This article is a list of characters in the comic book series Fables and its spin-offs (including Jack of Fables, Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, Fairest, 1001 Nights of Snowfall, and Peter & Max: A Fables Novel) published by Vertigo Comics.

New York Fables [ edit ]

Bigby Wolf [ edit ]

Having reformed from his violent ways, Bigby (a.k.a. the Big Bad Wolf) became the cigarette-smoking, trench coat-clad sheriff of Fabletown. He is extremely cunning and resourceful, in addition to being an excellent detective. Due to Snow White's possession of a lycanthropy-stained knife, he is now a werewolf and can change between wolf form, human form and an intermediate "wolfman" stage at will (in "The Great Fables Crossover", it is revealed that Bigby's nature as one of the North Wind's sons allows him to change forms at will). He is the son of the North Wind, and, as such, has control over the lower-tier winds, plus the "huff and puff" of legend. Despite his reformation, he can still be vicious if he believes the situation calls for it. He develops feelings for Snow White and the two have a litter of seven children together. He quits his position as the Sheriff due to the election of Prince Charming as Mayor, whom he despises, and leaves Fabletown. He has since returned and married Snow, and now lives with her and their cubs on a specially set-aside area of land up at the Farm. In "The Destiny Game", Bigby forces The Lady Of The Lake to change his fate: he will never grow old, but he will continue to grow in strength and power; fall in love with Snow White; father seven children who will become gods and monsters who will lay waste to worlds; and he will die seven times, outliving all of his cubs. So far, it is unknown how often Bigby has already died (if at all) - nor is it known if being shot by Goldilocks and gravely wounded, along with Little Boy Blue, during the war count as deaths. However, since one of his cubs is in a relationship with the enchantress who altered his previous fate, even this current fate may or may not be changed later (though this is, at this time, pure speculation).

Bigby eventually meets his end at the hands of Prince Brandish, who turns him into a glass statue and then destroys it. While the 13th floor residents try to piece him together in hopes of reviving him, Mrs Sprat removes a part of his glass body. Bigby is seen in his personal heaven, where he meets Boy Blue and his son. Boy Blue tells him that while he can return to the living world, it would be a daunting task. Blue states that Bigby was meant to be one of the great destroyers but that his fate was altered due to his love for Snow White. Bigby eventually is revived but in a feral state. In the final arc he kills several mundy officers, along with Ozma, Beast, and Thrushbread. It is unclear if this state is due to Mrs. Sprat's actions or the challenge Boy Blue spoke of, but Winter's narration suggest the former. He is restored when Conner stands up to him. He and Snow live happily ever after and have many descendants.

In the video game, he is voiced by Adam Harrington.

Snow White [ edit ]

Beauty and the Beast [ edit ]

Still together after nearly two thousand years, Beauty and Beast escaped from the Homelands with barely more than the clothes they were wearing. Both take relatively low-paid jobs, Beast maintaining the Fabletown buildings and Beauty working in a bookshop, earning between them enough to make ends meet. Their lives are hampered by Beast's tendency to shift back and forth between his human and beastly forms depending on his wife's mood towards him, but the two are nevertheless a loving couple. With the election of Prince Charming to Mayor of Fabletown during the events of "The Mean Seasons", their lives take a turn for the better. As neither Bigby Wolf or Snow White are willing to work alongside Charming, they resign, and the Prince offers Beauty and Beast the available jobs.

Beast, now sheriff, allies himself with Frau Totenkinder, the most powerful witch in Fabletown and finally had his curse fixed, allowing him to transform into his Beast form at will. Whether he's aware that it was Totenkinder who inflicted the curse on him in the first place is unknown; this occurred pre-amnesty, so he is legally unable to retaliate. While initially overwhelmed by the complexities of the job, he eventually grows into the role.

Beauty takes Snow's position as deputy mayor, and also learns to cope with all of the responsibility. Early in her tenure, Prince Charming tries to seduce her, but she rebuffs him, threatening to send her husband after him if he tries again. It is notable that Beauty realizes, as a result of remarks made by Prince Charming during this seduction attempt, that her actions and words toward her husband are not generally as kind as she herself perceived; she subsequently resolves to be nicer to Beast.

After the arrival in Fabletown of the Imperial Emissary, Lord Hansel, during the "Sons of Empire" story-arc, and the subsequent need to keep track of both him and his staff, Beast asks for, and is given, additional funding and manpower. This includes the zephyrs, provided by Bigby Wolf's father, the North Wind, which act as spies. During the war against the Empire, as depicted in the "War and Pieces" arc, Beast remains in Fabletown, commanding the troops stationed there in case of a retaliatory assault by the Empire.[1]

According to the answers given in the "Burning Questions" issue, the couple ask Frau Totenkinder what it is she is always knitting. Totenkinder responds that it is a garment for their firstborn child. Though Beauty laughs, saying she's not even expecting, Frau answer "All things in time" and shows them the progress of her knitting: a pair of footed pajamas with a lion head sewn on the front, and four arms, two legs, and a place for a tail. Beast and Beauty are left flabbergasted by the implications

As shown in the "Great Fables Cross Over", after having a brief argument with Beast about his behavior with Bigby, Beauty and her husband retire to a tent for make up sex. Afterwards, Beauty feels that there was something magical about this sex. In a subsequent, Beauty reveals she is pregnant. The child is born premature, but there are no apparent complications. The child, a little girl, is named Bliss, and seems normal. As Frau had predicted, though, there is a complication: When Bliss becomes angry, she transforms into a six limbed, tailed beast. Since the birth of little Bliss, her father is unable to transform into his beastly form. When Beast is examined by Ozma she is unable to detect any trace of his ancient curse. In Fables #143 (the third chapter of the "Happily Ever After" story arc), it is confirmed that Bliss has adopted his curse as her own.

In the Fairest story "Lamia", it is revealed that Beauty hides a dark secret. She is in fact a lamia who was driven from her home after a man got her in the family way. The man's wife had some friends run Lamia out of town. They followed her to another world, where Lamia met a beautiful woman. Lamia, having so recently been abused for beauty's sake, hated the woman on sight and killed her, because "everything beautiful leads to ruin in the end". Lamia then took the woman's form in order to adopt her peaceful and simple way of life. She kept the form so long that the woman's personality became her. She met Beast, and they fell in love. Every few decades, Beauty becomes herself Lamia again. When this happens, Beast tries to catch her in time and lock her away. Sometimes she escapes, and embarks on a killing rampage, targeting rapists and men who abuse women (going after innocents is "not her style"). Beast then assumes the identities of famous heroes of detective fiction (such as Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe) and has to stop her before the mundy authorities can catch her. Bigby Wolf has threatened Beast to deal with the matter permanently - even if it means killing Beast as well. Beauty never remembers the incidents afterward and Beast never tells her the truth.

Beast is considering making a new home for himself, his wife and their daughter in Flycatcher's kingdom in the Homelands, because Beauty will be safer there, as the "mundy" police keeps getting better and better at investigating and collecting evidence, and will catch Beauty sooner or later. The story's ending suggests that Beauty may be turning into Lamia again sometime in the near future. In the Fairest graphic novel Fairest In All The Lands, Lamia is gone for good: Beauty becomes the victim of a serial killer, and even though Beauty is brought back to life, Lamia is not. Beast is ultimately killed by a feral, controlled resurrected Bigby Wolf. It remains to be seen if he will stay dead. In the final story, it reveals that years later, a grown up Bliss and Beauty have a business where they solve the problems of people (such as murders and kidnappings) using Bliss' beastly abilities.

Trusty John [ edit ]

The doorman at the Woodland building, Trusty John was almost universally popular. Amiable and good-natured, John enjoyed his job and was always pleased to see everybody. As such, it came as a complete shock to everyone when Kay unmasked John as a spy for the Adversary. Baffled as to how the 'most faithful Fable in history' could turn against them, John was interrogated by Prince Charming, Beauty and Beast; he explained to them that, long before signing up to the Fabletown compact, he had sworn an unbreakable vow of loyalty to his King, who he believed had been killed leading his forces against the Adversary. It turned out that this had not been the case, that his King, now working for the Adversary, had contacted John and ordered him to spy on his fellow Fables. Bound by his vow, which overruled the later compact, John had no choice but to obey and spent the next four years passing information to the enemy before Kay, with newly regrown eyes, caught him. Despite being sorely tempted to forgive him, given the circumstances, Charming realised that treason, no matter what the situation, must be dealt with harshly. Hardening his heart, he gave John the option to jump down the Witching Well under his own power as a gesture of mercy, the alternative being that he would be executed on the spot and his corpse put down there anyway. John accepted the former offer. Few people explicitly know what happened to him, as revealing such a beloved Fable to be a traitor was deemed to be bad for the morale of Fabletown.

On his mission into The Witching Well, as depicted in the story-arc The Good Prince, Flycatcher recruited John as his squire, offering him the possibility of redemption by accompanying him. Following the completion of his quest, Flycatcher, now King Ambrose of Haven, announced that John would henceforth be known as Trusty John once more, and appointed him to be Lord High Chancellor of the kingdom, putting him in charge of the day-to-day running of the new realm.

Grimble [ edit ]

The security guard at the Woodland apartment building that forms the centre of Fabletown, Grimble is the troll from the tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff and quite possibly many other tales where a troll features. He has possession of an expensive glamour spell. He has been shown to assume troll form for battle. During the Fall of Fabletown due to the actions of Mister Dark, it is Grimble who snaps King Cole out of his melancholy and encourages him to carry on. It is also he who motivates the former mayor during the evacuation to Haven after Mister Dark discovers the location of the Farm. He was turned into a harmless bird by Prince Brandish/Werian Holt when he began to unravel behind his alias. It is unknown if its a permanent spell or a temporary one, since Brandish didn't want Grimble to reveal that he and Mrs. Sprat weren't Mr. Dark's prisoners. In his bluebird form, Grimble becomes crucial in the death of Prince Brandish, having been sent on a secret mission by the Thirteenth Floor to locate Brandish's heart. Under the protection of layers of stealth spells by Maddy and magic that will send him to far reaches where Brandish's heart in contained in an entrance-less fortress, Grimble sneaks in through the air grills in the fortress and destroys Brandish's heart, causing Brandish to collapse and die of heart failure during his duel against Flycatcher. Over the many years that follow, Grimble bitterly assumes that the Thirteenth Floor did not bother to provide him the magic to return to Fabletown after he had completed his task and gradually becomes accustomed to living as a bird. He learns from Clara that several members of the Thirteenth Floor died in the conflict between Rose Red and Snow White, explaining why he had not been provided the means to be recalled, and it is implied that he and Clara begin a relationship after she reveals that she is no longer seeing Vulco Crow.

Bufkin [ edit ]

A winged monkey from the Oz 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.

After this, Bufkin climbs the Business Office's tree and finds himself in Ev (a neighbor to the Land of Oz). He is accompanied by Lily, one of the Barleycorn maidens who has a huge crush on him. While sitting in one of Ev's magic lunch box trees, he accidentally rescues a group of Oz-Fables from the Nome King enforcers. Bufkin then forms a resistance movement in order to overthrow the evil Nome King. Afterward, he, Lily and Hangy - a hanging rope which Lily brought to life, had many adventures in many different worlds before his as well as Lily retirement and death. It is also stated that he had become Lily's husband three times thanks to a mad scientist experiment, a wishing fork and a transformation gas and has many children in the species which they transform into which includes flying monkeys, Barleycorn and Korob birds.

Prince Charming [ edit ]

Although charming and handsome, Prince Charming 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. It's also revealed in the Jack of Fables' comic that Prince Charming is Jack Horner's father. It's 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.

Charming failed to emerge before the bomb detonated. His body was never found, and a coffin containing his uniform, medals and some personal effects was buried at the Farm cemetery in absentia. A statue of Charming in Fabletown is dedicated to his memory.

In 1001 Nights of Snowfall, a prequel to the Fables series, the real reason Prince Charming cheated on Snow White with Rose Red in the first place was given. Contrary to popular belief, he had not yet known of his inability to remain faithful in marriage. By request of a wedding gift, he taught Snow fencing lessons and had taken charge of investigating a series of murders around the kingdom (the victims were revealed to be the Seven Dwarves). He states one of the violent of prisoners did it and had him executed. This kept peace with the dwarves. He had known it was really Snow White, as the sword wounds indicated progressive swordsmanship. Because he had lost his trust in her, he had Rose Red move in with them in the castle, and shortly after, cheated on Snow with Rose Red, revealed in the Rose Red story arc to be a result of Rose Red seducing him, despite his initial resistance.

Theories both on and off the page speculate that he gives off powerful/magic pheromones, which are responsible for his strong ability to seduce nearly any woman he wishes. According to the answers given in the Burning Questions issue, Prince Charming had no less than 1,412 romantic conquests by the age of fifteen.[1] He stated that he is able to win any courtship, be it that of a single woman, or a political election.

In the Fairest story arc The Return of the Maharajah, it is revealed that Charming survived his injuries. Nathoo (from Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book) found him and brought Charming to the Indu (the Homelands version of India), where he was nursed back to health. Because Charming is a popular Fable, his wounds healed quickly. He soon became the leader of a group of villages which joined forces in order to overthrow the Maharajah. Charming then became Maharajah Charming, after killing the original Maharajah. Charming eventually relinquishes his title, and decides to go back to Fabletown. His story will be continued in the pages of Fables.

Cinderella [ edit ]

Prince Charming's third wife, Cinderella 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. She has had a long vendetta with Dorothy Gale, both on a physical and ideological level. Whereas Dorothy was a mercenary motivated by the thrill of murder and chaos, Cinderella is motivated by duty and pragmatism. After finally defeating Dorothy, Cinderella took her magical slippers as bounty, and is now presumably also able to use them for assuming disguises.

Cinderella considers herself to be the finest secret agent who has ever lived, on the grounds that, being immortal, she has had multiple human lifespans to perfect her craft and, uniquely among Fables, has had access not only to the magical resources of the Fables, but also all the technologies and techniques perfected by the mundane population. Her public persona is loud, brash and carefree, with most of her fellow Fables dismissing her as a shallow and largely irresponsible playgirl. On a mission, however, Cinderella is calm, calculating and frequently ruthless, displaying no qualms about killing when required. Cinderella eventually meets her end after finally killing Frau Totenkinder, partly at the request of Snow White given Totenkinder's decision to side with Rose Red and to even the score between them.

Old King Cole [ edit ]

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 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-handing Fabletown's budget; his diplomatic sessions showed a shrewdness and cunning that he had not displayed before then. He has since become the ambassador to Fabletown East in Baghdad. He returned to Fabletown briefly to preside over the wedding of Snow White and Bigby Wolf.[1] At the start of the war with the Empire Prince Charming resigned his position as mayor, returning the job to King Cole.

Cole remained mayor after the war and, as before, delegated official duties over to the deputy mayor, who was now Beauty. When Mister Dark escaped his imprisonment, the enchantments upon Fabletown began to fade and caused the entire building structure to crumble. Cole had a brief moment of uncertainty until Grimble gave him an impassioned speech of his responsibility as mayor. Cole led the Fable community to evacuate to The Farm so as to regroup and figure out what to do from there. In addition, he and Beauty have also taken over babysitting duties of Bigby and Snow's cubs while the parents were sent to investigate Jack Horner's claims regarding the Literals as well as Rose Red descending heavily into depression following Boy Blue's death.

Cole's diplomatic skills later served the Fable community when more Mundies became aware, and thus frightened, of them.

Hobbes [ edit ]

Originally butler 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. The name Hobbes is an obvious 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. Mr. Dark keeps Hobbe's skull, intending to eat the goblin's teeth later, in order to summon his spirit to serve him. However, Mr. Dark is killed by the North Wind before this happens.

He is presumably named after the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes.[2]

Pinocchio [ edit ]

Briar Rose [ edit ]

Better known as Sleeping Beauty, 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 would 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 furnishings. Her curse, however, remains in effect, with the slightest prick of her finger causing her falling asleep, followed by everybody else in the building, which is then surrounded by rapidly growing thorn-bearing plants. A kiss from a (genuinely) loving "prince" resets the curse back to the start. It's been revealed during a talk with Bigby that in one incident when her finger was pricked, the police sent in a police dog named "Prince" and his innocent dog kiss awoke her, the affection of a dog being honest and true (though Briar threatened Bigby never to tell a soul of the incident).

While generally a hazard, forcing Rose to take extreme care and wear gloves at all times, the curse has proved useful on at least two occasions. The first was in the story A Two-Part Caper when journalist Tommy Sharp threatened to reveal what he had discovered about the Fables, the curse was employed to put the inhabitants of his building to sleep while a team led by Bigby Wolf 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. Presumably the love has to be genuine but does not have to be romantic. It has never been revealed if she knew Flycatcher awoke her or not.

The second occasion was during the war against the Empire, as depicted in the "War and Pieces" story-arc, when the curse was deployed within the Imperial capital, putting the inhabitants of the entire city to sleep, depriving the Empire of most of its senior officials and the majority of their combat-ready sorcerers. Recently, the city was burned to the ground, but not before Briar Rose and the Snow Queen were carried away, still asleep, by a mysterious cadre of goblins.

In the Fairest story arc Wide Awake, a bottle imp tells Ali Baba, who is seeking treasures in the burned down city, about the sleeping girl that is blessed with eternal wealth and riches, but needs to be woken with true love's kiss from a prince. Ali Baba sneaks into the goblins' encampment and kisses the sleeping Briar Rose, who awakens from the spell, along with the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen seeks vengeance on Rose for putting her to sleep for years, and takes both of them captive. Instead of killing them, the Snow Queen forces Jonah the bottle imp to tell her stories of Briar Rose's life, as the Snow Queen "is addicted to good stories", and Jonah is very good at telling stories. While Ali Baba and Briar are forced to spend time with Lumi, Ali Baba realizes that he has no feelings for Briar after all, but is in love with Lumi. It is revealed that because Ali Baba risked his life to wake and rescue Briar Rose, his actions fell under the definition of true, but not romantic, love.

Briar also defeats Hadeon the Destroyer, the evil fairy from the fairy tale. Briar's fairy godmothers then turn Hadeon into a car that can travel to any world, and the spaces between worlds. The car has to serve one thousand times before it will revert to Hadeon. Briar uses the car to travel back to the newly re-built Fabletown, as seen in the Fables story arc Snow White. When the car has been used nine hundred and ninety-nine times, she plans to take it to the junkyard and have Hadeon destroyed in a car crusher. In the Fairest graphic novel Fairest In All the Land, Briar Rose is revealed to be having a secret relationship with the dryad Prince Aspen, something no one in Fabletown knew about. Unfortunately for her, a murderous Goldilocks did and murdered the two for giving into "carnal" desires, burning them both together. Cinderella is able to resurrect her, but unfortunately she could not bring back Prince Aspen.

Briar Rose's ultimate fate is given in the next-to-last compilation, Fables: Happily Ever After. After many years of adventuring, Briar Rose, who had been scratched by an undead blade, begins to succumb to a zombie-like curse. She returns to Fabletown to collect Hadeon, who has exactly one ride left before returning to her own form. Briar Rose commands Hadeon to take her "to the end of the universe" and then pricks her finger, declaring that if she must turn into an undead horror, she will not be awake for it and will keep her oath to prevent Hadeon from harming anyone ever again.

Doctor Swineheart [ edit ]

One of The Three Army Surgeons 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.

Rapunzel [ edit ]

Cursed by Frau Totenkinder (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 to prevent any mundanes from noticing. She has three haircuts each day. She was part of the group of Fables who were part of the last stand in the old territory and she was also present at the Remembrance Day for those who died in the battle at the Last Castle. It is revealed in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love that Cinderella's Fairy Godmother showed Rapunzel's prince the way to the tower she was kept in, mainly to spite Frau Totenkinder. In Fairest it is revealed that Rapunzel does not believe Totenkinder has reformed, and has a disdain for her. It's also revealed that in order to survive the winter, Rapunzel's mother sold her for a handful of gold to Totenkinder to be the witch's apprentice. Rapunzel and the prince had a passionate love affair which resulted in Rapunzel's pregnancy. When Totenkinder found out, she threw Rapunzel out. Despite the bad history Rapunzel does call Totenkinder "Mom", though it could be to get on Totenkinder's good side.

After being thrown out by Totenkinder, Rapunzel tried to find her lost lover. Unbeknownst to her, Cinderella's fairy godmother forbade the prince to contact Rapunzel again, as the godmother had "plans for her". No one would take the homeless Rapunzel in, because of her past as Totenkinder's ward. As Rapunzel was giving birth to her children, a strange woman came to her aid. The woman drugged her and stole the children, who were twin girls. Rapunzel spent centuries looking for her daughters across a hundred worlds. Eventually, she gave up and sailed off the edge of the world in a ship, planning to die. Instead, she washed up on the shore of one of The Hidden Kingdom, a Fable Homeland populated by people and creatures of Japanese mythology and culture. There, she became a member of the Emperor's court, and had a lesbian romance with a female kitsune named Tomoko.

It is also revealed that Rapunzel is Okiku from the famous Japanese ghost story; while spending time at the Emperor's court, she took Okiku as her new name. The shogun had Rapunzel's lover banished, along with many other yokai. He confiscated the kitsune's foxfire - her soul, which she kept outside her body. The shogun kept the foxfire in a safe locked with a sliding puzzle. When Rapunzel tried to get the foxfire back for Tomoko, she discovered that she was unable to solve the puzzle slide, and broke a plate in anger. The shogun caught her trying to break her into the safe, and beat her up and threw her limp form down a well. Rapunzel was unable to climb out the well, and ate her hair in order to survive. She coughed up hundreds of hairballs, which talked to her with spiny mouths. Rapunzel knotted several of them into her hair, which gave her the purchase she needed to climb out. She escaped from the well, and killed the shogun and his men.

Centuries later, in the mundy world, Rapunzel and Joel Crow venture with Jack Horner (before his break with Rose Red) to Japan, where the Japanese Fables have started a new life after the Adversary's invasion. Rapunzel is caught in a war between Tomoko's group and the other Japanese Fables, but eventually manages to help her former lover and the Japanese Fables find their way back to their homeland via a magical portal. Frau Totenkinder reveals to Joel Crow that she knows who took Rapunzel's children, and that this person is an enemy of Totenkinder, who would use Rapunzel to bring her and all of Fabletown down. This is why the twins were stolen, and why she can't tell Rapunzel. She persuades Joel to give Rapunzel a memory potion that will make her forget about her daughters, Tomoko and The Hidden Kingdom. It is implied that Joel gives the potion to Rapunzel.

Kay [ edit ]

Once a captive of the Snow Queen, Kay is now grown and living in New York, away from Fabletown itself. It's never been stated what happened to his friend Gerda or their home. He still has the troll mirror shards in his eye, with the result that he sees all the bad that people have ever done. The pain that this causes him leads him to routinely gouge out his own eyes, although they subsequently grow back over a period of around ten years. Kay has proven very useful in the past at detecting traitors, and it is with this in mind that Beast asked Frau Totenkinder to magically restore Kay's sight to assist him in rooting out Fables who might be secretly working for the Adversary. Because of his ability, Kay is the only other person in Fabletown to know the full details of Bigby's past deeds and how Frau Totenkinder truly gets her powers. The "bad" he sees is defined so by Fabletown morals and not by Mundy justice, as he sees the "bad" in Bigby (though he was mostly doing what he did because of an understandable (from a wolves perspective) dislike of humans, and from hunger rather than for the sake of evil) and in Frau Totenkinder (though what she does is perfectly legal from a 21st-century Mundy American justice point of view). After seeing the evil in The Adversary, he is so overwhelmed he gouges his eyes out again. Soon afterward, he is killed by Mr. Dark, who devours his teeth to make him a witherling. When Totenkinder destroys Mister Dark's teeth by feeding him candy, most likely this ended Dark's control over Kay's body.

Mrs. Sprat [ edit ]

Mrs. Sprat, whose first name is Leigh, works as a nurse in the Knights of Malta Hospital special research wing and like the poem says, she is indeed fat. Mrs. Sprat is a rather ugly and grumpy individual, which does her no good in a community filled with beautiful men and women. Her husband was another of Ghost's victims. In Fables #100, Snow White scolds her for her nasty, spiteful attitude towards Sheriff Beast and Beauty while the latter is going into labor. Snow explains that, while one can get away with being mean if she is beautiful, one can also get away with being hideous if she's pleasant, and since Mrs. Sprat is both ugly and mean she will have to do something about her attitude before someone has had enough of her. On the verge of tears, Mrs. Sprat reveals that she hates all the beautiful Fables, and became a nurse for the chance to have them under her care and at her mercy. When the Fables depart for Haven, Mrs. Sprat stays behind, unbeknownst to everyone else. When Mister Dark shows up at the Farm looking for the other Fables, she offers to reveal their location for three things: to become beautiful, for all the other beautiful Fables to become ugly like her, and for a prince to love her with "true love". Mister Dark agrees to all three conditions, and the two depart together.

Mr. Dark shows Nurse Sprat how to make herself beautiful by exercising and fighting her eating disorder by eating more lean and less fat. Mrs. Sprat is delighted with the great progress, but eventually becomes impatient with her transformation and asks Mr. Dark to speed up the process. Using an extremely painful spell, Mr. Dark transforms her into a beautiful, young woman in a black dress. Mr. Dark leaves to deal with the Fables, and promises to summon Mrs. Sprat to his side so that she will see the beautiful Fables be made ugly before they die. He also plans to make her his bride and the mistress of Castle Dark, his fortress in New York City. Sprat adopts her maiden name, Duglas, since the name Sprat is from a dead past. However, Mr. Dark is killed by Mr. North, the North Wind, before any of his plans are carried through. When Leigh's fellow Fables come to claim the castle as their own following Mr. Dark's death, Leigh dresses in rags and hides in a dungeon, pretending to have been Dark's prisoner, and claims that the reason for her slim figure is that Dark starved her. Since her transformation she has tried gaining favor with King Cole and has been approached romantically by Dr. Swineheart, much to her shock. It is recently revealed that she withheld the last shard from Bigby after he had been turned into glass and shattered by Brandish. Now ready to take on the mantle of Mister Dark, she resurrects Bigby in a feral form and unleashes him onto the Fables. When the Fables demand Bigby's death, Leigh vehemently accuses the Fables of lacking mercy, especially Rose Red as the supposed champion for the hope of second chances. Enhanced by the magic as the leader of the Knights of the Endless Table, Rose eventually sees Leigh's true form and notices her glass ring, made from Bigby's shard. Killing Leigh, Rose Red takes the ring and assumes control over Bigby.

Winter, Conner, Therese, Darien, Ambrose, Blossom (From left to right)

Snow and Bigby's seven children are a rowdy, unpredictable bunch of hybrids that seem to have inherited abilities from all facets of their heritage. All, but Ghost, can fly, at first uncontrollably so, flight having been their natural state; they needed to be taught how to ground themselves. They can transform into wolf form.

One of the seven, later named Ghost by Bigby, is a zephyr, a rogue wind whose invisible nature meant his parents were initially unaware of his existence. This entity fed off the air of living beings, accidentally killing them before he learned control. Snow White, after a rash of deaths, discovers that they were inadvertently caused by her last child. She sends Ghost to find his self-exiled father. The family has since been reunited. On their fifth birthday, the other six cubs were introduced to Ghost, but were sworn to secrecy as to his existence, as zephyrs are considered dangerous aberrations, and their grandfather Mr. North is obligated by a prior vow to exterminate any zephyrs known to exist. Ghost appears sweet, if anything confused since he cannot feel normal things the others do. He's not hungry, thirsty or sleepy. But he is good at finding people, which was what convinced Snow to find Bigby.

Ambrose, the chubby and sweet cub named after Flycatcher, is portrayed as the weak link, often too scared to transform or fly when in danger. Ambrose narrates certain events such as the family's trip to his grandfather's castle, as well as his narrow escape from his six wild uncles, with whom his father later fought. These are done in the form of memoirs.

Darien is shown as the leader of the pack, something that Bigby has commented on. Another female cub, Winter (named after Bigby's mother), is portrayed as being shy and cuddly, often shown sucking her thumb or holding a stuffed animal, usually the only one of the cubs to do so. Her brother Darien has referred to Winter as the runt of the litter, despite her being the firstborn. She also stands out because, unlike her other siblings, she was the only one who was born completely human in appearance. The remaining cubs are Conner, who isn't too different from Darien in personality and possesses similar facial characteristics like Prince Charming; Therese, a blonde-headed cub who is observant, but tends to confuse things; and Blossom, who bears a great deal of resemblance to Rose Red, seems to have inherited some stereotypical "Fairytale Princess" qualities, and is often seen with cute cuddly forest creatures and butterflies following her around. [1]

During the Fables Forum panel in the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, a one-page story was handed out to attendees that would foretell the fate of the cubs possibly within the next one hundred issues. Ambrose meets one of the Thirteenth Floor Witches, Ozma of Oz, the young childlike second in command to Frau Totenkinder, who at his behest tells him of a prophecy she had. She explains:

The first child will be a king. (Winter)

The second child a pauper. (Blossom)

The third will do an evil thing. (Therese)

The fourth will die to stop her. (Darien)

The fifth will be a hero bold. (Conner)

The sixth will judge the rest. (Ambrose)

The seventh lives to ages old, and is by heaven blessed (Ghost)

The Witch further explains that her vision made no real detailed specifics as to which child is which and she leaves it up to Ambrose to decide if he should tell the others.[3]

When the Cubs approach their ninth birthday, and the first result of the prophecy is revealed. After the death of the North Wind, Bigby's father, a successor is chosen among his grandchildren. After a series of tests are performed, Winter is named the winner and the new king of the North Wind's kingdom. Winter will be sent away soon for her training, but she admits to her father that she's deathly afraid as a result of recently having nightmares of her older self as the North Wind. In her dreams, she is no longer her sweet and shy self and sees herself as a cold and selfish person that hurts people. If this will happen is not known. By the time the events of Camelot occur, it's revealed that Winter has fully assumed the powers of the North Wind, including the ability to appear in multiple places at once wherever the North Wind exists. While she takes on the form of a young girl to keep her mother from worrying, Winter actually possesses an adult form reflecting her age and knowledge inherited from her predecessors and is considerably more ruthless than her childlike form appears. Unbeknownst to Snow White, Winter has taken it upon herself to gather all the powers under her demesnes, including the other cardinal winds, the Snow Queen, and Santa Claus, as part of an army against the forces of Rose Red and the Knights of the Endless Table.

Subsequently, the third and fourth children mentioned in the prophecy are revealed to be Therese and Darien respectively. After receiving a red plastic tugboat (Mr. Steampuddle) for Christmas from an unknown admirer, Therese is carried away to Toyland, a mysterious land where discarded toys go, and is delighted to be crowned Queen of Toyland. Dismayed when she finds she cannot fly nor go home, she begins to starve as nothing grows in Toyland and learns that all the inhabitants in Toyland are toys that caused their child owners to die in accidents, such as choking or drowning, and she is the latest in a long-line of ill-fated children who starved to death before they could restore the toys. Back in the "mundy" world, Darien realizes that as the pack leader, it is his job to look after the rest of the cubs. With the help of Lord Mountbatten, a magical clockwork tiger capable of taking physical form, he travels to Toyland to rescue his sister. However, the toy army attack them, injure Darien, and take Mountbatten prisoner. Therese, with her diminishing condition and the dark influence of the land, orders Mountbatten to be killed for her sustenance, savagely eating his raw flesh before ordering toys to be burned in order to cook her meal, thus committing the "evil thing" outlined in the prophecy. To save his sister, Darien realizes he must sacrifice himself, and impales himself on a broken mini pool cue. His blood goes into a magical cauldron and his body goes into the soil; because of Darien's magical bloodline, his blood invokes an ancient magic that allows growth to come to Toyland and restores the cauldron so it magically fills up with hot and fresh food every day. Therese grieves over her brother for a long, long time and, upon maturity, decides to put her brother's sacrifice to work and begins the restoration of Toyland. Forcing everyone to accept that they are killers including herself, she commands Mr. Steampuddle to lead a series of new voyages and for the toys to save lives. Over many years, the toys are gradually restored and Therese returns to the mundy world to inform her family of Darien's fate. However, while she has grown, little time has passed and her siblings are all still children. Therese also reveals that she is tied to Toyland as its queen due to the consequences of her actions and must eventually return.

The sixth child of the prophecy is revealed to be Ambrose, reinforced by his response to Therese's story as the "one who will judge the rest" through his role as a historian for the Fables. In the Fables story The Destiny Game, an adult Ambrose appears to be in a well-established relationship with the Lady of the Lake. In that story, it is also revealed that, no matter their nigh-immortality (due to their nature as Fables and part-gods), they will all die, eventually (as Bigby is fated to outlive them all). Still according to Bigby's new fate, all of his cubs will lay waste to worlds (meaning they will all do terrible things, eventually - though this is contradicted by Dare's noble suicide before he had any opportunity to commit any crime of any kind at all). However, as noted earlier, the Lady can reassign fates. In the Fables story Snow White, the adult Ambrose narrates the events that led to Bigby's death, and reveals he is the child who judges the rest as the witch foretold, by telling the histories. Ambrose himself is eventually revealed to be an established author of popular children's books and histories, as well as having six children with the Lady of the Lake

The remaining portions of the prophecy are confirmed in the last volume of the series, Farewell. Blossom becomes the "pauper", a huntress who lives without material possessions or comforts, living off and protecting beasts and lands, which is a point of contention between her and Winter; Conner is the "hero bold," a swash-bucking adventurer who travels through worlds, though his flamboyant attitude has put him at odds with the more grounded Ambrose; and Ghost is revealed to be the one "who lives to ages old, and is by heaven blessed" by virtue of outliving all his siblings after a long eventful life.

Other New York Fables [ edit ]

Thirteenth Floor Fables [ edit ]

These are the spellcaster Fables who live on the 13th floor of the Woodlands building.

Frau Totenkinder [ edit ]

Ozma [ edit ]

Ozma, Princess of Oz, a little girl witch who is often seen with Frau Totenkinder. While the Fairy Witch's great task was the creation of Fabletown and the Woodland building and Totenkinder's great task was the battle against the Empire, Ozma sees her task as the battle against Mr. Dark for the sake of Fabletown. Was voted the new leader of the 13th floor after Frau Totenkinder went to find Dunster Happ. She participated in a power struggle in The Farm along with Stinky and Gepetto, and in the end was named one of Rose Red's three advisers. With Totenkinder gone to live with her new husband, Ozma is the leader of the thirteenth floor witches. She's killed by a resurrected feral Bigby Wolf (unknown to all is being controlled by Mrs. Sprat).

Great Fairy Witch [ edit ]

The former leader of the 13th floor who has gone a little crazy. She is the witch from Thumbelina, 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 [ edit ]

A black cat with a demon-like, pointed tail who has appeared in a few panels with Frau Totenkinder and other witches. She is the acknowledged specialist in matters of locating and hiding and is a shape-shifter. Her powers at hiding are so great that Mr. Dark couldn't detect her, when she went to spy on him, although she had trouble keeping away from his detection, calling Mr Dark the most paranoid and dangerous of any subject she had spied on before. Ozma used her to find Frau Totenkinder before she went into seclusion. The character has been revealed to represent both Sycorax 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.

Mr. Grandours [ edit ]

Mr. Grandours (in French, literally "large bear") is the title character from the French fairy tale The Wizard King (from Andrew Lang's The Yellow Fairy Book), about a shapeshifting wizard king; this is revealed in the Fables Encyclopedia.[2]

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.

Prospero [ edit ]

Protagonist of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Prospero 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 [ edit ]

Depicted as a stereotypical Stage Magician wearing a top hat. In earlier appearances, he is seen wearing a button with "yog" on it which refers to meditation and concentration. His name derives from the magic phrase abracadabra. He has recently been killed by an unknown assailant in the first issue of Cinderella: Fables Are Forever. In the Fables story In Those Days, it is revealed that Mr. Kadabra's real name is Karrant. Karrant was a powerful sorcerer who cast a spell on the Adversary that made the Adversary ignore any land in which Kadabra dwelled. The cost of Karrant's actions was that he forgot all about the spell and his enemy. He wandered from world to world until he ended up in Fabletown in the mundane world, where he made a living as a stage magician, adopting the stage name "Master Kadabra". He was eventually killed by Dorothy Gale, who needed a dead body to send a message to her archenemy, Cinderella.

Geppetto [ edit ]

Morgan le Fay [ edit ]

Morgan le Fay, from the saga of King Arthur, is the witch with the long dark hair and beauty mark on her face. Her identity was first revealed in the Fairest graphic novel Fairest In All the Land, and later in Fables 136 (Camelot, Part 6). She is also known as Mrs. Green, as revealed in Fables 128 (Snow White, Chapter Four). Morgan was part of Ozma's super team put together to defeat Mister Dark, where she was given the "superhero name" The Green Witch. She has the power to fly.

In the Snow White story arc, after the story arc's title character is taken captive by Prince Brandish, Morgan is seen discussing rescue plans with her fellow witches, Ozma and Maddy. Because Brandish has bewitched himself so that any injury inflicted on him will also hurt Snow, the task is easier said than done, especially since the spell is difficult to break. Morgan comes up with a plan. They will not try to break the spell, but add to it instead: She will build in a delay between cause and effect, which will give them some wiggle room between the moment Brandish is killed, and when the same thing happens to Snow. Morgan begins the hard work of casting the spell, while Rose Red rescues Snow while Brandish is distracted. Snow then engages Brandish in a sword fight, while Morgan slowly, but carefully manages to unwind the spell that Brandish has cast on himself, allowing Snow stab him straight through his heart.

Unfortunately, the spell is not broken, merely delayed. In the Camelot story arc, Morgan breaks the bad news to Snow: Sooner or later, the fatal wound is bound to be inflicted on Snow herself, which will kill her. In Fairest In All the Land, Morgan, along with Bean Nighe, a Fabled oracle, were victims at the hands of Goldilocks. While Cinderella is able to bring back the victims of Goldilocks; she's only allowed to choose half. She ultimately chooses Morgan Le Fay, seeing her more valuable an alley for Fabletown. Snow White's fate is resolved in the same story; she is stabbed through the heart (as Morgan predicted) by Goldilocks. Fortunately, Cinderella is able to bring her back to life.

The Farm [ edit ]

This article is a list of fictional characters in the Vertigo comic book series Fables, Jack of Fables, Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, Cinderella: Fables Are Forever and Fairest, published by DC Comics. These are the characters who live at The Farm.

Rose Red [ edit ]

Snow White's sister, ex-girlfriend of Jack Horner, 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. 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.[1] Following the "War and Pieces" story-arc, Rose marries Sinbad, but immediately divorces him on account of her despair over Boy Blue's post-war condition. She attempts to revive her romantic relationship with Boy Blue in his last moments, but is denied by Blue himself, who tells her that she is hopelessly attracted to whoever seems to add the most excitement to her life, and that he deserves better than that, but he hopes someone else can "fix her".[6]

Emotionally destroyed by Blue's rejection and death, Rose descends into self-loathing and depression, refusing to leave her bed for any reason. She reunites briefly with Jack on her descent toward rock-bottom, believing that she deserves someone as terrible as Jack. After reconciling with her past, Rose decides to take charge of the Farm again, stopping Ozma, Brock, and Geppetto's bids to take control of the farm and appointing them as her advisers. She also makes it clear to Cole, Beast, and Beauty that she will accept their advice but wants them to respect the fact that they're on the Farm and not at Fabletown. To show no hard feelings with Brock, she wears a blue scarf to show her support that Boy Blue could come back, but maintains that while she wants as much as anyone for Blue to come back, it is the job of everyone to fix their own problems instead of waiting for Blue to return and fix everything. While it's not been said, Rose does feel guilty for divorcing her husband, as Colin points out to her in a dream, by asking what she felt guilty about.

Rose Red usually dresses in red and almost always has some sort of rose motif in her clothing, even if it is just a scarf tied in the shape of a blossom.

Boy Blue [ edit ]

Weyland Smith [ edit ]

Based on Wayland the Smith, a figure in Germanic mythology, 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.[1] He now holds a position of distinction as Haven's Chief Builder in service to King Ambrose. He's later murdered by Prince Brandish, taking the opportunity to retaliate now that Rose Red is not near.

The Three (or Four) Little Pigs [ edit ]

The "original" Three Little Pigs, 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 (Possibly in reference to the famous scene of Lord of the Flies). The first occasion was when she lay in a coma after being shot by Goldilocks, where they discussed death briefly and Colin pointed out that, while he was dead, she probably wasn't. The second was shortly before the assault on Fabletown by the wooden soldiers, giving her warning that bad things were coming that would require all of them to defeat. The third occasion was in a dream after her return to the Farm with her children, to warn her that things weren't going to improve any time soon. His final appearance was apparently while Snow was awake, to tell her that things were finally going to get better for her (unbeknownst to Snow, Bigby was on the way back) and to say goodbye, that she didn't need him 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 prophesied a coming battle to Flycatcher, and to Rose Red, warning her that she would have to lead Fabletown during the crisis of Mister Dark.

Posey and Dun were among the Fables that were dumped down the Witching Well and were met by Flycatcher during his quest there.

Recently in Jack of Fables, it was revealed that there was a fourth Little Pig, Carl, who made a house out of cloth. He was Snow White's "favourite of The Four Little Pigs", prior to being eliminated from the story by Mr. Revise before he could find out what happened to his brothers - temporarily making Colin Snow White's "favourite of The Three Little Pigs".

Recently since Fables: Rose Red, 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.

Colin appeared in video game as it is a prequel to the comics. He is seen hanging around Bigby's apartment, and Bigby must choose whether he should let him stay or send him back to the farm. He is voiced by Brian Sommer.

The Three Bears [ edit ]

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 [ edit ]

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 depicted as a stereotype of lovable rogue. He often puts himself at risk for just causes, when he isn't driving his fellow animals crazy with his tricks. He helped Snow White escape the clutches of The Three Pigs and helped her defeat Shere Khan and free Weyland Smith from his bonds. He flirts with Snow White shamelessly, who is in turn is playfully appalled by the fox's advances. During preparations for Bigby and Snow's home, Reynard tells Prince Charming that he blames him. When he asks why, Reynard explains if Prince Charming had kept his promise for glamour spells, he could have become a human and swept Snow off her feet. Charming, not wanting to be reminded of his broken promises, tells him to leave him alone. In the Homelands, he was the one who led King Noble the Lion's subjects (a large number of anthropomorphic animals) into the Mundy world, enabling them to escape the slavery of the Adversary's army. He did this despite the fact that, as a trickster, he was disliked by most of his neighbors. In a display of power, Ozma bestowed the ability to shapeshift between fox and human forms, and his human form is apparently very attractive. Currently, he is amusing himself by transforming back and forth, and is very excited to be off the farm. He eventually becomes one of the Knights of Rose Red's New Camelot.

Brock Blueheart ("Stinky") [ edit ]

A badger 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). The others agree to use the new name. After Blue's death, Brock starts a religion based on pure delusion. A belief the returning Jack of Fables is Blue is found false and Brock turns on Jack and Rose. She is hidden away from and Jack is ejected from farm territory. During the Rose Red story arc, Brock meets clandestinely with Ozma and Gepetto to discuss the future of the leadership of the Farm in Rose Red's absence. However, when Rose clarifies her leadership, Brock backs her. Due to Brock's belief in Blue, he is able to manifest a more powerful form at times - however, magic based on beliefs and religion is extremely weak and easily destroyed by proper magic, as revealed during a skirmish.

He very briefly went by the code-name or hero-name of "Captain Blueheart." During a small portion of the volume "Snow White", his eyes unexplainably stop being blue.

Peter Piper [ edit ]

From the famous tongue twister Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pepper, the nursery rhyme Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, and the tale of Peter and the Wolf. Peter was first mentioned in part 2 of The Ballad of Rodney and June, and went on to become one of the title characters in Peter & Max: A Fables Novel. He is the younger brother to Max, The Pied Piper of Hamelin. 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, he also appears in several issues of the Fables comic: In Fables 91 (chapter five of the Witches story arc), Peter and his wife can be seen among the Fables standing in the background when the dryads are enjoying the falling snow. He can be seen playing his flute alongside another member of the band while the Fables are partying in Fables #100. He appears with his wife and his band in the Fables Christmas story "All in a Single Night".

Peter and his wife have their first speaking parts (in the comics) in Fables 127 (chapter three of the Snow White story arc), where they partake in the plans to rescue Snow White from Prince Brandish. They also appear as supporting characters in the Fairest story Aldered States, where Peter and his wife have become friends with Princess Alder the dryad. When Reynard the Fox - in human form - asks the dryad out, Peter gives the fox advice on the customs of dating and courtship.

In the Camelot story arc, Peter is one of the candidates for a seat at Rose Red's new Round Table, but Peter says no, because he's already had more than his share of adventures.

In the Fairest graphic novel Fairest In All the Land, Peter is almost killed by Goldilocks. The latter is out to murder the beautiful women of Fabletown, and goes after Peter's wife in their home. Fortunately, Bo catches her by surprise, and Goldilocks flees the scene of the crime.

Peter is a supporting character in The Boys in the Band story arc.

Bo Peep [ edit ]

From the nursery rhyme Little Bo Peep, and wife to Peter Piper. She is also the wife from the nursery rhyme Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. She was crippled by a magic song from Max Piper's flute, Fire. After the death of Max, Peter used Fire to heal her, and then he turned Fire over to the authorities of Fabletown. In her youth, she was a member of the Assassin's Guild of the Homelands version of Hamlin. She keeps lambs, and Mary's lamb used to be one of them. Bo is one of the supporting characters of Peter and Max: A Fables Novel, and is mentioned in the Super Team story arc. She and her husband make a brief appearance in Fables 91 (chapter five of the Witches story arc), where they can be seen among the Fables standing in the background when the dryads are enjoying the falling snow. They also appear briefly in the Fables story "All in a Single Night", celebrating Christmas with their fellow Fables. They have their first speaking parts (in the comics) in Fables 127 (chapter three of the Snow White story arc), where they partake in the plans to rescue Snow White from Prince Brandish. Bo and Peter both appear as supporting characters in the Fairest story Aldered States, where they have become friends with Princess Alder the dryad. Bo advises the dryad on the customs and mores of modern courtship.

In the Camelot story arc, Bo and her husband are among the candidates for Rose Red's new Round Table. Even though Peter says no, Bo decides to attempt to win a seat, and is ultimately chosen as one of Rose Red's Knights, who will take their place at the New Camelot.

In the Fairest graphic novel Fairest In All the Land, Bo is one of many Fables killed by Goldilocks, although Cinderella is able bring her back to life. Bo's husband, Peter, is also one of the intended victims, but Goldilocks is interrupted by Bo before she can go through with her plans. Because Goldilocks took Cinderella's form, Bo attacks the real Cinderella when the latter shows up at their house a moment later. She almost kills her in a knife fight, but fortunately, Cinderella survives the deadly wounds, and is able to explain.

Other Farm characters [ edit ]

Villains [ edit ]

The Adversary [ edit ]

Albeit one that's rarely seen, the Adversary's actions are responsible for the entire premise of the comic book, in that the real Adversary masterminded the conquest of the Fable homelands, and centuries ago forced the Fables to flee into the mundane world.

During the Boy Blue's encounter with the heavily armoured and massively imposing figure Adversary, he is shown to be a figurehead and literal puppet, with this fact and the true identity of the Empire's ruler unknown to even most of the Empire's top leaders. The Adversary is eventually revealed to be Geppetto. He was the primary antagonist for a long time in the series, but later on, his role is replaced by Mister Dark.

Willingham originally intended for the Adversary to be revealed as Peter Pan.[1] The term "The Adversary" appears based on "The Enemy," the common term for Sauron in the Lord of the Rings.[17] Peter Pan did eventually make an appearance in 1001 Nights of Snowfall. It has also been theorized that the title "The Adversary" could be derived from Jewish and Christian literature where the name "Satan" actually comes from the Hebrew word for "Adversary."

Goldilocks [ edit ]

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 regenerate from her horrendous injuries and she eventually reappeared on the scene in the spin-off series Jack of Fables as a prisoner of Mr. Revise. During this time, she once again leads a revolution; this time, she leads her revolutionaries to believe Bookburner and his army is coming to save them from their captivity at Golden Boughs. Bookburner's army shot the revolutionaries down when they finally arrived. However, Goldilocks survived (or came back to life) and reappeared in Fairest.

In Fairest In All the Land, it was revealed that Goldilocks may have a taste for, as Reynard puts it, "forbidden fruit ", as she attempted to seduce Brock Blueheart (in addition, the Animal Farm story arc revealed that she once had a sexual relationship with Boo Bear). It also revealed that she was more psychotic than Fabletown really knew. In this story, Cinderella had started investigating the murders of powerful women (i.e. Snow White, Rose Red, Frau Totenkinder, Beauty, and even Briar Rose). With help from Bo Peep, she discovered it was Goldilocks behind the murders while utilizing a sword of regret that would guarantee the wielder a kill at the price of a second victim but had become cursed so only half the victims could be resurrected. Though her reasons varied, some she had an obvious vendetta against people like Snow; other murders, she apparently justified by finding them tainted in a way. While she boasts about her Briar Rose's death, she murders her and Prince Aspen mostly because she found them involved intimately; though Goldilocks herself did worse than all the women she murdered. Ultimately, Goldilocks fought a final showdown with Bo Peep and Cinderella, with Bo losing her life. Cinderella apparently killed her off for good using the same sword Goldilocks used, but due to the sword's ability, Cinderella could only resurrect half the victims.

Goldilocks is quite adept at tracking enemies in the wilderness, and is extremely skilled with a rifle, easily incapacitating Bigby in his giant wolf form when ambushed from behind. Contrary to her innocent-looking appearance, she has very keen senses, and is shown to be quite reckless and determined when she intends to kill someone.[1] Cinderella later tells Snow White that Goldilocks had to die because if they hadn't killed her, she would have continued the murdering like a ravenous animal.

Bluebeard [ edit ]

The former nobleman and serial killer who has reformed, or rather pretended he had, Bluebeard 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[citation needed]). 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.[1] With the fall of the Empire in the War and Pieces story-arc, his current situation is unknown.

Ichabod Crane [ edit ]

Ichabod Crane's main appearance is in Cinderella Libertine, where it is revealed that Fabletown's former Deputy Mayor lost his job after he sexually harassed Snow White and embezzled government funds. He spent his years hiding through Europe, then recently France, which was where Fabletown's spy, Cinderella, found him. Cindy tricked Ichabod into believing her to be a spy for the Adversary and coming to Paris with her. Using her wits and feminine charm, she exposed him as a traitor willing to turn to the Adversary for revenge on the Fables. She even seduced him into signing a full confession. Bigby then executed Crane by bashing him in the head with a headless statue of Napoleon Bonaparte. Flashbacks from Crane's time as 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, with the character also playing a role in the events of The Wolf Among Us.

Baba Yaga [ edit ]

One of the Adversary's most powerful sorceresses, Baba Yaga 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.

The Wooden Soldiers [ edit ]

The Empire's main military force consist of Geppetto's living wooden children. Although Geppetto maintains a large number of human troops, the wooden soldiers do the most difficult work, including the invasion of foreign lands, due to their extreme resiliency. Early on in the development of the Empire, they were used to take over kingdoms through trickery, by killing a king and replacing him with a wooden look-alike. Pinocchio was the first one Geppetto created; however, since then his creations have altered significantly. In addition to being created as adults rather than children, in both genders, they are brought to life with spells compelling them to obey Geppetto (these spells are obtained from Geppetto's main power source, the comatose body of the Blue Fairy). Aside from the Emperor, most wooden soldiers are highly derisive of all non-wooden life forms, human, Fable or otherwise, referring to them contemptuously as "meat" and commenting at great lengths about what they see as the many failures of human anatomy (the need for food 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.

The Snow Queen [ edit ]

A sorceress of great power, Lumi (Finnish for "snow"[2]), 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.

Lumi eventually awakens when Ali Baba kisses Briar Rose, as seen in the comic Fairest. After killing and torturing all the goblins, who "dared to put their warty hands on her and dump her in a cart, like a bag of thrash", the Snow Queen, seeking vengeance on Briar Rose for putting her to sleep for years, sends her ice giants after Briar Rose, Noah and Ali Baba. Eventually, both are captured and taken to the Snow Queen. Instead of killing them, she asks the imp Noah to tell her the story of Briar Rose, as Lumi "is addicted to good stories". It is revealed that Lumi's actions while serving Geppetto were a result of Geppetto giving her his loyalty potions (the same ones he used to bind Pinocchio and all the other wooden soldiers to him) that made her utterly loyal to him. After being asleep for years, the spell has worn off, and she is gradually becoming a more sympathetic person. Ali Baba eventually realizes that he has no feelings for Briar Rose after all, but is in love with Lumi. Lumi discovers that she likes and is attracted to Ali Baba, and believes that love can grow from that. The two go back to Lumi's homeland, and start a new life together. Lumi would make an appearance in the Fairest graphic novel Fairest In All the Land, being round up among many female Fables who were possible targets of an unknown murderer. It was eventually revealed that the murderer was Goldilocks. Goldilocks murdered both Lumi and Ali Baba. Cinderella, unfortunately, could only pick half of Goldilocks' victims to resurrect. She choose Lumi because, although Cinderella never knew the Adversary, she saw Lumi as a victim at his hands.

The Snow Queen has repeatedly shown a sharp mind and a cunning aptitude. Tall and quite beautiful, she is generally surrounded by an aura of cold, to the extent that it'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.[1]

Rodney and June [ edit ]

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.[18]

Hansel [ edit ]

Lord Hansel, of Hansel and Gretel 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 Fablet