by the child, which seemed to end his life once and for all. His remains are collected by his fellow Shadow Player, Peter Piper, and magically revived by Feathertop.
The Nome King
The much feared
Nome King
The Nome King is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is introduced in Baum's third Oz book ''Ozma of Oz'' (1907). He also appears in many of the continuing sequel '' Oz'' novels also written by Baum. Although the c ...
, also known as Roquat the Red, is from
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
's tales of the land of
Oz. He is the current ruler of that land, as well as many of the surrounding kingdoms and Imperial districts. He attended the Imperial conference called after the destruction of the magic grove and was positively delighted by the plans outlined by the
Snow Queen for the effective genocide of the mundane population. He did feel, however, that the plan could be improved with his assistance, feeling that he had many minions that could be of great use. In the wake of the fall of
the Adversary's Empire, the Nome King creates his own, pan-Ozian empire. He was killed during
Bufkin's revolution, when the Nome King's own hanging rope magically came to life and snapped its master's head off.
Max Piper
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany.
The legend dates back to ...
was the antagonist of ''
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel''. He was the elder brother to
Peter Piper
"Peter Piper" is an English-language nursery rhyme and well-known alliteration tongue-twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19745.
Lyrics
The traditional version, as published in John Harris' ''Peter Piper's Practical Principles of P ...
, and a sorcerer powerful enough to face
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
. Born in Hesse, the Homeland that mirrors German fables, Max and Peter's family were caught in the middle of a goblin invasion (under the supervision of the then-burgeoning Empire). The Piper family had a tradition of woodwinds performance, and passed down an ancient pipe named Frost from generation to generation. When Max was denied the inheritance in favor of his younger brother, he started to exhibit sociopathic tendencies, and ran away after murdering his father, lost during the invasion.
During his wandering, he encountered Frau Totenkinder, who gave him the magical flute named Fire, an artifact of astounding potential. Over the course of Frau's trials and teaching, Max increased in power exponentially, which also came from sealing bargains with otherworldly powers. In exchange for the location of Frost from Totenkinder, he stole the children of Hamelin (whose parents had offended Totenkinder), exchanging their lives for the debts of his evil teachers. After a brief battle with Peter and suffering exile after being defeated by Peter, Max returned even more powerful as well as more intent on killing his brother. In the early 20th Century, he cast a curse that increased the lethality of the
Spanish flu
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
, at least in mundies. It caused stillbirths and extreme birth defects in Fable children, if not out and out sterility in Fables in general. After a battle with Totenkinder in New York, he was exiled again, only to return in the early 21st Century. He met his end in the mundy version of
Hamelin
Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
H ...
at the hands of his brother, Peter Piper. Max has a brief flashback appearance in the graphic novel ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
'' and is referred to in issue 89 (''Witches'' story arc), as well as the ''
Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest in All the Land''.
Mister Dark
A mysterious and extremely powerful entity with chalk-white skin and black hair. He replaced The Adversary as the main antagonist. Trapped by the Boxing League, a division of Warlocks specialized in capturing and containing the most dangerous of magical threats, during the expansion of the empire, Mister Dark was contained within a stone box which drained his power and transmitted it to be used by the Adversary. Looters mistakenly released the creature who proceeded to drain them of life. Mister Dark reacquired his stolen power including a portion that powered the Witching Cloak, destroyed the enchantments that held the Fabletown buildings together and set off to Fabletown to seek revenge. Upon arrival, he captured and then killed Kay, as well as a few hundred New York residents for the construction of his new palace. A composite character like Jack and Frau Totenkinder, he represents every version of the
boogeyman
The Bogeyman (; also spelled boogeyman, bogyman, bogieman, boogie monster, boogieman, or boogie woogie) is a type of mythic creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearance and conceptions var ...
. Other names for him are The
Dullahan
The Dullahan (Irish: Dubhlachan ; dúlachán, ), also called Gan Ceann (meaning "without a head" in Irish), is a type of mythological creature in Irish folklore. He is depicted as a headless rider, on a black horse, who carries his own head h ...
, The Khokhan, The Buse, Mörkö, The Dunganga, The Abo Ragl Ma Slokha, Burned man, the lake man, Buback and the
Torbalan
The Sack Man (also called the Bag Man or Man with the Bag/Sack) is a figure similar to the bogeyman, portrayed as a man with a sack on his back who carries naughty children away.
Regional traditions
Variants of this figure appear all over ...
along with many other names. He is the same "kind" as Baba Yaga. Mister Dark's primary source of power is the fear of those who surround him. The more that fear him, the greater his power becomes; if he is surrounded by those who possess little fear, he becomes weaker. He has the power to consume the teeth of humans and, by spitting them up one at a time, summoning the spirit of the owner of said tooth to serve him. He can do this once per tooth, so he can generally do this a maximum of thirty-two times (Less if the person in question had poor oral hygiene).
Mr. Dark was killed when the
North Wind brought him up into the North Wind's own realm of elemental ice and wind. There, Mr. North entered his Casket of Primordial Winds (a suicide mechanism kept in case he got tired of this life, since nothing much could harm him) and took Mr. Dark with him, killing them both.
Fairy Godmother
After the fall of the Empire, an unknown, powerful magic user from another realm invaded the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
kingdom of Ultima Thule. The usurper eventually turned out to be
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
's
fairy godmother
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale with ...
, as seen in ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love''. Cinderella, Fabletown's secret agent, was able to uncover the identity of the usurper and put an end to the Fairy Godmother's dictatorship. However, she could not bring herself to kill her, and instead turned her over to Ultima Thule's citizens for punishment. It is unknown what became of her after this. The story implied that Briar Rose and Cinderella shared the same fairy godmother. This seems to have been proven apocryphal in the ''
Fairest'' story arc ''Wide Awake'' (where none of Briar's fairy seven godmothers look anything like her); however, the ''Fables Encyclopedia'' refers to Cinderella's fairy godmother as a meddler in Briar Rose's life,
indicating that there may have been more fairy godmothers involved than what was shown in ''Fairest''. The Fairy Godmother had two sisters, one with green and one with blue wings, while she herself has pink wings (like Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's ''
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
''). Her sisters were killed by
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
, who was the Fairy Godmother's enemy who often ruined her spells. The Fairy Godmother also showed Rapunzel's prince the way to the tower that Frau kept her in, mainly to spite Totenkinder. She attacked Ultima Thule because she wanted to make ''the worlds'' a better place, and decided it was time to force people to be happy. Her catchphrases are "reality is only what we make of it" and "you can't go to a ball without breaking a few pumpkins."
The Fairy Godmother also appears in flashbacks from
Rapunzel
"Rapunzel" ( , ) is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of ''Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Brothers Grimm's story developed from the French literary fairy tale of ''Persinette ...
's story in the ''
Fairest'' story arc ''The Hidden Kingdom''. It is revealed that she kept the prince from seeing Rapunzel again, as the godmother had plans for her. It is hinted she may have had a hand in the abduction of Rapunzel's daughters. Although, if she was the one to kidnap them, it is not known where she took them, since they were not present with her when Cinderella found her in Ultima Thule.
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
was first seen in ''Jack of Fables'', as one of the many Fable prisoners at the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village. Her story is told in the ''Fables'' spin-off ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever'', where it is revealed that the former innocent farm girl became a professional killer for hire, going by the code "Silverslipper". She went on to become
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
’s greatest nemesis.
It is revealed that Dorothy developed a taste for killing for hire after she, as seen in ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...
'', killed the
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...
in exchange for a trip back home. She had already killed the
Wicked Witch of the East
The Wicked Witch of the East is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is a crucial
character but appears only briefly in Baum's classic children's series of List of Oz books, ''Oz'' novels, most notably ''The Won ...
by accident when Dorothy's house landed on her, and was given a pair of magic silver slippers from the
Good Witch of the North as a reward. When the
Wizard heard that Dorothy had already taken care of one witch, he hired her to kill another. Dorothy took the job, and discovered that she liked it. After
Glinda the Good Witch
Glinda is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's 1900 children's classic ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', and is the most powerful sorceress in the Land of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Coun ...
explained to her about the powers of the magic slippers, Dorothy used them to fly home to the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
version of
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. To her great despair, the slippers fell off over the
Deadly Desert
The Deadly Desert is the magical desert in Nonestica that completely surrounds the fictional Land of Oz, which cuts it off from the rest of the world.
Geology
On the map of Oz, first published in the endpapers of the eighth book, ''Tik-Tok of Oz ...
of
Oz.
Dorothy and a few of her friends, the
Tin Woodman
Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, also known as the Tin Man or—mistakenly—the "Tin Woodsman," is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. Baum's Tin Woodman first appeared in his classic 1900 book ''The ...
, the
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak.
Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...
and
Toto made it into the mundy world in the year of 1943. They had fled from
Oz years before, ahead of the invading armies of the Adversary, and had been on the run ever since. The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion hid out on the Jersey pine barrens, while Dorothy sought out Fabletown to find them all a safe haven. However, Dorothy reacted strongly to the stated terms in the Fabletown compact that was presented to her, and stormed off in anger, refusing to let anyone "tie her hands like that". Meaning she didn't want to be a good person and enjoyed killing too much. She left her friends behind and walked off with Toto in her arms, feeling that the others were dead weight and never came back for them. Dorothy created a new life for herself as a killer for hire in the mundy world, and had no trouble finding work. She eventually crossed paths with Fabletown spy Cinderella, who ran into Dorothy during several of Cindy's secret missions for Fabletown, getting in the way for Dorothy's work. Dorothy pointed out every chance they had, that she and Cindy were exactly the same but that she was better than Cindy. Cindy, however, greatly denied that as she killed to protect Fables and humans as a patriotic act. She calls Dorothy a cold-blooded killer who did it for fun and was dangerous. Cindy was in her way, better than Dorothy due to Dorothy's ego and her constant want to prove she's better than Cindy. Cindy, honestly, didn't care nor did she feel she has to prove her worth to anyone.
It came down to a final confrontation, when Dorothy kidnapped Snow White and was planning to hold her hostage. The two had several violent encounters over the years, until Cindy almost finished Dorothy off in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in the year of 1986 by throwing Dorothy off a cliff. Dorothy, passed out, was found by
Mr. Revise's people and was imprisoned at the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village where she was thrown down Revise's memory hole. When she emerged, she had been stripped of most of her memories and was again the same innocent girl she had been so long ago.
The years passed, and Dorothy described them as living in a fog where she could not think straight. When the Golden Boughs was destroyed, the memory hole was destroyed with it, all of Dorothy's memories came back. As mentioned in a conversation between the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man during the final ''Jack of Fables'' story arc, Dorothy then struck off on her own. The Lions mentions that she got "all dark", and the Tin Man responds that Dorothy always was "kind of creepy".
As seen in ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever'', she began plotting her revenge on Cinderella, while also for the first time remembering where she actually lost the silver slippers. She returned to the Deadly Desert and managed to get the slippers back by hanging off an aircraft on a rope, careful not to touch the deadly sand. She recruited the Spoon Brigade from ''
The Emerald City of Oz
''The Emerald City of Oz'' is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em ...
'',
Bungle, the Glass Cat and a
Chiss to assist her in her plan for revenge.
When
Mr. Kadabra is mysteriously killed by an unknown assailant, all signs point to Cinderella's nemesis from the old. Cindy sets out to find her, aided by
Ivan Durak of
Shadow Fabletown, who claims that Dorothy has been hired to kill him. Eventually, both are abducted and taken to the Deadly Desert of Oz, where Dorothy is waiting. Before they reach their destination, both manage to escape in the middle of the desert. Cindy is feeling ready to face Dorothy, but Ivan drugs her, and she wakes up tied to a chair, Dorothy standing before her with Toto at her side. (Toto had previously been killed during the mass escape from the Golden Boughs, but, as
Priscilla Page points out during the ''Jack of Fables'' story arc ''The (Nearly) Great Escape'', "killed Fables often get magically replaced by new versions of the same Fables".)
In a surprising plot twist, it is revealed that Dorothy was Ivan all along (the real Ivan has been dead for a long time; most likely sometime between the 1980s or her escape from Mr. Revise), disguising herself using her magic silver slippers. Cindy manages to persuade Dorothy to untie her and fight her in a real battle, in which Cindy steals the silver slippers and defeats Dorothy by pushing her from a great height into the Deadly Desert, apparently killing her, though her body is not seen.
Dorothy has a brief appearance in the ''Fables'' story ''In Those Days'', in a flashback that shows the death of Mister Kadabra. As previously implied, it was Dorothy who killed him. Dorothy is also referred to in the story arc ''Cubs in Toyland''.
Hadeon the Destroyer
The
evil fairy from ''
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
''. She appears in the ''Fairest'' story arc ''Wide Awake''. She is the ruler of the Forest of Dire Blight, in the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
. Even though she was the one to actually cast the curse over
Briar Rose, the ''Fables'' story arc ''War and Pieces'' and ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'' implies that
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
was its creator.
In ''Fairest'', Briar defeats Hadeon once and for all when the latter shows up to pick a fight with the
Snow Queen - because Hadeon likes to pick a fight every century or so, to keep her tools honed. Hadeon nearly defeats Lumi, but Briar, wanting revenge for what Hadeon did to her as a baby, decides to take matters into her own hands. It is revealed that because Hadeon cast the curse on Briar Rose all those years ago, Briar has become immune to her magic. Briar defeats Hadeon with a few solid punches to the jaw. Her
fairy godmother
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale with ...
s turn Hadeon into a car that can travel to any world, and the spaces between worlds. The car has to serve one thousand times before it will revert to Hadeon. Briar uses the car to get back to Fabletown, before lending it to
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a fictional character in the American comic book series ''Fables'' published by DC Comics and its alternative imprint Vertigo. The character first appears in ''Fables'' #1 (July 2002) and was created by Bill Willingham and Lan Medi ...
, who is searching for his lost cubs,
Darien and Therese. When the car has been used nine hundred and ninety-nine times, Briar plans to take it to the
junkyard and have Hadeon destroyed once and for all by dropping it into a
car crusher
A car crusher is an industrial device used to reduce the dimensions of derelict (depreciated) cars prior to transport for recycling.
Car crushers are compactors and can be of several types: one is a "pancake", where a scrap automobile is flatt ...
. However, Hadeon's ultimate fate is given in the next-to-last compilation, ''Fables: Happily Ever After''. After many years of adventuring, Briar Rose, who had been scratched by an undead blade, begins to succumb to a zombie-like curse. She returns to Fabletown to collect Hadeon, who has exactly one ride left before returning to her own form. Briar Rose commands Hadeon to take her "to the end of the universe" and then pricks her finger, declaring that if she must turn into an undead horror, she will not be awake for it and will keep her oath to prevent Hadeon from harming anyone ever again.
Prince Brandish/Werian Holt
The prince from ''
Snow White and Rose Red
"Snow-White and Rose-Red" (german: Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot) is a German fairy tale. The best-known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 161). An older, somewhat shorter version, "The Ungrateful Dwarf", was written by Caroli ...
''. Unlike in the fairy tale, the prince did not marry Snow White, as his father, the king, refused to let Brandish marry a common peasant girl. Centuries later, he assumed the name of Werian Holt, and was brought to the mundy world by
Mr. Dark to serve as
fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...
instructor for
Mrs. Sprat. After Mr. Dark's death, he begins to teach the transformed Mrs. Sprat the art of assassination, and becomes her co-conspirator on an unknown dark plan for Fabletown. When the Fables come to claim Dark's castle as their own, both Spratt and Holt pretend to have been Mr. Dark's prisoners.
He has recently revealed himself to Snow, much to Spratt's surprise and disdain (as she knew nothing of his past and was still very bitter to Snow). He forcefully tries to take claim on Snow as his legal wife, because they promised to marry each other back in the Homelands. Snow tries pushing away his advances, but he's very determined to have her and plans to kill Bigby and all of the children she had with him, and also plans to make her replace the children with their human children. While
Bigby is away, Brandish takes Snow captive and locks her up in one of the towers in Mr. Dark's castle. He bewitches himself so that any injury inflicted on him will also hurt Snow, making any attempt at rescue complicated. When Snow attacks him in an attempt to free herself, he breaks her arm to teach her a lesson and make her more docile. Snow vows to kill him herself. Bigby eventually arrives to free his wife, but Brandish transforms him into a statue made of glass. Snow eventually manages to escape, while
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay (, meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morg e, Morgant Morge , and Morgue namong other names and spellings ( cy, Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, kw, Morgen an Spyrys), is a powerful ...
manages to break the spell that Brandish put on himself. Snow utilizes the fencing lessons once given to her by her ex-husband,
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...
. and engages Brandish in a sword duel. Even with a broken arm, and much to Brandish's surprise, Snow manages to gain the upper hand, and stabs him through the heart - but not before Brandish shatters the statue of Bigby.
However, as
Doctor Swineheart performs an autopsy on the fallen prince, Brandish awakens just as Swineheart discovers a cavity where the prince's heart should be, with rune-etched brass fittings capping off the various branches of the circulatory system that would normally connect to a human heart. It is revealed that he had his heart magically removed from his own body, making him difficult to kill. Rose Red takes Brandish captive and offers him an ultimatum: He can spend the rest of his immortal life buried in concrete, or serve her and her new
Round Table
The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...
. Brandish accepts. Rose will soon regret her decision as it puts a great distance between the just recently reconciled sisters. More so, Brandish stays true to his real colors. He quickly murders Weyland Smith, becoming tired of being a squire (and most likely surviving under them), and demands to have his innocence proven via trial by combat against Lancelot. After he manages to best and kill Lancelot after three days of fighting, Brandish assumes that he is finally freed of service under Rose Red. However, an outraged Flycatcher asserts his prerogative as a king and orders Brandish's execution for his crimes, again via trial by combat, this time against Flycatcher, who is aware of his poor skills as a swordsman. During their duel, Grimble in his bluebird form, enchanted with spells from the Thirteenth Floor witches, succeeds in finding and infiltrating the fortress where Brandish's heart is kept. Grimble destroys the heart, causing a shocked Brandish to collapse and die from heart failure without Flycatcher needing to kill the prince.
Peter Pan
is the actually villain of the fables living in Fabletown, he was an allies of Geppetto when he was the Adversary and living for more time of is life in Neverland. He as one true friend and former lover named Tinker Bell.
He is based on Peter Pan from the story of J.M.Barrie
Trilli
is a fairy and former allies and lover of Peter Pan, she was a apprentice of the Fairy Good Mother when was young and living into the Fairy Realm with the other her sisters, but she was banished in Neverland after failed with Bigby Wolf.
Literals and Part-Literals
Jack Horner
Kevin Thorn
Kevin Thorn is a former New York City journalist who has the ability to see behind the illusions cast by Fabletown magic-users. After the Battle of Fabletown, the anchorman on the news show Thorn worked for reported an out-of-control block party, a building fire and a gang fight in the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
; minutes later, the details were fading from everyone's head but Kevin's. After reporting this to his boss, he was fired for "going all
X-Files". Kevin has now dedicated himself to discovering what exactly is going on in the Upper West Side. He is leaving a complete
paper trail
An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...
in case of his sudden death (which he now considers to be a strong possibility). During the ''Sons of Empire'' story-arc, it is revealed that Kevin is acting as a superintendent at a house three blocks away from Fabletown. This house is also now occupied by Hansel and his staff, though Kevin seems unaware of their true identities. In Kevin's free time (when not spying on Fabletown residents), he is writing a book describing what it is he has discovered of the Fables. He has been keeping an eye on them for long enough now to be familiar with many of the regulars and has noticed the disappearance of several - Bigby Wolf, Snow White, Boy Blue and so forth - linked with references to "The Farm". He has come to the conclusion that "the Farm" is actually a euphemism for execution, giving him the mistaken impression that the Fables willingly kill their own without reservation. He is aware that Tommy Sharp was also investigating Fabletown and was subsequently murdered, which has only served to heighten his misgiving about the Fables.
During the
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
arc ''The Bad Prince'' the reason for Thorn being able to see through the Fables' illusions is finally given: he is, in fact, a Literal, beings who are like Fables, but represent literary devices rather than actual characters. Like many Fables, though, he was taken to
Golden Boughs Retirement Village and was stripped of his memories so that he could be made into an ordinary human being. When he begins to regain his memories, he is recaptured so that the process can be repeated. In that process, it is implied he is one of the most powerful Literals in existence, and the soldiers sent to capture him imply that even all of them with their guns could only irritate him, at best, if he fought back. Nonetheless, they manage to bring him back peacefully, where it is revealed Revise is actually his son, and the Pathetic Fallacy is his father. It seems that he became a mundane by choice, and doesn't refuse the notion of losing his memories again.
It later emerges in the storyline ''Jack's Big Book of War'' that Kevin has powers leading to the creation of Fables themselves; however, it has not yet emerged what they actually are. It seems that Kevin refers to Fables as his creations and he consents to the revisions of his son Revise as the lesser of two evils, in an attempt to protect them from his other son Bookburner.
In ''The Great Fables Crossover'' he's revealed to be truly the creator of the Fables, the embodiment of the ''storytelling''. Having been able to ''break in'' a new pen, after destroying the pen (a simple goose-feather) used to write the Fables (and possibly the mundys as well) in the attempt to stop the ''Writer's Block'', he becomes displeased with the current events, as the Fables themselves had grown beyond his control (he explicitly claims that Geppetto's transformation in the dreaded Adversary was something he couldn't even fathom), and decided to ''uncreate'' them, rebuilding a new world from scratch.
After Jack Frost II is able to stop him from writing the literal word ''end'' to the universe, Dex, the ''Deus Ex Machina'' and the most powerful of the Literals, creates a new, empty universe for the Literals to inhabit and fill out as they please. Despite having a new occasion to create, Kevin expresses displeasure and worries, as after thousands of years spent dreaming the end of the universe, he's unable to write out a beginning to a new universe.
Pathetic Fallacy
The
Golden Boughs Retirement Village is also home to a man known as the
Pathetic Fallacy
The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human. It is a kind of personification that occurs in poetic descriptions, when, for example, clouds seem sullen ...
, although he comes to prefer being called ''Gary'', who has the powers of that concept. His precise status at the facility was somewhat unclear; while he did Revise's bidding, appearing to have his trust and carry out a number of minor staff duties, he was also kind and sympathetic and aided the escape plan. It is later revealed that the Pathetic Fallacy is a Literal, an extremely powerful magical being of a different kind to the Fables, in that he personifies a literary concept rather than being a character from literature. He was the father of Kevin Thorn and grandfather to Revise, although he appears to only be aware of this on occasion.
The Pathetic Fallacy traveled with Jack Horner, taking on the role of his sidekick, being somewhat naive and frequently confused, although he had lucid moments when he shows a great deal of knowledge about how stories work. He regards inanimate objects (which are, of course, generally quite animate in his presence) as friends and talks to them frequently.
In one of his lucid moments, he refuses to join the Literals in the new universe created for them by the ''Deus ex Machina'' and willingly sacrifices his powers. Reasoning that the new universe will develop a Pathetic Fallacy when the need will arise, he returns at Jack's side.
After Jack Horner transformed into a dragon, The Pathetic Fallacy hid him in a cave where he had piles of gold. It was revealed he entered a brief marriage with a woman and sold some of the original books in exchange for cows (for Jack to eat, as opposed to other people, namely the women he brings back to the cave). When Jack Frost arrives to slay the dragon (not realizing the dragon is his biological father), the Pathetic Fallacy rushes to Jack Horner's defense, destroying the Fulminate Blade. As a result, Jack Frost shoots him, which kills him since he had been living as a Mundy.
Mr. Revise
Mr. Revise is in overall charge of the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village. His exact status is unclear, but he is descended from Literals, a group of magical beings who, unlike the Fables, who are characters from story, appear to personify literary concepts. He seems to embody the concept of the ''editor'', in that he revises the universe so that it makes perfect sense. He is the son of
Kevin Thorn
Kevin Matthew Fertig (born January 17, 1977) is an American realtor and professional wrestler. He is best known for working with WWE under the ring names Mordecai and Kevin Thorn.
Fertig made his professional wrestling debut in 2000, and quic ...
and the grandson of the Pathetic Fallacy, though he appears older than both of them. As such, Revise holds a considerable amount of supernatural power.
Revise considers his role to be "neutering" Fables partly by stripping them of their darker elements, with his ultimate goal being to rid the world of
magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
. He had been close to accomplishing that before the Fabletown refugees made their way to this mundane world.
Tying into Revise's intention to destroy magic, ''The Golden Bough'' was originally written by Sir
James Frazer
Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion.
Personal life
He was born on 1 Janua ...
to show that even the "enlightened" faiths of the 19th Century were descended from the most superstitious and primitive. Like Frazer, Mr. Revise appears to be a modernist who wants to abolish superstition. In the end of the ''Great Fables Crossover'', he's revealed in a more sympathetic light, as it is mentioned that keeping the laws of physics constant over time had been his idea, making science possible. It is also pointed out that he has been a stabilizing force against whims of Kevin Thorn, who could justify any event by claiming poetic license. Eventually, he decides to follow his father in the new universe created by the ''Deus ex Machina''.
The Page Sisters
The three Page sisters serve
Revise Revise or revised may refer to:
Bibles
* Revised Version of the King James Bible
** New Revised Standard Version of the King James Bible
Government and law
* Revised Penal Code of the Philippines
* Revised Statutes of the United States
Other us ...
directly as the senior librarians of the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village, each with their own speciality. Robin Page is in charge of security, training the
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
s and so forth, Priscilla Page handles retrievals, the capture of Fables and bringing them back to the facility, while Hillary Page runs the research department. It was revealed, in ''Jack of Fables'' #26, that the sisters have two different fathers; Hillary is the daughter of Revise, while Priscilla and Robin are
Bookburner's daughters.
The Page sisters all appear to be relatively young, are attractive and all three have slept with
Jack Horner, something that he takes considerable pride in having achieved, though he also shows horror after learning that they are his half sisters. Hillary spends some time traveling with Jack after his escape from Golden Boughs, but left after discovering that he'd slept with both of her sisters before her and is now helping the Bookburner, Revise's brother and the father of her two sisters, track the fugitives.
After the revelation that Jack was their half-brother through their shared mother,
Prose Page, they were horrified to realize that they'd committed incest. Hillary was disgusted, Priscilla was enraged, and Robin was speechless.
Bill Willingham has revealed in an interview that the Page sisters are the embodiment of organizing and codifying (in this case Fables)
The sisters have some mystical abilities as a result of their Literal heritage. Libraries are Hillary's place of power, while the open road is Priscilla's. She claims to know "shortcuts to anywhere," which she uses to reach
Kevin Thorn
Kevin Matthew Fertig (born January 17, 1977) is an American realtor and professional wrestler. He is best known for working with WWE under the ring names Mordecai and Kevin Thorn.
Fertig made his professional wrestling debut in 2000, and quic ...
's hideout ahead of Snow White and
Bigby. It is implied that all three sisters give up their powers when they decide to stay in the Fables universe instead of accompanying the other literals into the new one provided by
"Dex" (Deus Ex Machina, the Literal embodiment of the
dramatic concept) - however, Robin seems to be able to communicate with a stone lion at the end of ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' (unless she was just acting crazy and actually found another way to unlock a secret passage). The sisters decide to travel the world with their nephew, the
current Jack Frost. Hillary and Priscilla appear to have motherly attitudes toward him to him while Robin seemed to be following along out of reluctance: the former later advises Jack Frost to cast aside his wintry powers and find his way by himself, thus separating from him and paving for their favorite nephew the path of the hero.
After becoming mortals, the sisters lived as normal "mundies" for years. Robin had a baby, Sammy Junior, with
Sam after a one-night stand with the former Golden Boughs prisoner. The sisters eventually got tired of life as mere mortals doomed to grow old and die, and started searching for Revise's books of original, unrevised Fable stories, knowing that the original books would make them immortal once more. The search brought the sisters to a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
, who was, in fact, a transformed Jack Horner; Jack had stolen the books when the Golden Boughs were destroyed. The sisters arrived at the same times as several former Golden Boughs prisoners, who were on a quest of their own, searching for Fabletown. The sisters went after the books while shooting at the dragon, which made the dragon burn the books - he was tired of them anyway - in anger. The sisters, upset at the loss of the books, started shooting everyone around them, thinking that since they were doomed to die without the books, everyone else could just as well die with them. This made some of the Fables retaliate and all three of the sisters were killed;
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. ...
fired his cannon at Priscilla, the
Tin Man killed Hillary by firing a laser through her chest with his tin cannon, and the
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak.
Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...
mauled Robin to death.
In ''Fairest: In All The Lands'', it is revealed that the Page Sisters used to either live in Fabletown or visit it, as they talked to Mrs. Ford, a seer in a laundry who foresaw their death in a cave, as later seen in ''Jack of Fables: The End''; the sisters remarked that in response, they decided to just decided to avoid that cave, until they gave up and accepted their fate.
The New Jack Frost – "Jack Two" or "Jack Too"
His real name is Evelyn-Lawrence-Pinder-Shinks-Cobblepewter, uttered in its entirety once by his caretaker Vrumptus. Son of Jack Horner and the Snow Queen, nephew of the Page Sisters, and so one-quarter Literal and three-quarters Fable himself, Jack Frost is the estranged son of Jack Horner, conceived by Lumi and Jack when Jack Horner, trying to harness the wintry powers and the riches of the Snow Queen for himself, romanced the still naive and gullible Lumi. As a result of his predictable betrayal, Lumi hardened her heart, becoming the cold, ruthless villainess shown in the series, lavishing the young Jack with all her bottled and repressed love. It is unexplained why she would give her son such a name.
But whatever the reason for his name, Jack shows no ill will to his mother or his caretaker Vrumptus. He seems to care for and love both as family and knows very well of his father's treatment to his mother. As a result, owing to Lumi's duties as an adviser for the ominous Adversary, young Jack lives a sheltered life along with his majordomo Vrumptus, growing into a sickly, frail child. When at the climax of the war between Fabletown and the Empire, as shown in War and Pieces, Lumi immediately falls permanently asleep because of Briar Rose's curse, her wintry powers seek Jack, turning him into the second Jack Frost (essentially a male version of the Snow Queen), imbuing him with several powers, such as the absolute mastery over cold and snow of his mother, the ability to travel between dimensions and the mystical ability to track Jack Horner. After receiving his powers one of the first things he does is to change his name which he decides to call himself Jack.
Although briefly distracted by the similarities between Wicked John and Jack Horner, Jack Frost manages to find his father at the Farm. Jack Horner, annoyed by his son's childish insistence, tricks him into believing that he must first complete a great quest before he has the right to ask his father any questions. With this objective in mind, Jack Frost takes part in the battle between Fables and Literals, ultimately turning the tide in favor of the Fables by freezing Kevin Thorn before he can write an end for the current universe. When the Literals leave the main universe to write a new one, Jack Frost stays back with his aunts, the Page Sisters, forswearing his bumbling father and unsure of his future. On Hillary and Priscilla's advice, Jack Frost divests himself of Lumi's powers. However, to his great surprise, instead of returning the meek, sickly kid he was, he turns into a quite handsome young man with the stamina and physical prowess of his father and the innate ability to hop between dimensions. Joining forces with Gepetto's wooden owl, briefly tasked by the Adversary in spying the Homelands, whom he names "McDuff", he starts a career as a hero for hire, with McDuff acting as the brains of the operation, and the good-natured, courageous, but trusty and still naive Jack acting as the brawn.
Bookburner
Son of Kevin Thorn, brother to Revise and father to Priscilla and Robin Page. Bookburner takes a different approach in dealing with magic to his brother, choosing to burn books completely, effectively removing those characters from existence. He does, however, claim to keep copies in what he refers to as his 'private collection', which appears to give him power over what remains of those characters, allowing him to compel them to act on his behalf. He has not been seen since the destruction of the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village.
The Genres
A group of Literals who are the embodiment of the different genres found in story telling. The known genres are:
*
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
, who looks like
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...
. He can sense Bigby's actions, because they both are sheriffs. He likes to play cards alone.
*
Blockbuster
Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to:
*Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived.
Corporations
* Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain
** Bl ...
, a dimwitted, musclebound commando who can sense when explosions happen. He resembles
Rambo
Rambo is a surname with Norwegian (Vestfold) and Swedish origins. It possibly originated with '' ramn'' + '' bo'', meaning "raven's nest". It has variants in French (''Rambeau'', ''Rambaut'', and ''Rimbaud'') and German (''Rambow''). It is now best ...
.
*
Mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
, a very silent woman whose face is always covered by a black veil.
*
Horror, a terrifying little girl. She can even scare Kevin Thorne.
*
Romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
, a beautiful redhead.
*
Science-Fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...
, a man in a spacesuit who fights with lasers. Twin brother to his sister Fantasy.
*
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
, an
elven woman with pointy ears who likes to plan epic adventures finding magical items.
*
Super-hero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, o ...
, younger brother of Science-Fiction and Fantasy. Known to be constantly dying and resurrected like Western.
*
Literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, who holds the others in contempt.
*
Noir, who looks and acts like Sam Spade as portrayed by
Humphry Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Ins ...
. He can solve some cases without needing to be physically present and he also managed to sneak up on everybody in the room, when they were summoned by Kevin.
*
Comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
, who looks and acts like
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...
. He makes no difference between "a muse" and "amuse".
*
War
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
, who looks and acts like a soldier from
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Other Literals
*Writer's Block: Kevin Thorne's twin brother. He looks exactly like Thorne, but has the appearance of a mental patient. Though Writer's Block is always close to his brother, Thorne doesn't notice him until he accidentally touches him. In order to continue with his plans, Thorne murders Writer's Block - again.
*Dex (
Deus Ex Machina
''Deus ex machina'' ( , ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; English "god out of the machine") is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function ...
, the Literal embodiment of the dramatic concept), arguably one of the most powerful of the Literals. He waits to solve all problems until doing so is truly impossible. He can appear out of nowhere, but he cannot work miracles, as he can only work "once per story, usually toward the dénoument".
*Eliza Wall: A Literal and temporary narrator of the Jack of Fables series and represents the
fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
, a theatre concept now also adapted to any storytelling device (Movies, literature etc.). She also has siblings - of whom nothing is known, except that, unlike her, they have no fourth wall awareness, as they do not understand it when she directly speaks to the readers.
*Prose Page: Jack Horner's mother, who gave birth to Jack after an affair with a Fable,
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...
. She later gave birth to the Page sisters, Hillary with Revise and Priscilla and Robin with Bookburner.
*Onomatopoeia: Little is known about Onomatopoeia, though is mentioned by Revise after escaping the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village.
*Foreshadowing: Little is known about Foreshadowing but that she is a female, though is mentioned by Revise after escaping the Golden Boughs.
The Homelands
Colonel Bearskin and "Bearskin's Free Company"
These were some of the Fables who died defending the Last Free Gateway from the Homelands, as seen in ''The Last Castle''. Every year, on 15 May, the people who were on the last boat out of the Homelands would get together to drink to the memory of those who died so they could get out to the Mundy World. Among the defenders were:
*
Colonel Bearskin, the colonel of "Bearskin's Free Company", the Fables who held back the Adversary's forces and tried to hold their last unconquered territory. It is said that he fought in many famous battles. He was known for his cunning battle strategies which were the reason that the territory held as long as it did. He also cared for the safety of the people who had loved ones and sent them on the boat to Fabletown. Boy Blue was his orderly, and he gave Boy Blue the witching cloak so Blue would live to tell the tale of the battle and so he could escape to be with Red Riding Hood. He was one of the last of the Fables that stayed to fight to be killed; he was stabbed in the side and died slowly while the Adversary's troops mocked him.
*
The Valiant Little Tailor
"The Brave Little Tailor" or "The Valiant Little Tailor" or "The Gallant Tailor" (German: ''Das tapfere Schneiderlein'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 20). "The Brave Little Tailor" is a story of Aarne–Thompson T ...
, identified through the text on his clothes, which says, "seven at one stroke". He was killed by
goblins
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
early in the battle. In addition, his name can seen on one of
Kevin Thorn
Kevin Matthew Fertig (born January 17, 1977) is an American realtor and professional wrestler. He is best known for working with WWE under the ring names Mordecai and Kevin Thorn.
Fertig made his professional wrestling debut in 2000, and quic ...
’s books in the ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' story arc ''The Bad Prince''.
*The
Red Cross Knight, who almost won the battle all on his own, and could not be beaten, "not by goblin or
troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
or
giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
. Not by the dozens or the hundreds." He was finally killed when the enemy set a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
against him.
*Herman Von Starkenfaust, from
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
's short story ''
The Spectre Bridegroom''. According to
Boy Blue, he turned out not to be a ghost after all.
*
Britomart: Her final action before being killed, was throwing her magical spear, which would find any target she set for it, killing the general leading the Adversary's forces.
*Robin O'The Woods (
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 depic ...
), a.k.a. "
Loxley": When the last ship out of the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
was leaving, Robin Hood (previously seen in flashbacks in the ''Legends in Exile'' story arc, while fleeing the Adversary's forces) chose to stay behind and defend the Gateway, to avenge his
Marian
Marian may refer to:
People
* Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia
* Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name
* Marian (surname), a list of people so named
Places
* Marian, Iran (disambiguation)
* Marian, Queenslan ...
, who was killed when the invaders took his homeland.
*The
Merry Men
The Merry Men are the group of Outlaw (stock character), outlaws who follow Robin Hood in English literature and folklore. The group appears in the earliest ballads about Robin Hood and remains popular in modern adaptations.
History
The Merr ...
, including
Friar Tuck
Friar Tuck is one of the legendary Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood.
History
The figure of the jovial friar was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th through 17th centur ...
and
John Small, died side by side with Bearskin's Free Company.
*
Tam Lin
Tam (or Tamas) Lin (also called Tamlane, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam Lyn, or Tam Lane) is a character in a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. It is also associated with a reel of the same name, also ...
, who was claimed to be the knight loved by the
queen of the faeries. He had a reputation of a scoundrel, but after winning a place for himself on the last ship out of the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
, he gave it to his young page instead
*The King of Madagao and the King of Bornegascar, old enemies, from ''Fantastic Fables'' by
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...
.
*The ancient
King Pellinore
King Pellinore (alternatively ''Pellinor'', ''Pellynore'' and other variants) is the king of Listenoise (possibly the Lake District) or of "the Isles" (possibly Anglesey, or perhaps the medieval kingdom of the same name) in Arthurian legend. In ...
: His rusty armor kept trying to fall apart during his weeks defending the Gateway, and his squire had to follow him around, retrieving the pieces that were dropped off in his way.
The Cardinal Winds
The North Wind
The
North Wind, often referred to as Mr. North, is the father of
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a fictional character in the American comic book series ''Fables'' published by DC Comics and its alternative imprint Vertigo. The character first appears in ''Fables'' #1 (July 2002) and was created by Bill Willingham and Lan Medi ...
. His real name is
Boreas Frostheart, as revealed in ''Fables'' 110. When traveling the world, he fell in love with a wolf named Winter; they had seven cubs. Mr. North grew bored after several years and abandoned her. He is the only European fable that still holds his kingdom from the Adversary. He arrives in Fabletown when word reaches him about the birth of his grandchildren, and he spends several years at the farm helping Snow take care of them. He treats Snow like she was his own daughter even before she is married to his son, teaching his grandchildren how to fly and shapeshift. He is strong enough to fight Demons and is confident he would be able to beat the D'Jinn, or
Genie
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
, that
Sinbad's adviser releases, though he tells Snow White and the others the battle would probably destroy most of the planet. He is based on many European wind gods, primarily
Boreas (who has his own fable, entitled ''
The North Wind and the Sun
The North Wind and the Sun is one of Aesop's Fables (Perry Index 46). It is type 298 (Wind and Sun) in the Aarne–Thompson folktale classification. The moral it teaches about the superiority of persuasion over force has made the story widely know ...
)''. Bigby has never forgiven him for abandoning Winter and considers him a monster. He eventually returns to his kingdom before Bigby returns to Fabletown. Following Bigby and Snow's visit to his castle, he agrees to help Fabletown during the war against the Empire by providing zephyrs trained to act as spies and messengers.
It is later revealed that Mr. North and Mr. Dark, although having different purposes, are of similar magic and power (though Mr. Dark claims to be superior). He tried to persuade Mr. Dark to leave the mundane world and the Fables alone - which Dark refused - and offered a challenge of single combat with
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
; it is shown that Mr. North did this in exchange for information from Totenkinder, confirmation that Snow had given birth to a zephyr, Ghost, and that he was living happily as a secret member of the family. Mr. North left, extremely displeased.
In Mr. North's kingdom, zephyrs were viewed as predatory monsters. Long ago, following a child massacre at the hands of the zephyrs, Mr. North had sworn an oath to his people that as long as he lived, no zephyrs would be allowed to survive. He was now facing a dilemma, as he loved the cubs - his grandchildren - and would never intentionally hurt any of them. Nor did he wish to further exacerbate the slight bond he had managed to form with his son. Desperately trying to find a way to get himself out of the predicament, he realized that the only way he could forsake his vow to kill Ghost was to die, as death canceled all obligations. A grim Mr. North confronted
Mister Dark, the
Dullahan
The Dullahan (Irish: Dubhlachan ; dúlachán, ), also called Gan Ceann (meaning "without a head" in Irish), is a type of mythological creature in Irish folklore. He is depicted as a headless rider, on a black horse, who carries his own head h ...
who had sworn vengeance against the Fables and was out to kill all of them, including Mr. North's family. Knowing that the damages from a battle between the two would be catastrophic for the Fables, Mr. North grabbed Mr. Dark by the throat and brought up him up into the North Wind's own realm of elemental ice and wind, so that even the slightest brush of the Dullahan's death would not touch the world below. There, he entered his Casket of Primordial Winds (a suicide mechanism kept in case he got tired of this life, since nothing much could harm him) and took Mr. Dark with him, killing them both. When informed of Mr. North's death, Bigby felt conflicted, as he had hated his father for so long and now his father had done something so noble as this. His musings were interrupted when one of the North Wind's aides showed up and informed him that now that Mr. North was dead, a new North Wind was needed from his bloodline. Since Bigby is "entirely unsuitable", they will have to choose from among his children.
The West Wind
Brother/cousin of the North Wind, and great uncle of the "cubs". The
West Wind
A west wind is a wind that originates in the west and blows in an eastward direction.
Mythology and Literature
In European tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds.
In Greek mythology, ...
appears as a
Native American, and goes by the name of Yaponcha, the
Hopi
The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...
wind god
from
Native American legends. He is also known as
Zephyrus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, the Anemoi (Greek: , 'Winds') were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various seasons and ...
, the
Greek god
The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion.
Immortals
The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...
of the west wind. Another reference to Native American mythology is made when he compares
wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...
(more specifically,
Bigby) to the mythological
coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
.
During the process of choosing the North Wind's heir, the three other cardinal winds arrived, intending to take possession of the “cubs”. They believed that the "offspring of one of the great houses" should be fostered for a time in the courts of other kings and that the cardinal winds themselves were best suited to determine who might be the most fit to rule Mr. North's kingdom. Bigby, father of the cubs, was furious and would not allow this, and the West Wind then secretly attempted to persuade the East Wind and the South Wind to join him in taking over the North Wind's keep and kill his family, including the children. Thus, they could construct a ''new'' north wind from pure materials. However, the South Wind accuses him of wanting to do this out of personal revenge on the North Wind. Both she and the East Wind remind him that he has been on bad terms with the North Wind for some years, even naming the "zephyrs" after him to insult him.
Winter, one of "the Cubs", was eventually chosen as the new North Wind. When this happened, the West Wind referred to the new situation as "a setback", but did not interfere.
The East Wind
The North Wind's brother/cousin. The
East Wind
An east wind is a wind that originates in the east and blows in a westward direction. This wind is referenced as symbolism in mythology, poetry and literature.
In mythology
In Greek mythology, Eurus, the east wind, was the only wind not associated ...
takes the form of an obese man and goes by the names of
Eurus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, the Anemoi (Greek: , 'Winds') were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various seasons and ...
(the name of the Greek deity representing the east wind),
Fei Lian
Feilian (), also known as Xie Feng is the Chinese god of the wind, or Feng Bo. He is a winged dragon with the head of a deer and the tail of a snake. He carries wind with him in a bag and stirs up trouble. Feilian is kept in check by Houyi, the h ...
(the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
god of the wind) and Dragon of the East. He does appear to have some physical traits similar to young Ambrose. Not much is known about him, but unlike the West Wind, he doesn't appear to wish to kill the North Wind's family. And like the South Wind, he believes the West Wind only wants to hurt them out of personal spite. With coaxing from the South Wind, she got them to decide to invite themselves as guests of the Wolf Clan. However, upon hearing the ideas of his fellow winds, the East Wind suggested that they not only killed the entire wolf clan, but the North Wind's attendant winds as well. The others agreed to the plan. However, when Winter (one of the "cubs") is chosen as the new North Wind, the East Wind appears to accept it, and even tells a disgruntled West Wind to be quiet and mind the occasion. He also wishes to assist in Winter's training.
However, Winter becomes soon becomes deathly afraid when she starts having nightmares where she sees a grown-up version of herself as a cold, selfish North Wind that hurts people. The East Wind is very pleased with this new "marvelous" development in which they will have a "timid" North Wind, whereas the South Wind, equally pleased, says that their day of ascendancy has come at long last. During "Cubs in Toyland" arc Bigby asks as humbly as he could for their help in finding Therese and Darien. While of course all the winds at first refuse, Bigby makes a verbal threat that he'd make them pay if they didn't. It is noted, that while he's just as suspicious character as his siblings, he was the only one of them not griping or complaining about searching for them. He notes "Sometimes a doing a favor is its own reward", meaning he could have some benevolence in him at the most as he saw that while Bigby wasn't a god like them, he wasn't just an ordinary human either.
The South Wind
The North Wind's sister/cousin, and the cubs' great aunt. The
South Wind
A south wind is a wind that originates in the south and blows in a northward direction.
Words used in English to describe the south wind are auster, buster (a violent south gale), föhn/foehn (alps), ghibli (Libya with various spellings), friagem ...
takes the form of an
African
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
-looking woman. Even though all the Cardinal Winds have the ability to take the form of both genders, she is the only one of the group who's chosen to take a female form. She goes by the names of Yoruba (after the
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
of West Africa
),
Notus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, the Anemoi (Greek: , 'Winds') were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various seasons and ...
(the south wind in
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
) and Storm Mother. She could be considered the more compassionate and sensible one of the Winds, although she has been shown to have a more ruthless, cunning side as well.
After hearing the West Wind's ideas, the South Wind suggested that they should instead conduct themselves as proper guests until Bigby had another outburst. When that happened, they would be "fully justified" in stepping in with force. The other winds agreed to the plan, with a few modifications from the East Wind, who suggested that they not only killed the entire wolf clan, but the North Wind's attendant winds as well. The West Wind and the South Wind both agreed. Later, it becomes clear to the winds that the testing might place the children in mortal danger, and the East Wind remarks that if the cubs are killing themselves in the process of testing, the fewer the winds will have to take out when they are compelled to step in. The South Wind reminds the others that their patience is paying off and that they were right to hold off taking a direct hand.
One of the "cubs", Winter, is eventually chosen as the new North Wind. The South Wind watches in silence and appears to accept the new development. However, Winter becomes very afraid when she starts having premonitions of her older self as a cold and selfish North Wind that hurts people. The East Wind refers to the new development as "marvelous" because the new North Wind will be timid, and the South Wind appears to be very pleased and answers that "our day of ascendancy has come at long last".
Arabian Fables
A group of characters living in the Arabian Fable
homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
, mostly from ''
One Thousand and One Nights
''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'':
Sinbad
Sinbad, the famed mariner of legend, is a prince of the Arabian Fables. He arrived in Fabletown during the ''Arabian Nights (And Days)'' story-arc, accompanied by his minister, Yusuf, a host of servants and slaves and, to the consternation of his hosts, a
d'jinn secured within a bottle, for a meeting carefully negotiated by Mowgli. Things got off to the worst possible start when Prince Charming forgot completely about the meeting and it was only when King Cole, who both spoke the language and was familiar with the customs, was brought in that things began to calm down. As things progressed, Sinbad began to see that the mundane world represented a new beginning, and decided to free all of his slaves. The enraged Yusuf used this as an excuse to release the d'jinn, giving it commands that would put him in control of both the European and Arabian fable communities. Fortunately, Frau Totenkinder had anticipated the possibility and warped his language, so that the commands he gave were not what he intended, ultimately leading to his own prolonged demise and the recapture of the d'jinn. Sinbad did indeed release his slaves, giving them the option to either accompany him back to Baghdad or to remain in Fabletown. He left Fabletown, taking King Cole with him as the official Ambassador to the Arabian Fables. They returned to Baghdad, where he revealed to Cole that, for the time being, the Arabian Fables still live in the Homelands equivalent of Baghdad, until such time as the Adversary's forces take it. Sinbad has learned from the uncontrolled exodus of the European Fables into the mundane world and has made plans to ensure that their own escape, should it prove necessary, will be much more orderly.
During the ''War and Pieces'' storyline, Sinbad participated bravely in the war against the Adversary, commanding the skyship ''Glory of Baghdad'', with Prince Charming as his combat coordinator. After the destruction of the ship, he defended the injured Charming while the latter dragged the last bomb to its target and set it off. After the war, he married Rose Red, who divorced him around a week after their wedding to try to be with Boy Blue. Following a failed attempt to reconcile, he returned to Baghdad, expressing a wish to build a new airship with which to explore the liberated homelands.
Aladdin
The Arabian Fables' best spy, ostensibly acting under the orders of Sinbad.
Aladdin
Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...
is seen briefly learning English in preparation for the war against the Adversary. He is later seen in Dubai, disguised as a concierge in the Burj al-Arab hotel, holding a knife and preparing to attack an oblivious Cinderella, as seen in ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love''. Both end up working on the same spy job together, looking for the ones who are selling magical contraband. They eventually discover it is the three girls from Sinbad's harem and find they are in dealing with Cinderella's own Fairy Godmother. Cinderella eventually defeats her grandmother with the help of Hickory and leaves with Aladdin. She reveals she knows about him spying on the other Fable-communities, but states she'll keep quiet because she's attracted to him. Aladdin returns her feelings and they decide to spend a night together. Not living "happily ever after", but, in Cindy's words, living "happily for the moment".
Ali Baba
Ali Baba
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...
was briefly mentioned during the ''Arabian Nights (And Days)'' storyline. He also appears in the first storyline of the ''Fables'' spin-off ''
Fairest'', where the famous prince of thieves makes his way to the Imperial Capital in the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
. The city has recently been burned down by
goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
s. While looking for treasures hidden among the char and ash, he finds a magic bottle, which he opens, but the bottle does not contain a
d'jinn, but a little bottle
imp
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Clan ...
. Although the imp cannot grant him three wishes, it promises to lead him to great riches. The imp leads him to the encampment of the goblins who burned down the city, and where
Briar Rose, still asleep, is being held. The imp explains to Ali Baba that the sleeping girl is blessed with eternal wealth and riches, but needs to be woken with true love's kiss from a prince, and that if Ali Baba marries her, he will get everything she gets. Ali Baba sneaks into the camp, and finds both Briar Rose and, Lumi, the
Snow Queen, also asleep. Since he doesn't know which woman the imp meant, he first kisses the sleeping Snow Queen. When that doesn't work, he kisses Briar Rose, who awakens from the spell, along with the Snow Queen.
The Snow Queen, wanting revenge on Briar Rose for putting her to sleep for years, takes both of them captive, but does not harm them. While Ali Baba and Briar Rose are forced to spend time with Lumi, Ali Baba eventually realizes that he has no feelings for Briar Rose after all, but is in love with Lumi. It is revealed that because Ali Baba risked his life to wake and rescue Briar Rose, his actions fell under the definition of true love, but was not romantic love. Lumi likes and is attracted to Ali Baba, and believes that love can grow from that. The two become a couple, and start a new life together in Lumi's homeland. Unfortunately, this is only temporary, as both of them are killed during the events of the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All The Land'' at the hands of
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
.
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
was able to bring Goldilock's victims back to life, but unfortunately, she could only pick half of the victims to resurrect. So she chooses Lumi, feeling she was a victim at the hands of the Adversary, and a potential ally for Fabletown.
Other Arabian Fables
*Yusuf: Sinbad's minister who released a
d'jinn from a bottle, in order to destroy Fabletown and its citizens and put him in control of both the European and Arabian fable communities. Unfortunately for him,
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
used her magic powers to warp his language, so that the commands he gave were not what he intended, ultimately leading to his own prolonged demise and the recapture of the d'jinn.
*Sidi Nouman: The first victim of the d'jinn released by Sinbad's servant, Yusuf, as seen in ''Arabian Nights (And Days)''. Appears in the ''One Thousand and One Night'' story "The Caliph’s Night Adventure" (as Sidi Nu’uman), which includes the chapter "History of Sidi Nu’uman". The d'jinn makes references to the story by calling Sidi Nouman "famous abuser of
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s", "celebrated husband of
corpse-eaters" and "a
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
who's occasionally a ''man'' - or is that the other way around?". (Note that the ''Fables Encyclopedia'' erroneously states that Sidi Nouman 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 (Comico Comics), Elementals'' and ''Fables (comics), Fables''.
Career
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ...
)
*
King Shahryār: In the graphic novel ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
'', Snow White is dispatched to the Arabian sultan's court in the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
to enlist his support in the fight against
the Adversary. King Shahryār entraps her, and for a thousand-and-one nights in a row, she must tell Shahryār a story, each time stopping at dawn with a cliffhanger, thus forcing him to keep her alive for another day so that she can complete the tale the next night, while at the same time wooing his cooperation.
*
Scheherazade
Scheherazade () is a major female character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''.
Name
According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade'' deri ...
: Makes a brief appearance in ''1001 Nights of Snowfall''. It is revealed she got the idea of telling the Sultan a new story every night from Snow White, who has been using the same trick herself to keep herself alive for a thousand-and-one nights while acting as an ambassador for Fabletown.
*
Scheherazade's father
This is a list of characters in ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ''The Arabian Nights''), the classic, medieval collection of Middle-Eastern folk tales.
Characters in the frame story Scheherazade
Scheherazade or Shahrazad ( fa, شهرزاد} ...
: Also makes an appearance in the graphic novel.
*Aladdin's father and the
d'jinn: From the tale of ''
Aladdin
Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...
''. Mentioned in ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love''.
*
Morgiana: Referred to in the ''
Fairest'' story arc ''Wide Awake''.
*Abd Al Qadir: Appears briefly in flashbacks from
Ali Baba
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...
's life, in the ''Fairest'' story arc ''Wide Awake''. A minor character referred to in the ''One Thousand and One Night'' story "Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat", during the "Two Hundred and Fifty-third Night" (as Abd al-Kadir).
The Blue Fairy
The Blue Fairy
The Fairy with Turquoise Hair ( it, La Fata dai Capelli Turchini; often simply referred to as The Blue Fairy, ''La Fata Turchina'') is a fictional character in the 1883 Italian book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi, repeatedly appea ...
was the one who turned
Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
into a real boy centuries ago. She took his wish too literally and made it so that he would be a real ''boy'', therefore never growing up and experiencing puberty. She lent
Geppetto
Geppetto ( , ), also known as Mister Geppetto, is an Italian fictional character in the 1883 novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi. Geppetto is an elderly, impoverished woodcarver and the creator (and thus 'father') of Pinocchio ...
some of her power in order for him to turn more of his puppets into real people, but soon she saw how greedy Geppetto was becoming, and started resisting. This prompted Geppetto to trap the Blue Fairy and use machinery to drain power from her body so he could use her power on his own.
Pinocchio stated early on he only went to Remembrance Day celebrations to see when the Blue Fairy would show up, and that he would "kick her pretty little azure ass" whenever she did. Many years later, in the early period of the power struggle over the Farm,
Ozma brought the Blue Fairy to the Farm, obviously wanting revenge on Geppetto for his wicked deeds. The Blue Fairy tried to attack Geppetto, but was interrupted when Pinocchio attempted to beat her up, wanting revenge for being stuck as a boy for centuries. She quickly overpowered him and went after Gepetto, but the
Sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
,
Beast, intervened and managed to talk the Blue Fairy into going away for 777 days, at which time she promised to return and expected Beast to have Geppetto ready and waiting to receive her vengeance. If not, she was going to take Beast prisoner for 777 years.
Later, Beast is able to stall her by saying that Gepetto wishes to marry her. The Blue Fairy chooses the
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...
as her intermediary in the wedding negotiations. In the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All The Land'', the Blue Fairy and the Lady of the Lake both become victims of a serial killer, who is revealed to be
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
.
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
is able to resurrect the victims, but can only bring back half of them, and chooses the Lady of the Lake over the Blue Fairy. The Blue Fairy is cast into what the Magical Mirror calls the "stay dead group" - meaning even the mirror does not expect her to return to the living (though her severed head can continue to talk).
King Arthur and Camelot
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
and his court appears in flashbacks during ''The Good Prince'' story arc, where the spirit of Sir
Lancelot
Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
tells his story to Flycatcher.
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
and the fabled King Arthur set the standard of "true chivalry" for all of
Christendom
Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
and its legend touched much of the pagan worlds beyond. The ''Fables'' graphic novel ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
'' reveals that Lancelot, Camelot's most gifted champion, was blessed by
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
, who told him that he would be unbeatable in battle as long as he remained pure and honorable. Lancelot ''was'' unbeatable, until he lost his honor by having a love affair with the King's wife,
Guinevere
Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First ment ...
. The Knights of the
Round Table
The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...
are referred to in Lancelot's story, and
Gawain
Gawain (), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest ...
makes an appearance. Lancelot's betrayal, and the "unforgivable acts" that he perpetrated afterward, split the Round Table and led to the downfall of Camelot. Even though Arthur eventually forgave him, Lancelot couldn't forgive himself. He hanged himself and became the mysterious
Forsworn Knight who appears in the early issues of Fables. Dialog between Flycatcher and Lancelot's
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
reveals that Arthur was eventually laid to rest in a crypt. Arthur appears briefly in flashbacks during the Fables story ''The Destiny Game''. According to the ''Fables Encyclopedia'' annotations, "Sir Grimauld" from ''The Good Prince'' is Bill Willingham's creation, as there is no such character in the King Arthur mythos. Based on the color of his armor, he may be the Green Knight from the poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (circa A.D. 1390).
King
Pellinore
King Pellinore (alternatively ''Pellinor'', ''Pellynore'' and other variants) is the king of Listenoise (possibly the Lake District) or of "the Isles" (possibly Anglesey, or perhaps the medieval kingdom of the same name) in Arthurian legend. In ...
makes an appearance in the ''Fables'' story ''The Last Castle'', as one of the
defenders of the last free gateway.
The
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...
was first referred to in ''The Good Prince'' and the ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' story arc ''The Bad Prince'' (in addition, Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin are all referred to in the latter story). She first appears in the story arc ''The Destiny Game''. Also known as the "Green Lady", she is a messenger of the
Fates
The Fates are a common motif in European polytheism, most frequently represented as a trio of goddesses. The Fates shape the destiny of each human, often expressed in textile metaphors such as spinning fibers into yarn, or weaving threads on a ...
and has the ability to assign and reassign different destinies to particular individuals. She is a green-skinned woman who sometimes lives in ponds. Initially a sly and conniving woman, she turns more diligently after two encounters with Bigby Wolf. Years later, she is in a well-established relationship with Bigby's cub
Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...
. In later ''Fables'' story arcs, Lady of the Lake was shown to be a good friend to
the Blue Fairy
The Fairy with Turquoise Hair ( it, La Fata dai Capelli Turchini; often simply referred to as The Blue Fairy, ''La Fata Turchina'') is a fictional character in the 1883 Italian book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi, repeatedly appea ...
and came to represent her friend in the engagement to
Geppetto
Geppetto ( , ), also known as Mister Geppetto, is an Italian fictional character in the 1883 novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi. Geppetto is an elderly, impoverished woodcarver and the creator (and thus 'father') of Pinocchio ...
. In the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In All the Land'', Lady of the Lake and her friend were attacked and apparently murdered at the hands of
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
.
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
was able to bring Goldilocks' victims back to life, but was only allowed to choose half of the victims to resurrect, and she chose Lady of the Lake over the Blue Fairy.
Merlin
Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
appears briefly in flashbacks in the Fables story ''The Destiny Game''.
Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon (Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur.
A few m ...
,
Gorlois
In Arthurian legend, Gorlois ( cy, Gwrlais) of Tintagel, Duke of Cornwall, is the first husband of Igraine, whose second husband is Uther Pendragon. Gorlois's name first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' (). A vas ...
and
Mordred
Mordred or Modred (; Welsh: ''Medraut'' or ''Medrawt'') is a figure who is variously portrayed in the legend of King Arthur. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle ''Annales Cambriae'', wherein he ...
are mentioned in ''Fables'' 136 (''Camelot'', Part 6). In addition, Arthur's half-sister,
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay (, meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morg e, Morgant Morge , and Morgue namong other names and spellings ( cy, Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, kw, Morgen an Spyrys), is a powerful ...
, is one of the 13th floor witches of Fabletown.
Dunster Happ
A warlock and former Boxer (hunter of rogue spellcasters and magical beings) for the Empire. Though he did not invent the sealing boxes used by the Boxers to capture their targets, he was able to enchant them so that they would entice their targets to enter them willingly. He had been key to boxing Baba Yaga, Mr. Dark and the last of the Baleful Hernes. Frau Totenkinder (after rejuvenating and using her true name again: Bellflower) asks him to teach her how to box Mr. Dark - despite her initial concerns that such boxes may have been made to capture her as well. During their time, Totenkinder apparently seduced him and became his lover. They would develop a deep relationship and would become engaged. They later came back to The Farm. In the ''Fairest'' graphic novel ''Fairest In all the Land'', they were both killed at the hands of the murderous
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
.
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
, unfortunately, could only pick half of Goldilocks' victims to resurrect, and ultimately choose Totenkinder over him.
King Valemon and his royal subjects
Various characters from
Norwegian Folktales
''Norwegian Folktales'' ( no, Norske folkeeventyr) is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as ''Asbjørnsen and Moe'', after the collectors.
Asbjørnsen and Moe
Asbjø ...
, as seen in the ''Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'' story arc.
*
King Valemon and his queen, rulers of Ultima Thule, one of the Fable
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
. They were deposed of and killed when an unknown, powerful
magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
user from another realm invaded their kingdom. The usurper eventually turned out to be
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
's
fairy godmother
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale with ...
. Among the people still loyal to King Valemon include:
*
Askeladden
Ashlad (Norwegian "Askeladden", full name "Esben Askelad" or "Espen Askeladd") is a main character in a number of tales collected in Asbjørnsen and Moe's ''Norwegian Folktales''.
The character starts out being regarded as an incapable underachi ...
, now without his ship.
*
Butterball
Butterball is a brand of turkey and other poultry products produced by Butterball LLC. The company manufactures food products in the United States and internationally — specializing in turkey, cured deli meats, raw roasts and specialty pr ...
, always hungry.
*Mrs. Gudbrand, widow of the late Gudbrand from ''Gudbrand on the Hill-side'', whose home has become a refuge for dissenters still loyal to the old king.
*Little Freddy, from ''Little Freddy with his Fiddle''. Now without his
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
.
*
Little Annie the Goose-Girl
''Vesle Åse Gåsepike'' (''Little Annie the Goose-Girl'') is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in ''Norske Folkeeventyr''. It has also been translated as ''Little Lucy Goosey Girl'', and classified as ...
.
*The
ram
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* Ra ...
and
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
from ''The Ram and the Pig Who Went Into the Woods to Live by Themselves''.
The people of Oz
A group of Fables from the books of
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
, living in the Fable
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
of
Oz and
Ev. (The
Nome King
The Nome King is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is introduced in Baum's third Oz book ''Ozma of Oz'' (1907). He also appears in many of the continuing sequel '' Oz'' novels also written by Baum. Although the c ...
is listed under "
Villains
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character as ...
".) In addition, the
Tin Man and the
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak.
Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...
are prisoners at the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village in the mundane world.
Jack Pumpkinhead
Jack Pumpkinhead
Jack Pumpkinhead is a fictional character from the Land of Oz and appears in several of the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum.
The Classic Oz Books
Jack first appeared as a main character in the second Oz b ...
's first appearance was early on in the series, in flashbacks during the ''Legends in Exile'' story arc, where he can be seen among a large group of Fables fleeing
the Adversary’s forces. His next appearance took place almost a hundred issues later, in the Fables story ''The Ascent'', where he is on the run from the Nome King’s (now the ruler of a pan-
Ozian empire) enforcers in the Fable Homeland of Ev. It is revealed that he was drafted into one of the Nome King’s press gangs, but eventually managed to escape with Bungle the glass cat and the Sawhorse. While sitting in one of Ev's native Lunch Box Trees,
Bufkin accidentally saves the group from a couple of "Rumble Tumble Tom's", the Nome King's enforcers. The group joined forces with Bufkin, and went on to appear in the subsequent ''Fables'' story arcs, working to overthrow the Nome King.
Bungle, the Glass Cat
At some point,
Bungle, the Glass Cat escaped into the mundane world and became one of the helpers of
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
, a killer for hire. Bungle was later recruited by Dorothy to aid her in her quest for revenge on her nemesis,
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
, as seen in ''Cinderella: Fables are Forever''. Bungle assisted in kidnapping Cinderella and
Ivan Durak of
Shadow Fabletown and brought them to the
Deadly Desert
The Deadly Desert is the magical desert in Nonestica that completely surrounds the fictional Land of Oz, which cuts it off from the rest of the world.
Geology
On the map of Oz, first published in the endpapers of the eighth book, ''Tik-Tok of Oz ...
of
Oz in an
airship
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
In early ...
. Ivan seemingly manages to overpower their captors and throw Bungle and the other captors out of the ship, rescuing Cindy and himself. Bungle is shown floating down in a
parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
, indicating that she's working with Ivan. In a surprising plot twist, it is revealed that Dorothy was Ivan all along, disguising herself using her magic slippers.
Bungle's story continues in the ''Fables'' series. After Bungle landed, she was drafted into one of the Nome King's press gangs, building a road across the deadly desert. She managed to escape with Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse, also in the press gang. Bufkin came across the group in the
Land of Ev
The Land of Ev is a fictional country in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum and his successors. The country was first visited in Baum's third Oz novel, 1907's ''Ozma of Oz'', and was the first of Baum's countries that surround the Land of Oz. This book ...
, and accidentally saved them from the Nome King's enforcers, who were chasing the fugitives. All four of them then secretly formed a secret resistance movement.
Other Oz-characters
*
Glinda the Good: Shown driving her
swan
Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...
chariot
A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
during flashbacks in ''Legends in Exile'', while fleeing the Adversary's forces (note that annotations in the ''Fables Encyclopedia'' speculate that this may be
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
,
but the figure is clearly a woman). She also appears briefly in flashbacks from
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
's adventures in
Oz, in ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever''.
*The
Sawhorse
In woodworking, a saw-horse or sawhorse (saw-buck, trestle, buck) is a trestle structure used to support a board or plank for sawing. A pair of sawhorses can support a plank, forming a scaffold. In certain circles, it is also known as a ''m ...
: One of several Oz-fable who's ended up in the Fable Homeland of Ev while on the run from the Nome King's enforcers. He joins Bufkin's revolution.
*The Spoon Brigade from ''
The Emerald City of Oz
''The Emerald City of Oz'' is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em ...
'': recruited by Dorothy to aid her in her plot for revenge on her nemesis,
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
.
*One of the
Chiss: Also recruited by Dorothy. They are creatures the size of a
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
, covered in poisonous quills which they can shoot out of their body at will. They can only be found in Oz. Dorothy brought one of the Chiss to the mundane world to aid her in her quest for revenge on Cinderella. When Cindy set out find Dorothy, she encountered the creature in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
. The creature killed
Meng Chiang-Nu (from the
Chinese folktale ''Seeking Her Husband at the Great Wall'') of
Shadow Fabletown, and then attacked Cinderella, who was forced to kill the creature in self-defense.
*The
Wicked Witch of the East
The Wicked Witch of the East is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is a crucial
character but appears only briefly in Baum's classic children's series of List of Oz books, ''Oz'' novels, most notably ''The Won ...
, assorted
munchkins
A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. They first appear in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) where they welcome Dorothy Gale to their city in O ...
, the
Wizard of Oz, the
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...
and the
Good Witch of the North: They appear briefly in flashbacks from Dorothy's adventures in Oz. In addition, several allusions to the Wicked Witch of the West are made in the ''Witches'' story arc.
*
Winged monkeys
Winged monkeys are fictional characters created by American author L. Frank Baum in his children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). They are jungle monkeys with bird-like feathered wings. They are most notably remembered from the famo ...
: All working in the Nome King's air corps. One of the monkeys discovers Bufkin's group of revolutionaries in Ev, and is subsequently killed by Bufkin.
*The
Yoop: From ''
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
''The Patchwork Girl of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum is a children's novel, the seventh in the Oz series. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps (the patchwork girl), and others. The book was first published on ...
''. Now working in the Pan-Ozian administration of the Nome King who freed him from his prison. The Nome King feeds his enemies to the Yoop. The Yoop eventually got tired of his job as the Nome King's "people eater", feeling that he could not keep up with the large number of people being fed to him every day. He was sent out to capture Bufkin, Jack Pumpkinhead, Bungle the Glass Cat and the Sawhorse, but decided to join their revolution instead.
*A group of
Kalidahs: Also working for the Nome King. They joined Bufkin's revolution because they were tired of being made to sleep in filthy cages when off-duty.
*General Blug, with his fifty thousand soldiers: From ''The Emerald City of Oz''. Jack Pumpkinhead, Bungle the Glass Cat and the Sawhorse attempt to recruit Blug and his troops in their revolution.
Other Homelands Fables
*The
Jabberwock
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The bo ...
: Mentioned in the ''Legends in Exile'' and ''Homelands'' story arcs. Just like in the ''
Jabberwocky
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The bo ...
'' poem, the
vorpal sword
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The bo ...
was the Jabberwock's bane.
*
Don Quijote
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
and his
squire
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.
Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...
Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza () is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, known as ''sanchismos'', ...
: Appear briefly in flashbacks during the ''Legends in Exile'' story arc.
*The Great Lion: According to the ''Fables Encyclopedia'' annotations, this is a reference to
Aslan
Aslan () is a major character in C. S. Lewis's ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' series. Unlike any other character, he appears in all seven chronicles of the series. Aslan is depicted as a talking lion, and is described as the King of Beasts, the ...
from ''
The Chronicles of Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...
''.
The Kingdom of the Great Lion was one of the Fable
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
that was conquered early on, as seen in flashbacks during ''Legends in Exile''. The
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
himself was felled and killed by arrows.
King Cole
Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman or Sub-Roman ...
points out that "we always found the old lion to be a bit too pompous and holier-than-thou for our tastes". The Great Lion also appears in an illustration for ''The Good Prince'', where the
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
of Sir
Lancelot
Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
refers to the lion as "the Great Lion on his stone" (Aslan sacrificed himself and was killed on a stone table) and one of the "true kings".
Bill Willingham
William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series ''Elementals (Comico Comics), Elementals'' and ''Fables (comics), Fables''.
Career
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ...
has commented on the issue, saying: "Narnia is my favorite fantasy series, bar none. (...) Problem is, Narnia isn't in the public domain, so we couldn't use it in Fables. So who is the lion mentioned in that one panel
n ''Legends in Exile''and what kingdom is depicted? I can't say it's Aslan and I can't say it's Narnia. But that doesn't stop any of you from looking at the first lines of this paragraph and coming to your own conclusion."
*
Thumbelina's mother: Referred to in the ''Fables'' story ''Barleycorn Brides''.
*Count Aucassin de Beaucaire: From ''
Aucassin and Nicolette
''Aucassin et Nicolette'' (12th or 13th century) is an anonymous medieval French fictional story. It is the unique example of a ''chantefable'', literally, a "sung story", a combination of prose and verse (similar to a ''prosimetrum'').
History ...
''. A general leading the Adversary's attack on the Last Free Gateway from the Homelands, as seen in ''The Last Castle''. He was killed by
Britomart's magical spear.
*
Maid Marian
Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circums ...
: Mentioned in the story ''The Last Castle''. She was killed when the invaders took
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 depic ...
's homeland. According to annotations in the ''Fables Encyclopedia'', she is the woman by Robin Hood's side in flashbacks during the ''Legends in Exile'' story arc.
*
The Queen of Fairies: Also mentioned in ''The Last Castle''. Apparently,
Tam Lin
Tam (or Tamas) Lin (also called Tamlane, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam Lyn, or Tam Lane) is a character in a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. It is also associated with a reel of the same name, also ...
, one of the
defenders of the last free gateway, was loved by her.
*
Jack's mother: From ''
Jack and the Beanstalk
"Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole ...
''. Mentioned in the ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' story arc, the ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' story arc ''The Bad Prince'' and in ''The Great Fable Crossover''. In ''The Bad Prince'', it is revealed that
Jack Horner is actually an unknowing copy of
Wicked John and that John was actually the one involved in the Beanstalk and
Giant-killing incidents, thus making the woman the mother of Wicked John, not Jack. Jack's real mother is
Prose Page, who is also the mother of the
Page Sisters.
*The man who sold the magic
beans
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
to Jack (or actually Wicked John): Referred to in ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' and the ''Jack of Fables'' story arc ''The Bad Prince''.
*Chernomor: From ''
Ruslan and Lyudmila Ruslan may refer to:
* ''Ruslan'' (film), a 2009 film starring Steven Segal
* Ruslan (given name), male name used mainly in Slavic countries, with list of people
* Antonov An-124 ''Ruslan'', large Soviet cargo aircraft, later built in Ukraine and ...
''. A Governor-General in the Adversary's empire. He was killed by
Boy Blue during Blue's exploits in the Homelands. After his death, Blue impersonated the governor, ordering his underlings to lower the tax rate.
*Mice and cat from the Russian
lubok
A ''lubok'' (plural ''lubki'', Cyrillic: russian: лубо́к, лубо́чная картинка) is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories, and popular tales. Lubki ...
''
The Mice are Burying the Cat'': As seen in the ''Homelands'' story arc, during Boy Blue's exploits in the homelands, Blue comes across the strange group in the Rus, the Homelands version of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. A train of
mice
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
are pulling a sleeping
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
on a sledge, saying that they're planning a funeral for the cat. When Blue points out that the cat isn't dead but merely sleeping, the mice reply that "nevertheless, we have our plans".
*The Three Knights of the Rus:
Baba Yaga
In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga, also spelled Baba Jaga (from Polish), is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. In fairy tales Baba Yaga flies around in a ...
's servants. They appear in the fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful", from
Alexander Afanasyev
Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (Afanasief, Afanasiev or Afanas'ev, russian: link=no, Александр Николаевич Афанасьев) ( — ) was a Russian Slavist and ethnographer who published nearly 600 Russian fairy and folk ta ...
's ''
Narodnye russkie skazki
''Russian Fairy Tales'' (russian: Народные русские сказки, variously translated; English titles include also ''Russian Folk Tales'') is a collection of nearly 600 fairy and folktales, collected and published by Alexander Af ...
''.
They were defeated in single combat by Boy Blue.
*
Ivan Tsarevich
Ivan Tsarevich (russian: Ива́н Царе́вич or Иван-царевич) is one of the main heroes of Russian folklore, usually a protagonist, often engaged in a struggle with Koschei. Along with Ivan the Fool, Ivan Tsarevich is a placeho ...
is mentioned by Boy Blue when he was in Rus.
*
Trusty John's king: Mentioned in the ''Fables'' story ''Meanwhile'', where is revealed that long before
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
signed the Fabletown compact, he had sworn an unbreakable vow of loyalty to his King, who he believed had been killed leading his forces against the Adversary. This would turn out not to be the case and John's King was now actually working for the Adversary. The King contacted John and ordered him to spy on his fellow Fables. John was bound by his vow, which overruled the later compact, and had no choice but to obey and spent four years passing information to the enemy before
Kay caught him.
*
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
: Referred to as Sulymon the Wize in the comic. He appears in a brief flashback from ancient times during ''Arabian Nights (and Days)''. He is also mentioned in ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
'' and the ''Witches'' story arc. Sulymon was the one who invented the idea of tricking a
d'jinn into a bottle.
*
Daedalus
In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, an ...
: Appears in a brief flashback from ancient times during ''Arabian Nights (and Days)''. He was the greatest sorcerer-scientist of that age, and was the inventor of the magic bottles used to capture d'jinns.
*
The Seven Dwarfs: First appeared in flashbacks in the ''Fables'' prequel ''1001 Nights of Snowfall''. In the story,
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...
is investigating a series of murders around his kingdom. The victims are revealed to be the Seven Dwarfs, whereas the killer turns out to be Charming's wife, Snow White. The flashback sections of the ''Rose Red'' story arc reveals that unlike in the fairy tale, the dwarfs treated Snow badly and turned her into their slave, abusing her physically and sexually. It is also revealed that the dwarfs were the sons of the dwarf from ''
Snow White and Rose Red
"Snow-White and Rose-Red" (german: Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot) is a German fairy tale. The best-known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 161). An older, somewhat shorter version, "The Ungrateful Dwarf", was written by Caroli ...
''. More flashbacks are seen in the ''Camelot'' story arc, where it is revealed that Snow White was their prisoner for several years. The story also shows what actually happened when she killed one of them.
*Princess from ''
The Frog Prince
"The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" (german: Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich, literally "The Frog King or the Iron Henry") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 1). ...
'': Appears in flashbacks from Flycatcher's story in ''1001 Nights of Snowfall''. She also appears as a ghost before Flycatcher in the ''Fables'' story "Jiminy Christmas".
*
Red Riding Hood's grandmother: Appears briefly in flashbacks from Bigby Wolf's story in the ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' story arc and ''1001 Nights of Snowfall''. She and
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 Broth ...
survived being eaten because of the magic in them.
*
The Farmer's Wife
''The Farmer's Wife'' is a 1928 British silent romantic comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis and Gordon Harker.
It is adapted from a 1916 play of the same name by British novelist, poet an ...
: Mrs. Sprongwallow. Appears in flashbacks in ''1001 Nights of Snowfall''. Her husband, the farmer, was killed when the Adversary invaded her homeland, the kingdom of
Old King Cole
"Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index numbe ...
.
*
Hansel and Gretel's parents: Referred to in the ''Sons of Empire'' story arc. Unlike in
the fairy tale,
Hansel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hanse ...
and
Gretel did not go home after burning
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
, realizing that their "wicked parents" had meant for them to die out in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
.
*The
Gingerbread Man
A gingerbread man or a Gingerbread man cookie is a biscuit or cookie made from gingerbread, usually in the shape of a stylized form / caricature of a human being, although other shapes, especially seasonal themes (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, et ...
: Appears in the ''Sons of Empire'' story arc and in the story ''Waking Beauty''. He works with Mr. Porky Pine and Chicken Ripple to steal unguarded
pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...
s being put out on a windowsill (or other places) to cool. Another gingerbread man can be seen on the Farm in the story ''Kingdom Come'', when the Fable animals are asking Boy Blue questions about Haven.
*Mr. Porky Pine and Chicken Ripple: Their names are taken from the lyrics of
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
's song ''Porkupine Pie'' (from the album ''
Moods''). They appear in the ''Sons of Empire'' story arc and in the story ''Waking Beauty''. ''Porkupine Pie'' is also the name of the duo's chapter in ''Sons of Empire''. Mr. Porky Pine and Chicken Ripple were two Fables in the Homelands who had banded together with the Gingerbread Man to steal unguarded
pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...
s being put out on a windowsill (or other places) to cool. Mr. Porky Pine once convinced a human girl to give him a big kiss, claiming he was an enchanted prince. After the girl ran away with both hands stuck by needles, he explained to the Gingerbread Man and Chicken Ripple that he ''was'' actually cursed by a witch, only the curse was, in his own words, a perverse attraction to human women. In the ''Fables'' story ''In Those Days'', it is revealed that the
porcupine
Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...
was cursed by a young
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
: Mr. Porky Pine angered Totenkinder by calling human women ugly, and she threw a curse on him that made him desire ''only'' human women.
*Radiskop: The ''Fables'' version of
Ratatoskr
In Norse mythology, Ratatoskr (Old Norse, generally considered to mean "drill-tooth"Orchard (1997:129), Simek (2007:261), and Byock (2005:173). or "bore-tooth"Lindow (2001:259).) is a squirrel who runs up and down the world tree Yggdrasil to ca ...
, the squirrel from
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
who lives on
Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil (from Old Norse ), in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds.
Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional s ...
, the tree that spans the world.
He appears in the ''Fables'' story ''Happily Ever After'', where he works as a messenger for Cinderella.
*The
Headless Horseman
The Headless Horseman is a mythical figure who has appeared in folklore around the world since the Middle Ages. The figure is traditionally depicted as a rider upon horseback who is missing his head.
Description
Depending on the legend, the Hor ...
: He ran into Jack Horner during Jack's
Jack O'Lantern
A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phen ...
days, as seen in the ''Jack of Fables'' story ''Jack O Lantern''. Jack, needing something for holding a hot piece of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
given to him by
the Devil
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...
("
Old Scratch
Old Scratch or Mr. Scratch is a nickname or pseudonym for the Devil. The name likely comes from Middle English ''scrat'', the name of a demon or goblin, derived from Old Norse ''skratte''.
Mentions
Examples of usage of the name "Old Scratch" are ...
"), steals the Horseman's "head"
pumpkin
A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
.
*
Natty Bumppo
Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is a fictional character and the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the '' Leatherstocking Tales''.
Fictional biography
Natty Bumppo, the child of white parents, grew up among Delaware ...
("Hawkeye"): One of Bookburner's men. In the ''Jack of Fables'' story arc ''Americana'', an angry Bookburner sends him and
Slue-Foot Sue after Jack and his group. They eventually managed to shake them off. Bookburner can also be seen holding up a copy of Natty Bumppo's story, the ''
Leatherstocking Tales
The ''Leatherstocking Tales'' is a series of five novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, set in the eighteenth-century era of development in the primarily former Iroquois areas in central New York. Each novel features Natty Bumppo, ...
''.
*
Slue-Foot Sue: One of Bookburner's people. In the ''Jack of Fables'' story arc ''Americana'', an angry Bookburner sends her and
Natty Bumppo
Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is a fictional character and the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the '' Leatherstocking Tales''.
Fictional biography
Natty Bumppo, the child of white parents, grew up among Delaware ...
after Jack and his group. They eventually managed to shake them off. Her husband,
Pecos Bill
Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during American Expansionism, westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book b ...
, is a prisoner at the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village.
*Giants from ''
Jack and the Beanstalk
"Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole ...
'': Appear in flashbacks in the ''Jack of Fables'' story arc ''The Bad Prince''.
*The
Jersey Devil
In South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil (also known as the Leeds Devil) is a legendary creature said to inhabit the forest of Pine Barrens in South Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying bipe ...
: Also known as Omar, he was a soldier in Bookburner's army of Forgotten Fables, which attacked the
Golden Boughs Retirement Village.
*
Till Eulenspiegel
Till Eulenspiegel (; nds, Dyl Ulenspegel ) is the protagonist of a German chapbook published in 1515 (a first edition of ca. 1510/12 is preserved fragmentarily) with a possible background in earlier Middle Low German folklore.
Eulenspiegel is ...
: He was abducted by
Max,
The Pied Piper Of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany.
The legend dates back to ...
, in ''
Peter and Max: A Fables Novel''. Max later mentioned that all of the abducted children died horribly - two of the youngest were sacrificed by
Frau Totenkinder
''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...
to maintain her youth and keep her magical powers, while all the others were sold to various masters (whatever happened to them before their death is open to speculations).
*
MacBeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
:
Jack Frost 2 has read works of "fiction" and "fact" about MacBeth and he called his new
owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
friend after
MacDuff. Incidentally, one of his quests involves a
cow
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
named
Gertrude (like
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
's mother).
*Freddy and Mouse: Based on the
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...
characters
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by American author Fritz Leiber. They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories. One of his motives in writing them was to have ...
from the ''
Lankhmar
Lankhmar is a fictional city in the ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser'' stories by Fritz Leiber. It is situated on the world of Nehwon, just west of the Great Salt Marsh and east of the River Hlal, and serves as the home of Leiber's two antiheroes.
...
'' series. A pair of adventurers who unleashed and were enslaved by
Mr. Dark.
*
Cinderella's stepmother and -sisters: They appear briefly in a one-panel flashback in ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love''.
*
Robin Redbreast: Jenny Wren's lost love, mentioned in ''Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love''. From the nursery rhymes "Jenny Wren Fell Sick",
"
Little Robin Redbreast
‘Little Robin Redbreast’ is an English language nursery rhyme, chiefly notable as evidence of the way traditional rhymes are changed and edited. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20612.
Lyrics
This rhyme is one of the most varie ...
" and "Cock Robin Got Up Early".
He was murdered when the Adversary invaded Jenny Wren's homeland.
*The seven
fairy godmother
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale with ...
s from ''
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
'': Their names were Katrya the Pure, Sofiya the wise, Nyura the Graceful, Ionna the Gifted, Alyas the Noble, Yeva the Lively and Leysa the Defender. They appear in the ''Fairest'' story arc ''Wide Awake''. In ''Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'', it is implied that Briar Rose and
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
share the same fairy godmother, but this is proven apocryphal in the ''Fairest''.
*King and queen from ''Sleeping Beauty'': Appear in flashbacks from Briar Rose's life in ''Fairest''.
*
Rapunzel's prince: Appears in flashbacks in ''Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'', and the ''Fairest'' story arc ''The Hidden Kingdom''. It is revealed that it was Cinderella's fairy godmother who showed him the way to Rapunzel's tower. Rapunzel and the Prince shared a passionate love affair, which resulted in Rapunzel becoming pregnant. She then spent months trying to find him, but unbeknownst to her, the fairy godmother now forbade the prince to contact Rapunzel, as the godmother had "plans for" her.
*Baleful Hernes: Apparently a reference to the
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...
. The last of their kind (presumably
Herne the Hunter
In English folklore, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. He is said to have antlers growing from his head, ride a horse, torment cattle, and rattle chains. The earliest m ...
) was boxed offscreen by
Dunster Happ during his "Boxing Days".
*
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...
(maybe): Either he is a cheerleader/mascot who does not need a costume, or an actor is impersonating him, during the Frog Prince's baseball matches in
Haven, as seen in the story ''Out to the Ball Game''.
*
The Scorpion and the Frog
''The Scorpion and the Frog'' is an animal fable which teaches that vicious people cannot resist hurting others even when it is not in their own interests. This fable seems to have emerged in Russia in the early 20th century.
Synopsis
A scorpio ...
: One of the Scorpion's brothers, Ollikandar Strikeswift, appears in the story ''Out to the Ball Game'', and both the
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
and the
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
, Gallifar Strikeswift, are mentioned. The brother's testimony plays a pivotal role when a murderer is trialled in Haven, in front of Flycatcher. It was unclear if the Scorpion's existence was genuine fact or pure myth - even within the Fables themselves (besides, the original tale itself was subject to ambiguity, as it is usually wrongly attributed to
Aesop
Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales cre ...
).
*In the ''Rose Red'' story arc, several characters from the fairy tale ''
Snow White and Rose Red
"Snow-White and Rose-Red" (german: Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot) is a German fairy tale. The best-known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 161). An older, somewhat shorter version, "The Ungrateful Dwarf", was written by Caroli ...
'' appear in flashbacks from Snow White's and
Rose Red's childhood:
**Lauda: Snow White and Rose Red's mother, who masquerades as nothing but a poor widow, but who is secretly a powerful witch who descends from a line of cursed magical women. Her status is currently unknown, but she is believed to be dead.
**The wicked dwarf: The father of
The Seven Dwarfs
**The eagle: After the girls save the dwarf from the
eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
, the eagle is angry and says that for one of them, seven evils await, for the other, the loss of one dear
**
Brandish, the bewitched prince (described in detail in the "villains" section)
**Holben, the prince's brother: Unlike in the fairy tale, the prince does not marry the Snow, nor does his brother marry Rose; Holben makes it clear that he has no wish to marry Rose Red, and their father, the king, is against letting Brandish marry a common peasant girl.
*The
Evil Queen
The Evil Queen, also called the Wicked Queen, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of "Snow White", a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm; similar stories exist worldwide. Other versions of the Queen appear in subsequent ...
: Mentioned in ''Storybook Love'' and appears in flashbacks in the ''Rose Red'' and ''Camelot'' story arcs. The queen is actually Snow White's and Rose Red's paternal aunt (the sister of their father). It was revealed in the "Rose Red" story arc, that in the past Lauda helped her to achieve the position of queen in a distant land. Also it was revealed in the "Happily Ever After" story arc, that she killed her brother; it was unrevealed whether or not Lauda knew of this or what her motivations for doing this were. When Snow's mother is forced to send Snow away, she arranges for her daughter to live with her aunt. Years pass, until the queen is one day told by the
magical mirror that Snow is lovelier than her. Even though the queen promised Lauda that she would love Snow dearly, the queen orders her huntsman to secretly kill her niece. The hunter spares Snow and she flees deep into the forest. The Queen eventually discovers that Snow White is alive by consulting the magic mirror. Cloaking herself in the guise of an old woman, she visits the cottage of the seven dwarfs and gives her a poisoned apple. Snow eats the apple and falls into a deep coma, but
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...
's love is enough to overcome the poison, since all nobles of that world had some degree of magic in them. What happened to the Evil Queen has not yet been revealed.
*The
World Turtle
The World Turtle, also called the Cosmic Turtle or the World-bearing Turtle, is a mytheme of a giant turtle (or tortoise) supporting or containing the world. It occurs in Hindu mythology, Chinese mythology, and the mythologies of the indigenous ...
: Once the queen of a great kingdom in the Fable Homelands. When the king discovered that she was being unfaithful, he punished her by turning her into a
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...
. He transformed her soul into a teacup of delicate
ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
, which she had to carry on her back. The cup contained her entire homeland, an archipelago of "surging seas and sun-dappled islands", and all of its people. If she let the teacup fall or break, her people and her homeland would be destroyed, and her soul would be lost to her forever. Her horrible trial would end when she found a heroine of low station willing to trade places with her. The heroine would then become the new queen, and the turtle a new peasant. Once, the turtle passed through the woods where a young Rose Red, now without her sister, lived, but the turtle understood quickly that Rose Red, sad and depressed, was not the one she was looking for. The turtle once crossed paths with Bigby Wolf, and was the one who told him about the Lady of the Lake and her powers to assign fates.
*
Aunt Em
Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. Jack Snow, ''Who's Who in Oz'', Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Books, 1988; p. 10. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lives together with them on a ...
:
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
mentions her in ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever'', saying her aunt always said "you should find something you love to do and then do it". Dorothy, having killed two witches and liking it, was inspired to become a killer for hire.
*
Prince Lindworm: Was beheaded by the Imperial General Mirant when Lindworm attempted to make himself the new Emperor in the wake of the defeat of the Adversary. He came back to life when his head was reunited with his body by his loyal
goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
troops.
*
Coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
: This
mythological
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
character is mentioned by the
West Wind
A west wind is a wind that originates in the west and blows in an eastward direction.
Mythology and Literature
In European tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds.
In Greek mythology, ...
in the story arc ''Inherit the Wind'', in which he (Coyote) is described as "cunning".
*
The Little Match Girl
"The Little Match Girl" ( da, Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne, meaning "The little girl with the sulphur-sticks", i.e. matches) is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story, about a dying child's dre ...
: One of
Hope
Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large.
As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...
's paladins and the caretaker of Hope Deferred.
Rose Red meets the little girl on Christmas Eve in the ''Fables'' story ''"All in a Single Night"'', where Rose is taken "worlds away", in a ''Fables'' takes on ''
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
''. The Little Match Girl is still making a living selling
match
A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
es. Rose asks her to get out of the cold, or else she'll die. The girl answers that she has no home and many matchstick bundles yet to sell. Rose says to her that she will die tonight, as in the fairy tale, but the girl answers that no one knows what will be and that she is young and can stand the cold. She speaks of her hopes for the future, and hopes that her (future) children will have a better life than her. Rose is heartbroken, because she knows that the girl will freeze to death, with all her hopes unfulfilled.
*The
false bride The false hero is a stock character in fairy tales, and sometimes also in ballads. The character appears near the end of a story in order to claim to be the hero or heroine and is usually of the same sex as the hero or heroine. The false hero presen ...
from the fairy tale ''
The Goose Girl
"The Goose Girl" (german: Die Gänsemagd) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and first published in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1815 (KHM 89). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 533.
The story was first translated into English b ...
'': Another one of Hope's paladins and the avatar for the Hope of Revenge. She wanders at the edge of the living world, night after night, never to know rest. She explains to Rose Red that "all those good men and women" had their revenge on her; for her crimes, they locked her in a barrel, pounded
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
spikes though it and sent her tumbling down the cobbles to her death. The people who sentenced her to death are lying in their graves, but each Christmas Eve, they are freed from their resting places and allowed to walk about as ghosts. They all hope to be released from their confinement and pass on to "rewards long delayed", but the false bride tells Rose that they hope in vain, because "they attend me and I'll never dismiss them". In addition, ''The Goose Girl'' is one of the fairy tale books seen in
Kevin Thorn
Kevin Matthew Fertig (born January 17, 1977) is an American realtor and professional wrestler. He is best known for working with WWE under the ring names Mordecai and Kevin Thorn.
Fertig made his professional wrestling debut in 2000, and quic ...
’s home in the ''Jack of Fables'' story arc ''The Bad Prince''.
*Various
funa yurei: From
Japanese folklore
Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, customs, and material culture.
In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The academic study ...
. Hundreds of years ago,
Rapunzel
"Rapunzel" ( , ) is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of ''Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Brothers Grimm's story developed from the French literary fairy tale of ''Persinette ...
tried to kill herself by sailing off the edge of the world; and was washed up on the shores of the Fable homeland The Hidden Kingdom. The funa yurei, the spirits of the drowned, rescued her, and brought her to safety.
*Various
tanuki Tanuki may refer to:
*Japanese raccoon dog (''Nyctereutes viverrinus'' or ''Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus''), a mammal native to Japan
*Bake-danuki, a type of spirit (yōkai) in Japanese mythology that appears in the form of the mammal
*A de ...
. They were banished from the Hidden Kingdom, as part of the
Shogun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
's plan for laying the way for
The Adversary to invade. According to Rapunzel, "no one minded too much. They were smelly, drunken, pesky little bastards".
*Various
kappa
Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value o ...
, who were banished for the same reason. The Shogun claimed that they were "a terrible influence" and "violent monsters".
*Various
kitsune
In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to ''yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employing t ...
. Rapunzel had a passionate love affair with a female Kitsune named Tomoko. Tomoko kept her soul outside her body in the foxfire that burned beside her bed. The Shogun manipulated the Emperor of The Hidden Kingdom into banishing Tomoko and all her kind from the kingdom. The Shogun confiscated Tomoko's foxfire and used it to bend the emperor's will.
*
Sorcerer Atlantes from
Chanson de Geste
The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...
and
Orlando Furioso
''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'', more loosely ''Raging Roland'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was no ...
, he strikes a deal with the Green Lady in order to obtain a fantastic destiny but later gets betrayed by her. He mentions getting trained by Ulmore the Uncanny, which is a reference to Bill Willingham's earlier story "''Thieves of Daring''" where Ulmore is the legendary last Atlantean Sorcerer.
* The
Fates
The Fates are a common motif in European polytheism, most frequently represented as a trio of goddesses. The Fates shape the destiny of each human, often expressed in textile metaphors such as spinning fibers into yarn, or weaving threads on a ...
appear briefly in flashbacks in the ''Fables'' story ''The Destiny Game''.
* Various
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...
s appear during ''The Destiny Game'', escorting fallen warriors to
Valhalla
In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat e ...
.
*
Romulus and Remus
In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (, ) are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf suckling the ...
appears briefly in flashbacks in the ''Fairest'' story arc ''The Hidden Kingdom''.
* The
Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...
appears briefly in flashbacks in the ''Fairest'' story arc ''The Hidden Kingdom''. It is revealed that it was actually Rapunzel who entered the
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...
and slew the beast, while searching for her lost children.
* Various
kirin. Yet another group banished by the shogun. After he took control of The Hidden Kingdom, he started hunting them for sport.
*
Nalayani: From the epic ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
''. The main character of the ''Fairest'' story arc ''The Return of the Maharajah''. When her village is attacked by a group of talking
dhole
The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It ...
s, she joins forces with the provincial Maharajah, who turns out to be none other than
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...
. Charming falls in love with her, but although she is fond of him, she does not want any emotional entanglements for the time being; although she still chooses to come with him after he relinquishes his title and travels back to Fabletown.
*
Tabaqui
This is a list of characters that appear in Rudyard Kipling's 1894 ''The Jungle Book'' story collection, its 1895 sequel ''The Second Jungle Book'', and the various film adaptations based on those books. Characters include both human and talking ...
: From
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
's ''
Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...
''. The
golden jackal
The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy y ...
appears in ''The Return of the Maharajah''. He was Nalayani's companion for during her journey to the Maharajah's palace. She was forced to kill him when he became infected with
rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vi ...
.
*
Nathoo: From Kipling's ''Jungle Book''. Appears in ''The Return of the Maharajah'', as Maharajah Charming's servant and companion. It was Nathoo who found Charming after the bomb went off in the ''Fables'' story arc ''War and Pieces'' (where Charming was presumed dead). When Charming decides to go back to Fabletown, he makes Nathoo the new Maharajah.
*
Buldeo
This is a list of characters that appear in Rudyard Kipling's 1894 ''The Jungle Book'' story collection, its 1895 sequel ''The Second Jungle Book'', and the various film adaptations based on those books. Characters include both human and talking ...
: The chief hunter of the local village from Kipling's ''Jungle Book''. Another aide of Maharajah Charming. He is eventually killed by wild animals.
* Various
Asura
Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indian religions, Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Deva (Hinduism), Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhism, Buddhi ...
s: Appears in flashbacks in ''The Return of the Maharajah''. They came down from the mountains and attacked Maharajah Charming's palace, although Charming's forces were able to drive them away.
* A
Pishacha
Pishachas ( sa, पिशाच, ') are flesh-eating demons in Dharmic religions, appearing in Buddhist and Hindu mythologies. A pishacha is a malevolent being that has often be referred to as the very manifestation of evil.
Mythology
The Mah ...
: This flesh-eating demon appears, unseen, in flashbacks in ''The Return of the Maharajah''. It possessed a child and then ate all the people in her village.
* Childe Roland from
Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came
"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is a narrative poem by English author Robert Browning, written on January 2, 1852, and first published in 1855 in the collection titled '' Men and Women''. The poem is often noted for its dark and atm ...
: Mentioned in ''Fairest In All the Land''.
*
Padarn Beisrudd
Padarn Beisrudd ap Tegid (lit. Paternus of the Scarlet Robe, son of Tegid) was the son of a Bishop named Tegid ap Iago, who may have been born with the Roman name of ''Tacitus''. Padarn is believed to have been born in the early 4th century in the ...
: Referred in ''Fairest In All the Land''. His coat is in the possession of Fabletown.
* Various magicians who were boxed away by the Boxing League, appear in the final story arc, ''Happily Ever After''. The Boxing League were the Emperor's army of highly specialized combat sorcerers, who were tasked with locking up any magician and magical creature who did not directly serve Geppetto's empire; because they were a potential threat to the Adversary's monopoly on power. Several years after the fall of Geppetto's empire, the boxes mysteriously sprung open and the prisoners were released. For unexplained reasons, they were drawn to Rose Red, and were absorbed into her body, in order to serve as members of her army. These magical beings include:
**
Ragana: Goddess of trees from
Lithuanian mythology
Lithuanian mythology ( lt, Lietuvių mitologija) is the mythology of Lithuanian polytheism, the religion of pre-Christian Lithuanians. Like other Indo-Europeans, ancient Lithuanians maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure. ...
**
Slogutis: A personified nightmare from Lithuanian mythology. Was released along with Ragana.
** The
grindylow
In English folklore, grindylow or grundylow is a creature in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire.''The Nineteenth Century and After, Volume 68'' (1910). Leonard Scott Pub. Co. p. 556. The name is thought to be connected to Grendel, a name or t ...
''
isspelled as "grindlylow"': From folktales in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
counties of
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
and
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
. Released along with Black Shuck and Habetrot
**
Black Shuck
In English folklore, Black Shuck, Old Shuck, Old Shock or simply Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog which is said to roam the coastline and countryside of East Anglia, one of many such black dogs recorded in folklore across the Bri ...
: The ghostly black dog said to roam the coastline and countryside of the
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
region of England.
**
Habetrot Habetrot (''Habitrot'', ''Habtrot'' and ''Habbitrot'') is a figure in folklore of the Border counties of Northern England and Lowland Scotland, associated with spinning and the spinning wheel.''Notes on the folk-lore of the northern counties of En ...
: A figure in folklore of the
Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for 96 miles (154 km) between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to ...
counties of
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
and
Lowland Scotland
The Lowlands ( sco, Lallans or ; gd, a' Ghalldachd, , place of the foreigners, ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Lowlands and the Highlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowl ...
*
Baobhan sith The baobhan sith is a female fairy in the Scottish folklore, folklore of the Scottish Highlands, though they also share certain characteristics in common with the succubus. They appear as beautiful women who seduce their victims before attacking the ...
: From
Scottish mythology
Scottish mythology is the collection of myths that have emerged throughout the history of Scotland, sometimes being elaborated upon by successive generations, and at other times being rejected and replaced by other explanatory narratives.
Natu ...
. Appears in the ''Fables'' story arc ''The Boys in the Band''. Subjugated a group of monsters who plagued the Fable Homeland Hybernia, and set herself up as their witch queen, before taking control of the land and declaring herself the new queen in the wake of the Adversary's defeat. She was eventually defeated.
* Various
Cu sith: From Scottish mythology. Servants of the Baobhan Sith.
* The Lumberjack from
The Honest Woodcutter
The Honest Woodcutter, also known as Mercury and the Woodman and The Golden Axe, is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 173 in the Perry Index. It serves as a cautionary tale on the need for cultivating honesty, even at the price of self-interest. I ...
: Appears in flashbacks in ''Fable: The Wolf Among Us''. The Woodsman stole Lumberjack's clothes and axe.
**
Cruella De Vill**: She appaers in new number of the comics as one of the members of Peter Pan allies, she is obssed whith the dalmata skin, have the power to control every animal thanks a spieces of green smog.
**
Ariel
Ariel may refer to:
Film and television
*Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award
* ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki
* ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...
**: She was a siren based on the "Little Marmaid" of the Hans Christian Andersen stories, became a human after a deal whit the Ursola just like Nerissa and married her prince Eric and their have a one child who named Calipso.
**
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
**: He was the son of the king of Denmark and the husband of Ariel and father of the siren Calipso. He is based on the prince from Hans Christian Andersen stories.
**
Ursola**: She was the daughter of Poseidon God of the Sea and his wife Athena, she stole the trident of his father and became a powerful entities and immortal, transfor Ariel into a human and stole is voice.
**
Captain Hook
Captain James Hook is a fictional character and the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play ''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' and its various adaptations, in which he is Peter Pan's archenemy. The character is a pirate captain ...
**: He is the captain of the Jolly Roger and a enemies of Peter Pan and a time one member of the his Child Lost, him want revenge because Peter killed his wife and stole his hand whit a dark blade.
Inmates at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village
Little Black Sambo ("Sam")
Mr. Revise did such a good job of revising
Little Black Sambo
''The Story of Little Black Sambo'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Scottish author Helen Bannerman and published by Grant Richards in October 1899. As one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children, ...
's story that Sam has grown into an old man and few people remember him. He still managed to escape during the mass breakout from the Golden Boughs by turning all of
Robin Page
Robin Page (2 November 1932 – 12 May 2015) was a British painter. He was one of the early members of the Fluxus art movement.
Biography
Page was born in England in 1932. His father, Peter Carter-Page, was a humorist and cartoonist who worked ...
’s
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
s into
butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...
. This upset Mister Revise greatly, as he viewed Sam as one of his greatest successes. According to Revise, Sam's story was "censored, shunned and forgotten by the oversensitive mundys". In ''The Great Fables Crossover'',
Kevin Thorn
Kevin Matthew Fertig (born January 17, 1977) is an American realtor and professional wrestler. He is best known for working with WWE under the ring names Mordecai and Kevin Thorn.
Fertig made his professional wrestling debut in 2000, and quic ...
summoned Sam along with
Hansel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hanse ...
, hoping they could inspire him in writing his masterpiece. After numerous disagreements, Sam eventually dumped Hansel out of his wheelchair and off a cliff. He then attempted, unsuccessfully, to put an end to Thorn's plans by stealing his magical pen. During the final ''Jack of Fables'' story arc, it is revealed that he has become a father to a little baby boy, Sammy Junior, as a result of a one-night stand with Robin Page. Sam is one of the few regular characters who survives the ''Jack of Fables final issue.
The Tin Man
The Tin Man was first seen in flashbacks during the ''Fables: Legends in Exile'' story arc, while fleeing the Adversary's forces. In the ''Fables'' spin-off ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever'', it is revealed that he, along with the
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak.
Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...
,
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
and
Toto made it into the mundy world in the year of 1943, having been on the run from the Adversary's forces for years. The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion decided to live out on the Jersey pine barrens rather than staying at the Farm, while Dorothy went on to live as a killer for hire among the mundys. At some point years later, all of them were captured by Mr. Revise's people and imprisoned at the Golden Boughs. The Tin Man used to have all sorts of appendages attached to his body, including tin cannons, a rotating saw and a large drill, which were all removed when he was revised. When
Bookburner attacked the Golden Boughs, Mr. Revise reluctantly allowed many of the revised Fables to be restored back to their original self, and the Tin Man magically got all of the appendages back. In the final issue of ''Jack of Fables'', the Tin Man and many former prisoners are caught in the middle of a confrontation between
Jack Frost Two and
Jack Horner, who has been turned into a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
. Jack Frost believes that the Tin Man is on the dragon's side and kills him by chopping off his head.
The Cowardly Lion
Like several other Oz-characters, the
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak.
Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...
was first seen in flashbacks during the ''Fables: Legends in Exile'' story arc, while fleeing the Adversary's forces. In the ''Fables'' spin-off ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever'', it is revealed the Lion, along with the
Tin Man,
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
and
Toto, was on the run from the Adversary's forces for years, before the group made it into the mundy world in the year of 1943. The Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man decided to live out on the Jersey pine barrens rather than staying at the Farm, while Dorothy went on to live as a killer for hire among the mundys. At some point years later, all of them were captured by Mr. Revise's people and imprisoned at the Golden Boughs. When Mr. Revise reluctantly allowed the revised Fables to be restored back to their original self, and the Cowardly Lion learns that he was actually vicious lion looking for restraint before he was revised. In the series' final issue, in a chaotic battle with
Jack Horner, who has been transformed into a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
, the Lion dies when he is caught in Jack's dragon fire.
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. ...
, also known as Mister D, is a giant egg who can blast away like a
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
, who fought in the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
version of the
Battle of Colchester. This is a reference to the history of the nursery rhyme; "Humpty Dumpty" was originally the name of a big cannon used during this battle.
Humpty attempted to escape the Golden Boughs again and again until he finally succeeded during the mass breakout orchestrated by Jack; only to get himself shattered when blasting several of
Robin Page
Robin Page (2 November 1932 – 12 May 2015) was a British painter. He was one of the early members of the Fluxus art movement.
Biography
Page was born in England in 1932. His father, Peter Carter-Page, was a humorist and cartoonist who worked ...
’s
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
s. Since Humpty had promised to lead Jack to a hidden treasure, Jack took the Humpty Dumpty parts with him, and did the impossible by putting Humpty Dumpty back together again, using copious amounts of
super glue
Cyanoacrylates are a family of strong fast-acting adhesives with industrial, medical, and household uses. They are derived from ethyl cyanoacrylate and related esters. The cyanoacrylate group in the monomer rapidly polymerizes in the presence ...
. They found the treasure eventually, but Humpty was captured by
Bookburner and forced to join him in his march against the Golden Boughs. After he got himself broken again, Bookburner had him resurrected as an evil version of his former self. Apparently, Humpty recovered, and was back as his old self again in the final ''Jack of Fables'' story arc. He was killed when
Hillary Page fired her rifle-mounted grenade launcher in a chaotic fight in the final issue of ''Jack of Fables''.
Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the or ...
used to travel the length and breadth of his Fable Homeland of
Americana
Americana may refer to:
*Americana (music), a genre or style of American music
*Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States
Film, radio and television
* ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...
, with his trusty blue ox at his side. He has been shrunk down to a smaller version of himself by
Mr. Revise, but still grows in size when he is angry or when he gets closer to Americana. When
Hillary Page cooked up a plan to venture in Americana, she blackmailed Bunyan to go with her, and both were captured by
Bookburner when they reached their destination. Bookburner killed Bunyan by burning Bunyan's book and had him resurrected as one of his loyal soldiers, resulting in Bunyan's ox was left on its own. Bunyan was seemingly killed when Gary the
Pathetic Fallacy
The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human. It is a kind of personification that occurs in poetic descriptions, when, for example, clouds seem sullen ...
unleashed his powers on him when Bookburner's army attacked the Golden Boughs.
Babe the Blue Ox
Babe or babes may refer to:
* Babe, a term of endearment
* A newborn baby
* An attractive (especially female) person
People Nickname
* Babe Adams (1882–1968), American Major League Baseball pitcher
* Babe Barna (1917–1972), American Major ...
was transformed into a miniature ox by Mr. Revise; after Babe and Bunyan were caught trying to escape the Golden Boughs during the mass escape orchestrated by
Jack Horner, Revise had them both thrown down the "memory hole" as punishment, resulting in the already shrunken Bunyan becoming almost human-sized and Babe turning into a miniature blue ox. Throughout the series, Babe enjoys entertaining the reader with his own private musings. Babe seems to be one of the few characters that breaks the
fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
, but it is unclear who he talks to exactly (himself, the reader or an imaginary audience). He also seems to be able to find himself in the most improbable situations, without anyone showing any sign of surprise (some characters even mistake him for a dog, though he clearly looks like what he is: a blue ox). Even Bunyan seems a little confused about Babe's identity, as he keeps referring to Babe as a "she", even though he ''also'' refers to Babe as an ox and is deeply insulted when someone calls Babe a cow. Babe is somewhat loyal to Jack, but he is also somewhat delusional in his mind as he likes to talk in his mind about stories he makes up. Babe is also one of the very few characters to have survived in the final ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' story arc.
Wicked John
A man who is the spitting image of
Jack Horner, except the dark hair. He used to be best friends with
Raven
A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...
and is shown several times trying to get
Alice
Alice may refer to:
* Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname
Literature
* Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll
* ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
's attentions, though she's clearly disgusted by him. It is revealed that Jack Horner was never involved in the Beanstalk or Giant-killing incidents, but is actually an unknowing copy of Wicked John. Upon Wicked John's death, some great power decided to write him back into the stories, but got his name wrong, thus creating Jack Horner. John was later revived, and now both Fables exist.
Gary the
Pathetic Fallacy
The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human. It is a kind of personification that occurs in poetic descriptions, when, for example, clouds seem sullen ...
informs Jack of the facts after a mysterious, old man shows up and plunges the sword
Excalibur
Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...
through Jack's chest (and dies shortly thereafter). Jack, who can't get the sword out, is delighted with the news, since this means that the sword was really meant for John, the “real” version. Jack is able to pull Excalibur out of his chest and impales John with it, before leaving John behind.
In the final story arc of the series, it is shown that John has been at the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
, the place where he was left behind, for at least two decades, still living with the sword stuck in his chest. He is now being used as a tourist attraction as the "Impaled Wild Man". It appears no one's really tried making real interaction with him, beyond trying to pull out his sword for fun. Due to this treatment, he has lost some of his mental stability and has become somewhat delusional. Eventually, he has enough of being an attraction and makes a long journey to find Gary the Pathetic Fallacy. He does eventually find Jack, who has been transformed into a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
, and Gary. At the same time,
Jack Frost Two arrives to slay the dragon Jack, not knowing that the dragon is his father. Gary, rushing to Jack's defense, pulls the sword right out of John in order to defend Jack, and Wicked John dies from the injuries.
Raven
Raven
A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...
is a
Native American who can turn into a
raven
A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...
and is guided by a bird spirit. He is referred to as a
trickster figure, which is true to the mythology. During his time as a prisoner at the Golden Boughs, the spirit instructed him to stay close to the copy of
Jack of the Tales. Raven, like so many others, believed that Wicked John, who was the spitting image of Jack except from his dark hair, was a copy of Jack Horner, and Raven and John became close friends. After the mass escape from the Golden Boughs, it was revealed that John was the original Jack of the Tales and that Jack was actually the copy. After hearing the news, Raven chose to leave John behind and become Jack's companion instead, since the spirit had specifically instructed him to befriend the copy and not the original. Staying true to the trickster figure mythology, he was close to turning his back on Jack more than once when trouble arose, but the bird spirit convinced him otherwise, reminding him that he was supposed to help Jack. Jack and Raven's ways eventually parted after the destruction of the Golden Boughs, when Raven chose to stay with a group of former prisoners.
Decades later, in the final story arc of the series, the spirit comes to Raven in a dream and tells him that he has forgotten his purpose in life, which is to protect Jack Horner. The spirit commands him to gather together every ally he can muster and save Jack Horner, who, unbeknown to Raven, has been transformed into a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
. Raven tells the others that the bird spirit has shown him the way to
Fabletown, and the group sets off to find the place. The group follows the spirit for days, until they reach their destination, finding themselves in the middle of a battle between
Jack Frost Two and Jack the dragon. Raven lies to the others and convinces them to protect the dragon, saying the dragon is the only one who knows the secret way to Fabletown. Everyone soon realizes that they have been tricked when Jacks kills several of them, believing that they are out to steal his treasure. The
Page Sisters also show up, and are devastated when Jack burns the books of original Fable stories that they have been looking for. Upset at the loss of the books (the sisters needed them for restoring their immortality), they start shooting everyone around them and Raven is shot through the head and his chest. As he dies, he asks the spirit why it led them into this death trap, to which the spirit replies, "No particular reason. I thought it'd be funny" (though it realized some other being had been pulling its strings, as well).
Alice
Alice
Alice may refer to:
* Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname
Literature
* Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll
* ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
spent much of her time inside the
Golden Boughs fending off the advances of
Wicked John, a man she openly despised. She managed to escape with
John Henry and
Pecos Bill
Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during American Expansionism, westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book b ...
during the big breakout, and the group briefly accompanied with
Jack Horner, who told them the story behind his identity as
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...
. Jack made a joking pass on her, but Alice rejected him. She was last seen in the Golden Boughs during
Bookburner's attack, where
Mr. Revise gives her a copy of her original story, an act that is supposed to grant powers back to the character that had been stripped away. However, whatever abilities Alice had returned to her were never shown.
Alice was not seen among the Fables who left the Golden Boughs together after its destruction, and she was not present during the series' finale, indicating that she may be one of the few who survived the series. In the series' final story arc, the
Page Sisters come across several books of the original Fable stories (from before they were revised by Mr. Revise), one of which is called "Alice's Adventures Beyond the Grave" (this may or may not indicate that she might be able to return to the living, even though she may or may not have been killed like almost every one in the "Jack Of Fables" series).
In the ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' series, Alice is wearing her classic knee-length dress with a white pinafore, but the dress is red rather than blue. Like in the drawings of
John Tenniel
Sir John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914)Johnson, Lewis (2003), "Tenniel, John", ''Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Web. Retrieved 12 December 2016. was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and pol ...
, her hair is blond. In the story ''Jack Frost'', she also is seen wearing the striped stockings and wide ribbon from the illustrations of ''
Through the Looking-Glass
''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...
''.
Toto
The ''Fables'' spin-off ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever'' tells the story of how
Toto, along with
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
, the
Tin Man and the
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak.
Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...
, escaped to the mundy world during the 1940s. While the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion decided to live out in the woods rather than at the Farm, Dorothy took Toto with her when she left to live as a killer for hire among the mundys. At some point, Toto was captured by Revise's people, presumably when Dorothy was captured in the year of 1986.
Toto attempted to flee the Golden Boughs during the mass escape orchestrated by
Jack Horner, but was killed and eaten by one of
Robin Page
Robin Page (2 November 1932 – 12 May 2015) was a British painter. He was one of the early members of the Fluxus art movement.
Biography
Page was born in England in 1932. His father, Peter Carter-Page, was a humorist and cartoonist who worked ...
's
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
s. Dorothy remarks that she's kind of relieved, since this is the first time "that flea-bitten mongrel has quit yapping in a hundred years". But, as
Priscilla Page points out, "killed Fables often get magically replaced by new versions of the same Fables", and a new version of Toto shows up, alive and well, by Dorothy's side in
Oz in ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever''. It is unknown what became of him after
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
kills Dorothy in the
Deadly Desert
The Deadly Desert is the magical desert in Nonestica that completely surrounds the fictional Land of Oz, which cuts it off from the rest of the world.
Geology
On the map of Oz, first published in the endpapers of the eighth book, ''Tik-Tok of Oz ...
.
Lady Luck
A blonde who feeds on people's luck by eating their brain. She fled the
Fable homeland Americana in order to escape
Bookburner, and settled in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
in the mundane world. In Vegas, she had lucky
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
winners kidnapped so that she could use them for her grisly rituals. She left a string of bodies in her wake, but was eventually captured by
Revise Revise or revised may refer to:
Bibles
* Revised Version of the King James Bible
** New Revised Standard Version of the King James Bible
Government and law
* Revised Penal Code of the Philippines
* Revised Statutes of the United States
Other us ...
's people and taken to the Golden Boughs. Lady Luck was one of
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
’ revolutionaries, who believed Bookburner and his army was coming to save them from their captivity at Golden Boughs. Ironically, it was Bookburner's army that shot the revolutionaries down when they finally did arrive. Apparently, she survived, as she cropped up in the final ''Jack of Fables'' story arc. She was shot and killed by the
Page sisters in a chaotic battle in the final issue of ''Jack of Fables''. She remarked that it was "not
erlucky day".
Other inmates
*
The Walrus and the Carpenter
"The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in his book ''Through the Looking-Glass'', published in December 1871. The poem is recited in chapter four, by Tweedledum and Tweedledee to Alice. The poem is co ...
. Both were killed in the chaotic fight at the end of the ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' series; the
Carpenter
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...
is killed by
Jack Horner, who has been transformed into a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
, and the
Walrus
The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped, flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in ...
dies when a
van
A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...
falls on top of him.
*The little
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...
s from ''
The Walrus and the Carpenter
"The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in his book ''Through the Looking-Glass'', published in December 1871. The poem is recited in chapter four, by Tweedledum and Tweedledee to Alice. The poem is co ...
'', who apparently were not eaten after all. The oysters were killed in the chaotic battle in the series' finale; some were stepped on by
Jack Frost Two, and the others were shot down by the
Page Sisters.
*
Daisy-Head Mayzie
''Daisy-Head Mayzie'' is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and illustrated in his style. It was published in 1995, as Seuss's first posthumous book. It was republished on July 5, 2016, with Seuss's original text and drawings.
Plot
The book ...
, first seen when
Sam shows Jack up to his cottage. She is also seen among the escaping Fables during the mass escape from the Golden Boughs.
*The Black
Sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
and boy from ''
Baa Baa Black Sheep
"Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" is an English nursery rhyme, the earliest printed version of which dates from around 1744. The words have not changed very much in two and a half centuries. It is sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody '' Ah! vous di ...
''
*
Little Tommy Tucker
"Little Tommy Tucker" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19618.
Lyrics
Common modern versions include:
:Little Tommy Tucker
::Sings for his supper.
:What shall we give him?
::White bread and butter.
: ...
, seen when Sam shows Jack up to his cottage and as one of the Fables escaping during the mass breakout orchestrated by Jack Horner.
*
The Cat and the Fiddle. The only character from ''
Hey Diddle Diddle
"Hey Diddle Diddle" (also "Hi Diddle Diddle", "The Cat and the Fiddle", or "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon") is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19478.
Lyrics and music
A version of the rhyme is
Hey diddle diddl ...
'' who does not live at the Farm.
*The cat with
bagpipes
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
, the
mouse
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
and the
bumblebee
A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...
from the nursery rhyme ''A Cat Came Fiddling out of a Barn''. The trio can be seen when Sam shows Jack up to his cottage and is later among the Fables escaping during the mass breakout from the Golden Boughs.
*Black Caroline, from Edmund Dulac's story ''White Caroline and Black Caroline'', in ''Edmund Dulac#Later life, Edmund Dulac's Fairy Book''. The cottage that Jack moves into is referred to as "Black Caroline's old place".
*
Goldilocks
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...
*The family and some of the cats from the poem ''As I Was Going to St Ives''. When the cats escape from the sacks, Gary the
Pathetic Fallacy
The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human. It is a kind of personification that occurs in poetic descriptions, when, for example, clouds seem sullen ...
animates the sacks to go catch the cats again. Some members of the family can be seen escaping the Golden Boughs during the mass breakout.
*Revised versions of the Tortoise and the Hare, who still like to race, although the Hare usually wins. Another version of the duo exists at the Farm; Jack claims that they are
Mr. Revise's spies and that the Golden Boughs duo is the real one. It is unknown whether he is telling the truth or not. The Tortoise is apparently killed when he is run over by a truck in the series' final issue. Ironically enough, by a truck titled "Lepus", which is the scientific word for hare.
*Kiviuq and his Polar Bear. Kiviuq, once a fearless warrior and, in his own words, “a trickster greater than any the world has ever known”. Reduced to a shadow of his former self after his story was revised, but was eventually restored back to his original self (and got his polar bear back) along with several other Fables. After the destruction of the Golden Boughs, Kiviq and Cuchulainn set out on a quest to find
Fabletown; it is unknown if they succeeded.
*Revised versions of the Rub-a-dub-dub, Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick-Maker. Another version of the trio lives in Fabletown; Jack claims that they are Mr. Revise's spies and that the Golden Boughs trio is the real one. It is unknown whether he is telling the truth or not. They were killed by Jack Horner the dragon at the end of the series.
*Mother Goose, now a real goose, due to the mundys confusing her name. She speaks only in rhymes. She is yet another inmate killed in the series' finale, when a van lands on top of her.
*Cuchulainn, who lost most of his strength after being revised. When Mr. Revise allowed Cuchulainn's original story to be restored, the spear of Morrigan magically appeared back in his hand. After the destruction of the Golden Boughs, Cuchulainn and Kiviuq set out on a quest to find Fabletown; whether they did succeed remains unknown.
*The Caterpillar (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Caterpillar (maybe); a violet/pink caterpillar, which may or may not be The Caterpillar, is shown eating a leaf while Humpty Dumpty tries to convince Jack to let him escape with the others.
*Mustardseed, Cobweb, Peaseblossom and Moth from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. Jack became their great hero after he, inadvertently, saved them from a boggart back in the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
. They assisted Jack in the mass breakout from the Golden Boughs.
*Lola and Doris the Cottingley fairies, a lesbian couple who also assisted in the escape.
*The Tooth fairy, who likes to horde tooth, teeth and has a morbid fascination with the process of losing them. She even sleeps on a bed of teeth.
*
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
*Scarecrow (Oz), The Scarecrow, previously seen in flashbacks during the ''Fables: Legends in Exile'' story arc, while fleeing the Adversary's forces with the Tin Man and several other Oz-characters.
*Assorted Munchkins
*
John Henry, who managed to escape with Alice in Wonderland, Alice and
Pecos Bill
Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during American Expansionism, westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book b ...
during the big breakout from the Golden Boughs. The group briefly accompanied Jack Horner, who entertained them with the story behind his identity as
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...
.
*
Pecos Bill
Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during American Expansionism, westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book b ...
. His wife, Slue-Foot Sue, is one of
Bookburner’s people. Bill escaped with Alice in Wonderland, Alice and
John Henry during the big breakout from the Golden Boughs. The group briefly accompanied Jack Horner, who told them his story behind his identity as
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...
. He is present in the series' end battle, and is presumably killed off-screen.
*The Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Dormouse. They joined Goldilocks’ attempted revolution when Bookburner marched against the Golden Boughs. They changed their mind when Bookburner's army started shooting the revolutionaries down, and decided to make a run for it instead. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare are killed by Jack the dragon in the series' final battle. The Dormouse is not present, and his fate is unknown.
*Carl the fourth of the "List of characters in Fables#The Three (or Four) Little Pigs, Three Little Pigs", who made a house out of cloth. He was Snow White's "favorite of The Four Little Pigs", prior to being eliminated from the story by Mr. Revise before he could find out what happened to his brothers - temporarily making Colin Snow White's "favorite of The Three Little Pigs". He is shot and killed by the Page sisters in the series' chaotic end battle.
*Wy'east, Klickawit and Loo-Wit:
Native American mountain spirits imprisoned in a hidden cave deep beneath the Golden Boughs, as a sort of self-destruct mechanism. After the Bookburner's strike on the Golden Boughs, Jack, his fellow Fables, the Literals and the librarians were forced to release the spirits, who unleashed a roaring volcano upon escape, marking the end of the Golden Boughs Retirement Village.
*Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, seen in ''The Great Fables Crossover''
Other characters
Flycatcher
Flycatcher, or Prince Ambrose, and later King Ambrose, is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
in the
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
series ''Fables (comic), Fables'', created by
Bill Willingham
William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series ''Elementals (Comico Comics), Elementals'' and ''Fables (comics), Fables''.
Career
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ...
for Fables (comic), Fables #1 (July 2002).
He is based on the The Frog Prince (story), Frog Prince and first appeared in ''Fables'' #1 (July 2002). Fables artist
Mark Buckingham has stated that Flycatcher is his favorite character; Buckingham has said that he is the only truly innocent character in the series.
Hope
Pandora's box, Hope is one of the great powers, belonging to the same group as
Mr. Dark and
The North Wind. Just like others of her kind, she has her own personal magic box artifact, her Pandora's box, Pandoran jar. The character, who is from the story of
Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...
and
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem ''Works and Days''. Hesiod reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing phys ...
, has appeared in several stories; she is the mysterious being who serves as an adviser to Snow White and
Rose Red, taking the form of List of characters in Fables#The Three (or Four) Little Pigs, Colin Pig,
Boy Blue and Snow and Rose's mother (from ''
Snow White and Rose Red
"Snow-White and Rose-Red" (german: Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot) is a German fairy tale. The best-known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 161). An older, somewhat shorter version, "The Ungrateful Dwarf", was written by Caroli ...
''). Her true form is first seen, briefly, in an illustration for the ''Rose Red'' story arc, when
Dunster Happ explains about the great powers. Earlier in the same story arc, Rose asks the spirit to show her true form, which it does, but the reader doesn't get to see what Rose sees. Hope's identity as the spirit is revealed in the final issue of the ''Super Team'' story arc, where she explains to Rose Red that hope is neither destiny nor strategy, but that she tries to champion those who can direct their hopes into actions. Hope has several paladins working for her, including #Santa Claus, Santa Claus,
The Little Match Girl
"The Little Match Girl" ( da, Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne, meaning "The little girl with the sulphur-sticks", i.e. matches) is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story, about a dying child's dre ...
, and the
false bride The false hero is a stock character in fairy tales, and sometimes also in ballads. The character appears near the end of a story in order to claim to be the hero or heroine and is usually of the same sex as the hero or heroine. The false hero presen ...
from the fairy tale ''
The Goose Girl
"The Goose Girl" (german: Die Gänsemagd) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and first published in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1815 (KHM 89). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 533.
The story was first translated into English b ...
''.
The Devil(s)
A group of Devils that
Jack Horner made a deal with to prolong his life in the ''
Jack of Fables
''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...
'' story "Jack o' Lantern". According to the final issue of ''Jack of Fables'', they are all The Devil.
*Devil in Christianity, Old Nick: An old hermit living in a swamp, Jack first ran into him during the American Civil War, where Jack beat him in a game of cards.
*
Old Scratch
Old Scratch or Mr. Scratch is a nickname or pseudonym for the Devil. The name likely comes from Middle English ''scrat'', the name of a demon or goblin, derived from Old Norse ''skratte''.
Mentions
Examples of usage of the name "Old Scratch" are ...
: A man with pointy ears who wears a carnival-like red suit. He is the same Devil as in the legend of Stingy Jack.
*Pan (god), Pan: One of the gods of Ancient Greece, whose appearance led some Westerners to identify him with the Devil. He claims that he is the real Devil and that Old Scratch is "just an uncredentialed upstart in a badly stitched suit".
*Lucifer: The banished angel who became the Devil. He is described by Jack as being "poncy".
*Chernobog: The devil from Modest Mussorgsky's composition ''Night on Bald Mountain''. His home, Night on Bald Mountain, Bald Mountain, is identified as a place in the Fable
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
. Chernobog is eager to show off his nature as an embodiment of evil.
Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, Red Riding Hood was one of the many Fables unable to escape the Homelands when the Adversary invaded. However, unlike many of the Empire's subjects, she appears to have been spared of any violence and was allowed to live quietly in her cottage, where she would often remain undisturbed for long periods. Her peaceful life was occasionally disrupted by summons to the Warlock's Hall, where, unbeknownst to her, magical fetches of her were created, allowing another to take her form in order to infiltrate groups that were against the Adversary. An unnamed sorceress used her form to infiltrate the citadel at World's End during the Fables last stand in the Homelands, and during her stay she became romantically involved with Boy Blue. The sorceress's eventual fate is unknown. More recently, Baba Yaga used her form to infiltrate Fabletown in preparation for an invasion by the Adversary's Wooden Soldiers. Shortly after the incident, Boy Blue went on a covert mission in the Homelands, which eventually resulted in him finding the real Red Riding Hood. Despite her not being the version of Riding Hood that he had fallen in love with, Boy Blue brought her back to Fabletown in order to protect her from the Adversary's possible wrath. However, upon arriving in the Mundane world, Red Riding Hood was meant with considerable animosity from the other Fables and was treated with undue hostility, due to Baba Yaga's previous assault on Fabletown. Upset by her cold reception and confused by the conventions of the modern world, Red latched onto Boy Blue for support, up until Blue was forced to leave for the Farm to serve his sentence there. She subsequently became close to Flycatcher, who was asked by Boy Blue to look after her while he was gone. She soon fell in love with him for his kind heart and thoughtful nature, though she had trouble expressing her love for him, and was often jealous when she thought pretty Fables were flirting with him.
Red attended Bigby and Snow's wedding with Flycatcher, but she failed to recognize Bigby as her old foe, though she did admit that he looked oddly familiar. After returning, she ventured out into the mundane city to get a makeover, hoping to attract the attention of Fly. Her plan backfired when Flycatcher, shocked by her new appearance and intimidated by his attraction for her, ran away and reverted to his frog form. After Ambrose's humanity and memories were restored by Santa and the spirit of his deceased wife, he fell into a severe depression. At first, Riding Hood tried to be understanding of Flycatcher's state of mourning, checking in on him every so often to bring him food. However, after realizing Flycatcher was allowing himself to starve to death, Red scolds him for giving up on life and encourages him to take action rather than waste away. Red's message led Fly to start his journey through the Witching Well and to eventually form the Haven. During Flycatcher's heroic quest, Red Riding Hood, along with many of Fly's other friends, regularly watched Flycatcher's adventures through the magic mirror in the business office, which they dubbed "Fly T.V.". While everyone else watched Fly's journey with excitement, Red Riding Hood was wracked with anxiety and feared for Flycatcher's life, often bemoaning the amount of danger that Flycatcher often found himself in. She kept his favorite hat with her at all times, hoping to return it to him when his quest was over. After Fly's kingdom was established and became safe, Boy Blue brought Red along with him so she could move there. Upon arriving, she told Fly that she would fill in the roles of Royal Hostess and take on queenly responsibilities until Flycatcher could find himself a proper queen. The two continued to fall in love, though Flycatcher still denied his feelings for her out of fear of betraying the memory of his dead wife. During the Out to the Ballgame arc, Fly finally acknowledges his feelings for Riding Hood and kissed her, which accidentally turns him back into a frog. Riding Hood, tired of living in the shadow of Flycatcher's former wife, tells him that he has let his guilt rule him for too long, and that it is keeping him from finding happiness in the present. Flycatcher, convinced by Riding Hood's words, attempts to take control of his curse and changes himself back into human form. Later that evening, tired of being alone, he asks Red to share his bed with him, to which she delightedly accepts.
In the epilogue chapter, "The Last Story of Flycatcher", Red Riding Hood is revealed to have eventually married Flycatcher and had at least four children with him, and is living a peaceful life as queen of Haven.
The Tourists
The Tourists are a group of three Fables who originally worked for Bigby Wolf on keeping track of those Fables who have chosen not to live in Fabletown or up at the Farm. Since Bigby's departure, they now work for his replacement, Beast.
Mowgli
The first Tourist is Mowgli, from ''
The Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...
''. He is assigned the mission of tracking down the missing Bigby and bringing him back to Fabletown. While this is outside the Tourists' normal duties, he accepts the mission when Prince Charming informs him that his friend Bagheera, imprisoned for his role in the Farm revolt, would be freed once his mission was completed. Mowgli is primarily given this assignment because, unlike the other Tourists, he was raised by wolves, and thus knows how Bigby would think. The task takes many months and covered thousands of miles, but Mowgli is ultimately successful. During ''The Good Prince'', Mowgli replaces King Cole as ambassador to Baghdad, as well as running an English-language school for Arabian Fables participating in the war against the Empire.
Feathertop
The second Tourist is Feathertop, the animated scarecrow from a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story. He appeared in "A Wolf in the Fold", a prose tale in the series' first trade paperback, where he accompanies Snow White on her mission to invite the Big Bad Wolf to join them in Fabletown in approximately 1650. He was chosen because, as an entity made of straw and vegetation, the Wolf would be unable to read his emotions and would find him unpalatable. His identity as one of the Tourists is confirmed in ''Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'', where he appears in silhouette in a single panel. In the follow-up series, Feathertop is the head of the Shadow Players, a black ops group that tries to keep the nastier side-effects of the Everaftering from destroying the world.
The Woodsman
Bill Willingham
William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series ''Elementals (Comico Comics), Elementals'' and ''Fables (comics), Fables''.
Career
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ...
has identified the third Tourist as being the Woodsman from the tale of ''Little Red Riding Hood'' He appears in flashbacks from the fairy tale in the ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' story arc and the ''Fables'' graphic novel ''
1001 Nights of Snowfall
''Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'' is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series ''Fables'' written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.
In the story Snow White has bee ...
''. In addition, all of the tourists are shown in silhouette in ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love'', but not referred to by name. The Woodsman is also mentioned in ''The Great Fables Crossover'', in which Bigby implies that he still harbours vengeful feelings for him and is just as mad at him as he is at Jack (which does mean a lot) and that his current whereabouts are unknown. The Woodsman makes an appearance in the prequel Adventure game, adventure 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 rele ...
''
Tommy Sharp
Tommy Sharp was a writer for the ''Daily News''. He somehow got wind that there was something unusual about the Fabletown community and spent several years following it up. He tracked down records detailing the Fables' possession of the area right back to when the city was called New Amsterdam, compiled a number of personal histories and located photographs of several of the Fabletown residents going back to the beginnings of photography, proving that none of them had aged a day. He also secretly trailed Bigby Wolf, a not unimpressive feat, given the Wolf's massively enhanced senses and witnessed him changing to his wolf form in Central Park. In the story ''A Two-Part Caper'', Sharp came to Fabletown and asked to speak to Bigby, with the aim of giving the Fables a chance to respond to his story prior to publication as a journalistic courtesy. Explaining to a visibly amused sheriff that he believed them to be vampires, Sharp stated that he would shortly be publishing his story.
The concerned Wolf, realizing that even if nobody official believed the story, they'd be inundated with Goth subculture, goths and vampire-wannabes, quickly formulated a plan to steal all of Sharp's research, using Briar Rose's enchantment to put all the occupants of the building to sleep while they ransacked his apartment. It quickly became apparent, however, that Sharp had backed all his information on the internet. Bluebeard, who was supposed to be keeping watch downstairs, insisted that they should simply shoot Sharp, belittling Bigby when he chose a different course of action. Kidnapping Sharp, the Fables took a number of photographs of him posed with Pinocchio, in such a manner to make it appear that Sharp was a pedophile. They then informed Sharp that if he published his story, they would release these photos, plus a videotape of an interview with Pinocchio where he explained what Sharp had supposedly done to him by pointing out on a teddy bear where Sharp touched him, thus destroying Sharp's reputation completely. Sharp had no choice but to cooperate.
Bluebeard, however, felt differently. Believing, as always, that he knew best and probably in no small part to spite Bigby, he summoned Sharp to Central Park where he asked Sharp if he had destroyed all his research; when Sharp confirmed he had, Bluebeard executed the journalist.
Santa Claus
Stationed at the North Pole, Santa Claus is a Fable who can magically be at every house in the world at the same time on Christmas night. Following an attempt by Jack Horner to steal the naughty and nice list in 1956, Santa has left the list with Bigby to put in a safe place every year since. He is said to be one of the most powerfully magical of the fables, and plays an important role in beginning Flycatcher's quest to restore his Homelands kingdom. It is also implied by Rose Red that Santa is the guardian of a gateway from the Homelands. Santa has also been revealed to be a Paladin of Hope, specifically the Hope for Justice, and the Hope for Reward as well as the hope that everything will turn out all right in the end, claiming that this is why Christmas takes place at the end of the year. He is also a vassal of the North Wind, and he taught Winter how use her powers to be in more than one place at a time. Winter also asked him to expand Christmas to all worlds that are under her sway, or are known to her.
*Mrs. Claus
*Santa Claus's reindeer, who are intelligent, capable of speech and can magically fly.
Gretel
After
Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister.
Hansel ...
's misadventure in the Homelands involving Frau Totenkinder, whom the children pushed into her own oven, Hansel and Gretel emerged from the Black Forest to find their land overrun by the Adversary's forces. They fled, staying ahead of the invading armies and taking sanctuary in one church after another until they learn of the mundane world. Arriving there in the mid-17th Century, they made their way to the newly established Fabletown, where they were shocked to discover Frau Totenkinder among the Fables already present. When informed that, under the terms of the Fabletown Compact, Totenkinder had been granted amnesty for her actions in the Homelands, a disgusted Hansel announced his intention to live among the mundane population, leaving his sister behind in Fabletown. Many years later, Hansel visited Fabletown, asking to see his sister, begging her to leave Fabletown. Gretel refused, explaining to him that she has spent time studying with Frau Totenkinder in the intervening years and has gained a new appreciation for the magic arts, seeing them not as the devil's work, but as a useful tool. Horrified and enraged, Hansel struck her viciously with a chair, snapping her neck instantly. As a result, Hansel was stricken from the Fabletown Compact and banished forever. Gretel's body was cast down the witching well. Her spirit remained there in a sort of limbo for centuries, until Flycatcher, his memory restored and finally ready to face his past, went down the well, finding all the ghosts of those who had previously been thrown there. Gretel was one of the many spirits who were given flesh and blood and followed Flycatcher to Haven.
Civilized Apes (maybe)
In ''Jack'n Apes'' of ''Jack Of Fables'',
Jack Horner claims that his own adventures inspired Edgar Rice Burroughs to write the whole ''Tarzan'' legend (which would then mean that either Tarzan does not exist in the ''Fables'' series, or he was just Jack) - and that, in turn, inspired Jack to go to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
, which led to the creation of his own series. Apes and monkeys he claims to have met are:
*King Kong, Kong: "A gorilla of note"
*The Magilla Gorilla Show, Magilla: "Another gorilla of no consequence"
*Curious George, George: "Too curious by half"
*Jane: From whom Tarzan's Jane Porter (Tarzan), Jane has been inspired ... still according to Jack
*"Clint the
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
": A possible reference to the pet orangutan Clyde of the Clint Eastwood films ''Every Which Way but Loose (film), Every Which Way but Loose'' and ''Any Which Way You Can''
*"Edgar the other orangutan": Presumably the murderous orangutan from Edgar Allan Poe's short story ''The Murders in the Rue Morgue''
*Aesop: "Wise beyond his years". Presumably the ape of Aesop's Fables ''The Wolf, the Fox and the Ape'' and ''The Apes and the Two Travellers''
*Saunders: A
sock monkey
A sock monkey is a stuffed toy made from socks fashioned in the likeness of a monkey. These stuffed animals are a mixture of folk art and kitsch in the cultures of the United States and Canada. The typical sock monkey is brown and white with ex ...
. A possible reference to
A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...
's ''
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character w ...
''; a sign over the door at Pooh's house says "Mr. Sanders", the name of the person who resided at the very address prior to Pooh making it his house.
Winnie the Pooh and several other characters from the books were actually based on the stuffed toys of
Milne's son. In addition, a character looking remarkably similar to Winnie the Pooh (but drawn slightly differently, as Winnie the Pooh is currently under copyright) can be seen in flashbacks from the
Homelands Homelands may refer to:
* Homeland, native lands
* Homelands (festival), British dance music festival.
* Homelands (Fables), mythical lands in the comic book series Fables.
* Homelands (Magic: The Gathering), MTG expansion set.
* Bantustan, part ...
, barbecuing
marshmallow
Marshmallow (, ) is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar c ...
s with Saunders in what appears to be the
Hundred Acre Wood
The Hundred Acre Wood (also spelled as 100 Aker Wood, Hundred-Acre Wood, and 100 Acre Wood; also known as simply "The Wood") is a part of the fictional land inhabited by Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Winnie-the-Pooh series of children's s ...
.
Jack being an unreliable narrator and a pathological liar, it is impossible to tell for sure if he was telling the truth. On the other hand, he has told the truth on several occasions (about the list of characters in Fables#The Wooden Soldiers, Wooden Soldiers, about his days as
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...
and about list of characters in Fables#Literals and Part-Literals, the Literals, to name just a few) - besides, the insistence he displays when telling he did not have an affair with the female ape Jane may be proof that his tale is true ... at least partially.
Shadow Fabletown
A network of hidden Fable communities, scattered throughout the world, as seen in the ''Fables'' spin-off ''Cinderella: Fables Are Forever''. Among the Fables of Shadow Fabletown are:
*
Ivan Durak, a character from Russian folklore. One of many Fables who fled the Fable homeland of Homelands (Fables), Rus when the
Adversary
An adversary is generally considered to be a person, group, or force that opposes and/or attacks.
Adversary may also refer to:
* Satan ("adversary" in Hebrew), in Judeo-Christian religion
Entertainment Fiction
* Adversary (comics), villain fro ...
invaded, and escaped into the mundane world, adopting the Soviet Union as their new home. At some point, perhaps after a failed attempt to kidnap Snow White in the 1980s, he was killed and Dorothy Gale assumed his identity. She may have most likely killed him, herself, after her escape from Golden Burroughs Community.
*Tugarin Zmeyevich, a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
who can take the shape of a man. He is the ruler of Shadow Fabletown in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
*Lady Meng Jiang, Meng Chiang-Nu, a character from Chinese folklore, Chinese folktales. An old woman who is the former head of the Shadow Fabletown in China. According to
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
, Meng Chiang-Nu "sought her husband at the Great Wall, went through a lot of trouble to get him buried after he died, and ended up turning into a fish. She refused to give up when Qin Shihuang, an emperor and Qin Dynasty, his whole empire told her no." Meng Chiang-Nu was killed by a #Other Oz-characters, Chiss, when she was about to tell Cindy how to locate
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
.
*The Seven Chinese Brothers: The associates and possible bodyguards of Meng-Chiang-Nu. From the anonymously written Chinese folktale "The Five Brothers" (circa A.D. 300). In some versions of the story, there were seven, or even ten, brothers. In the west, the tale was popularized by Claire Huchet Bishop's ''Five Chinese Brothers'' (1938), and Margaret Mahy's ''Seven Chinese Brothers'' (1889) more or less permanently changed the number of brothers to seven in the West.
*Anansi, a West African Fable who is a high-ranking member of one of the hidden shadow Fable communities. He may have been part of Dorothy's schemes to trap Cinderella. Though what became of him afterward was never stated.
Japanese Fables
A group of characters and creatures from
Japanese folklore
Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, customs, and material culture.
In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The academic study ...
. They live in a hidden Fable community in Tokyo, as seen in the ''
Fairest'' story arc ''The Hidden Kingdom''.
*Kuchisake-onna, the slit-mouthed woman from Japanese urban legends, appears in the ''
Fairest'' story arc ''The Hidden Kingdom''. Her real name is Mayumi. Before
the Adversary's invasion, she was a member of the Emperor of Japan, Heika's court in the Fable
Homeland
A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...
of the Hidden Kingdom. Unbeknown to her, the Shogun, Seii Taishogun was secretly laying the way for the invasion and planned to become the new ruler of the Hidden Kingdom. He offered to make her Mayumi his Empress, but she rejected him and called him "a parasite on the court". He responded by slitting Mayumi's cheeks in anger. Unable to live with her face mutilated like that, she committed seppuku (a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment) - "or someone faked it". Her ghost began lurking in the washrooms and corridors of the Heika's palace, haunting mirrors. Eventually, she managed to take on a physical form and escaped the Homelands with a group of Yōkai, yokai who had been banished from the court. The group started a new life in a hidden Fable community in Tokyo. Centuries later, she has become the enforcer of Tomoko, a powerful female
kitsune
In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to ''yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employing t ...
who is a Yakuza leader. Mayumi wears a surgical mask to hide the disfigurement. She enjoys scaring people by asking them, "Am I beautiful?", before removing the mask and asking "How about now?". Eventually, with the help of
Rapunzel
"Rapunzel" ( , ) is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of ''Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Brothers Grimm's story developed from the French literary fairy tale of ''Persinette ...
, the fugitives manage to find their way back to their homeland via a magical portal.
*Assorted Yōkai, yokai: Including various
kitsune
In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to ''yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employing t ...
,
kappa
Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value o ...
, rokurokubi, bakeneko, funayurei and
tanuki Tanuki may refer to:
*Japanese raccoon dog (''Nyctereutes viverrinus'' or ''Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus''), a mammal native to Japan
*Bake-danuki, a type of spirit (yōkai) in Japanese mythology that appears in the form of the mammal
*A de ...
(only referred to as "raccoons").
Others
*Dracula, Count Dracula: The prose story ''A Wolf in the Fold'' mentions a Transylvanian count who had befriended
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a fictional character in the American comic book series ''Fables'' published by DC Comics and its alternative imprint Vertigo. The character first appears in ''Fables'' #1 (July 2002) and was created by Bill Willingham and Lan Medi ...
, before he was taken to Fabletown. The count was rumored to be some fell spirit returned from the dead. In the Fables story ''The Ascent'', Frankenstein's monster ("Frankie") specifically makes references to a vampire count back in Transylvania. Frankie had actually fought the count once, years before he fought the "wolf man" (Bigby) during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Most (if not all) of the killings traditionally credited to vampires and werewolves in the Dracula mythos were Bigby's doing in the ''Fables'' series (though Dracula let local peasants believe they were his own doing, to enhance his fearsome reputation) – making it hard to judge if vampires and werewolves are Fables and if this Dracula is a real Fable or just the historical Vlad Tepes. During Bigby's adventures during World War 2, Nazis revealed that they had knowledge of at least one werewolf – which, according to "Werewolves of the Heartland", was actually Bigby. In "Werewolves Of The Heartlands", it is revealed that there used to be werewolves in the homelands and in the mundane world - also, a new breed of werewolves is created.
*The Death (personification), Grim Reaper: Has a run-in with
Jack Horner in the ''Fables'' story ''Bag 'O Bones'', in which Jack finds a way to cheat death.
*Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein: Referred to in ''War Stories'', a ''Fables'' story set during World War II. A team of German Nazi scientists is using
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 ...
talks about how they tried to create more of the monster in World War I, but when it didn't work, they realized that the secrets of Doctor Frankenstein's process had died with him. It is unknown whether he was a Fable or one of the unmagic "mundys" of our world. After defeating the Nazis, Bigby kept the monster's still-living head and returned it to Fabletown. In the ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'' story arc,
Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
can be seen reading the ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...
'' novel.
*Jack and Jill (nursery rhyme), Jill: The Jill from ''
Jack and Jill
"Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...
'' (not to be confused with Jill the
Lilliputian, who helps Jack steal some of
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...
's fortune). Jack phones her before going to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. It is unknown if she lives in Fabletown.
*The Lone Ranger and Tonto: The duo makes an off-screen appearance in the ''Jack of Fables'' story arc ''1883'', which is set in the Old West. A gunsmith sells a special order of silver bullets to the Lone Ranger instead of
Jack Horner, believing the Ranger to be part of Jack's gang of robbers. The Ranger is described as a mysterious masked rider with a faithful
Native American companion. Jack kills the gunsmith in anger and sets out to find the Lone Ranger in Montana, following his trail. Jack is apprehended by Bigby before he has the chance to catch up with him.
*Elf, Elves from ''
The Elves and the Shoemaker
"The Elves and The Shoemaker" (German: ''Die Wichtelmänner'') is a set of fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 39) about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from three young helpful elves.
The original story is the first o ...
'': still offering their services to the shoemaker (Crispin, who lives in Fabletown) from time to time, as seen in ''
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love''. They have also been secretly working for #Beauty and the Beast, Beauty in making the Fable comics sold at Nod's bookstore, while Beauty was working there.
*The Cricket on the Hearth: In ''"All in a Single Night"'', the Cricket (insect), cricket from
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
' novella takes
Rose Red on a journey on Christmas Eve, in a ''Fables'' takes on ''
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
''. "The Cricket on the Hearth" is also the name of one of the issue's chapters. The cricket repeatedly calls Rose "Boz", which was Dickens's family nickname and occasional pen-name.
*Noah the bottle Imp: A small, less powerful version of a genie, who specializes in information. He helps
Ali Baba
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...
achieve his dream of wealth and love by hooking him up with #The Snow Queen, Lumi, the Snow Queen, after Ali Baba wakes
Briar Rose from enchanted sleep and realizes that Briar is not the girl for him.
*Saint George: Appears as a detective in the ''
Fairest'' story ''Lamia'', tracking down the issue's title character - the Lamia, a.k.a. #Beauty and the Beast, Beauty - in a story set in 1940s Los Angeles. With the sword Saint George and the Dragon, Ascalon, he had slain Saint George and the Dragon, the dragon in his
Fable homeland of Saint George and the Dragon#The legends, Silene. With it he also slew the beast Chimera (mythology), Chimæra, the dragon Illuyankas, the dragon Tiamat and the serpent Vritra. It is strongly implied that Beast kills him in order to protect Beauty.
*Dragon from Saint George and the Dragon: Referred to in the ''Fairest'' story ''Lamia''.
*The Chimera (mythology), Chimæra: Referred to in the ''Fairest'' story ''Lamia''. It was slain by Saint George.
*Illuyankas the dragon: Referred to in the ''Fairest'' story ''Lamia''. Slain by Saint George.
*Tiamat: A dragon referred to in the ''Fairest'' story ''Lamia''. Also slain by Saint George.
*The serpent Vritra: Referred to in the ''Fairest'' story ''Lamia''. Yet another beast slain by Saint George.
*Lady Medb, Maeve: From Irish mythology. She is from the Fable
Homeland
A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...
Dunhollow, and is one of Rose Red's new Knights of the
Round Table
The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...
, as seen in the ''Camelot'' story arc.
*Rama and Veruna as seen in the ''Fairest'' story ''Of Men and Mice''.
**Rumplestinskin**: is a human who became a warlock when make a deal whit the God of Darkness Chernabog for protect his family from the War of Ogre. Hi was married with the siren Callisto and have one child called Jason.
**Callisto (mythology), Callisto**: Was initially a siren and daughter of king Triton, she married Rumplistinskin and their have birth a son called Jason. She was killed by Rumplistinskin for revenge when she abbandoned his family for the love of a pirate.
**Jason**: He is the only son of Rumplestinskin and Callisto, after left his family he will be founded by the Lost Boy and Peter Pan into Neverland and know a young Geppetto.
**Gaston**: He is a hunter for the supernatural creature, he dead during the War of Ogre.
''The Wolf Among Us''
Fables first introduced in the prequel video game ''The Wolf Among Us''.
*Allerleirauh, Faith, a prostitute who was found murdered in the first episode of the game, "Faith". After the Woodsman attacks her, Bigby steps in and saves her. When she's found murdered later, Bigby finds her ring stuffed in her severed head, which bears a symbol that leads to her identity. Her story states that she escaped her father, the king, by using a magic coat made from his prize donkey; she married Prince Laurence before the exodus from the Homelands. Fallen on hard times in Fabletown, Faith estranged from Laurence and turned to prostitution, and Laurence, out of guilt for burdening her, tried to commit suicide (based on the player's action, he has a chance to survive).
*Toad Jr., or "TJ". The son of Mister Toad, who is the landlord of the tenement building the Woodsman lived in. Helps Bigby and Snow find a clue in Faith's donkeyskin coat, which she wore to the Woodsman's apartment and left behind after he and Bigby fought.
*Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Dee and Dum Tweedle. Twin brothers who claim were hired as private detectives by an unknown employer to investigate Faith's death. Dee roughs up Mr. Toad while looking for The Woodsman and something thought to be in his possession; Dee is pursued and caught by Bigby when they meet at Faith's and Laurence's apartment, but Dum saves him. At the Trip Trap Bar, Dee encounters Bigby again, and the player has to choose whether to arrest Dee or the Woodsman.
*Holly, a female
troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
who owns and runs the Trip Trap Bar; friends with the Woodsman, Gren, and Jack Horner. Gren says that her sister is missing. Snow later finds the corpse of a female Fable using a black-market glamour to appear as Snow, and the body is revealed to be Lily, Holly's sister. Holly is informed of her sister's death by Bigby, and what she says next sends Bigby to investigate her pimp Georgie Porgie. In episode 3, Holly is outraged at Bigby when she learned that Lily's corpse was thrown down the Witching Well, even when Snow tells her that was Crane's doing; Holly and Gren are then injured fighting the Tweedles when they interrupt Lily's funeral. At the Trip Trap in episode 3, Holly, rendered confused and lethargic due to the medicine Dr. Swineheart gave her for her injuries, has a conversation with Bigby while he roots through Lily's possessions for a clue to the witch Crane had hired for the black-market glamour.
*Grendel, or Gren, a barfly who regulars the Trip Trap Bar. He first appears waiting in line to see Acting Mayor Ichabod Crane and calls Bigby a "fucker". He later appears at the Trip Trap Bar. When Bigby meets the Woodsman at the Bar, Gren drops his glamour, revealing his true form to resemble a shark-like humanoid, and attacks Bigby; Bigby wins by partially morphing into his wolf form and targeting Gren's right arm, implying it was reattached after Beowulf ripped it off in the old legend. After beating Gren in the fight, the player can choose to rip off his arm or not.
*Georgie Porgie is the pimp who owns the seedy bar/strip-club "Pudding & Pie", and employed Faith. He speaks in a British-
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
accent, and is quite foul-tempered and thuggish, despite a tendency to quickly back down whenever someone challenges him. He often needlessly antagonises or provokes other Fables, even when they clearly outclass him in strength and rank. He is introduced in the second episode, "Smoke and Mirrors". He is revealed to be the murderer of Lilly and Faith, acting on behalf of his boss, the Crooked Man. Furious that the Crooked Man attempts to throw him under the bus for the murders, he starts a three-way fight between himself, Bigby, and the Crooked Man's henchmen, during which he is mortally slashed with a knife, before he manages to escape back to his club along with Vivian. When Vivian commits suicide out of guilt, Georgie breaks down in despair and with his dying breaths, he reveals to Bigby where to find the Crooked Man's hideout.
*Clever Hans (fairy tale), Clever Hans is the handyman, janitor, and bouncer for the Pudding And Pie. A well-meaning simpleton, Hans accidentally reveals the planner the prostitutes use when Georgie was arguing with Bigby. Georgie threatens Hans with a cricket bat for revealing the book, but Bigby takes the bat and threatens to trash the club with it for the book.
*Nerissa, once known as The Little Mermaid, is a stripper and prostitute working for Georgie Porgie. Unable to break her code of silence (''"these lips are sealed"''), Nerissa gets Bigby to pay for her services so she can give him a room key for The Open Arms Hotel, where Georgie's girls use to service their johns. Bigby goes to The Open Arms to find the room Lily last used and investigate what he later learns is the site of her murder. Nerissa appears at Lily's funeral in episode 3, and is later attacked by Crane at the Pudding And Pie.
Auntie Greenleafis a witch living outside of the Thirteenth Floor of the Woodlands, and the one providing illegal glamours for Ichabod Crane to have sex with Lily in the form of Snow White. When Bigby and Snow find her apartment, she glamours herself into the form of a little girl named Rachel (presumably her deceased daughter) in an attempt to throw the duo off the trail. When they uncover the ruse, Greenleaf refuses to help them find Crane, warning them of "forces beyond their authority". When Snow threatens to burn down her ancient tree, which is both a family heirloom and what she uses to create her back-alley glamours, she tells them that Crane was at her apartment to take from her possession the Ring of Dispel, so he could undo the spell that keeps Georgie's girls from breaking their silence so Crane could prove himself innocent of Lily's and Faith's murders (Greenleaf says that the Ring lost its power decades ago). After they get this info out of Greenleaf, the player can decide whether or not to continue with destroying the tree.
* Vivian is Georgie's lover and second-in-command at the Pudding & Pie. Her origin fable is shrouded in mystery for much of the story, but her true identity as The Girl with the Ribbon is revealed, when Georgie explains that she found a way to duplicate her magic ribbon and transfer its curse to the women she and Georgie employed. Filled with regret over the murders, she decides to break the spell on the women by taking off the ribbon, killing herself in the process.
* Bloody Mary (folklore), Bloody Mary is the Crooked Man's bodyguard and main enforcer. She enjoys intimidating other Fables and causing mayhem, pain, and bloodshed, something which her employment under Crooked Man gives her ample opportunity to do. She has the power to teleport by using reflective surfaces and is capable of duplicating herself. She appears as a woman with short black hair with a red-dyed streak in it, and she claims that she kills mundane children for fun. She and the Tweedles corner Bigby, Snow, and Crane in an alley so they can kidnap Crane. After she gets Dee and Dum to shoot at Bigby until he transforms into a wolf-man, she shoots and disables Bigby with a silver bullet from her revolver so she can chop off his head with an axe (heavily implying that she is the one who killed Faith and Lily, at the Crooked Man's behest); Snow surrenders Crane, so the Crooked Man signals Mary to spare Bigby (she breaks his arm instead). She ends up getting killed in a fight against Bigby.
* Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol), Tiny Tim works for the Crooked Man as a house guard and escorts Bigby to him, though it is unclear whether this is his normal job or whether he is given jobs to do by the Crooked Man.
* There Was a Crooked Man, The Crooked Man is the main antagonist of the game's storyline. Back in the Homelands, he killed his wife and child, not wanting to share his fortune with them. In Fabletown he has become a crime boss who claims to be legitimate businessman who provides help to downtrodden Fables by offering them cheap glamours and employment, but in reality, his organisation is a thinly disguised racketeering ring which muscles in on other businesses and keeps its members in forced servitude through heavy debts, threats and acts of violence, and even torture. The Crooked Man is articulate, cunning, and manipulative, and likes to put on airs of sophistication, but when he loses his temper he reveals a terrifying and unrelenting ruthlessness. At the end of the game's storyline, he is found guilty of murder and either thrown down the Witching Well, turned into a caged raven by Aunty Greenleaf and send to the Farm, or brutally decapitated by Bigby.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fables characters
Lists of DC Comics characters, Fables characters, List of
Fables (comics), Characters
Characters created by Bill Willingham