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This article is a list of fictional characters in the Vertigo comic book series Fables and Jack of Fables, published by DC Comics.

New York Fables

Bigby Wolf

Snow White

"The Cubs"

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

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

Blossom, who bears a great deal of resemblance to Rose Red, seems to have inherited some stereotypical "Fairytale Princess" qualities. She is often seen with cute cuddly forest creatures and butterflies following her around.

Ambrose, the chubby cub and sweet 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, depite being the oldest. She also stands out because, unlike her other siblings, she was the first and only one who was born competely human in appearance. The remaining cubs are Conner, who isn't too different from Darien. Though it should be noted Conner does have similar facial characteristics like Prince Charming, and then there's Therese, a blonde-headed cub who is observant, but tends to confuse things.

During the Fables Fourm panel in the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, a one-page story was handed out to attendees that would foretell the fate of the cubs possibly within the next one hundred issues. Ambrose meets one of the Thirteenth Floor Witches, the young child-like apprentice to Frau Totenkinder, who at his behest tells him of a prophecy she had. She explains, "The first child will be a king. The second child a pauper. The third will do an evil thing. The fourth will die to stop her. The fifth will be a hero bold. The sixth will judge the rest. The seventh lives to ages old, and is by heaven blessed." The Witch further explains that her vision made no real detailed specifics as to which child is which and she leaves it up to Ambrose to decide if he should tell the others.

Prince Charming

Although charming and handsome, Prince 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; who both his last ex-wives were introduced to him by their shared fairy godmother. Its also revealed in the Jack of Fables' comic that Prince Charming is Jack Horner's father, its most likely that Charming never knew of their relations to one another. He lived in Europe after leaving the Homelands, living off the kindness of various nobles and ex-nobles. He returned to Fabletown just prior to Rose Red's "murder". He hatched an intricate scheme, killing Bluebeard in a duel during the Storybook Love arc, putting Bluebeard's substantial wealth directly into Fabletown's treasury, then, during the events of March of the Wooden Soldiers and The Mean Seasons, successfully running for the position of Mayor of Fabletown against Old King Cole, so he would have access to those funds. Unfortunately, he made some false presumptions (and thus promises) and had a difficult time in office with public opinion turning against him. Following his victory, he appointed Beauty and Beast to the positions of Deputy Mayor and Sheriff respectively. Spending a large amount of time with Beauty on the job, he attempted to begin an affair with her; she rejected his advances, threatening to set Beast on him if he persisted.

In spite of his persistent unfaithfulness, Prince Charming has a good side few are aware of. During the Storybook Love story-arc he expressed deep regret that his betrayal of Snow White hurt her so badly, and took it upon himself to kill Bluebeard partly because he knew Bluebeard planned to murder Bigby Wolf, whom Snow had grown fond of. Before the Battle of Fabletown in March of the Wooden Soldiers he supervised building the barricades, then fought bravely during the battle itself, defying the gun-carrying wooden soldiers while armed 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 has since dedicated himself sincerely to the duties of mayor, including setting up defenses for Fabletown against the Adversary and, in the Happily Ever After story, giving Bigby Wolf land next to the farm in order to live with his new wife, Snow White, and their children.

In the run-up to the war against the Empire, Charming resigned as Mayor, returning the job to King Cole, in order to focus on the war effort. During the War and Pieces storyline, he held the position of Combat Commander on the skyship Glory of Baghdad built by the Arabian Fables and commanded by Sinbad, running the offensive and defensive operations of the ship during the war and the Glory's mission to bomb the gates connecting the Imperial homeworld to the rest of the Empire. After the Glory's destruction, Charming, despite serious injuries, dragged a bomb by foot to the last remaining gate, with Sinbad accompanying him to defend against hostile forces. Arriving at their destination against considerable opposition, Charming dragged the bomb into the gatesite, stating that he would set the longest fuse possible to give himself the best opportunity to get clear of the blast.

What subsequently happened next was not depicted, but according to Sinbad, Charming failed to emerge before the bomb detonated. His body is never shown, and a coffin containing his uniform, medals and some personal effects was buried at the Farm cemetery in absentia. A statue of Charming in Fabletown is dedicated to his memory.

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

Beauty and the Beast

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

Beast, now Sheriff, allied himself with Frau Totenkinder, the most powerful witch in Fabletown and finally had his curse fixed, allowing him to transform into his Beast form at will. Whether he's aware that it was Totenkinder who inflicted the curse on him in the first place is unknown; this occurred pre-amnesty, so he would be legally unable to retaliate if he wanted to. While initially reeling at the complexities of the job (much of what Bigby did was covert and unknown to the general Fable population), he has grown into the job and appears to even enjoy it. Beauty took Snow's position as Deputy Mayor, and has learned to cope with all of the responsibility. Early in her tenure, Prince Charming tried to seduce her, but she refused him, threatening to send her husband after him if he tried again. It is notable that Beauty realized, as a result of remarks made by Prince Charming during this seduction attempt, that her actions and words toward her husband were not generally as kind as she herself perceived; she subsequently resolved to be nicer to Beast.

After the arrival in Fabletown of the Imperial Emissary, Lord Hansel, during the Sons of Empire story-arc, and the subsequent need to keep track of both him and his staff, Beast asked for, and was given, additional funding and manpower, plus was later assigned zephyrs, provided by Bigby Wolf's father, the North Wind, to act as spies. During the war against the Empire, as depicted in the War and Pieces arc, Beast remained in Fabletown, commanding the troops stationed there in case of a retaliatory assault by the Empire.

According to the answers given in the Burning Questions issue, both ask Frau Totenkinder what it is she's knitting. When she answers she's knitting a garment for their firstborn child. To which Beauty laughs saying she's not even expecting, to which Frau answered "All things in time" and then offered to show them the progress of her knitting. Upon hearing them agree, she presented them a cute light greenish-blue footed pajamas with a lion head sewn on the front. In addition that the footed pajamas had four arms, two legs, and a place for a tail, indicating that their child might be a monster or at least have Beast's transformation problem. Upon seeing her work, this left both Beast and Beauty flabbergasted.

However, Frau's predication is shown to be possible. As shown in the Great Fables Cross Over, after having a brief argument with Beast about his behavior with Bigby, Beauty and her husband are shown in their tent together having make up sex. While Beast was very happy from it, Beauty herself couldn't help but feel that there was something more special about and perhaps magical. Later on in a next issue, she's revealed to be pregnant. The child is a couple of week premature, but Beauty comes with the birth with a few complications. The child, a little girl is born normal, though sometime later it is shown that when she becomes angry, she undergoes a tranformation into a six limbed, tailed beast.

Old King Cole

Cole's realm was easily overwhelmed by the Adversary's forces. Only with the assistance of his loyal and loving subjects, was he able to hide in the woods and survive long enough to reach Earth.

As Mayor of Fabletown since its foundation, Old King Cole preferred to leave the actual running of the place to Snow White, his deputy, focusing more on the more ceremonial and formal aspects of the role himself, an arrangement that generally worked well. He was eventually challenged for the position by Prince Charming who won after making a series of rash promises that he would prove to be unable to keep. Leaving the Mayor's penthouse apartment, he briefly roomed with Boy Blue, who had lost his roommate Pinocchio during the Adversary's assault on Fabletown. He then moved into Beauty and the Beast's home, they themselves moved into Snow White's old place. A well-meaning and amiable man, King Cole found his defeat profoundly depressing. However, when the Arabian Fables arrived in Fabletown, Cole found renewed importance as one of the few Fables fluent in Arabic, and his diplomatic acumen led to a close friendship with Sinbad. Before this, Cole had been portrayed as a figurehead whose primary duty was glad-handling Fabletown's budget; his diplomatic sessions showed a shrewdness and cunning that he had not displayed before then. He has since become the ambassador to Fabletown East in Baghdad. He returned to Fabletown briefly to preside over the wedding of Snow White and Bigby Wolf. At the start of the war with the Empire Prince Charming resigned his position as mayor, returning the job to King Cole.

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

Pinocchio

Briar Rose

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'd always be wealthy, came to her rescue, and she rapidly gained great wealth through successful speculation on the stock market. As such, she lives in a luxurious apartment filled with expensive furniture and decoration. Her curse, however, remains in effect, with the slightest prick of her finger leading to her falling asleep, followed by everybody else in the building, which is then surrounded by rapidly growing thorn-bearing plants. A kiss from a (genuinely) loving "prince" resets the curse back to the start. Its been revealed during a talk with Bigby that in one incident when her finger was pricked, the police sent in a dog named "Prince" and oddly enough his inoccent dog kiss awoke her. 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'd 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 didn't work, most likely because of he no longer loved her. Oddly enough, Flycatcher's kiss woke her up, which ended up with her tasting flies when she awoke. Its' never been revealed if she knew Flycatcher awoke her or not, even more strange is that after his kiss awoke her. Fly never attempted to pursue Briar as a love interest.

The second occasion was during the war against the Empire, as depicted in the War and Pieces story-arc, was 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. As of the current storyline, Rose is still asleep under the effect of her curse. Its revealed in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love that she and Cinderella share the same fairy godmother, one of them. Cinderella's Fairy Godmother had three other sisters, whom blessed Briar Rose and it was Cinderella's Fairy Godmother who directed Prince Charming to Briar Rose. Its' also been revealed that Frau Totenkinder was the Fairy Godmother's enemy who often ruined her spells and was the one who cursed Briar Rose with her sleep spell. Its never been said if Briar knew it was Frau who cursed her.

Cinderella

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, however, is merely a cover: she secretly works for the Sheriff (first Bigby Wolf and then later Beast) as one of his off-the-record spies.

Cinderella was recruited as his off-the-books agent shortly after her arrival in the mundane world, approximately two centuries prior to the present-day setting of the comics. Missions shown have included seducing Ichabod Crane in Paris to get him to reveal that he was willing to turn traitor and provide valuable intelligence to the Adversary. She served as an envoy to giants of the Cloud Kingdoms, aiming to forge an alliance with them, a mission that ultimately put her in debt to Frau Totenkinder, but that also cleared the way for Bigby Wolf's covert insertion into the Homelands depicted in Happily Ever After, a mission where Cinderella served as his briefing officer. She also participated in the interrogation of the wooden soldiers captured after the Battle of Fabletown, and later helped with the interrogation of Baba Yaga.

Cinderella considers herself to be the finest secret agent who has ever lived, on the grounds that, being immortal, she has had multiple human lifespans to perfect her craft and, uniquely among Fables, has had access not only to the magical resources of the Fables, but also all the technologies and techniques perfected by the mundane population. Her public persona is loud, brash and carefree, with most of her fellow Fables dismissing her as a shallow and largely irresponsible playgirl. On a mission, however, Cinderella is calm, calculating and frequently ruthless, displaying no qualms about killing when required.

Kay

Once a captive of the Snow Queen, Kay is now grown and living in New York, away from Fabletown itself. He still has the troll mirror shards in his eye, with the result that all he sees is the bad in people; the evil things that they've done in their lives. 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. He has been drained of life energy and enslaved by Mister Dark. The "bad" he sees is defined so by Fabletown morals and not by Mundy justice, as he sees the "bad" in Bigby (though he was only doing what wolves do in fables and fiction, with no intention to cause evil deeds for the sake of evil) and in Frau Totenkinder (though what she does is perfectly legal from a twenty-first century Mundy American justice point of view). After seeing the "bad" in The Adversary, he gouged his eyes out again.

Doctor Swineheart

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.

Trusty John

The doorman at the Woodland building, 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.

Trusty John is likely based on a German folktale also called "Faithful John." In the original tale, John swears an oath to be loyal to the son of a dying king no matter what. The young king weds a princess, but on the way home John overhears three prophecies that will lead to his king's death. Each prophecy also includes a way to dodge death as well as an ill fate for anyone who warns the king of the danger. The three fates for anyone who warns the king are to be turned to stone: first from the feet to the knees, then the knees to the neck, then the head. Faithful John suffers this fate, but is brought back to life by sacrificing the king's son (who is also returned to life)

Grimble

The security guard at the Woodland apartment building that forms the centre of Fabletown, Grimble is the troll from the tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff and quite possibly many other tales where a troll features. His possession of an expensive glamour spell despite his relatively lowly job could suggest that, like Bigby, Grimble was refused entry to the Farm facility because of his past history and thus was given the ability to appear human in order to live and work in the city. He has been shown to assume troll form for battle.

Hobbes

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. Willingham said that his name was taken from Thomas Hobbes and that he chose it because he was amused by a character who symbolizes order being named after a philosopher who wrote about the difficulty of maintaining order. It is also, of course, a pun on the word Hobgoblin.

Thirteenth Floor Fables

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

Frau Totenkinder

Ozma

Ozma, Princess of Oz, a little girl witch who is often seen with Frau Totenkinder. While the Fairy Witch's great task was the creation of Fabletown and the Woodland building and Totenkinder's great task was the battle against the Empire, Ozma sees her task as the battle against Mr. Dark for the sake of Fabletown. Was voted the new leader of the 13th floor after Frau Totenkinder went to find Dunster Happ. She is currently participating in a power struggle in The Farm along with Stinky and Gepetto

Great Fairy Witch

The former leader of the 13th floor who has gone a little crazy. 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. Bill Willingham has stated she is the same witch seen in the Fables story, "The Barleycorn Brides", and is the witch from Thumbelina.

Maddy

A cat with a demon tail who has appeared in a few panels with Frau Totenkinder. She is the acknowledged specialist in matters of locating and hiding and is a shape-shifter. Her powers are so great that Mr. Dark couldn't detect her, when she went to spy on him. Ozma used her to find Frau Totenkinder before she went into seclusion. She has been revealed to be both Sycorax from The Tempest and Medea from Greek mythology.

Mr. Grandours

A wizard king who can turn into a bear, the local Imperial Governor instructed him 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.

Mrs. Someone

A witch who stayed with Briar Rose and Hakim during the takeover of Calabri Anagni. Her true name is still unknown as she keeps it a secret "tucked away where no fell power can discern it."

Prospero

Protagonist of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. He is seen agreeing with Mr. Grandours that haste is a "mundy quality". It is unknown how the relation between Prospero and Maddy is, as he used her son as a slave for years. However, this would fall under the Fabletown Compact which pardons any crimes done before signing.

Mr. Kadabra

Depicted as a stereotypical Stage Magician wearing a top hat. In earlier appearances, he is seen wearing a button with "yog" on it which refers to meditation and concentration. His name most likely derives from the magic phrase abracadabra.

Geppetto

Others

Numerous other characters have been mentioned and made appearances as minor characters or as rarely used ones. These include:

• Bufkin: 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, the Frankenstein monster's head, the genie, Frankenstein's Monster, the Barleycorn maidens and the heads of the captured wooden soldiers.
• Colonel Bearskin He was the colonel of "Bearskin's Free Company", the Fables who held back the Adversary's forces and tried to hold their last unconquered territory. It is said that he fought in many famous battles. He was known for his cunning battle strategies which were the reason that the territory held as long as it did. He also cared for the safety of the people who had loved ones and sent them on the boat to Fabletown. Boy Blue was his orderly, and he gave Boy Blue the witching cloak so Blue would live to tell the tale of the battle and so he could escape to be with Red Riding Hood. He was the one of the last of the Fables that stayed to fight to be killed; he was stabbed in the side and died slowly while the Adversary's troops mocked him. Bearskin may be based on a German "Good Soldier" fable, in which a soldier returning from war makes a deal with the devil to live as a vagabond for seven years—if he dies within the seven years, the devil takes his soul. If he lives, the soldier will receive love, happiness, and great wealth. During his wandering, the soldier becomes known as Bearskin because of his long hair and general filthy appearance. While wandering, Bearskin is betrothed to the youngest of three daughters. He breaks a ring in half: giving half to the girl and keeping half as a token of his devotion. After the seven years have ended, Bearskin returns to his fiancee. Her two elder sisters dress in their finest clothes to impress the handsome soldier (much like Cinderella's stepsisters). He presents his half-ring as proof that the handsome man is the same as the ugly wanderer. Bearskin is reunited with his love, the wicked sisters commit suicide, and the devil appears once more to gloat: "Now I've got two souls in place of your one!"
• Crow brothers: Joel, Vulco, and Ephram Crow are the three survivors of the original twelve brothers. The brothers, warriors all, fought fiercely against the Adversary's forces and the Crows were instrumental in ensuring the escape of the last ship to leave the Homelands, as the then-surviving seven, armed only with daggers, took on and defeated a pair of dragons who were threatening the fleeing vessel, at the cost of four of their number. These days, Joel's sole task is to cut Rapunzel's hair three times a day, Ephram works as a security guard at the Knights of Malta hospital and Vulco runs the I Am the Eggman diner. The three Crows were brought in to assist with the arrest of the visiting Arabian Fables. Vulco is known to date Clara, the former dragon turned bird, in his bird form; as well as a fair maiden named, Katrinelje while he is in human form.
• Little Miss Muffet: Now apparently married to the spider and calling herself Mrs. Web, she is Fabletown's biggest gossip. Her husband, the Spider, was one of the victims of Snow's son Ghost. He was later among the ghosts who went with Flycatcher to Haven.
• Mrs. Sprat: Mrs. Sprat works as a nurse in the Knights of Malta Hospital special research wing and like the poem says, she is indeed fat. Mrs. Sprat is often regarded as a rather ugly and grumpy individual, which does her no good in a community filled with beautiful men and women. She is often nagging at Bigby Wolf for smoking inside the hospital. She was later seen complaining to Mayor Charming that he was behind in financing the hospital and was also invited to Snow and Bigby's wedding. Her husband was another of Ghost's victims. In Fables #100, Snow White scolds her for her nasty, spiteful attitude towards Sheriff Beast and Beauty while the latter is going into labor. Snow explains that, while one can get away with being mean if she is beautiful, one can also get away with being hideous if she's pleasant, and since Mrs. Sprat is both ugly and mean she will have to do something about her attitude before someone has had enough of her. On the verge of tears, Mrs. Sprat reveals that she hates all the beautiful Fables, and became a nurse for the chance to have any of them under her care and at her mercy. When the Fables depart for Haven, Mrs. Sprat stays behind, unbeknownst to everyone else. Meeting up with Mister Dark, she offers to reveal the location of the other Fables 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.
• Jack Ketch: The executioner who killed Dun and Posey Pig after the revolution at the Farm. Willingham has said that he is not necessarily the historical figure; in Fabletown, "Jack Ketch" is used as a generic term for an executioner, and thus could be one of many such possible fictional characters - possibly like "our" Jack Ketch that Prince Charming threatened to fetch to kill and eat Bufkin or the incredibly incompetent executioner who killed Jack in "Jack O'Lantern" in "Jack Of Fables".
• Rapunzel: Cursed by Frau Totenkinder (apparently for displeasing her by being a 'slutty little girl'), Rapunzel's hair is constantly growing, at a rate of four inches an hour, so she has to live under the most restrictive conditions of any of the city Fables, to prevent any mundanes from noticing the fast growth. She has three haircuts each day. She was part of the group of Fables who were part of the last stand in the old territory and she was also present at the Remembrance Day for those who died in the battle at the Last Castle. It is unknown if she realizes Totenkinder is the witch that cursed her. It's revealed in Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love that Cinderella's Fairy Godmother showed Rapunzel's prince the way to the tower that Frau kept her in, mainly to spite Frau.
• Cock Robin: Was killed by another bird fable during the Farm revolt. Cock Robin's death in the mundane world was final, in spite of reader confusion which suggests that he came back at the end of the 'Animal Farm' story-arc. Mark Buckingham has pointed out that the second robin that appeared later on in that arc was a different robin, and not Cock Robin himself. However, it is unclear if Cock Robin was one of the bird spirits that joined Flycatcher's kingdom the story-arc 'The Good Prince' (as several of the fables killed in revolt at the Farm were shown to, their bodies presumably having been committed to the witching well for disposal.). His appearance in the series is quite controversial, since he only appeared in one nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin" ... a story in which we learn he had already been killed even before the very start of the nursery rhyme.
• Edmond Dantès: Better known by his famous alias of 'The Count of Monte Cristo', Edmond owns and runs Fabletown's Chateau d'If Fencing Academy. He can often be found in the Branstock Tavern.
• Thrushbeard: Still as hirsute as his name suggests, Thrushbeard apparently managed to escape the Homelands with some of his royal fortune, as observed by Jack when he tried to sell the exiled King the magic beans; Thrushbeard, wise to Jack's ways, wanted nothing to do with it. He can often be found drinking in the Branstock Tavern. Whether his wife escaped the Homelands with him is unknown.
• Frankenstein's Monster: Was animated by Nazis during World War II. Bigby fought the monster (in a reference to the 1943 film Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man) when he and a squad of Allied soldiers stormed the castle where the experiment was being performed. The Monster's still-animated head is kept in the business office in the Woodlands building where Bigby chats with him from time to time. He often has phantom thirst and is given drinks by Bufkin though the last time this happened, the bottom of his cage rusted out. He is Bufkin's dear friend and ally, he teams up with Bufkin and the others when they discover they're stuck with Baba Yaga.
• The Forsworn Knight: A human figure in full medieval armor, the Knight hangs from a noose tied to the tree in the Fabletown business office in the early issues of Fables. All that was known about him was that he had apparently killed himself sometime in the thirteenth century and that, when plied with alcohol, he's prone to singing and uttering prophecies; it's mentioned that things got decidedly messy the last time that this happened. In Fables 61, it is revealed that the Forsworn Knight is the ghost of Sir Lancelot, who has pledged his service to Flycatcher, as well as knighted Ambrose to become the Once and Future King.
• The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs: Believed killed in the Adversary's assault on the Homelands, Gudrun actually escaped and now lives in a secret den within the Woodlands building. Her eggs provided Bigby with an untraceable source of funds for his covert activities. With Bigby moved on, Gudrun now fulfills the same role for his replacement, Beast.
• Hakim, a newly freed Arabian slave, he has had trouble adjusting to modern-day New York. He became the bodyguard to Briar Rose when she agreed to use her curse to disable the Empire's capital city. To date, he is still asleep together with Mrs. Someone who acted as Briar Rose's magical guardian.
• Shylock: The central character from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, it seems that Shylock still works with money in some unspecified manner. He converts the Goose's eggs into currency.
• Col. Thunderfoot, a rabbit colonel who was cursed to remain a human until a female rabbit could love him back. Bill Willingham cites Watership Down as the inspiration for this character.
• Barbara Allen, the character of a folksong. She was accidentally killed by Ghost.
• Bean Nighe, who apparently runs Ford's Laundry.
• The Boy who cried Wolf
• Jill - The Jill from "Jack And Jill". Jack phones her before going to Hollywood. It is unknown if she lives in Fabletown.
• Jill, NOT the same Jill of "Jack and Jill" fame (this is revealed when Jack calls "his Jill" on a pay phone before leaving Fabletown for Hollywood). For some reason, she is of the same size as the Lilliputians. She helped Jack steal some of Bluebeard's fortunes in exchange for freedom from the farm and to be able to see and experience the world. She is kept virtually a prisoner while Jack makes a name for himself in Hollywood and retaliates by tipping off his activities to Beast. So far, it remains unclear whether Fabletown justice condemned her for helping Jack steal their money and almost revealing their existence to the mundy world.
• Katrinelje, who is apparently dating Vulco Crow when he's human and is believed to originate from the Fable 'Fair Katrinelje and Pif Paf Poltrie'.
• Peter Piper, from the famous tongue twister,"Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers", the nursery rhyme, "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater", and the tale of "Peter and the Wolf". He is a flutist, and the holder to the magic flute Frost, and he is also in Boy Blue's band. Younger brother to Max, The Pied Piper of Hamelin. One of the titular characters in the Fables novel Peter & Max.
• Bo Peep, the woman from the rhyme and wife to Peter Piper. 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.
• Crispin Cordwainer, the famous shoemaker of The Elves and the Shoemaker, named for St. Crispin, the patron of cobblers. He runs the Glass Slipper while Cinderella is off doing her spy work. The elves still have a working relationship with him, though their magic gifts come with unexpected side effects. This is seen when Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love while Cindy goes on another mission, though she told him it was a business trip, he decides to run the shop his way. He convinces the elves to make magic shoes for the Fabletown women, such as jogging shoes that jog for you. However, despite their warning, he gets what he wants. And it comes with a side effect, as the women (like Rapunzel who bought jogging shoes) can't take the shoes off and its exhausting them. This causes the angry women to go on strike where mundys can see, which puts Crispin in trouble with Sheriff Beast. Eventually when Cindy returns, she makes the elves take back the shoes (though Cindy must pay them for their efforts. But she takes it out of Crispin's paycheck). She also makes Crispin give all the Fabletown women, long foot massages for their tired feet. The elves decide to send their shoes back to the Homelands for the soldiers that served the "Emperor".
• Freddy and Mouse, based on the Fritz Leiber characters Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser from the Lankhmar series. A pair of adventurers who unleashed and were enslaved by Mr. Dark.
• The Brave Little Tailor, the Red Cross Knight, Britomart, Robin O'The Woods (Robin Hood), the Miry Men, and Tam Lin: Some of the Fables who died defending the Last Free Gateway from the Homelands. Every year, on the 15th of May, the people who were on the last boat out of the Homelands would get together to drink to the memory of those who died so they could get out to the Mundy World.
• S.O.S.: The Society of Seconds, a faction composed of Fables who were born in the Mundy world, most likely from before the Pied Piper's Curse. They want to go back, and establish a country in one of the now liberated Homelands.
• Dracula. He may or may not exist in the Fables series, but a Transylvanian count hadt befriended Bigby Wolf, before he was taken to Fabletown. Most of the killings traditionally credited to Vampires and Were-Wolves in the Dracula mythos were Bigby's doing in this series - making it hard to judge if Vampires and Were-Wolves are Fables. However, during Bigby's adventures during World War 2, Nazis revealed that they had knowledge of at least one Were-Wolf (but this could have just been Bigby).
• Civilized Apes (maybe). In "Jack'n Apes" of "Jack Of Fables", Jack claims that his own adventures inspired Edgar Rice Burroughs to write the whole Tarzan legend (which would then mean that either Tarzan does not exist in the Fables series, or he was just Jack) - and that, in turn, inspired Jack to go to Hollywood, which lead to the creation of his own series. Other apes he claims to have met are King Kong ("a gorilla of note"), Magilla ("another gorilla of no consequence"), Curious George and Jane (from whom Tarzan's Jane has been inspired ... still according to Jack). Jack being an unreliable narrator and a pathological liar, it is impossible to tell for sure if he was telling the truth. On the other hand, he has told the truth on several occasions (about the Wooden Soldiers, about his days as Jack Frost and about the Literals, to name just a few) - besides, the insistence he displays when telling he did not have an affair with the female ape Jane may be proof that his tale is true ... at least partially.
• MacBeth. Jack Frost 2 has read works of "fiction" and "fact" about MacBeth and he called his new owl friend after MacDuff. Incidentally, one of his quests involves a cow named Gertrude (like Hamlet's mother).
• One of the Scorpion's brothers - from "The Scorpion And The Frog". His testimony plays a pivotal role when a murderer is trialled in Haven, in front of "The Frog Prince". It was unclear if his existence was genuine fact or pure myth - even within the Fables themselves (besides, the original tale itself was subject to ambiguity, as it is usually wrongly attributed to Aesop).

The Farm

Rose Red

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. Rose seems to have stopped smoking as well. She had shown interest in Boy Blue while overseeing his labor sentence, but rejected his advances on the eve of Fabletown's strike against the Emperor in order to preserve their friendship. Boy Blue did not take the rejection well. Following the war story-arc, Rose married Sinbad, but immediately divorced him on account of her despair over Boy Blue's post-war condition. She attempted to revive her romantic relationship with Boy Blue in his last moments, but was denied by Blue himself, with him stating that she goes out with whoever seems to add the most excitement to her life, and that he deserves better than that, but he hopes someone else can "fix her".

Emotionally destroyed by Blue's rejection and immediate death, Rose has descended heavily into self-loathing and depression, refusing to leave her bed for any reason. She reunited briefly with Jack on her descent toward rock-bottom. After a long sleep, Rose did eventually decide to take charge of the Farm again. And has had Ozma, Brock, and Gephetto as her advisors. She's made it clear to Cole, Beast, and Beauty that she'll accept their advice but wants them to respect the fact that they're on the Farm and not at Fabletown. To show no hard feelings with Brock, she took a blue scarf to show her support that Boy Blue could come back. But its unknown if she truely believes it or is using the "religion" to gain support. While its not been said, Rose does feel guilty for divorcing her husband. As Colin pointed out to her in a dream, by asking what she felt guilty about.

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

Boy Blue

Weyland Smith

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. He now holds a position of distinction as Haven's Chief Builder in service to King Ambrose.

The Three (or Four) Little Pigs

The "original" Three Little 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 fulfil their roles, but it also presented a solution to another problem. As part of Snow White's plan to stem the revolution, three Giant Fables, Lonny, Donny and Johnny, who had been kept sedated for centuries due to the impossibility in hiding their huge forms, had been awakened. Rose Red, in her new position as Farm administrator, persuaded her sister to authorize the expensive spells required to transform the three giants into pig forms, allowing the three to take up their new roles as the new Three Little Pigs.

The late Colin appeared to Snow White on four occasions after his murder, still appearing as a head on a pole. The first occasion was when she lay in a coma after being shot by Goldilocks, where they discussed death briefly and Colin pointed out that, while he was dead, she probably wasn't. The second was shortly before the assault on Fabletown by the wooden soldiers, giving her warning that bad things were coming that would require all of them to defeat. The third occasion was in a dream after her return to the Farm with her children, to warn her that things weren't going to improve any time soon. His final appearance was apparently while Snow was awake, to tell her that things were finally going to get better for her (unbeknownst to Snow, Bigby was on the way back) and to say goodbye, that she didn't need him any more and that he should move on to whatever came next. Whether this was simply a function of Snow's unconscious mind or whether Colin's spirit survived his murder in some manner is unclear. The guiding spirit of Colin appeared again behind Santa Claus when Santa prophesized a coming battle to Flycatcher, and to Rose Red, warning her that she would have to lead Fabletown during the crisis of Mister Dark.

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

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

The Three Bears

Residents at the Farm due to their non-human appearance, the Three Bears got involved with the rebellion there, largely manipulated by Goldilocks, who was sleeping with Boo, the now-grown Baby Bear. After the revolt failed, the three were sentenced to one hundred years of hard labor. Some time later, when it became apparent that Fabletown would soon fall under attack, the three volunteered to join the defense, hoping to demonstrate their new loyalty. They fought bravely, but Papa Bear was badly injured and Boo was slain by enemy fire in the closing stages of the battle. Boo's body was committed to the depths of the Witching Well along with his fallen comrades, watched by his grieving parents. With the popular story requiring three bears, Mama Bear fell pregnant not long after her son's death and a new Baby Bear now completes the family once more. Boo Bear was among the ghosts who accompanied Flycatcher to Haven.

Others

• Bagheera, Shere Khan, Kaa, Baloo, and King Louie: Characters from the Jungle Book (King Louie the orangutan was in Disney's adaptation, but did not appear in Kipling's original book), they aided the revolution, and Khan was shot dead by Snow White. Baloo danced for a week on Khan's grave, doing a show everyday and a matinee on Sunday, and Bagheera urinated on it. Bagheera was the only revolutionary who chose confinement over hard labour. He was eventually freed after Mowgli, who owed Bagheera a life debt, took on his burden of service and brought the self-exiled Bigby Wolf back to Fabletown. Khan is shown to be one of the many whose bodies were dumped down the Witching Well which means he is among the Fables dwelling below the well. As a ghost, Khan returned to the Homelands and joined The Adversary. His fate after the war's end is unknown. Bagheera recently returned to his homeland with Mowgli and Bigby's brothers to see if they can safely move back in.
• Reynard the Fox: A fox from the French folk tales of the same name, he is a resident of the farm who stayed loyal during Goldilocks's revolution. He helped Snow White escape the clutches of The Three Pigs and helped her kill Shere Khan and free Weyland Smith from his bonds. He flirts with Snow White shamelessly, who is in turn appalled by the fox's advances. During preparations for Bigby and Snow's home, Reynard admits to Prince Charming his anger towards 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.
• Arrow: A falcon who serves as commander of the Farm's air patrol. He accompanied the then-Johnny Bullhorn on his mission into the Homelands and Cinderella on her diplomatic mission in the Cloud Kingdoms.
• Mustard Pot Pete: A talking insect who lives in a mustard pot, Pete handles the night shift in the administration office at the Farm. He previously lived in the old cottage of one of the 13th floor witches in the Homelands, until he met Johhny Bullhorn and Arrow.
• The Lilliputians: A group of men from the small kingdom of Lilliput formed an army and tried to fight the Adversary. Their group caught the attention of goblins, so to save their kingdom from destruction they left for the mundane world and founded Smalltown. But they had no women, until Thumbelina came along.
• Thumbelina: She moved to Smalltown during the 18th century and was the only woman there for a while, causing many fights over who would win her hand.
• John Barleycorn: Formally Johnny Bullhorn, he was a resident of Smalltown back when there were no women. He ventured to the Homelands and retrieved the magic barleycorns that Thumbelina was born from, bringing women to Smalltown.
• Peter Cottontail: has been hired by Bigby to train his and Snow's children to hunt though the Cubs were instructed not to kill, hurt or lay fang or claw upon Peter.
• Mary and her Lamb: Mary and her lamb lived on The Farm when her lamb was killed by Ghost. Mary was inconsolable over her lamb's death in spite of Rose Red's and the other Farm fables' best attempts to console her. Mary was later seen at Snow and Bigby's wedding enjoying herself and she, along with the other Fabletown women, was trying to catch the bouquet. Mary's lamb was among the Fables living below the Witching Well and followed Flycatcher to Haven.
• The Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe: She and her children live in the Farm and were heavily armed during the Revolution.
• Chicken Little: Another Farm resident prone to panic attacks.
• Mersey Dotes, now a mermaid who escaped the Adversary's aquatic forces and lives in a lake on the Farm. Her name alludes to the song Mairzy Doats.
• Puss in Boots or The Marquis De Carabas an orange cat who play the fiddle. He became a spy for Cindy in exchange that Cindy would someday help him reclaim his lost estates
• Jenny Wren, a wren from the nursery rhyme Who Killed Cock Robin. She is one of Cindys animal spy and is adept at seeming like a mundy wren. She hopes to find those who murdered her lost love Robin Redbreast when the homeland during the Emperor's invasion and take revenge.
• Dickory, the mouse from Hickory Dickory Dock. One of Cindys animal spies who can makes time around him move slower that he seems so fast that can move between the ticks of a clock.
• The Dish and the Spoon
• The Cow who Jumped over the Moon
• The Moon
• The Cheshire Cat
• Br'er Rabbit
• Br'er Bear
• Br'er Fox
• White Rabbit
• The Three Blind Mice
• The Ugly Duckling, still a swan.
• The Tortoise and the Hare
• The Mean Little Sunflower Kid
• Mr. Toad and Mole from The Wind in the Willows.
• Brock Blueheart a.k.a. "Stinky," a badger. May be the Badger from The Wind in the Willows. 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). After Boy Blue's death, Brock and some of the Farm Fables have gone somewhat, delusional (mostly because of Brock's rants) believing he'll be resurrected and become some-sort of Messiah. Thus as Clara has stated, started a cult of sorts. This becomes more riotus during the Fable Crossover when Jack and Rose Red have loud sex. Brock, very unaware how Rose was before she came to the Farm, believed that Rose was Blue's true love and insanely thought Jack was Boy Blue's reincarnation and even made him wear a blue scarf. He even gets the other animal Fables to attack Jack Frost (Jack's son) believing him to be bad. Despite Beauty's best and easiest attempts to explain Red's troubled past, Brock and the others quickly turn on her and try to hurt her and Jack. While Red is hidden safely at Wolf Manor, Jack returns to the Farm only to be kicked out by Brock and the others.
• Clock from Hickory Dickory Dock
• Tom Thumb
• The Three Billy Goats Gruff: All three have the first name of William.
• Edgar Allan Poe's Raven
• Goosey Loosey
• Various animated playing cards, flying monkeys, and avian fables.
• Mrs Finch. She was killed by Mr Dark while on a reconnaissance mission and, since birds have no teeth, she was not temporarily resurrected as a slave by her murderer. She may or may not be the "pert" and "saucy" Mrs Kate Finch from "Peter Pan In Kensington Gardens".

Villains

The 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 led about half of the Farm against Snow White in a rather foolish revolution. Despite her claims to be fighting for the 'rights' of the Farm Fables, and even becoming Little Bear's lover, her actions make it quite clear that she didn't care about the cause in the slightest, simply the power that such a position would provide. It was hoped that she had been killed after attempting to assassinate Bigby and Snow White (being, in order, hit in the head with an axe, knocked off a cliff and then finally hit by a truck off another cliff into a river), all the while still attempting to kill the two. Her popularity as a Fable allowed her to survive her horrendous injuries and she eventually reappeared on the scene in the spin-off series Jack of Fables as a prisoner of Mr. Revise. She is quite adept at tracking enemies in the wilderness, and is extremely skilled with a rifle, easily incapacitating Bigby in his giant wolf form when ambushed from behind. Contrary to her innocent-looking appearance, she has very keen senses, and is shown to be quite reckless and determined when she intends to kill someone. During the Jack of Fables spin-off series, Goldilocks once again leads a revolution; this time, she leads her revolutionaries to believe Bookburner and his army is coming to save them from their captivity at Golden Boughs. Ironically, it was Bookburner's army that shot the revolutionaries down when they finally did arrive. Because Goldilocks had once survived the encounter with Bigby and Snow, it is most likely she survived Bookburner's attack, but that is yet to be determined.

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. With the fall of the Empire in the War and Pieces story-arc, his current situation is unknown.

Ichabod Crane

The former Deputy Mayor lost his job after he sexually harassed Snow White and embezzled government funds. After Cinderella exposed him as a likely traitor, Bigby executed him in Paris by bashing him in the head with a headless statue of Napoleon Bonaparte.

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. She escaped when Mister Dark was released and unbound the various enchantments that had drawn on his power, including those holding Baba Yaga.

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 effectively destroyed Fabletown, Baba Yaga escaped from her cell, only to find herself trapped in the labyrinth rubble. She summons her knights, fully reformed, and plans her escape. However, before she can flee, she is defeated and killed, by the unlikely Bufkin who had been trapped within the Woodland office as well.

The Snow Queen

A sorceress of great power, Lumi (Finnish for "snow"), better known as the Snow Queen, is the commander of the Emperor's personal guard.

According to Jack Horner, she is one of four sisters, each representing one of the seasons, who jointly ruled four kingdoms with each moving in a yearly cycle to bring the seasons in a predictable manner to their subjects. She was once naive and good-natured, with a childlike and somewhat gullible personality. That changed after Lumi had a relationship with Jack. Feeling unwell as the seasonal change approached, she naively gave her powers to Jack, creating the persona of Jack Frost, trusting him to arrange the transfer of the winter season to the next kingdom in the cycle. Jack immediately ignored her wishes, heading off to seek out new women to seduce and generally misuse the abilities given to him, abandoning Lumi, who quickly came to realise that she was not, in fact, unwell, but was instead pregnant with Jack's child. Jack's misadventures quickly wrecked the flow of the seasons, turning the population against her. Eventually, Lumi's three sisters were able to persuade Jack to return the powers that he'd taken. Angered by his betrayal, Lumi grew as cold as the season she controlled. While Jack is a compulsive liar, casting doubt on some of the details, Lumi took offence at a mention of "Jack Frost" during the War and Pieces story-arc, suggesting that at least some of this backstory is accurate.

She was present when Boy Blue cut off the head of the Emperor during the Homelands story-arc and even detected his presence before he revealed himself, but was unable to determine who he was masquerading as and thus prevent his attack. When Blue escaped from captivity, Geppetto swore to send the Snow Queen after him to get revenge. In the Sons of Empire story, she acted as host of the Imperial conference called after Bigby's destruction of the magic grove. At the conference, she set out a four-stage plan for the invasion and destruction of the mundane world, which was generally approved, although she was instructed to make alterations after Pinocchio gave details of the likely response to such an assault.

At the climax of the war between Fabletown and the Empire, as shown in War and Pieces, Lumi was present in the Imperial capital when Briar Rose, the legendary Sleeping Beauty, intentionally activated her curse within the city. Lumi immediately fell asleep and is presumably still there as of the current storyline.

The Snow Queen has repeatedly shown a sharp mind and a cunning aptitude. Tall and quite beautiful, she is generally surrounded by an aura of cold, to the extent that it's usually snowing in her vicinity, often to the annoyance of those around her, not that any of them would dare say anything. She is capable of pulling in the winter weather surrounding her if she so chooses, but rarely does so. She commands legions of frost creatures, including giants. She seems to have either always known who the true leader of the Empire was or has known for quite some time, as she has been repeatedly shown as one of Geppetto's closest and most trusted allies.

Rodney and June

Spies for the Adversary, Rodney and June started out as two of Geppetto's wooden children, Rodney a highly-decorated junior officer in the forces assaulting the Arabian Fablelands and June a medic assigned temporarily to his unit. Meeting when Rodney was injured, the pair swiftly grew to enjoy each other's company and began to court each other, despite not really having much of a clue how to go about it. Eventually, Rodney wrote a letter to Geppetto, asking that they be made flesh, so that they could marry and be together properly. The letter was read before dispatch by Rodney's superior officer who was shocked by the content, as it revealed a number of facts about Geppetto's true position within the Empire that would cause immense problems should they get out. He initially locked Rodney up, unsure how to proceed, then ultimately relented. Destroying the letter, he announced that Geppetto should be reassured that there had been no letter and that the situation was under control and dispatched Rodney to do so, with June accompanying him to provide additional witness, observing quietly to the pair that had somebody wanted to ask Geppetto what had supposedly been in the non-existent letter, then it would make much more sense to ask him in person.

Reaching Geppetto after months of travel, Rodney and June made their request. Geppetto talked with them for some hours, then told them that such a great gift would always come with a price and asked them to think about whether they'd be willing to pay it. Rodney and June accepted, were made flesh and were married in a grand ceremony presided over by the Emperor himself. They settled down happily and swiftly conceived a child. Shortly thereafter, they were visited by the Snow Queen, who explained the service that was required of them. They were briefed on life in America, then were sent through and were installed in a small apartment in New York under the name Greenwood, only a couple of blocks from Fabletown, with orders to spy on the Fables there and to study up on sabotage and murder techniques in case they're required to take a more active role. They write their reports in a journal which is magically linked to an identical volume in the Homelands. Orders are passed to them in the same way; occasionally they are provided with specific instructions detailing tasks to be carried out, sometimes involving violent acts. Though both appear to be highly ambivalent about what they do, and June in particular worries about how the recent birth of their daughter (Junebug) will affect things, they nevertheless remain loyal to the Empire - the magic that changed them to flesh ensures that.

Rodney was one of the attendees at the Imperial conference called after Bigby's destruction of the magic grove. He was apparently horrified by the genocidal plan suggested for the mundane world by the Snow Queen and consulted with Pinocchio about how this could be prevented.

In recent events, Pinocchio convinced Rodney and June to surrender to Fabletown authorities. Pinocchio also gave them the ability to defy the loyalty magic of Geppetto by explaining that although they need to do what is best for father Geppetto, they don't need to do what he orders since Geppetto may indeed be mentally unsound, and thus defying the empire might in fact be the best thing for Geppetto, since he is acting in a way that harms himself.

Hansel

Lord Hansel, of Hansel and 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, from L. Frank Baum's tales of the land of Oz, is the current ruler of that land, conquered relatively early in the Adversary's campaign, as well as many of the surrounding kingdoms and Imperial districts. He attended the Imperial conference called after the destruction of the magic grove and was positively delighted by the plans outlined by the Snow Queen for the effective genocide of the mundane population. He did feel, however, that the plan could be improved with his assistance, feeling that he had many minions that could be of great use.

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 (possibly a reference to Donald Duck's nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie) 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.

Max Piper

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The Pied Piper of Hamelin. He is brother to Peter Piper, and a sorcerer powerful enough to face Frau Totenkinder in her place of power (Fabletown). The only thing she was able to do was to make him leave, and she ended up sleeping for many days after the battle. Totenkinder was also the source of his power, the magical flute Max named Fire. 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. He met his end in the mundy version of Hamelin at the hands of his brother, Peter Piper.

Mister Dark

A mysterious and extremely powerful entity with chalk white skin and black hair. Trapped by the Boxing League, a division of Warlocks specialized in capturing and containing the most dangerous of magical threats, during the expansion of the empire, Mister Dark was contained within a stone box which drained his power and transmitted it to be used by the Adversary. Looters mistakenly released the creature who proceeded to drain them of life. Mister Dark reacquired his stolen power including a portion that powered the Witching Cloak, destroyed the enchantments that held the Fabletown buildings together and set off to Fabletown to seek revenge. Upon arrival, he captured and then killed Kay, as well as a few hundred New York residents for the construction of his new palace. A composite character like Jack and Frau Totenkinder, he represents every version of the boogyman. Other names for him are The 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 has the power to consume the teeth of humans and, by spitting them up one at a time, summoning the spirit of the owner of said tooth to serve him. He can do this once per tooth, so he can generally do this a maximum of thirty two times (Less if the person in question had poor oral hygiene).

Literals and Part-Literals

Jack Horner

Kevin Thorn

Kevin Thorn is a former New York City journalist who has the ability to see behind the illusions cast by Fabletown magic-users. After the Battle of Fabletown, the anchorman on the news show Thorn worked for reported an out-of-control block party, a building fire and a gang fight in the Upper West Side; minutes later, the details were fading from everyone's head but Kevin's. After reporting this to his boss, he was fired for "going all X-Files". Kevin has now dedicated himself to discovering what exactly is going on in the Upper West Side. He is leaving a complete paper trail in case of his sudden death (which he now considers to be a strong possibility). During the Sons of Empire story-arc, it is revealed that Kevin is acting as a superintendent at a house three blocks away from Fabletown. This house is also now occupied by Hansel and his staff, though Kevin seems unaware of their true identities. In Kevin's free time (when not spying on Fabletown residents), he is writing a book describing what it is he has discovered of the Fables. He has been keeping an eye on them for long enough now to be familiar with many of the regulars and has noticed the disappearance of several - Bigby Wolf, Snow White, Boy Blue and so forth - linked with references to "The Farm". He has come to the conclusion that "the Farm" is actually a euphemism for execution, giving him the mistaken impression that the Fables willingly kill their own without reservation. He is aware that Tommy Sharp was also investigating Fabletown and was subsequently murdered, which has only served to heighten his misgiving about the Fables.

During the Jack of Fables arc The Bad Prince the reason for Thorn being able to see through the Fables' illusions is finally given: he is, in fact, a Literal, beings who are like Fables, but represent literary devices rather than actual characters. Like many Fables, though, he was taken to Golden Boughs and was stripped of his memories so that he could be made into an ordinary human being. When he begins to regain his memories, he is recaptured so that the process can be repeated. In that process, it is implied he is one of the most powerful Literals in existence, and the soldiers sent to capture him imply that even all of them with their guns could only irritate him, at best, if he fought back. Nonetheless, they manage to bring him back peacefully, where it is revealed Revise is actually his son, and the Pathetic Fallacy is his father. It seems that he became a mundane by choice, and doesn't refuse the notion of losing his memories again.

It later emerges in the storyline Jack's Big Book of War that Kevin has powers leading to the creation of Fables themselves; however, it has not yet emerged what they actually are. It seems that Kevin refers to Fables as his creations and he consents to the revisions of his son Revise as the lesser of two evils, in an attempt to protect them from his other son Bookburner.

In The Great Fables Crossover he's revealed to be truly the creator of the Fables, the embodiment of the storytelling. Having been able to break in a new pen, after destroying the pen (a simple goose-feather) used to write the Fables (and possibly the mundys as well) in the attempt to stop the Writer's Block, he becomes displeased with the current events, as the Fables themselves had grown beyond his control (he explicitly claims that Geppetto's transformation in the dreaded Adversary was something he couldn't even fathom), and decided to uncreate them, rebuilding a new world from scratch.

After Jack Frost II is able to stop him from writing the literal word end to the universe, Dex, the Deus Ex Machina and the most powerful of the Literals, creates a new, empty universe for the Literals to inhabit and fill out as they please. Despite having a new occasion to create, Kevin expresses displeasure and worries, as after thousands of years spent dreaming the end of the universe, he's unable to write out a beginning to a new universe.

Pathetic Fallacy

The Golden Boughs facility is also home to a man known as the Pathetic Fallacy, although he comes to prefer being called Gary, who has the powers of that concept. His precise status at the facility is somewhat unclear; while he does Revise's bidding, appears to have his trust and carries out a number of minor staff duties, he is also kind and sympathetic and aided the escape plan. It is later revealed that the Pathetic Fallacy is a Literal, an extremely powerful magical being of a different kind to the Fables, in that he personifies a literary concept rather than being a character from literature. He is the father of Kevin Thorn and grandfather to Revise, although he appears to only be aware of this on occasion.

The Pathetic Fallacy is currently travelling with Jack Horner, taking on the role of his sidekick. He is somewhat naive and frequently confused, although he has lucid moments when he shows a great deal of knowledge about how stories work. He regards inanimate objects (which are, of course, generally quite animate in his presence) as friends and talks to them frequently.

In one of his lucid moments, he refuses to join the Literals in the new universe created for them by the Deus ex Machina and willingly sacrifices his powers. Reasoning that the new universe will develop a Pathetic Fallacy when the need will arise, he returns at Jack's side.

Mr. Revise

Mr. Revise is in overall charge of the Golden Boughs Retirement Home facility. His exact status is unclear, but he is descended from Literals, a group of magical beings who, unlike the Fables, who are characters from story, appear to personify literary concepts. He is the son of Kevin Thorn and the grandson of the Pathetic Fallacy, though he appears older than both of them. As such, Revise holds a considerable amount of supernatural power.

Revise considers his role to be "neutering" Fables partly by stripping them of their darker elements, with his ultimate goal being to rid the world of magic. He had been close to accomplishing that before the Fabletown refugees made their way to this mundane world.

Tying in to Revise's intention to destroy magic, The Golden Bough was originally written by Sir James Frazer to show that even the "enlightened" faiths of the 19th Century were descended from the most superstitious and primitive. Like Frazer, Mr. Revise appears to be a modernist who wants to abolish superstition. In the end of the Great Fables Crossover, he's revealed in a more sympathetic light, as it is mentioned that keeping the laws of physics constant over time had been his idea, making science possible. It's also pointed out that he's been a stabilizing force against whims of Kevin Thorn, who could justify any event by claiming poetic license. Eventually, he decides to follow his father in the new universe created by the Deus ex Machina.

Writer's Block

Kevin Thorne's twin brother. He looks exactly like Thorne, but has the appearance of a mental patient. Though Writer's Block is always close to his brother, Thorne doesn't notice him until he accidentally touches him. In order to continue with his plans, Thorne murders Writer's Block - again.

Dex

Dex (Deus Ex Machina, the Literal embodiement of the dramatic concept) is arguably one of the most powerful of the Literals. He waits to solve all problems until doing so is truly impossible. He can appear out of nowhere, but he cannot work miracles, as he can only work "once per story, usually toward the dénoument".

Eliza Wall

A Literal and temporary narrator of the Jack of Fables series and represents the fourth wall, a theatre concept now also adapted to any storytelling device (Movies, literature etc.). She also has siblings - of whom nothing is known, except that, unlike her, they have no fourth wall awareness, as they do not understand it when she directly speaks to the readers.

Prose Page

Jack Horner's mother, who gave birth to Jack after an affair with a Fable, Prince Charming. She later gave birth to the Page sisters, Hillary with Revise and Priscilla and Robin with the Bookburner.

The Page Sisters

The three Page sisters serve Revise directly as the senior librarians of the Golden Boughs facility, each with their own speciality. Robin Page is in charge of security, training the tigers and so forth, Priscilla Page handles retrievals, the capture of Fables and bringing them back to the facility, while Hillary Page runs the research department. It was revealed, in Jack of Fables #26, that the sisters have two different fathers; Hillary is the daughter of Revise, while Priscilla and Robin are Bookburner's daughters.

The Page sisters all appear to be relatively young, are attractive and all three have slept with Jack Horner, something that he takes considerable pride in having achieved, though he also shows horror after learning that they are his half sisters. Hillary spends some time traveling with Jack after his escape from Golden Boughs, but left after discovering that he'd slept with both of her sisters before her and is now helping the Bookburner, Revise's brother and the father of her two sisters, track the fugitives.

After the revelation that Jack was their half-brother through their shared mother, Prose Page, they were horrified to realize that they'd committed incest. Hillary was disgusted, Priscilla was enraged, and Robin was speechless.

Bill Willingham revealed in a recent interview that the Page sisters are the embodiment of organizing and codifying (in this case Fables)

The sisters have some mystical abilities as a result of their Literal heritage. Libraries are Hillary's place of power, while the open road is Priscilla's. She claims to know "shortcuts to anywhere," which she uses to reach Kevin Thorne's hideout ahead of Snow and Bigby. However, it is implied that all three sisters give up their powers when they decide to stay in the Fables universe instead of accompanying the other literals into the new one provided by Dex (Deus Ex Machina, the Literal embodiement of the dramatic concept). The sisters decide to travel the world with their nephew, the current Jack Frost. Hillary and Priscilla appear to have motherly attitudes toward him to him while Robin seemed to be following along out of reluctance: the former later advice Jack Frost upon casting aside his wintry powers and find his way by himself, thus separating from him and paving for their favorite nephew the path of the hero.

The New Jack Frost - "Jack Two" or "Jack Too"

His real name is Evelyn-Lawrence-Pinder-Shinks-Cobblepewter, as it can be heard by his caretaker Vrumptus. Son of Jack Horner and the Snow Queen, nephew of the Page Sisters, and so one-quarter Literal and three-quarters Fable himself, Jack Frost is the estranged son of Jack Horner, conceived by Lumi and Jack when Jack Horner, trying to harness the wintry powers and the riches of the Snow Queen for himself, romanced the still naive and gullible Lumi. As a result of his predictable betrayal, Lumi hardened her heart, becoming the cold, ruthless villainess shown in the series, lavishing the young Jack with all her bottled and repressed love. It is unexplained why she would give her son such a name.

But whatever the reason for his name, Jack shows no ill will to his mother or his caretaker Vrumptus. He seems to care for and love both as family and knows very well of his father's treatment to his mother. As a result, owing to Lumi's duties as an adviser for the ominous Adversary, young Jack lives a sheltered life along with his majordomo Vrumptus, growing into a sickly, frail child. When at the climax of the war between Fabletown and the Empire, as shown in War and Pieces, Lumi immediately falls permanently asleep because of Briar Rose's curse, her wintry powers seek Jack, turning him into the second Jack Frost (essentially a male version of the Snow Queen), imbuing him with several powers, such as the absolute mastery over cold and snow of his mother, the ability to travel between dimensions and the mystical ability to track Jack Horner. After receiving his powers one of the first things he does is to change his name which he decides to call himself Jack.

Although briefly distracted by of the similarities between Wicked John and Jack Horner, Jack Frost manages to find his father at the Farm. Jack Horner, annoyed by his son's childish insistence, tricks him into believing that he must first complete a great quest before he has the right to ask his father any questions. With this objective in mind, Jack Frost takes part in the battle between Fables and Literals, ultimately turning the tide in favor of the Fables by freezing Kevin Thorn before he can write an end for the current universe. When the Literals leave the main universe to write a new one, Jack Frost stays back with his aunts, the Page Sisters, forswearing his bumbling father and unsure of his future. On Hillary and Priscilla's advice, Jack Frost divests himself of Lumi's powers. However, to his great surprise, instead or returning the meek, sickly kid he was, he turns into a quite handsome young man with the stamina and physical prowess of his father and the innate ability to hop between dimensions. Joining forces with Gepetto's wooden owl, briefly tasked by the Adversary in spying the Homelands, whom he names "McDuff", he starts a career as a hero for hire, with McDuff acting as the brains of the operation, and the good-natured, courageous, but trusty and still naive Jack acting as the brawn.

Bookburner

Son of Kevin Thorn, brother to Revise and father to Priscilla and Robin Page. Bookburner takes a different approach in dealing with magic to his brother, choosing to burn books completely, effectively removing those characters from existence. He does, however, claim to keep copies in what he refers to as his 'private collection', which appears to give him power over what remains of those characters, allowing him to compel them to act on his behalf. He has not been seen since the destruction of the Golden Boughs.

The Genres

A group of Literals who are the embodiment of the different genres found in story telling. The known genres are:

• Western, who looks like John Wayne. He can sense Bigby's actions, because they both are sheriffs. He likes to play cards (possibly poker) alone.
• Blockbuster, a dimwitted, musclebound commando who can sense when explosions happen. He resembles Arnold Schwartzenegger.
• Mystery, a very silent woman whose face is always covered by a black veil.
• Horror, a terrifying little girl. She can even scare Kevin Thorne.
• Romance, a beautiful red head.
• Science-Fiction, twin brother to his sister Fantasy
• Super-hero, younger brother of Science-Fiction and Fantasy. Known to be constantly dying and resurrected (like Western).
• Literature, who holds the others in contempt.
• Noir, who looks and acts like Sam Spade as portrayed by Humphry Bogart. He can solve some cases without needing to be physically present and he also managed to sneak up on everybody in the room, when they were summoned by Kevin.
• Comedy, who looks and acts like Groucho Marx. He makes no difference between "a muse" and "amuse".
• War, who looks and acts like a soldier from World War II.

Onomatopoeia

Little is known about Onomatopoeia, though is mentioned by Revise after escaping the Golden Boughs.

Foreshadowing

Little is known about Foreshadowing but that she is a female, though is mentioned by Revise after escaping the Golden Boughs.

Others

Flycatcher

Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood used to live quietly in her cottage in the Homelands where she would often remain undisturbed for long periods. Her peaceful life was occasionally disrupted by a summons to the Warlock's Hall where, unbeknownst to her, magical fetches of her were created, allowing another to take her form in order to infiltrate groups that were against the Adversary. An unnamed sorceress used her form to infiltrate the citadel at World's End during the Fables last stand in the Homelands, and during her stay she became romantically involved with Boy Blue. The sorceress's eventual fate is unknown. More recently, Baba Yaga used her form to infiltrate Fabletown in preparation for an invasion by the Adversary's Wooden Soldiers. Shortly after the incident, Boy Blue launched a covert mission into the Homelands which resulted in the real Red Riding Hood being brought to Fabletown, leaving the woman facing considerable animosity as a result. Upset by this reception and confused by the very different world that she found herself in, Red first latched on to Boy Blue, then Flycatcher when Blue left for the Farm to serve his sentence there, as both men are among the few who have no issues with her.

Red attended Bigby and Snow's wedding with Flycatcher, but, although she found Bigby oddly familiar, she failed to recognise his human form as being her old foe. After returning, she ventured out into the mundane city to have a makeover with the aim of attracting Fly. He was, however, shocked when he saw her, and ran away, ultimately reverting to his frog form. After Ambrose's humanity was restored by Santa and the spirit of his deceased wife, restoring his memories and causing him to fall into severe depression, Ride scolded him for attempting to starve himself rather than exact revenge. Ride's message led Fly to start his journey through the Witching Well and to eventually form the Haven. After Fly's Haven was established and became safe, Boy Blue brought Ride along with him so she could move there. She told Fly she would assist him by taking care of queenly duties, until he found himself a proper queen.

The Tourists

The Tourists are a group of three Fables who originally worked for Bigby Wolf on keeping track of those Fables who have chosen not to live in Fabletown or up at the Farm. Since Bigby's departure, they now work for his replacement, Beast.

The first Tourist is Mowgli, from The Jungle Book. He is assigned the mission of tracking down the missing Bigby and bringing him back to Fabletown. While this is outside the Tourists' normal duties, he accepts the mission when Prince Charming informs him that his friend Bagheera, imprisoned for his role in the Farm revolt, would be freed once his mission was completed. Mowgli is primarily given this assignment because, unlike the other Tourists, he was raised by wolves, and thus knows how Bigby would think. The task takes many months and covered thousands of miles, but Mowgli is ultimately successful. During The Good Prince, Mowgli replaces King Cole as ambassador to Baghdad, as well as running an English-language school for Arabian Fables participating in the war against the Empire.

The second Tourist is Feathertop, the animated scarecrow from a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story. He appeared in "A Wolf in the Fold", a prose tale in the series' first trade paperback, where he accompanies Snow White on her mission to invite the Big Bad Wolf to join them in Fabletown in approximately 1650. He was chosen because, as an entity made of straw and vegetation, the Wolf would be unable to read his emotions and would find him unpalatable.

Bill Willingham has identified the third Tourist as being the Woodsman, who features in many different tales but is best known for his appearance in the story of Red Riding Hood. However, the Woodsman is also mentioned in The Great Fables Crossover, in which Bigby implies that he still harbours vengeful feelings for him and is just as mad at him as he is at Jack (which does mean a lot) and that his current whereabouts are unknown. Making him a Tourist may or may not have been a means to separate Bigby and the Woodsman (either to avoid a conflict between the Sheriff and the one human who defeated him at ease or to protect the Woodsman from the unforgiving - though law-abiding - Big Bad Wolf).

The North Wind

The North Wind, often referred to as Mr. North, is the father of Bigby Wolf. When traveling the world, he fell in love with a wolf named Winter; they had seven cubs. Mr. North grew bored after several years and abandoned her. He is the only European fable that still holds his kingdom from the Adversary. He arrives in Fabletown when word reaches him about the birth of his grandchildren, and he spends several years at the farm helping Snow take care of them. He treats Snow like she were his own daughter even before she is married to his son, teaching his grandchildren how to fly and shapeshift. He is strong enough to fight Demons and is confident he would be able to beat the D'Jinn, or Genie, that Sinbad's advisor releases, though he tells Snow White and the others the battle would probably destroy most of the planet. He is based on many European wind gods, primarily Boreas (who has his own fable, entitled the The North Wind and the Sun). Bigby has never forgiven him for abandoning Winter and considers him a monster. He eventually returns to his kingdom before Bigby returns to Fabletown. Following Bigby and Snow's visit to his castle, he agrees to help Fabletown during the war against the Empire by providing zephyrs trained to act as spies and messengers.

In a different, separate children's theater play, the North Wind (or Northwind) is one of three (3) main characters, along with Scarecrow, and a Queen or Princess.

Sinbad

The famed mariner of legend is a prince of the Arabian Fables. He arrived in Fabletown during the Arabian Nights (And Days) story-arc, accompanied by his minister, Yusuf, a host of servants and slaves and, to the consternation of his hosts, a d'jinn secured within a bottle, for a meeting carefully negotiated by Mowgli. Things got off to the worst possible start when Prince Charming forgot completely about the meeting and it was only when King Cole, who both spoke the language and was familiar with the customs, was brought in that things began to calm down. As things progressed, Sinbad began to see that the mundane world represented a new beginning, and decided to free all of his slaves. The enraged Yusuf used this as an excuse to release the d'jinn, giving it commands that would put him in control of both the European and Arabian fable communities. Fortunately, Frau Totenkinder had anticipated the possibility and warped his language, so that the commands he gave were not what he intended, ultimately leading to his own prolonged demise and the recapture of the d'jinn. Sinbad did indeed release his slaves, giving them the option to either accompany him back to Baghdad or to remain in Fabletown. He left Fabletown, taking King Cole with him as the official Ambassador to the Arabian Fables. They returned to Baghdad, where he revealed to Cole that, for the time being, the Arabian Fables still live in the Homelands equivalent of Baghdad, until such time as the Adversary's forces take it. Sinbad has learned from the uncontrolled exodus of the European Fables into the mundane world and has made plans to ensure that their own escape, should it prove necessary, will be much more orderly.

During the War and Pieces storyline, Sinbad participated bravely in the war against the Adversary, commanding the skyship Glory of Baghdad, with Prince Charming as his combat coordinator. After the destruction of the ship, he defended the injured Charming while the latter dragged the last bomb to its target and set it off. After the war, he married Rose Red, who divorced him around a week after their wedding to try to be with Boy Blue. Following failed attempt to reconcile, he returned to Baghdad, expressing a wish to build a new airship with which to explore the liberated homelands.

Tommy Sharp

Tommy Sharp was a writer for the Daily News. He somehow got wind that there was something unusual about the Fabletown community and spent several years following it up. He tracked down records detailing the Fables' possession of the area right back to when the city was called New Amsterdam, compiled a number of personal histories and located photographs of several of the Fabletown residents going back to the beginnings of photography, proving that none of them had aged a day. He also secretly trailed Bigby Wolf, a not unimpressive feat, given the Wolf's massively enhanced senses and witnessed him changing to his wolf form in Central Park. In the story A Two-Part Caper, Sharp came to Fabletown and asked to speak to Bigby, with the aim of giving the Fables a chance to respond to his story prior to publication as a journalistic courtesy. Explaining to a visibly amused sheriff that he believed them to be vampires, Sharp stated that he would shortly be publishing his story.

The concerned Wolf, realizing that even if nobody official believed the story, they'd be inundated with goths and vampire-wannabes, quickly formulated a plan to steal all of Sharp's research, using Briar Rose's enchantment to put all the occupants of the building to sleep while they ransacked his apartment. It quickly became apparent, however, that Sharp had backed all his information up in a secure facility elsewhere. Bluebeard, who was supposed to be keeping watch downstairs, insisted that they should simply shoot Sharp, belittling Bigby when he chose a different course of action. Kidnapping Sharp, the Fables took a number of photographs of him posed with Pinocchio, in such a manner to make it appear that Sharp was a pedophile. They then informed Sharp that if he published his story, they would release these photos, plus a videotape of an interview with Pinocchio where he explained what Sharp had supposedly done to him by pointing out on a teddy bear where Sharp touched him, thus destroying Sharp's reputation completely. Sharp had no choice but to cooperate.

Bluebeard, however, felt differently. Believing, as always, that he knew best and probably in no small part to spite Bigby, he summoned Sharp to Central Park where he asked Sharp if he had destroyed all his research; when Sharp confirmed he had, Bluebeard executed the journalist.

Santa Claus

Stationed at the North Pole, Santa Claus is a Fable who can magically be at every house in the world at the same time on Christmas night. Following an attempt by Jack Horner to steal the naughty and nice list in 1956, Santa has left the list with Bigby to put in a safe place every year since. He is said to be one of the most powerfully magical of the fables, and plays an important role in beginning Flycatcher's quest to restore his Homelands kingdom. It is also implied by Rose Red that Santa is the guardian of a gateway from the Homelands.

• Mrs. Claus
• Santa Claus's reindeer, who can magically fly.

Dunster Happ

A warlock and former Boxer for the Empire. Though he did not invent the sealing boxes, he was able to enchant them so that they would entice their targets to enter them willingly. He had been key to boxing Baba Yaga, Mr. Dark and the last of the Baleful Hernes. Frau Totenkinder asks him to teach her how to box Mr. Dark - despite her initial concerns that such boxes may have been made to capture her as well.

Aladdin

The Arabian Fables' best spy, ostensibly acting under the orders of Sinbad. He is seen briefly learning English in preparation for the war against the Adversary. He is later seen in Dubai, disguised as a concierge in the Burj al-Arab hotel, holding a knife and preparing to attack an oblivious Cinderella. Both end up working on the same spy job together, looking for the ones who are selling magical contraband. They eventually discover it is the three girls from Sinbad's harem and find they are in dealing with Cinderella's own Fairy Godmother. Cinderella eventually defeats her grandmother with the help of Hickory and leaves with Aladdin. She reveals she knows about him spying on the other Fable-communities, but states she'll keep quiet because she's attracted to him. Aladdin returns her feelings and they decide to spend a night together. Not living "happily ever after", but in Cindy's words living "happily for the moment".

Baleful Hernes

The last of their kind was boxed offscreen by Dunster Happ during his "Boxing Days".

Kermit the Frog (maybe)

Either he is a cheerleader/mascot who does not need a costume, or an actor is impersonating him, during the Frog Prince's baseball matches in Haven, as seen in the "Witches" volume.

References

1. ^ Irvine, Alex (2008), "Fables", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The Vertigo Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 72–81, ISBN 0-7566-4122-5, OCLC 213309015
2. J. K. Parkin (July 6, 2009). "SDCC '09". Comicbookresources.com. Retrieved 23 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Text "The annual Fables one-page tale" ignored (help)
3. ^ Yolen, Jane. Favorite Folktales from Around the World (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) (Paperback). Retrieved 23 September 2010. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
4. Stone, Eddy (August 4, 2009). Fables #87 Preview (Spoilers). Clockwork storybook. Retrieved 23 September 2010. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
5. Fables, Issue#81
6. Vaneta Rogers (April 13, 2009). "Field Guide: The Great Fables Crossover". Retrieved 23 September 2010.

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• Characters created by Bill Willingham