List of characters in Fables
Encyclopedia
This article is a list of fictional character
s in the Vertigo
comic book
series Fables
, Jack of Fables
, Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
and Cinderella: Fables Are Forever, published by DC Comics
.
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. They were born in this order Winter, Conner, Blossom, Therese, Ambrose, Darien, and Ghost. 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, 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. 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.
Blossom, who bears a great deal of resemblance to Rose Red, seems to have inherited some stereotypical "Fairytale Princess" qualities. She is often seen with cute cuddly forest creatures and butterflies following her around.
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.
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 being the oldest. She also stands out because, unlike her other siblings, she was the first and only one who was born competely human in appearance. The remaining cubs are Conner, who isn't too different from Darien. Though it should be noted Conner does have similar facial characteristics like Prince Charming, and then there's Therese, a blonde-headed cub who is observant, but tends to confuse things.
During the Fables Fourm 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 child-like second in command to Frau Totenkinder, who at his behest tells him of a prophecy she had. She explains:
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.
is a pathological womanizer, a liar 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. Its also revealed in the Jack of Fables' comic that Prince Charming is Jack Horner's father. Its 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
in a duel during the Storybook Love arc, putting Bluebeard's substantial wealth directly into Fabletown's treasury
, 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. Unfortunately, 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, 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.
What subsequently happened next was not depicted, but according to Sinbad, Charming failed to emerge before the bomb detonated. His body is never shown, 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 prisoners did it and had him executed, but 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. Very popular fables are difficult to kill, so it remains unseen if Prince Charming will somehow be resurrected or replaced.
escaped from the Homelands with barely more than the clothes they were wearing. Both set up in relatively low-paid jobs, Beast maintaining the Fabletown buildings and Beauty working in a bookshop, earning between them enough to make ends meet, but little more. Their lives were hampered somewhat 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 were nevertheless a loving couple. With the election of Prince Charming to Mayor of Fabletown during the events of The Mean Seasons, their lives took a turn for the better; as neither Bigby Wolf or Snow White were willing to work alongside Charming, their positions became vacant and the Prince offered Beauty and Beast the available jobs.
Beast, now Sheriff, allied 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 would be legally unable to retaliate if he wanted to. While initially reeling at the complexities of the job (much of what Bigby did was covert and unknown to the general Fable population), he has grown into the job and appears to even enjoy it. Beauty took Snow's position as Deputy Mayor, and has learned to cope with all of the responsibility. Early in her tenure, Prince Charming tried to seduce her, but she refused him, threatening to send her husband after him if he tried again. It is notable that Beauty realized, as a result of remarks made by Prince Charming during this seduction attempt, that her actions and words toward her husband were not generally as kind as she herself perceived; she subsequently resolved to be nicer to Beast.
After the arrival in Fabletown of the Imperial Emissary, Lord Hansel, during the Sons of Empire story-arc, and the subsequent need to keep track of both him and his staff, Beast asked for, and was given, additional funding and manpower, plus was later assigned zephyrs, provided by Bigby Wolf's father, the North Wind, to act as spies. During the war against the Empire, as depicted in the War and Pieces arc, Beast remained 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, both ask Frau Totenkinder what it is she's knitting. When she answers she's knitting a garment for their firstborn child. To which Beauty laughs saying she's not even expecting, to which Frau answered "All things in time" and then offered to show them the progress of her knitting. Upon hearing them agree, she presented them a cute light greenish-blue footed pajamas with a lion head sewn on the front. In addition that the footed pajamas had four arms, two legs, and a place for a tail, indicating that their child might be a monster or at least have Beast's transformation problem. Upon seeing her work, this left both Beast and Beauty flabbergasted.
However, Frau's predication is shown to be possible. As shown in the Great Fables Cross Over, after having a brief argument with Beast about his behavior with Bigby, Beauty and her husband are shown in their tent together having make up sex. While Beast was very happy from it, Beauty herself couldn't help but feel that there was something more special about and perhaps magical. Later on in a next issue, she's revealed to be pregnant. The child is a couple of week premature, but Beauty comes with the birth with a few complications. The child, a little girl is named Bliss and appeared to be born normal. However, as Frau had predicted, sometime later it is shown that when she becomes angry, she undergoes a transformation into a six limbed, tailed beast.
As Mayor of Fabletown since its foundation, Old King Cole
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. However, 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-handling 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.
, Briar Rose was Prince Charming's second wife. She escaped from the Homelands with close to nothing, but a blessing received on her christening day, which promised that she'd always be wealthy, came to her rescue, and she rapidly gained great wealth through successful speculation on the stock market
. As such, she lives in a luxurious apartment filled with expensive furniture and decoration. Her curse
, however, remains in effect, with the slightest prick of her finger leading to 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. Its 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 inoccent 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 ransacked his apartment. However 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. So we presume 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
s.
It is revealed in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
that Briar Rose and Cinderella share the same fairy godmother. Cinderella's Fairy Godmother had three other sisters, whom blessed Briar Rose and it was Cinderella's Fairy Godmother who directed Prince Charming to Briar Rose. It has also been revealed that Frau Totenkinder
was the Fairy Godmother's enemy who often ruined her spells and was the one who cursed Briar Rose with her sleep spell. It is unknown if Briar knew it was Frau who cursed her.
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
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
.
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.
, Kay is now grown and living in New York, away from Fabletown itself. Its 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. Currently, he has been drained of life energy and turned into a witherling by Mister Dark. 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 a 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 twenty-first century Mundy American justice point of view). After seeing the "bad" in The Adversary, he gouged his eyes out again. Soon afterward, he was killed by Mr. Dark.
from the Grimm
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. Oddly she insists that she must carry the pregnancy to term because of duty to society rather than to herself, although it is unclear why she thinks that society is improved by her children.
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.
tales, Bufkin acts as Fabletown's librarian
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 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
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.
and quite possibly many other tales where a troll features. His has possession of an expensive glamour spell. He has been shown to assume troll form for battle. During the Fall of Fabletown due 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.
to Bluebeard, Hobbes the goblin
stayed on to work for Prince Charming 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 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. Willingham said that his name was taken from Thomas Hobbes
and that he chose it because he was amused by a character who symbolizes order being named after a philosopher who wrote about the difficulty of maintaining order. It is also, of course, a pun on the word Hobgoblin
. 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.
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 often regarded as a rather ugly and grumpy individual, which does her no good in a community filled with beautiful men and women. She is often nagging at Bigby Wolf for smoking inside the hospital. She was later seen complaining to Mayor Charming that he was behind in financing the hospital and was also invited to Snow and Bigby's wedding. 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 any of 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 becomes impatient with her transformation and asks Mr. Dark to speed up the process, however painful it may be. While Mrs. Sprat is screaming and writhing in pain, Mr. Dark transforms her into a beautiful, young woman in a black dress. Mr. Dark then leaves to deal with the Fables, and promises to summon Mrs. Sprat to his side so that she will be there to 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. However, Mr. Dark is killed by Mr. North, the North Wind, before any of his plans are carried through. In the story arc Inherit the Wind, it is revealed that Mrs. Sprat's first name is Leigh. She now prefers to go by her maiden name Douglas, since the name Sprat is from a dead past.
, 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.
, 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.
with a demon tail who has appeared in a few panels with Frau Totenkinder. 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. She has been revealed to be both Sycorax
from The Tempest
and Medea
from Greek mythology
. Maddy seems to be second in command to Ozma, the same way that Ozma herself was always second to Totenkinder.
. His name is French
for "large bear". He may or may not be the title character from the French
fairy tale The Wizard King
(from Andrew Lang
's The Yellow Fairy Book), about a shapeshifting wizard king.
The local Imperial Governor instructed Mr. Grandours to guard a tower, filled with various treasures, including the magic barleycorns. He helped John Barleycorn 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
when they were almost killed by a magic arrow.
. Her true name is still unknown as she keeps it a secret "tucked away where no fell power can discern it." Mrs. Someone and Hakim chose to stay with Briar Rose until the end and fell under Briar's sleeping spell. 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.
's play The Tempest
. He 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.
. He has recently been killed by an unknown assailant in the first issue of Cinderella: Fables Are Forever.
has implied that she may be Morgan le Fay
from the saga of King Arthur
, or Shakespeare
's Queen Mab
.
, brief fiancée of Bluebeard, and brief wife of Sinbad. For centuries, Rose
'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. Rose seems to have stopped smoking as well. 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 story-arc, Rose married Sinbad, but immediately divorced him on account of her despair over Boy Blue's post-war condition. She attempted to revive her romantic relationship with Boy Blue in his last moments, but was denied by Blue himself, with him stating that she goes out with 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 immediate death, Rose descended heavily into self-loathing and depression, refusing to leave her bed for any reason. She reunited briefly with Jack on her descent toward rock-bottom, believing that she somehow deserved someone as terrible as Jack. After reconciling her past Rose eventually decided 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'll 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 took 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's the job of everyone to fix their own problems instead of waiting for Blue to return and fix everything. While its not been said, Rose does feel guilty for divorcing her husband, as Colin pointed 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.
, 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. Originally intending to leave the Farm, 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 ultimately 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.
, 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
Fables, Lonny, Donny and Johnny, who had been kept sedated for centuries due to the impossibility in 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. 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 any more 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 prophesized 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".
It should be noted that recently since Fables: Rose Red, that the spiritual guide they thought was Colin Pig may not be after all. It is 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, takes the form of her and Snow White's mother, it is also noted that the spirit knew things about her and Snow that they never told others. Such as calling her by her child pet names and explains that their mother and the king (from Snow White and Rose Red) the father of Prince Brandish, were the ones behind Snow's separation from her family. When Rose realizes that Snow was not to blame for all her grief and for that matter she needed to move on, she looks to her "mother's" spirit and tells her to stop trying to fool her. She now could see that this being was neither Boy Blue, Colin, or her mother and asks to show her its real form. To which it replies to her request, and shows Rose her true form. Although its form is never seen, it is seen that Rose is bathed in a golden light, and that this form impresses and shocks her.
The final issue of the Super Team story arc reveals that the mysterious being is Hope, from the story of Pandora
and Pandora's box
. 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.
. 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.
who may or may not be the same character as Mr. Badger from The Wind in the Willows
(who appears in the Fables graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall
). 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). After Boy Blue's death, Brock and some of the Farm Fables have gone somewhat delusional (mostly because of Brock's rants) believing he'll be resurrected and become some sort of Messiah. Thus as Clara has stated, started a cult of sorts. This becomes more riotous during the Great Fable Crossover when Jack and Rose Red have loud sex. Brock, very unaware how Rose was before she came to the Farm, believed that Rose was Blue's true love and insanely thought Jack was Boy Blue's reincarnation and even made him wear a blue scarf. He even gets the other animal Fables to attack Jack Frost (Jack's son) believing him to be bad. Despite Beauty's best and easiest attempts to explain Red's troubled past, Brock and the others quickly turn on her and try to hurt her and Jack. While Red is hidden safely at Wolf Manor, Jack returns to the Farm only to be kicked out by Brock and the others. 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, but later provides his support for Rose when she recovers from her depression.
, the nursery rhyme Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater
, and the tale of Peter and the Wolf
. One of the titular characters in Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
, and younger brother to Max, The Pied Piper of Hamelin
. 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
. 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, and the holder to the magic flute
Frost, and he is also in Boy Blue
's band. In addition to his main appearance in Peter and Max, Peter is mentioned in part 2 of The Ballad of Rodney and June, and both he and his wife 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
s are enjoying the falling snow
.
as a prisoner of Mr. Revise. She 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. During the Jack of Fables
spin-off series, Goldilocks 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. Ironically, it was Bookburner's army that shot the revolutionaries down when they finally did arrive. Because Goldilocks had once survived the encounter with Bigby and Snow, it is most likely she survived Bookburner's attack, but that is yet to be determined.
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.
's main appearance is in Cinderella Libertine, where it is revealed that the former Deputy Mayor lost his job after he sexually harassed Snow White
and embezzled government funds. After Cinderella exposed him as a likely traitor, Bigby
executed him in Paris
by bashing him in the head with a headless statue of Napoleon Bonaparte. Flashbacks from Crane's time as Fabletown
's Deputy Mayor appear in the story Barleycorn Brides, the story arc Sons of Empire, the Jack of Fables
story arc 1883, and Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
.
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
, 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.
for "snow"), better known as the Snow Queen
, 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
, 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
, 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.
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's 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.
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.
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
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
, 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.
, from L. Frank Baum
's tales of the land of Oz
, is the current ruler of that land, conquered relatively early in the Adversary's campaign, 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.
and sleep
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
, 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
). 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
, 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.
, and the antagonist of Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
. He was elder brother to Peter Piper
, and a sorcerer powerful enough to face Frau Totenkinder
in her place of power (Fabletown). 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, also sealing bargains with otherworldly powers. In exchange for the location of Ice 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 Peter and exile, Max returned even more powerful, intent on killing his brother. In the early 20th Century, he cast a curse that increased the lethality of the Spanish Flu
, 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
at the hands of his brother, Peter Piper. Max has a brief flashback appearance in the graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall
and is referred to in issue 89 (Witches story arc).
, The Khokhan, The Buse, Mörkö, The Dunganga, The Abo Ragl Ma Slokha, Burned man, the lake man, Buback and the Torbalan 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.
, 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. The story also reveals that Briar Rose and Cinderella share the same fairy godmother. She had three sisters, whom blessed Briar Rose, and it was the Fairy Godmother who directed Prince Charming to her. It has also been revealed that Frau Totenkinder was the Fairy Godmother's enemy who often ruined her spells and was the one who cursed Briar Rose with her sleep spell. The Fairy Godmother also showed Rapunzel's prince the way to the tower that Frau kept her in, mainly to spite Frau.
was first seen in flashbacks during the Fables: Legends in Exile story arc, while fleeing the Adversary's forces. She later cropped up in Jack of Fables, as one of the many Fable prisoners at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village
. Dorothy's story is finally 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’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
, killed the Wicked Witch of the West
in exchange for a trip back home. She had already killed the Wicked Witch of the East
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 explained to her about the powers of the magic slippers, Dorothy used them to fly home to the Homelands
version of Kansas
. To her great despair, the slippers fell off over the Deadly Desert
of Oz
.
Dorothy and a few of her friends, the Tin Woodman
, the Cowardly Lion
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". 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. The two had several violent encounters over the years, until Cindy almost finished Dorothy off in Switzerland
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
), 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 pointed to Cinderella's archnemesis 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), 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.
; 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
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
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.
is also home to a man known as the Pathetic Fallacy
, although he comes to prefer being called Gary, who has the powers of that concept. His precise status at the facility is somewhat unclear; while he does Revise's bidding, appears to have his trust and carries out a number of minor staff duties, he is 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 is the father of Kevin Thorn and grandfather to Revise, although he appears to only be aware of this on occasion.
The Pathetic Fallacy is currently travelling with Jack Horner, taking on the role of his sidekick. He is somewhat naive and frequently confused, although he has 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.
. 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 is the son of Kevin Thorn 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
. He had been close to accomplishing that before the Fabletown
refugees made their way to this mundane world.
Tying in to Revise's intention to destroy magic, The Golden Bough was originally written by Sir James Frazer 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's also pointed out that he's 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.
, each with their own speciality. Robin Page is in charge of security, training the tiger
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'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
(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
, 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 fired his cannon at Priscilla, the Tin Man killed Robin by firing a laser through her chest with his tin cannon, and the Cowardly Lion bit Priscilla's head off.
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 of 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 or 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.
.
, often referred to as Mr. North, is the father of Bigby Wolf
. 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 were 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
, 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
). 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
; 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 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
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.
appears as a Native American
with pale skin. He goes by the name of Yaponcha (the wind god from Native American legends
), and is also known as Zephyrus, the Greek god
of the west wind. Another reference to Native American mythology is made when he compares wolves (more specifically, Bigby
) to the mythological coyote
.
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.
takes the form of an obese man and goes by the names of Eurus (the name of the Greek deity representing the east wind), Fei Lian
(the Chinese
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 East Wind, he believes the West Wind only wants to hurt them out of personal spite. 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. However with coaxing from the South Wind, she got them to decide to invite themselves as guests of the Wolf Clan. The others agreed to the plan.
takes the form of an African
-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. Her name has not been revealed, but it is presumed to be Notus, the south wind in Greek mythology (as all the other winds are named after their Greek mythological counterparts). She could be considered the more compassionate and sensible one of the Winds.
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.
, mostly from One Thousand and One Nights:
, 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 failed attempt to reconcile, he returned to Baghdad, expressing a wish to build a new airship with which to explore the liberated homelands.
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".
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
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 only 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
, 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.
and his court appears in flashbacks during The Good Prince story arc, where the spirit of Sir Lancelot
tells his story to Flycatcher. Camelot
and the fabled King Arthur set the standard of "true chivalry" for all of Christendom
and its legend touched much of the pagan worlds beyond. The Fables graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall
reveals that Lancelot, Camelot's most gifted champion, was blessed by Frau Totenkinder
, who told him that he would be unbeatable in battle as long as he remained pure and honourable. Lancelot was unbeatable, until he lost his honor by having a love affair with the King's wife, Guinevere
. The Knights of the Round Table
are referred to in Lancelot's story, and Gawain
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
reveals that Arthur was eventually laid to rest in a crypt.
The Lady of the Lake
is also established as a Fable in the story: After Flycatcher's heroic deeds in the Homelands
kingdom of Haven, he asks Lancelot to throw Excalibur
into the biggest lake he can find, and tells him to not be surprised if a "green bejeweled hand" reaches up to grasp Excalibur before it sinks out of sight. She is also referred to in the Jack of Fables
story arc The Bad Prince, when a mysterious old man comes out of the river, carriyng Excalibur and says that the "green woman's gift must not fall into evil hands". In addition, Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin
are all referred to in the story.
King Pellinore
makes an appearance in the Fables story The Last Castle, as one of the defenders of the last free gateway.
, living in the Fable Homelands
of Oz
and Ev
. (The Nome King is listed under "Villains".) In additon, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion are prisoners at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village
in the mundane world.
first appearence 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 story arc Inherit the Wind, working to overthrow the Nome King.
escaped into the mundane world and became one of the helpers of Dorothy Gale, a killer for hire. Bungle was later recruited by Dorothy to aid her in her quest for revenge on her arch-nemesis, Cinderella, 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
of Oz
in an airship
. 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
, indicating that he’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, he was drafted into one of the Nome King’s press gangs, building a road across the deadly dessert. He managed to escape with Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse, also in the press gang. Bufkin came across the group in the Land of Ev
, 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.
'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’s tiger
s into butter
. 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 summoned Sam along with Hansel, 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.
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
, Dorothy Gale 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
. Jack Frost believes that the Tin Man is on the dragon's side and kills him by chopping off his head.
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 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
, the Lion dies when he is caught in Jack's dragon fire.
, also known as Mister D, is not only a giant egg, but a cannon
for the Homelands
version of Colchester
as well. He 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’s tiger
s tigers. 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. 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.
used to travel the length and breadth of his Fable Homeland of Americana
, 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 unleashed his powers on him when Bookburner's army attacked the Golden Boughs.
Babe the Blue Ox
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
, 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
story arc.
, except from the dark hair. It is revealed that Jack 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 informs Jack of the facts after a mysterious, old man shows up and plunges the sword Excalibur
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, which takes place years later, John is still living with the sword stuck in his chest. He is killed when Gary the Pathetic Fallacy pulls the sword out of him in Jack of Fables final issue.
is a Native American
who can turn into a raven
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
. Raven tells the others that the bird spirit has showed 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).
and the Cowardly Lion
, 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's tiger
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 kills Dorothy in the Deadly Desert
.
Americana in order to escape Bookburner, and left a string of bodies in her wake in the mundy world. She was eventually captured by Revise's people and taken to the Golden Boughs. Lady Luck was one of Goldilocks’ 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 killed by the Page sisters in a chaotic battle in the final issue of Jack of Fables. She remarked that it was "not [her] lucky day".
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 Pandoran jar
. The character, who is from the story of Pandora
and Pandora's box
, 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 Colin Pig, Boy Blue
and Snow and Rose's mother (from Snow White and Rose Red). 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.
used to live quietly in her cottage in the Homelands where she would often remain undisturbed for long periods. Her peaceful life was occasionally disrupted by a 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 launched a covert mission into the Homelands which resulted in the real Red Riding Hood being brought to Fabletown, leaving the woman facing considerable animosity as a result. Upset by this reception and confused by the very different world that she found herself in, Red first latched on to Boy Blue, then Flycatcher when Blue left for the Farm to serve his sentence there, as both men are among the few who have no issues with her.
Red attended Bigby and Snow's wedding with Flycatcher, but, although she found Bigby oddly familiar, she failed to recognise his human form as being her old foe. After returning, she ventured out into the mundane city to have a makeover with the aim of attracting Fly. He was, however, shocked when he saw her, and ran away, ultimately reverting to his frog form. After Ambrose's humanity was restored by Santa and the spirit of his deceased wife, restoring his memories and causing him to fall into severe depression, Ride scolded him for attempting to starve himself rather than exact revenge. Ride's message led Fly to start his journey through the Witching Well and to eventually form the Haven. After Fly's Haven was established and became safe, Boy Blue brought Ride along with him so she could move there. She told Fly she would assist him by taking care of queenly duties, until he found himself a proper queen.During the latest story arc, Fly finally kissed Red, turning himself back into a frog. However, he refused to allow his curse control him and changed back into himself.At the end of the story, tired of being alone, he asks Red to share his bed with him, which she accepts delightedly.
, from The Jungle Book
. 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.
, 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 tourist is confirmed in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, where he appears in silhouette in a single panel.
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
. In addition, all of the tourists are shown in silhouete 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.
exists in the Fables series. The prose story A Wolf in the Fold mentions a Transylvanian count who had befriended Bigby Wolf, 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
.
Most of the killings traditionally credited to vampire
s and werewolves in the Dracula mythos were Bigby's doing in the Fables series - making it hard to judge if vampires and werewolves are Fables. However, during Bigby's adventures during World War 2, Nazis revealed that they had knowledge of at least one Were-Wolf (but this could have just been Bigby).
's Dr. Frankenstein is referred to in War Stories, a Fables story set during World War II
. A team of German Nazi scientists is using Frankenstein's monster
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 this world. After defeating the Nazis, Bigby
kept the monster’s still-living head and returned it to Fabletown
.
, 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 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 up in a secure facility elsewhere. 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.
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.
'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 striked 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.
make an off-screen appearance in the Jack of Fables story arc 1983, which is set in the Old West. A Lilly of the Valley 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.
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, which lead to the creation of his own series. Other ape
s he claims to have met are:
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 Wooden Soldiers, about his days as Jack Frost
and about 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.
from The Elves and the Shoemaker
are still offering their services from time to time, as seen in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
. They have also been secretly working for Beauty in making the Fable comics sold at Nod's bookstore, while Beauty was working there.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s in the Vertigo
Vertigo (comics)
Vertigo is an imprint of the American comic-book publisher DC Comics. Its books are marketed to a sophisticated audience, and may contain graphic violence, substance abuse, frank depictions of sexuality, profanity, and controversial subjects...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series Fables
Fables (comics)
Fables is a comic book series created by writer Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics's Vertigo imprint beginning in 2002. The series deals with various characters from fairy tales and folklore – referring to themselves as "Fables" – who have been forced out of their Homelands by "The...
, Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
, Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
and Cinderella: Fables Are Forever, published by DC Comics
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 Cubs"
One of the seven, later named Ghost by Bigby, is a zephyr, 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. 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.
Blossom, who bears a great deal of resemblance to Rose Red, seems to have inherited some stereotypical "Fairytale Princess" qualities. She is often seen with cute cuddly forest creatures and butterflies following her around.
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.
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 being the oldest. She also stands out because, unlike her other siblings, she was the first and only one who was born competely human in appearance. The remaining cubs are Conner, who isn't too different from Darien. Though it should be noted Conner does have similar facial characteristics like Prince Charming, and then there's Therese, a blonde-headed cub who is observant, but tends to confuse things.
During the Fables Fourm 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 child-like 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.
- The second child a pauper.
- The third will do an evil thing.
- The fourth will die to stop her.
- The fifth will be a hero bold.
- The sixth will judge the rest.
- The seventh lives to ages old, and is by heaven blessed
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.
Prince Charming
Although charming and handsome, Prince CharmingPrince Charming
Prince Charming is a stock character who appears in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to rescue of the damsel in distress, and stereotypically, must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell...
is a pathological womanizer, a liar 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. Its also revealed in the Jack of Fables' comic that Prince Charming is Jack Horner's father. Its 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
"Bluebeard" is a French literary folktale written by Charles Perrault and is one of eight tales by the author first published by Barbin in Paris in January 1697 in Histoires ou Contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives and the...
in a duel during the Storybook Love arc, putting Bluebeard's substantial wealth directly into Fabletown's treasury
Treasury
A treasury is either*A government department related to finance and taxation.*A place where currency or precious items is/are kept....
, 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. Unfortunately, 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, 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.
What subsequently happened next was not depicted, but according to Sinbad, Charming failed to emerge before the bomb detonated. His body is never shown, 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 prisoners did it and had him executed, but 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. Very popular fables are difficult to kill, so it remains unseen if Prince Charming will somehow be resurrected or replaced.
Beauty and the Beast
Still together after nearly a thousand years, Beauty and BeastBeauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
escaped from the Homelands with barely more than the clothes they were wearing. Both set up in relatively low-paid jobs, Beast maintaining the Fabletown buildings and Beauty working in a bookshop, earning between them enough to make ends meet, but little more. Their lives were hampered somewhat 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 were nevertheless a loving couple. With the election of Prince Charming to Mayor of Fabletown during the events of The Mean Seasons, their lives took a turn for the better; as neither Bigby Wolf or Snow White were willing to work alongside Charming, their positions became vacant and the Prince offered Beauty and Beast the available jobs.
Beast, now Sheriff, allied himself with Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
, 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 would be legally unable to retaliate if he wanted to. While initially reeling at the complexities of the job (much of what Bigby did was covert and unknown to the general Fable population), he has grown into the job and appears to even enjoy it. Beauty took Snow's position as Deputy Mayor, and has learned to cope with all of the responsibility. Early in her tenure, Prince Charming tried to seduce her, but she refused him, threatening to send her husband after him if he tried again. It is notable that Beauty realized, as a result of remarks made by Prince Charming during this seduction attempt, that her actions and words toward her husband were not generally as kind as she herself perceived; she subsequently resolved to be nicer to Beast.
After the arrival in Fabletown of the Imperial Emissary, Lord Hansel, during the Sons of Empire story-arc, and the subsequent need to keep track of both him and his staff, Beast asked for, and was given, additional funding and manpower, plus was later assigned zephyrs, provided by Bigby Wolf's father, the North Wind, to act as spies. During the war against the Empire, as depicted in the War and Pieces arc, Beast remained 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, both ask Frau Totenkinder what it is she's knitting. When she answers she's knitting a garment for their firstborn child. To which Beauty laughs saying she's not even expecting, to which Frau answered "All things in time" and then offered to show them the progress of her knitting. Upon hearing them agree, she presented them a cute light greenish-blue footed pajamas with a lion head sewn on the front. In addition that the footed pajamas had four arms, two legs, and a place for a tail, indicating that their child might be a monster or at least have Beast's transformation problem. Upon seeing her work, this left both Beast and Beauty flabbergasted.
However, Frau's predication is shown to be possible. As shown in the Great Fables Cross Over, after having a brief argument with Beast about his behavior with Bigby, Beauty and her husband are shown in their tent together having make up sex. While Beast was very happy from it, Beauty herself couldn't help but feel that there was something more special about and perhaps magical. Later on in a next issue, she's revealed to be pregnant. The child is a couple of week premature, but Beauty comes with the birth with a few complications. The child, a little girl is named Bliss and appeared to be born normal. However, as Frau had predicted, sometime later it is shown that when she becomes angry, she undergoes a transformation into a six limbed, tailed beast.
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
"Old King Cole" is an English nursery rhyme. The historical identity of King Cole has been much debated and several candidates have been advanced as possibilities...
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. However, 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-handling 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.
Briar Rose
Better known as Sleeping BeautySleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
, Briar Rose was Prince Charming's second wife. She escaped from the Homelands with close to nothing, but a blessing received on her christening day, which promised that she'd always be wealthy, came to her rescue, and she rapidly gained great wealth through successful speculation on the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
. As such, she lives in a luxurious apartment filled with expensive furniture and decoration. Her curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
, however, remains in effect, with the slightest prick of her finger leading to 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. Its 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 inoccent 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 ransacked his apartment. However 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. So we presume 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
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s.
It is revealed in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
that Briar Rose and Cinderella share the same fairy godmother. Cinderella's Fairy Godmother had three other sisters, whom blessed Briar Rose and it was Cinderella's Fairy Godmother who directed Prince Charming to Briar Rose. It has also been revealed that Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
was the Fairy Godmother's enemy who often ruined her spells and was the one who cursed Briar Rose with her sleep spell. It is unknown if Briar knew it was Frau who cursed her.
Cinderella
Prince Charming's third wife, CinderellaCinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
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
Ichabod Crane is a fictional character in Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, first published in 1820.-Origin:...
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
Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
.
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.
Kay
Once a captive of the Snow QueenThe Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is a fairy tale by author Hans Christian Andersen . The tale was first published in 1845, and centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by a little boy and girl, Kai and Gerda....
, Kay is now grown and living in New York, away from Fabletown itself. Its 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. Currently, he has been drained of life energy and turned into a witherling by Mister Dark. 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 a 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 twenty-first century Mundy American justice point of view). After seeing the "bad" in The Adversary, he gouged his eyes out again. Soon afterward, he was killed by Mr. Dark.
Doctor Swineheart
One of The Three Army SurgeonsThe Three Army Surgeons
The Three Army Surgeons is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale about 3 traveling army surgeons who perform surgery on themselves to impress an innkeeper. After removing the organs, they will put them back in the morning. One cuts off his hand, one cuts out his heart and one removes his own eyes...
from the Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
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
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
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. Oddly she insists that she must carry the pregnancy to term because of duty to society rather than to herself, although it is unclear why she thinks that society is improved by her children.
Trusty John
The doorman at the Woodland building, Trusty JohnTrusty John
Trusty John, Faithful John, Faithful Johannes, or John the True is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 6, and by Joseph Jacobs in his European Folk and Fairy Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 516. Others of this type are...
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.
Bufkin
A winged monkey from the OzLand of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
tales, Bufkin acts as Fabletown's librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
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 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
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
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.
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 GruffThree Billy Goats Gruff
Three Billy Goats Gruff is a Norwegian fairy tale. The fairy tale was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr, first published between 1841 and 1844...
and quite possibly many other tales where a troll features. His has possession of an expensive glamour spell. He has been shown to assume troll form for battle. During the Fall of Fabletown due 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.
Hobbes
Originally butlerButler
A butler 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 also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
to Bluebeard, Hobbes the goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
stayed on to work for Prince Charming 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 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. Willingham said that his name was taken from Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
and that he chose it because he was amused by a character who symbolizes order being named after a philosopher who wrote about the difficulty of maintaining order. It is also, of course, a pun on the word Hobgoblin
Hobgoblin
Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to describe a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie Court.The most commonly known hobgoblin is the character Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck, however, is only another name given to a much older character named Robin...
. 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.
Mrs. Sprat
Mrs. SpratJack Sprat
"Jack Sprat" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19479.-Lyrics:The most common modern version of the rhyme is:...
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 often regarded as a rather ugly and grumpy individual, which does her no good in a community filled with beautiful men and women. She is often nagging at Bigby Wolf for smoking inside the hospital. She was later seen complaining to Mayor Charming that he was behind in financing the hospital and was also invited to Snow and Bigby's wedding. 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 any of 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 becomes impatient with her transformation and asks Mr. Dark to speed up the process, however painful it may be. While Mrs. Sprat is screaming and writhing in pain, Mr. Dark transforms her into a beautiful, young woman in a black dress. Mr. Dark then leaves to deal with the Fables, and promises to summon Mrs. Sprat to his side so that she will be there to 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. However, Mr. Dark is killed by Mr. North, the North Wind, before any of his plans are carried through. In the story arc Inherit the Wind, it is revealed that Mrs. Sprat's first name is Leigh. She now prefers to go by her maiden name Douglas, since the name Sprat is from a dead past.
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 thirteenth century and that, when plied with alcohol, he's prone to singing and uttering prophecies; it's 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 Sir Lancelot, who has pledged his service to Flycatcher, as well as knighted Ambrose to become the Once and Future King.
- Cock RobinCock Robin"Who Killed Cock Robin" is an English nursery rhyme, which has been much used as a murder archetype in world culture. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 494.-Lyrics:...
: Was killed by another bird fable during the Farm revolt. Cock Robin's death in the mundane world was final, in spite of reader confusion which suggests that he came back at the end of the 'Animal Farm' story-arc. Mark Buckingham has pointed out that the second robin that appeared later on in that arc was a different robin, and not Cock Robin himself. However, it is unclear if Cock Robin was one of the bird spirits that joined Flycatcher's kingdom the story-arc 'The Good Prince' (as several of the fables killed in revolt at the Farm were shown to, their bodies presumably having been committed to the witching well for disposal.). His appearance in the series is quite controversial, since he only appeared in one nursery rhyme Who Killed Cock Robin ... a story in which we learn he had already been killed even before the very start of the nursery rhyme. - Jack KetchJack KetchJohn Ketch was an infamous English executioner employed by King Charles II. An immigrant of Irish extraction, he became famous through the way he performed his duties during the tumults of the 1680s, when he was often mentioned in broadsheet accounts that circulated throughout the Kingdom of...
: The executioner who killed Dun and Posey Pig after the revolution at the Farm. Willingham has said that he is not necessarily the historical figure; in Fabletown, "Jack Ketch" is used as a generic term for an executioner, and thus could be one of many such possible fictional characters - possibly like "our" Jack Ketch that Prince Charming threatened to fetch to kill and eat Bufkin or the incredibly incompetent executioner who killed Jack in Jack O'Lantern in Jack of FablesJack of FablesJack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
. - Edmond DantèsEdmond DantèsEdmond Dantès is the protagonist and title character of Alexandre Dumas, père's novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.Dumas may have gotten the idea for the character of Edmond from a story which he found in a book compiled by Jacques Peuchet, archivist to the French police. Peuchet related the tale of...
: Better known by his famous alias of 'The Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
', Edmond owns and runs Fabletown's Chateau d'IfChâteau d'IfThe Château d'If is a fortress located on the island of If, the smallest island in the Frioul Archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea about a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille in southeastern France...
Fencing Academy. He can often be found in the Branstock Tavern. - Crow brothersThe Twelve BrothersThe Twelve Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 9. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds...
: Joel, Vulco, and Ephram Crow are the three survivors of the original twelve brothersThe Twelve BrothersThe Twelve Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 9. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451, the brothers who were turned into birds...
. 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 mirrorSnow White"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
, who 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 Snow QueenThe Snow QueenThe Snow Queen is a fairy tale by author Hans Christian Andersen . The tale was first published in 1845, and centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by a little boy and girl, Kai and Gerda....
. - ThrushbeardKing ThrushbeardKing Thrushbeard is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 52.It is Aarne-Thompson type 900.-Synopsis:A beautiful, but spoiled, rude, and shallow princess criticizes all her suitors because she is too proud. She is impressed with the last of her suitors, but her pride will not...
: 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 WolfThe Boy Who Cried WolfThe 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', meaning to give a false alarm.-The fable and its history:...
, mentioned by Jack HornerJack Horner (Fables)Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
during the March of the Wooden Soldiers story arc - Little Miss MuffetLittle Miss Muffet"Little Miss Muffet" is a nursery rhyme, one of the most commonly printed in the mid-twentieth century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20605.-Lyrics:-Alternative Lyrics:...
: 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 MonsterFrankenstein's monsterFrankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...
: Was animated by Nazis during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Bigby fought the monster (in a reference to the 1943 film Frankenstein Meets the Wolf ManFrankenstein Meets the Wolf ManFrankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, released in 1943, is an American monster horror film produced by Universal Studios starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of "ensemble" monster films combining characters from several film...
) 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, PinocchioPinocchio (Fables)Pinocchio is a character in the comic book series Fables. The wooden boy magically brought to life in the story by Carlo Collodi, he was among those Fables who fled to the mundane world and formed a community in New York City.-Personality:...
can be seen reading the FrankensteinFrankensteinFrankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
novel. - The Goose That Laid the Golden EggsThe Goose That Laid the Golden EggsKilling The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs is among the best known of Aesop's Fables and use of the phrase has become idiomatic of an unprofitable action motivated by greed.-The story and its moral:...
: 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. - ShylockShylockShylock is a fictional character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.-In the play:In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is a Jewish moneylender who lends money to his Christian rival, Antonio, setting the security at a pound of Antonio's flesh...
: 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 The Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
. It seems that Shylock still works with money in some unspecified manner. - Jack SpratJack Sprat"Jack Sprat" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19479.-Lyrics:The most common modern version of the rhyme is:...
, killed off-screen by Ghost during The Mean Seasons story arc. He is also mentioned in the Jack of FablesJack of FablesJack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
story Jack O' Lantern. - Barbara Allen, the character of a folksong. She was accidentally killed by Ghost.
- Jill - the Jill from Jack and Jill (not to be confused with the Lilliputian who helps Jack steal some of Bluebeard's fortune). Jack phones her before going to Hollywood. It is unknown if she lives in Fabletown.
- 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. To date, he is still asleep together with Mrs. Someone who acted as Briar Rose's magical guardian.
- The Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick-MakerRub-a-dub-dub"Rub-A-Dub-Dub" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3101.-Lyrics:This rhyme exists in many variations. Among those current today is:The earliest versions of this rhyme published differ significantly in their wording...
, who 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 VillageGolden Boughs Retirement VillageThe Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
, claims that they are spies of Mr. Revise. It is unknown which trio is the "real one". - Bean NigheBean NigheThe bean nighe , is a Scottish fairy, seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of bean sìth .-Legends:...
: According to the map of Fabletown, printed in the Wolves trade paperback, Ford Laundry is run by "the washer woman at the Ford". - Col. Thunderfoot, a rabbit colonel who was cursed to remain a human until a female rabbit could love him back. Bill Willingham cites Watership DownWatership DownWatership Down is a classic heroic fantasy novel, written by English author Richard Adams, about a small group of rabbits. Although the animals in the story live in their natural environment, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language , proverbs, poetry, and mythology...
as the inspiration for this character. - RapunzelRapunzel"Rapunzel" is a German fairy tale in the collection assembled by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. The Grimm Brothers' story is an adaptation of the fairy tale Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force originally published in 1698...
: Cursed by Frau Totenkinder (apparently for displeasing her by being a 'slutty little girl'), Rapunzel's hair is constantly growing, at a rate of four inches an hour, so she has to live under the most restrictive conditions of any of the city Fables, to prevent any mundanes from noticing the fast growth. 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 unknown if she realizes Totenkinder is the witch that cursed her. It's revealed in Cinderella: From Fabletown with LoveCinderella: From Fabletown With LoveCinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
that Cinderella's Fairy Godmother showed Rapunzel's prince the way to the tower she was kept in, mainly to spite Frau Totenkinder. - Fair KatrineljeFair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-PoltrieFair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales as tale 131. A nonsense tale, it was introduced into the first edition as number 45 of the second volume....
, who 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.
- Crispin Cordwainer, the famous shoemaker of The Elves and the ShoemakerThe Elves and the ShoemakerThe Elves and the Cobbler or The Shoemaker and the Elves is an often copied and re-made story about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from elves....
, named for St. Crispin, 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 LoveCinderella: From Fabletown With LoveCinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
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) can't take the shoes off and it's exhausting them. This causes the angry women to go on strike 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".
Thirteenth Floor Fables
These are the spellcaster Fables who live on the 13th floor of the Woodlands building.Ozma
OzmaPrincess Ozma
Princess Ozma is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the series except the first, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and L...
, 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.
Great Fairy Witch
The former leader of the 13th floor who has gone a little crazy. She is the witch from ThumbelinaThumbelina
"Thumbelina" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Traveling Companion" in the second installment of Fairy Tales Told for Children. "Thumbelina" is about a tiny girl and...
, 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 catCat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
with a demon tail who has appeared in a few panels with Frau Totenkinder. 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. She has been revealed to be both Sycorax
Sycorax
Sycorax is a character mentioned though not seen in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.Sycorax may also refer to:*Sycorax , a moon of Uranus, named after the fictional character...
from The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
and Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
from Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. Maddy seems to be second in command to Ozma, the same way that Ozma herself was always second to Totenkinder.
Mr. Grandours
A wizard king who can turn into a bearBear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
. His name is French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for "large bear". He may or may not be the title character from the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
fairy tale The Wizard King
The Wizard King
The Wizard King is a French fairy tale collected in Les fees illustres. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book. It is also a comic book trilogy by Wally Wood.-Synopsis:...
(from Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang was a Scots 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 of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...
's The Yellow Fairy Book), about a shapeshifting wizard king.
The local Imperial Governor instructed Mr. Grandours to guard a tower, filled with various treasures, including the magic barleycorns. He helped John Barleycorn and Arrow retrieve the jar and joined Fabletown
Fabletown
Fabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
. 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
Boy Blue (Fables)
Boy Blue is a major character in the Vertigo comic book series Fables. He is based on the nursery rhyme character Little Boy Blue. At the beginning of the series, he is portrayed as an efficient but meek office clerk helping Snow White run Fabletown; however, he has a colorful and violent history...
and Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a major character in the comic book series Fables. He is the Big Bad Wolf of legend and served as the sheriff of the exile community known as Fabletown for several hundred years...
when they were almost killed by a magic arrow.
Mrs. Someone
A witch who stayed with Briar Rose and Hakim during the takeover of Calabri Anagni, the Imperial capital of the Fable HomelandsHomelands (Fables)
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
. Her true name is still unknown as she keeps it a secret "tucked away where no fell power can discern it." Mrs. Someone and Hakim chose to stay with Briar Rose until the end and fell under Briar's sleeping spell. 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.
Prospero
Protagonist of William ShakespeareWilliam 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"...
's play The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
. He 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 most likely derives from the magic phrase abracadabraAbracadabra
Abracadabra is an incantation used as a magic word in stage magic tricks, and historically was believed to have healing powers when inscribed on an amulet...
. He has recently been killed by an unknown assailant in the first issue of Cinderella: Fables Are Forever.
"The Green Witch"
She is the witch with the long dark hair and and a beauty mark on her face. Her real name has not been revealed; "the Green Witch" was a humorous nickname given to her while she was part of the "super team" put together to defeat Mister Dark. She has the power to fly. Bill WillinghamBill Willingham
Bill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...
has implied that she may be Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay , alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician...
from the saga of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, or 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"...
's Queen Mab
Queen Mab
Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. She also appears in other 17th century literature, and in various guises in later poetry, drama and cinema...
.
Rose Red
Snow White’s sister, ex-girlfriend of Jack HornerJack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, brief fiancée of Bluebeard, and brief wife of Sinbad. For centuries, Rose
Rose Red
Rose Red is a character in the fairy tale Snow-White and Rose-Red, recorded by the Brothers Grimm. She is the sister of Snow-White, not to be confused with Snow White...
'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. Rose seems to have stopped smoking as well. 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 story-arc, Rose married Sinbad, but immediately divorced him on account of her despair over Boy Blue's post-war condition. She attempted to revive her romantic relationship with Boy Blue in his last moments, but was denied by Blue himself, with him stating that she goes out with 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 immediate death, Rose descended heavily into self-loathing and depression, refusing to leave her bed for any reason. She reunited briefly with Jack on her descent toward rock-bottom, believing that she somehow deserved someone as terrible as Jack. After reconciling her past Rose eventually decided 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'll 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 took 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's the job of everyone to fix their own problems instead of waiting for Blue to return and fix everything. While its not been said, Rose does feel guilty for divorcing her husband, as Colin pointed 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.
Weyland Smith
Based on Wayland the Smith, a figure in Germanic mythologyGermanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
, 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. Originally intending to leave the Farm, 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 ultimately 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.
The Three (or Four) Little Pigs
The "original" Three Little PigsThree Little Pigs
Three Little Pigs is a fairy tale featuring anthropomorphic animals. Printed versions date back to the 1840s, but the story itself is thought to be much older...
, 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
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
Fables, Lonny, Donny and Johnny, who had been kept sedated for centuries due to the impossibility in 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. 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 any more 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 prophesized 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".
It should be noted that recently since Fables: Rose Red, that the spiritual guide they thought was Colin Pig may not be after all. It is 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, takes the form of her and Snow White's mother, it is also noted that the spirit knew things about her and Snow that they never told others. Such as calling her by her child pet names and explains that their mother and the king (from Snow White and Rose Red) the father of Prince Brandish, were the ones behind Snow's separation from her family. When Rose realizes that Snow was not to blame for all her grief and for that matter she needed to move on, she looks to her "mother's" spirit and tells her to stop trying to fool her. She now could see that this being was neither Boy Blue, Colin, or her mother and asks to show her its real form. To which it replies to her request, and shows Rose her true form. Although its form is never seen, it is seen that Rose is bathed in a golden light, and that this form impresses and shocks her.
The final issue of the Super Team story arc reveals that the mysterious being is Hope, from the story of Pandora
Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts...
and Pandora's box
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora , which contained all the evils of the world. When Pandora opened the jar, all its contents except for one item...
. 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.
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 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 decept as a stereotype of lovable rogueLovable rogue
The lovable rogue is a literary trope in the form of a character, often from a dysfunctional or working-class upbringing, who tends to recklessly defy norms and social conventions but who still evokes empathy from the audience or other characters. The lovable rogue is male and is often trying to...
. 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.
Brock Blueheart ("Stinky")
A badgerBadger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
who may or may not be the same character as Mr. Badger from The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England...
(who appears in the Fables graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall
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....
). 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). After Boy Blue's death, Brock and some of the Farm Fables have gone somewhat delusional (mostly because of Brock's rants) believing he'll be resurrected and become some sort of Messiah. Thus as Clara has stated, started a cult of sorts. This becomes more riotous during the Great Fable Crossover when Jack and Rose Red have loud sex. Brock, very unaware how Rose was before she came to the Farm, believed that Rose was Blue's true love and insanely thought Jack was Boy Blue's reincarnation and even made him wear a blue scarf. He even gets the other animal Fables to attack Jack Frost (Jack's son) believing him to be bad. Despite Beauty's best and easiest attempts to explain Red's troubled past, Brock and the others quickly turn on her and try to hurt her and Jack. While Red is hidden safely at Wolf Manor, Jack returns to the Farm only to be kicked out by Brock and the others. 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, but later provides his support for Rose when she recovers from her depression.
Peter Piper
From the famous tongue twister Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled PepperPeter Piper
"Peter Piper" is an English language nursery rhyme and well-known tongue twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19745.-Lyrics:Common modern versions include:-External links:* at Project Gutenberg...
, the nursery rhyme Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater
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:...
, and the tale of Peter and the Wolf
Peter and the Wolf
Peter and the Wolf , Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story , spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra....
. One of the titular characters in Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel is a 2009 prose novel based on the comic book Fables, written by series creator Bill Willingham; Steve Leialoha provided illustrations.The book was released by Vertigo on October 7, 2009...
, and younger brother to Max, The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...
. When the adversary invaded Peter's Fable Homeland
Homelands (Fables)
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
of Hesse, he was forced to make a living as a thief in the homelands version of Hamelin
Hamelin
Hamelin 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 58,696 ....
. He and his wife, Bo Peep
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:As with most products of oral tradition, there are many variations to the rhyme...
, eventually managed to escape to Fabletown
Fabletown
Fabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
and the mundane world, where they settled in on the Farm. Peter is a flutist, and the holder to the magic flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
Frost, and he is also in Boy Blue
Boy Blue (Fables)
Boy Blue is a major character in the Vertigo comic book series Fables. He is based on the nursery rhyme character Little Boy Blue. At the beginning of the series, he is portrayed as an efficient but meek office clerk helping Snow White run Fabletown; however, he has a colorful and violent history...
's band. In addition to his main appearance in Peter and Max, Peter is mentioned in part 2 of The Ballad of Rodney and June, and both he and his wife 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
Dryad
Dryads are tree nymphs in Greek mythology. In Greek drys signifies 'oak,' from an Indo-European root *derew- 'tree' or 'wood'. Thus Dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, though the term has come to be used for all tree nymphs in general...
s are enjoying the falling snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
.
Other Farm characters
- Chicken Little: A Farm resident prone to panic attacks.
- Puss in BootsPuss in Boots'Puss' is a character in the fairy tale "The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots" by Charles Perrault. The tale was published in 1697 in his Histoires ou Contes du temps passé...
, or The Marquis De Carabas, an orange catCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
who plays the fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
. He became a spy for Cindy in exchange that Cindy would someday help him reclaim his lost estates. - Dickory, the mouseMouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
from Hickory Dickory DockHickory Dickory Dock"Hickory Dickory Dock" or "Hickety Dickety Dock" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6489.-Lyrics:The most common modern version is:Hickory, dickory, dock,The mouse ran up the clock....
. He appeared briefly in the Animal Farm storyarc, before appearing in Cinderella: From Fabletown with LoveCinderella: From Fabletown With LoveCinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
. 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. - Clock from Hickory Dickory DockHickory Dickory Dock"Hickory Dickory Dock" or "Hickety Dickety Dock" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6489.-Lyrics:The most common modern version is:Hickory, dickory, dock,The mouse ran up the clock....
, seen during the Animal Farm story arc - The Cow who Jumped over the MoonHey Diddle Diddle"Hey Diddle Diddle" is an English nursery rhyme...
. 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 arrowArrowAn arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
s in the war between FabletownFabletownFabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
and the Empire, but recovered. - The MoonHey Diddle Diddle"Hey Diddle Diddle" is an English nursery rhyme...
, much smaller and nearer than Earth's moonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, explaining how the cow is able to leap over it. - The Dish and the SpoonHey Diddle Diddle"Hey Diddle Diddle" is an English nursery rhyme...
- The Cheshire CatCheshire CatThe Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.-Origins:...
, briefly seen during the Animal Farm story arc. Also mentioned in the Fables spin-off Cinderella: Fables Are Forever. - Br'er RabbitBr'er RabbitBr'er Rabbit is a central figure in the Uncle Remus stories of the Southern United States. He is a trickster character who succeeds by his wits rather than by brawn, tweaking authority figures and bending social mores as he sees fit...
, one of the “Br’er Group”, which actively sided with the revolutionaries during the Farm revolt - Br’er BearBr'er Fox and Br'er BearBr'er Fox and Br'er Bear are fictional characters from the Uncle Remus folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris....
: During the farm revolt, he led one of the teams hunting for Reynard the Fox - The bespectacledGlassesGlasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
alligatorAlligatorAn alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
seen in several stories has been identified by Bill WillinghamBill WillinghamBill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...
as Br’er Gator, or "Brer Gater", as he is referred to in Joel Chandler HarrisJoel Chandler HarrisJoel Chandler Harris was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Harris was born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his teenage years...
' stories of Uncle RemusUncle RemusUncle Remus is a fictional character, the title character and fictional narrator of a collection of African American folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris, published in book form in 1881...
. - White RabbitWhite RabbitThe White Rabbit works for the Red Queen, but is also a secret member of the Underland Underground Resistance, and was sent by the Hatter to search for Alice...
- The Three Blind MiceThree Blind MiceThree Blind Mice is an English nursery rhyme and musical round. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3753.-Lyrics:The modern words are:-Variations and uses:Amateur music composer Thomas Oliphant noted in 1843 that:...
, Leland, Thaddeus and Prescott, who are often out on their own adventures. When the AdversaryGeppetto (Fables)Geppetto is a major character, albeit one that's rarely seen, in the comic book series Fables, written by Bill Willingham and published by DC Comics as part of the Vertigo imprint....
invaded their homeland, they took part in an expedition to gather food gather food for their beloved King, Old King Cole, who was near death from starvation. They succeeded, but where caught stealing by the farmer’s wife, who cut off their tails with a carving knife. - The Tortoise and the HareThe Tortoise and the HareThe Tortoise and the Hare is a fable attributed to Aesop and is number 226 in the Perry Index. The story concerns a hare who ridicules a slow-moving tortoise and is challenged by him to a race. The hare soon leaves the tortoise behind and, confident of winning, decides to take a nap midway through...
. Jack Horner, having met the revised version of the duo at the Golden Boughs Retirement VillageGolden Boughs Retirement VillageThe Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
, claims that they are spies of Mr. Revise. It is unknown if this is true or not and which duo is actually the "real one". - The Three Billy Goats GruffThree Billy Goats GruffThree Billy Goats Gruff is a Norwegian fairy tale. The fairy tale was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr, first published between 1841 and 1844...
: All three have the first name of William. In the graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall1001 Nights of SnowfallFables: 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....
, it is revealed that they were enchanted by Frau TotenkinderFrau TotenkinderFrau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
, in order to eliminate a bridge troll that was causing problems for a village that won her favor, back in the HomelandsHomelands (Fables)The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
. - The Owl and the PussycatThe Owl and the Pussycat"The Owl and the Pussycat" is a nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published in 1871.- Background :Lear wrote the poem for a three-year-old girl, Janet Symonds, the daughter of Lear's friend poet John Addington Symonds and his wife Catherine Symonds...
, briefly seen during the Animal Farm storyarc - Animated playing cards, from Alice in Wonderland
- Flying monkeys, briefly seen during the Animal Farm story arc and the story Waiting for the Blues (not counting Bufkin, a regular character who lives in FabletownFabletownFabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
). Another winged monkey appears in the Land of EvLand of EvThe Land of Ev is a fictional country in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum and his successors. Its exact location is unclear between text and maps. The Road to Oz states that Ev is to the north of the Land of Oz, and in Ozma of Oz, Princess Ozma of Oz and her procession enter the Munchkin Country and...
in the story arc Inherit the Wind. - The Mean Little Sunflower Kid: A character unnamed in the comic, who has been identified as "The Mean Little Sunflower Kid" by Bill WillinghamBill WillinghamBill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...
- ThumbelinaThumbelina"Thumbelina" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Traveling Companion" in the second installment of Fairy Tales Told for Children. "Thumbelina" is about a tiny girl and...
: 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 ThumbTom ThumbTom Thumb is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621, and has the distinction of being 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, tangling with giants, and becoming a...
, who's been dating Thumbebelina and lives in his own miniature castle - Mr. ToadMr. ToadMr. Toad, Esq., of Toad Hall, is one of the main characters in the novel The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and also the title character of the A. A. Milne play Toad of Toad Hall based on the book.-Character:...
, Mr. Mole and Mr. Badger from The Wind in the WillowsThe Wind in the WillowsThe Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England...
. Mr. Toad was one of the casualties in the war between Fabletown and the Empire, and received a hero's burial. Mr. Mole actively sided with the revolutionaries during the Farm revolt, whereas Mr. Badger appears in the graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall1001 Nights of SnowfallFables: 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....
. He may or may not be the same character as the badgerBadgerBadgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
Brock Blueheart ("Stinky"). - Red CapRedcapA Red Cap or Redcap, also known as a powrie or dunter, is a type of malevolent murderous dwarf, goblin, elf or fairy found in Border Folklore. They are said to inhabit ruined castles found along the border between England and Scotland...
the TrollTrollA troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
, identified by name in the prose story Pinocchio's Army in the Rose Red trade paperback. He is the little goblinGoblinA goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
who appears in several stories, in which he is depicted with the taloned hands, red cap and iron-shod boots of a redcapRedcapA Red Cap or Redcap, also known as a powrie or dunter, is a type of malevolent murderous dwarf, goblin, elf or fairy found in Border Folklore. They are said to inhabit ruined castles found along the border between England and Scotland...
. - BagheeraBagheeraBagheera the black-toned Indian Leopard is an animal fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book...
, Shere KhanShere KhanShere Khan is a fictional tiger of the Indian jungle. He is the chief antagonist in two of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book stories featuring Mowgli. Shere Khan is named after an Afghan Prince Kipling encountered on his trips to Afghanistan...
, KaaKaaKaa is a fictional and exceptionally long Python molurus from the Mowgli stories written by Rudyard Kipling. Kaa is one of Mowgli's mentors and friends. He, Baloo and Bagheera sing for Mowgli "The Outsong" of the jungle. First introduced in the story "Kaa's Hunting" in The Jungle Book, Kaa is a...
, BalooBalooBaloo is the fictional bear featured in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book from 1894 and The Second Jungle Book from 1895.-Name and species:He is described in Kipling's work as "the sleepy brown bear"...
, and King LouieKing LouieKing Louie is a fictional orangutan who kidnaps Mowgli in Disney's 1967 animated musical adaptation of The Jungle Book. He is voiced by Louis Prima in the film and therefore has his same mannerisms...
: Characters from The Jungle BookThe Jungle BookThe Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
(King Louie the orangutanOrangutanOrangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
was in Disney's adaptation, but did not appear in KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
'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 lionLionThe lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
. His lands were shown being taken in the graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall1001 Nights of SnowfallFables: 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....
. He was one of the few who sided with Snow WhiteSnow White (Fables)Snow White is a major character in the comic book series Fables. Her character is based on two myths recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Snow-White and Rose-Red and the more famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.-Early life:...
during the (attempted) Farm revolution. - The Old Woman Who Lived In a ShoeThere was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe"There Was an Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19132.-Lyrics:The most common version of the rhyme is:There was an old woman who lived in a shoe....
: 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 YagaBaba YagaBaba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
's cabin on chicken legs - Clarathea ("Clara"), a dragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
who, for practical purposes, chose to be transformed into a fire-breathing ravenRavenRaven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...
. She is Rose Red's friend and enforcer, and is dating Vulco Crow when he is in bird form. - Johhny, Donny and Lonny, giantGiant (mythology)The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
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 forms, allowing the three to take up their new roles as the new Three Little Pigs. - Winnie the Pooh 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 BlueBoy Blue (Fables)Boy Blue is a major character in the Vertigo comic book series Fables. He is based on the nursery rhyme character Little Boy Blue. At the beginning of the series, he is portrayed as an efficient but meek office clerk helping Snow White run Fabletown; however, he has a colorful and violent history...
tells everyone to move back, and then from behind in the following panel. In addition, it is implied that FabletownFabletownFabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
's Edward Bear's Candy Shop, which specializes in honey-based treats, is run by Winnie the Pooh: Edward Bear is Winnie the Pooh's original name. In the Fables story Around the Town, PinocchioPinocchio (Fables)Pinocchio is a character in the comic book series Fables. The wooden boy magically brought to life in the story by Carlo Collodi, he was among those Fables who fled to the mundane world and formed a community in New York City.-Personality:...
says that he is not sure if a bearBearBears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
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 LilliputLilliput and BlefuscuLilliput and Blefuscu are two fictional island nations that appear in the first part of the 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. The two islands are neighbors in the South Indian Ocean, separated by a channel eight hundred yards wide. Both are inhabited by tiny people who are about...
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 miceMouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
. The Mouse Police are inspired by the song And the Mouse Police Never Sleeps by Jethro TullJethro Tull (band)Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
(from the album Heavy HorsesHeavy HorsesHeavy Horses is the eleventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978. It is considered the second album in a trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull, although folk music's influence is evident on a great number of Jethro Tull releases...
), even though the song is about cats. - John Barleycorn: 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 falconFalconA falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
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 insectInsectInsects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
who lives in a mustardMustard (condiment)Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
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 Johhny Bullhorn and Arrow. - Miss Mousey, and possibly the frog, from the folk song Frog Went A-CourtingFrog Went A-Courting"Frog Went A-Courtin'" is an English language folk song. Its first known appearance is in Wedderburn's Complaynt of Scotland under the name "The frog came to the myl dur", though this in Scots rather than English...
. 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 frogFrogFrogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
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. - Mary and her Lamb: Mary and her lamb 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 Boo Peep, who kept lambs on the Farm.
- Jill, NOT the same Jill of Jack and Jill fame (this is revealed when Jack calls "his Jill" on a pay phone before leaving Fabletown for Hollywood). 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.
- The Little Dog who LaughedHey Diddle Diddle"Hey Diddle Diddle" is an English nursery rhyme...
, identified in the graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall1001 Nights of SnowfallFables: 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.... - Mersey Dotes, now a mermaidMermaidA mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
who escaped the Adversary's aquatic forces and lives in a lake on the Farm. Her name alludes to the song Mairzy DoatsMairzy DoatsMairzy Doats is a novelty song composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston. It was first played on radio station WOR, New York, by Al Trace and his Silly Symphonists. The song made the pop charts several times, with a version by the Merry Macs reaching No. 1 in March 1944...
. - Peter CottontailPeter CottontailPeter Cottontail is a fictional rabbit in the works of Thornton Burgess, an author from Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1910, when Burgess began his Old Mother West Wind series, the cast of animals included Peter Rabbit...
, 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. He and Br'er Wolf tried, unsuccessfully, to catch and murder Peter Cottontail.
- Br'er Wolf
- IncitatusIncitatusIncitatus was the favored horse of Roman emperor Caligula. Its name is a Latin adjective meaning "swift" or "at full gallop".According to Suetonius's Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Incitatus had a stable of marble, with an ivory manger, purple blankets, and a collar of precious stones...
, or "Tate", horseHorseThe horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
and former senator of the Homelands version of RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He appears in the Jack of FablesJack of FablesJack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
story 1883, where he assists BigbyBigby WolfBigby Wolf is a major character in the comic book series Fables. He is the Big Bad Wolf of legend and served as the sheriff of the exile community known as Fabletown for several hundred years...
in tracking down the title character during a flashback sequence set in the Old West. - Jenny Wren, from the poem of Cock Robin’s marriage to Jenny Wren(which includes the nursery rhyme Cock Robin Got Up Early and ends with the classic nursery rhyme Who Killed Cock RobinCock Robin"Who Killed Cock Robin" is an English nursery rhyme, which has been much used as a murder archetype in world culture. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 494.-Lyrics:...
) and the nursery rhyme Jenny Wren Fell Sick. She is one of Cindy's animal spies and is adept at seeming like a mundy wrenWrenThe wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are approximately 80 species of true wrens in approximately 20 genera....
. She hopes to find those who murdered her lost love Robin RedbreastLittle 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 :...
during the Emperor's invasion of her homeland and take revenge. This makes Robin Redbreast a separate character from the Cock Robin in Fables (who was murdered during the Farm revolt), even though in the poem of Cock Robin's marriage to Jenny Wren, they are clearly the same character. - Bo PeepLittle 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:As with most products of oral tradition, there are many variations to the rhyme...
, the woman from the rhyme and wife to Peter Piper. She is also the wife from the nursery rhyme Peter Peter Pumpkin EaterPeter 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:...
. 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 version of HamlinHamelinHamelin 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 58,696 ....
. 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. Both she and her husband also 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 dryads are enjoying falling the snowSnowSnow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
. - 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 GardensPeter Pan in Kensington GardensPeter Pan in Kensington Gardens is a novel by J. M. Barrie, published in 1906; it is one of four major literary works by Barrie featuring the widely known literary character he originated, Peter Pan.-Plot summary:...
. - 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 dryadDryadDryads are tree nymphs in Greek mythology. In Greek drys signifies 'oak,' from an Indo-European root *derew- 'tree' or 'wood'. Thus Dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, though the term has come to be used for all tree nymphs in general...
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.
Goldilocks
The girl who broke into the Three Bears' home and ate their porridge has grown up. Now Goldilocks is a gun-toting Leftist 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 survive her horrendous injuries and she eventually reappeared on the scene in the spin-off series Jack of FablesJack of Fables
Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
as a prisoner of Mr. Revise. She 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. During the Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
spin-off series, Goldilocks 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. Ironically, it was Bookburner's army that shot the revolutionaries down when they finally did arrive. Because Goldilocks had once survived the encounter with Bigby and Snow, it is most likely she survived Bookburner's attack, but that is yet to be determined.
Bluebeard
The former nobleman and serial killer who has reformed, or rather pretended he had, BluebeardBluebeard
"Bluebeard" is a French literary folktale written by Charles Perrault and is one of eight tales by the author first published by Barbin in Paris in January 1697 in Histoires ou Contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives and the...
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 CraneIchabod Crane
Ichabod Crane is a fictional character in Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, first published in 1820.-Origin:...
's main appearance is in Cinderella Libertine, where it is revealed that the former Deputy Mayor lost his job after he sexually harassed Snow White
Snow White (Fables)
Snow White is a major character in the comic book series Fables. Her character is based on two myths recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Snow-White and Rose-Red and the more famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.-Early life:...
and embezzled government funds. After Cinderella exposed him as a likely traitor, Bigby
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a major character in the comic book series Fables. He is the Big Bad Wolf of legend and served as the sheriff of the exile community known as Fabletown for several hundred years...
executed him in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
by bashing him in the head with a headless statue of Napoleon Bonaparte. Flashbacks from Crane's time as Fabletown
Fabletown
Fabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
's Deputy Mayor appear in the story Barleycorn Brides, the story arc Sons of Empire, the Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
story arc 1883, and Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel is a 2009 prose novel based on the comic book Fables, written by series creator Bill Willingham; Steve Leialoha provided illustrations.The book was released by Vertigo on October 7, 2009...
.
Baba Yaga
One of the Adversary's most powerful sorceresses, Baba YagaBaba Yaga
Baba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
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' (people)
The Rus' were a group of Varangians . According to the Primary Chronicle of Rus, compiled in about 1113 AD, the Rus had relocated from the Baltic region , first to Northeastern Europe, creating an early polity which finally came under the leadership of Rurik...
, 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 Snow Queen
A sorceress of great power, Lumi (FinnishFinnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
for "snow"), better known as the Snow Queen
The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is a fairy tale by author Hans Christian Andersen . The tale was first published in 1845, and centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by a little boy and girl, Kai and Gerda....
, is the commander of the Emperor's personal guard.
According to Jack Horner
Jack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, 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
Jack Frost is a sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. There, he is known as Jokul Frosti . In Britain and United States, Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and...
, 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
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
, 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.
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's 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 GretelHansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...
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
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
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, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
, 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.
The Nome King
The much feared Nome KingNome King
The Nome King is a fictional character in L. Frank Baum's Oz books. Although the Wicked Witch of the West is the most famous of Oz's villains , the Nome King is the closest the book series has to a main antagonist.-In the novels:The character called the Nome King is originally named Roquat the Red...
, from L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's tales of the land of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
, is the current ruler of that land, conquered relatively early in the Adversary's campaign, 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.
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 foodFood
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
and sleep
Sleep
Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...
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 (Fables)
Pinocchio is a character in the comic book series Fables. The wooden boy magically brought to life in the story by Carlo Collodi, he was among those Fables who fled to the mundane world and formed a community in New York City.-Personality:...
, 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
Young Republicans
The Young Republicans is an organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization and chapters in individual states....
). 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
Snow White (Fables)
Snow White is a major character in the comic book series Fables. Her character is based on two myths recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Snow-White and Rose-Red and the more famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.-Early life:...
and the nick-of-time appearance by Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a major character in the comic book series Fables. He is the Big Bad Wolf of legend and served as the sheriff of the exile community known as Fabletown for several hundred years...
, 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.
Max Piper
The Pied Piper of HamelinThe Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...
, and the antagonist of Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel is a 2009 prose novel based on the comic book Fables, written by series creator Bill Willingham; Steve Leialoha provided illustrations.The book was released by Vertigo on October 7, 2009...
. He was elder brother to Peter Piper
Peter Piper
"Peter Piper" is an English language nursery rhyme and well-known tongue twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19745.-Lyrics:Common modern versions include:-External links:* at Project Gutenberg...
, and a sorcerer powerful enough to face Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
in her place of power (Fabletown). 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, also sealing bargains with otherworldly powers. In exchange for the location of Ice 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 Peter and exile, Max returned even more powerful, intent on killing his brother. In the early 20th Century, he cast a curse that increased the lethality of the Spanish Flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
, 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
Hamelin 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 58,696 ....
at the hands of his brother, Peter Piper. Max has a brief flashback appearance in the graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall
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....
and is referred to in issue 89 (Witches story arc).
Mister Dark
A mysterious and extremely powerful entity with chalk white skin and black hair. 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 boogyman. Other names for him are The DullahanDullahan
The Irish dullahan is a type of unseelie fairie. It is headless, usually seen riding a black horse and carrying his or her head under one arm. The head's eyes are massive and constantly dart about like flies, while the mouth is constantly in a hideous grin that touches both sides of the head...
, The Khokhan, The Buse, Mörkö, The Dunganga, The Abo Ragl Ma Slokha, Burned man, the lake man, Buback and the Torbalan 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 kingdom of Ultima Thule. The usurper eventually turned out to be Cinderella's fairy godmotherFairy 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...
, 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. The story also reveals that Briar Rose and Cinderella share the same fairy godmother. She had three sisters, whom blessed Briar Rose, and it was the Fairy Godmother who directed Prince Charming to her. It has also been revealed that Frau Totenkinder was the Fairy Godmother's enemy who often ruined her spells and was the one who cursed Briar Rose with her sleep spell. The Fairy Godmother also showed Rapunzel's prince the way to the tower that Frau kept her in, mainly to spite Frau.
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy GaleDorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
was first seen in flashbacks during the Fables: Legends in Exile story arc, while fleeing the Adversary's forces. She later cropped up in Jack of Fables, as one of the many Fable prisoners at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village
Golden Boughs Retirement Village
The Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
. Dorothy's story is finally 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’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
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
, killed the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
in exchange for a trip back home. She had already killed the Wicked Witch of the East
Wicked Witch of the East
The Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his Oz series of books....
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
Good Witch of the North
The Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the elderly and mild-mannered Ruler of the Gillikin Country...
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 explained to her about the powers of the magic slippers, Dorothy used them to fly home to the Homelands
Homelands (Fables)
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
version of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. To her great despair, the slippers fell off over the Deadly Desert
Deadly Desert
The Deadly Desert is the magical desert that completely surrounds the fictional Land of Oz. On maps, the Eastern quadrant of the desert is called the Deadly Desert, while the other three quadrants of desert are called the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste.The desert...
of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
.
Dorothy and a few of her friends, the Tin Woodman
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
, the Cowardly Lion
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
and Toto made it into the mundy world in the year of 1943. They had fled from Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
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". 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. The two had several violent encounters over the years, until Cindy almost finished Dorothy off in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
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
Golden Boughs Retirement Village
The Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
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
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 coming to live in Oz permanently...
), Bungle, the Glass Cat
Glass Cat
Bungle, the Glass Cat is a character in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum.Bungle first appears in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, the seventh of Baum's fourteen Oz books. The magician Dr. Pipt tests his Powder of Life by animating an ornamental glass cat figurine, for the specific purpose of catching mice...
and a Chiss to assist her in her plan for revenge.
When Mr. Kadabra is mysteriously killed by an unknown assailant, all signs pointed to Cinderella's archnemesis from the old. Cindy sets out to find her, aided by Ivan Durak
Ivan the Fool
Ivan the Fool or Ivan the Ninny is a character used in Russian folklore, a very simple-minded, but nevertheless lucky young man. Ivan is described as a likeable fair-haired and blue-eyed youth....
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), 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.
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 SideUpper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
; 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
Paper Trail
Paper Trail is the sixth studio album by American hip hop artist T.I., released September 30, 2008 on Grand Hustle Records and Atlantic Records. He began to write songs for the album as he awaited trial for federal weapons and possession charges...
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
Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
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
Golden Boughs Retirement Village
The Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
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 VillageGolden Boughs Retirement Village
The Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
is also home to a man known as the Pathetic Fallacy
Pathetic fallacy
The pathetic fallacy, anthropomorphic fallacy or sentimental fallacy is the treatment of inanimate objects as if they had human feelings, thought, or sensations. The pathetic fallacy is a special case of the fallacy of reification...
, although he comes to prefer being called Gary, who has the powers of that concept. His precise status at the facility is somewhat unclear; while he does Revise's bidding, appears to have his trust and carries out a number of minor staff duties, he is 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 is the father of Kevin Thorn and grandfather to Revise, although he appears to only be aware of this on occasion.
The Pathetic Fallacy is currently travelling with Jack Horner, taking on the role of his sidekick. He is somewhat naive and frequently confused, although he has 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.
Mr. Revise
Mr. Revise is in overall charge of the Golden Boughs Retirement VillageGolden Boughs Retirement Village
The Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
. 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 is the son of Kevin Thorn 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 (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
. He had been close to accomplishing that before the Fabletown
Fabletown
Fabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
refugees made their way to this mundane world.
Tying in to Revise's intention to destroy magic, The Golden Bough was originally written by Sir James Frazer 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's also pointed out that he's 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 directly as the senior librarians of the Golden Boughs Retirement VillageGolden Boughs Retirement Village
The Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
, each with their own speciality. Robin Page is in charge of security, training the tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
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
Jack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, 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's hideout ahead of Snow White
Snow White (Fables)
Snow White is a major character in the comic book series Fables. Her character is based on two myths recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Snow-White and Rose-Red and the more famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.-Early life:...
and Bigby
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a major character in the comic book series Fables. He is the Big Bad Wolf of legend and served as the sheriff of the exile community known as Fabletown for several hundred years...
. 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
Deus ex machina
A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
) - however, Robin seems to be able to communicate with a stone lion at the end of Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
(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
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, 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
Fabletown
Fabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
. 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 fired his cannon at Priscilla, the Tin Man killed Robin by firing a laser through her chest with his tin cannon, and the Cowardly Lion bit Priscilla's head off.
The New Jack Frost - "Jack Two" or "Jack Too"
His real name is Evelyn-Lawrence-Pinder-Shinks-Cobblepewter, as it can be heard 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 of 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 or 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 VillageGolden Boughs Retirement Village
The Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
.
The Genres
A group of Literals who are the embodiment of the different genres found in story telling. The known genres are:- WesternWestern (genre)The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, who looks like John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
. He can sense Bigby's actions, because they both are sheriffs. He likes to play cards (possibly poker) alone. - BlockbusterBlockbuster (entertainment)Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
, a dimwitted, musclebound commando who can sense when explosions happen. He resembles Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
. - MysteryMystery fictionMystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
, a very silent woman whose face is always covered by a black veil. - HorrorHorror fictionHorror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
, a terrifying little girl. She can even scare Kevin Thorne. - RomanceRomance novelThe romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
, a beautiful red head. - Science-Fiction, twin brother to his sister Fantasy
- FantasyFantasyFantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, an elvenElfAn elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
woman with pointy ears - Super-hero, younger brother of Science-Fiction and Fantasy. Known to be constantly dying and resurrected (like Western).
- LiteratureLiteratureLiterature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, who holds the others in contempt. - NoirHardboiledHardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
, who looks and acts like Sam Spade as portrayed by Humphry Bogart. 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. - ComedyComedyComedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, who looks and acts like Groucho MarxGroucho MarxJulius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
. He makes no difference between "a muse" and "amuse". - WarWarWar is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
, who looks and acts like a soldier from World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
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 MachinaDeus ex machinaA deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
, the Literal embodiement 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 wallFourth wallThe fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, 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. 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 VillageGolden Boughs Retirement VillageThe Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
. - Foreshadowing: Little is known about Foreshadowing but that she is a female, though is mentioned by Revise after escaping the Golden Boughs.
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 the 15th of 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 the 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 TailorThe Valiant Little TailorThe Valiant Little Tailor or The Brave Little Tailor is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 20. Joseph Jacobs collected another variant A Dozen at One Blow in European Folk and Fairy Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book...
, identified through the text on his clothes, which says, "seven at one stroke". He was killed by goblins early in the battle. In addition, his name can seen on one of Kevin Thorn’s books in the Jack of FablesJack of FablesJack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
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 trollTrollA troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
or giantGiant (mythology)The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
. Not by the dozens or the hundreds." He was finally killed when the enemy set a dragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
against him. - Herman Von Starkenfaust, from Washington IrvingWashington IrvingWashington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
's short story The Spectre Bridegroom. According to Boy BlueBoy Blue (Fables)Boy Blue is a major character in the Vertigo comic book series Fables. He is based on the nursery rhyme character Little Boy Blue. At the beginning of the series, he is portrayed as an efficient but meek office clerk helping Snow White run Fabletown; however, he has a colorful and violent history...
, he turned out not being a ghost after all. - BritomartBritomartisBritomartis , was the Minoan goddess of mountains and hunting. She is among the Minoan goddess figures that passed through the Mycenaeans' culture into classical Greek mythology, with transformations that are unclear in both transferrals...
: 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 HoodRobin HoodRobin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
), aka "LoxleyLoxley, South YorkshireLoxley is a village and a suburb of the city of Sheffield. It is a long linear community which stretches by the side of the River Loxley and along the B6077 for almost four kilometres. Loxley extends from its borders with the suburbs of Malin Bridge and Wisewood westward to the hamlet of Stacey...
": When the last ship out of the HomelandsHomelands (Fables)The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
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 MarianMaid MarianMaid Marian is the wife of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood. Stemming from another, older tradition, she became associated with Robin Hood only in the 16th century.-History:The earliest medieval Robin Hood stories gave him no female companion...
, who was killed when the invaders took his homeland. - The Merry MenMerry MenThe Merry Men are the group of outlaws who followed Robin Hood, according to English folklore. An early use of the phrase "merry men" occurs in the oldest known Robin Hood ballad, "Robin Hood and the Monk", which survives in a manuscript completed around 1450. The word "merry" in this and other...
, including Friar TuckFriar TuckFriar Tuck is a companion to Robin Hood in the legends about that character. He is a common character in modern Robin Hood stories, which depict him as a jovial friar and one of Robin's Merry Men. The figure of Tuck was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th...
and John SmallLittle JohnLittle John was a legendary fellow outlaw of Robin Hood, and was said to be Robin's chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men.-Folklore:He appears in the earliest recorded Robin Hood ballads and stories...
, died side by side with Bearskin's Free Company. - Tam LinTam LinTam Lin is the hero of a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. The story revolves around the rescue of Tam Lin by his true love from the Queen of the Fairies...
, who was claimed to be the knight loved by the queen of the faeriesThe Faerie QueeneThe Faerie Queene is an incomplete English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. The first half was published in 1590, and a second installment was published in 1596. The Faerie Queene is notable for its form: it was the first work written in Spenserian stanza and is one of the longest poems in the English...
. He had a reputation of a scoundrel, but after winning a place for himself on the last ship out of the HomelandsHomelands (Fables)The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
, he gave it to his young page instead - The King of Madagao and the King of Bornegascar, old enemies, from Fantastic Fables by Ambrose BierceAmbrose BierceAmbrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
. - The ancient King Pellinore: His rusty armor kept trying to fall apart during his weeks defending the Gateway, and his squire had to follow him around, retrieving the peaces that were dropped off in his way.
The North Wind
The North WindNorth wind
A north wind is a wind that originates in the north and blows south. The north wind has had historical and literal significance, since it often signals cold weather and seasonal change in the Northern hemisphere.-Mythology:...
, often referred to as Mr. North, is the father of Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a major character in the comic book series Fables. He is the Big Bad Wolf of legend and served as the sheriff of the exile community known as Fabletown for several hundred years...
. 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
Fabletown
Fabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
when word reaches him about the birth of his grandchildren, and he spends several years at the farm helping Snow
Snow White (Fables)
Snow White is a major character in the comic book series Fables. Her character is based on two myths recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Snow-White and Rose-Red and the more famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.-Early life:...
take care of them. He treats Snow like she were 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
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
, 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
The North Wind and the Sun is one of Aesop's Fables . It is type 298 in the Aarne-Thompson folktale classification.-The story and its application:...
). 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
Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
; 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 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
Dullahan
The Irish dullahan is a type of unseelie fairie. It is headless, usually seen riding a black horse and carrying his or her head under one arm. The head's eyes are massive and constantly dart about like flies, while the mouth is constantly in a hideous grin that touches both sides of the head...
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 of the North Wind, and great uncle of the "cubs". The West WindWest wind
A west wind is a wind that blows from the west, in an eastward direction. In Western tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds....
appears as a Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
with pale skin. He goes by the name of Yaponcha (the wind god from Native American legends
Native American mythology
Native American mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Native American religion from a mythographical perspective. Native American belief systems include many sacred narratives. Such spiritual stories are deeply based in Nature and are rich with the symbolism of seasons,...
), and is also known as Zephyrus, the Greek god
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
of the west wind. Another reference to Native American mythology is made when he compares wolves (more specifically, Bigby
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a major character in the comic book series Fables. He is the Big Bad Wolf of legend and served as the sheriff of the exile community known as Fabletown for several hundred years...
) to the mythological coyote
Coyote (mythology)
Coyote is a mythological character common to many Native American cultures, based on the coyote animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic although he may have some coyote-like physical features such as fur, pointed ears, yellow eyes, a tail and claws...
.
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.
The East Wind
The North Wind’s second brother. The East WindEast wind
An east wind is a wind that originates in the east and blows west. In Greek mythology, Eurus, the east wind, was the only wind not associated with any of the three Greek seasons, and is the only one of these four Anemoi not mentioned in Hesiod's Theogony or in the Orphic Hymns.-Biblical...
takes the form of an obese man and goes by the names of Eurus (the name of the Greek deity representing the east wind), Fei Lian
Fei Lian
Fei Lian / Fie Lien is the Chinese god of the wind. He is a winged dragon with the head of a sparrow, the horns of a bull, body and legs of a stag and the tail of a snake. He carries wind with him in a bag and stirs up trouble. Fei Lian is kept in check by Houyi, the heavenly archer. In his human...
(the Chinese
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...
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 East Wind, he believes the West Wind only wants to hurt them out of personal spite. 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. However with coaxing from the South Wind, she got them to decide to invite themselves as guests of the Wolf Clan. The others agreed to the plan.
The South Wind
The North Wind’s sister, and the "cubs"' great aunt. The South WindSouth wind
For other uses, see South wind .A south wind is a wind that originates in the south and blows north.Words used in English to describe the south wind are auster, buster , föhn/foehn , gibli , friagem , khamsin For other uses, see South wind (disambiguation).A south wind is a wind that originates in...
takes the form of an African
African people
African people refers to natives, inhabitants, or citizen of Africa and to people of African descent.-Etymology:Many etymological hypotheses that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":...
-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. Her name has not been revealed, but it is presumed to be Notus, the south wind in Greek mythology (as all the other winds are named after their Greek mythological counterparts). She could be considered the more compassionate and sensible one of the Winds.
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.
Arabian Fables
A group of characters living in the Arabian Fable homelandsHomelands (Fables)
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
, mostly from One Thousand and One Nights:
Sinbad
SinbadSinbad the Sailor
Sinbad the Sailor is a fictional sailor from Basrah, living during the Abbasid Caliphate – the hero of a story-cycle of Middle Eastern origin...
, 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
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
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 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. AladdinAladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
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
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
. 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".
Other Arabian Fables
- Yusuf, Sinbad's minister who released a d'jinn from a bottle, in order to destroy Fabletwon and its citizens and put him in control of both the European and Arabian fable communities. Unfortunately for him, Frau TotenkinderFrau TotenkinderFrau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
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).
- Ali BabaAli BabaAli Baba is a fictional character from medieval Arabic literature. He is described in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves...
is briefly mentioned during the Arabian Nights (And Days) storyline. - King Shahryār: In the graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall1001 Nights of SnowfallFables: 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....
, Snow White is dispatched to the Arabian sultan's court in the homelands to enlist his support in the fight against the Adversary. King Shahryār entraps her, and for a thousand-and-one nights, she must, a la Scheherazade, tell him stories to stay alive while wooing his cooperation. - ScheherazadeScheherazadeScheherazade , sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.-Narration :...
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 also makes an appearance in the graphic novel.
- Aladdin's father and the d'jinn from the tale of Aladdin is mentioned in Cinderella: From Fabletown with LoveCinderella: From Fabletown With LoveCinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
.
The Blue Fairy
The Blue Fairy was the one who turned PinocchioPinocchio (Fables)
Pinocchio is a character in the comic book series Fables. The wooden boy magically brought to life in the story by Carlo Collodi, he was among those Fables who fled to the mundane world and formed a community in New York City.-Personality:...
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 (Fables)
Geppetto is a major character, albeit one that's rarely seen, in the comic book series Fables, written by Bill Willingham and published by DC Comics as part of the Vertigo imprint....
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 only 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
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
, 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.
King Arthur and Camelot
King ArthurKing Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
and his court appears in flashbacks during The Good Prince story arc, where the spirit of Sir Lancelot
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
tells his story to Flycatcher. Camelot
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 eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world...
and the fabled King Arthur set the standard of "true chivalry" for all of Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
and its legend touched much of the pagan worlds beyond. The Fables graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall
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....
reveals that Lancelot, Camelot's most gifted champion, was blessed by Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder
Frau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
, who told him that he would be unbeatable in battle as long as he remained pure and honourable. Lancelot was unbeatable, until he lost his honor by having a love affair with the King's wife, Guinevere
Guinevere
Guinevere was the legendary queen consort of King Arthur. In tales and folklore, she was said to have had a love affair with Arthur's chief knight Sir Lancelot...
. The Knights of the Round Table
Round Table
The Round Table 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 everyone who sits there has equal status. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of...
are referred to in Lancelot's story, and Gawain
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
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
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
reveals that Arthur was eventually laid to rest in a crypt.
The Lady of the Lake
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play parts in the Arthurian legend. These characters' roles include giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father...
is also established as a Fable in the story: After Flycatcher's heroic deeds in the Homelands
Homelands (Fables)
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
kingdom of Haven, he asks Lancelot to throw Excalibur
Excalibur
Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was...
into the biggest lake he can find, and tells him to not be surprised if a "green bejeweled hand" reaches up to grasp Excalibur before it sinks out of sight. She is also referred to in the Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables
Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
story arc The Bad Prince, when a mysterious old man comes out of the river, carriyng Excalibur and says that the "green woman's gift must not fall into evil hands". In addition, Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
are all referred to in the story.
King Pellinore
Pellinore
King Pellinore is the king of Listenoise or of "the Isles" , according to the Arthurian legend. Son of King Pellam and brother of Kings Pelles and Alain, he is most famous for his endless hunt of the Questing Beast, which he is tracking when King Arthur first meets him...
makes an appearance in the Fables story The Last Castle, as one of the defenders of the last free gateway.
Dunster Happ
A warlock and former Boxer for the Empire. Though he did not invent the sealing boxes, 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 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. Its believed after they left Fabletown and the Farm that they are married and are either finding a way back to the Homelands or planning to live their lives free, in the mundy world.King Valemon and his royal subjects
Various characters from Norwegian Folktales, as seen in the Cinderella: From Fabetown with Love storyarc.- King ValemonWhite-Bear-King-ValemonWhite-Bear-King-Valemon is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by the artist August Schneider in 1870, after a peasant woman, Thore Aslaksdotter , in Setesdal. The tale was for the first time retold and published in Peter Christen Asbjørnsen's Norske Folke-Eventyr. Ny Samling...
and his queen, rulers of Ultima Thule, one of the Fable HomelandsHomelands (Fables)The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
. They were deposed of and killed when an unknown, powerful magicMagic (paranormal)Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
user from another realm invaded their kingdom. The usurper eventually turned out to be Cinderella's fairy godmother. Among the people still loyal to King Valemon include: - AskeladdenAskeladdenAskeladden is the main character in many Norwegian folktales. In some ways, he represents the small man who succeeds where all others fail. He always wins in the end, often winning the princess and half the kingdom.-Folk tales:...
, now without his ship. - ButterballButtercup (fairy tale)Buttercup or Butterball is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe. It is Aarne-Thompson type 327 C, the devil carries the hero home in a sack...
, always hungry. - Mrs.Gudbrand, widow of the late Gudbrand from Gudbrand on the Hill-side, whose home has become a refuge for dissenter still loyal to the old king.
- Little Freddy, from Little Freddy with his Fiddle. Now without his musketMusketA musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
. - Little Annie the Goose-GirlLittle Annie the Goose-GirlLittle Annie the Goose-Girl is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr.When George Webbe Dasent made his translation of these tales, in his preface he forbade children to read the last two stories, of which this was one. J. R. R...
. - The ram and pigPigA pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
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 BaumL. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
, living in the Fable Homelands
Homelands (Fables)
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
and Ev
Land of Ev
The Land of Ev is a fictional country in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum and his successors. Its exact location is unclear between text and maps. The Road to Oz states that Ev is to the north of the Land of Oz, and in Ozma of Oz, Princess Ozma of Oz and her procession enter the Munchkin Country and...
. (The Nome King is listed under "Villains".) In additon, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion are prisoners at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village
Golden Boughs Retirement Village
The Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
in the mundane world.
Jack Pumpkinhead
Jack PumpkinheadJack Pumpkinhead
Jack Pumpkinhead is a fictional character from the Oz book series by L. Frank Baum.-In Baum:Jack first appeared in The Marvelous Land of Oz. Jack's tall figure is made from tree limbs and jointed with wooden pegs...
first appearence 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
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
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 story arc Inherit the Wind, working to overthrow the Nome King.
Bungle, the Glass Cat
At some point, Bungle, the Glass CatGlass Cat
Bungle, the Glass Cat is a character in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum.Bungle first appears in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, the seventh of Baum's fourteen Oz books. The magician Dr. Pipt tests his Powder of Life by animating an ornamental glass cat figurine, for the specific purpose of catching mice...
escaped into the mundane world and became one of the helpers of Dorothy Gale, a killer for hire. Bungle was later recruited by Dorothy to aid her in her quest for revenge on her arch-nemesis, Cinderella, as seen in Cinderella: Fables are Forever. Bungle assisted in kidnapping Cinderella and Ivan Durak
Ivan the Fool
Ivan the Fool or Ivan the Ninny is a character used in Russian folklore, a very simple-minded, but nevertheless lucky young man. Ivan is described as a likeable fair-haired and blue-eyed youth....
of Shadow Fabletown and brought them to the Deadly Desert
Deadly Desert
The Deadly Desert is the magical desert that completely surrounds the fictional Land of Oz. On maps, the Eastern quadrant of the desert is called the Deadly Desert, while the other three quadrants of desert are called the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste.The desert...
of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
in an airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
. 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
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
, indicating that he’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, he was drafted into one of the Nome King’s press gangs, building a road across the deadly dessert. He managed to escape with Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse, also in the press gang. Bufkin came across the group in the Land of Ev
Land of Ev
The Land of Ev is a fictional country in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum and his successors. Its exact location is unclear between text and maps. The Road to Oz states that Ev is to the north of the Land of Oz, and in Ozma of Oz, Princess Ozma of Oz and her procession enter the Munchkin Country and...
, 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 is shown driving her swanSwanSwans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
chariotChariotThe chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
during flashbacks in Legends in Exile, while fleeing the Adversary’s forces. She also appears briefly in flashbacks from Dorothy Gale's adventures in OzLand of OzOz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
, in Cinderella: Fables Are Forever. - The SawhorseThe SawhorseThe Saw-Horse, sometimes spelled Sawhorse, is a character from L Frank Baum's Oz books series. He first appears in The Marvelous Land of Oz.-History:...
: 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 OzThe Emerald City of OzThe 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 coming to live in Oz permanently...
: recruited by Dorothy to aid her in her plot for revenge on her arch-nemesis, Cinderella. - One of the Chiss, also recruited by Dorothy. They are creatures the size of a VolkswagenVolkswagenVolkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
, 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 ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. The creature killed Meng Chiang-Nu (from the Chinese folktaleChinese folkloreChinese folklore includes songs, dances, puppetry, and tales. It often tells stories of human nature, historical or legendary events, love, and the supernatural, or stories explaining natural phenomena and distinctive landmarks.-Folktales:...
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 EastWicked Witch of the EastThe Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his Oz series of books....
, assorted munchkins, the Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the WestWicked Witch of the WestThe Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
and the Good Witch of the NorthGood Witch of the NorthThe Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the elderly and mild-mannered Ruler of the Gillikin Country...
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 monkeysWinged monkeysWinged monkeys are characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, of enough impact between the books and the 1939 movie to have taken their own place in popular culture, regularly referenced in comedic or ironic situations as a source of evil or fear.-Details:In the original Oz novels, these were...
, all working in the Nome King's air corps. One of the monkey discovers Bufkin's group of revolutionaries in Ev, and is subsequently killed by Bufkin. - The Yoop, from The Patchwork Girl of OzThe Patchwork Girl of OzThe Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum, is a children's novel, the seventh set in the Land of Oz. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps , and others. The book was first published on July 1, 1913, with illustrations by John R. Neill...
: now working in the Pan-Ozian administration of the Nome King, who feeds his enemies to the Yoop. The Yoop eventually got tired of his job as the Nome King's "people eater", feeling that he couldn't keep up with the large amount 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 attempts to recruit Blug and his troops in their revolution.
Other Homelands Fables
- The Jabberwock is mentioned in the Legends in Exile and Homelands story arcs. Just like in the JabberwockyJabberwocky"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense verse poem written by Lewis Carroll in his 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
poem, the vorpal sword was the Jabberwock’s bane. - Don Quijote and his squireSquireThe English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...
Sancho PanzaSancho PanzaSancho 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, that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs,...
briefly appear in flashbacks during the Legends in Exile story arc. - The Great Lion: The Kingdom of the Great Lion was one of the Fable HomelandsHomelands (Fables)The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
that was conquered early on, as seen in flashbacks during Legends in Exile. The lionLionThe lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
himself was felled and killed by arrows. King Cole points out that “we always found the old lion to be a bit too pompous and holier-than-thou for our tastes”, suggesting that the Great Lion is AslanAslanAslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books...
from The Chronicles of NarniaThe Chronicles of NarniaThe Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
. Due to The Chronicles of Narnia currently being protected by copyright, a conclusive answer may never be forthcoming. The Great Lion also appears in an illustration for the The Good Prince, where the ghostGhostIn traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
of Sir LancelotLancelotSir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
refers to the lion as “the Great Lion on his stone” and one of the “true kings”, again suggesting that the character is Aslan. Bill WillinghamBill WillinghamBill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...
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 [in 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." - The mother from ThumbelinaThumbelina"Thumbelina" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Traveling Companion" in the second installment of Fairy Tales Told for Children. "Thumbelina" is about a tiny girl and...
is referred to in the Fables story Barleycorn Brides. - Count Aucassin de Beaucaire, from Aucassin and NicoletteAucassin and NicoletteAucassin et Nicolette is an anonymous medieval French chantefable, or combination of prose and verse .-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 BritomartBritomartisBritomartis , was the Minoan goddess of mountains and hunting. She is among the Minoan goddess figures that passed through the Mycenaeans' culture into classical Greek mythology, with transformations that are unclear in both transferrals...
's magical spear. - Maid MarianMaid MarianMaid Marian is the wife of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood. Stemming from another, older tradition, she became associated with Robin Hood only in the 16th century.-History:The earliest medieval Robin Hood stories gave him no female companion...
, mentioned in the story The Last Castle. She was killed when the invaders took Robin HoodRobin HoodRobin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
's homeland. - The Queen of fairiesThe Faerie QueeneThe Faerie Queene is an incomplete English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. The first half was published in 1590, and a second installment was published in 1596. The Faerie Queene is notable for its form: it was the first work written in Spenserian stanza and is one of the longest poems in the English...
, also mentioned in The Last Castle. Apparently, Tam LinTam LinTam Lin is the hero of a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. The story revolves around the rescue of Tam Lin by his true love from the Queen of the Fairies...
, one of the defenders of the last free gateway, was loved by her. - JackJack Horner (Fables)Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
's "mother" from Jack and the BeanstalkJack and the BeanstalkJack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
is mentioned in the March of the Wooden Soldiers story arc, the Jack of FablesJack of FablesJack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
story arc The Bad Prince and in The Great Fable Crossover. In The Bad Prince, it is revealed that Jack is actually an unknowing copy of Wicked John and that John was actually the one involved in the Beanstalk and Giant-killingJack the Giant Killer"Jack the Giant Killer" is a British fairy tale about a plucky lad who slays a number of giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterized by violence, gore, and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore and Welsh Bardic lore, but the source of "Jack the Giant Killer" is...
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. - Also mentioned in March of the Wooden Soldiers is the man who sold the magic beans to Jack (or actually Wicked John). He is also referred to in the Jack of Fables story arc The Bad Prince.
- Chernomor, from Ruslan and Lyudmila: A Governor-General in the Adversary's empire. He was killed by Boy BlueBoy Blue (Fables)Boy Blue is a major character in the Vertigo comic book series Fables. He is based on the nursery rhyme character Little Boy Blue. At the beginning of the series, he is portrayed as an efficient but meek office clerk helping Snow White run Fabletown; however, he has a colorful and violent history...
during Blue's exploits in the Homelands. After his death, Blue impersonated the governor, ordering his underlings to lower the tax rate. - The mice and the cat from the Russian lubokLubokA lubok is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories and popular tales. Lubki prints were used as decoration in houses and inns...
The Mice are burying the CatLubokA lubok is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories and popular tales. Lubki prints were used as decoration in houses and inns...
. 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 RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. A train of miceMouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
are pulling a sleeping catCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
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 king from the fairy tale of Trusty JohnTrusty JohnTrusty John, Faithful John, Faithful Johannes, or John the True is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 6, and by Joseph Jacobs in his European Folk and Fairy Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 516. Others of this type are...
is mentioned in the Fables story Meanwhile, where is revealed that long before John 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. - SolomonSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, referred to as Sulymon the Wize in the comic, appears in a brief flashback from ancient times during Arabian Nights (and Days). He is also mentioned in the Witches story arc. Sulymon was the one who invented the idea of tricking a d'jinnJinnJinn are supernatural beings in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings.Jinn may also refer to:* Jinn , a Japanese band* Qui-Gon Jinn, a character in the Star Wars universe...
into a bottle. - DaedalusDaedalusIn Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skillful craftsman and artisan.-Family:...
, who 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 DwarfsSnow White"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
, who first appeared in flashbacks in the Fables prequel 1001 Nights of Snowfall1001 Nights of SnowfallFables: 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, Prince Charming 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 WhiteSnow White (Fables)Snow White is a major character in the comic book series Fables. Her character is based on two myths recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Snow-White and Rose-Red and the more famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.-Early life:...
. 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 for months. It is also revealed that they were actually the sons of the dwarf from Snow White and Rose Red. - The princess from the fairy tale The Frog PrinceThe Frog Prince (story)"The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" is a fairy tale, best known through the Brothers Grimm's written version; traditionally it is the first story in their collection. In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends a frog , who magically transforms into a handsome prince...
appears in flashbacks from FlycatcherFlycatcherThere are various families of bird termed flycatchers:* The Old World flycatchers, Muscicapidae* The Tyrant flycatchers, Tyrannidae* The Monarch flycatchers, Dicruridae* The Silky-flycatchers, Ptilogonatidae* The Fairy flycatchers, Stenostiridae...
'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 grandmotherLittle Red Riding HoodLittle Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
appears briefly in 1001 Nights of Snowfall, in flashbacks from Bigby Wolf's story. - The Farmer's WifeThree Blind MiceThree Blind Mice is an English nursery rhyme and musical round. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3753.-Lyrics:The modern words are:-Variations and uses:Amateur music composer Thomas Oliphant noted in 1843 that:...
, Mrs. Sprongwallow, is another character who 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. - Hansel and Gretel's parents are referred to in the Sons of Empire story arc. Unlike in the fairy taleHansel and Gretel"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...
, Hansel and Gretel did not go home after burning Frau TotenkinderFrau TotenkinderFrau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
, realizing that their "wicked parents" had meant for them to die out in the Black ForestHomelands (Fables)The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
. - The Gingerbread ManGingerbread ManGingerbread Man is an album by The Residents, released in 1994. It was their first foray into computer graphics. Original versions of the CD were "enhanced" with animations that followed the music when played on a computer. The animations served as a basis for the costumes of the characters when a...
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 piePieA pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
s being put out on a windowsill (or other places) to cool. Another, or possibly the same, 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, whose names are taken from the lyrics of Neil DiamondNeil DiamondNeil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
's song Porkupine Pie (from the album Moods), 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 piePieA pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
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. - The Headless HorsemanHeadless HorsemanThe headless horseman has been a motif of European folklore since at least the Middle ages.The Headless Horseman is a fictional character who appears in a short story called “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” which is in a collection of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon written by Washington Irving...
, who ran into Jack Horner during Jack's Jack O'Lantern days, as seen in the Jack of Fables story Jack O Lantern. Jack, needing something for holding a hot piece of coalCoalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
given to him by the Devil ("Old ScratchOld ScratchOld Scratch or Mr. Scratch is a folk name for The Devil in the local legends of New England and pre-Civil War America. It is possible that the local legends containing this name were influenced by Faustian stories brought to North America by German immigrants.Old Scratch is also referred to in The...
"), steals the Horseman's "head" pumpkinPumpkinA pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...
. - Old ScratchOld ScratchOld Scratch or Mr. Scratch is a folk name for The Devil in the local legends of New England and pre-Civil War America. It is possible that the local legends containing this name were influenced by Faustian stories brought to North America by German immigrants.Old Scratch is also referred to in The...
, who appears in flashbacks in the Jack of Fables story Jack O Lantern. One of a series of devils that Jack makes a deal with. He also appears in the final issue of Jack of Fables. - Pan: Appears in flashbacks in Jack O Lantern, and is yet another devil Jack made a deal with. He claims that he is the real Devil and that Old Scratch is "just an uncredentialed upstart in a badly stitched suit". He also appears with the other devils in the final issue of Jack of Fables.
- The devil from Modest MussorgskyModest MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
's composition Night on Bald MountainNight on Bald MountainNight on Bald Mountain is a composition by Modest Mussorgsky that exists in, at least, two versions—a seldom performed 1867 version or a later and very popular "fantasy for orchestra" arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain , based on the vocal score of the "Dream Vision...
also makes an appearance in Jack O Lantern and the final issue of Jack of Fables, and is yet another devil Jack made a deal with. His home, Bald MountainNight on Bald MountainNight on Bald Mountain is a composition by Modest Mussorgsky that exists in, at least, two versions—a seldom performed 1867 version or a later and very popular "fantasy for orchestra" arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain , based on the vocal score of the "Dream Vision...
, is identified as a place in the Fable Homelands. He also appears in the final issue of Jack of Fables. Although the devil is unnamed in the story, he is called ChernobogChernobogChernobog is a Slavic deity, about whom much has been speculated but little can be said definitively. The name may also be given as Crnobog, Czernobóg, Černobog, Црнобог, Zernebog and Чернобог, meaning black god...
in Mussorgsky's composition. - Natty BumppoNatty BumppoNathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.- Fictional biography :...
("Hawkeye"), one of Bookburner's men. In the Jack of Fables story arc Americana, an angry Bookburner sends him and Slue-Foot SuePecos BillPecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. Their stories were probably invented into short stories and book by Edward O'Reilly in the...
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 TalesLeatherstocking TalesThe Leatherstocking Tales is a series of novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, each featuring the main hero Natty Bumppo, known by European settlers as "Leatherstocking," 'The Pathfinder", and "the trapper" and by the Native Americans as "Deerslayer," "La Longue Carabine" and...
. - Slue-Foot SuePecos BillPecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. Their stories were probably invented into short stories and book by Edward O'Reilly in the...
, one of Bookburner's people. In the Jack of Fables story arc Americana, an angry Bookburner sends her and Natty BumppoNatty BumppoNathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.- Fictional biography :...
after Jack and his group. They eventually managed to shake them off. Her husband, Pecos BillPecos BillPecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. Their stories were probably invented into short stories and book by Edward O'Reilly in the...
, is a prisoner at the Golden Boughs Retirement VillageGolden Boughs Retirement VillageThe Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
. - Giants from Jack and the BeanstalkJack and the BeanstalkJack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
appear in flashbacks in the Jack of Fables story arc The Bad Prince. - The Jersey DevilJersey DevilThe Jersey Devil is a legendary creature or cryptid said to inhabit the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey, United States. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many variations...
, also known as Omar, was a soldier in Bookburner’s army of Forgotten Fables, which attacked the Golden Boughs Retirement VillageGolden Boughs Retirement VillageThe Golden Boughs Retirement Village is a fictional prison masquerading as a retirement home for fables in the Fables spin-off Jack of Fables. It is run by a man called himself Mr. Revise...
. - Till EulenspiegelTill EulenspiegelTill Eulenspiegel was an impudent trickster figure originating in Middle Low German folklore. His tales were disseminated in popular printed editions narrating a string of lightly connected episodes that outlined his picaresque career, primarily in Germany, the Low Countries and France...
, who was abducted by Max, The Pied Piper Of HamelinThe Pied Piper of HamelinThe Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...
, in Peter and Max: A Fables Novel. Max later mentioned that all of the abducted children died horribly - two of the youngest were sacrified by Frau TotenkinderFrau TotenkinderFrau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
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). - MacBethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
: Jack Frost 2 has read works of "fiction" and "fact" about MacBeth and he called his new owlOwlOwls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
friend after MacDuff. Incidentally, one of his quests involves a cow named GertrudeGertrude (Hamlet)In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Gertrude is Hamlet's mother and Queen of Denmark. Her relationship with Hamlet is somewhat turbulent, since he resents her for marrying her husband's brother Claudius after he murdered the King...
(like HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
's mother). - Freddy and Mouse, based on the Fritz LeiberFritz LeiberFritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright, expert chess player and a champion fencer. Possibly his greatest chess accomplishment was winning clear first in the 1958 Santa Monica Open.. With...
characters Fafhrd and the Gray MouserFafhrd and the Gray MouserFafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two seminal sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by Fritz Leiber . They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories....
from the LankhmarLankhmarLankhmar 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 anti-heroes....
series. A pair of adventurers who unleashed and were enslaved by Mr. Dark. - The stepmother and -daughters from CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
appear briefly in a one-panel flashback in Cinderella: From Fabletown with LoveCinderella: From Fabletown With LoveCinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
. - Robin RedbreastLittle 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 :...
, Jenny Wren's lost love, is mentioned in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love. He is from the poem of Cock Robin’s marriage to Jenny Wren (which includes the nursery rhyme Cock Robin Got Up Early) and ends with the classic nursery rhyme Who Killed Cock RobinCock Robin"Who Killed Cock Robin" is an English nursery rhyme, which has been much used as a murder archetype in world culture. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 494.-Lyrics:...
, the nursery rhyme Little Robin RedbreastLittle 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 :...
, and Little Jenny Wren Fell Sick. He was murdered when the Adversary invaded Jenny Wren's homeland. This makes Robin Redbreast a separate character from the Cock Robin in Fables (who was murdered during the Farm revolt), even though in the poem of Cock Robin's marriage to Jenny Wren, they are clearly the same character. - Three fairiesFairyA fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
from Sleeping BeautySleeping BeautySleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
appear in flashbacks in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love. They were the sisters of Briar Rose's Fairy Godmother (who is also the fairy godmotherFairy godmotherIn 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...
of Cinderella). They were killed by Frau TotenkinderFrau TotenkinderFrau Totenkinder is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham. Leader of the magicians of Fabletown, Totenkinder represents many of the unnamed witches found in tales and legends...
. - The prince from the fairy tale of RapunzelRapunzel"Rapunzel" is a German fairy tale in the collection assembled by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. The Grimm Brothers' story is an adaptation of the fairy tale Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force originally published in 1698...
appears briefly in flashbacks in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love. It is revealed that it was Cinderella's fairy godmother who showed him the way to Rapunzel's tower. - Baleful Hernes, apparently a reference to the Wild HuntWild HuntThe Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...
. The last of their kind (presumably Herne the HunterHerne the HunterIn English folklore, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. His appearance is notable in the fact that he has antlers upon his head....
) was boxed offscreen by Dunster Happ during his "Boxing Days". - Kermit the FrogKermit the FrogKermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...
(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 HavenHomelands (Fables)The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
, as seen in the in the story Out to the Ball Game. - The Scorpion and the FrogThe Scorpion and the FrogThe Scorpion and the Frog is a fable about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung during the trip, but the scorpion argues that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown. The frog agrees and begins carrying the...
: One of the Scorpion's brothers, Ollikandar Strikeswift, appears in the story Out to the Ball Game, and both the FrogFrogFrogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
and the ScorpionScorpionScorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
, 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 AesopAesopAesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
). - In the Rose Red story arc, several characters from the fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red appear in flashbacks from Snow WhiteSnow White (Fables)Snow White is a major character in the comic book series Fables. Her character is based on two myths recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Snow-White and Rose-Red and the more famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.-Early life:...
's and Rose Red's childhood:- The girls' mother: a poor widow who is secretly a witch
- The wicked dwarf, who is the father of the The Seven DwarfsSnow White"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
- The eagle: after the girls save the dwarf from the eagleEagleEagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
, the eagle is angry and says that for one of them, seven evils await, for the other, the loss of one dear - The bewitched prince, who is called Brandish
- The Prince's brother, Holben. 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 who was Snow's stepmother is mentioned in Storybook Love and appears in flashbacks from the Rose Red story arc. The queen is actually Snow White's and Rose Red's aunt, and sister of their mother (from the fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red). She is the widowed queen of a distant land, a position that her sister, secretly a witch, helped her achieve. 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 her sister that she would love Snow dearly, the queen orders a hunter to kill her adopted daughter. The hunter spares her and Snow flees 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's love is enough to overcome the poison, since all nobles of that world had some degree of magic in them.
- The hunter from Snow WhiteSnow White"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
appears in flashbacks during the Rose Red story arc, playing the same role as he does in the fairy tale. - Dorothy Gale mentions her Aunt EmAunt EmAunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm in Kansas...
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 LindwormLindwormLindworm in British heraldry, is a technical term for a wingless bipedal dragon often with a venomous bite.-Etymology:In modern Scandinavian languages, the cognate lindorm can refer to any 'serpent' or monstrous...
, who 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 goblinGoblinA goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
troops. - The mythologicalMythologyThe term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
character CoyoteCoyote (mythology)Coyote is a mythological character common to many Native American cultures, based on the coyote animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic although he may have some coyote-like physical features such as fur, pointed ears, yellow eyes, a tail and claws...
is referred to in the story arc Inherit the Wind, in which he is described as "cunning".
Little Black Sambo ("Sam")
Mr. Revise did such a good job of revising Little Black SamboLittle Black Sambo
The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman, and first 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’s tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
s into butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
. 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 summoned Sam along with Hansel, 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 ManTin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
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
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
, Dorothy Gale 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
Jack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, who has been turned into a dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
. 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 LionCowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
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
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
, Dorothy Gale 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
Jack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, who has been transformed into a dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, the Lion dies when he is caught in Jack's dragon fire.
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty DumptyHumpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture...
, also known as Mister D, is not only a giant egg, but a cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
for the Homelands
Homelands (Fables)
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
version of Colchester
Siege of Colchester
The siege of Colchester occurred in the summer of 1648 when the English Civil War reignited in several areas of Britain. Colchester found itself in the thick of the unrest when a Royalist army on its way through East Anglia to raise support for the King, was attacked by Lord-General Thomas Fairfax...
as well. He 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’s tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
s tigers. 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. 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 BunyanPaul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox
Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox are the names of a pair of large statues of the American folk hero Paul Bunyan and his ox, located in Bemidji, Minnesota. This roadside attraction has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988...
used to travel the length and breadth of his Fable Homeland of Americana
Homelands (Fables)
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
, 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 unleashed his powers on him when Bookburner's army attacked the Golden Boughs.
Babe the Blue Ox
Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox
Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox are the names of a pair of large statues of the American folk hero Paul Bunyan and his ox, located in Bemidji, Minnesota. This roadside attraction has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988...
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
Jack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, 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
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, 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
Jack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
story arc.
Wicked John
A man who is the spitting image of Jack HornerJack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, except from the dark hair. It is revealed that Jack 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 informs Jack of the facts after a mysterious, old man shows up and plunges the sword Excalibur
Excalibur
Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was...
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, which takes place years later, John is still living with the sword stuck in his chest. He is killed when Gary the Pathetic Fallacy pulls the sword out of him in Jack of Fables final issue.
Raven
RavenRaven (mythology)
Ravens are common characters in the traditional narratives and mythology around the world, notably a part of North American, Siberian, Norse mythology and Celtic mythology...
is a Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
who can turn into a raven
Raven
Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...
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
Jack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
. 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
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
. Raven tells the others that the bird spirit has showed him the way to Fabletown
Fabletown
Fabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
, 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).
Toto
The Fables spin-off Cinderella: Fables Are Forever tells the story of how Toto, along with Dorothy Gale, the Tin ManTin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
and the Cowardly Lion
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
, 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
Jack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, but was killed and eaten by one of Robin Page's tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
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
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
in Cinderella: Fables Are Forever. It is unknown what became of him after Cinderella kills Dorothy in the Deadly Desert
Deadly Desert
The Deadly Desert is the magical desert that completely surrounds the fictional Land of Oz. On maps, the Eastern quadrant of the desert is called the Deadly Desert, while the other three quadrants of desert are called the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste.The desert...
.
Lady Luck
A blonde who feeds on people’s luck by eating their brain. She fled the Fable homelandHomelands (Fables)
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
Americana in order to escape Bookburner, and left a string of bodies in her wake in the mundy world. She was eventually captured by Revise's people and taken to the Golden Boughs. Lady Luck was one of Goldilocks’ 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 killed by the Page sisters in a chaotic battle in the final issue of Jack of Fables. She remarked that it was "not [her] lucky day".
Other inmates
- The Walrus and the CarpenterThe Walrus and the Carpenter"The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll that appeared 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 composed of 18 stanzas and contains 108 lines, in an...
. Both were killed in the chaotic fight at the end of the Jack of FablesJack of FablesJack of Fables was a spin-off of the comic book Fables, both of which were published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in Fables #50, and the series itself debuted in July...
series; the CarpenterCarpenterA carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
is killed by Jack HornerJack Horner (Fables)Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, who has been transformed into a dragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, and the WalrusWalrusThe walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
dies when a vanVanA van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...
falls on top of him. - The little oysterOysterThe word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
s from The Walrus and the CarpenterThe Walrus and the Carpenter"The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll that appeared 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 composed of 18 stanzas and contains 108 lines, in an...
, 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, 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 and boy from Baa Baa Black Sheep
- Little Tommy TuckerLittle 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:*Was played by Russell Coles in Babes in Toyland ...
, 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 CatCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
and the FiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
from Hey Diddle DiddleHey Diddle Diddle"Hey Diddle Diddle" is an English nursery rhyme...
. The only character from the poem who does not live at the Farm. - The cat with bagpipesBagpipesBagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
, the mouseMouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
and the bumblebeeBumblebeeA bumble bee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. There are over 250 known species, existing primarily in the Northern Hemisphere although they are common in New Zealand and in the Australian state of Tasmania.Bumble bees are social insects that are characterised by black...
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 DulacEdmund DulacEdmund Dulac was a French book illustrator.-Early life and career:Born in Toulouse, France, he began his career by studying law at the University of Toulouse. He also studied art, switching to it full time after he became bored with law, and having won prizes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts...
's story White Caroline and Black Caroline, in Edmund Dulac's Fairy Book. The cottage that Jack moves into is referred to as "Black Caroline's old place". - Goldilocks
- The family and some of the cats from the poem As I Was Going to St IvesAs I Was Going to St Ives"As I was going to St Ives" is a traditional English language nursery rhyme which is generally thought to be a riddle. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19772.-Lyrics:The most common modern version is:-Answers:...
. When the cats escape from the sacks, Gary the Pathetic Fallacy 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 HareHareHares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
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 TortoiseTortoiseTortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
is apparently killed when he is run over by a truckTruckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
in the series' final issue. Ironically enough, by a truck titled "Lepus", which is the scientific word for hare. - KiviuqKiviuqKiviuq is a legendary hero of the epic stories of the Inuit of the Arctic regions of northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland....
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 bearPolar BearThe polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
back) along with several other Fables. After the destruction of the Golden Boughs, Kiviq and CuchulainnCúchulainnCú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
set out on a quest to find FabletownFabletownFabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
; it is unknown if they succeeded. - Revised versions of the Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick-MakerRub-a-dub-dub"Rub-A-Dub-Dub" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3101.-Lyrics:This rhyme exists in many variations. Among those current today is:The earliest versions of this rhyme published differ significantly in their wording...
. 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 GooseMother GooseThe familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
, now a real gooseGooseThe word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
, 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. - CuchulainnCúchulainnCú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
, who lost most of his strength after being revised. When Mr. Revise allowed Cuchulainn’s original story to be restored, the spear of MorriganMorríganThe Morrígan or Mórrígan , also written as Morrígu or in the plural as Morrígna, and spelt Morríghan or Mór-Ríoghain in Modern Irish, is a figure from Irish mythology who appears to have once been a goddess, although she is not explicitly referred to as such in the texts.The Morrigan is a goddess...
magically appeared back in his hand. After the destruction of the Golden Boughs, Cuchulainn and KiviuqKiviuqKiviuq is a legendary hero of the epic stories of the Inuit of the Arctic regions of northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland....
set out on a quest to find FabletownFabletownFabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
; whether they did succeed remains unknown. - AliceAlice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)Alice is a fictional character in the literary classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, And What Alice Found There. She is a young girl from Victorian-era Britain.-Development:...
, who spent much of her time inside the golden Boughs fending off Wicked John's advances. She managed to escape with John HenryJohn Henry (folklore)John Henry is an American folk hero and tall tale. Henry worked as a "steel-driver"—a man tasked with hammering and chiseling rock in the construction of tunnels for railroad tracks. In the legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam powered hammer,...
and Pecos BillPecos BillPecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. Their stories were probably invented into short stories and book by Edward O'Reilly in the...
during the big breakout, and the group briefly accompanied with Jack Horner, who told them the story behind his identity as Jack FrostJack FrostJack Frost is a sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. There, he is known as Jokul Frosti . In Britain and United States, Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and...
. In the series, she 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 TennielJohn TennielSir John Tenniel was a British illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England’s 19th century. Tenniel is considered important to the study of that period’s social, literary, and art histories...
, her hair is blond. In the Jack of Fables story Jack Frost, she also is seen wearing the striped stockings and wide ribbon from the illustrations of Through the Looking-GlassThrough the Looking-GlassThrough the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is a work of literature by Lewis Carroll . It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
. - The CaterpillarCaterpillar (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)The Caterpillar is a fictional character appearing in Lewis Carroll's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.-Appearance in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:...
(maybe); a violet/pink caterpillarCaterpillarCaterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
, 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 DreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA 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...
. Jack became their great hero after he, inadvertently, saved them from a boggartBoggartIn Englishfolklore, a boggart is a household fairy which causes things to disappear, milk to sour, and dogs to go lame. Always malevolent, the boggart will follow its family wherever they flee...
back in the HomelandsHomelands (Fables)The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
. They assisted Jack in the mass breakout from the Golden Boughs. - Lola and Doris the Cottingley fairiesCottingley FairiesThe 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...
, a lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
couple who also assisted in the escape. - The Tooth fairyTooth fairyThe tooth fairy is a fantasy figure of early childhood. The folklore states that when a child loses a baby tooth, if he or she places it beneath the bed pillow, the tooth fairy will visit while the child sleeps, replacing the lost tooth with a small payment....
, who likes to horde teethToothTeeth are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are embedded in the Mandible bone or the Maxillary bone and are...
and has a morbid fascination with the process of losing them. She even sleeps on a bed of teeth. - Dorothy Gale
- The ScarecrowScarecrow (Oz)The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
, 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 HenryJohn Henry (folklore)John Henry is an American folk hero and tall tale. Henry worked as a "steel-driver"—a man tasked with hammering and chiseling rock in the construction of tunnels for railroad tracks. In the legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam powered hammer,...
, who managed to escape with Alice and Pecos BillPecos BillPecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. Their stories were probably invented into short stories and book by Edward O'Reilly in the...
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 FrostJack FrostJack Frost is a sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. There, he is known as Jokul Frosti . In Britain and United States, Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and...
. - Pecos BillPecos BillPecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. Their stories were probably invented into short stories and book by Edward O'Reilly in the...
. His wife, Slue-Foot Sue, is one of Bookburner’s people. Bill escaped with Alice and John HenryJohn Henry (folklore)John Henry is an American folk hero and tall tale. Henry worked as a "steel-driver"—a man tasked with hammering and chiseling rock in the construction of tunnels for railroad tracks. In the legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam powered hammer,...
during the big breakout from the Golden Boughs. The group briefly accompanied Jack Horner, who told them his story behind his identity as Jack FrostJack FrostJack Frost is a sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. There, he is known as Jokul Frosti . In Britain and United States, Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and...
. He is present in the series' end battle, and is presumably killed off-screen. - The Mad HatterMad HatterHatta, the Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll...
, the March HareMarch HareHaigha, the March Hare is a character most famous for appearing in the tea party scene in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.The main character, Alice, hypothesises,...
and the DormouseDormouse (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)The Dormouse is a character in "A Mad Tea-Party", Chapter VII from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. He sat between the March Hare and the Hatter...
. 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. - Carl the fourth of the "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 WhiteSnow White (Fables)Snow White is a major character in the comic book series Fables. Her character is based on two myths recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Snow-White and Rose-Red and the more famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.-Early life:...
's "favorite of The Three Little PigPigA pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
s". He is shot and killed by the Page sisters in the series' chaotic end battle. - Wy'east, Klickawit and Loo-Wit: Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
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 volcanoVolcano2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
upon escape, marking the end of the Golden Boughs Retirement Village. - Wynken, Blynken, and NodWynken, Blynken, and Nod"Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" is a popular poem for children written by American writer and poet Eugene Field and published on March 9, 1889. The original title was Dutch Lullaby....
, seen in The Great Fables Crossover
Hope
HopePandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora , which contained all the evils of the world. When Pandora opened the jar, all its contents except for one item...
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 Pandoran jar
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora , which contained all the evils of the world. When Pandora opened the jar, all its contents except for one item...
. The character, who is from the story of Pandora
Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts...
and Pandora's box
Pandora's box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar given to Pandora , which contained all the evils of the world. When Pandora opened the jar, all its contents except for one item...
, has appeared in several stories; she is the mysterious being who serves as an adviser to Snow White
Snow White (Fables)
Snow White is a major character in the comic book series Fables. Her character is based on two myths recorded by the Brothers Grimm, Snow-White and Rose-Red and the more famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.-Early life:...
and Rose Red, taking the form of Colin Pig, Boy Blue
Boy Blue (Fables)
Boy Blue is a major character in the Vertigo comic book series Fables. He is based on the nursery rhyme character Little Boy Blue. At the beginning of the series, he is portrayed as an efficient but meek office clerk helping Snow White run Fabletown; however, he has a colorful and violent history...
and Snow and Rose's mother (from Snow White and Rose Red). 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.
Red Riding Hood
Red Riding HoodLittle Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
used to live quietly in her cottage in the Homelands where she would often remain undisturbed for long periods. Her peaceful life was occasionally disrupted by a 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
Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
used her form to infiltrate Fabletown in preparation for an invasion by the Adversary's Wooden Soldiers. Shortly after the incident, Boy Blue launched a covert mission into the Homelands which resulted in the real Red Riding Hood being brought to Fabletown, leaving the woman facing considerable animosity as a result. Upset by this reception and confused by the very different world that she found herself in, Red first latched on to Boy Blue, then Flycatcher when Blue left for the Farm to serve his sentence there, as both men are among the few who have no issues with her.
Red attended Bigby and Snow's wedding with Flycatcher, but, although she found Bigby oddly familiar, she failed to recognise his human form as being her old foe. After returning, she ventured out into the mundane city to have a makeover with the aim of attracting Fly. He was, however, shocked when he saw her, and ran away, ultimately reverting to his frog form. After Ambrose's humanity was restored by Santa and the spirit of his deceased wife, restoring his memories and causing him to fall into severe depression, Ride scolded him for attempting to starve himself rather than exact revenge. Ride's message led Fly to start his journey through the Witching Well and to eventually form the Haven. After Fly's Haven was established and became safe, Boy Blue brought Ride along with him so she could move there. She told Fly she would assist him by taking care of queenly duties, until he found himself a proper queen.During the latest story arc, Fly finally kissed Red, turning himself back into a frog. However, he refused to allow his curse control him and changed back into himself.At the end of the story, tired of being alone, he asks Red to share his bed with him, which she accepts delightedly.
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 MowgliMowgli
Mowgli is a fictional character from India who originally appeared in Rudyard Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" and then went on to become the most prominent and memorable character in his fantasies, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book , which also featured stories about other...
, from The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
. 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 FeathertopFeathertop
"Feathertop" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1852.-Plot summary:In seventeenth century New England, the witch Mother Rigby builds a scarecrow to protect her garden...
, the animated scarecrow from a Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
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 tourist is confirmed in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, where he appears in silhouette in a single panel.
The woodsman
Bill WillinghamBill Willingham
Bill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...
has identified the third Tourist as being the Woodsman from the tale of Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
. 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
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 addition, all of the tourists are shown in silhouete in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
, 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.
Count Dracula
Though he is never mentioned by name, it is implied that DraculaDracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
exists in the Fables series. The prose story A Wolf in the Fold mentions a Transylvanian count who had befriended Bigby Wolf, 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
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. Frankie had actually fought the count once, years before he fought the "wolf man" (Bigby) during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Most of the killings traditionally credited to vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s and werewolves in the Dracula mythos were Bigby's doing in the Fables series - making it hard to judge if vampires and werewolves are Fables. However, during Bigby's adventures during World War 2, Nazis revealed that they had knowledge of at least one Were-Wolf (but this could have just been Bigby).
Dr. Frankenstein
Mary ShelleyMary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
's Dr. Frankenstein is referred to in War Stories, a Fables story set during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A team of German Nazi scientists is using Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...
talks about how they tried to create more of the monster in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, 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 this world. After defeating the Nazis, Bigby
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a major character in the comic book series Fables. He is the Big Bad Wolf of legend and served as the sheriff of the exile community known as Fabletown for several hundred years...
kept the monster’s still-living head and returned it to Fabletown
Fabletown
Fabletown is the fictional, clandestine community of "Fables" resident in New York in the Fables comic book universe. It exists in two locations, one being Bullfinch Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the other on a large farm in upstate New York, protected with magical spells that...
.
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 AmsterdamNew Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
, 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
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. 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 goths
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
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 up in a secure facility elsewhere. 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 ClausSanta Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to 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.
- Mrs. ClausMrs. ClausMrs. Claus is the wife of Santa Claus, the Christmas gift-bringer in North American Christmas tradition.While Santa Claus himself emerged from the 1820s from a number of traditions of European folklore, Mrs...
- Santa Claus's reindeer, who can magically fly.
Gretel
After Hansel and GretelHansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...
'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 striked 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
Flycatcher (comics)
Flycatcher, or Prince Ambrose and later King Ambrose, is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables, created by Bill Willingham...
, 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.
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger and TontoTonto
Tonto may mean:* Tonto, a band of Apache native Americans.* Tonto, the fictional sidekick to the Lone Ranger.* "Tonto", a song by the American math rock band Battles, from their album Mirrored.** "Tonto+", the EP centered around said song....
make an off-screen appearance in the Jack of Fables story arc 1983, which is set in the Old West. A Lilly of the Valley gunsmith
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...
sells a special order of silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
bullets to the Lone Ranger instead of Jack Horner
Jack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
, 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
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
companion. Jack kills the gunsmith in anger and sets out to find the Lone Ranger in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, following his trail. Jack is apprehended by Bigby
Bigby Wolf
Bigby Wolf is a major character in the comic book series Fables. He is the Big Bad Wolf of legend and served as the sheriff of the exile community known as Fabletown for several hundred years...
before he has the chance to catch up with him.
Civilized Apes (maybe)
In Jack'n Apes of Jack Of Fables, Jack HornerJack Horner (Fables)
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables...
claims that his own adventures inspired Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
to write the whole Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
legend (which would then mean that either Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
does not exist in the Fables series, or he was just Jack) - and that, in turn, inspired Jack to go to Hollywood, which lead to the creation of his own series. Other ape
Ape
Apes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia, although in relatively recent times humans have spread all over the world...
s he claims to have met are:
- King KongKing KongKing Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
("a gorillaGorillaGorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
of note") - Magilla ("another gorilla of no consequence")
- Curious GeorgeCurious GeorgeCurious George is the protagonist of a series of popular children's books by the same name, written by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey. The books feature a curious brown monkey named George, who is brought from his home in Africa by "The Man with The Yellow Hat" to live with him in a big city.When...
("too curious by half") - Jane (from whom Tarzan's JaneJane Porter (Tarzan)Jane Porter is a major character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film.- In the novels :...
has been inspired ... still according to Jack) - "Clint the orangutanOrangutanOrangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
" (a possible reference to the pet orangutan Clyde of the Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
films Every Which Way but Loose and Any Which Way You CanAny Which Way You Can* Beers To You** Written by Steve Dorff , John Durrill , Sandy Pinkard and Snuff Garrett ** Sung by Ray Charles and Clint Eastwood* Any Which Way You Can...
) - "Edgar the other orangutan" (presumably the murderous orangutan from Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's short story The Murders in the Rue MorgueThe Murders in the Rue Morgue"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841. It has been claimed as the first detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". Two works that share some similarities predate Poe's stories, including Das...
) - "Aesop, wise beyond his years" (presumably the ape of Aesop's FablesAesop's FablesAesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
The Wolf, the Fox and the Ape and The Apes and the Two Travellers). - A sock monkeySock monkeyA sock monkey is a toy made from socks fashioned in the likeness of a monkey. These stuffed animals are a mixture of folk art and kitsch in the culture of the United States and the culture of Canada.- Origins :...
named Saunders, a possible reference to A. A. MilneA. A. MilneAlan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...
's Winnie the Pooh; 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.
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 Wooden Soldiers, about his days as Jack Frost
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. There, he is known as Jokul Frosti . In Britain and United States, Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and...
and about 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.
Shoemaker elves
The ElvesElf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
from The Elves and the Shoemaker
The Elves and the Shoemaker
The Elves and the Cobbler or The Shoemaker and the Elves is an often copied and re-made story about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from elves....
are still offering their services from time to time, as seen in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love was a comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables. The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown...
. They have also been secretly working for Beauty in making the Fable comics sold at Nod's bookstore, while Beauty was working there.
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 DurakIvan the FoolIvan the Fool or Ivan the Ninny is a character used in Russian folklore, a very simple-minded, but nevertheless lucky young man. Ivan is described as a likeable fair-haired and blue-eyed youth....
, a character from Russian folklore. One of many Fables who fled the Fable homeland of RusHomelands (Fables)The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands...
when the AdversaryGeppetto (Fables)Geppetto is a major character, albeit one that's rarely seen, in the comic book series Fables, written by Bill Willingham and published by DC Comics as part of the Vertigo imprint....
invaded, and escaped into the mundane world, adopting the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as their new home. - Tugarin ZmeyevichTugarin ZmeyevichTugarin Zmeyevich is a mythical creature in East European bylinas and fairy tales, which personifies evil and cruelty and appears in the form of a bogatyr of a dragon-like nature....
, a dragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
who can take the shape of a man. He is the ruler of Shadow Fabletown in RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. - Meng Chiang-Nu, from the Chinese folktaleChinese folkloreChinese folklore includes songs, dances, puppetry, and tales. It often tells stories of human nature, historical or legendary events, love, and the supernatural, or stories explaining natural phenomena and distinctive landmarks.-Folktales:...
Seeking Her Husband at the Great Wall. An old woman who is the former head of the Shadow Fabletown in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Just like in the folktale, she, in Cinderella's words; "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 an emperor and his whole empire told her no." - AnansiAnansiAnansi the trickster is a spider, and is one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore.He is also known as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, and Anancy; and in the Southern United States he has evolved into Aunt Nancy. He is a spider, but often acts and appears as a man...
, a West African Fable who is a high-ranking member of one of the hidden shadow Fable communities.