.gif)
Faerie (DC Comics)
Encyclopedia
Faerie, The Fair Lands or The Twilight Realm is one of two fictional otherdimensional homelands for the Faerie, as published by DC Comics
. The Vertigo Comics realm of Faerie is an amalgam of the mythological realms of Álfheimr, Otherworld
, the Fortunate Isles
, Tír na nÓg
and Avalon
. This mix is heavily influenced by Shakespeare
play A Midsummer Night's Dream
. It is home to the faeries and other mythical races, ruled over by the Seelie Court and King Auberon
and Queen Titania
. Faerie debuted in The Books of Magic
#3, and was created by Neil Gaiman
and Charles Vess
.
planned a small arc involving William Shakespeare
entering a deal with the Dream King
to write plays that would live on after him. Having introduced Shakespeare, Gaiman then decided to tell the story of the first play that the writer wrote for Dream in payment of the bargain. He turned to his favourite of Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream
creating analogues of the play's main otherworldly characters and inventing the fiction that Shakespeare wrote the play to Dream's instructions to ensure that humans never forgot Faerie and its rulers. Having created her, Gaiman used Queen Titania
as a recurring character throughout the series, and when he was asked part way through his run on The Sandman to write a four-issue miniseries to introduce DC's magical characters to a new audience he gave her a guest role in one of the issues of that as well. The Books of Magic
miniseries showed Titania in her kingdom, meaning Gaiman had to create the realm of Faerie in more depth than he had previously shown it.
Gaiman showed a land known as the Fair Lands, Avalon, Elvenhome, Dom-daniel, the Land of Summer's Twilight or Faerie, based very much on classical representations of the fairy kingdom: faeries tempted children to live with them in the Twilight Country, with even Titania being waited on by Shakespeare's son Hamnett having tempted him to come with her at their first meeting; the realm is governed by strict rules of bartering, with the giving of gifts requiring the receiver to give a gift of equal value in return or forfeit their property or life to the giver; good manners are paramount; nothing ages or dies, but nothing truly lasts either; the food available in the realm is extremely dangerous to the incautious and if eaten will make it impossible for the eater to consume real food again, forcing them to remain in Faerie forever. But Gaiman also acknowledged that his Faerie was a fiction, a land where metaphor was made real but also remained metaphor: when Timothy Hunter was taken to the land by Doctor Occult
, the mystic admitted that in some ways the two of them were still sitting in a field exploring only their inner landscapes. Gaiman also showed an ambiguous section that was interpreted by some to suggest that Queen Titania was the mother of the comic's main character, Timothy Hunter
, which ensured that the realm of Faerie was further explored when the mini-series became an ongoing series.
When he was chosen to replace Gaiman as the writer of the ongoing The Books of Magic series, John Ney Rieber
discovered that a gaming guide to the DC universe had listed Titania as Hunter's mother: he also knew that a key part of the character's appeal, however, was that he was a normal teenaged boy. Instead of simply denying the possibility of Tim being part Faerie, Rieber decided to use the idea as one of his ongoing storylines, whilst gently debunking it. This meant utilizing Titania and her cuckold
ed husband Auberon as supporting characters for most of his run on the comic, which in turn meant frequent visits and explorations to Faerie: the first storyline in the book showed Tim visiting a forgotten corner of the realm and introduced the idea that the land was slowly dying since it had been cut off from the Earth, and later storylines delved deeper into Faerie's past and present to build up a clearer picture of the Twilight Kingdom. Such was the importance of Faerie to Rieber's version of The Books of Magic that when its popularity caused DC to release a spin-off miniseries, they decided that a three issue mini-series about the early history of the kingdom (and Titania's rise to power) would be most suitable. Three volumes of The Books of Faerie
were eventually published, each giving more detail and colour to DC's version of Faerie, and at one point there were even plans for an ongoing series to be set there. However, the series was never published, and Faerie's appearances in the DC universe have been brief since then.
for many centuries until frosty relationships with the growing race of men caused them to leave the world forever some time before the 16th century. Upon leaving the realm of their birth, the nine rulers of faerie led them on a search for a new world to call their own: the band of refugees were met by Lucifer
, who offered them a corner of Hell to have as their own in exchange for the payment of a tithe. Lucifer claimed he was moved by sympathy for the faeries, having been forced to leave his own birth-realm, but when the faeries agreed to the deal the true nature of the tithe was revealed: eight of the nine rulers were taken to Hell to be tortured, leaving the last - Huon the Small - to remain as the first King of Faerie. In order to keep their land, Faerie was required to send nine of its fairest and best subjects to Hell every seven years, or risk war with the armies of Hell.
The faeries, unaware of the true price, settled in to their new home: the land was transformed into lush world of happiness and nature, with the faeries maintaining links with the Mundane World and mortals often visiting the Twilight Kingdom. King Magnus came to the throne, instigating a dark time for the carefree realm: he believed in the innate superiority of pure-blood faeries and this led to the persecution of the other races, with Brownies becoming little more than slaves in the royal household. Magnus also discovered a worrying problem: a disorder in purebred faerie blood meant that it was extremely difficult for them to produce children naturally. He began secret experiments, trying to refresh the bloodline by interbreeding with mankind.
Ironically, Magnus' dalliances with other faeries did lead to a birth – an illegitimate and unrecognized son called the Amadan who grew to become Fool to the Seelie Court and mastermind of a thousand intrigues and manipulations. Magnus used to Amadan to provide contestants in gladiatorial games between the races, and was killed trying to prove the superiority of faeries fighting against a troll. This left a power vacuum in the Court that was eventually filled when Lord Obrey sought out the rightful heir to the throne, a young boy faerie called Auberon who was being looked after in the outskirts by his cousin Dymphna and brownie nursemaid Bridie.
Obrey helped Auberon to overcome challenges from rival Lords and succeed to the throne, but grew unhappy with his role as the Amadan's manipulations drove a wedge between him and the throne. Aware of the growing danger, the boy-king ran away from the Court to find his missing sister, leaving Obrey as his Regent to look after Faerie and her subjects. Obrey slipped into the role of king unchallenged, his own position made stronger by his marriage to Auberon's cousin Dymphna, and the two ruled for several years, reversing some of Magnus' more prejudiced practices to bring all the races of Faerie together.
However, Obrey was also told of Magnus' discovery by the Amadan, and grew increasingly concerned for the survival of the faerie race. He adopted the same solution as Magnus, trying to promote interbreeding by encouraging human children to be enticed to stay in Faerie: one such child was the young girl Maryrose, who after being trapped in Faerie quickly became the favourite of Queen Dymphna. Asured by the Amadan that Maryrose would bear him a child, Obrey transformed Dymphna into a tree and took Maryrose as his new wife: using a glamour stolen from the previous queen, Maryrose assumed the appearance of being a purebred Faerie and took the name Titania at her coronation.
When Auberon returned as a young man, Obrey refused to relinquish the throne and the Wars of Succession began: shortly after his marriage, Obrey was killed in battle and - seeking to reunite the warring kingdom - Auberon took Titania as his wife as he reclaimed the throne. For political reasons, Auberon expected his wife to produce an heir as soon as possible: however, when she became pregnant, it was the result of an affair she had been having with a human falconer called Tamlin. When the child was born, it was clearly a purebred human, and Titania and her nanny conspired to convince Auberon that the child had been stillborn, with the nanny taking the child into the Mundane World to grow into adulthood.
Together, Titania and Auberon ruled Faerie through turbulent times: they made the final Severing between their world and Faerie and forbade their subjects to travel to other realms without their direct permission. This caused problems for the realm when it started to wither and die, forcing Titania and the Court to hide its true state behind powerful glamours. Eventually, the intervention of Tamlin brought an Opener (Timothy Hunter
, who was possibly Titania's abandoned son) to the realm whose spilled blood restored its previous vigor. They also withstood a flitling rebellion, led by Briar Rose who was banished and transformed as a punishment. When Lucifer decided to quit his realm, Titania and Auberon hoped that they could convince the new owners to forfeit the tithe Faerie owed - their own son and heir Prince Taik having been claimed as payment - but this didn't come to fruition. The tithe was eventually annulled, however, when Huon the Small returned to the realm to judge its right to survive: thanks to the belief and loyalty of a flitling called Yarrow who was chosen as "The Leveller", the realm was recreated anew as the lush and fun-filled paradise it had always seemed to be with the connection to Hell severed forever.
Faerie faced further danger when the demon Barbatos used the magical gemstone called Twilight to bewitch a garden frog into a giant. Barbatos enslaved the faeries, forcing them to work themselves to death constructing a massive pond for the demon's "master". The intervention of Molly O'Reilly
(ex-girlfriend of Timothy Hunter) released the faeries and banished Barbatos to an obscure corner of the Dreaming, and in return the gemstone Twilight chose her as its new owner and the chosen protector of Faerie and its peoples.
. Flitlings are generally meek and unassuming, happy to flatter and fawn over the Seelie Court: Queen Titania has a small group of Flitling followers, and reacts jealously to anything else that takes their attentions away from them. However, these roles may be social rather than innate, as Flitlings have also shown great courage and strength: it was the Flitling Yarrow who stopped the riots following the "Burning Girl"
attacks, and also ended the Faerie tithe to Hell, whilst the Flitling Briar Rose also led her race in rebellion against the condescention of the Seelie Court.
, seeming to be normal human beings save for certain cosmetic differences - horns, different coloured skin, or other minor differences. They can control their appearance through the use of magical glamours, and have a natural mastery of certain magics: they can escape from any prison, and some have the gift of prophesy. However, their powers can be negated through the use of cold iron, and the metal is unwelcome in the Faerie realm. The Seelie find it particularly difficult to bear children with each other, and miscarriages and stillbirths are common. However, they are able to interbreed with other races, such as humans. The Seelie Court rules over the other races of Faerie, modelled in the fashion of traditional European royalty.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. The Vertigo Comics realm of Faerie is an amalgam of the mythological realms of Álfheimr, Otherworld
Otherworld
Otherworld, or the Celtic Otherworld, is a concept in Celtic mythology that refers to the home of the deities or spirits, or a realm of the dead.Otherworld may also refer to:In film and television:...
, the Fortunate Isles
Fortunate Isles
In the Fortunate Isles, also called the Isles of the Blessed , heroes and other favored mortals in Greek mythology and Celtic mythology were received by the gods into a winterless blissful paradise...
, Tír na nÓg
Tír na nÓg
Tír na nÓg is the most popular of the Otherworlds in Irish mythology. It is perhaps best known from the story of Oisín, one of the few mortals who lived there, who was said to have been brought there by Niamh of the Golden Hair. It was where the Tuatha Dé Danann settled when they left Ireland's...
and Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
. This mix is heavily influenced by Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
play A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
. It is home to the faeries and other mythical races, ruled over by the Seelie Court and King Auberon
Auberon (comics)
Auberon, is a character who appears primarily in DC Comics' adult-oriented Vertigo line. He is inspired by the faerie king Oberon from William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.-Background:...
and Queen Titania
Titania (DC Comics)
Titania is a fictional character, a comic book faerie published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The Sandman #19 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess...
. Faerie debuted in The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic is a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has also been published in a single-volume collection under the Vertigo...
#3, and was created by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
and Charles Vess
Charles Vess
Charles Vess is an American fantasy artist and comic-book illustrator who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His illustrations are strongly influenced by the work of artists and illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Alphonse Mucha...
.
Publication history
As part of his comic The Sandman, writer Neil GaimanNeil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
planned a small arc involving William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
entering a deal with the Dream King
Dream (comics)
Dream is the fictional protagonist of DC Comics' Vertigo comic book series The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman. One of the seven Endless, inconceivably powerful beings older and greater than gods, Dream is both lord and personification of all dreams and stories, all that is not in reality...
to write plays that would live on after him. Having introduced Shakespeare, Gaiman then decided to tell the story of the first play that the writer wrote for Dream in payment of the bargain. He turned to his favourite of Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
creating analogues of the play's main otherworldly characters and inventing the fiction that Shakespeare wrote the play to Dream's instructions to ensure that humans never forgot Faerie and its rulers. Having created her, Gaiman used Queen Titania
Titania (DC Comics)
Titania is a fictional character, a comic book faerie published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The Sandman #19 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess...
as a recurring character throughout the series, and when he was asked part way through his run on The Sandman to write a four-issue miniseries to introduce DC's magical characters to a new audience he gave her a guest role in one of the issues of that as well. The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic
The Books of Magic is a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has also been published in a single-volume collection under the Vertigo...
miniseries showed Titania in her kingdom, meaning Gaiman had to create the realm of Faerie in more depth than he had previously shown it.
Gaiman showed a land known as the Fair Lands, Avalon, Elvenhome, Dom-daniel, the Land of Summer's Twilight or Faerie, based very much on classical representations of the fairy kingdom: faeries tempted children to live with them in the Twilight Country, with even Titania being waited on by Shakespeare's son Hamnett having tempted him to come with her at their first meeting; the realm is governed by strict rules of bartering, with the giving of gifts requiring the receiver to give a gift of equal value in return or forfeit their property or life to the giver; good manners are paramount; nothing ages or dies, but nothing truly lasts either; the food available in the realm is extremely dangerous to the incautious and if eaten will make it impossible for the eater to consume real food again, forcing them to remain in Faerie forever. But Gaiman also acknowledged that his Faerie was a fiction, a land where metaphor was made real but also remained metaphor: when Timothy Hunter was taken to the land by Doctor Occult
Doctor Occult
Doctor Occult is a fictional character, a magic user in the . Created by Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Doctor Occult is the earliest character created by DC Comics still currently in use in its shared universe fiction....
, the mystic admitted that in some ways the two of them were still sitting in a field exploring only their inner landscapes. Gaiman also showed an ambiguous section that was interpreted by some to suggest that Queen Titania was the mother of the comic's main character, Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter, is a fictional character, a comic book sorcerer published by DC Comics. He first appeared in The Books of Magic vol. 1 #1 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton.-Publication history:...
, which ensured that the realm of Faerie was further explored when the mini-series became an ongoing series.
When he was chosen to replace Gaiman as the writer of the ongoing The Books of Magic series, John Ney Rieber
John Ney Rieber
John Ney Rieber is an American comic book writer. He has been writing for the comics The Books of Magic, Captain America, G.I. Joe and Tomb Raider.-Bibliography:Comics work includes:*Shadows Fall Issues #1-6...
discovered that a gaming guide to the DC universe had listed Titania as Hunter's mother: he also knew that a key part of the character's appeal, however, was that he was a normal teenaged boy. Instead of simply denying the possibility of Tim being part Faerie, Rieber decided to use the idea as one of his ongoing storylines, whilst gently debunking it. This meant utilizing Titania and her cuckold
Cuckold
Cuckold is a historically derogatory term for a man who has an unfaithful wife. The word, which has been in recorded use since the 13th century, derives from the cuckoo bird, some varieties of which lay their eggs in other birds' nests...
ed husband Auberon as supporting characters for most of his run on the comic, which in turn meant frequent visits and explorations to Faerie: the first storyline in the book showed Tim visiting a forgotten corner of the realm and introduced the idea that the land was slowly dying since it had been cut off from the Earth, and later storylines delved deeper into Faerie's past and present to build up a clearer picture of the Twilight Kingdom. Such was the importance of Faerie to Rieber's version of The Books of Magic that when its popularity caused DC to release a spin-off miniseries, they decided that a three issue mini-series about the early history of the kingdom (and Titania's rise to power) would be most suitable. Three volumes of The Books of Faerie
The Books of Faerie
The Books of Faerie was a series of three mini-series spun off from Vertigo Comics' series The Books of Magic written by Bronwyn Carlton and John Ney Rieber...
were eventually published, each giving more detail and colour to DC's version of Faerie, and at one point there were even plans for an ongoing series to be set there. However, the series was never published, and Faerie's appearances in the DC universe have been brief since then.
Fictional history
The faerie race was born and lived in the Mundane WorldEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
for many centuries until frosty relationships with the growing race of men caused them to leave the world forever some time before the 16th century. Upon leaving the realm of their birth, the nine rulers of faerie led them on a search for a new world to call their own: the band of refugees were met by Lucifer
Lucifer (DC Comics)
Lucifer is a DC Comics character that starred in an eponymous comic book published under the Vertigo imprint, whose entire run was written by Mike Carey...
, who offered them a corner of Hell to have as their own in exchange for the payment of a tithe. Lucifer claimed he was moved by sympathy for the faeries, having been forced to leave his own birth-realm, but when the faeries agreed to the deal the true nature of the tithe was revealed: eight of the nine rulers were taken to Hell to be tortured, leaving the last - Huon the Small - to remain as the first King of Faerie. In order to keep their land, Faerie was required to send nine of its fairest and best subjects to Hell every seven years, or risk war with the armies of Hell.
The faeries, unaware of the true price, settled in to their new home: the land was transformed into lush world of happiness and nature, with the faeries maintaining links with the Mundane World and mortals often visiting the Twilight Kingdom. King Magnus came to the throne, instigating a dark time for the carefree realm: he believed in the innate superiority of pure-blood faeries and this led to the persecution of the other races, with Brownies becoming little more than slaves in the royal household. Magnus also discovered a worrying problem: a disorder in purebred faerie blood meant that it was extremely difficult for them to produce children naturally. He began secret experiments, trying to refresh the bloodline by interbreeding with mankind.
Ironically, Magnus' dalliances with other faeries did lead to a birth – an illegitimate and unrecognized son called the Amadan who grew to become Fool to the Seelie Court and mastermind of a thousand intrigues and manipulations. Magnus used to Amadan to provide contestants in gladiatorial games between the races, and was killed trying to prove the superiority of faeries fighting against a troll. This left a power vacuum in the Court that was eventually filled when Lord Obrey sought out the rightful heir to the throne, a young boy faerie called Auberon who was being looked after in the outskirts by his cousin Dymphna and brownie nursemaid Bridie.
Obrey helped Auberon to overcome challenges from rival Lords and succeed to the throne, but grew unhappy with his role as the Amadan's manipulations drove a wedge between him and the throne. Aware of the growing danger, the boy-king ran away from the Court to find his missing sister, leaving Obrey as his Regent to look after Faerie and her subjects. Obrey slipped into the role of king unchallenged, his own position made stronger by his marriage to Auberon's cousin Dymphna, and the two ruled for several years, reversing some of Magnus' more prejudiced practices to bring all the races of Faerie together.
However, Obrey was also told of Magnus' discovery by the Amadan, and grew increasingly concerned for the survival of the faerie race. He adopted the same solution as Magnus, trying to promote interbreeding by encouraging human children to be enticed to stay in Faerie: one such child was the young girl Maryrose, who after being trapped in Faerie quickly became the favourite of Queen Dymphna. Asured by the Amadan that Maryrose would bear him a child, Obrey transformed Dymphna into a tree and took Maryrose as his new wife: using a glamour stolen from the previous queen, Maryrose assumed the appearance of being a purebred Faerie and took the name Titania at her coronation.
When Auberon returned as a young man, Obrey refused to relinquish the throne and the Wars of Succession began: shortly after his marriage, Obrey was killed in battle and - seeking to reunite the warring kingdom - Auberon took Titania as his wife as he reclaimed the throne. For political reasons, Auberon expected his wife to produce an heir as soon as possible: however, when she became pregnant, it was the result of an affair she had been having with a human falconer called Tamlin. When the child was born, it was clearly a purebred human, and Titania and her nanny conspired to convince Auberon that the child had been stillborn, with the nanny taking the child into the Mundane World to grow into adulthood.
Together, Titania and Auberon ruled Faerie through turbulent times: they made the final Severing between their world and Faerie and forbade their subjects to travel to other realms without their direct permission. This caused problems for the realm when it started to wither and die, forcing Titania and the Court to hide its true state behind powerful glamours. Eventually, the intervention of Tamlin brought an Opener (Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter
Timothy Hunter, is a fictional character, a comic book sorcerer published by DC Comics. He first appeared in The Books of Magic vol. 1 #1 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton.-Publication history:...
, who was possibly Titania's abandoned son) to the realm whose spilled blood restored its previous vigor. They also withstood a flitling rebellion, led by Briar Rose who was banished and transformed as a punishment. When Lucifer decided to quit his realm, Titania and Auberon hoped that they could convince the new owners to forfeit the tithe Faerie owed - their own son and heir Prince Taik having been claimed as payment - but this didn't come to fruition. The tithe was eventually annulled, however, when Huon the Small returned to the realm to judge its right to survive: thanks to the belief and loyalty of a flitling called Yarrow who was chosen as "The Leveller", the realm was recreated anew as the lush and fun-filled paradise it had always seemed to be with the connection to Hell severed forever.
Faerie faced further danger when the demon Barbatos used the magical gemstone called Twilight to bewitch a garden frog into a giant. Barbatos enslaved the faeries, forcing them to work themselves to death constructing a massive pond for the demon's "master". The intervention of Molly O'Reilly
Molly O'Reilly
Molly O'Reilly is a fictional character created for the Vertigo comic book series The Books of Magic by writer John Ney Rieber and artist Peter Gross. She proved to be very popular with the readership, who repeatedly asked for her return when she was written out of the main series...
(ex-girlfriend of Timothy Hunter) released the faeries and banished Barbatos to an obscure corner of the Dreaming, and in return the gemstone Twilight chose her as its new owner and the chosen protector of Faerie and its peoples.
The nature of faerie
Time moves different in Faerie than it does in the real world, and someone spending an hour there might find that they have been missing for weeks on their return. An example of this is that Titania's illegitimate son was born and taken to Earth shortly after her marriage, an unspecified amount of time before Auberon and Titania watched the first performance of A Midsummer's Night Dream on Earth sometime in the 1590s. Tim Hunter was born in 1983, and yet Titania has no difficulty in believing that he may be the same child.Inhabitants of Faerie
Faerie is home to a wide number of different races and creatures, some born on the Earth and escaping over to Faerie as man's influence grew, others coming from elsewhere and being tricked into staying, or deciding to settle of their own accord.Notable residents
- TitaniaTitania (DC Comics)Titania is a fictional character, a comic book faerie published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The Sandman #19 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess...
- AuberonAuberon (comics)Auberon, is a character who appears primarily in DC Comics' adult-oriented Vertigo line. He is inspired by the faerie king Oberon from William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.-Background:...
- Faeries in The Sandman
- Faeries in The Books of Magic
Brownies
Brownies appear as small, leather-skinned humans and enjoy helping out with domestic chores around the home. They were particularly abused during the reign of King Magnus, whose prejudice towards them led to them being treated as little more than domestic slaves.Flitlings
Flitlings are small, winged faeries who otherwise appear to be human, similar in appearance to the Cottingley FairiesCottingley Fairies
The Cottingley Fairies appear in a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins who lived in Cottingley, near Bradford in England. In 1917, when the first two photographs were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10...
. Flitlings are generally meek and unassuming, happy to flatter and fawn over the Seelie Court: Queen Titania has a small group of Flitling followers, and reacts jealously to anything else that takes their attentions away from them. However, these roles may be social rather than innate, as Flitlings have also shown great courage and strength: it was the Flitling Yarrow who stopped the riots following the "Burning Girl"
Molly O'Reilly
Molly O'Reilly is a fictional character created for the Vertigo comic book series The Books of Magic by writer John Ney Rieber and artist Peter Gross. She proved to be very popular with the readership, who repeatedly asked for her return when she was written out of the main series...
attacks, and also ended the Faerie tithe to Hell, whilst the Flitling Briar Rose also led her race in rebellion against the condescention of the Seelie Court.
The Seelie
The dominant race of Faerie, also called the Theena SidheSídhe
The aos sí are a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology are comparable to the fairies or elves. They are said to live underground in the fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans...
, seeming to be normal human beings save for certain cosmetic differences - horns, different coloured skin, or other minor differences. They can control their appearance through the use of magical glamours, and have a natural mastery of certain magics: they can escape from any prison, and some have the gift of prophesy. However, their powers can be negated through the use of cold iron, and the metal is unwelcome in the Faerie realm. The Seelie find it particularly difficult to bear children with each other, and miscarriages and stillbirths are common. However, they are able to interbreed with other races, such as humans. The Seelie Court rules over the other races of Faerie, modelled in the fashion of traditional European royalty.