List of Fables characters (Villains)

This article is a list of villains 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.

The Adversary

Albeit a character 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.^[2] Peter Pan did eventually make an appearance in 1001 Nights of Snowfall.^[3] It has also been theorized that the title "The Adversary" could be derived from Jewish and Christian literature where the name "Satan" actually comes from the Hebrew word for "Adversary."

Goldilocks

The girl who broke into the Three Bears' home and ate their porridge has grown up. Now Goldilocks is a gun-toting Leftist political agitator. She leads about half of the Farm against Snow White in an attempted 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 does not care about the cause, but rather the power that such a position would provide. After the revolution fails, Goldilocks flees to Fabletown, and hides out with her lover Bluebeard. The two scheme to remove Snow White and Bigby from power by use of a magic potion.

Goldilocks is severely injured while attempting to assassinate Bigby and Snow White (being, in order, hit in the head with an axe, knocked off a cliff and then hit by a truck off another cliff into a river). Her popularity as a Fable allows her to regenerate from her injuries and she eventually reappears 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. Ironically, it is Bookburner's army that shoots the revolutionaries when they finally arrive. Goldilocks either survives or comes back to life, and reappears in Fairest.

In Fairest In All the Land, it is revealed that Goldilocks may have a taste for, as Reynard puts it, "forbidden fruit", as she attempts to seduce Brock Blueheart (the Animal Farm story arc had previously revealed that she had a sexual relationship with Boo Bear). It also reveals that she is more psychotic than Fabletown knew. In this story, Cinderella investigates the murders of powerful women (i.e. Snow White, Rose Red, Frau Totenkinder, Beauty, and even Briar Rose). With help from Bo Peep, she discovers it is Goldilocks behind the murders. Goldielocks provides various reasons for the murders: some she had an obvious vendetta against, like Snow; other murders, she justified by finding them "tainted" in a way. Ultimately, Goldilocks meets in a final showdown with Bo Peep and Cinderella, with Bo losing her life. Goldielocks is killed off for good, and Cinderella is able to bring Bo back to life.

Goldilocks is 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 she would have continued murdering like a ravenous animal.

Bluebeard

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). 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

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 which takes place during his last days as Deputy Mayor showing how he lost his position and his exile from Fabletown.

Baba Yaga

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

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

A sorceress of great power, Lumi (Finnish for "snow"^[4]), 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 chose 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

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.^[5]

Hansel

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 Fabletown authorities, but as he remained within the letter of the Fabletown laws, no action can be taken against him.

Nearby for the first time in many years, Hansel visits Fabletown, asking to see his sister. He begs her to leave Fabletown, as it has only been her presence that stops him from assembling the forces required to obliterate the place. Gretel refuses, explaining to him that she has spent time studying with Frau Totenkinder in the intervening years and has gained a new appreciation for the magic arts, seeing them not as the devil's work, but as a useful tool. Horrified and enraged, Hansel strikes her viciously with a chair, snapping her neck instantly. As no witnesses are present, he tries to claim that it had been an accident, but he is not believed. Hansel is stricken from the Fabletown Compact and banished forever. He continues with his witch-finding activities, but as time passes and the witch-hunts cease, his fame becomes infamy and he vanishes from the mundane world.

Returning to the Homelands, Hansel is tasked with investigating and punishing any unauthorized use of sorcery. It is implied that his job is not to give alleged sorcerers fair trials but simply to stamp out illegal sorcery through terror. He is one of the attendees at the Imperial conference called after Bigby's destruction of the magic grove, although he is not apprised of the war plans outlined by the Snow Queen so that he could not reveal them were he to be subjected to interrogation. Geppetto designates him as the Empire's official envoy to Fabletown; however, his real mission in the mundane world is to recover Baba Yaga and the wooden soldiers and return them to the Homelands. He is initially given three years to accomplish this, as Geppetto is intent on a full-scale attack on the mundane world in 2009.

His initial discussions with Fabletown, however, meet with no success, as Prince Charming, having been informed by Frau Totenkinder that the Empire has no real interest in negotiation and was beginning to mobilise for an invasion, simply stalls Hansel at every opportunity, making demands that the envoy finds increasingly outrageous.

Hansel is next seen during the Skulduggery story-arc, where he and his men intercept Pinocchio in Santiago, Chile, as he returns to Fabletown from the Homelands. Pinocchio's escort, Cinderella, while initially also captured, is able to escape and rescue Pinocchio, slaying most of his captors. Uncertain whether Hansel is still officially an accredited envoy to Fabletown, Cinderella elects not to kill him and settles for shooting him in both knees.

In The Great Fables Crossover, Kevin Thorn summons Hansel and Sam, hoping they can inspire him in writing his masterpiece. After numerous disagreements, Sam eventually dumps Hansel out of his wheelchair and off a cliff.

The Nome King

The much feared Nome King, also known as Roquat the Red, is from L. Frank Baum's tales of the land of Oz. He is the current ruler of that land, as well as many of the surrounding kingdoms and Imperial districts. He attended the Imperial conference called after the destruction of the magic grove and was positively delighted by the plans outlined by the Snow Queen for the effective genocide of the mundane population. He did feel, however, that the plan could be improved with his assistance, feeling that he had many minions that could be of great use. In the wake of the fall of the Adversary's Empire, the Nome King creates his own, pan-Ozian empire. He was killed during Bufkin's revolution, when the Nome King's own hanging rope magically came to life and snapped its master's head off.

Max Piper

The Pied Piper of Hamelin was the antagonist of Peter & Max: A Fables Novel. He was elder brother to Peter Piper, and a sorcerer powerful enough to face Frau Totenkinder in her place of power (Fabletown). Born in Hesse, the Homeland that mirrors German fables, Max and Peter's family were caught in the middle of a goblin invasion (under the supervision of the then-burgeoning Empire). The Piper family had a tradition of woodwinds performance, and passed down an ancient pipe named Frost from generation to generation. When Max was denied the inheritance in favor of his younger brother, he started to exhibit sociopathic tendencies, and ran away after murdering his father, lost during the invasion.

During his wandering, he encountered Frau Totenkinder, who gave him the magical flute named Fire, an artifact of astounding potential. Over the course of Frau's trials and teaching, Max increased in power exponentially, which also came from sealing bargains with otherworldly powers. In exchange for the location of Frost from Totenkinder, he stole the children of Hamelin (whose parents had offended Totenkinder), exchanging their lives for the debts of his evil teachers. After a brief battle with Peter and suffering exile after being defeated by Peter, Max returned even more powerful as well as more intent on killing his brother. In the early 20th Century, he cast a curse that increased the lethality of the Spanish Flu, at least in mundies. It caused stillbirths and extreme birth defects in Fable children, if not out and out sterility in Fables in general. After a battle with Totenkinder in New York, he was exiled again, only to return in the early 21st Century. He met his end in the mundy version of Hamelin at the hands of his brother, Peter Piper. Max has a brief flashback appearance in the graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall and is referred to in issue 89 (Witches story arc),^[6] as well as the Fairest graphic novel Fairest in All the Land.

Mister Dark

A mysterious and extremely powerful entity with chalk white skin and black hair. Trapped by the Boxing League, a division of Warlocks specialized in capturing and containing the most dangerous of magical threats, during the expansion of the empire, Mister Dark was contained within a stone box which drained his power and transmitted it to be used by the Adversary. Looters mistakenly released the creature who proceeded to drain them of life. Mister Dark reacquired his stolen power including a portion that powered the Witching Cloak, destroyed the enchantments that held the Fabletown buildings together and set off to Fabletown to seek revenge. Upon arrival, he captured and then killed Kay, as well as a few hundred New York residents for the construction of his new palace. A composite character like Jack and Frau Totenkinder, he represents every version of the boogeyman. Other names for him are The Dullahan, The Khokhan, The Buse, Mörkö, The Dunganga, The Abo Ragl Ma Slokha, Burned man, the lake man, Buback and the Torbalan along with many other names. He is the same "kind" as Baba Yaga. Mister Dark's primary source of power is the fear of those who surround him. The more that fear him, the greater his power becomes; if he is surrounded by those who possess little fear, he becomes weaker. He can swallow the teeth of any human or human-like Fable, and can later raise them as his loyal Witherling slaves at his leisure by spitting out one of the swallowed teeth.

Mr. Dark was killed when the North Wind brought him up into the North Wind's own realm of elemental ice and wind. There, Mr. North entered his Casket of Primordial Winds (a suicide mechanism kept in case he got tired of this life, since nothing much could harm him) and took Mr. Dark with him, killing them both.

Fairy Godmother

After the fall of the Empire, an unknown, powerful magic user from another realm invaded the Homelands kingdom of Ultima Thule. The usurper eventually turned out to be Cinderella's fairy godmother, as seen in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love. Cinderella, Fabletown's secret agent, was able to uncover the identity of the usurper and put an end to the Fairy Godmother's dictatorship. However, she could not bring herself to kill her, and instead turned her over to Ultima Thule's citizens for punishment. It is unknown what became of her after this. The story implied that Briar Rose and Cinderella shared the same fairy godmother. This seems to have been proven apocryphal in the Fairest story arc Wide Awake (where none of Briar's fairy seven godmothers look anything her); however, the Fables Encyclopedia refers to Cinderella's fairy godmother as a meddler in Briar Rose's life,^[4] indicating that there may have been more fairy godmothers involved than what was shown in Fairest. The Fairy Godmother had two sisters, one with green and one with blue wings, while she herself has pink wings (like Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from Disney's Sleeping Beauty). Her sisters were killed by Frau Totenkinder, who was the Fairy Godmother's enemy who often ruined her spells. The Fairy Godmother also showed Rapunzel's prince the way to the tower that Frau kept her in, mainly to spite Totenkinder. She attacked Ultima Thule because she wanted to make the worlds a better place, and decided it was time to force people to be happy. Her catchphrases are "reality is only what we make of it" and "you can't go to ball without breaking few pumpkins."

The Fairy Godmother also appears in flashbacks from Rapunzel's story in the Fairest story arc The Hidden Kingdom. It is revealed that she kept the prince from seeing Rapunzel again, as the godmother had plans for her. It's hinted she may have had a hand in the abduction of Rapunzel's daughters. Although, if she was the one to kidnap them, it is not known where she took them, since they weren't present with her when Cinderella found her in Ultima Thule.

Dorothy Gale

Dorothy Gale is first seen in Jack of Fables, as one of the many Fable prisoners at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village. Her story is told in the Fables spin off Cinderella: Fables Are Forever, where it is revealed that the former innocent farm girl became a professional killer for hire, going by the code "Silverslipper". She went on to become Cinderella's greatest nemesis.

It is revealed that Dorothy developed a taste for killing for hire after she, as seen in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, killed the Wicked Witch of the West in exchange for a trip back home. She had already killed the Wicked Witch of the East by accident when Dorothy's house landed on her, and was given a pair of magic silver slippers from the Good Witch of the North as a reward. When the Wizard heard that Dorothy had already taken care of one witch, he hired her to kill another. Dorothy took the job, and discovered that she liked it. After Glinda the Good Witch explained to her about the powers of the magic slippers, Dorothy used them to fly home to the Homelands version of Kansas. To her great despair, the slippers fell off over the Deadly Desert of Oz.

Dorothy and a few of her friends, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and Toto made it into the mundy world in the year of 1943. They had fled from Oz years before, ahead of the invading armies of the Adversary, and had been on the run ever since. The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion hid out on the Jersey pine barrens, while Dorothy sought out Fabletown to find them all a safe haven. However, Dorothy reacted negatively to the terms in the Fabletown compact and stormed off in anger, refusing to let anyone "tie her hands like that". She left her friends behind and walked off with Toto in her arms, feeling that the others were dead weight. Dorothy created a new life for herself as a killer for hire in the mundy world, and had no trouble finding work. She eventually crossed paths with Fabletown spy Cinderella, who ran into Dorothy during several of Cindy's secret missions for Fabletown. Dorothy repeatedly tells Cindy that they are exactly the same, but that she is better than Cindy. Cindy denies that, stating she killed to protect Fables and humans, while Dorothy kills for fun.

The two have several violent encounters over the years, until Cindy almost finishes Dorothy off in Switzerland in 1986 by throwing Dorothy off a cliff. The unconscious Dorothy is found by Mr. Revise's people and is imprisoned at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village where she is thrown down Revise's memory hole. When she emerges, she is stripped of most of her memories and is again the same innocent girl she had been so long ago.

The years passed, with Dorothy living in a fog unable to think straight. When the Golden Boughs s destroyed, the memory hole is destroyed with it, reviving all of Dorothy's memories. As mentioned in a conversation between the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man during the final Jack of Fables story arc, Dorothy then struck off on her own. The Lions mentions that she got "all dark", and the Tin Man responds that Dorothy always was "kind of creepy".

As seen in Cinderella: Fables Are Forever, she begins plotting her revenge on Cinderella. Remembering where she lost the silver slippers, Dorothy returns to the Deadly Desert and retrieves them by hanging off an aircraft on a rope, careful not to touch the deadly sand. She recruits the Spoon Brigade from The Emerald City of Oz, Bungle, the Glass Cat and a Chiss to assist her in her plan for revenge.

When Mr. Kadabra is mysteriously killed by an unknown assailant, all signs points to Cinderella's nemesis from the old. Cindy sets out to find her, aided by Ivan Durak of Shadow Fabletown, who claims that Dorothy has been hired to kill him. Eventually, both are abducted and taken to the Deadly Desert of Oz, where Dorothy is waiting. Before they reach their destination, both manage to escape in the middle of the desert. Cindy is ready to face Dorothy, but Ivan drugs her, and she wakes up tied to a chair, Dorothy standing before her with Toto at her side. (Toto had previously been killed during the mass escape from the Golden Boughs, but, as Priscilla Page points out during the Jack of Fables story arc "The (Nearly) Great Escape", "killed Fables often get magically replaced by new versions of the same Fables".)

In a surprising plot twist, it is revealed that Dorothy was Ivan all along (the real Ivan has been dead for a long time; most likely sometime between the 1980s or her escape from Mr. Revise), disguising herself using her magic silver slippers. Cindy manages to persuade Dorothy to untie her and fight her in a real battle, in which Cindy steals the silver slippers and pushes Dorothy from a great height into the Deadly Desert, apparently killing her, though her body is not seen.

Dorothy has a brief appearance in the Fables story "In Those Days", in a flashback that shows the death of Mister Kadabra. As previously implied, it was Dorothy who killed him. Dorothy is also referred to in the story arc "Cubs in Toyland".

Hadeon the Destroyer

The evil fairy from Sleeping Beauty. She appears in the Fairest story arc Wide Awake. She is the ruler of the Forest of Dire Blight, in the Homelands. Even though she was the one to actually cast the curse over Briar Rose, the Fables story arc War and Pieces and Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love implies that Frau Totenkinder was its creator.

In Fairest, Briar defeats Hadeon once and for all when the latter shows up to pick a fight with the Snow Queen - because Hadeon likes to pick a fight every century or so, to keep her tools honed. Hadeon nearly defeats Lumi, but Briar, wanting revenge for what Hadeon did to her as a baby, decides to take matters into her own hands. It is revealed that because Hadeon cast the curse on Briar Rose all those years ago, Briar has become immune to her magic. Briar defeats Hadeon with a few solid punches to the jaw. Her fairy godmothers turn Hadeon into a car that can travel to any world, and the spaces between worlds. The car has to serve one thousand times before it will revert to Hadeon. Briar uses the car to get back to Fabletown, before lending it to Bigby Wolf, who is searching for his lost cubs, Darien and Therese. When the car has been used nine hundred and ninety-nine times, Briar plans to take it to the junkyard and have Hadeon destroyed once and for all by dropping it into a car crusher.

However, Hadeon is not as helpless as she seems. In the graphic novel Fairest In All the Land, she seeks revenge on the people who enslaved her, and uses her magic to manipulate Goldilocks into murdering several of the powerful women of Fabletown, and other Fables, resulting in fourteen Fables being killed. Cinderella is able to bring the victims back to life, but can only choose half of them. The Thirteenth Floor Fables proceeds to drain most of the magic out of Hadeon (still in car form), rendering her relatively helpless.

In the last Briar Rose tale, "The Last Big Sleep", Sleeping Beauty uses her thousandth ride on Hadeon to ride to the 'end of the universe'. She pricks herself asleep as Hadeon will float through space forever.

Prince Brandish/Werian Holt

The prince from Snow White and Rose Red. Unlike in the fairy tale, the prince did not marry Snow White, as his father, the king, refused to let Brandish marry a common peasant girl. Also unlike the fairy tale, Brandish's interest in marrying Snow comes from a desire for the magical power that he can sense in Snow and Rose Red rather than from love and gratitude. There is hint that Brandish's dark side extends farther than others imagine. In a flashback, he recalls how he murdered his own mother when he spied on her having sex with his father. Stating that he found what they did "nasty", that a queen should be pure and chaste; and that his mother shouldn't act like an animal. Centuries later, he assumed the name of Werian Holt, and was brought to the mundy world by Mr. Dark to serve as fencing instructor for Mrs. Spratt. Though his connection is never really explained or how he came to work for Mr. Dark. After Mr. Dark's death, he begins to teach the transformed Mrs. Sprat the art of assassination, and becomes her co-conspirator on an unknown dark plan for Fabletown. When the Fables come to claim Dark's castle as their own, both Spratt and Holt pretend to have been Mr. Dark's prisoners.

He has recently revealed himself to Snow, much to Sprat's surprise and disdain (as she knew nothing of his past and was still very bitter to Snow). He forcefully tries to take claim on Snow as his legal wife, because they promised to marry each other back in the Homelands. Snow tries pushing away his advances, but he's very determined to have her and plans to kill Bigby and all of the children she had with him and make her replace the children with his own human children. Somehow, he learned about Ghost's existence (a secret shared only by Bigby, Snow White, their cubs and Frau Totenkinder). It is unknown whether or not other characters present during his confrontation with Bigby overheard him mentioning Ghost's secret existence. While Bigby is away, Brandish takes Snow captive and locks her up in one of the towers in Mr. Dark's castle. He bewitches himself so that any injury inflicted on him will also hurt Snow, making any attempt at rescue complicated. When Snow attacks him in an attempt to free herself, he breaks her arm to teach her a lesson. Snow vows to kill him herself. Bigby eventually arrives to free his wife, but Brandish transforms him into a statue made of glass. Snow eventually manages to escape, while Morgan le Fay manages to break the spell that Brandish put on himself. Snow utilizes the fencing lessons once given to her by her ex-husband, Prince Charming, and engages Brandish in a sword duel. Even with a broken arm, and much to Brandish's surprise, Snow manages to gain the upper hand, and stabs him through the heart—but not before Brandish shatters the statue of Bigby.

However, as Doctor Swineheart performs an autopsy on the fallen prince, Brandish awakens just as Swineheart discovers a cavity where the prince's heart should be, with rune-etched brass fittings capping off the various branches of the circulatory system that would normally connect to a human heart. It is revealed that he had his heart magically removed from his own body, making him difficult to kill. Rose Red takes Brandish captive and offers him an ultimatum: He can spend the rest of his immortal life buried in concrete, or serve her and her new Round Table. Brandish accepts. This has caused a great barrier between Rose and her sister. Snow, for obvious reasons, wishes to him gone and possibly vengeance for her husband's loss.

Mrs. Sprat

Mrs. Sprat, whose first name is Leigh, works as a nurse in the Knights of Malta Hospital special research wing and like the poem says, she is indeed fat. Mrs. Sprat was mostly seen as a dutiful nurse for the most part. She is often nagging at Bigby Wolf for smoking inside the hospital. She was later seen complaining to Mayor Charming that he was behind in financing the hospital and was also invited to Snow and Bigby's wedding. Her husband was another of Ghost's victims. In Fables #100, Beauty goes into early labor and Beast desperately tries to get her to help him and to get the doctor. Though she appears polite, she ignores his pleas, which irritate Beast; something that Snow notices right away. Nearly causing a horrible confrontation, but is nearly evaded. Snow White scolds her for being nasty, spiteful attitude towards Sheriff Beast and Beauty. Snow explains that, while one can get away with being mean if she is beautiful, one can also get away with being hideous if she's pleasant, and since Mrs. Sprat is both ugly and mean she will have to do something about her attitude before someone has had enough of her. On the verge of tears, Mrs. Sprat reveals that she hates all the beautiful Fables, and became a nurse for the chance to have any of them under her care and at her mercy. She reveals she'd like to see all of them end up the way Boy Blue did. 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, however painful it may be. While Mrs. Sprat is screaming and writhing in pain, Mr. Dark transforms her into a beautiful, young woman in a black dress. Mr. Dark then leaves to deal with the Fables, and promises to summon Mrs. Sprat to his side so that she will be there to see the beautiful Fables be made ugly before they die. He also plans to make her his bride and the mistress of Castle Dark, his fortress in New York City. Sprat adopts her maiden name, Douglas, 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. The only chance her rouse could have been discovered was through Grimble who found Brandish's tale of them being prisoners false. But since Brandish has transformed him, its unknown how long her secret will remain a secret. Since her transformation she's tried gaining favor with King Cole and has been approached by Dr. Swineheart who has interest in her now, much to her shock. Though she appears to be acting like one of them, she still holds bitterness towards the Fables. At the end of Camelot arc, it is revealed that she has stolen the last glass piece that could help resurrect Bigby. She declares to be embracing the darkness that her intended Mr. Dark did once.

References

1. Irvine, Alex (2008). "Fables". In Dougall, Alastair. The Vertigo Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. pp. 72–81. ISBN 0-7566-4122-5. OCLC 213309015
2. O'Shea, Tom (2003). ""This is a Wonderful Job": An Orca Q&A with Fables' Bill Willingham". Archived from the original on 2005-04-29. Retrieved 2007-07-31. Interview with Bill Willingham
3. https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s720x720/537084_831977663135_992932967_n.jpg?dl=1
4. Nevins, Jess, Willingham, Bill, Buckingham, Mark (2013). Fables Encyclopedia. New York. DC Comics. ISBN 978-1-4012-4395-1
5. Fables 72: Skullduggery
6. Schedeen, Jesse. "Fables #89 Review". IGN Comics. Retrieved June 25, 2011.