History Characters / Fables

[[/index]]

* [[Characters/FablesTheWolfClan Wolf Clan]]
* [[Characters/FablesFabletownCitizens Fabletown]]
* [[Characters/FablesTheFarm The Farm]]
* [[Characters/FablesTheKingdomOfHaven Haven]]
* [[Characters/FablesTheEmpire The Empire]]
* [[Characters/FablesLiterals Literals]]
* [[Characters/FablesOtherFablesAndMundanes Others]]

* Characters/FablesTheWolfClan
* Characters/FablesFabletownCitizens
* Characters/FablesTheFarm
* Characters/FablesTheKingdomOfHaven
* Characters/FablesTheEmpire
* Characters/FablesLiterals
* Characters/FablesOtherFablesAndMundanes

[[/index]]



[[foldercontrol]]



[[/folder]]

!Fabletown Fables

[[folder: Snow White]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snow_white_fables_comics.jpg]]

-> ''"God bless you, Snow. If you aren't a grand lass, then '''NO ONE''' is."'' - Weyland Smith
[[caption-width-right:350:''"'''Monsters''' of the woods couldn't kill me. The '''armies''' of kings, sorcerers and empires couldn't. I'm '''Snow goddamn White'''. I look after myself. I look after my own. And I '''never''' lose."'']]

The former Deputy Mayor of Fabletown (a position she held for 115 years) and the one really running the place during that time. She eventually had to leave her job after giving birth to seven children fathered by Bigby (by the result of a [[RuleOfFunny litter]]), but is separated from him due to circumstances. Four years later, he returns, and they're finally able to marry and raise their family together. Constant problems, and her extensive experience, however, would require her to still take charge during various emergencies.
----

* ActionGirl: On occasion, like when she kills Shere Khan or takes vengeance on the Seven Dwarfs.
* ActionMom: Upgrades to this after having her kids. Perhaps most visible when she brings back her old fencing skills in order to defeat [[spoiler:Prince Brandish, whom even Bigby fell to]].
* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Two of her children went missing without a trace, and later she learned that Darien had died. And as of the end of the ''Happily Ever After'' arc, she realizes that the mind-controlled Bigby is being sent to Wolf Manor to kill their children. Issue #149 has her finding the manor destroyed and no sign of the kids.]]
* BadassBoast: Towards the end of the "Animal Farm storyarc. Snow is surrounded by dozens of armed animal revolutionaries, and when her demand for ''their'' surrender is scoffed at, she replies:
-->''"You dumb bastards! I'm Snow White! I run Fabletown and I'm '''NEVER''' outgunned!"''
Punctuated by her radioed order to a dragon to open fire.
* BadassFamily: Her mother was a powerful witch (originating from an old and highly magical bloodline, in fact), her aunt was a witch queen (albeit the one that tried to kill her with a poison apple), her husband is the son of the primal northern wind and a wolf Fable, and her seven children are all prophesied to do great (but not necessarily good) things.
* BerserkButton: Don't. Mention. [[DepravedDwarf The Dwarfs]]. ''EVER''. And don't threaten her kids.
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:Issues #148 and #149 reveal Snow and sister Rose Red's rivalry goes further than simple sibling rivalry; it is part of a generations-long battle where sisters must kill one another to gain the full family magic and they are destined to follow the same path.]]
* CoolSword: She gets one during the ''Happily Ever After Arc'', which she names Ice.
* DeathGlare: Gives Beauty a truly ''fantastic'' one when she makes a crass comment about Snow's "adventure" with the Seven Dwarves. Beauty misses the point, but Boy Blue doesn't, and ushers her out immediately, for her own good.
* DeadpanSnarker: Her cynical, yet witty mind enables her to spew venom when the situation calls for it, especially after she retires from the Deputy Mayorship and no longer has to be diplomatic.
* DefrostingIceQueen: As is befitting a former princess named "Snow". It takes '''centuries''' for her to admit her attraction and eventual love for Bigby.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Even if the circumstances and depth of their coital involvement were initially exaggerated, Reynard the Fox, Boy Blue, Pinocchio, and even ex-husband Prince Charming know there's something between Snow and the Big Bad Wolf. Rose Red explicitly tells Snow this when Bigby leaves town.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Responsible sibling to Rose Red's Foolish sibling.
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: With Rose Red, in the past, though to a lesser extent than her sister. [[spoiler:The rivalry has since heated again since their reconciliation earlier in the series due to Rose's decision to give Brandish a second chance. Invoked again after that with the appearance of the gold and the black armors as of the ''Camelot'' arc.]]
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: She survives a bullet in the brain because her story is very famous.
* HappilyMarried: To Bigby.
* InTheBlood: It's revealed that the reason [[spoiler:Prince Brandish wanted to marry her in the first place was to have heirs who inherited her strong wild magic, which was apparently passed down from her mother (and which her children and Rose have also inherited)]].
* InterspeciesRomance: With Bigby, the son of a Fableland wolf and the North Wind.
* LadyOfWar: She shows this at times, like when she acts as general when the wooden soldiers attack Fabletown, and with her excellent fencing skills.
* LetsGetDangerous: She would rather negotiate a peaceful solution to most dilemmas, but when Snow has to take an active, physical hand in things, she is a force to be reckoned with. Just ask Cinderella, Shere Khan or Prince Brandish.
* LovedINotHonorMore: After the cubs (who aren't currently able to assume human form) are born, and Snow will be forced to move to Fabletown's Farm (where Bigby isn't allowed), Bigby suggests they all leave Fabletown and live in a part of the world secluded and cut off from the rest of the world. A teary-eyed Snow protests that she could never leave Fabletown or forswear her allegiance to its society.
* MagicCarpet: Is gifted with one after the events of "1000 Nights of Snowfall", which she uses in the modern day from time to time.
* MamaBear: Oh, dear God, yes. If you try to hurt Snow's kids, you ''will'' pay for it. [[spoiler:Her recent falling out with her sister due to her sparing Brandish as mentioned above is very much related to the fact that not only did he kill her husband, he also implied that her children "needed" to eventually die as well.]]
-->'''to Geppetto:''' You were preparing to ''attack'' us. You ''threatened'' my children. Do you think I'd hesitate to throw a thousand worlds into chaos to protect my ''cubs''?
* MasterSwordsman: Trained by ex-husband Prince Charming (probably the finest swordsman to ever live), Snow is proficient enough to handily defeat and skewer Prince Brandish, no slouch in the sword wielding department himself. And she did it '''with one arm in a sling.'''
* MeaningfulName: Has pale skin, and a somewhat of a frosty demeanor.
* MightyWhitey: There's elements of this in "1000 Nights Of Snowfall", where it turns out that she gives Scherezade the idea to entertain the Sultan with stories, saving her life.
* NobleBigot: Seems to hold Mundanes, or at least Mundy society and many of its conventions, largely in contempt, specifically the issue of abortion, television, and the purported notion that the Mundane justice system invariably blames the victim.
** Refuses to deal with the Arabian Fable envoy, despite the overall importance of an alliance, stating that she "doesn't talk to '''those people'''". Though, considering the last time she dealt with Arabian Fables, she was made a prisoner and nearly raped and killed, this stance is at least somewhat understandable.
* NumberTwo: As Deputy Mayor.
* OhCrap: When Snow realizes that her plan to have Clara the fire-breathing raven incinerate the invading Wooden Soldiers of the Empire resulted only in the creation of a couple of hundred humanoid torches.
--> ''"Oh dear god. I've killed us all."''
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Her son Darien died in issue #120 (thus fulfilling his part of the prophecy).]]
%%* PolarOppositeTwins: She and Rose fit this trope quite well.
* PregnantBadass: While not involved in the actual fighting, she did plan and lead the defense of Fabletown in "March of the Wooden Soldiers" while heavily pregnant.
* ProperLady: While she occasionally indulges in swearing, Snow is very prim, polite, and follows the rules of Fabletown strictly as well as she enforces them.
* RapeAndRevenge: The [[DepravedDwarf Seven Dwarfs]] did horrible, horrible things to her during her time with them, ending when she murdered them all in succession.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: Well, she ''is'' Snow White.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Hunts down and systematically butchers each one of the Seven Dwarves who kidnapped and sexually abused her years ago. But done entirely on the QT, so that no one (except her husband Prince Charming) ever knew that she was the killer.
* ScreamingBirth: Fully justified. Times ''six''.
--> "''Oh'' God! Oh ''God!'' ''Oh God!'' Put a ''gun'' to my head and shoot me ''now!'' I'll ''die'' this time, I ''promise.''...Please, please, '''please''' just make them stop coming out of me! I'll do ''anything!'' I'll give you the key to any one of Bluebeard's ''treasure rooms!'' Your choice!"
* SurprisePregnancy: Especially because, due to an enchantment, she didn't even ''remember having the sex that caused it''.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: While giving birth. She was in labor for ''forty-two hours'' before giving birth. To the first of '''six''' babies.
--> "A ''litter?'' I'm having a ''litter?"''
* TooManyBabies: As mentioned above.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Snow White dresses much more femininely than Rose in dresses, skirts, and modest attire. She's almost more tactful and romantic in comparison to her wilder, outspoken sister.
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: In a sense. In ''Storybook Love'', she and Bigby are drugged by Bluebeard and sent far into the wilderness somewhere for Goldilocks to track and kill them. It takes them three days to wake up from their drugged state, eventually leading her to question Bigby if they slept together during that time without even knowing it. Bigby reassures her that they didn't, only to later be revealed that they ''did'': Snow is pregnant, and Bigby suspected she was due to his heightened senses, but he refrained from telling her so she'd keep calm during their escape from Goldilocks.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Bigby Wolf (The Big Bad Wolf)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i111_bigby_0.png]]
-> ''"True- you never served the Adversary, but if your fellow Fables ever suspected the ''whole'' truth-- the full enormity of what you've done-- they'd still tremble in their beds every night"'' - Kay
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8274455ed61dd4310575ddeb5c79ef4a.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I '''won't''' become a shapeshifter, like my father and brothers-- a creature of no particular kind! A thing of whim and unreliability! I will be only what I '''am!''' A '''man''' sometimes. And a '''WOLF''' at '''all''' times!"'']]The former Sheriff of Fabletown since its inception, he eventually left his job when he couldn't cope with being separated from Snow White. Eventually a loophole in the Fabletown rules reunites him with his love, the two then getting married and settling down to raise their seven kids (or cubs). Well, when there aren't any dire emergencies affecting Fabletown, that is.
----
* TheAtoner: He has worked for centuries to make up for all those thousands of people that he ate alive for sport. Subverted in that he feels no actual guilt for his actions, and is mostly [[HazyFeelTurn just adapting to his new situation]] as a father and a leader in a civilized community. He initially decided to change his ways just to be close to Snow White, upon whom he had "imprinted".
* AuthorAvatar: Willingham has a tendency to let Bigby expound on his own personal views, whether they are about the [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys awfulness]] of {{UsefulNotes/France}} or otherwise, and has stated in an interview that as a Republican, he identifies with Snow and Bigby.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Cites this as one of the main reasons he was pegged to be Fabletown's Sheriff, and states that keeping the really evil things he has to do for the greater good from his bosses is one of his most prominent duties.
* BadassBoast: "And I was still just a growing ''pup'' [[Literature/ThreeLittlePigs back then.]] I doubt even a brick house could survive now."
* BadassInDistress: In ''Storybook Love'', he's temporarily weakened by Goldilocks filling him with bullets and preparing to [[KillItWithFire burn him]], but is saved by Snow White axing Goldilocks' head.
* BalefulPolymorph: Kevin Thorn, looking to stop Bigby from thwarting his plan to erase the Fableverse, turns the Big Bad Wolf into a ''seemingly'' harmless little girl. [[EpicFail It doesn't quite work out as he'd hoped]].
* TheBigBadWolf: The very same, except that now he's only one part-time due to becoming a werewolf.
* BigDamnHeroes: Pulls a truly ''EPIC'' one at the Battle of Fabletown, where he singlehandedly blows away the entire horde of the Adversary's Wooden Soldiers.
--> '''"Too many candles on this birthday cake."'''
* BlowYouAway: He is the wolf from "The Three Little Pigs", meaning he can blow gale-force winds. He inherited this ability from his father, the North Wind. In addition, he can command "local winds" to always stay downwind of his enemies, letting him track them easily and confusing them if they rely on scent themselves. He could also hold his breath for at least three days when he was a pup - with a belly full of stones, at the bottom of a river.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Bigby was raised and lived as a pure wolf for centuries before conforming to civilization, and has a rather interesting sense of right and wrong. He cares nothing for morality outside of keeping one's "pack" and "territory" safe, and judges weakness, incompetence, irresponsibility and disloyalty far more harshly than malevolence. This includes either killing someone for not being able to keep their followers in check, or as he said "unforgivable weakness".
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:After being brought back from the dead under the control of Leigh Duglas (and later Rose Red). He has since killed several of his once-friends and allies, including Beast and Ozma, and Rose intends to have him kill Snow, and maybe also their children.]]
* CallingParentsByTheirName: Due to centuries of estrangement and outright hostility, Bigby can only bring himself to call his father "Mr. North".
* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:As of the ''Camelot'' arc, seeming to have lost most of his memories of his former life, but retaining his more destructive powers, and essentially brainwashed for easy control (firstly by Leigh Duglas and more recently by Rose Red). Comments made by both Leigh and Rose indicate that he's fighting their control and it's taking quite a bit of mental effort for them to subvert his will.]]
* TheChessmaster: For a "man" who turns into a gigantic wolf, he is extremely good at manipulating others through subversion, misdirection and other guile strategies to achieve his objectives. These skills enable him to expertly resolve the myriad problems arising from "Who Killed Rose Red".
* ClippedWingAngel: When fighting [[spoiler:the Emperor in his wolf form, it turns out the former is too large to be affected by his winds and doesn't take much notice of random bites or scratches either from a wolf less than half his size. Eventually, Bigby retreats, changes to human form and returns with a large screwdriver to simply loosen the Emperor's wooden legs that finally causes him to fall.]]
* CurbStompBattle: In the above mentioned arc, [[spoiler:this is pretty much what he delivers to Beast and even Ozma, all while [[AndIMustScream shouting for them to get away from him.]]]]
** Delivered a handful of these to Jack Horner over the centuries.
** Is on the receiving end of this from Brandish.
* DisproportionateRetribution: According to him, the most efficient way to end any cycle of violence is to return all attacks ten times as hard, making the enemy so afraid of your counterattacks that they stop bothering you altogether. This explicitly includes Israel's bombings of civilians, on the grounds that between certain death and collateral damage, the natural thing to do is fight with everything you have regardless of the costs.
* TheDragon: [[spoiler:Unwillingly, to Leigh Duglas (as mentioned above) due to her stealing a part of the glass statue he was turned into, preventing all attempts for a proper resurrection and causing him to [[CameBackWrong come back quite different from what he was before]]. After Rose kills Leigh and claims the ring for herself, he becomes her Dragon.]]
* TheDreaded: The most feared Fable in the Homelands, and still a figure of terror and abject hatred among the Farm Fables, who have banned him from ever setting foot there. Even Fabletown's human citizens are still wary of him, after centuries of him serving as Sheriff.
* DysfunctionJunction: His family: his father left them, his mother died of heartbreak, and his brothers spurned their mother's memory to get at their father's powers, losing themselves in the process. For all that, though, he is a good and devoted father and husband himself.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: He was very fond of his mother as a young cub. Her death of a broken heart after having been abandoned by the North Wind was the catalyst for Bigby's centuries-long hatred of his father.
* HappilyMarried: To Snow White. [[spoiler: Until he died at the hands of Brandish, that is. And then CameBackWrong. He luckily returns back to normal though, and their relationship continues as if the hiccup never happened. The epilogue, set 1000 years past the ''Fables'' finale, show that he and Snow are still going stronger than ever.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: In his backstory. Overlaps a little with HazyFeelTurn, as his motivation for changing sides was not so much a change of heart as a change of priorities.
* HesBack: Disappeared for four years after he couldn't see his and Snow's children when she moved to the Farm, but is eventually found by Mowgli and returns at the news of a new threat, along with learning of a loophole allowing him and Snow to finally live together.
* HopelessWithTech: A self-confessed Luddite. He's never even learned how to drive.
* InsultBackfire: During the "Who Killed Rose Red" storyarc, an exasperated Snow White calls Fabletown's sheriff a "frustrating son of a bitch", to which Bigby calmly replies, "Literally, in my case. But she was always nuturing and loving; the best mother a ''cub'' could want."
* InterspeciesRomance: Since the guy is a giant wolf and his human form is merely a disguise, his relationship with Snow counts as this. He mentions that it took him "a few centuries to get into human girls."
* {{Irony}}: His severe punishment in ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood'' did nothing but convince him that humans would be his ''only'' prey from then on.
* KryptoniteFactor: Silver does far more lasting damage to Bigby than any other substance. [[KillItWithFire Fire also works]], according to [[BadassBookworm Goldilocks]].
* LiterallyShatteredLives: [[spoiler:Turned into a glass statue and shattered to pieces by Prince Brandish.]]
* [[LoveAtFirstSight Love At First Scent]]: With Snow.
* ManipulativeBastard: So good at using guile and subversion to make people do what he wants or otherwise get his way, it's scary. See how smoothly and successfully he tricks Mr. North into pledging allegiance to Fabletown, by playing upon North's pride.
* MrFanservice: Early on in the series, Bigby was drawn in a much more handsome, rugged manner, and the artist took many opportunities to draw him in tight undies or less.
* MookHorrorShow: Executes this upon the Genres towards the end of "The Great Fables Crossover". While in the form of a '''little girl''', no less.
* NobleWolf: His sense of morality revolves around protecting his pack and territory.
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:It is later revealed that his connections to the North Wind, both past (his father) and present (his daughter), give him a certain leniency when it comes to death. It is also foretold that he will outlive all of his children, but only after he has died seven times, so it is a safe bet that he will be back eventually. And, as of the ''Camelot'' arc, he has, though [[CameBackWrong not quite as he used to be]]...]]
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: He's a massive wolf transformed into a human, and he can both partially and fully transform back into his true form.
* PapaWolf: Literally, and taken to the logical extreme. His entire "morality" is centered around pack and territory, and protecting his mate and "cubs" in ways that would cross into ProtagonistCenteredMorality and/or MoralMyopia if he cared a bit about the philosophy rather than just following his instincts and protecting his family at all costs.
* PermaStubble: Because of his wolfish nature. During one story set during WWII, he has to be clean shaven to infiltrate a Nazi outpost, and even though he shaves right before going in, the stubble is back only about 30 minutes later. The trope is also very literal - while in his totally human form, his facial hair never gets further than stubble, no matter how long he leaves it. If he shifts into his wolf man form, he gets a very respectable set of muttonchop whiskers.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero and/or PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He has outstanding family values. Otherwise, though...
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: While nothing really ''can'' redeem you for untold thousands of killings, Bigby has genuinely worked his ass off to protect Fabletown for centuries, earning the forgiveness of most of the loyal Fables. Whether this makes him a socially realistic example of a HeelFaceTurn or a KarmaHoudini is up for debate. Besides keeping his family happy with him though, Bigby himself doesn't care where he stands on any moral scale.
* PunnyName: Bigby Wolf. Big '''B'''ad Wolf.
* PutOnABus: After Snow White gives birth to their children, but decides to stay on the Farm where Bigby isn't allowed to be, Bigby takes this as Snow choosing Fabletown "over him" and not letting him see their children, to which he subsequently disappears for four years. Eventually, Mowgli is tasked to find him when Fabletown needs him back and it takes Mowgli a ''year'' to do so, eventually tracking Bigby to a remote cabin in Alaska.
* RealityEnsues: At his "parlor scene" near the end of "Who Killed Rose Red", Bigby describes the actual career of a law enforcement officer as very different from what is depicted on TV and in films. He relates a life of relentless boredom and waiting, tons of paperwork, and car chases, shootouts and such as extreme rarities.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: His orbs turn glow crimson as a wolf. Two words: '''RUN'''. And '''FAST'''.
* RuleOfCool: Apparently, eating tons of food if you're an animal Fable doesn't make you fat, it makes your entire body grow ''to scale'', eventually leaving you a giant. It's been theorized that, despite willfully spurning his inherent shapeshifting ability (part of his birthright as a son of the North Wind) to remain a wolf, his determination to become the biggest and strongest of all creatures subconsciously tapped into that power and contributed to his unusual growth.
* SmokingIsCool: His powerful senses get overwhelmed by everything that goes on in the city, so he smokes to block most of it out. When he's out of the city or specifically needs his nose, though, such as when examining a crime scene, he ditches the cigarettes without a second thought.
* SocialDarwinist: In "Werewolves of the Heartland" he states that he is fine with the werewolves attacking, hunting, and eating humans as long as they do so openly. His problem is the cowardly, half-assed way they go about it. Pinocchio's prediction of how the war would unfold should the Emperor attack Earth with magical plagues, i.e.: biological weapons, also involves Bigby leading mundy soldiers in ruthlessly conquering and subjugating the far less advanced Homelands for themselves.
* TheSpymaster: His other, secret role in serving Fabletown. He has a number of agents scattered around the world whose existence is known only to him, then later Beast, his successor.
* StalkerWithACrush: Played with: Snow White is his soulmate, meaning he can't elude her scent, no matter what: he ''always'' knows where she is and how she's feeling at any given moment. However he doesn't act as a stalker, respects her boundaries and is not particularly happy about the whole thing until she eventually reciprocates. He actually restrains himself for several centuries before acting on the feelings at all, besides leaving his old ways behind to be in her proximity.
* SummationGathering: Bigby initiates a classic one in the last chapter of "Who Killed Rose Red".
* SuperBreath: His inheritance from the North Wind. In other words, he [[Literature/ThreeLittlePigs "huffs and puffs".]]
* TokenEvilTeammate: While no Fable aside from Flycatcher has a clear conscience by the time they sign the Fabletown Amnesty and cynicism is a strong theme throughout the comics, Bigby has personally and unrepentantly murdered many times more people than all the other protagonist Fables in the story put together. And his HeelFaceTurn is entirely a matter of new priorities, rather than guilt or remorse.
* UnscrupulousHero: What Bigby is ''at best'' - at worst, he's a NobleDemon with strong tribal values.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Can change between human and wolf form at will. It's stated that he was born with the ability to change into any shape imaginable but refused to be anything but a wolf out of spite for his father until [[ShapeshifterModeLock the ability withered and he was stuck]]. After leaving the Homelands, he becomes a werewolf - so as to be able to assume a human appearance - in order to be with Snow White. This also gave him an "in-between" form, the traditional Hollywood-style humanoid wolf-man.
* WillfullyWeak: He drinks and smokes a lot to dull his senses and keep from going completely insane while living in the city, otherwise he'd be able to smell and hear everything from miles around, and potentially revert to his bloodthirsty nature.
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: Along with Snow White, see her example.
* WolfMan: He can partially transform into a wolf-man style werewolf.
* YouCantFightFate: Played with. He managed to exchange his fate with another one's. [[spoiler:Though it's probably played straight with his ''new'' fate, as the "come back from the dead seven times total" ''and'' "outlive all his children" parts seem well on his way to being played out in full.]]
[[/folder]]



[[folder: Rose Red]]
-> '''The Embodiment of Hope:''' But what '''sort''' of hope will you inspire in those whose lives you touch?
-> '''Rose Red:''' Something to do with '''second chances''', I think. God knows '''I've''' needed enough of them.
Snow White's wilder younger sister who has a troubled relationship with her older sibling and is the leader of Fabletown's farm. Is later pegged the Paladin of Hope.
----
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0c150a880f4e63c87e976fe02543f0b9.png]]
* AffectionateNickname: Her mother called her "Little Red Duckling".
* AlliterativeName: '''R'''ose '''R'''ed.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Especially Jack, off and on. [[spoiler: As of the ''Happily Ever After'' arc, she's decided to get Bigby to be with ''her'' after he kills Snow.]]
* CainAndAbel: After issues #148 and #149 bring the truth about their bloodline to light, [[spoiler:Rose is now fully prepared to have Snow killed in order to inherit the family magical power]]. In the finale, however, [[spoiler: when she realizes that the tontine curse upon her and Snow is broken or, at least, weakened (when a "soldier", possibly Boy Blue, reminds her that Snow had male children while Rose is still alive, what would be impossible if the curse were in full effect), she ends the rivalry peacefully, preventing a massive war from happening.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Goes from the original wild child to capable leader of the Farm. [[spoiler: And from capable leader to power-mad murderess.]]
* CollateralAngst: After [[spoiler:Boy Blue dies.]]
* [[CoolUncle Cool Aunt]]: To the Cubs. [[spoiler:Until the ''Happily Ever After'' arc, when she sends Bigby to kill them.]]
* CoolSword: She gets one during the ''Happily Ever After Arc'', which she names [[PunnyName Thorn]].
* DidntThinkThisThrough: With logic holes you could drive a truck through, her and Jack's whole scheme to bilk Bluebeard out of his money by faking her death was fundamentally flawed and doomed from the start, Lampshaded by Snow and everyone else present.
-->'''Prince Charming:''' Neither Rose or Jack ever earned renown for their intelligence. Working together, they couldn't help but reach new lows in imbecility.
* FieryRedhead: She's mellowed out quite a bit, but she'll still sass you and threaten to kill your progenitor if you get in her way. [[spoiler: And, like with many other tropes, in ''Happily Ever After'' she's getting even more outspoken and angry as the power of her magical bloodline affects her.]]
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Foolish sibling to Snow White's Responsible. Though she's become an efficient leader of the Farm, and was usually more rebellious than foolish. Lampshaded in ''Happily Ever After'' when Morgan tells her a bit about how magic works; the sole thing Rose takes away from the conversation is that she should ''name her sword''.
** Ironically, Rose cites this trope as the reason she is adamant about giving the evil murderer and kidnapper Brandish a second chance: as the "Paladin of the Hope For Second Chances", she sees this as her being "truly responsible" for the first time ever.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: She went into deep depression after [[spoiler:Boy Blue's]] death and swore that she'd work hard to become worthy of him if or when he returned. Come the ''Camelot'' arc however, he appears to have been forgotten about as she falls into old habits and immediately falls for Lancelot and calls him her true love. Calling to mind some AesopAmnesia in the process as [[spoiler:Blue]] had previously called her out on only finding men interesting when she first got to know them, then losing interest afterwards, a comment that had hit her hard.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Is extremely empathetic and respectful of non-humanoid Fables, treating them with respect and as equals. This is a ''huge'' reason why she is so beloved as Administrator of the Farm, and why there have been no uprisings during her tenure. That, along with Clara, her fire-breathing enforcer, of course..
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: With Snow White, in the past. [[spoiler:And again as of the ''Camelot'' arc due to her decision to give Prince Brandish a second chance and a role in her new Camelot. Later invoked in the ''Happily Ever After'' arc with the appearance of the gold and black armors. By the end of the arc, her armor has turned blood red, indicating her willingness to commit sororicide. It all eventually comes to an end when Rose Red decides to let bygones be bygones.]]
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Subverted hard. Unlike her sister, who is so famous among the Mundanes that if her body were damaged to the point that healing was impossible she would just reappear whole somewhere else, Rose has been pushed out of her own story and is thus almost totally unknown by regular folk, which means while she is unaging, she is as easy to kill as an ordinary human, and if she dies, unlike her sister its almost certain [[KilledOffForReal she won't come back]].
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: As of the ''Camelot'' arc, it's been pretty well established that despite how much of a benevolent leader or loving relative she can be, it doesn't take much convincing to make her turn bad ''again''.
* HeroicBSOD: When [[spoiler:Boy Blue dies]], Rose is devastated and spends weeks secluded in her house, not even bothering to get out of bed. She finally snaps out of it just in time to prevent being deposed as leader of The Farm.
* HopeBringer: The personification of Hope eventually chooses her to be one of her paladins. Considering her troubled past, Rose decides to become a person that creates hope by offering second chances. This merges into GoodIsDumb when she sacrifices her relationship with Snow to give Brandish a second chance. [[spoiler:Unsurprisingly, Brandish betrays them the first chance he gets, killing first Weyland Smith and more recently Lancelot (Rose's current lover) in the process.]]
* TheImmodestOrgasm: Jack brings her to ''several'' of these during their tryst in the middle of the Great Fables Crossover.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: She had the best of intentions, bur Rose's ill-advised attempt at giving Prince Brandish a shot at redemption results in [[spoiler: the deaths of Weyland Smith and Sir Lancelot]], both at his unrepentant hands.
--> ''"Snow White: "'' Set him free and you '''are''' responsible, for everything that happens afterwards.
%%* PolarOppositeTwins: With Snow.
* ReallyGetsAround: Jack, Bluebeard, Sinbad, Lancelot - are just her most recent partners.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler: On his deathbed]], Boy Blue rejects Rose's hasty marriage proposal, stating that she doesn't really love him: Rose is just fascinated by whomever is the "most exciting man in the room" at the time, citing Prince Charming, Jack Horner, Weyland Smith and Sinbad as examples, never truly being in love with any man. He tells her she's "broken", and doesn't know how to "fix" her. Despite telling Rose flat out he deserves better, Blue nevertheless wishes her the best.
* RefusalOfTheCall: After [[spoiler: Boy Blue's death]], she sinks into a deep depression, neglecting her duties as Farm Administrator, and expressly rejects "Colin's" demands that she get up and help save the day.
* SirSwearsALot: Her default mode of speech is cursing like a longshoreman who just stubbed his toe. She's particularly prone to dropping the "F" bomb.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Rose sports a short hairdo, drinks, cusses like a sailor, wears boots and jeans while Snow prefers skirts and heels.
* TookALevelInJerkass: By Rose and Snow's backstory, Rose began acting like a bitch after she spent years depressed over Snow's supposed death. When their mother revealed Snow was still alive, Rose became bitter and hostile towards her sister for supposedly abandoning her. She also claimed she couldn't stand the fact that she'd been forgotten by so many people, whereas everyone remembered Snow and continued to rewrite and republish her ordeal with her stepmother, the dwarves, and Prince Charming.
* TookALevelInKindness: Starting with ''Animal Farm'' the relationship between Rose and Snow began to heal, and the two were more or less back on good terms by the time of Snow's wedding. Then she TookALevelInJerkass AGAIN. [[spoiler:When she discovers that Ms. Duglas is using a magic ring to control Bigby she decides to keep the ring for herself. Her current plan is to force Bigby to kill Snow (thus causing the full power of their bloodline to revert to herself), then mind control Bigby into falling in love with her. Though, ultimately, she decides against this.]]
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: With Boy Blue. Just before the war with the Empire, he expresses his romantic intentions towards Rose, who rejects him, stating that he's like a brother to her, and she doesn't want to ruin their friendship. The tables are turned when later, after the war is over and Blue is [[spoiler: lying on his deathbed]], a sorrowful and regretful Rose confesses that she does truly love him and asks him to marry her. Blue refuses, stating that he deserves better than Rose's mercurial affections.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Prince Charming]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7000_20141104161306_char.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I always truly love a woman when I'm first chasing her- I'm just no damned good at the "happily ever after" part."'']]

-> ''"After all this time, do you not know me at ''all'', my friend? Whether it involves a desperate war or a woman's virtue, I ''always'' win my battles. Always."'' - Prince Charming



Ex-husband to (in chronological order) Snow White, Briar Rose, and Cinderella. He successfully managed to grab the position of Mayor from Old King Cole. Later resigns from the Mayorship to become Fabletown's Director of Homeland Recovery, basically making him Commander in Chief in the war against The Empire.
----
* AmazonBrigade: After [[spoiler: seemingly dying at the end of the War against the Empire]], Charming organizes a veritable army of well-trained Indian females who [[spoiler: help him conquer most of the Indus]].
* TheAtoner: Tells Bluebeard, (a man he is set to kill so has no motive to mislead) that he intends to kill him as a "favor" to his ex-wife Snow White, for [[YourCheatingHeart the events that led to their divorce]]. Of course, his ''primary'' reason for getting Bluebeard out of the way is to get his hands on his considerable riches, but Charming expressed sincere sorrow for his betrayal of Snow, and relished the opportunity to make up for it.
** Although getting Bigby to return to Fabletown was utterly crucial to the war effort against the Empire, Prince Charming went to great lengths to make sure that not only would Bigby be able to live with Snow and his cubs, but they would be very comfortable and happy in the vast territory he parceled out to them, so this could be seen as a further act of atonement.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:In Fairest #15.]]
* BadassBoast: To be expected of an egocentric rake, but delivers one actually not centered on himself to start off Fabletown's War Council that even impresses Bigby.
--> ''"Why, we're going to '''crush''' them, of course. We're going to put an '''end''' to their filthy Empire, once and for all."''
* BiTheWay: [[spoiler:He mentions in "The Return of the Maharaja" that he has loved men before, and seems to be quite open to the idea of homosexuality.]]
* TheCasanova: His entire point. The reason he's in so many stories is because he constantly marries and eventually abandons various princesses and other beauties.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: After becoming Mayor.
* CharacterDevelopment: He starts out as a selfish womanizer, but becoming mayor of Fabletown helps him mature. In the end, he [[spoiler:sacrifices himself to destroy the Adversary's last gateway between the human and fable worlds]]. By "The Return of the Maharaja", you'd be ''very'' surprised to see ''this'' is the same person from early on.
* CharmPerson: The source of his success with women. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't last all that long.
** Subverted with Nalayani, who is somehow immune to his power. Strangely, this endears her to him even more.
* TheChessmaster: Utilizes the Mouse Police as spies to keep tabs on Bluebeard, as part of his scheme to assassinate him, preventing him from murdering Snow White and Bigby, and also to ultimately take control of Bluebeard's vast riches, after Charming becomes Mayor. He also proves quite adept at heading up the intelligence gathering and espionage missions Fabletown launches in the prelude to declaring war on the Empire.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass:
** In addition to being a MasterSwordsman, he turns out to be quite the strategic genius, as well.
** During Snow White's revenge against the Seven Dwarves he proves himself to be quite a competent statesman and investigator and before the story began he had successfully averted a war between dwarves and humans. He also found out about Snow's actions, but ultimately kept silent because of his love for her.
* TheDeterminator: With the help of Sinbad, over the course of four days, Charming fights his way through hordes of the Adversary's troops to personally deliver and deploy the bomb that will destroy the last enemy gateway, despite severe burns suffered in the crash of their airship.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Probably Charming's worst trait. He admits himself that while he is very good at working towards a goal, whether seducing women or running for mayor, he is bad at 'keeping' it.
** Star example? He ran for mayor just so he could get his hands on Bluebeard's wealth, but fails to realize that running Fabletown is an extremely difficult job, especially because Snow White and Bigby make it clear that they'll quit if he takes over. The main reason he got elected in the first place was his promise of free Glamours for all non-Humanoid Fables, but didn't check with Frau Totenkinder if that was even possible. Turns out it isn't. Oops.
* DisneyDeath: His body wasn't actually found. [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that he's alive, and working ''against'' his former ally Sinbad, who is trying to build a new multi-world empire based on an Islamic caliphate. Charming says openly that he didn't fight to overthrow one empire just for it to be replaced by another.]]
* DualWielding: Duels Bluebeard with a regular sword, along with a dagger.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Fabletown's Director of Homeland Security, despite grievous wounds and burns suffered in his airship's destruction, fights his way alongside Sinbad through hordes of Imperial troops to get to the last mystical gateway and blow it up, sealing Fabletown's victory in the War to End All Wars. [[spoiler: Subverted in that he survives by escaping through the gateway at the last second.]]
* EveryoneHasStandards: Is utterly appalled to discover that Arabian envoy Sinbad keeps slaves, and absolutely refuses to budge on that point, despite the dire need for an alliance with the Arabian Fables and the fact that there in no actual provision ''against'' having slaves in the Fabletown charter (which is stated to be because no one ever brought it up).
* EyeScream: Loses his right eye during a duel with Sindhu Baba Singh. It fully regenerates later.
** When recounting his romantic conquests to Beauty for her to document in his memoirs, Charming details how he bedded a dairy farmer and her two daughters. When Beauty assumes Charming had sex with all three at the same time, he is deeply offended at the notion.
* {{Fingore}}: Loses a few digits due to the curse placed on him by Sindu Baba Singh. [[spoiler: They eventually grow back.]]
* FireForgedFriends: He and Sinbad become very tight during their campaign against the Empire, to the point where Charming has to force Sinbad to leave his side so Charming can blow up the final gateway.
** Charming and Bigby go from despising each other to a friendship built upon mutual respect and trust, after Charming helps Bigby get around the Farm ban to reunite with Snow and his cubs, and their collaboration in plotting the destruction of the Empire. When Charming (supposedly) pulls his HeroicSacrifice to destroy the final gateway, Bigby refuses to believe he's really dead and pledges to find him.
* ForcefulKiss: Plants one on Beauty during the "Arabian Nights (and Days)" storyarc.
* FrontlineGeneral: Despite not having an official, recognized rank during the Battle of Fabletown, he is by virtue of his experience in war a natural field commander, planning and directing offense and defense personally, and is right up front in the thick of the action at all times. And during the full on war against the Empire, after being officially named Director of Homeland Recovery, Charming, along with captain Sinbad, personally flies the Glory of Baghdad airship right into enemy territory to destroy the magical gateways, and when the ship is eventually downed, engages wave after wave of enemy infantry on his way to his objective.
* GentlemanSnarker: Always has a nasty, but smoothly delivered barb ready for anyone who tries to match witty rejoinders, or just annoy him.
--> (to Bigby)'''"You are a small, tedious man in need of more frequent bathing."'''
* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: Charming's various affairs are normally portrayed as a flaw to his character as he's selfish and unwilling to commit. Though Snow White views the loss of their marriage as a mutual thing as her actions ended up alienating him just as much as his affairs did to her.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: His status as one of the most famous and popular Fables of all affords him phenomenal healing abilities, rivaled only by the likes of Snow White and Bigby Wolf, and surpassed only by Jack Horner. His extraordinary capacity to regenerate is what enabled him to survive and recover from [[spoiler: being at ground zero for the explosion that destroyed the last imperial gate]], and what allowed him later to [[spoiler: regenerate his whole hand after it totally disintegrated due to a magical "leprosy plague"]].
* GuileHero: While Charming's most capable weapon is his sword there are times when he's shown a genuinely cunning streak. When Snow exacts her revenge on the Seven Dwarves, the Dwarf King threatened war should Charming not find the culprit. Eventually Charming learns of Snow's actions (having trained her with a sword and witnessed the gradual killings of the dwarves getting more professional in accordance to her skill level) but ultimately pulls a gambit wherein he frames and executes one of the kingdom's most notorious murderers and sends his head to the Dwarf King claiming he was the Dwarf killer. He successfully averted a war but chose not to pursue the matter further with Snow in an effort to let her have her secrets.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: With all of his allies dead and his only method of transportation destroyed, Charming singlehandedly takes the final bomb to the last gateway between the human and fable worlds and detonates it, presumably dying in the process.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: When it's discovered that the Woodland Building's doorman Trusty John is a spy for the Empire, Prince Charming is forced to banish him to the Witching Well. As he does so, he calls John "a craven pimp". Later, a guilt-ridden Charming has a nightmare where Trusty John promises to rise out of the Well and get revenge on him, citing the hypocrisy of the notorious womanizer Charming condemning him for betrayal.
* HiddenDepths: After ''centuries'' of renown (and infamy) as a unrepentant womanizer, user and all-around cad, Prince Charming, when war with the Empire becomes an impending reality, rises to the occasion and shows his immense talent for battle planning and tactics.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: As the pressures of running Fabletown get to him, Charming can often be seen taking many swigs from his private stash.
* {{Jerkass}}: Rude, womanizing, condescending, and greedy; Charming has almost no redeeming traits when he makes his debut.
** TookALevelInKindness: Becoming mayor of Fabletown forces him to grow up and become a better person.
* LadykillerInLove: His infatuation with Nalayani seems very much like the real thing, as admitting his love for her enables him to magically heal.
* MasterSwordsman: The most talented swordsman among all the Fables, maybe the most talented swordsman who's ever lived. He easily kills Bluebeard in a duel. Also gave fencing lessons to Snow White when they were married.
* MoreDakka: As Fabletown's Commander of Operations and Director of Homeland Recovery, he applies combat condition "Full Metal Storm", a military tactic inspired by Mundy armies, which necessitates the firing of all guns onboard the Glory of Baghdad warship, facilitated by Boy Blue instantaneously teleporting ammo dumps onto the ship, creating a perpetual, overwhelming onslaught of firepower that completely wipes out an entire phalanx of Imperial dragons.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Which, of course, leads to the mentioned above. It is later revealed that [[spoiler: the force of the explosion hurled him through the magic gate just before it was destroyed, transporting him into the land of the Indus, where he becomes the "Maharajah"]].
* OhCrap: The newly-elected mayor's reaction when told that he would not be able to fulfill his promise to the animal Fables (who were the main reason he won the election) to supply free Glamours to anyone who wants one.
* ThePornomancer: Maybe the best of all time. to quote Beauty: "You practically exude a panty-dropping musk that would make us all rich if we could bottle it."
* PrinceCharming[=/=]PrinceCharmless: A notable deconstruction of these tropes, and TropeNamer and TropeCodifier of the first. He's beautiful and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin charming]], but he's also rotten to the core (at least, until CharacterDevelopment kicks in).
--> '''Beauty:''' We both know you're hollow, Prince Charming. A ton of slick romance, encrusted with not a particle of real love.
* RoyalHarem: Picks up a lovely bevy of beauties when he [[spoiler: becomes Maharajah of the Indus]].
* SacrificialLamb: In order to prevent a war between kingdoms, Charming has notorious highwayman [[AssholeVictim Blackbriar Johnny]] set up as the fall guy for the murder of the Seven Dwarfs. [[spoiler: It was actually Snow White.]]
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Engages in this whenever he must interact with one of his ex-wives, even under friendly circumstances.
* StartOfDarkness: Charming's philandering ways began when Snow, his first wife, [[spoiler: secretly murdered the Seven Dwarves in retaliation for their kidnapping and extended sexual abuse of her]], lying to her husband about the depth of her knowledge and involvement in the affair, all of this nearly causing a war. Snow White herself admits that her abuse of Charming's trust could very well have been what made him the cad he is today.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: His looks are his bread and butter.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Uses his trademark sweet talk and golden tongue to shack up with Briar Rose (ex-wife #2) in her luxurious apartment, and has the run of the place in short order.
* UpperClassTwit: He and Briar Rose pretend to be a couple of these during an undercover mission. Briar bestows him with [[UnfortunateNames "Mortimer"]] as an alias.
* YourCheatingHeart: Starts (or goes back?) to his philandering ways after his marriage with Snow White falls apart.
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: His tenure as mayor wasn't completely catastrophic, and most of the disasters that did occur weren't even his fault. But Charming was clearly overwhelmed by the job and everyone knew it. It got so bad that he slept in the Business Office more often than not rather than go home each night, all to avoid the angry protesters camping out in front of the main building each day.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Cinderella]]
-> ''"Everyone knows my story. I get dressed up. The clock strikes twelve. I lose a shoe. And it's all downhill from there. My name is Cinderella. Cindy to my friends. Don't tell anyone, but I'm a spy. One of the best, even if I'm being humble. And there are times I '''love''' my job."'' - Cinderella
Prince Charming's third wife. Officially a simple shoe store owner, she's actually one of the top secret agents of Fabletown.
----

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cinderella_03.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I have '''loads''' of questions for you to answer. Just as soon as I finish kicking your '''ass'''."'']]

* ArchEnemy: To Dorothy Gale, now a notorious assassin.
* ActionGirl: She is an undercover spy whose skills would put James Bond to shame. Her InnerMonologue during the "War and Pieces" arc points out that her longevity gives her a near-unbeatable advantage over any Mundane spy or combatant--she's had centuries to train and perfect her skills, while any given Mundane has only a single human lifespan to do the same.
* AllWomenLoveShoes: She runs (naturally) a shoe store as her cover.
* BadassAdorable: Blonde and beautiful, and also one of the deadliest Fables in existence.
* BaitAndSwitch: The beginning and vast majority of "Cinderella Libertine" makes it look like Cindy is a betrayer of Fabletown and spy for the Adversary, when in actuality, she is a spy totally loyal to Bigby and her fellow Fables.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: It's suggested by her own internal monologue that she was involved in the Hindenberg blimp disaster.
* BreakThemByTalking: Cindy is an expert at this, often verbally playing upon her opponents weaknesses to gain an edge and ultimately defeat them.
* CarFu: During the "Skullduggery" two-parter, she uses a '''dump truck''' to get the drop on Imperial Envoy Hansel who is escaping in a sedan, utterly crushing his front end.
* CombatPragmatist: Arguably the finest hand-to-hand fighter in the Fableverse, she will also use any object in her vicinity to gain an advantage in battle. Hansel, the Adversary's "envoy", even states that his dossier on her denotes that.
* CuteBruiser: More "drop dead sexy" than "cute, but more than capable of taking out men more than twice her size, even in close quarters, and a numbers disadvantage.
* DeadpanSnarker: As befits her cynical, irreverent nature.
* DealWithTheDevil: Often went to Frau Totenkinder for magical items that were vital to accomplishing her missions. And of course they came with a price...
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler:In her FinalBattle with [[WickedWitch Frau Totenkinder]], she survives what is essentially a FantasticNuke at point-blank range, albeit barely. While Totenkinder can barely move, Cinderella manages to stand up and walk over to her [[CombatStilettos glass slipper]] before she collapsed. When Totenkinder asks HowIsThatEvenPossible, she says this]]:
-->'''Cinderella:''' [[spoiler:Stubborn, I guess. Work to finish.]]
* DoesntLikeGuns: Strangely enough, for a master spy. But her hand-to-hand combat skills are so sharp she rarely needs them. And she can always take one off her opponent.
* FemmeFataleSpy: ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Arguably the greatest the Fable world has ever seen.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Sometimes gets seriously injured during missions. But her Fable nature and status as one of the more popular legends enables her to not only survive fatal damage, but regenerate quite swiftly.
* GuileHero: Goes with the territory of being a spy. Cinderella has gone on record stating that you can talk your way out of most situations if you're a good enough liar.
* HoneyTrap: How she took down former Deputy Mayor (and TheMole for TheEmpire) Ichabod Crane, and probably many others like him.
* MayDecemberRomance: Pretended to have one with Ichabod Crane. (At least, appearance-wise. Given that they're both ReallySevenHundredYearsOld...)
* MutualKill: [[spoiler:With Totenkinder. She dies of her injuries soon after killing her.]]
* NoodleIncident: Heavily alludes to having had ''something'' to do with the Hindenberg crash.
* NotSoDifferent: After meeting Aladdin, her Baghdad counterpart under less than auspicious circumstances, they start to bond when the realize they were both "born poor, and lifted from the ashes to royalty by magic".
** Shares many disturbing similarities with her nemesis, the mercenary killer Dorothy.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: In "Cinderella Libertine", where she plays a DumbBlonde in order to seduce and lure information out of Ichabod Crane.
* RealityEnsues: Her mission to rescue Pinocchio from kidnappers succeeds despite her "capture" because the bad guys fail to strip her of ''all'' the pistils on her person, assuming she only had the one already on her person, and the one she took from her "escort". Cinderella made sure to take the firearms off all three of her assailants, which, as she points out, is what any real spy would do, unlike in the movies.
* SirSwearsALot: Has an unrepentant guttermouth, to help with her facade of a bitter, irresponsible, jet-setting shoe store owner.
* SuperStrength: At one point, is able to flip an upended Range Rover back on its wheels single-handed.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Answers to Prince Charming as mayor of Fabletown, and is dispatched by him for several missions during his tenure, and she despises every minute of working with her ex-husband. Cinderella does take pleasure in handing him huge bills for her expenses, however.
** Has this again with Aladdin during their co-investigation of magic artifact smuggling.
* TheVamp: Often takes this role in the course of her missions.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: After acquiring the silver slippers from [[PsychoForHire Dorothy Gale]], she can look like anybody she feels like, which should be very useful for her profession.
** Frau Totenkinder once turned her into a mouse, as part of a mission.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Boy Blue]]
-> ''"I had no love of playing the hero. Why would I willingly do it again? I've wanted an ordinary life, and I'm finally on my way to a place where I can have one."''
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/main_qimg_82fbfa6bdcf08d7dfa8725b31c6ce121.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"And always with a healthy dose of, 'a kid like you ain't '''lived''' enough and '''suffered''' enough to play the blues.'"'']]
A Fabletown citizen, later hired as Snow White's personal assistant. Later proves his skill as a powerful warrior, using a mysterious artifact known as the Witching Cloak, as well as the Vorpal Sword.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''B'''oy '''B'''lue.
* AnArmAndALeg: Wounded in the arm by a magic arrow towards the end of the War with the Empire, Blue's wound becomes worse and worse, threatening to spread to the rest of his body. Dr. Swineheart is forced to amputate it.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Boy Blue meets the recently deceased Bigby is what Blue calls the "Lands After Life", which serves as a stopover for the dead before they face judgment.
* BlackKnight: Given this appellation during his one-man invasion of the Empire, even though the Witching Cloak is blue, not black.
* BlueIsHeroic: A reluctant hero, certainly. But he always rises to the occasion to do the right thing and is always swathed in blue.
* {{Blues}}: His signature musical genre.
* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:As his Mr. Dark-inflicted wounds worsen, his own flesh begins to rot. By the end, he's basically just a corpse that's clinging to life.]]
* ColorCharacter: Boy '''Blue'''.
* CoolSword: The Vorpal Blade, also known as "the Jabberwock's Bane", is a powerful magic weapon that practically swings itself and never fails to slice through its target. Blue used it to tremendous success in his invasion of the Empire.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: More like '''decapitating the feared and almighty Emperor!'''. Too bad [[spoiler: he's just a giant puppet so it wasn't permanent]].
* TheDreaded: His depredations in the Homelands have raised him to the status of the feared "Black Knight" who "collects taxes on the tax collectors", chopping ripe green goblin heads. The gob soldiers even tell horror stories about him around campfires.
* HammerSpace: The Witching Cloak had this capability, enabling him during his Homelands incursion, to carry the Vorpal Sword, countless books, maps and documents obtained in the Empire, as well as Pinocchio's wooden body. It also enables Blue to transport vast amounts of supplies to Haven's subjects, and ammunition, ordinance,and other vital military supplies for Fabletown's war effort.
* TheHeart: An earnest, straightforward young man, polite to everyone, often plays the peacemaker and beloved by just about the entire Fable community. So his eventual [[spoiler: death]] hits them all pretty hard.
* HeartbrokenBadass: After what happened with Red Riding Hood.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Had it bad for both versions of "Red Riding Hood", as well as Rose Red.
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:As his wounded arm worsens, Dr. Swineheart is forced to amputate it before the wound spreads. Initially, it seems like Boy Blue is recovering, and Swineheart finds a strand of the now-destroyed Witching Cloak buried in his arm, believing that to be the cause of his illness. Then the wounds start spreading over the rest of his body...]]
* HyperCompetentSidekick: As Snow White's assistant, he played a major role in keeping Fabletown running. When he left after Prince Charming took over, Charming quickly found himself buried in work that Blue could have handled without a problem.
** In addition, he's also the only person who understands how to use [[ArtifactOfDoom the Witching Cloak]], a powerful garment that makes its wearer NighInvulnerable, on top of granting loads of other useful abilities.
* IconicOutfit: He tends to wear blue wherever he goes, starting with a simple blue coat and eventually donning the Witching Cloak. [[spoiler: The person who convinces Red Rose to stop the needless conflict with Snow White in the final issue wears a similar outfit, revealing him to be a resurrected Boy Blue.]]
* InTheHood: Wears one that helps conceal his identity (along with accompanying mask) when he invades the Homelands.
* JumpScare: Poor Blue seems to be a magnet for this. He suffers one after being captured during his one-man invasion of the Homelands, when he wakes up in a cage, and the first thing he sees upon opening his eyes is the Emperor's severed, but still scary demonic head.
** Later, after being sentenced to work "hard labor" at the Farm, he gets this in the form of a wake up call, getting a close-up face full of Stinky the Badger. ''Every single morning''.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Dies from a wound from a magical arrow inflicted at the end of the war against the Empire]]. But Stinky and other Farm Fables vehemently (and fanatically) believe [[spoiler: he'll return to life one day]].
* MeaningfulName: Not only wears blue clothing exclusively, but also a Blues magician.
* NiceGuy: Slightly below Flycatcher on the niceness scale, but still one of the kindest and most reliable Fables.
* PsychoPomp: Blue serves as this for Bigby in the "Lands After Life".
* QuitYourWhining: Tells off Charming for the mess he's made since becoming Mayor, since the whole thing was basically an ego trip, and Blue's got real problems to sort out right now.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivers one to [[spoiler: Rose Red, talking about how she immediately falls in love with the greatest hero in the room without ever truly loving the person behind the heroics.]]
** Delivers another to Mayor Charming, when he starts bitching to Blue about TheChainsOfCommanding.
* SacrificialLamb: Invaded the Homelands with the full knowledge and backing of Mayor Charming, but as they had to make it appear Blue was acting totally on his own initiative (taking magical items like the Witching Cloak and Vorpal Blade out of the Fabletown Business Office is a ''huge'' no-no), Charming had to prosecute Blue and sentence him to "hard" labor on the Farm.
* SoleSurvivor: Of Colonel Bearskin's forces, as depicted in "The Last Castle".
* StopWorshippingMe: Has this reaction upon learning that Stinky and other Farm Fables have established a religion devoted to him. In the "afterlife", he asks Bigby to pass this sentiment along as a message.
* ThoseTwoGuys: He started out as this with both Pinocchio and Flycatcher.
* TookALevelInBadass[=/=]LetsGetDangerous: He singlehandedly invades the Empire, throws the entire territory into chaos when he kills several high ranking officials including the Emperor himself, rescues Red Riding Hood, meets the Adversary in person, and still manages to return home alive.
* UnwantedFalseFaith: He just wanted to be a regular guy but ended up getting a religion based around him after his exploits listed above.
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: [[spoiler: Winds up with one after the war. While it was initially believed to be due to an enchanted arrow from the Adversary hitting him in the arm, it's actually a spell of [[GreaterScopeVillain Mr. Dark]], as revenge for using the [[ArtifactOfDoom Witching Cloak]].]] Even Dr. Swineheart, one of the best healers in the Homelands, can't do anything to save him.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Flycatcher (King Ambrose)]]
-> ''"And that about wraps up this story. A lowly janitor called Flycatcher endured many trials and saved many lost people. And then he became a great and powerful king and his kingdom was at peace."''
The Frog Prince. Initially introduced as a bumbling oaf who keeps getting in trouble with the law due to his constant desire to eat flies, and is constantly serving community service by being the janitor of Fabletown.
----
[[quoteright:347:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1511489627407.png]]
[[caption-width-right:347:''"But sometimes I miss the '''old''' days, and this floor did need a good mopping, so..."'']]
* AlmightyJanitor: He ends up becoming a almost literal example.
* AscendedExtra: Not even the most dedicated, longtime Fables fan could have guessed that the simple, unassuming, fly-devouring janitor for the Woodland Building would only scant years later prove to be one of the most powerful, pivotal figures in future storyarcs and the mythos on the whole.
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:In ''The Last Flycatcher Story'' included in issue #141, it's revealed he and Red Riding Hood eventually get married and have four children.]]
* BadassPacifist: [[spoiler:Defeats many, ''many'' of Geppetto's armies without spilling a single drop of blood, ''all by himself''.]]
* BalefulPolymorph: Laced with a curse long ago that would turn him into a frog whenever he got extremely nervous or excited.
* BeardOfSorrow: During his HeroicBSOD.
* BeautifulAllAlong: After his makeover in ''The Good Prince''.
* BigGood: After creating his own kingdom in Haven.
* CoolSword: Arguably the ''coolest'' of all- Excalibur. It adds to his InvincibleHero traits.
* EverybodyCallsHimBarkeep: Even after his given name (Ambrose) is revealed, every Fable calls him "Flycatcher", or "Fly" for short (due to his penchant for eating flies). This even extends to after he becomes King of Haven; he rankles under royal titles and prefers his old nickname.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: In Haven, his relationship with [[spoiler:Red Riding Hood]] goes this way. Everyone in the kingdom can see that they're falling in love, but Ambrose resists his feelings for quite some time due to his continued guilt over the deaths of his wife and children.
* ForcedToWatch: When the Adversary's soldiers barged into his home, he accidentally changed into a frog and could only hide and watch while every single one of his family members were killed (with his wife and eldest daughter being raped beforehand).
* TheGoodKing: After establishing the kingdom of Haven in the Homelands, he becomes a wise and powerful king, respected and loved by all.
* HappilyMarried: To his long-dead first wife. [[spoiler:And much later to Red Riding Hood as revealed in ''The Last Flycatcher Story''.]]
* HeroicBSOD: After remembering what happened to his family.
** Suffers an earlier one when Beast relieves him of his never-ending "community service" sentence, effectively (and unintentionally) making him homeless and destitute.
* HiddenDepths: Despite being introduced as a bumbler, Flycatcher is actually a very skilled swordfighter and a wise leader.
* HumbleHero: After achieving a ridiculous level of magical power, conquering wave after wave of invading Imperial soldiers, and becoming King of Haven, he nevertheless sheds his royal trappings every now and then and returns to Fabletown's Woodland building to do janitorial work. Because it needs doing and makes him happy.
* InVinoVeritas: Never drinks, because that is when he remembers what happens to his family, and shares the tragedy with others.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: The ONLY Fable who had no crimes or misdeeds to confess when he signed the Fabletown Compact.
** This is taken even further when he becomes [[spoiler: the king of Haven. After he fells Geppetto's Golden Horde (a fighting force composed of every wooden soldier Geppetto has under his command), he gains control of the magic grove that birthed them all, which gives him almost absolute power over his territory and the ability to form his own army of wooden soldiers, if he so wished. He steadfastly refuses to do this, as, he is fully aware of the temptation to use those soldiers to form an empire of his own and believes he would succumb to that temptation ultimately, however good-intentioned he might have been when he started. During the final arc, he even goes so far as to explain that he's helping both Rose and Snow by staying ''out'' of their fight, otherwise they would most likely simply go down in history as the first casualties in the rise of a new Adversary.]]
* InvincibleHero: His armor and Excalibur make him this, as long as his heart remains pure and he fights for a good cause. With these provisions, he will win any and every battle, but it is still possible to injure him, as Grinder did during their duel (possibly breaking his ribs).
* InvoluntaryShapeshifter: He transforms into a frog if he's thoroughly startled or scared, and can only be brought back by a TrueLovesKiss each time. Following his story arc in ''The Good Prince'' however, he starts working on controlling it.
* KnightInShiningArmor: Takes on Lancelot's armor, which magically becomes pristine and totally free of rust, gleaming golden, signifying that it has been purged of it's previous owner's dishonor.
* {{Knighting}}: Starts his journey to becoming King by being made a knight by no less than Sir Lancelot.
* ManChild: His innocence and bubbly friendliness make him seem like a big, lanky kid. He loves playing baseball and sneaking Pinocchio's toy soldiers out of his room to play with them.
** In Haven, more often than not, the King can be found playing with the children of Imperial refugees, most of which are goblins and other non-humanoids. He considers this his "most important duty".
* NiceGuy: Quite possibly the kindest Fable seen in the mythos. There's a reason his arc is called "The Good Prince."
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Almost everyone calls him Flycatcher, or just Fly for short. After he becomes king of Haven, people try to start calling him Ambrose, or "Your Majesty", but he orders them to just keep using the nickname.
* SymbolicBaptism: Receives one from his new squire, Sir Lancelot, in preparation for the trials to come. He also receives a conventional (and desperately needed) scrubbing and shave.
* TakeAThirdOption: The kingdom of Haven on the whole is built on this ideal, as anyone who chooses not to live in the Mundane world with the Fabletown society, or even those within the Empire, seeking to escape its oppression, may come to Haven and become citizens. Even enemy soldiers are granted this offer.
** King Ambrose invokes this trope when facing the first invading Imperial Horde. After demonstrating how futile and utterly wasteful a full-fledged battle between his forces and theirs would be (as any Fable in Fly's army who is struck down would be instantaneously resurrected), and when the enemy commander states that he cannot simply return home to face the Emperor without putting up a fight, Ambrose offers to settle the matter with one-on-one combat between himself and the enemy's chosen champion.
* ThoseTwoGuys: He started out as this with Pinocchio and Boy Blue.
* TookALevelInBadass: He creates an UndefeatableLittleVillage against TheEmpire.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Applies this mindset to his rule in Haven.
* TrueLovesKiss: How to restore him if he reverts to being a frog.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Beast]]
-> ''"The '''world''' got meaner. I just kept up with it."'' - Beast
A former prince cursed to become a powerful, fearsome monster, he has gone from serving as a handyman in Fabletown to its Sheriff in the wake of Bigby's departure. He has been married to Beauty for several hundred years.
----
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/16599_normal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Holy crap on crepes, what have I gotten myself into?"'']]
[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fi100_beast.png]]
[[caption-width-right:310:Beast's Monstrous form]]

* {{Adorkable}}: Beams and becomes damn near giddy when a Fabletown citizen refers to him as "Sheriff" early on in his tenure.
** Geeks out like a little kid with a new toy while wearing the Big Damn Golden Armor.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Arguably the nicest, most even-tempered gentleman in Fabletown outside of Flycatcher. But get him mad, and the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin beast]] comes out. And it is horrifying.
* TheBigGuy: Is already a brawny, hunkish fellow in his human form, thicker and taller than most of the other humanoid Fables. And ''then'' he transforms into '''The BEAST'''.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Eventually loses the ability to turn into a monstrous creature [[spoiler: as his daughter Bliss inherits his curse]], but is still a very brawny, guileful tough guy.
* {{Curse}}: Frau Totenkinder, as the Black Forest Witch, puts a magic spell on a nobleman who would become known as "Beast" that transforms him into a hideous fell creature, and the spell could only be lifted by a woman who loves him with [[TrueLovesKiss true love]].
* TheGumshoe: Takes on this role in the mid-40s when he's tracking down the serial killer Lamia, [[spoiler: secretly his wife Beauty]].
* GuileHero: Slowly but surely develops into one by necessity as he grows into his role of Sheriff and spymaster. See how expertly he manipulates the Blue Fairy.
* HappilyMarried: To Beauty, despite centuries of heated arguments and sniping.
* HenpeckedHusband: Beauty has been gnawing away at his spine for centuries. Despite this, they are both strongly devoted to each other.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Invokes this when he takes out St. George, before he can take out Lamia, [[spoiler: who is actually Beast's wife Beauty]].
* InvoluntaryShapeshifter: Formerly this, as his curse would turn him back into a monster if his wife Beauty became angry at him. But later, Frau Totenkinder, who originated the curse, modifies it so that Beast can transform at will.
* KilledOffForReal: At the hands of [[spoiler: a brainwashed Bigby Wolf, his predecessor as Sheriff]].
* NiceGuy: So kind-hearted and soft-spoken, despite his monstrous aspect, he goes out of his way as Sheriff to resolve conflicts without violence, or even raising his voice all that often. His loving wife tends to use him as a doormat because of this.
* OddFriendship: Has one with Frau Totenkinder. Putting aside the fact that she likes Beast's polite and respectful manner, she also happens to be (unbeknownst to him) the witch who put the monster curse on him in the first place.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: As the likelihood of his parents naming him "Beast" is extremely remote, it can now be definitively said that his real name was never revealed in the course of the series.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When the mild-tempered, easy-going Beast suddenly starts acting extremely hostile and confrontational to Bigby Wolf, spoiling for a fight, every Fable in the vicinity knows something is wrong. Turns out both he and Bigby were being affected by the influence of Mr. Dark.
* PapaWolf: To his adorable little daughter Bliss. Not that she really needs much protection, as she [[spoiler: can take on the form of a fearsome creature]].
* PoweredArmor: After he loses the ability to transform into a monster, Weyland Smith builds him a huge, golden battlesuit called "The BDGA" (Big Damn Golden Armor).
* SecretKeeper: Not only is he TheSpymaster of Fabletown by virtue of being its Sheriff, but he must also keep hidden the fact that [[spoiler: his wife Beauty is actually Lamia, a murdering monster]].
* TheSpymaster: Part of the job as Fabletown's Sheriff. Becomes adept at it quite swiftly, as he deploys agents to do covert surveillance of Imperial envoy Hansel, and to locate former Sheriff Bigby.
* YourCheatingHeart: Played with. Crispin Cordwainer, Cinderella's assistant at the Glass Slipper shoe store, suspects his employer of having an affair with Beast, because of their secret conversations and meetings. Sheriff Beast is of course briefing Cindy, Fabletown's top secret agent in missions and such, but they allow Crispin to labor under this misconception to protect Cindy's true role. Though Crispin widely spreads this rumor, no one really believes it, and it never gets back to Beauty.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Beauty]]
-> ''"Maybe instead we should try to find out how Beauty and her '''Beast''' can run things."'' - Beauty
Married Beast centuries ago in the Homelands, (temporarily) freeing him from his curse. A former bookstore clerk, she rose to take her place as Deputy Mayor of Fabletown when Snow White resigned. Towards the end of the series, it is revealed that [[spoiler: the real Beauty was killed ages ago by a creature named "Lamia", who took on her identity]].
----
[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beauty_01.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340: ''"Oh well. No guts, no glory."'']]
* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler: The real Beauty was killed centuries ago back in the Homelands, by Lamia, who took on Beauty's physical and spiritual being, and became locked into it when she stayed that way too long]].
* DeadpanSnarker: has quite the sharp and biting tongue. Occasionally whetted upon her husband, but also often engaged in SnarkToSnarkCombat with Mayor Charming.
* HappilyMarried: Deeply loves and is utterly devoted to her hubby Beast, despite their constant bickering.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Right after he steals a deep, passionate kiss, Beauty rebuffs him, stating that despite their constant sniping at each other, she would never betray Beast because they are deeply devoted to each other. Charming points out that everyone actually observes that it's ''she'' who harps on ''Beast'' all the time; it's not reciprocal. Beauty obviously takes this to heart, as later she is seen to be much nicer to her husband, as well as much more understanding and patient on the whole.
* MeaningfulName: Obviously apropos, as she's certainly gorgeous.
* NotSoDifferent: From her hubby Beast, as it turns out that [[spoiler: she also periodically transforms into a fearsome monster from time to time]].
--> ''"'''La Belle et La Bete.''' We are the same. We are the same... the same..."''
* NumberTwo: As Deputy Mayor. First to Prince Charming, then his successor, King Cole.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives a harsh (but well deserved) one to Prince Charming after they share a kiss, to let him know why it'll never happen again.
* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: Early on into her tenure as Fabletown's new Deputy Mayor, an exasperated Beauty wonders aloud how Snow, the previous Deputy, managed to run things so neatly and efficiently. Bufkin goes into a whole spiel about how Snow had the advantage of '''centuries''' of experience in administration, running things back when there were dozens of people to help, and having plenty of time to learn the ropes. Beauty, frustrated to all hell, kicks the monkey out.
* ScaledUp: It turns out that [[spoiler: "Beauty" is actually the monster Lamia, whose true form is that of a giant snake]].
* SelfDeprecation: When recounting her visit to Dr. Swineheart, she tells her husband that she told the doctor that among other symptoms she was feeling "bitchy", or at least "moreso than usual".
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: On the car ride home, after [[spoiler: Prince Charming's funeral service]], Beast asks his wife if she's alright, noting that she was crying a great deal during the service. Beauty just says that she always cries at such functions, but Beast replies that she was weeping much more than usual, and comments that Prince Charming was notorious for trying to bed any and every woman within reach, subtly inquiring as to whether the former Mayor ever tried anything with her. Beauty stated that she never ''slept'' with Prince Charming: she did leave out that she shared a ''kiss'' with him.
* TookALevelInKindness: After her minor indiscretion behind closed doors with Prince Charming, in which the Mayor lets her know that she is universally seen by the public at large as the aggressor in her marriage and main reason she and Beast argue, Beauty is markedly nicer and more compassionately patient with her beloved husband, and the sniping is gone. Largely for the most part, anyway.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Prince Charming made a pretty aggressive move on her on one occasion while they worked closely together running Fabletown. But despite her admitted strong attraction to him, she remained loyal to her longtime dear husband. She also resolved to never find herself in a room alone with him again.
* YourCheatingHeart: Narrowly averted during the "Arabian Nights (and Days) arc. Prince Charming, after sensually massaging her shoulders (eliciting great pleasure from her), takes Beauty in his arms and kisses her passionately. Beauty, for her part, does nothing to resist, but does keep things from going any further, by telling Charming that despite her deep physical attraction to him, she loves her husband Beast far too much to betray him and, despite appearances, is deliriously happy with in their marriage. She also makes it clear that the two of them will never be in the same room alone ever again.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: King Cole]]
[[quoteright:268:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/king_cole.jpg]]
-> ''"And now, predator and prey, prince and pauper, we are all of a single community-- allied in our undying memory of the Homelands, and the unshakable determination that one day we will return to win those lands free of the Hated One."'' - King Cole
[[caption-width-right:268:''"I side with '''Fabletown'''. Always have. Always will. And I'm not going '''anywhere''', come what may. This is my home '''forever''', and no one's kicking me out of it. Dammit."'']]
Fabletown's long-serving mayor.
----
* AdiposeRex: More than a little chubby, and lets his greed show more often than not, but certainly a good guy overall.
* AffectionateNickname: Much later in the series, Cole reveals to Leigh Duglas that his deceased wife used to call him her "Robber Baron"- a combination of his former title, and his first name, Roberson.
* CoolOldGuy: This is how you negotiate with Arabian fables, Charming.
* DirtyOldMan: Was ''very'' attentive to the fake Red Riding Hood, and practically slobbered over Leigh Duglas, the former Mrs. Sprat (after her makeover and name change).
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Not so much "embarrassing", but hardly anyone knows it. It's Roberson.
* TheGoodKing: Practically starved himself so that his subjects and fellow refugees could eat during their desperate escape from the Homelands.
* GracefulLoser: Is utterly trounced in a landslide by Prince Charming in the first Mayoral election for hundreds of years. Despite surreptitiously demanding an immediate recount (using Flycatcher as a proxy), he hands over the reigns of office with no fuss, moves out of the palatial mayor's penthouse days early to accommodate Charming's victory party, and is never depicted as engaging in gloating or enjoying in any way Charming's troubles during his near-disastrous tenure.
* HiddenDepths: Initially introduced as a money-seeking old man who doesn't do much to actually run Fabletown, but when the Arabian fables arrive, he has both the linguistic knowledge and calm temper to help the two groups tolerate each other.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifter: An errant Glamour spell temporarily transforms him into a cat.
* KingOfTown: Set up, but subverted. He and Snow project this image, but it turns out King Cole is a skilled negotiator and diplomat, who is very capable of smoothing out ruffled feathers. In Arabic.
* MayDecemberRomance: Tries to start one up with Leigh Duglas, but she's only using him to sabotage Fabletown from within.
* ModestRoyalty: Despite being called King, he's only the mayor, and never acts like anything more.
* MoneyFetish: From the onset, he always seemed to have a huge infatuation with riches and filling Fabletown's coffers, and was aghast at Prince Charming's killing of Bluebeard, as he feared the community would be denied his huge yearly contributions. Cole was almost completely despondent when the Fabletown buildings, along with Bluebeard's vast treasure rooms, disappeared thanks to Mr. Dark; even Frau Totenkinder called him out over this, as this seemed a petty concern compared to the imminent threat of The Dark Man. But as Cole explains, Fabletown desperately needs vast funds just to maintain the community itself, not to mention the Farm, it's largest single ongoing expense, and if bills aren't paid, creditors and other unwelcome Mundy attention will arise.
* NiceGuy: Is always polite and kind.
* PuttingThePalInPrincipal: After [[spoiler: Fabletown is nearly destroyed in the wake of Cinderella and Frau Totenkinder's magical duel]], the Fables' existence and magical nature are exposed to the world at large. To educate humanity in magic, and to ingratiate themselves with human society more easily, King Cole and Maddy found the Totenkinder School of Magic, with Maddy as the main instructor and Cole as Head of the facility.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Took part in the battle of Fabletown just like everyone else, though that was greatly motivated by it being an election year. But he was right there on the front lines, and nearly got killed.
** His putting his fellow Homeland refugees before himself (nearly starving himself to death so they could eat) during their exodus from enemy controlled territory went a huge way towards him being elected the first Mayor of Fabletown.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: A wise, savvy diplomat, he and Sinbad's bonding over the game helps greatly to smooth over American/Arabic Fable relations.
* WingdingEyes: Depicted with the dollar sign variety of these when Prince Charming tells him that since Bluebeard died without a will, the Fabletown government gets all his fabulous wealth.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Pinocchio]]
Boy Blue's roommate who, due to the Blue Fairy's overly specific transformation, looks like a child, despite being hundreds of years old. Like in the classic story, he is the adopted son of Geppetto, and as [[spoiler: his father is The Adversary]], his loyalties are in extreme conflict.
----
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i72_pinocchio.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm over three centuries old and I '''still''' haven't gone through puberty. I want to grow up, I want my balls to drop, and I want to get '''laid'''."'']]
* AndThisIsFor: Rounds off all the women he ''might'' have scored with if he had been in an adult's body, as opposed to a child's, while beating on the Blue Fairy.
* TheApprentice: Once they are reunited, Geppetto immediately starts grooming his son [[spoiler: to rule the Empire in his stead one day]].
* BackFromTheDead: Is effectively killed when, as a flesh and blood human, he is decapitated during the Battle of Fabletown. Only the fact that he magically reverted to a wooden marionette upon his "death", and Boy Blue transported his wooden remains to Geppetto to be restored, enables Pinocchio to be restored.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: As a living marionette, his greatest desire was to become a real boy. Now he is a boy.. forever.
** Later, his biggest wish was to be reunited with his beloved father. He finds him, alright: [[spoiler: running the Empire as the bloody-handed Adversary]].
* CantGrowUp: The [[TheFairFolk Blue Fairy]] made him a [[ExactWords real boy]], but didn't give him the ability to become an adult.
* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Specifically, Geppetto assumed his adopted son had died, or was hopelessly lost in the Homelands. At any rate, Geppetto was [[spoiler: far too busy running the Empire behind the scenes]] to search for him.
* DirtyKid: Despite being [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld several centuries old]], he still has the mannerisms and overall maturity level of a pre-teen of his physical aspect. This, coupled with his raging libido, makes him do things like peek in women's showers and changing rooms.
* DrowningMySorrows: Perpetually miserable being a grown man stuck in a child's body, he's drunk quite often; when anyone wants to find him, the first place they look is the Branstock, his favorite tavern.
* GenreSavvy: Very knowledgeable about the various comic book tropes and conventions, due to his years of voraciously reading them. This makes him the natural choice to found and lead "The Super Team".
* LivingLegend: Due to being[[spoiler: the first puppet Geppetto ever carved]], he has this status in the Empire among the Wooden soldiers.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: His father Geppetto is the Adversary]].
* LoopholeAbuse: [[spoiler: When he is brought back from the dead Geppetto puts him under a loyalty spell like his other "children". This spell forces him to act in his father's "best interest"--but Pinocchio believes that Geppetto surrendering to Fabletown IS in his father's best interest on the basis of his questionable sanity]].
* MoralityPet: ''Tries'' to serve this function for his father Geppetto.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Does his best to inflict one on the Blue Fairy as soon as he sees her; for her part, she doesn't bother to fight back, and isn't visibly hurt in the slightest, and restrains him quite easily in the end.
* NotGrowingUpSucks: Hates that he's stuck forever in the body of a young child.
* NotQuiteDead: Boy Blue, during his one-man invasion of the Empire, bargains with [[spoiler: Geppetto, the Adversary and Pinocchio's father]], to use his magic to restore his friend to life.
* OffWithHisHead: Decapitated by the Adversary's Wooden Soldiers during the invasion of Fabletown. Due to his origin as a talking marionette, he merely reverts back to a puppet, but is effectively dead. [[spoiler: He later gets better]].
* OlderThanTheyLook: Applies to most Fables, but especially extreme in Pinocchio's case; he looks like a prepubescent child, but is several hundred years old at the ''youngest''.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Is later [[spoiler: elected President of the United States under the Republican ticket]]. Proves to be a bit of President Corrupt, with a little President Scheming, some President Jerkass, a tad President Geek, and a ''whole'' lot of President Playboy, which ultimately gets him impeached early into his second term.
* SirSwearsALot: Knows his way around quite a few curse words. Very jarring, as he resembles a pre-teen.
* ThoseTwoGuys: He started out as this with Boy Blue and Flycatcher.
* TragicKeepsake: Has a set of toy wooden soldiers his father Geppetto carved for him back in the Homelands. As Pinocchio escaped the Homelands and Geppetto did not, Pinocchio assumed his father perished, and keeps the soldiers in his father's memory, and becomes incensed when someone (like Flycather) treats them like mere playthings. [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted, as it turns out that Geppetto did not die, and in fact ''is'' [[BigBad The Adversary]].]]
* WrongGenreSavvy: As a lifelong fan, he's an expert on the "superhero" tropes and traditions. But applying them to battling Mr. Dark in the Fablesverse, which is more of a comicbook/fantasy hybrid (or something entirely different), proves wildly inappropos. Take the scene where he tries to recruit Rapunzel for his "Super Team", as he assumes that since she has supernaturally long, and ever-growing hair, she can articulate it mentally and use it for combat. Rapunzel assures him this is not the case.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Briar Rose]]
The Sleeping Beauty of legend, and Prince Charming's second wife. She's perennially wealthy, thanks to the blessings bestowed upon her at birth, but also still suffers her classic curse of omnidirectional somnambulism.
----
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/16567_normal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
* CoolCar: Uses a car that is actually the [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifted]] evil fairy, Hadeon the Destroyer. It is of course very magical and can fly to different worlds and dimensions.
* ExactWords: When Briar was gifted with the blessings from the fairy queens shortly after her birth, one of them, Alyas the Noble, promised that she'd "sing like a nightingale". Unfortunately, the spell magic was far too literal, as Briar's "singing" more closely resembles the chirping of birds.
* LoopholeAbuse: The conditions for the Spell of Sleep are that a "prince" that loves Briar must kiss her. In one instance, Flycatcher (who is actual royalty), expresses his strong physical attraction to her, and a kiss from him is sufficient to break the spell. And on another occasion, a police dog ''named'' "Prince" licks her face with great affection, and this works as well.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Fabletown's war chiefs devise a plan that revolves around using Briar Rose and her curse to disable the entire Imperial Capital.
* RagsToRiches: As a result of the blessing the fairy queen Ionna the Gifted placed on her at birth, Briar is incapable of not being rich. Anything she does to that would make her money will be successful regardless. Even if she doesn't seek out wealth, wealth will be drawn to her. As Flycatcher put it, if she were to give away every penny she had, she'd win the lottery the next day.
* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Briar never needs a job because of her fairy blessing of perpetual riches, and she is painfully naive most of the time.
* TheRockStar: Fairy queen Yeva the Lively gave baby Briar the magical ability to create and play music to perfection. She used this blessing to form a hugely successful rock band, The Dirty Girls, during TheSixties. Her specialty was bass guitar.
* SuperGullible: Fairy Queen Sofiya the Wise foretold that newborn Briar would "have the wit of an angel". As her fellow fairy queen Alyas the Noble [[LampShaded pointed out]], angels by their very nature tend to believe everyone is honest, so that "blessing" might turn out to make Briar susceptible to deceivers. Sure enough, cads like her future ex [[TheCasanova Prince Charming]] have no problem wrapping her around her finger.
* TrueLovesKiss: The only thing that can break Briar's Curse of Sleep.
* UpperClassTwit: She and Prince Charming ("Mortimer"), assume this guise during a caper. Charming sticks her with the unflattering nom de guerre of [[UnfortunateNames "Hortense"]].
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Bluebeard]]
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/default_4140295_bluebeard.png]]
-> ''"Amnesty or not, I can't blithely forget what happened to each of his past wives."'' - Snow White
[[caption-width-right:200:''"Against boredom, even '''gods''' struggle in vain."'']]
A wealthy citizen of Fabletown who escaped the Homelands with all his vast riches intact. He is the main contributor to the Fabletown government. He claims to have forsaken his evil ways.
----
* AGodAmI: At his hearing, just before he signed the Fabletown Compact absolving him of all his past crimes, when asked why he murdered all his newlywed brides, he replied, "Against boredom, even gods struggle in vain." He is clearly unrepentant, and has an ''extremely'' high opinion of himself.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: He's pretty conventionally attractive, while in the original story he was supposed to be ugly enough that convincing women to marry him actually took quite a bit of work. Then again, the main source of this "ugliness" in the narrative was his blue beard, [[SocietyMarchesOn something most New York residents wouldn't bat an eyelash at these days]].
* AristocratsAreEvil: '''LORD''' Bluebeard, if you will- wealthy beyond belief and a true bastard.
* AssholeVictim: Absolutely '''no one''' mourned his death at the hands of Prince Charming, not even his valet.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Was all too willing to kill reporter Tommy Sharp to prevent him from exposing Fabletown. And despite Jack and Bigby's scheme making it unnecessary, he later shoots the guy anyway to be sure (and because he's an a-hole).
* BaldOfEvil: His head is devoid of hair, and his heart is even more devoid of mercy and one centuries ago, in the height of his bride slaying days.
* BiggerOnTheInside: His apartment is this due to some very expensive spells placed on it.
* TheBluebeard: The TropeNamer and TropeCodifier.
* CaptainObvious: His very astute observation at the end of his duel with Prince Charming, standing there with a sword through the trunk.
--> ''"You prick! You've killed me!"''
* CombatPragmatist: Uses a robe or cloak during his duel with Prince Charming to gain a momentary advantage.
* DirtyCoward: And boy did Bigby call him out on it, nearly(?) making him wet himself in the process.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Wears glasses, probably to help him look cultured and respectable. He's utterly evil through and through in reality.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: By Prince Charming for attempting to kill Snow and Bigby.
* KilledOffForReal: Slain by Prince Charming, and his body is thrown down [[DeaderThanDead the Witching Well]]. He later returns when Flycatcher frees the souls trapped there, but he's slain again soon after, and this time, it sticks.
* MasterSwordsman: Recognized as one of the best with the blade in Fabletown, he was responsible for training other citizens (like secret agent Cinderella) in fencing. He is very skilled with a sword, though ultimately not enough to save himself from Prince Charming.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Immediately suggests they kill Tommy Sharp, the reporter who threatened to reveal Fabletown's existence. Insists upon it again later, when it looks like the scheme to steal Sharp's evidence has gone awry. And after everything is over and Sharp is no longer a threat, Bluebeard kills him anyway.
* PaperTiger: A literal tiger, Shere Khan, asserts he is this, and proves it, in very, bloody fashion.
* SmugSnake: Loves making the Fabletown brass grovel every year for his sizable donation to their government. And treats everyone in general like ignorant paupers that are beneath him in every respect. His assumed air of superiority and infallibility proves his ultimate undoing at the hands of Prince Charming.
* TheStarscream: Planned, alongside Shere Khan, to become this to King Ambrose, usurping his rule of Haven.
* TortureTechnician: Does this to Jack Horner during the "Who Killed Rose Red" arc, and was about to do it to Tweedle Dee in "The Wolf Among Us".
* WickedCultured
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: His ghost was last seen joining the Empire and was undergoing treatments to restore his body. It's unknown what happened to him after the fall of the Empire.
[[/folder]]



[[folder: Goldilocks]]
-> ''"I am the unsilenced voice of the oppressed masses, and we have power you can't imagine!"''
Although human, Goldilocks lived on the Farm, where she conspired with the Three Little Pigs and numerous other residents to overthrow the Fabletown government.
----
[[quoteright:213:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3778_2992.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:213: ''"I'm not only down with the struggle, I'm the '''tip''' of the fucking spear."'']]
* BadassBiker: Rides an off-road motorcycle in her pursuit of Snow and Bigby.
* BestialityIsDepraved: She's sleeping with Boo Bear; she claims it's just as a political statement, but nobody believes her. She also shows interest in Bluebeard's goblin servant (much to his extreme consternation).
* BodyHorror: After Snow nearly cleaves her head in two with an axe, Goldilocks staggers around a bit, brains and blood splattering every which way. Then she gets hit by a semi.
* BoomHeadshot: Blows a chunk out of Snow White's head with a high-powered rifle. [[spoiler: It doesn't finish her.]]
* ColdSniper: Nearly kills Snow White.
* CoolSword: Steals Maerorgladi, the Sword of Regret, from Fabletown's Business Office. It not only never fails to terminate its target, but is so bloodthirsty, it ''demands'' a second random victim be killed immediately.
* DarkActionGirl: Comes ''this close'' to taking out both Snow White and [[TheDreaded The Big Bad Wolf]] on separate occasions.
* DarkMistress: Briefly, to Bluebeard.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: While sitting around drinking and discussing how much they all loathe Jack Horner, Priscilla Page states that she'd like to shave Jack bald and hang him with his own hair. Goldilocks expresses her desire to castrate him with a pair of rusty garden shears. But when Lady Luck announces her intention to eat Jack's brains and use his skull as a goblet, Goldilocks is aghast, feeling Luck has gone too far.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Wears big ol' spectacles and has a cold, murderous heart.
* HumiliationConga: Between her disappearance in Fables and her return in Fairest In The Land, Goldilocks goes through a series of plans of try to gain power in the Homelands, all of which fail. This includes: trying to sell communism to a tribe of hunters, only to realize it wouldn't work in a subsistence economy, nearly being killed by beasts, managing to masquerade as a sorceress and become a king's adviser, only to be run out after seducing his young son, and then nearly being eaten.
* HypocrisyNod: Flat out admits to the Pigs that she doesn't care for the farm, or even believe in her communist spiel or the cause to retake the Old Lands. She just wants to rule Fabletown.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Her reasons for arming the Farm Fables notwithstanding (revolution), her idea of mass producing modern weapons for Fable use is such a good one, Snow (the woman she tried to kill), adopts it in her plan to take down the Empire.
* KickTheDog: Her murder of Colin. And she puts his severed head on display as a "literary message".
* KilledOffForReal: Finally [[spoiler: meets her end at the hands of Cinderella, with the Sword of Regret]].
* MadeOfIron: Axe to the head, beaten brutally with a cane, falling down a cliff and shattering limbs, getting hit by an 18-wheeler, floating away face-down in a river... And she recovers fully.
* TheMole: Acts as this for Mr. Revise and the Page Sisters in the first storyarc of "Jack of Fables".
* ReallyGetsAround: Bluebeard, Jack, Baby Boo Bear, among who knows how many other.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: Is perfectly willing to murder innocent Fables to get her point across.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Bufkin]]
-> ''"That's when Bufkin the Brave sets out with his doughty lieutenants, and he overthrows the upstart Emperor of Oz, freeing its people from dire bondage, and putting all of the mean turd stinky heads to the sword."'' - Bufkin
One of the Flying Monkeys from Oz, he now serves as a librarian in the Woodland's Business Office.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i108_bufkin.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"I'm a good monkey! I hardly ever throw my poop anymore!"'']]
----

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Armors up and confronts the [[EvilSorceress fearsome witch of legend Baba Yaga]] and a [[RealityWarper phenomenonally powerful D'Jinn]], expressing his intention to take them both out. Their reaction? ''Laughing their respective asses off''.
* TheAlcoholic: Loves taking a quick nip every now and then. Drove Mayor Charming crazy by breaking into his liquor stash and drinking it dry.
* AnArmAndALeg: During one of his many adventures after overthrowing The Nome King, Bufkin loses his left arm. It is later regrown (along with his wings) by a Dr. Karlo Von Kongmacher, as part of a diabolical scheme against Bufkin.
* BabiesEverAfter: Hundreds of years later, Bufkin and Lily have many more adventures, as well as a handful of instances that [[spoiler: enable them to mate and birth children. They eventually have ''hundreds''.]]
* BadassBoast: When asked what he will do if Baba Yaga [[spoiler: returns from the dead, looking for revenge]], Bufkin replies:
--> ''"If she's suicidal enough to come back, we'll just deal with her again. Because no one threatens '''my''' people in '''my''' house!"''
* BadassBookworm: As Boy Blue stated, "Bufkin reads everything", making him basically an expert on ''everything''.
* BigStupidDooDooHead: After Prince Charming threatens to have executioner Jack Ketch decapitate Bufkin for refusing to do his job, Bufkin falls in line and becomes a diligent worker again, but from that moment on refers to Charming as the "mean, Mr. Nasty Mayor" "Mr. Terrible Nasty Mayor", and other such epithets.
* GuileHero: Displays this quality when he tricks a Genii back into his bottle.
* HandicappedBadass: Loses his wings in a fire during the climactic battle with Baba Yaga. This does not stop him from later [[spoiler: overthrowing the Nome King]].
** Hundreds of years later, Bufkin also loses his left arm somehow. But an evil scientist later grows both the arm and his wings back.
* InterspeciesRomance: Lily Martagon, one of the Barleycorn Brides who helped defeat Baba Yaga, tries to strike up one with Bufkin. She even cites Snow White and Bigby's relationship as proof one can work. [[spoiler: They eventually do hook up, and have many, many children.]]
* LetsGetDangerous: Stabs a sentry during his invasion of the Nome Kingdom.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Hurls this gem just before [[spoiler: killing Baba goddamn Yaga]]"
--> ''"No, lady, it's doom! The great '''monkey''' of '''DOOM!'''"''
* SecretKeeper: Despite his love of booze and hatred of Prince Charming, despite a couple of near-slip ups, he never reveals to anyone the near-but-not-quite affair the Mayor nearly engaged in with Deputy Mayor Beauty.
* TookALevelInBadass: Trapped in the dimensionally displaced Fabletown Business Office, with his back against the wall, Bufkin singlehandedly [[spoiler: recaptures a D'Jinn]] and, with the help of a lot of allies, [[spoiler: uses the Vorpal Blade to kill Baba Yaga]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mrs. Sprat [=/=] Leigh Duglas]]
-> ''"And though Mister Dark was unfairly taken from this world, his '''legacy''' lives on quite ably through his bride."'' - Leigh Duglas
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1230228_sprat_large.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I '''hate''' you all. All you pretty ones."''']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1881895_sprat.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: As "Leigh Duglas"]]
The wife of one Jack Sprat, the obese and unpleasant Mrs. Sprat was originally head nurse at the Knights of Malta hospital in Fabletown. She has since joined Mr. Dark's side, who has offered to make her beautiful, get revenge on all the other "pretty" Fables, and find her a prince to be her true love.
----
* AscendedExtra: Before she was just the head nurse at Knights of Malta hospital and regarded as quite unpleasant. As of issue #100, she's joined Mr. Dark's side, and since that time [[spoiler:she has slimmed down and has trained to invoke a few nasty surprises on her old "friends"]].
* BattleaxeNurse: This was her entire character before issue #100.
* EvilMakeover: Initially, Mr. Dark magically and drastically reduces her weight, toning her body, to the female ideal of beauty. Eventually she gives herself dark hair and clothes, declaring herself the bride of her late benefactor.
* FatGirl: Used to be.
* ForeShadowing: Way back at the end of the "Animal Farm" storyarc, Boy Blue (visiting Snow White in the hospital), observes that "that fat nurse" (Mrs. Sprat) is '''scary'''. Years later, Sprat's neglect, if not outright abuse of an injured Blue who is under her care, would aid in his death.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Goes from rude nurse to dark witch. Her depredations lead to the deaths of many prominent Fable characters.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: How [[spoiler: Rose Red takes her out, with her sword Thorn]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: She says the only reason she became a nurse was so she could have a chance at getting any of the more beautiful Fables completely at her mercy.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Killed by Rose Red in issue #146 to steal the glass ring.]]
* LittleBlackDress: Becomes fond of wearing these after her magical makeover by Mister Dark.
* MeaningfulRename: Her maiden name, Leigh Duglas, translates to "stranger from the dark meadow" or "dark stranger from the meadow."
* PerpetualFrowner: Pre-issue #100, not so much afterwards.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Snow White gives her a decidedly brutal one in retaliation for her treatment of Beast and Beauty, during the the latter's troubled labor. Key points include how a pleasant personality can go a long way towards making someone less than physically stunning more attractive, and how Sprat lacks in both categories.
* ThatManIsDead: She states that "Sprat" is from a dead past, and goes back to using her maiden name.
* UnholyMatrimony: As part of Mister Dark's promise to give her a husband, he plans to ''become'' her husband, as The Dark One sees no better suitor than himself.
* WouldHurtAChild: Attempts to direct a possessed Bigby to murder his own cubs.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: When the other Fables return to Fabletown, [[spoiler:Leigh and her fencing instructor made it look like Mr. Dark was keeping them prisoner all this time to gain their trust]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kay]]
-> ''"Christ's holy pecker, you've gouged out your eyes again."'' - Bigby Wolf
A Fable who, due to the splinter of magic mirror stuck in his eyes, is able to see all the evil anyone has committed in their lifetime.
[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5172052_fables_21.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:333:''"There's no fooling '''these''' eyes..unfortunately."'' ]]
----

* BlessedWithSuck: Possesses the ability to see any and all the dark secrets people have hidden deep within their hearts. But these secrets are often so horrific, they torment him beyond tolerance and compel him to blind himself to escape further psychic agony.
* EyeScream: Is so tormented by the evil he sees in people's souls, he routinely cuts out his own eyes so he won't have to see anything else. But, being a Fable, his eyes always grow back eventually.
* KilledOffForReal: At the hands of Mr. Dark, when he is pulled from the wreckage of the Woodland Building. He becomes a Witherling slave that is later dispatched for good by Bellflower.
* LivingLieDetector: The Fabletown brass use him to screen strangers and ferret out moles/spies.
* MagicMirror: Fragments of one that belonged to The Snow Queen are embedded in his eyes. This is the source of his powers (and torment).
* SecretKeeper: Knows the true source of Frau Totenkinder's power in the modern day, as well as the extent and nature of her moles and sources of information in the Empire. But promises to keep all that secret, as long as Frau reveals what the Adversary and his forces are planning to the Fabletown government.
* WillfullyWeak: Keeps '''gouging out his own eyes''', blinding himself, because he can't stand seeing all the evils people have perpetrated. But his eyes always regenerate after a while.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Grimble]]
-> ''"You'd be surprised how much registers with him, even when he's sawing logs."'' - Bigby Wolf
The troll under the bridge from The Billy Goats Gruff tale, he now serves as security for the Woodland Building.
----
[[quoteright:266:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4458945_i41_grimble_human.jpg]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/30102_20141104181917_char.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I hope so, or '''I''' might have to take a direct hand. It'll get bloody for sure if '''that''' happens."'']]
* BadassMustache: Thin, but still prominent and cool enough that it is present not only in his human form, but in goblin mode as well.
* BloodKnight: Is positively exuberant at the prospect of shedding his human guise and unleashing his full troll fury during the Battle of Fabletown, and does more than his share of damage to the enemy, with great gusto.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Appears to be just another dozing, clock punching rent-a-cop, but when a threat arises, he is the first to take command of the situation, ready to use lethal force if necessary, either with his gun or his natural troll abilities. He pointedly lectures the less experienced Fabletown brass how to properly cover the enemy with guns and how to shoot them so that they stay down.
* FriendlyRivalry: During the Battle of Fabletown, he and Hobbes (Prince Charming's goblin butler) have a competition to see who can collect the most wooden soldier heads.
* HiddenDepths: One instance shows him admonishing Boy Blue about being impatient and harsh with Red Riding Hood, suggesting that Blue doesn't appreciate how traumatic it is for her to drop her previous life in Fabletown to adopt a whole new one in King Ambrose's Haven. He also observes that Blue's difficulty in dealing with Riding Hood stems from the fact that "Ride" was the template for ''two'' women Blue fell hard for, and ultimately lost, and that Blue is further conflicted by his feelings for Riding Hood, and his friendship with Flycatcher, who Riding Hood is clearly carrying a torch for. Keep in mind through all this that Grimble is a ''goblin''.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Prince Brandish turns him into a bird. [[spoiler: This act later contributes to Brandish's ultimate downfall]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He only ''appears'' to be perpetually asleep at his post, but in reality he is very much aware of everything that's going on in his vicinity.
* QuitYourWhining: Tells King Cole, in the most respectful way possible, after [[spoiler: Fabletown collapses due to Mr. Dark's undoing of its binding spells]] to snap out of his despair, pull his head out of his ass and ''lead'' the community he's the leader of.
* SherlockScan: Makes a handful of simple but crucial observations to discern that "Mr. Holt" is not what he seems.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ichabod Crane]]
The first and former Deputy Mayor of Fabletown. He resigned in disgrace and later tries to betray his fellow Fables to the Adversary.
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ichabod_crane.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"As the rules of civility once taught, 'let your discourse with men of business be short-- and comprehensive.'"'']]
----

* AManIsAlwaysEager: "The Wolf Among Us" reveals that Crane regularly patronizes prostitutes. And Cinderella states that Crane is a ''very'' enthusiastic lover.
* AbhorrentAdmirer: As an egotistical, snide, uppity, imperious, and all around repulsive sack of hook-nosed, bony flesh, he was this to Snow White, for decades. Taken UpToEleven with the disturbing events depicted in "The Wolf Among Us".
* AllMenArePerverts: As mentioned above, Crane visited prostitutes frequently, sometimes during working hours. And of course, he actually took the time to write an extensive and graphic revenge manifesto about raping Snow White, his former assistant.
** If his interactions with Abigail depicted in "A Wolf Among Us" are any indication, he preyed upon several of his young female students as headmaster of the Fable school in Salem, Mass.
* BadBoss: Crane, as Deputy Mayor of Fabletown, abused his power in various ways, whether it be belittling sheriff Bigby Wolf, or making lewd overtures to his assistant Snow White.
* BullyingADragon: Pulls this with [[TheBigBadWolf Bigby Wolf]] of all people, in his capacity as School Headmaster, slamming his pointing stick on Bigby's desk, calling him an "oafish fewmet of a hare" a "mongrel dullard" and other such unflattering epithets, and even ''strikes'' him at one point. Does this to a far lesser extent when he is Deputy Mayor and Bigby is Sheriff, (Crane definitely never touches Bigby again), but the pretentiousness and air of superiority is there.
* DeanBitterman: In his capacity as Headmaster of the Salem Fable School, he went out of his way to make life miserable for Bigby Wolf.
* DeathByIrony: Bigby splatters his brains with a small statue of his old nemesis, The Headless Horseman.
* DirtyOldMan: "The Wolf Among Us" miniseries shows that Crane regularly patronized escorts, and for extra "skeevy" points, had them "glamoured" to resemble his assistant, Snow White.
** Tries to force himself upon Snow White, his assistant, behind closed doors. This incident gets him removed from office.
** Years later, has a sexual relationship with Cinderella, which she only engages in as part of a sting to expose him as a traitor.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: The bespectacled former schoolteacher is a cold-hearted, bitter, utterly nasty person.
* HoneyTrap: Cinderella exposes his treachery and takes him down with this tried and true espionage tactic.
* NumberTwo: To Mayor King Cole, as Deputy, for many years.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Actually documents, in full, graphic, extended detail, his fantasy of sexually compromising Snow White. As if Bigby didn't have reason enough to kill him...
* StealingFromTheTill: It's revealed during "The Wolf Among Us" that Ichabod Crane, in his capacity as the Deputy Mayor, had been committing embezzlement, probably for years.
* StealthInsult: Cindy calls him "Icky", which she presents as a supposed AffectionateNickname, but actually reveals how disgusted she is by having to sleep with him. Crane misses the inference and just expresses his disdain for "diminutives".
* WickedCultured: Loves using his considerable vocabulary to insult people, usually behind their backs, in the fanciest way possible.
--> ''"My wit is a '''rapier''', you sour cuss. It's only that I must wield it like a '''stone cudgel''' before it pierces your monkey skull!"''
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Rapunzel]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fairest_10web.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
A minor resident of Fabletown who nevertheless has a DarkAndTroubledPast. Not to mention a curse of supernaturally fast growing golden hair.
----
* TheApprentice: Sold as a child by her birth mother to Frau Totenkinder for gold and rapunzel leaves to fill this role.
* AscendedExtra: Was only mentioned in passing until her arc in Fairest, where she becomes the central character.
* BiTheWay: While in the Hidden Kingdom, she had an affair with the Kitsune Tomoko.
* ChangelingTale: Her twin daughters were stolen at birth by the Fairy Godmother and replaced with lifeless dolls. Different from most versions as she is perfectly aware the dolls are not her children and that real ones are still alive.
* {{Curse}}: Her wildly, out of control, ever-growing hair, courtesy of her adoptive mother Frau Totenkinder.
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: When she became pregnant by her prince, Totenkinder wanted her to take an abortive drug, but she refused, which is why Totenkinder threw her out.
* HappilyAdopted: By Totenkinder... that is, until she became pregnant.
* InterspeciesRomance: As Tomoko was a "Kitsune" (animal spirit), Rapunzel's relationship with her could be considered this.
* MindWipe: Frau Totenkinder gives Joel Crow a serum that will magically erase all memory of her daughters, Tomoko and the hidden kingdom from Rapunzel, sparing her the pain.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Her "bezoars" were plentiful and powerful enough to destroy the Celestial Palace of the Hidden Kingdom (back in the Japanese Homelands), and threatened to do the same to Tokyo.
* RapunzelHair: But this version of Rapunzel has ''given birth'' to gobs of hair that can kill people.
* {{Retcon}}: In her earliest mentions, it appears Totenkinder locked her in the tower for being a "slutty little girl" and was only her enemy. When her backstory in Fairest is told, however, it is revealed Totenkinder was her adoptive mother and treated her well enough until her pregnancy happened.
* TraumaCongaLine: Is adopted by Totenkinder to be her apprentice and falls in love with a prince, only to be kicked out by her mother after becoming pregnant. Tries to find her prince, but he can't acknowledge her or the children under threat of his life, leaving her to beg and forage for food. Gives birth to her daughters, only to have them stolen and then have nobody believe they were stolen. Runs away to another kingdom to find happiness, only to have her lover banished and be caught up in a conspiracy by some of the court members. Years later, when it seems she has finally found her daughters, it is simply a trap by her old enemies to lure her to them. Her memory of all of this is then erased thanks to Totenkinder.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The fate of her daughters is never revealed, even after [[spoiler: the Fairy Godmother becomes good again]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Doctor Swineheart]]
-> ''"I'm the greatest military surgeon in a thousand worlds. I'll have you fixed and finished, with a '''minimum''' of discomfort, in no time at all."'' - Dr. Swineheart
Fabletown's chief physician, he's reputed (largely by himself) to be the finest surgeon anywhere.
[[quoteright:277:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_swineheart.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:277:''"I'm not one to hide my light under a bushel."'']]
----
* DrJerk: Never misses an opportunity to scream from the rooftops what an excellent surgeon he is; he's far more concerned with greasing his own reputation and ego than curing his patients and/or treating their pain.
* InsufferableGenius: A pompous egomaniac, he constantly touts himself as "the greatest surgeon in a thousand worlds". If he'd paid more attention to honing his craft and the task at hand, he might have [[spoiler: managed to save Boy Blue's life]].
* LackOfEmpathy: Showed a ''horrific'' lack of tact when he told Blue his arm had to be amputated, a situation which was largely ''his'' fault. The doctor's reaction? Basically "my bad".
* {{Pride}}: His defining character trait and flaw. Is a tremendously talented surgeon, but nowhere near as infallible as he professes to be.
* SuperDoc: He usually specifically refers to himself as "the greatest battlefield surgeon in the history of medicine", but he also seems to be a GP, as well as a baby doctor, and has acted as a coroner. This is entirely plausible, as he is a Fable and has had hundreds of years to learn and master various (if not all) forms of medicine.
* SurgeonsCanDoAutopsiesIfTheyWant: Fabletown's top physician, whose specialty is surgery, performed autopsies on Mr. Web, Prince Brandish and several other Fables throughout the course of the series.

[[/folder]]




!The Cubs

[[folder: General]]
The children of Snow White and Bigby (Ambrose, Blossom, Conner, Darien, Therese, Winter and Ghost), conceived under the influence of an enchantment cast by Bluebeard, and born during the ''The Mean Seasons'' arc.
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/713221_167971_191326_wolf_cubs.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:some caption text]]

Tropes applying to all of them:
* BadassAdorable: Comes with being part of a BadassFamily.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: While being trained by the attendant Zephyrs, it's revealed that they don't need to hold their breath while swimming, because they're ''made'' of air.
* CantGetAwayWithNothing: The Cubs state this after their mother Snow obtains a flying carpet, enabling her to catch her rambunctious offspring in various acts of mischief.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Applied to all of them [[spoiler:until the events foretold by the prophecy started playing out]].
* CuteBruiser: Any of them in a fight.
* InformedAbility: According to the North Wind, they have the ability to shapeshift into any creature they want. Like their father, they're never shown changing forms between anything but human and wolf, however. [[spoiler:That is, until Conner transformed into a monster to confront his brainwashed father in issue #150.]]
* InTheBlood: They're all highly magical individuals, something they get from both sides of the family.
* LineageComesFromTheFather: Averted - it is specifically stated their magical nature comes from ''both'' parents.
* MassiveNumberedSiblings / RuleOfSeven / TooManyBabies: Seven of them, resulting from one single pregnancy.
* MiddleChildSyndrome: Out of all the kids, [[spoiler:Conner and Blossom are the only ones to never have stories dedicated to them, but remain background characters for pretty much the whole series. Only in the very last issue does Conner get a sudden important role as he becomes "a hero bold" transforming into a monster to confront a BrainwashedAndCrazy Bigby, while Blossom gets a written short story dedicated to her fate as the "pauper" (in the form of a NatureHero with no materialistic want) after the main story's end.]]
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent / VoluntaryShapeshifting: They're shapeshifters, but usually only seen in human or wolf form (or an in-between form, like the one they had at birth and kept until they could shapeshift properly).
* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: Sure enough, '''everything''' foretold by Ozma concerning the Cubs eventually comes to pass.
* PropheciesRhymeAllTheTime: There was eventually revealed to be a prophecy concerning their fates (all of which are revealed in the last issue of the series):
--> 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.
* ShapeshifterDefaultForm: While young, it's their wolf cub form. When they grow into adolescence, it becomes their human form.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ambrose]]
Named after Flycatcher/King Ambrose. He's rather fearful and anxious when compared to most of his siblings, but also quite clever. He was the first one to learn of the prophecy, which was told to him by Ozma. In the ''Snow White'' arc, which is narrated by his future self, he is revealed to be the sixth child mentioned in the prophecy, "judging the rest" by telling their stories.
----
[[quoteright:194:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ambrose061b_5689.png]]
[[caption-width-right:194:''"Darkness is coming, but aimed directly '''at''' us this time."'']]
%%* {{Adorkable}}
* ApologisesALot: This happens in almost every scene he's in.
* {{Bookworm}}: Said to do best in school among all of the Cubs, and frequently seen with a book nearby.
* CowardlyLion: He might be afraid of many things, but he's far from being a DirtyCoward.
* GeekPhysiques: Quite chubby in comparison to all of his siblings, and noted to love reading and learning new things.
* GoodParents: Issue #150 [[spoiler:shows him and Lake as this to their six children]].
* HappyFlashback: He has a brief one in the ''Inherit the Wind'' arc [[spoiler:in his late grandfather's library, picturing one of the times his grandfather was reading a story to him and his siblings]].
* HappilyMarried: A flashforward shows that he eventually marries the Green Lady, a.k.a. the Lady of The Lake, a.k.a. the one who changed Bigby's destiny and is therefore indirectly responsible for Ambrose's existence in the first place.
* TheStoryteller: [[spoiler:Becomes this in the future, as was foretold by the prophecy. In issue #150, it's shown he writes several volumes detailing the history of the Fables' lives in the mundy world.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Blossom]]
(Sort of) named after her aunt Rose Red due to the red fur she had at birth. She's frequently seen playing with small animals or surrounded by them, and seems to be quite attuned to nature. In issue #150, her part of the prophecy is revealed as "the second child a pauper".
----
[[quoteright:251:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blossom071c_2259.png]]
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Along with her sisters. She's the redhead in this trio.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: As said above, she's constantly seen surrounded by animals such as butterflies and forest creatures, and even manifested a wish to adopt the witch Maddy (who has the form of a black cat) once. [[spoiler:She eventually becomes a demigoddess of the hunt in her adulthood, and a fierce protector to all living creatures in her planet against outside would-be hunters.]]
* NatureHero: [[spoiler:What she becomes. She is a "pauper" because she lives in the wild and has no material possessions, but she has no want for them either.]]
* NatureLover: Implied to be this (during the testing to choose the new North Wind, she flew until she found a place "where it was still springtime enough for flowers).
* PrincessClassic: Has shades of this as a child.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Connor]]
-> ''"You know what? I think I can become '''big enough''' to swallow the whole wide '''world'''. And sometimes I feel like something dark and '''growly''' is tugging at me and wants to '''try'''."'' - Connor Wolf
Connor is similar to Darien in terms of personality, though he was always less dominant. He's revealed to be fairly insecure about his own skills during the ''Inherit the Wind'' arc, believing that Darien would always do better no matter what. In issue #150, his part of the prophecy is finally revealed ("the fifth will be a hero bold").
----
[[quoteright:327:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i150_conner_child.png]]
[[caption-width-right:327: ''"Sometimes in the books the children are more than their parents. It's like a '''theme''' in all the stories. What if that's true?"'']]
* ActionHero: [[spoiler:He becomes one as an adult]], as seen in issue #150.
* AgeAppropriateAngst: When the family gets the news of [[spoiler:Darien's sacrifice]], he's the one who seems to take it the hardest out of all the siblings, visibly crying while being comforted by Blossom.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Growing up, he perpetually felt inferior to his brother Darien, the natural leader of the Cubs, and was convinced that his skills and accomplishments would never measure up.
* BadassBoast: When facing down his brainwashed father, he warns him that if Bigby doesn't come to his senses and stop trying to kill them, he'll shapeshift into something that can swallow him whole. And as his father immediately comes to heel, that was no idle threat.
* BiTheWay: In the Fables sequel Everafter we this learn this about adult Conner. Also, thanks to his shapeshifting powers he's not always in his default male form when he's with another man or woman.
* CallingTheOldManOut: In issue #150, [[spoiler:combined with a IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight. Connor shapeshifts into a fearsome monster when he and his siblings are being attacked by their brainwashed and murderous father, saying he will kill him if he goes through with his intention of killing them. This is what ultimately brings Bigby back to normal]].
* EldritchAbomination: Issue #150 shows that Connor has the ability to shapeshift into one.
* MeaningfulName: Connor is a variant of Conor, which has "wolf lover" as one of its possible meanings. Quite apt for someone who frequently shapeshifts into wolf form.
* MiddleChildSyndrome: We don't really know where he stands in birth order, but he does have shades of this, particularly noticeable during and after the ''Inherit the Wind'' arc.
* NumberTwo: He served as this to Darien during most of their childhood.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: His feelings concerning Darien - he states nothing that he does will ever be good enough in comparison.
* SoProudOfYou: Connor's standing up to Bigby while BrainwashedAndCrazy at once shocks him and makes him so proud, it breaks the spell cast on his father, and he immediately embraces his son.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Different printings can't seem to agree on whether his name is spelled "Conner" or "Connor".
* TookALevelInBadass: In the very last issue of the main series, it's revealed that as Connor practiced shapeshifting more than any of the other Cubs, he has the capacity to transform into a monster dwarfing even his [[TheBigBadWolf father]] in raw power and ferocity.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Darien]]
-> ''"Tell me one thing, before I finish. Will anyone ever know? Will they find out I did the right thing?"'' -Darien Wolf
Usually called "Dare". The most similar to his father in looks and personality, wild and adventurous, he assumed the "leader of the pack" role from early on. In the ''Cubs in Toyland'' arc, he goes on a mission to rescue his sister Therese, who is stranded in the land of Discardia in the verge of starving to death. He is then revealed to be the fourth child in the prophecy, sacrificing his life so that Therese can survive and eventually redeem herself.
----
[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darien086b_2608.png]]
[[caption-width-right:270:''"'''Ha!''' I'm '''still''' the best hunter in the pack!"'']]

* AgeAppropriateAngst: In the ''Cubs in Toyland'' arc, very justified [[spoiler:as he's only a child and is understandably afraid to die]].
* BigBrotherBully: Considers himself to be this, telling Conner he failed them as a leader and didn't protect them as he should have.
* BigBrotherInstinct: What Bigby was trying to encourage him to have as leader of the pack. However, Dare himself considers himself to have failed in this respect [[spoiler:up until his decision to rescue Therese and subsequent heroic death]].
* GreenEyedMonster: Gets ''very'' upset when [[spoiler:Winter is chosen as the new North Wind instead of him]] and nearly attacks her for it. He seems to quickly get over it, though.
* HeroicBSOD: Right after [[spoiler:learning that his death is the only way to save Therese.]]
--> '''Darien:''' [[spoiler:I don't want to die. Please! Not yet. [[TearJerker I'm still a little kid]].]]
* HeroicSuicide: [[spoiler:Sacrifices himself so that Therese will not starve to death (and leading to her subsequent quest for redemption).]]
* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler: Averted, he kills himself to save Therese at age nine.]]
* ItsAllMyFault: He feels this way towards [[spoiler:Therese's disappearance]] in ''Cubs in Toyland'', thinking that it wouldn't have happened had he been a better leader and protector.
* SoProudOfYou: How he wanted his father to feel about him. [[spoiler:This was likely the ultimate result of their conversation in the afterlife in issue #134.]]
* StrongFamilyResemblance: To Bigby, even Lampshaded at one point.
* TeamDad: What Bigby encouraged him to become via his role as "leader of the pack".
* TearsOfFear: In the ''Cubs in Toyland'' arc, when [[spoiler:realizing the only way out is to sacrifice himself, and wondering if it will hurt]].
* WildChild: Shown to be this since quite early on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ghost]]
The seventh of the Cubs. Snow was originally unaware of his existence due to him being a zephyr (an invisible being with no physical body, made of air, which does not need to eat and feeds only on air from people's lungs). She eventually realized that the recent murders at Fabletown and the Farm had been caused by Ghost, who had not been aware that consuming the air from others' lungs would kill them. Ghost was then sent away (to prevent him from being killed by his grandfather, the North Wind, who had once vowed to kill all zephyrs) and lived with his father until his parents' reunion and marriage. He was officially introduced to his siblings on their 5th birthday. The North Wind eventually learned of his existence during the Mr. Dark arc, and eventually chose to kill himself along with Mr. Dark so that he would neither break his oath or irreparably break his bond with his son and grandchildren by killing Ghost. In issue #150, he was revealed to be the seventh child in the prophecy ("the seventh lives to ages old and is by heaven blessed").
----
* AccidentalMurder: Of several [[spoiler:Fables at both Fabletown and the Farm (including Mr. Web, Leigh Duglas/Nurse Sprat's husband Jack Sprat and Mary's Little Lamb)]], due to his inability to [[spoiler:feed on the air from their lungs in a non-lethal way]].
* BlowYouAway: As a wind, he has this power.
* EnfantTerrible: Might come across at this at first, though [[spoiler:his murders were accidental, as he was just a very young child trying to feed himself while searching for his mother]].
* {{Intangibility}} / {{Invisibility}}: Comes with being made of air and having no physical body.
* LongLived: As mentioned below, [[spoiler:he outlives all of his siblings (who had probably been alive for millennia by the time they died]].
* {{Teleportation}}: Seemingly has the capacity to instantaneously transport himself to either his mother or father's side, even across worlds and/or dimensions, merely by wishing it.
* YoungestChildWins: He has always been the "odd one out" and referred to as the seventh child. As revealed in issue #150, [[spoiler:he does indeed turn out to be the seventh child in the prophecy, eventually outliving all of his siblings (who were shown alive and well at around 1000 years old, so Ghost is quite long-lived even for Fable standard)]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Therese]]
Traditionally feminine and somewhat vain, fond of dressing up and playing with her numerous toys. Receiving a toy boat as a mysterious Christmas gift leads to her becoming Queen of Discardia during the ''Cubs in Toyland'' arc. However, she soon realizes she is stranded there with no source of food, causing her to order the death of Lord Mountbatten and eat his raw flesh out of extreme hunger and despair. (This marked her as the third child in the prophecy, who would "do an evil thing".) After Dare sacrifices himself, she is extremely remorseful and falls into a long period of depression. When she recovers, she and her subjects goes on a quest to atone for their crimes. More recently, she returns to her old house to inform her mother and siblings of Darien's fate.
----
[[quoteright:276:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/therese063b_9207.png]]
[[caption-width-right:276:''"I'm bored. Being a queen isn't fun after all."'']]
[[quoteright:237:[[labelnote: Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eb34112c28a67c70285faa8422d62448.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see [[spoiler:Therese after her PlotRelevantAgeUp.]]]]
* AChildShallLeadThem: Taken to [[spoiler:Discardia]] to become [[spoiler:the new queen of the land]] at age nine.
* TheAtoner: Becomes this after [[spoiler:ordering Mountbatten's murder and learning of Darien's sacrifice. She and her subjects (the toys of Discardia who had originally caused the deaths of the children who owned them) then go on a quest for redemption, saving the lives of hundreds of children to make up for the ones they took.]]
--> '''Therese:''' [[spoiler:We have to earn our way back. One hundred is the price. One hundred lives for each one that we took. That seems fair.]]
* BadassLongRobe: Wears this after her [[spoiler:DespairEventHorizon and PlotRelevantAgeUp]] mentioned below.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: Displays these when [[spoiler:ordering Mountbatten's death and eating his flesh]].
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Along with her sisters, being the blonde in the trio.
* BreakTheHaughty: The ultimate result of [[spoiler:her ordeal in Discardia, especially after Darien sacrifices himself]].
* CoolBigSis: Has shades of this after [[spoiler:the passage of time in Discardia leads to her becoming an adult, while her siblings left at home are still children (despite all having been born at the same time)]].
* CynicismCatalyst: [[spoiler:Darien's sacrifice]] is this to her.
--> '''Therese:''' [[spoiler:You're all very bad toys. And with me you got the queen you deserved. I was vain and spoiled and basically wicked. And then I became a killer, just like you. Murderers don't get forgiven just because we promise to be good from now on.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Darien's sacrifice.]]
* HairDecorations / LongHairIsFeminine: She had long blonde hair and usually wore flowers or bows on it (pre-''Cubs in Toyland'').
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Her reaction to [[spoiler:Lord Mountbatten's murder and Darien's sacrifice upon learning of the latter]].
** TearsOfRemorse: Follows the above.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Used to dress in pink, flowery, long dresses before the ''Cubs in Toyland'' arc.
* PlotRelevantAgeUp: As an effect of [[spoiler:time passing differently in Discardia]]. When she returns home to [[spoiler:inform her family of Darien's death, years have passed for her, but only weeks or months for them]].
* RedemptionQuest: At the end of the ''Cubs in Toyland'' arc, [[spoiler:she and her subjects set out to save one hundred lives for each of the deaths they were responsible for]].
* SanitySlippage: After realizing she is [[spoiler:trapped on Discardia with no source of food, her mental state slowly deteriorates, culminating in Mountbatten's murder]].
* SpoiledBrat: Before ''Cubs in Toyland'', even Lampshaded by herself.
* TookALevelInCynic: After the events in ''Cubs in Toyland'' as mentioned above.
* TroubledFetalPosition: Following her [[spoiler:discovery of Darien's sacrifice]].
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: [[spoiler:Her murder of Lord Mountbatten, even if she was weakened and driven half-insane by desperation and hunger at the time.]]
* VanityIsFeminine: Was said to enjoy frequent compliments, and is implied to have been this even by herself.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: After arriving to [[spoiler:Discardia, Therese learned there was no way to leave. Eventually subverted in that she ultimately left for the RedemptionQuest mentioned above, but has mentioned she belongs there and will have to return eventually]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Winter]]
-> ''"I '''inhabit''' each snowflake on its windswept fall towards countless worlds. I direct every northern breeze, and '''command''' the mighty works of infinite storms. All those scattered moments come home to '''accumulate''' in me. Ages come and go in a wink. Against my wishes, I'm '''already''' old and wise."''
A shy girl who is frequently seen sucking her thumb and carrying a stuffed animal around. Despite her timid nature, she's the oldest of Snow and Bigby's children. Following the death of their grandfather, she is eventually chosen as his successor during the ''Inherit the Wind'' arc, thus becoming the new North Wind (and fulfilling the first line in the prophecy).
----
[[quoteright:287:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/winter102b_5734.png]]
[[caption-width-right:287:''"You think I'm '''young'''? Still? I '''wish''' that were so."'']]
[[quoteright:267:[[labelnote:Click here]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b96ba87acb92abb1379f132d5a8ce8ed.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see [[spoiler:Winter's OlderAlterEgo.]]]]

* AChildShallLeadThem: Becomes [[spoiler:the new North Wind]] at age eight or so.
* AlliterativeName: Winter Wolf.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Of the [[spoiler:North Wind.]]
* BadassBoast: When the West, East, and South Winds attempt to cow her into submission, Winter, after relating just how much more powerful she is than the rest of them put together, lets them know precisely ''why'' that's not happening:
--> ''"I won't be '''babied''', humored or patronized! And I will not '''submit''' myself to you! Best flee now, abide for a time in your '''own''' realms, or risk my growing anger."''
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Applies to her after [[spoiler:becoming the new North Wind, with all the powers such entails]].
* BiTheWay: In ''The Last Snow Queen Story'', the now-adult Winter reveals [[spoiler: she's grown somewhat disillusioned with men, having eventually divorced all the husbands she's had ("winds change" being the main cause of the end of these relationships). Lumi then suggests that the two of them get together, as it would solve all their relationship problems. Winter looks shocked at the proposal however, and it's not revealed what she answered]].
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Along with her sisters, being the brunette of the trio.
* BlowYouAway: Displays these powers after [[spoiler:becoming the new North Wind]].
* {{Bookworm}}: Acts excited at the idea of something being "just like school" during the ''Inherit the Wind'' arc, mentioning she "loves school" and is the one who does best academically after Ambrose.
* CreepyChild: Shown to have become this as of the ''Camelot'' arc, [[spoiler:due to the dissonance of being both a ten-year-old child and an elemental power with millenia of wisdom and experience behind her]].
* [[DeadGuyJunior Dead Gal Junior]]: Named after Bigby's long-dead mother.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In the ''Cubs in Toyland'' arc, she tells her father about the dreams she's had (that she somehow ''knows'' will eventually become true) about [[spoiler:her [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen cold, unforgiving future self]], that controls others through fear]]. Sure enough, by the ''Camelot'' arc [[spoiler:she has become somewhat more ruthless and is seen shapeshifting into this older self. In the ''Happily Ever After'' arc, it's shown that she's gathering an army to fight for her mother in the upcoming conflict between her and her sister (said army includes '''all''' of the other Cardinal Winds, Santa Claus, the Snow Queen, and Bigby's brothers)]].
* GirlishPigtails: Her usual hairstyle of choice. In the ''Happily Ever After'' arc, she's switched to a SamuraiPonytail.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Frequently seen carrying stuffed animals with her.
* KneelBeforeFrodo: Occurs when she is [[spoiler:chosen as the new North Wind]].
* LargeAndInCharge: Grows to huge proportions, and takes on her adult aspect, when she lays down the law to the other Winds.
* MeaningfulName: Winter ends up [[spoiler:succeeding her grandfather as the North Wind]].
* OlderAlterEgo: [[spoiler:The cold, stern, white-haired persona she shapeshifts into to intimidate the other Cardinal Winds into submission in the ''Camelot'' arc.]]
* PhysicalGod: Comes with being [[spoiler:a powerful AnthropomorphicPersonification]] as mentioned above.
* PowerDyesYourHair: [[spoiler:Her OlderAlterEgo has impressive long and flowing white hair with two black stripes in it.]]
* PrettyInMink: As the new North Wind, she wears a black cape trimmed with white fur.
* SheIsTheKing: [[spoiler:One of the titles of the North Wind is "King of the North", which is said to be gender-neutral (or close enough)]].
* ShrinkingViolet / TheQuietOne: She's shown to be a very shy girl.
* TookALevelInBadass: After being [[spoiler:chosen as the new North Wind.]]
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: The consequence of [[spoiler:taking over as the new North Wind, which can be quite unsettling to others]].
--> '''The Snow Queen:''' [[spoiler:What an odd thing you are. A little girl in aspect, and sometimes you do talk like a child. Then, at other times you talk like one weighed down by the heavy wisdom of centuries. Which is the true you, I wonder?]]
--> '''Winter:''' [[spoiler:Both. ''All''. I contain multitudes.]]
[[/folder]]


!The Thirteenth Floor Fables

[[folder: General]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/13floor.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
A cabal of witches, warlocks and such that are responsible for providing and maintaining the vast majority of Fabletown's magical might and defenses. They are usually led by Frau Totenkinder, the Black Forest Witch.

Tropes applying to all of them:
* TheDarkArts: Their stock in trade.
* WizardsAndWitches: Their membership is comprised entirely of this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Frau Totenkinder [=/=] Bellflower]]
The witch who once tried to eat Literature/HanselAndGretel, as well as being many of the unnamed witches in folklore. As of the start of the series, the leader of the Thirteenth Floor Group, the resident coven of Fabletown mages. Quite possibly the most powerful mage in history by this point, after centuries of slow, careful hoarding of power in preparation for a showdown with the Adversary.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/16576_normal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Personally, I never thought much of that 'popularity equals power' nonsense. I've tried to stay out of the stories, myself. I prefer anonymity, and my own counsel."'']]
[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fi150_bellflower02.png]]
[[caption-width-right:270:As "Bellflower"]]
----
* TheAce: Many of her fellow Fables in exile may be great and powerful heroes and villains of legend, but she outshines them all by far in terms of raw power, cunning and ruthlessness.
* AncestralWeapon: Hey, you know how Frau Totenkinder is always sitting in her rocking chair, knitting something with a bag that has skeins of wool in it? Well, the chair is actually the stone she performed her sacrifices on, the bag is her shamanic talisman, and the needles are her ritual daggers, all shapeshifted to innocuous form.
* ArchEnemy: To the Adversary, though [[UnknownRival he doesn't even realize it]].
* AscendedExtra: Was a very minor character in the beginning of the series (she wasn't even given a formal name until the "March of the Wooden Soldiers" arc; later on she becomes far more prominent, and takes her place as a prime mover in the Fables saga overall.
* BadassBoast: During the ''March of The Wooden Soldiers'' arc.
-->"I was ''always'' stronger than you thought. Killed a ''dozen'' times, but it never took. Even burned to ashes in my own ''oven'', I came back, after a good while. How's ''that'' for a frail old biddy, eh? Now you hush and let me finish my knitting. Time to stop struggling and let the deep darkness take you. Your stories are all '''done''', [[spoiler:Baba Yaga]]."
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: She's on the good guys' side because Snow White and Rose Red saved her life, and she also seems to genuinely like Beauty and Beast, to the point of making Beauty's day by telling her that she ''will'' eventually have a baby.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Her stock in trade in dealing with enemies, or just anyone she didn't like, especially handsome, haughty princes.
* EvilOldFolks: She's old and she's evil, though leaning into EnemyMine for most of the present day stories.
* EvilSorceress: She was basically every nameless witch in every fairy tale you've read, and quite a few Fabletown Fables still bear very powerful curses of her design. The curses on Rapunzel and the Beast are her work, for starters, though it's not clear if the subjects of the curse are aware that Totenkinder is the same woman.
* HiddenBadass: Initially we just know her as the woman who probably tried to kill Hansel and Gretel once upon a time. Eventually we learn that she's a woman who's been alive for thousands of years. During that time, she honed and grew her skills in magic to the point where she can challenge but not win a fight against one of the Great Powers in the Fables universe. [[spoiler:She had to spend all of her centuries of accumulated power to do so however, and is left at a more or less "normal" level of magical power afterwards.]]
* IAmAHumanitarian: (In)famous for this in the Homelands and legend.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Odd thing is, she willingly gave up her looks because she didn't much care for the physical desires that came with youth, and was always able to regain them whenever she wanted to.
* KarmaHoudini: She has done so many utterly horrible things to innocent, or not so innocent, people, children, babies, etcetera, and never received anywhere near the same permanent fate in return. In fact, after she defeats Mr. Dark, her next action is to head off to parts unknown with her new lover, so she can have the happy married life she never did. Though said new husband [[spoiler: eventually dies in ''Fairest In All the Land'' with no chance of being brought back]]. [[spoiler:A SubvertedTrope in "Farewell", when Cinderella finally kills her at the cost of her own life.]]
* LastOfTheirKind: Eventually and utterly wiped out her whole tribe after years of plagues, pestilence and curses.
* MeaningfulName Her name is German for "Dead Children". It's both a reference to the source of her powers (guess where they [[BloodMagic come]] [[WouldHurtAChild from]]?) and to the fact that the very first child she sacrificed was her own son.
* MutualKill: [[spoiler:With Cinderella. She is stabbed in the head by the glass slipper, but her FantasticNuke and the resultant injuries take care of Cinderella seconds later.]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: As mentioned, her name means ''Dead Children''. Not really someone you wanna hang around.
* NeverMessWithGranny: She's an extremely powerful witch.
* NotQuiteDead: How Snow White and Rose Red find her, burned to bare bones inside her own oven. Her great powers enable her to (slowly) regenerate from '''ashes'''.
* OffingTheOffspring: Part of her backstory, as mentioned above and below.
* PlaceOfPower: Her old cottage in the Homelands. Later focused and localized into her rocking chair.
* RetiredMonster: While no longer actively evil and on the side of the protagonists, it is stated that she has little remorse for the many, many evil things she has done. The only thing she seems to regret is the murder of her child. It is also heavily implied that she covertly drove the original, much nicer, leader of the coven insane to become the leader herself after the amnesty.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Even nastier than Bigby, and also doesn't feel sorry in the slightest for all the horrible things she has done.
* UnknownRival: Has been playing a chess game of wits and strategy against the Adversary for centuries, countering spells, marshalling forces and garnering advantages in furtherance of survival and oneupmanship, but he didn't even become aware of her existence until recent years.
* VainSorceress: Inverted. Her true form is a beautiful young woman, but she prefers to appear as an old crone.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: She can change from old to young, or twist her appearance into that of a monster, etc.
* WorfHadTheFlu: She claims that Hansel and Gretel were able to turn the tables on her because she was extremely weak from having gone too long between sacrifices.
* WomanScorned: She was originally the shaman of her tribe and was in a relationship with the chief's son. When he married another woman for the sake of a truce with another tribe, he had her banished because she was pregnant with his son (wanting to get rid of her, he accused her of having had dealings with demons, which had supposedly resulted in the child's conception). She then killed her baby as soon as he was born, first for defense, but then continued to use the power gained so she could enact her revenge on her former tribe (completely wiping it out) and has been killing children to use magic ever since.
* WouldHurtAChild: She began her experiments with blood magic by sacrificing her own son, and has at the very least sacrificed thousands (or possibly millions) of children to demons to retain her youth and power. According the ''ComicBook/TheUnwritten'' crossover, she is fully willing to sacrifice every child on the planet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ozma]]
-> ''"I believe my task will be to do away with The Dark One and restore Fabletown."'' - Ozma
[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2749094_fables_104.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:299:''"What can I say? Life is neither fair nor easy."'']]
The former queen of Oz, and the most ambitious member of the Thirteenth Floor Gang. Becomes their leader after Frau Totenkinder retires.
----
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Ozma is hyped up as Totenkinder's successor and a lot of dialog is dedicated to what her "great work" will be. [[spoiler:Then she's casually killed off during the last arc of the series, without really accomplishing anything. Her death doesn't even move the plot forward.]]
* InsufferableGenius: Of the sorceress variety. Extremely self-assured, with a more than healthy dose of pretension amd condescension.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:After underestimating the resurrected and mind-controlled Bigby in issue #144.]]
* NotSoAboveItAll: Has a cold, calculating personality in some respects, but finds herself drawn, at least temporarily, into going along with Pinocchio's ridiculous "Super Team" plot. She's somewhat enamored by her superhero uniform.
* NotSoStoic: Usually calm, collected and ever so confident, with a patronizing air. Utterly (and understandably) loses her shit when [[spoiler: she's about to be butchered by a possessed Bigby]].
* NotTooProudToBeg: Desperately pleads for her life when [[spoiler: the magically controlled Bigby takes her down and prepares to rip her throat out.]]
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Like all of the Fables, but Ozma notably maintains the appearance of a young girl, where most female Fables appear to be in their 20s-30s and most of the women associated with the 13th Floor Gang look old.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Morgan le Fay [=/=] Mrs. Green]]
-> ''"I think we can agree passions are of scant utility here, where cold reason and sound judgment '''must''' prevail."'' - Morgan le Fay
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i144_morgan.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Don't look at me. I had good '''reasons''' for what I did last time."'']]
Hailing from the King Arthur saga, she is initially one of the less visible and vocal members of the Thirteenth Floor, although this changes. Towards the end of the series, Rose Red appoints her the official Court Sorcerer of the new Camelot.
----
* AscendedExtra: Is one of the figures in assisting in Prince Brandish's defeat. She later becomes basically the new "Merlin", and plays a key role in major storyarcs towards the series' end.
* BeautyMark: Sports a prominent one on her right cheek.
* BrotherSisterIncest: This ''is'' Morgan Le Fay, so of course it's part of her backstory.
* CourtMage: Fills this capacity as Rose's new "Merlin".
* DeadpanSnarker: Not above shooting off a sharp, witty rejoinder every now and then. Even ''Rose'' has to call her out on it at least once.
* FreudianExcuse: As King Arthur's father murdered her father so he could rape Morgan's mother, not to mention Morgan's birthing of Arthur's bastard son Mordred, she understandably had some issues.
* HotWitch: A very attractive member of the Thirteenth Floor Sorcerers.
* TheLancer: Acts as Rose Red's chief adviser, and as such is sorely tasked to curb her queen's more reckless tendencies.
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler: Goldilocks cuts her head off with the Sword of Regret]]. She is resurrected later.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Maddy]]
-> ''"I'm the invisible walker. Once called the Scythian Raven, once called Medea, once called Sycorax. More to the point, I'm our acknowledged '''specialist''' in matters of hide and seek."''' - Maddy
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5186213_fables_farewell_v22_014.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"The time to hope things will turn out all right is '''gone'''. The time to wake up and smell the catnip is upon you."'' ]]
A magic-user in the form of a black cat, with a pointed, triangle-tipped tail. By far the most talented magic user among the Thirteenth Floor when it comes to concealment and perception, she is able to serve as a spy even against Great Powers like Mr. Dark without being detected.
----
* BadassTeacher: Founds (alongside King Cole) the Frau Totenkinder School of Magic at the series' end, serving as its main instructor.
* CatsAreMagic: Was probably invoking this trope when she decided upon a feline form as her default mode.
* DeadpanSnarker: As snarky as only an ancient sorceress in the form of a black cat can be.
* IHaveManyNames: As referenced in the quote at the beginning of the entry.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Though she seems most comfortable in the cat form, she can also take the form of a raven, , a giant panther, and probably many others.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: The Fairy Witch / Mother Ardelia, Birdie, Bulah, Cherish]]
-> ''"The powerful fairy witch of years ago is gone. Her mind went when she was removed from leadership."'' - Ozma
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1622846_birdie.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"I think the pudding is ready for the bread now."'']]
Former leader of the 13th Floor Witches, and the one primarily responsible for the erection of Fabletown's very infrastructure. She is now a shadow of her former self, seemingly disconnected from reality and prone to (seemingly) non-sensical babbling.
----
* CloudCuckooLander: Exclusively spews random nonsense. Or ''is'' it? One of her seemingly random [[NonSequitur non-sequiturs]] gives Ozma the perfect idea as to how to defeat Geppetto.
* IHaveManyNames: ....and not necessarily by choice. She seems to not be able to remember her true identity, and answers to a different name each day.
* KlingonPromotion: It is heavily implied (at least by Ozma) that Frau Totenkinder is the one responsible for her current mental deficiencies, seeking to take her spot as leader of Fabletown's witches.
* NonSequitur: Prone to these, by virtue of her condition.
--> ''"The browns and the yellows have gotten little again, did you notice?"''
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Totally disappears shortly before [[spoiler: Cinderella and Frau Totenkinder's magical duel razes much of Fabletown]]. The fact that some 13th Floor residents perished in the destruction, coupled with her addled mental condition, make it highly likely, or at least plausible, that she did not survive.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mister Grandours]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i141_mr_grandours.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Even the most beloved traditions are often destroyed by uncomfortable change."'']]
A mage with a talent for shapeshifting. In the form of a magic bear, he was tasked to guard a trove of magical items by the Empire, but only stuck with it because he didn't really have anywhere else to go; when offered the chance to emigrate to Fabletown he gladly accepted.
----
* AnimalEyes: As a "human", he still has the totally dark orbs and irises of the bear he once was.
* HumbleHero: Has no problem telling Boy Blue and Bigby that removing part of the magical arrow that is still stuck in Blue's arm is "beyond his skills". He also downplays his huge role in making sure Bigby and Blue survived the arrow attack in the first place.
* TheMedic: Seems to be acting in this capacity (on the magical side, anyway) for Fabletown's Fort Bravo during the Homelands incursion.
* NiceHat: Wears a papakha, a nod to his days as a bear.
* SorcererKing: Before the invasion of the Homelands by The Adversary's forces.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: First met in the form of a bear, and borrows a bird's wings to fly them home to Fabletown.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mrs. Someone]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1623325_someone.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:some caption text]]
A nameless witch, who took her own name and "tucked it away" to protect herself from evil powers. She had very little active role in the story, until she went to the Imperial City with Hakim and Briar Rose in order to protect her as part of Fabletown's war plans.
----
* BusCrash: The Imperial City burned down with the sleeping curse still active, and it's very likely that Mrs. Someone died in the fire.
* HeroicSacrifice: To ensure that everything goes according to plan, she and Hakim volunteer to stay behind when Briar Rose's sleeping curse affects everyone in the Imperial capital, knowing they'd be affected like everyone else. They both apparently die in the later destruction of the city.
* PutOnABus: Left the Thirteenth Floor to join Briar Rose in the Imperial City.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Prospero]]
-> ''"I'm not thinking about politics or ambition. I'm speaking of safety. We're supposed to be the '''power''' backbone of the '''entire''' community."'' - Prospero
[[quoteright:303:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i141_prospero.png]]
[[caption-width-right:303:''"That's a good start, but no amount of passive evaluation will make up for hard facts."'']]
Another resident of the Thirteenth Floor. More often than not, is the voice promoting caution and the most practical course of action in any given situation.
----

* BaldOfAwesome: No hair to be found on top of his dome, but has considerable magic power.
* OnlySaneMan: Relatively speaking. Is the 13th Floor resident who always counsels patience and practicality above all else, and is never motivated by passions or bias.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Is not seen again or mentioned after [[spoiler: the final destruction of much of Fabletown]]. As it's said some of Fabletown's sorcerous residents did not survive the conflagration, it can be assumed he was one of the ones who did not.
* WizardBeard: A powerful wizard with impressive face follicles.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mister Kadabra [=/=] Karrant]]
[[quoteright:281:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i90_kadabra.png]]
[[caption-width-right:281:some caption text]]
Appearing as a "stage magician," complete with suit and top hat, Mr. Kadabra appears to all involved to be a terminally unimportant background character. This is because before coming to Fabletown, he worked an unbelievably powerful spell directly on The Adversary himself, causing the Adversary to forget about any land in which Kadabra dwells. The backlash of the spell has wiped away a significant portion of Kadabra's memory as well, and has caused anyone he encounters to perceive him as unimportant as well. It is likely that his spell is a major reason why the Adversary ignored the Mundy world for so long.

* CoolHat: His top hat, as befits his guise as an ordinary stage magician.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: The powerful sorcerer is murdered by the mercenary Dorothy Gale, for no other reason than to put Cinderella on notice and because he just happened to be the first person she came upon.
* KilledOffForReal: At the hands of Dorothy Gale, the notorious assassin/mercenary known as "Silverslipper", just to draw out her ArchEnemy Cinderella.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The spell he cast causes his enemies to forget the existence of any land he dwells in.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: His spell to make The Adversary [[spoiler: Geppetto]] not only forget his existence, but pay no notice of any land he resides in, goes a '''LONG''' way towards keeping Fabletown safe from the Empire's depredations for ''years''.

[[/folder]]


!The Empire

[[folder: The Emperor [=/=] The Adversary]] [[spoiler: Geppetto]].
-> ''"'''Millions''' died as I carved out my Empire. Millions '''more''' were delivered into dire bondage, where they certainly didn't survive long. But that resulted in a life of peace and security for untold ''billions'' that spanned many centuries. Who else has ever accomplished so much? When again will so many enjoy such widespread safety for so long?"'' - The Adversary
The true leader and founder of the Empire and the one who drove the Fables from the Homelands.
----
[[quoteright:323:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i138_geppetto.png]]
[[caption-width-right:323:''"I'd gladly destroy thousands, or tens of thousands, or even '''hundreds''' of thousands, to ensure that our millions continue to live in safety and prosperity."'']]

* AbusiveParents: Cruelly and repeatedly slaps his first son Pinocchio, solely for the heinous offense of carving him a birthday present with wood from the Sacred Grove. He even calls him a "foul thing", kicking him out of his tent. What's worse is that due to the loyalty spells Geppetto integrated his "real boy" potions with, he will remain devoted to his beloved "Pop", regardless of the abuse Geppetto heaps upon him.
* ArchnemesisDad: To Pinocchio, though Pinocchio is conflicted about directly opposing his father.
* AffablyEvil: He can be kindly, but it doesn't make him any less evil.
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' carve from the enchanted wood.
* BigBad: Of Issues #1 through #75.
* TheChessmaster: He succesfully (albeit with the aid of magic) plotted his way to tyrannical power.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: It can be argued that making Geppetto be The Adversary was one of Willingham's best ideas in the series.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Mostly played straight in regards to his wooden children, particularly Pinocchio. However, it is subverted when he explodes at Pinocchio over Pinocchio giving him a living wooden cricket carved from the enchanted wood as a birthday present.
** Is in mourning and utterly desolate for months after King Ambrose deprives him of the Sacred Grove and the Golden Horde, the ultimate assemblage of all his still wooden soldier children.
* EvilOldFolks: He's an old man and evil as they come.
* EvilOverlord: The ManBehindTheMan in charge of the entire empire.
* EvilSorceror: He's got some pretty strong magical powers.
* ExBigBad: Becomes a RetiredMonster after his downfall and is allowed to join the Fable community on Earth, but is never trusted and never really reforms.
* FaceHeelTurn: He was every bit the kind and sweet woodcarver from the story, but when he found out he could make as many puppets as he wanted and control them into doing his bidding, there was no way back.
* FantasticRacism: He will not allow goblins or other such inhuman creatures near his cottage outside the Imperial City, as he "cannot abide the presence of any of the lower races". But he will gladly fortify his invading armies with them, putting them in the frontlines and [[WeHaveReserves expend their lives for the cause with great fervor]].
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He started out as a humble woodcarver.
* AGodAmI: Invokes this trope when Fabletown citizen tells him that "God will judge you". Geppetto's reply?
--> ''"If He does, He'll think He's looking into a mirror."''
* HiddenVillain: His identity is not revealed for quite a while.
* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: His decision to assemble a Golden Horde (a "super army" entirely composed of wooden soldiers) to send against King Ambrose in Haven proves to be extremely costly, as it not only deprives him of the vast majority of his loyal children, but causes him to lose the Sacred Grove and is a key factor in the Empire losing the war with Fabletown.
* KarmaHoudini: Possibly the worst case in the series. He didn't suffer any repercussions besides losing his power, and by the end of the comic he was plotting a way to recover it.
* LukeIAmYourFather: To Pinocchio.
* TheManBehindTheMan: The Emperor is just his wooden puppet.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The '''only''' time in the entirety of the Fables saga that he displays any kind of remorse is during his mourning over the loss of his wooden sons, after King Ambrose (Flycathcer) effectively wipes out the Golden Horde Geppetto dispatched to destroy him and his kingdom of Haven.
* NighInvulnerable: Due to tons of protective spells placed on him.
* NoMisterBondIExpectYouToDine: When Boy Blue is captured, Geppetto keeps him prisoner in a large birdcage in his cottage, but treats him rather well, considering. He chats away with him for an extended period, and feeds Blue only water and broth at first, as he is still weak from being frozen and anything stronger would be a shock to his system. But later he feeds him nice, hot porridge made by a citizen in his kingdom.
* NonActionBigBad: Despite his invulnerability, he is still just an old man, and as such does nothing himself to stop Boy Blue or Bigby when they confront him.
* OmniscientMoralityLicense: Believes he has one as part of his UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans mindset.
* RetiredMonster: Captured, stripped of his Empire and forced to sign the Fabletown Compact, he is supposedly harmless. But Geppetto remains decidedly unrepentant and power hungry, scheming to regain his status as ruler. Deputy Mayor Beauty puts it best:
--> ''"Bloodthirsty despots don't go meekly into forced retirement."''
* ShadowDictator: The Emperor most people see is not him.
* SpellMyNameWithAThe: The Adversary.
* TrulySingleParent: To the wooden soldiers and Pinocchio.
* VillainousBSOD: Suffers a big time, extended one after his "Golden Horde" of wooden soldiers are utterly eliminated. And it occurs at the very worst possible time; just as the forces of Fabletown launch their assault on the Empire.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Although brutal, his empire brought peace and stability to everyone living under it.
* WickedToymaker: Geppetto the toymaker is the (first) BigBad. And he can make animated puppets who are completely loyal to him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: "The Emperor"]]
-> ''"It's time for your Emperor to '''personally''' put these criminal invaders to the sword!"'' - The Emperor
----
Public face of the Empire's might, a humanoid creature of great stature and nigh invincible prowess who rules the Empire with an iron fist. In truth a massive wooden soldier built by Geppetto to be figurehead of his Empire.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emperor_48.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"And what's ''your'' problem?"'']]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The largest, and most physically powerful figure in the Empire.
* BadassBaritone: If the thickness of the boldface type in his speech balloons are any indication, he speaks with a deep, booming voice, as befits such a huge, imposing figure.
* {{BFS}}: Lugs around a sword the size of a small redwood. Rather large, even relative to ''his'' gigantic frame.
* CoolHelmet: Wears an very ominous, but richly ornate piece of headgear.
* CurbStompBattle: Handy '''Bigby''' his ass in their first fight.
* DarkIsEvil: A dark figure who plays the role of the evil Emperor.
* TheDeterminator: Even as the Sleeping Beauty curse sweeps over everyone else in the Imperial Capital and he starts to become enveloped by thick, creeping magical vines, the Emperor draws his huge sword and starts hacking away, declaring [[PunctuatedForEmphasis "I--will--not--be--'''HELD!'''"]].
* EvilOverlord: Maintains the very carefully cultivated image of this.
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Mocks Bigby with this trope during their battle, as even in full-on giant wolf mode, Bigby isn't as big as a normal adult wolf relative to him.
* FrontlineGeneral: Flashbacks depict The Emperor personally leading his hordes against the enemy, and is shown doing so once again in the War against Fabletown's invasion army.
* HiddenDepths: Is always the calm voice of reason in heated discussions with [[spoiler: his father Geppetto]] about how to deal with their enemies. The Emperor, a gigantic, demonic looking figure, is the one who counsels patience, and looks at the situation logically, trying to discern the course of action that will yield maximum results with a minimum of carnage and loss of personnel. A key scene supporting this view of The Emperor's character appears near the end of the "Good Prince" storyarc, where he doubts the wisdom of killing many of the Empire's loyal, or at least innocent citizens for the crimes of enemy subversives, just to make an "example" of someone.
* LargeAndInCharge: Towers over most of his subjects.
* KillTheMessenger: Subverted. It is reported that when given the news of Bigby's destruction of the Sacred Grove, he flew into a rage and slaughtered "dozens of his servants, counselors and closest aides". But the likelihood of this incident actually occurring is doubtful, as scenes featuring The Emperor in quiet situations like meetings for war or at council depict him as [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure quite patient and even-tempered]], respecting the advice of his underlings and treating them decently.
** The trope is initially played somewhat straight, but then subverted, when Lancelot, Ambrose's envoy from the kingdom of Haven, suddenly and magically pops up in the midst of an Imperial Council meeting. The Emperor immediately orders his men to slay the intruder, but seeing that all attacks fail against Lancelot (as he's a bodiless spirit), he then orders his men to stand down, and patiently listens to Lancelot deliver his message from Ambrose.
* KilledOffForReal: After Bigby literally takes his legs out from under him in the final battle, he is bombarded by all of Fabletown's available heavy armament. Boy Blue suddenly pops up via the Wiching Cloak, to once again decapitate the fearsome Emperor with the Vorpal Blade. And as [[spoiler: Geppetto]]'s no longer around to restore him, this time his death '''sticks'''.
* NighInvulnerable: Aside from the durability his origins give him, the Emperor also has the best protection spells hundreds of warlocks and witches can bestow on him.
* OffWithHisHead: Boy Blue manages to decapitate him in the course of his invasion of the Empire. But as "The Emperor" is ultimately just a huge puppet, he is restored relatively easily enough. But it does take the second time around, with Bigby's help.
* PragmaticVillainy: During a secret council with [[spoiler: his father, Geppetto, the '''true''' ruler of the Empire]], when discussing how to deal with King Ambrose and Haven, the Emperor advises against [[WeHaveReserves needlessly wasting their forces]] against an apparently immovable magic object, and sees the utter foolishness of sending wave after wave of soldiers against an enemy who can turn them to his side.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: His reaction to being told that they actually might have what he wants (magic beans that create giant beanstalks) but can't actually find them due to their chaotic filing system is to say "No use crying over it now", and moving on to the next topic. In council with his father, the Emperor often takes moderate and sensible positions. It implies that a lot of the Empire's bloodthirsty policies are due solely to [[spoiler: the '''real''' power behind the throne, Geppetto]].
* RedEyesTakeWarning: He has red eyes. Perpetually.
* WeaksauceWeakness: All wooden soldiers are vulnerable to someone prying out their joints. The Emperor is no exception.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Snow Queen [=/=] Lumi]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_pfoqymishd1w3xg1co1_250.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:"No matter his talents, he's hardly comparable to your beloved Snow Queen."]]
One of the Adversary's most powerful (and unwilling) supporters. Lumi is basically the physical embodiment of the winter season, and has all the powers that entails.
----
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She admits as much during her battle with Hadeon the Destroyer, referencing her ill-fated romance with consummate ConArtist Jack Horner, and her recent interest in [[LovableRogue Ali Baba]].
* AnIcePerson: She's the embodiment of winter, and snowflakes form out of thin air when she walks.
* AntiVillain: She was only serving Geppetto due to being BrainwashedAndCrazy.
* BiTheWay: In ''The Last Snow Queen Story'', after [[spoiler:Winter]] calls her out for [[spoiler:the murders of her unfaithful husbands (claiming she could have gone for a less lethal solution)]], Lumi suggests that [[spoiler:the two of them get together instead and "cement the natural alliance of winter and snow"]].
* BlackWidow: In issue #150, we see her [[spoiler:freezing her most recent husband, who had been cheating on her (this is strongly implied to have been the case with the previous ones)]].
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: It's eventually revealed that Geppetto fed her "loyalty spells" to make her loyal to him [[spoiler: and the Empire]].
* BrokenBird: Her failed "relationship" with Jack Horner [[StartOfDarkness started her on the path of villainy]].
* DefrostingIceQueen: One of the most literal examples you could ask for. It takes time, but she slowly but steadily warms up to and develops genuine affection for Ali Baba, her rescuer and prisoner.
* TheDragon: As commander of the Emperor's personal guard and one of the few people who knows the Adversary's real identity.
* EvilSorceress: But the "evil" part is due mainly to [[spoiler: Geppetto secretly slipping her "loyalty mickies"]], as well as her betrayal at the hands of [[JerkAss Jack Horner]].
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: ''Fairest'' revealed that the reason for her FaceHeelTurn was because Geppetto had secretly been drugging her for thousands of years. After she fell asleep due to Briar Rose's curse, her time under gave her body an appropriate duration to digest the crap out of her system. Following the battle with Hadeon the Destroyer, Lumi's now good again.
* IceQueen: Her ability to summon cold weather makes this a case of ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* KillEmAll: Her plan for Earth.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: Her betrayal by Jack Horner caused her to trust no one, and eventually [[StartOfDarkness started her down the path]] to becoming one of the most feared, tyrannical figures in the series.
* MeaningfulName: Lumi is a [[BilingualBonus Finnish word for snow]].
* PrettyInMink: She likes to wear fur to show off her status. She carries a fur boa in her first appearance, and wears a white fur cape in her last one.
* ReallyGetsAround: If she's not seen plotting to destroy someone, she's in bed with someone.
* StatuesqueStunner: Taller than most, if not all, of the females introduced in the series, and as beautiful as you could ask for.
* WhiteHairedPrettyGirl: Sports a mane as white as a mid-winter blizzard, and certainly very fetching on top of that.
* WinterRoyalLady: Her title is the Snow Queen.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Baba Yaga]]
-> ''"Baba Yaga's been set free. And now prowls the dungeons dank. She contemplates with evil glee. Every soul she'll personally thank. For keeping her imprisoned oh so long, drained of all her power. To those who wronged her she'll in turn do wrong. Her rage grows by the hour."'' - The Magic Mirror
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i91_baba_yaga_7.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"I'm going to eat your fingers and your toes and your eyes. And I'll make a pudding of your withered old flesh, and a pudding of your brains. And grind your bones to make my bread."]]
One of the Great Powers captured by the Empire. She decided that service was better than eternal imprisonment.
* ArchEnemy: To Frau Totenkinder.
* BadassBoast: Spews this while successfully battling a whole horde of imps, evil sprites, minor demons and such, '''singlehanded'''.
--> ''"Rage! '''Rage''' at me, you foul spirits and beasts! Howl and growl though you might, '''thunder''' at me with fang and claw and diverse magics-- still you fall short, breaking against me like waves against the rocks! Kneel down! Serve me or '''DIE!''' That's your only choice!"''
* TheDreaded: Probably the most widely feared witch in legend and folklore, even moreso than Frau Totenkinder.
* EldritchAbomination: Adopts this form when battling Frau Totenkinder during ''March of The Wooden Soldiers''. [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown Not that it helps her.]]
* EvilOldFolks: In her natural form she looks like a decrepit crone.
* EvilSorceress: One of the most famed and feared of all.
* {{Familiar}}: She is served by the Knights of Dawn, Midday and Night, each of which can beat an entire army.
* HoneyTrap: She seduces and captures Boy Blue by posing as his lost love Red Riding Hood.
* IAmAHumanitarian: Is infamous for this within the series and legend.
* IconicItem: Her mortar, pestle and chicken legged hut all make an appearance.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: By, of all people, Bufkin, with the Vorpal Sword]].
* KneelBeforeZod: Makes some uppity wooden soldiers toe the line just before the Battle of Fabletown.
** Gives this option to the forces of demons, imps and evil spirits she faces (and eventually destroys) during the "Witches" arc.
* OffWithHisHead: How [[spoiler: she's ultimately dispatched, with the Vorpal Blade, wielded by Bufkin]].
* {{Shapeshifting}}: Most notably into Red Riding Hood, for the purposes of seducing Boy Blue.
* ThisCannotBe: Her very reasonable reaction to being defeated by a flying monkey, dozens on Liliputian girls and several bodiless heads.
--> ''"This is entirely ridiculous! It can't end like this! It's dumb!"''
* TheVamp: Is one while in the form of Red Riding Hood.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Hansel]]
-> ''"He earned fame in every continental court as an expert witch hunter, testifying in one trial after another, and eagerly helping with the executions that followed. He burned them, or drowned them, or hanged them- however the local customs decreed. The manner of execution didn't matter as long as it was done."'' - Frau Totenkinder
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i71_hansel.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"You've served an ugly and sinful cause for so long, you'll need to summon up '''all''' of your regrets and humility to enter once more into a state of grace."'']]
The head of the Imperial Inquisition and one of the most feared men in the Empire. Acts as the Emperor's official Envoy to Fabletown, but is really there as a spy.

* AffablyEvil: Is relatively polite (but not without some degree of smug patronizing)in his dealings with Mayor Charming, as befits his stated role as an Imperial Envoy. Is even rather genteel with his captive Cinderella, sincerely advising her to repent her sins before he has her slain.
* AssInAmbassador: He is appointed as the Empire's ambassador to Fabletown specifically because The Emperor knows how much the other Fables dislike him.
* BurnTheWitch: He is responsible for ''hundreds'' of witch burnings, many of whom were innocent girls.
* DarkIsEvil: His standard mode of dress.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Subverted when he murders Gretel for daring to learn some basic spells.
* FantasticRacism: Against witches.
* HolierThanThou: ''So'' much. Considered his own sister Gretel irredeemably corrupted because of her consorting with Frau Totenkinder, considers all of Fabletown a den of sin and haven for demons, and launches his one man campaign to rid the Mundy world of witches as it is "God's will".
* {{Kneecapping}}: Cinderella passes up a chance to kill him because he could still be the official Ambassador of the Empire. She shoots him in both kneecaps instead.
* KnightTemplar: Any atrocity he commits is in his mind justifiable, as it is either God's will, or in service to his Empire.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Advises Kevin Thorn to simply kill "Writer's Block" to get him out of the way, so that Thorn can proceed with rewriting the universe. [[spoiler: Thorn later takes his advice.]]
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Dresses in very formal, very dark clothing, is coldly, brutally efficient, is fanatically dedicated to his ideology and totalitarian regime, and has nothing but contempt, if not outright hatred, for beings of differing races and religions.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Launches a stream of racially charged invective at Old Sam as he's forcibly wheeled out of Kevin Thorn's house. It's [[AssholeVictim hard to feel bad for him]] when Sam eventually dumps him off a very high cliff.
* PragmaticVillainy: After capturing top Fabletown spy Cinderella and leaving her to be executed, he makes a point of telling his henchman to keep a ''very'' close eye on her, don't let her get near anything she might use as a weapon, and don't get any closer to Cindy than he needs to be to kill her by shooting.
** Though his main mission in the Mundane world changes to the recovery of the runaway Pinocchio, Hansel realizes that though Geppetto wants his son back for obvious personal reasons, the most practical course would be to simply kill the boy, as he possesses far too much inside information on the Empire to risk falling into enemy hands.
* {{Sadist}}: Took great pleasure in torturing and killing thousands of women for supposed witchcraft in various extremely agonizing ways. Expresses his love for violence as he brutally pummels Kevin Thorn's twin "Writer's Block" with a crowbar.
* SmugSnake: His relaxed, superior pose in dealing with his hated enemies from Fabletown stems from his belief that he is so much more righteous and smarter than them. He is proven utterly wrong on both counts, on several occasions.
* TheSociopath: Responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people, and has never been depicted as feeling an iota of remorse for his deeds. Even for the murder of his own sister Gretel.
* StartOfDarkness: His encounter with Frau Totenkinder was what sparked his hatred of witches. That hatred eventually grew so strong that he murdered his sister when she began to learn some magic.
* TortureTechnician: He doesn't do it to gain information or even a confession: he just gets a sick thrill from inflicting pain and suffering upon his victims before their eventual demise.
* TheWitchHunter: Naturally.
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Instructs his henchman Alben to simply blast the highly dangerous Cinderella as soon as he and his entourage are safely away; not offering her any "last requests" drink, or even a Bible to repent her sins, as any of this would give her an opportunity to escape or otherwise gain an advantage.
* WouldHitAGirl: On top of all the witches he's killed, he also murdered his sister Gretel by hitting her with a chair when he learned she was studying under Frau Totenkinder.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Nome King]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1234970_nomeking.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
Roquat the First, Member of the Emperor's Council, and the dreaded ruler of conquered Oz.
----

* BeardOfEvil: Has crazy long, and twisted, out of control facial follicles, to go along with his diabolical mindset.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Commands his guards to kill an entire crowd of people who witnessed someone hit him with a lollipop.
* EvilIsHammy: Most assuredly loses his composure during Bufkin's depredations in his kingdom.
* KillEmAll: He is very enthusiastic about The Snow Queen's proposed plan to wipe out a large chunk of Mundane society with plagues, fire and ice. Later, he orders the slaughter of a good chunk of his own subjects for witnessing his humiliation at the hands of a disgruntled citizen.
* OffWithHisHead: His final fate, at the hands of Hangy the Rope. Strangling the stony despot proves totally ineffective, so it is extremely fortunate that his head eventually pops right off.
* OmnicidalManiac: Willing to wipe out the vast majority of the human population to destroy the relatively few Fable refugees living in the Mundane world.
** Has no problem with feeding dissident subjects to carnivorous monsters by the hundreds, to quell uprisings.
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Is universally hated and loathed by the subjects of his conquered kingdom.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: June Greenwood]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1231395_june2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
A former woodcarver/medic in the Empire, she falls in love with a soldier named Rodney and petitions [[spoiler: Geppetto]] to become human. She, along with her husband, become spies and assassins for the Empire.
----

* DeepCoverAgent: Along with husband Rodney, she was originally placed in the Mundane world to keep tabs on nearby Fabletown and perform the occasional assassination or three.
* HappilyMarried: To her beloved Rodney. They took the huge leap to be transformed from wooden soldiers to living flesh solely because of their undying love for each other, and that devotion hasn't dimmed.
* HeelFaceTurn: Switches loyalties from the Empire to Fabletown when her "big brother" Pinocchio makes her and Rodney see that it is in their father Geppetto's best interest to be forced to [[spoiler: forego his behind the scenes rule of the Empire]], so the couple starts working with the former enemy to bring his fall from power about.
* PregnantBadass: Carries out assassinations, even while heavy with child.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Rodney Greenwood]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1231411_rodney2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
Starts out as an officer in the Empire's Wooden Soldier Division. He falls in love with June and together they plead with [[spoiler: Geppetto]] to be turned into flesh. Their petition is granted, on the condition that they both become deep agents in the Mundy world, carrying out covert surveillance and assassinations.
----

* BadassBiker: Manages to track down and intercept superspy Cinderella, who is armed and riding in a cab, while speeding through Manhattan traffic on a bike with his wife.
* CuriosityCausesConversion: He admits in his letter to [[spoiler: Geppetto]] that his feigned disdain of his wooden siblings who became human was only a mask for his jealousy, and yearning to know what the experience is like. Desiring to understand what it is like to be flesh, he consults a goblin about eating habits and [[Squick sexual relations]]. Surprisingly, none of what he hears deters him.
* DeepCoverAgent: Placed in the vicinity of Fabletown in the Mundy world to perform clandestine assignments (like murder), and to maintain surveillance of the enemy Fables, reporting back to the Empire.
* FaceHeelTurn: Pinocchio convinces him and June that as they are magically "programmed" to be loyal to their father Geppetto, they must act in his best interests by [[spoiler: leaving the Empire and helping bring down his regime]]. This leads to the couple turning themselves over to Fabletown's authorities.
* HappilyMarried: To June. Despite (or because of?) the fact that they're also deep cover assassins for the Empire.
[[/folder]]

!Other Fables

[[folder: Jack Horner]]
-> ''"We're the legendary people you've read about in your storybooks. Including '''me''', the best of the best- the most famous and powerful Fable of all: Jack of the Tales. So one of you insignificant Mundys show me a little respect and pull over!"'' - Jack Horner

The Jack of all Tales. Former beanstalk climber, giant killer, perpetual thief, rake, and all-around knavish con man. As the quintessential Trickster archetype, it is said he is destined to "be at the center of all stories". Is actually half-Literal, but doesn't know this for centuries.

----
[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i21_jack_4.png]]
[[caption-width-right:299:''"I am the coolest I am the bravest. And I am absolutely the one you most want to have around when the chips are down-- provided I ''like'' you."'']]
* AntiHero: Generally a Type V, sometimes sliding completely into VillainProtagonist territory.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Of the DesignatedHero trope.
* BeardOfSorrow: Sports one after the death of his wife Holly.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Does this routinely- he even acknowledges that the Fableverse has ''readers''. This is attributable to Jack's half-Literal, half-Fable lineage.
* BrotherSisterIncest: Sleeps with all three of his half-sisters (the Pages) in turn, although none of them had any idea they were related at the time (having never met and looking nothing alike) and all four are disgusted by it when they learn the truth.
* CardSharp: Has the uncanny and unfailing ability to produce four jacks from any deck of cards, at will.
* TheCasanova: Can be quite charming and glib.
* TheCassandra: Has a violent encounter with three of the Adversary's Wooden Soldiers (the advance guard of a full-on enemy invasion), and tries to warn the Fabletown brass of this. Snow White and Bigby don't believe Jack, given his history of pulling scams. But when the invasion actually happens, Jack is quick to gloat "I told you so!". Snow recalls this years later, when Jack calls to warn her of Kevin Thorn's [[KillEmAll intentions for the Fablesverse.]]
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Ingrained within his DNA. Displayed during the "Hollywood" storyarc, when he callously fires his assistant for basically nothing.
* ConMan: And he's been perfecting his craft for hundreds of years.
* ConsummateLiar: Essential when you're a notorious trickster. But not so effective against people like Bigby and Snow, who are very conversant with his bullshit.
* DealWithTheDevil: Made ''several'' of them, in fact. His being screwed over in the first one necessitated him making subsequent ones with over half a dozen others to lengthen his lifespan and (temporarily) escape his eventual damnation.
* DestructiveRomance: With Rose Red.
* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: As a rogue trickster, Jack has his share of outwitting some hard-hitters in his universe. He's tricked a legion of Devils and Literals in his time, as well as even trapping Death itself [[spoiler:so that he could screw a girl who was going to die]].
* TheExile: He was eventually banished from Fabletown.
* FantasticRacism: After cutting a bloody swath through 1883's Old West, Jack is defeated and captured by Fabletown Sheriff Bigby Wolf, who asks him how he could commit such atrocities. Jack shouts that the transience of human lifespans, along with their own self-destructive nature, make their lives utterly worthless, so Fables killing them shouldn't even be considered a crime.
* GroinAttack: A staple of Jack's fighting style. He executes one on Bigby during their scuffle at the beginning of "The Great Fables Crossover". It doesn't help.
* TheGunslinger: As the notorious "Jack Candle", he led the Candle Gang in a rampage of crime the Old West of 1883 had never before seen. It takes Bigby Wolf to bring him down.
* HammerSpace: The properties of the magic sack Jack wins off [[TheDevil "Nick Slick"]] in a poker game. It can contain an apparently unlimited amount of items (including living creatures), and when certain magic words are spoken, can entrap a being as powerful as TheGrimReaper.
** He later obtains a normal briefcase that later somehow magically takes on properties similar to the sack, insomuch that he can store vast amounts of gold within it. Jack is at a loss as to how it happened, but dismisses the phenomenon as "a perk of being at the center of all stories".
* HeroOfAnotherStory: The word "Hero" is a stretch, but he is the protagonist of his own spinoff comic.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Jack Frost [[spoiler: stabs him through the chest with Excalibur during their climactic battle]].
* {{Irony}}: The first Fables storyarc ends with Jack actually winning the lottery to be named lord of Prince Charming's Homeland kingdom. But as part of his sentencing for attempting to scam Bluebeard, he is forced to sell the lands back to their former owner. As it turns out much later in the series, [[spoiler: Charming is Jack's father, so he would have been directly in line to ''inherit'' Charming's royal title and lands anyway]].
* InsultBackfire: After having sex with Sally Cornwells during the final days of the Civil War, Jack kicks her out of the bed and demands she make him breakfast. Sally, decidedly pissed, calls Jack "pig", to which Jack replies "Or beef. Or chicken. I'm not picky, as long as there's lots of it."
* InterspeciesRomance: Quite possibly had one, or at least a physical interlude or two, with a talking ape named Jane in West Africa, around the late 1800s. Jack denies it, but [[UnreliableNarrator considering the source]]...
* ItsAllAboutMe: The only thing he cares about is himself.
* {{Jerkass}}: As much of his genetic makeup and purpose as TheTrickster.
* JerkassWithAHeartOfGold: Jack Horner sometimes falls under this category though very rarely. Most of the time he is a selfish, narcissictic sociopath, and can be downright murderous at times like when he became Jack Frost and a cowboy gunslinger. But he has shown some examples of his more human side, like admitting to liking and caring for his friend Gary, mourning his wife's death and [[spoiler: Gary when he kicked the dust]], sometimes risking his life to save one of the Page sisters when they fell over a cliff, and generally helping out Fabletown and the Literals when needed. As seen in ''Jack of Fables #9'', he's just not that good showing it to others that he does care about them.
* LikeFatherLikeSon: A smooth-talking, womanizing manipulator, just like his dad, [[spoiler: Prince Charming]].
* LoveableRogue: On a good day. He does actually try to help Fabletown on a few occasions, but being a slave to his mercurial nature, he always ends up shooting himself in the foot and pissing everyone off.
* ManipulativeBastard: Knows how to push people's buttons to get what he wants. Does it to Gary with alarming ease and frequency.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Given one by a group of wooden soldiers infiltrating Fabletown. [[KickTheSonOfABitch It's rather satisfying.]]
* NominalHero: On most days. He has no redeeming traits whatsoever beyond being a go-getter, has no loyalties, and will gladly manipulate anybody, including his ex-girlfriend Rose Red or his own son, as long as it means he gets what he wants.
* PetTheDog: Definitely uses Gary for all he's worth, but also seems to actually like him and genuinely cares for his well being. When he, Gary, and the others in Priscilla Page's retrieval van take a dive into the Grand Canyon, Jack immediately ponders shielding Gary with his own (supposedly) indestructible body.
* PhysicalGod: [[spoiler:His ultimate fate. After dying, a group of devils take his ghost to what they think would be his personal hell: being alone on a barren planet with nothing to do but think about what went wrong in his life, given a typewriter and infinite paper to describe all of his failings. Instead, he spends eternity describing his own perfect universe where he reigns as god-king and uses his Literal powers to pull Gary the Pathetic Fallacy to the end of time to make it a reality.]]
* QuestionableConsent: Has sex (multiple times) with Rose Red, who is in a severe state of depression and extremely vulnerable emotionally. At several points, she even seems to think Jack is [[TheLostLenore Boy Blue]].
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Does this upon finding out that his very existence is due solely to a "typo" by Kevin Thorn.
--> ''"ASSHOLE!!"''
* RightForTheWrongReasons: Successfully pegs Goldilocks as being in league with the Page Sisters, solely on the basis that she wears '''glasses''' like they do.
* TheRoaringTwenties: Hiding out in Gangland (a section of Americana seemingly locked in the Prohibition era), Jack indulges in a little bootlegging to make a buck or two.
* ScaledUp: Gets turned into a dragon towards the end of his own series.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Takes this pose once Prince Charming becomes Mayor, suggesting that Fabletown is on the decline. But this was just a cover for him absconding with between 2.5 and 6 billion dollars of Fabletown's money.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Reaches epic heights in ''Jack of Fables.''
%%* SmugSnake
* TheSociopath: Takes what he wants and manipulates whom he wants without a thought to the cost, or the harm his ambition might cause others.
* TakeThatAudience: When trying to get into bed with a despondent Rose Red during the "Great Fables Crossover", he straight out calls the readers of the Fables books "scum", indulging in "shameless hero worship".
* TheTrickster: His role in the Fable firmament. One of many reasons why he's always survived and proves crucial in the overall scheme of things.
* VillainProtagonist: Arguably this, as he's the focus of his eponymous series and unarguably a terrible, terrible person. A flashback in the "Bad Prince" storyarc shows that the "god of all storytellers" (Kevin Thorn) specifically wrote (and created) Jack as a villain.
* WouldHitAGirl: Goldilocks gets the drop on him with a double-barreled shotgun, but Jack manages to turn the tables on her with an elbow to the head.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Pulls this on Bernard Stein, his agent at the very beginning of the "Hollywood" arc, [[ForTheEvulz for virtually no discernible reason.]]
* ZanyScheme: What most of his plots amount to. Some of them are even successful.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The North Wind (Mister North, Boreas Frostheart)]]
-> '''Mr. North:''' Hold on. Can you feel that?
-> '''Snow White:''' What?
-> '''Mr. North:''' The winds are changing.
-> '''Snow White:''' But '''you're''' the wind.
-> '''Mr. North:''' '''Exactly.'''
The personification of the North Wind and all its aspects. He is the father of Bigby Wolf and one of the most powerful Fables in existence.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/northwind.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
----
* BadassMustache: Possesses a truly righteous one in his human form.
* BloodKnight: Thoroughly enjoyed battling a D'Jinn centuries ago, citing it as a challenge the likes of which he deeply misses, and states that he relishes the thought of battling another. He also seemed to deeply enjoy every second of his life and death duel with Mister Dark.
* BlowYouAway: How he usually (if not always) dispatches Bigby, on one of his several attempts on his life. On the very first such occasion, North's winds lifted Bigby so high and carried him so far, he didn't land for weeks.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: He is as mercurial and changeable in his morality and loyalties as to be expected of the embodiment of Wind. Abandoned his wolf lover Winter (while she was with cubs) without a second thought, resulting in a very extended and hostile estrangement from his youngest son, Bigby. And when Rose calls him out on not helping the Fable cause when the Adversary began his depredations, he is clearly mystified, as in his view, empires and civilizations have risen and fallen countless times in the past, and will do so in the future. And as long as some entity like the Adversary doesn't bother him, he won't bother them. But centuries later, he declares himself fully on the side of Fabletown, due to his familial connection to Bigby and the cubs. Yet this still doesn't prevent him from seriously considering murdering one of said cubs, for the crime of being born a wild zephyr.
* CarpetOfVirility: With his shirt open, it looks like he's smuggling a family of rabbits.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: More of the "heavy lies the head that wears a crown" variety. He describes to his son Bigby how a ruler is actually a slave to his own laws and conventions, and how he struggles under the burden of honoring his own dictates.
* DisappearedDad: Abandoned Bigby's mother before he and his brothers were even born.
* FantasticRacism: Has an irrational hatred of "wild zephyrs" considering them freaks of nature and abominations that must be slain upon birth. He even makes it an official royal decree that even he cannot break, which comes back to bite him in the ass when one of his grandsons turns out to be one.
* HeroicSacrifice: Rather than kill his own son and grandson, and taking the opportunity to rid existence of a dire threat, he drags Mister North into the Casket of Primordial Winds, [[spoiler: meaning neither he nor Dark can ever escape or return to the land of the living.]]
* IHaveManyNames: The Devouring One, The Howler in the Crags, Mighty King of the North, among the countless others.
* InterspeciesRomance: Took a shine to a wolf named Winter, and transformed into a wolf himself to woo and mate with her.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Was a crummy husband to Winter and a totally non-existent father to Bigby, and justifies his pomposity and ridiculously mercurial temperament by assuming the "force of Nature" pose. But proves to be a doting and loving grandfather to the Cubs, puts Fabletown under his protection and [[spoiler: ultimately sacrifices himself to rid the world of Mister Dark]].
* JerkassHasAPoint: Notes to Mister Dark that when "their kind" linger in one place too long, the natural order is disrupted. This could be construed as justification for his abandoning Bigby's mother Winter, but North would have no reason to lie to Dark about such things.
* LoveAtFirstSight: It was this for him upon laying eyes on Winter. But lasting love was a whole other thing.
* NighInvulnerable: Bigby's been trying to slay him for centuries, and has never been able to even scratch him. It takes a being as powerful as Mr. Dark to even begin to do him damage.
* NoodleIncident: Claims to have once battled a D'Jinn ages ago, citing it as one of the very few challenges he's ever faced.
* OffingTheOffspring: Because of his decree and vow to slay all wild zephyrs as soon as they are born, he feels duty bound to kill Bigby and Snow's seventh child (and his own grandson), Ghost. And North knows full well that he'll have to slay Bigby as well to do it. [[spoiler: He ultimately TakesAThirdOption, averting this]].
* PhysicalGod: The most powerful character to appear in the series (outside of Gary, The Pathetic Fallacy, and Kevin Thorn); he can fly, shapeshift, teleport, summon wind, storms and ice, is virtually indestructible, among his many, many abilities.
* SealedEvilInADuel: He challenges Mister Dark to single combat, and eventually [[spoiler: banishes Dark (and himself) from this plane of existence forever by dragging him into the Casket of Primordial Winds]].
* Shapeshifting: Can take on a humanoid form, or that of a wolf, or even wind itself, among other things.
* TakingYouWithMe: Defeats Mister Dark forever by dragging him into the Casket of Primordial Winds with him, [[spoiler: effectively killing himself as well]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mister Dark]]
-> ''"Who am I? I'm the thing barely seen in the shadows. The dark one just out of the corner of your eye. I'm the creature lurking under your child's bed and hiding in his closet. Even when they had me boxed up and tucked safely away, my shadow touched every world, every man's '''soul'''."'' - Mr. Dark
[[quoteright:329:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f81_mr_dark_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:329:''"'Inhuman'? Dear boy, who ever said I was '''human'''?"'']]
The AnthropomorphicPersonification of shadow, woe, and all other dark things. He was imprisoned by the Empire, but was later accidentally released by two thieves.
----
* AffablyEvil: Addresses everyone very politely and in a very friendly manner, even while plotting to slaughter them, flay their souls and ''eat their teeth''.
* AintTooProudToBeg: Towards the very end of their duel, when it's clear he's going to perish, Mr. Dark promises to forswear his vendetta against the Fables, as long as Mr. North spares his life.
* BaldOfEvil: [[DependingOnTheArtist Sometimes appears]] to have some very thin wisps of black strands sparsely adorning his crown, or has a dome completely clean of all follicles, with hair only sprouting from the nape of the neck. At any rate, Mister Dark fits the bill of "evil" to a "T".
* BatmanGambit: After being trapped by the Boxing League (an elite army of Imperial sorcerers), he allowed his "nightmare sack" (which the Empire had put to their own use, enabling Dark to influence events from within the box) to fall into the possession of the refugees who would later become the leaders of the Fabletown community, who would centuries later destroy the Empire, with the Dark Man's sack (now in the form of the "Witching Cloak"), being a huge factor in their success. As anticipated by Dark, the collapse of the Empire caused sufficient chaos in the form of looting that he would eventually be freed.
* BigBad: After the Adversary.
* ColdHam: Speaks in a very dead monotone, yet his phrases are always grandiose and ''really'' over the top.
* DarkIsEvil: He is an extremely nasty individual.
* DarkWorld: He creates these if he stays in one place for too long. Under his influence, murders and other forms of violent crime in New York rose dramatically.
* TheDreaded: Feared by all by virtue of his very nature as the embodiment of dark terrors. Even Great Powers like The North Wind regard him with respect.
* EldritchAbomination: Takes the form of one during his duels with Bellflower and Mister North.
* EmotionEater: Fear is his primary source of power.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He does seem to treat his servants decently enough. According to the Fables/Unwritten crossover he's even a decent husband and father, if you consider joined family torture sessions and brainwashing children into corrupted and twisted versions of themselves as responsible parenting.
* HammerSpace: Battled the Empire's Boxing Leagure of sorcerers, scooping dozens of them up and depositing them into a "bag of endless nightmares and infinite screams", a mystic sack that seems to have no bottom. This bag would later take the form of the Witching Cloak, displaying the same properties and more.
* HumblePie: He gets to eat a slice whether he want to or not, when the self proclaimed greatest Great Power is taken down by Bellflower, a "mere" witch. Sadly, it doesn't last long since he quickly recovers and beats her in the rematch.
* IHaveManyNames: The Dark One, Dullahan, The Bogeyman, The Dark Man, Duladan and countless others.
* KilledOffForReal: By the North Wind, who seals them both in his Casket of Ancient Winds, a means by which a Great Power can effectively commit suicide.
* KryptoniteFactor: As he feeds on fear, facing a powerful foe who does not exhibit it will cause him to eventually drain his resources and weaken him.
* MadeOfEvil: He is the living embodiment of darkness, woe and malice as a whole.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: It's a dark name, for the darkest of entities.
* NightOfTheLivingMooks: His ability to kill people (Fables and mundanes alike) instantly by rotting them with a touch, then resurrecting them as "witherlings" (zombielike creatures), totally obedient to his hill, affords him a potentially unlimited source of mindless minions.
* ObviouslyEvil: He represents every version of the boogeyman, and looks the part.
* SealedEvilInACan: Captured by the Empire's Boxing League. Accidentally released by two thieves.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Weyland Smith]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4465567_p92_3.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"You think you can stand '''against''' me?"'']]
Fabletown's legendary blacksmith, engineer and inventor. He formerly ran the Farm and later served as Haven's Builder of the Kingdom.
----
* BadBoss: Reportedly was this to the animal Fables at the Farm during his tenure- but seeing as how the non-humanoid citizens mostly resented the fact that a human was appointed their leader, that claim is extremely suspect.
** Was definitely this to Prince Brandish during his forced servitude, by design. Though he by all means deserved it and worse, this would come back to bite Weyland in the ass in a ''major'' way.
* BadassBeard: Has face fur so thick and full, a family of birds could live in it and he'd never know.
* TheBigGuy: The largest Fable who isn't a non-humanoid creature.
* CarpetOfVirility: Has very thick tufts of hair adorning his chest.
* DropTheHammer: Wields a huge mallet for building, as well as in combat.
* GadgeteerGenius: Can and has built just about anything under the sun, from weapons systems modified for animals to castles.
* KilledOffForReal: Twice. His first corporeal death came during the Battle of Fabletown, when he was gunned down by the Adversary's invading Wooden Soldiers. He was later resurrected by King Ambrose (Flycatcher), only to later die again at the hands (and crowbar) of Prince Brandish.
* LoopholeAbuse: When he's captured and enslaved by the Farm revolutionaries, they restrain him with magical shackles that prevent him from trying to escape, but do not stop him from helping his fellow prisoner Snow White, get away by forging a key for '''her''' shackles, which are identical to his own. With Reynard the Fox helping to point this out, Snow is able to (eventually) free Weyland as well.
* MeaningfulName: Although he is an ingenious builder and all-around inventor, Weyland at his core is fundamentally a black'''smith'''.
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Was universally hated during his tenure as Farm Administrator. Not because he was a bad leader, but simply because he, a humanoid Fable, was appointed Administrator over a population almost entirely composed of non-humanoids. This leads to his eventual ouster and enslavement.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Jack Frost]]
-> ''"What kind of heroes would we be if we retired having never slain an actual dragon?"'' - Jack Frost
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5189905_jack_of_fables_047_001.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm starting to realize that '''heroes''' are less common than I'd hoped."'']]
Son of Jack Horner and The Snow Queen, he once inherited his mother's wintry powers and saved all of existence from erasure by Kevin Thorn, proving himself a true hero (unlike his father).
----
* AnIcePerson: While possessed of the icy powers of The Snow Queen.
* ArchnemesisDad: Unknown to him, his father Jack Horner is the dragon he sets out to slay in his final quest.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Even after surrendering his vast powers over cold to his mother the Snow Queen, he is still much stronger than normal, heals extremely quickly, and retains the limited ability to transport himself between worlds.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Born with a desire to help others and do great deeds, he seems to be predetermined to fulfill the heroic archetype as much as his father fulfills that of the Trickster.
* CoolSword: The Fulminate Blade, a lightning sword and one of the last living relics of the age of flight.
* EyeScream: At some point in his many adventures, he loses his left eye.
* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Deirdre, a Witch O' The Woods who helps Jack on his mission to defeat The Empryean.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Is initially led around by the nose by Jack Horner, trusting him, [[ConMan of all people]], merely because Jack's his father. He does become much more savvy down the line, however.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: Confronts Jack Horner with this fact at the beginning of "The Great Fables Crossover" storyarc.
* MutualKill: [[spoiler: He and his father Jack slay each other in their ultimate confrontation, with their respective last ditch attacks.]]
* NoodleIncident: Jack's career as a hero for hire is permeated with these. He and his partner MacDuff are always recalling mysterious circumstances like "the incident back on Sarukan", or "that nasty business with the Green Fog League".
* OffWithHisHead: Jack the Dragon [[spoiler: decapitates him with a massive claw strike during their battle]], at the same instant Jack Frost [[spoiler: slays him with Excalibur]].
* {{Patricide}}: Unknowingly commits this when he [[spoiler: kills his father Jack Horner in the form of a dragon]].
* {{Retirony}}: Was just about to quit the hero biz before he got word of a fire breathing dragon causing havoc. Refused to retire before ridding the world of said menace. [[spoiler: It costs him his life.]]
* {{Sidekick}}: Jack, at the very beginning of his hero career, meets MacDuff, an owl carved from wood from The Sacred Grove by Geppetto.
* SuperGullible: After many years of being sequestered in his mother's castle, as well as being totally honest and without deceit himself, he is naturally very susceptible to the flavor of bullshit people like his father Jack Horner specialize in dealing.
* {{Teleportation}}: Despite returning his wintry powers to his mother, Jack still possesses the ability to magically transport himself from world to world and/or across dimensions. He must wait a considerable amount of time for the transportation energies to build up within him before he can teleport, however.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Mowgli]]
The hero of Creator/RudyardKipling's Literature/TheJungleBook, he's all grown up and serves as one of Fabletown's "Tourists", deep cover agents who perform clandestine operations out in the greater Mundane world. He is instrumental in getting Bigby to return to Fabletown.
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4352680_3785a.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"I am the strong hunter, the swift runner, subtle tracker. And deadly killer-- '''if''' need be."'']]
----

* AffectionateNickname: Baloo and Bagheera call him "Little Frog".
* CunningLinguist: Depicted as being able to speak many different languages fluently, as befits a long-lived Fable who travels the world as part of his job.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Can't wait to strip down to nearly nude once he gets out into the wilderness.
* GetItOverWith: Battles Tuvar, the leader of the Free People wolf pack, to take over as Pack Leader so that they will give him information vital to finding Bigby. The struggle ends when Mowgli breaks Tuvar's forelegs and back, and as Tuvar will never be able to hunt (or even move) again, he begs Mowgli for a "final mercy", which is granted in the form of a NeckSnap.
* GuileHero: Not that it takes much to fool Gobs, but shows a propensity for manipulation and trickery in dealing with an encampmemt of goblins occupying the Indu world.
* ISurrenderSuckers: A bit of subterfuge played upon goblin forces encamped in the Raj kingdom. As their "prisoner", Mowgli is able to gain intel on the strength of the occupying forces, their main leaders and other vital information.
* MeaningfulName: As a perpetual "Tourist", he currently goes by the alias "Jagatbehari", which means "world traveler" in Hindu.
* RaisedByWolves: His backstory, and why only he proves capable of finding Bigby.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Can communicate with wolves (even Mundane ones), by virtue of his upbringing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Red Riding Hood]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/16845_normal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
Goes from being a peasant girl who once had a near-fatal encounter with a certain Wolf, to a tool in the machinations of an evil Empire, and ultimately the royal Hostess and love interest of a powerful, righteous King.
----

* ColorCharacter: '''Red''' Riding Hood.
* FieryRedhead: Ordinarily a polite. mild-mannered, quiet girl. But when she gets her dander up, like on the occasion she has to tell Flycatcher to pull his head out of his rear, she can be a real firebrand.
* HaveWeMet: Flycatcher, when escorting Red to Bigby and Snow's wedding, tells Red that she no longer has to fear TheBigBadWolf, as he's no longer the ravenous beast [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood she encountered before]], in the Homelands so long ago. Red is mystified by this, as she does not recognize Bigby as a human. But upon briefly meeting him in passing, she notes that he does seem strangely familiar...
* LadyMacbeth: A mild example. She is the one who initially motivates Flycatcher to come out his funk and seek vengeance for the death of his family. She later influences him to abuse his royal privilege to obtain extra tickets for the Farm's "Glamour Lottery", and tries (unsuccessfully) to get him to go on an "impromptu diplomatic mission" so that he might escape the responsibility of presiding over Mr. Brump's murder trial.
* TheMakeover: Soon after arriving in Fabletown, Red goes out into the Mundy city to get a new hairstyle and some modern clothing, all in an attempt to blend in better and to impress [[LoveInterests Flycatcher]].
* NiceGirl: A quiet, modest, somewhat introverted sweetheart of a girl, making her the perfect mate [[spoiler: and future Queen]] for [[NiceGuy King Ambrose]].
* QuitYourWhining: Gives Flycatcher a scathing but well-meaning tongue-lashing about being a man and a king and taking vengeance for wrongs, as opposed to sulking in the shadows like a coward.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Reynard The Fox]]
-> ''"Every kingdom has its villains, and this one was no exception. Reynard was a thief, liar, trickster and general contrarian of considerable renown."''
The self-professed king of cunning, and sultan of sly. A legendary trickster figure, he was instrumental in helping Snow White survive the uprising on the Farm. Later rewarded by Ozma with the ability to take a human form.
----
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3216930_tumblr_ml48qhouoy1qzidaoo1_1280.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"I'm '''Reynard the Fox'''. There're entire nations where the official word for fox is '''my''' name. Check that if you want. It's a cold '''fact'''."'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reynardhuman.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Reynard's human form]]
* CasanovaWannabe: Handsome and charming (as a fox or man), but sometimes overrates his appeal.
* ConsummateLiar: Smooth and successful at bending, if not outright obliterating the truth.
* IAteWhat: On a dinner date with tree lady Princess Alder, Reynard is shocked to discover that the "delicacy" he sampled from her plate is manure, taken from local "sources", including, quite possibly, his own. In Alder's defense, she tried to warn him.
* InterspeciesRomance: Shamelessly sought one with Snow White, before he met and fell in love with a Mundy woman named Meghan. This counts, even though he was in his human shape at the time they met.
** Briefly pursued Princess Alder, a tree woman, at one point, who isn't strictly "human", or animal, either.
* ManipulativeBastard: Has surprising success at getting people to trust him or otherwise do what he wants them to do, even though they know they shouldn't trust him.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Overhears Meghan's relatives planning "something" involving "tying something tight so it can't escape", and "looking for something that cuts good and deep", and jumps to the incorrect conclusion that they are planning to abuse the girl (or worse). His well-intentioned but totally over-the-top overreaction causes a major catastrophe. Turns out they were planning a party for her.
* TheQuisling: ''Pretends'' to be this so that he could lull an invading company of the Adversary's goblins into a false sense of security, earning Grubel Kaidan's trust and distracting him and his troops with a fairy tale so that he and many other Fable animals can escape the occupied Homelands.
* TheTrickster: Right up there with [[ConMan Jack Horner]] when it comes to deception and chicanery.
* VoluntaryShapeshifter: Ozma (using power borrowed from her fellow 13th Floor Witches) grants Reynard a Transformation spell that enables him to change from fox to human at will.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Sinbad]]
Envoy of the Arabian Fabletown and later captain of The Glory of Baghdad, the flying warship which proved crucial in the war against the Empire. Briefly married to Rose Red.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/16952_normal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
----

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Sinbad and the Arabian Fables' retaining of slaves is a huge roadblock in their negotiations with Mayor Charming and the Fabletown government, who steadfastly reject to the concept. Former Mayor King Cole, acting as translator and go-between, re-words Charming's harsh, blunt objection in his reply to Sinbad into "He promises to respect your venerable custom to keep slaves. In return he trusts you'll respect ''our'' venerable custom to '''hang''' slavers wheresoever we find them." Yusuf, Sinbad's Vizier, reacts with outrage, but Sinbad himself is highly amused at Cole's cleverness, shouting, "Well done, well played!"
* ArabianNightsDays: Sinbad is a powerful lord from the "real" Baghdad (in the Homelands), the mythical and mystical land that puts the dull, dreary modern version to shame. The trope is even referenced in the storyarc's title.
* TheCaptain: Considerable sailing experience from his legendary adventures make him the natural choice to spearhead the running of the Glory of Baghdad.
* CoolShip: The Glory of Baghdad, basically a war galleon heavily modified with s shitload of guns and gun ports, not to mention the capacity to fly, thanks to the three hundred magic carpets lining its hulls. It is instrumental in Fabletown's victory against the Empire.
* CultureClash: The crux of Mayor Charming's difficulty in dealing with Sinbad and his court, along with the language barrier. Fortunately, King Cole is there to smooth things over.
* DualWielding: Whips out two scimitars to kill enemy troops when he and Prince Charming are set upon as they approach their target: the final Imperial Gateway.
* EvilVizier: His adviser Yusuf, who is aghast that Sinbad has befriended the "foreign devils" and releases the D'Jinn, so that he may take power for himself.
* FaceHeelTurn: "The Last Sinbad Story" shows that [[spoiler: he later aspires to become a world-conquering oppressor, much like the Adversary he helped depose]].
* FireForgedFriends: He and Prince Charming co-captain The Glory of Baghdad, spearheading the war effort against the Empire and bonding while fighting for their lives.
* ForeShadowing: After the Glory of Bagdad wipes out a veritable ''sky'' full of dragons, the crew cheers that the ship is invincible, and that "they could conquer worlds with a fleet of such vessels". [[spoiler: This is exactly what Captain Sinbad and his men much later set out to do, as related in "The Last Sinbad Story".]]
* GenieInABottle: Sinbad brings one with him to keep it out of the wrong hands. He fails in this.
* GoodHairEvilHair: Sinbad, basically a good, congenial guy, has a modest, well-trimmed goatee, while Yusuf, his EvilVizier, has a crazy, twisted beard.
* MagicCarpet: A preferred method of transportation in the Arabian Fabletown, at least among the elite. The Glory of Baghdad is able to fly because it has dozens of them lining its hull.
* RoyalHarem: Sinbad brings at least some members of his along to Fabletown. They are later freed.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: He and King Cole have a mutual love of the game, and forge a friendship over it.
* ValuesDissonance: Sinbad and his retinue are shocked and appalled that Mayor Charming and his subordinates are shocked and appalled that the Arabian Fables retain slaves.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: PrinceBrandish ("Werian Holt")]]
-> ''"He's a '''villain''', through and through. Has been all his life. A leopard can't change his spots. His reptile nature is dug in too deep. '''No one''' can change his basic character."'' - Snow White
[[quoteright:332:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i125_brandish_3.png]]
[[caption-width-right:332:''"My true self is none other than Prince Brandish of Castle Lancedore, protector of the golden realm, marshall of the west-- and the first and one '''true''' husband to Snow White."'']]
Scion of Castle Lancedore, and originally betrothed to Snow White.
----

* CoolSword: Possesses the Eastermark Blade, a powerful, said to be bloodthirsty weapon. It is highly magical, able to change into various different types of swords, and enables Brandish to magically transform people.
* TheDogBitesBack: After months of abuse, Brandish [[spoiler: pummels his overseer, Weyland Smith, to death with a crowbar]].
* DomesticAbuse: Slaps Snow White around, breaks her arm, and orders her about like a slave. All under the flimsy pretext that they're actually married and it's his "right" as a husband.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Takes on this role while teaching Leigh Duglas fencing.
* ForcedKiss: Pulls this on his "wife" Snow.
* HeroKiller: Has a body count of noteworthy Fables that outstrips even the Adversary and his forces. [[spoiler: Weyland Smith, Sir Lancelot]], and even [[spoiler: '''Bigby Wolf''']] have died through his efforts.
* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: If he had killed Grimble after turning him into a bird (as was his first instinct), he wouldn't have later [[spoiler: died at Grimble's hands]].
* IShallTauntYou: A strategy he applies during his duel with Bigby that works shockingly well.
* InsultBackfire: When Brandish expresses his disgust at his "betrothed" Snow hooking up with Bigby Wolf and having his kids, and follows that up with his intention to slay the wolf and the cubs, Snow quite understandably tells him "You're mad.", to which Brandish replies, "Perturbed at best. Who '''wouldn't''' be, given the circumstances?"
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Turned into a bear by a magical curse, which is lifted when he slays the evil dwarf who placed it on him.
* MadonnaWhoreComplex: As if there wasn't sufficient evidence to paint Brandish as shithouse rat crazy, as a pre-teen, he murdered ''his own mother'' for having sex with her husband, his father, believing the Queen Mother should be "chaste, and above reproach".
* MaritalRapeLicense: Invoked. Snow thinks Brandish has the intent to violate her and delivers a very sincere threat against it, but Brandish for his part says he has no inclination to do such a thing, as he intends to make Snow suffer until she breaks and offers herself wholeheartedly. He is also repulsed at the notion of being where "that filthy cur Bigby" has been, and won't touch Snow until she has been thoroughly "cleansed".
* MasterSwordsman: Fantastically skilled with a blade; only Prince Charming [[spoiler: and Snow White]] can match or surpass his talents.
* {{Matricide}}: As noted above, he killed his own mother as a child, for fornicating "like an animal" with her ''husband'' (Brandish's father).
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Snow White]] stabs him right through the chest during their duel- a usually fatal blow. But it turns out that as Brandish's heart has been magically removed from his chest cavity, he does not die.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Treats Snow more like a slave than a spouse, and is aghast at the notion of dueling with Cinderella, a female, even for practice, as that would be "beneath him".
* UnholyMatrimony: How else would you classify the intentions of someone who kidnaps his intended, [[spoiler: murders her lawful husband and others]], and threatens to butcher her beloved children, all on the basis of a flimsy "betrothal" from centuries ago?
* WouldHitAGirl: Backhands Briar Rose hard enough to draw blood, and breaks his "wife" Snow White's arm. Oh, and he ''killed'' his own mother years ago.
* WouldHurtAChild: Expresses his intent to kill the "abominations" Snow birthed via Bigby Wolf.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Bo Peep Piper]]
-> ''"If I let you walk out that door- and believe me, I can still stop you if I need to- then it will only be because I have your solemn promise that you won't try to talk to [Max] first. You'll use every dirty thing I've ever taught you and just do the dirty business and walk away."'' Bo Piper
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5893796_15_01.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I think I'm catching on. You want Peter and me to do some dirty business behind enemy lines."'']]
A shepherdess by vocation, she also happens to be a highly skilled fighter and assassin.
----

* AffectionateNickname: "Bo" is merely a nickname, the shortened form of "Rainbow". Her actual given name is "Esmerault".
* BodyHorror: Long ago, the evil Max used dark magic to turn the lower half of his sister-in-law's body into a charred, disfigured mess.
* DeadpanSnarker: Her acerbic wit is as sharp as the knives she wields
* DontGoIntoTheWoods: Forced to flee her home along with her family and the Pipers, Bo and Peter enter the Black Forest and are later accosted by TheBigBadWolf.
* HandicappedBadass: Even after her legs are ruined, she still proved highly formidable.
* HappilyMarried: To Peter Piper, despite decades of a strictly platonic relationship (due to her condition).
* KnifeNut: Extremely skilled with small blades.
* MasterPoisoner: Well versed in the artful application of deadly toxins.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Max, The Pied Piper]]
-> ''"To be sure, they got some of the details wrong, but look how much they got right! My legend seeped through along with some of Fire's magic. I wonder if there were other versions of Hamelin, in other unknown worlds, and if each one of them lost their precious little darlings on the same night? Do you think so? How many children did I end up taking, all told?"'' - Max Piper
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2731751_max.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"I haven't yet learned to play Fire well enough to usher in a full worldwide apocalypse, but trust that I will, dear people. I'm dedicated and I practice daily, so someday I will."'']]
Harbinger of doom and bringer of death and despair, he is the older brother of Peter Piper.
----

* AdultFear: The Pied Piper, all day. A creepy, sorcerous weirdo comes to town, performs an impossible task, gets screwed over, and swears dire vengeance against everyone. The next morning, every parent in town wakes to find '''every single one of their children gone without a trace.'''
* ArchEnemy: To Peter and Bo Piper.
* BeardOfEvil: Has a twisted, unkempt goatee that has likely never felt a brush of comb.
* BlackMagic: Fire, Max's flute, is permeated, if not totally made, of this.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Killing your own father over a flute certainly qualifies.
** Stealing away the children of Hamelin town because the village fathers wouldn't pay him for disposing of the rats would also qualify, if he weren't already predisposed to do something horrible to the people of Hamelin from the start, as was his bargain with Frau Totenkinder.
* DealWithTheDevil: Promises to take vengeance upon the leaders of Hamelin town in exchange for the flute Fire and its great powers.
** After obtaining Fire, Max encountered many other evil entities that either taught him more spells or simply spared his life in exchange for the lives of the Hamelin children.
* DontGoIntoTheWoods: The Black Forest seemingly exacerbates the hatred and madness that merely simmered within Max, fanning the embers of evil into an inferno.
* DrivenByEnvy: His jealousy towards his younger brother Peter is the main reason behind his [[StartOfDarkness turn to the dark side]].
* FashionVictimVillain: Favors outfits of many mismatching bright colors, which are an assault on the eyes.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Who could have imagined that a young boy from a travelling family troupe of musicians would become one of the most evil figures in the Fableverse?
* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: Max's all-encompassing obsession to gain Frost enables his brother Peter to [[spoiler: totally bypass Max's magical shielding and drive the extra sharp edge of the flute directly into his heart, killing him.]]
* IconicItem: Both his flute and outfit of many colors and patterns.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Peter [[spoiler: kills him by driving the super sharp mouthpiece of Frost deep into his heart.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: What drives his insatiable and ever-increasing appetite for power, death and revenge.
* MagicalFlutist: His flute, Fire, gives him myriad abilities, chief among them the ability to control other creatures.
* MindControlDevice: Fire's signature function.
* NighInvulnerable: By virtue of his magic flute and the myriad powerful spells of protection he's placed upon himself.
* OmnicidalManiac: Cultivates the Spanish Influenza (a relatively conventional virus) and strengthens it to the point it becomes a worldwide epidemic. In the end, thousands, if not ''millions'' are dead. Expresses his intention and dedication to become powerful enough to induce a universal apocalypse.
* {{Patricide}}: Bludgeons his father to death with a rock in the Black Forest.
* ThePlague: Resuscitates, strengthens and spreads the deadly Spanish Influenza virus throughout the world, killing thousands every day.
* TheSociopath: Narcissistic, greedy, prone to violence, paranoid and totally unconcerned with the rights or pain of others. And that was ''before'' the corrupting influence of the Black Forest and Fire.
* StartOfDarkness: Max's long-simmering jealousy for Peter comes to a head when he realizes their father bequeathed the treasured family flute to his younger brother, and not him. From that begins a number of events and atrocities that transform Max from an envious brat into a mass-murdering sociopath.
* SterilityPlague: During his duel with Frau Totenkinder, Max reveals that he altered the Spanish Influenza virus so that it would render all Fables incapable of bearing children. Totenkinder and her colleagues among the 13th Floor witches work for decades to mediate the curse.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Max pulls a very dark version of this on an elderly couple outside of Hamelin in the Homelands, basically enslaving them, forcing him to cook his meals and wait on him hand and foot.
* WouldHurtAChild: His whole M.O. Besides his most infamous atrocity,he later weaves a spell that not only awakens and strengthens the Spanish Influenza (killing thousands of children, as well as adults), but also affects Fables so that none of them can ever give birth to future babies.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Peter Piper]]
-> ''"You'll pay in blood for those magical moments when you're reaching for true greatness in your music, just as I have."'' - Johannes Piper
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peter_piper.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"But Frost doesn't belong to Fabletown. It belongs to me."'']]
A popular musician in Fabletown with deep, dark family issues.
----

* AlliterativeName: '''P''', as in '''P'''eter and '''P'''iper.
* AnArmAndALeg: As punishment for stealing in Hamelin without being part of the Guild, the King of the Thieves Guild threatens to have one of his hands cut off. Peter uses one of the "Pass me by" spells to escape this fate.
* BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce: As a child, [[NurseryRhyme Peter Piper picks a peck of pickled peppers]], which proves to be so incredibly spicy, his nose turns bright red and his eyes water and bug out. To his credit, he doesn't spit it out, and swallows the whole pepper down.
* DontGoIntoTheWoods: Peter and his family, along with that of Bo Peep, escape the clear and present danger of the Adversary's occupying army only to face the hidden terrors of the Black Forest, the greatest of them being arguably TheBigBadWolf.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: His pipe Frost has sharp edges around the mouthpiece that slightly cut the player whenever they blow it. This is the price the magical flute extracts.
* HereditaryCurse: When Peter accepts Frost from his father, he also accepts the burden of a magical curse that will affect not only the flute's owner, but also his family and descendants, if Frost ever falls into the hands of someone outside the Piper lineage.
* HijackingCthulhu: When Bigby (TheBigBadWolf) confronts him and Bo with the intent to eat them, Peter uses one of Frost (his magic flute)'s three spells to force the monster of monsters to stop in his tracks, turn and leave the area. Bigby is incensed beyond measure, but helpless to resist.
* KingOfThieves: A young, homeless Peter is captured and brought before one for crimes against the Guild.
* KnifeNut: A deft hand with a blade, though not to the level of his wife, Bo.
* MagicalFlutist: Frost is far more limited in magical scope than Max's Fire, but still grants its bearer the ability to ward off practically any danger three times.
* MindControlDevice: Frost has (or had) a limited but powerful capacity to behave like one.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: His reaction upon discovering that in using Frost to ward off his brother Max's mystic attack, he merely transposed its devastating and disfiguring effects to his beloved Bo.
* ThievesGuild: Peter in his youth joins the Brotherhood of Thieves in Hamelin to survive, growing his skills enough to be designated a Master Thief.
* TragicMistake: He was desperate, and had no way of knowing it would happen, but when Peter used Fire to magically repel Max's "burning spell", the effects of it were reflected upon Bo Peep, ruining her lower body and her life.
* YoungestChildWins: Recognized by their father as the hands-down best musician of the family, Peter is the one who is bequeathed Frost, the cherished magic flute. This is the last straw for Max, who was already suffering from extreme envy of his younger sibling.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Brock Blueheart ("Stinky")]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i150_brock.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I am Brock Blueheart! First brother of the Sacred Returnists! Wielder of the blue magic! '''And I will not be mocked!'''"'']]
-> ''"There are more than a hundred of us now, with more joining daily. Soon we'll be a great power on the Farm. And in time, the '''greatest''' power."''
A longtime resident of the Farm who rises to new levels of prominence as the leader of a "movement" dedicated to Boy Blue.
----

* AlliterativeName: '''B'''rock '''B'''lueheart.
* EmbarrassingNickname: "Stinky" is not his given name- he was bequeathed with it after an encounter with a skunk. Subverted, as [[spoiler: he later reveals to Bigby Wolf that he actually doesn't ''mind'' the sobriquet.]]
* InterspeciesRomance: With Missy Skunk, though he later vehemently denies it.
* NeverLiveItDown: His fall (and rumored "encounter") with Missy Skunk happened years ago, but everyone on the Farm and beyond calls him "Stinky" without fail.
* TookALevelInBadass: After declaring himself "high priest" of the religion of Boy Blue, Brock mystically becomes able to grow to huge proportions and also form weapons from some type of "blue energy".
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Old Sam]]
-> ''"I know he's not much to look at, but he's '''incredibly''' spry for a guy his age."'' - Robin Page
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1155004_old_sam.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm a touch more '''spry''' than I look- when I need to be."'']]
Formerly the "Little Black Sambo" originally featured in children's books. He has long since grown up, even appearing somewhat elderly, but still retains his amazing speed.
----

* CoolHat: Always sporting a jaunty porkpie job.
* CoolOldGuy: Is visibly older than most other Fables, but is still able to move like the wind, and turn his would-be pursuers into ''butter''.
* MayDecemberRomance: Has a very brief one with Robin Page, that [[spoiler: results in a child]].
* OnlySaneMan: Tries his best to be the calming, moderating voice of reason to Kevin Thorn, who is contemplating writing an end to the universe as it is, while Imperial witch hunter Hansel does his best to encourage Thorn's nihilistic mindset.
* SuperSpeed: Can still move almost faster than the eye can see, even at his (apparently) advanced age.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Blue Fairy]]
-> ''"The fairy folk are of an alien nature and I'd guessed correctly that her morals would be different from ours."'' - Geppetto
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blue_fairy_fables_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"Put away your ancient grievances or I'll write a '''permanent''' end to them. '''Mark''' me on that."'']]
A mystical creature who served as a surrogate mother of sorts to Pinocchio centuries ago, she proves largely responsible for the Adversary's rise to power.
----
* CloudCuckooLander: Purported to be this by Geppetto. Supported by her LiteralGenie granting of her beloved son Pinocchio's wish to be a "real boy".
* ColorCharacter: Everything about her is blue, including her outfits, castle, and even her magic effects.
* ExactWords: Promised ages ago to make her beloved Pinocchio "a real boy". Which is precisely what she does. Only she never said he'd be permitted to mature physically beyond that...
* TheFairFolk: Geppetto notes how her inhumanity invariably gives her a different set of moral values than most people.
* FairyGodmother: She functioned as this for Pinocchio in the original story, and still considers herself this in the modern day, actually referring to herself as his adoptive ''mother''.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Slain by Goldliocks, using the powerfully magical Sword of Regret]].
* LiteralGenie: Her spell to turn the wooden marionette in the shape of a boy into real, living flesh did just that- and no more. It did not give him the capacity to age, meaning that he will remain in the physical stage of a pre-pubescent forever. More than likely, this was not done due to any intended malice on her part; it is due to her rather flighty and thoughtless nature.
* NiceHat: Sports a jaunty little porkpie job.
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler: Goldilocks decapitates her with the Sword of Regret]]. Strangely, this doesn't stop her from babbling...
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Has the height and size of a full-grown woman, and is not reliant upon the belief of others to maintain her existence.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: It is [[spoiler: Geppetto's]] capture of the Blue Fairy and subsequent tapping of her magic that enables [[spoiler: Geppetto:]] to expand his power base by replacing more local rulers, enabling him to establish and build his empire.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: ...when you're the '''BLUE''' Fairy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Trusty John]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trusty_john.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
Former doorman of Fabletown's Woodland Building, he later unwillingly becomes a spy for the Empire, dies, and is resurrected as King Ambrose's squire and later Chancellor of Haven.
----
* TheAtoner: Serves loyally as Flycather's squire to make up for his betrayal of Fabletown.
* ButThouMust: Named "Trusty John" because he was magically compelled to have undying loyalty to his king, even at the cost of betraying Fabletown's secrets to the Empire.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: For the crime of betraying Fabletown secrets to the enemy, Mayor Charming sentences him to death, with his dead body to be dumped down the Witching Well with many other deceased Fables. Charming offers him the mercy of not being shot in the head by Grimble and jumping in alive, not realizing that in choosing this, John would actually suffer far more, as his still living form would be slowly and agonizingly torn apart all the way down, until his eventual demise.
* TheFarmerAndTheViper: John cites the scorpion and frog variant of this trope in his defense of Mr. Brump during the latter's murder trial.
* TheGoodChancellor: Becomes this to King Ambrose after proving his worth and loyalty.
* TheMole: His vow of fealty to his king from the Homelands forced him to act as a spy for the Empire, as the king became a thrall of The Adversary.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Bound by magics of loyalty, he had no choice but to continue to obey the dictates of his king, even after the ruler threw in with the hated Adversary.
* NiceGuy: A cheerful man who always had a smile and pleasant greeting for anyone crossing the entrance to the Woodland Building. Which made it all the more heartrending when Mayor Charming had to condemn him to death for betrayal.
* SacrificialLamb: To the shock of the invading Imperial army, King Ambrose uses Excalibur to [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe slice John in two]], right down the middle. But despite some minor discomfort, John is unharmed and instantly restored by Fly's magic, as he is actually a ghost, and his physical form is just transitory. Ambrose does this to demonstrate to the enemy that as he can instantaneously resurrect any of his followers that fall in battle, the forces of Haven will eventually and invariably win by attrition, so no invaders would ever have a chance of victory.
* UndyingLoyalty: To his original king, induced and imposed by magic. This goes away after his death, and he willingly and wholeheartedly swears eternal fealty to King Ambrose.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Nalayani]]
-> ''"The gods left this world a '''long''' time ago."''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3878316_8281739242_faire.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"You can either ride with me or try to keep up. It's up to you."'']]
Hailing from a village in the Indus back in the Homelands, she fights constantly against raiders and mysterious creatures called "dholes". It's there that she teams up with her future husband Prince Charming.
----

* ActionGirl: Her fierceness and courage swiftly catch the eye of "The Maharaja".
* ArcherArchetype: Is absolutely deadly with the bow and arrow.
* CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: She is the only woman in the history of Fables that Prince Charming has ''never'' used a skeevy but clever pick-up line, or provocative double entendre on.
* TheDeterminator: Travels for days through miles of desert infested with wild animals, marauders, monsters and other unknown horrors to reach a Maharajah who may or may not be willing or able to help her save her village.
* GroinAttack: She threatens this with an arrow pointed directly at a marauder's junk.
* LadyOfWar: Becomes this later when she [[spoiler: joins Prince Charming in his campaign against Sinbad's excursions in the Homelands.]]
* LoveInterests: Prince Charming, TheCasanova extraordinaire, immediately becomes enthralled with her, but as Nalayani is the only woman who has proven immune to his Charm Power, they actually don't get together during the course of their initial storyline together. [[spoiler: They do get married later on.]]
* ShesGotLegs: Her dresses, split high up the side, do a great job of showing off her well-toned extremities.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Dorothy Gale ("Silverslipper")]]
-> ''"How does a homespun innocent FarmGirl end up a killer for hire, with '''blood''' all over her hands?"''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cfaf_dorothy.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"My Auntie Em always said you should find something you love to do and then '''do''' it, so I figured..."'']]
The heroine of Literature/TheWizardOfOz, the former simple farm girl has since become a feared assassin for hire, and has developed a profound and long-running enmity with Cinderella, Fabletown's number one spy.
----

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: The crux of her blood feud with Cinderella. "Silverslipper" is widely regarded as the deadliest agent and killer for hire in the underworld; the fact that Cinderella has thwarted her on multiple occasions and survived said encounters rankles Dorothy to no end.
* BloodKnight: Intensely enjoys deadly combat, hand to hand or otherwise.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: Dorothy uses her magic slippers to take on the likeness of Ivan Durak to get close to Cinderella. They even have '''sex'''.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Suffers this twice, both at the hands of her rival Cinderella. The first occurs when she's kicked off a cliff in Switzerland, 1986, and the second, again at Cindy's hands, over the Deadly Desert of Oz in modern times.
* TheDreaded: The mercenary killer code-named "Silverslipper" is spoken of in hushed whispers throughout the underworld. Even the highly skilled and dangerous Cinderella didn't relish the prospect of facing this previously faceless foe.
* FieryRedhead: Still wears her flaming locks in GirlishPigtails, but now has an explosive, murderous temper.
* {{Foil}}: To Cinderella. Both come from modest backgrounds, both have shoes as key parts of their backstories, and both are highly skilled operatives in a dirty business. But as Cinderella points out, she serves as a spy for the interests of Fabletown and its community, while Dorothy is a mercenary out solely for herself, selling her services to whomever can meet her price. Also, Cindy only kills in the line of duty and takes no pleasure in it, while "Silverslipper" is a murdering psychopath who thoroughly loves dealing death.
* GirlishPigtails: Retains this default hairstyle for decades after becoming an adult.
* MagicMirror: Dorothy has a "magic picture" that enables her to view far off people and events in real time.
* MindWipe: Suffers this at the hands of Mr. Revise and his "Memory Hole" when her broken body is recovered by Priscilla Page and the Golden Boughs retrieval team. When the Boughs is destroyed, all her memories (and more) return.
* NotSoDifferent: Taunts her hated arch rival Cindy with this ugly truth.
* ProfessionalKiller: The most notorious in the Fableverse.
* VillainBall: After going to extreme lengths to lull Cinderella into a false sense of security and getting her into the most vulnerable, utterly helpless position possible, Dorothy still succumbs to Cindy's taunting and releases her from her bonds so they can fight it out one on one, [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim rather that just kill her]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Dorothy's dog Toto ( or at least his replacement) is right by her side as she torments a captive Cinderella in the shadow of a grounded blimp. But when Cinderella breaks free and takes off in the blimp to escape, Toto is never seen again, even when Dorothy breaks through the cockpit window of the blimp to stop Cindy.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Dumps her old friends The Tin Woodsman and The Cowardly Lion soon after escaping to the Mundane world, feeling that they were holding her back.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Clarathea the Dragon ("Clara")]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i142_clara.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
Formerly a fire-breathing dragon, she is now a fire-breathing raven, and serves as Rose's enforcer.
----

* InterspeciesRomance: Played with. Vulco, proprietor of the I Am The Eggman diner, is one of the Crow Brothers and Clara's paramour. But as he usually takes the form of a human, and Clara herself is actually a dragon in the shape of a raven, the trope kind of fits.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ali Baba]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/774bf9074d404472f19c07383c8e2acf.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
The anti-hero from Literature/ArabianNights, he is now known as the Prince of Thieves.
----

* BlatantLies: ''Claims'' that Tariq Ibn Umar Ad Saladin Al Ghor gave him the Legendary Blade of the Seven Gardens, but he actually stole it from the man's tent.
* CoolSword: Carries the Legendary Blade of the Seven Gardens, purported to be able to slice through mountains, "given" to him by Tariq Ibn Umar Ad Saladin Al Ghor. He wields it to great effect against many of the Empire's Wooden soldiers.
* GuileHero: Retains this quality from his original legend.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Goldilocks is compelled by the Sword of Regret to murder him in the course of killing his lover, The Snow Queen]].
* LoveAtFirstSight: Initially seemed to have this for Briar Rose, but it turns out to be for the Snow Queen.
* LoveableRogue: There's a reason he's survived so long as an repentant thief, and why the ruthless Snow Queen not only spared his life, but eventually took him as a lover...
* TrueLovesKiss: His devotion to riches and strong initial attraction to Briar Rose enabled him to wake her with a smooch.
* VictoryIsBoring: The reason why he abandons his life of fabulous wealth and leisure to become an adventurous thief.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Lauda]]
Snow and Rose's mother, whose actions and lineage are the driving force behind much of the conflict between her daughters. She never appears in the story proper, only in flashbacks.
----
[[quoteright:227:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2beea6bf718aa536b79faff7037451a7.png]]
* CainAndAbel: While she [[spoiler:left home, withdrawing from the generational fratricide]], she did [[spoiler:kill her last surviving sister, Geirvé, when she found her decades later (granted, Geirvé ''was'' trying to kill Lauda in the first place to tie up every loose end)]].
* GoodParents: She loved her daughters dearly and was willing to pretend one was dead to save her.
* HappilyMarried: In issue #149, we learn she and her husband were very much in love. [[spoiler:Sadly, their marriage did not last long due to his untimely death, likely at the hands of his sister]].
* InTheBlood: [[spoiler:Her magical lineage, which forces the members of each generation to kill each other off until only one remains, then inheriting the bloodline's power. Also, the members of this line can apparently only conceive daughters.]]
* LoveAtFirstSight: This was the case with her and her unnamed husband.
* MassivelyNumberedSiblings: She was the youngest of thirteen sisters.
* TheStrategist: It's implied that she purposefully [[spoiler:bowed out of the family killings so she could claim the power later]].
* TemptingFate / YouCantFightFate: After [[spoiler:killing her last remaining sister in self-defense]] as mentioned above, Lauda thought she and her husband could live happily ever after together, and that she could avoid the family "curse" continuing by [[spoiler:only having one child]]. Naturally, [[spoiler:in due time she gave birth to twins Snow and Rose]]. This is even Lampshaded by Rose in the story when she learns of it, saying "anyone could have seen that coming".
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Averted at first, as she found a way to circumvent the family curse [[spoiler:and even ended up as the sole surviving sister and wielder of the generational power]]. However, it was later played straight as [[spoiler:her plan to avoid the curse in the next generation by having only one child didn't work and her beloved husband died after only a year or so of marriage]].
* WalkingSpoiler
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In issue #96, Lauda claims that she helped her sister [[spoiler:(later revealed to actually be her sister-in-law)]] marry the King of the Silver Realm, causing her to owe her a favor. Yet, in issue #149, we learn that [[spoiler:the sister-in-law was married to the king before Lauda ever met her, or her future husband,]] so how could she have helped her to become a queen? In addition, her ultimate fate has never been explained.
* WidowWoman: First introduced as a poor widow who lived with her daughters in a cottage during the ''Rose Red'' arc. We only get some information about her late husband in issue #149.
* YoungestChildWins: As mentioned above, [[spoiler:she was the last of the 13 sisters left alive, then inheriting the family power in full]].
[[/folder]]

!Literals

[[folder:In-General]]
Literals are a magical race of entities separate from Mundies and Fables, seeing as how they created the universe, being the personification of literary notions and aspects of storytelling.
----
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: While Fables are meant to be characters found in stories, Literals are the embodiment of story-telling conventions and ideas, including literary devices (the Pathetic Fallacy, Deus Ex Machina, censorship, etc.) and genres.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: A by-product of their Literal nature. They know full well they are part of an ongoing narrative. In fact, they draw power from this.
* OurGodsAreDifferent: While Fables like Djinn and the Great Powers are absurdly powerful and god-like, the Literals are gods compared to the likes of ''them'', having collectively created the ''Fables'' universe to begin with.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: The Pathetic Fallacy/ Gary]]
-> ''"But I don't know '''what''' I know, or how I seem to know it right now. I don't normally know anything, except how to talk to my special friends that no one else can talk to. I'm not used to real people-- even '''fictional''' real people. Does that make '''any''' sense?"'' - Gary
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/976574_photo1_6.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"It's just who I am. The Pathetic Fallacy. Of course, I always ''hoped'' that people would call me-- oh, you don't care."'']]
Father of Kevin Thorn and the original Literal. The Pathetic Fallacy is the embodiment of AnthropomorphicPersonification and most powerful Literal of them all. He is however somewhat dull witted and would much rather be called Gary.
----
* AnimateInanimateObject: His powers most frequently work by the objects around him taking life after he politely asks them to do something.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Wicked John does everything he can to ruin Gary's stage production of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. This is revealed to be part of John's plan to cause sufficient chaos to allow him to escape the Golden Boughs Retirement Village unnoticed. Poor, even-tempered doormat Gary, driven to the point of apoplexy by John's antics (and everything else going wrong with the production), flies into a rage and brings ''damn near every inanimate object in the vicinity to life'', including trees and boulders, threatening to level all of Idaho.
* BigStupidDoodooHead: Calls Wicked John this almost verbatim during their climactic "duel".
** Later calls his son, the feared Mr. Revise, a "butthead".
* GroinAttack: During their "duel" (a scene from ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''), Gary kicks Wicked John right in the sack.
--> ''"My nuts! I ''need'' those!"'
* InterspeciesRomance: Starts a "relationship" with a mannequin he names Nicole. They broke up after they started growing apart. Gary does do Noelle the good turn of making her a living person afterwards, however.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Despite being the very first Literal and thus originator of all fiction, Gary looks like a middle aged man while his grandson Revise would not look out of place in a retirement home.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Gary becomes quite distressed when he has to order an object to come to life and obey him rather than asking it to help.
* ShapedLikeItself: As the being responsible for attributing human characteristics to inhuman things, Gary is literally the anthropomorphic personification of anthropomorphic personification.
* {{Sidekick}}: To Jack, God help him. Later switches temporarily to Bigby's during the Great Fables Crossover.
* {{Troll}}: When he, Jack, Hillary Page and the rest of the treasure hunters are set upon by giant guardian statues, Gary talks to them, making them relent. But he claims the statues want hugs in return, to Jack's extreme annoyance. After this is done, Hillary pulls Gary aside, asking if the statues really said that, to which he replies "no": he did it just to screw with [[AssholeVictim Jack]].
* UnfortunateNames: His actual name is "Pathetic". That's why he prefers to be called Gary.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kevin Thorn]]
-> ''"I have an '''author's''' responsibility to make the story as good as possible. Haven't you heard that 'all writing is '''re'''writing'? Ever hear of the storyteller's rule, 'kill your darlings'?"'' - Kevin Thorn
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kevin_thorn.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Now the ideas for my new work are starting to come to me, fast and unfettered. Now I can put my practice notebook aside, take up the formal journal and write an '''end''' to this sad and silly story with a single, cogent, declarative line. Right '''now.'''"'']]
Introduced in ''Fables'' as a reporter with the strange ability to see the fable community and its residents for who they really are. He is eventually revealed to be the amnesiac personification of storytelling itself, as well as the creator of all fables. [[spoiler: As his memories and powers return, the once mild-mannered reporter begins showing a much more sinister side...]]

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Kevin Thorn is a meek, polite and friendly individual. When his memories return, however, he simply keeps it up [[FauxAffablyEvil as a facade]]. Upon regaining his powers, he drops the act altogether.]]
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Of the Author, having literally written the universe into existence.
* ArtifactOfDoom: [[spoiler:His pen, which allows him to [[RewritingReality rewrite reality]]. Touching it causes anyone other than him to die horribly as their minds are subjected to the entirety of human history at once. ]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler:In spite of having created most of the comic's villains, he doesn't become one in his own right until ''The Great Fables Crossover'.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Seems very timid and mild- just another defanged victim of Mr. Revise's Memory Hole. Right up to the point he sicks vicious jackals on Priscilla Page.
* CreatorBacklash: InUniverse. Disgusted by how his stories have spun out of control without his direct influence. He cites Bigby winding up the Sheriff of Fabletown and [[spoiler: Geppeto becoming a BigBad]] as examples.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: Gus, Thorn's "faithful" Labrador Retriever, turns out to be a spy for the Golden Bough's Retirement Village, keeping tabs on Thorn for years, and finally turning him in when Thorn starts to get his memory back.
* GodIsEvil: He views Fables and Mundanes as nothing more than characters in a story to do with as he wishes and barely has more respect for his fellow Literals. When he first gets his powers he turned a park into a nightmare to test them out and casually writers horrible fates for several people who annoyed him. He is not hesitant in the least to destroying everything because he doesn't like how it turned out.
* {{Jerkass}}: [[spoiler:His true persona. Cruelly toys with the fates of Fables and Mundanes alike, subjecting Bigby to a series of [[BalefulPolymorph humiliating transformations]] and [[DisproportionateRetribution giving a woman who sent him an ugly look cancer.]] ]]
* HumanPopsicle: Jack Frost freezes him in order to [[spoiler: prevent his world-destroying sentence from being finished.]]
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Has been stripped of his memories by Mr. Revise on several occasions because [[spoiler: his stories were wreaking havoc upon the Mundane world.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Plays on Priscilla Page's insecurities in order to escape Mr. Revise and regain his pen.]]
* OmnicidalManiac: [[spoiler:Wants to uncreate reality in order to start with a fresh slate]].
* PhysicalGod: The most powerful of the Literals by a long shot.
* RealityWarper: Virtually omnipotent unless prevented from writing in some fashion.
* RetGone: [[spoiler: Uncreates Old Sam as punishment for attempting to steal his pen. It is also his ultimate fate- he is exiled to a different reality so that his stories will no longer trouble our world.]]
* UnfazedEveryman: How he is introduced. Eventually subverted once ''Jack of Fables'' comes around.
* WeaksauceWeakness: Depriving him of his pen renders him harmless, as it takes him centuries to "break in" a new one on his own. [[PhlebotinumOverload This is no easy task, however]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mister Revise]]
-> ''"I am '''Revise!''' I am the Warlock's Bane, the Cutting Man, the Unmaker, Slayer of Stories! It was '''I''' who rid this world of its witches and werewolves! It was I who trimmed all that was dangerous and unwholesome from the ''plague'' of Fabledom!"'' - Mr. Revise
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jack_of_fables_vertigo_dc_comics_k.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"No one has '''ever''' escaped me. Resign yourself to the fact that you're here for life. Now get out of my office."'' ]]
Son of Kevin Thorn, and the AnthropomorphicPersonification of editing and censorship. Has dedicated his life to creating a stable world for Mundanes to live in. To this end, his organization abducts Fables so that he can strip them of their inherent magic by gradually erasing the Mundane world's memories of their stories. He is also the father of [[spoiler: one third of]] the Page Sisters.
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Appears as an stern, elderly man. Cross him, however, and he will remind you that he is ''not'' a human.
* AmplifierArtifact: The Memory Hole, which allows his to use his LaserGuidedAmnesia on a global scale.
* BadBoss: Only to the Page Sisters, his seconds-in-command. To the rest of his staff he turns out to be a...
* BenevolentBoss: Provides the Mundanes working for him with money and new identities after [[spoiler: his organization is destroyed.]]
* BigBad: Of ''Jack of Fables'' issues #1 to #16.
* BigGood: Not so much to the Fables, but very much so to the Mundanes. Revise made it so the world is safe for normal people to live and thrive in rather than being at the often murderous whims of his father. He made it so the laws of science remain constant and history wasn't changed at the simple scratch of a pen. He also provided for the mundanes who work for him generously.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Interrupts Jack's tale of how he met the Snow Queen in issue #6. Why? To remind the readers that the tale of the Snow Queen is nothing but "the feverish imagination of [[Creator/HansChristianAndersen a sickly and troubled Dane]]", and to [[WhoWritesThisCrap question the sanity of comic writers who allow such tomfoolery in their stories]].
* BroughtDownToNormal: What he does to Fables in his custody.
* DeadpanSnarker
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Gets absolutely no credit for the centuries of work he has put into making the world a safer place for mundanes, and is extremely irate about it. Then again, given that the comic mostly sides with the Fables, this is understandable.
* HumiliationConga: After Jack enters his life, [[spoiler: a mass jailbreak occurs, his daughters turn on him, his brother razes his compound, he is forced to give back every bit of magic he took from the Fables in order to give them a fighting chance, and what remains of his life's work is blown to smithereens by a volcanic eruption.]] Needless to say, he is left an embittered, cynical shell.
* TheExtremistWasRight: As he points out, his harsh actions were absolutely necessary to bring order to the lives of Fables and Mundanes and allow the advancement of science. He was making the world (and universe) safer and better for both Mundanes and Fables by protecting them from his father who would change the laws of physics, history, or anything on a whim. This is all later proven true as the moment Kevin Thorn gets his pin back he immediately starts screwing around with reality and plotting the end of the universe.
* GildedCage: Revise's prison is actually more like a cozy little village where everything is free, and Fables are free to do as they please as long as the don't attempt an escape.
* GrumpyOldMan: "Curmudgeon" doesn't even begin to cover it. But considering the nature of his calling, and the type of characters he has to deal with (especially the likes of Jack Horner), his constant exasperation is understandable.
* IHaveManyNames: Old Sam rounds off just a few of the names Revise has been known by- "The Cutting Man", "Warlock's Bane", "The Unmaker", "The Master Librarian", and suggests there are many more.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Chief of his powers. He does it to Mundanes in order to erase their memories of the Fables, and to [[spoiler: Kevin Thorn, in order to prevent him from creating more]].
* LoveTriangle: Had one with his brother over Prose Page. He eventually won her, but not before [[spoiler: Bookburner had unknowingly fathered two of the Page Sisters.]]
* ScienceVersusMagic: Claims that his culling of magic made science at all possible, by allowing natural laws to remain constant.
* SlidingScaleofIdealismVersusCynicism: Though cynical in nature, his mission to protect the Mundane world from magic is arguably very idealistic in nature. After [[spoiler: his life's work is completely destroyed]] he nosedives into the cynical end.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Imposes this policy upon Priscilla Page and his other enforcers at the Golden Boughs when dealing with captures, because of the theory that any Fable who dies will likely be resurrected elsewhere in the world, outside of his reach.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Has exhibited the ability to extend his limbs unnatural distances, and has morphed into an inhuman creature.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He kidnaps and imprisons Fables and rewrites their stories to make them more family-friendly. He has scrabbled the mind of his own grandfather and several times wiped the memory of his own father. Yet all was necessary to impose a measure of order upon the laws of magic and stabilized the laws of science allowing advancement to take place especially from his extremely fickle father.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Bookburner]]
-> ''"I gave big brother Revise his chance. He '''blew''' it. And now he's going to '''pay''' for his mistakes."'' - The Bookburner
[[quoteright:342:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_752.png]]
[[caption-width-right:342:"Isn't it grand?"]]
The second son of Kevin Thorn and brother of Mr. Revise, Bookburner embodies the more violent kind of censorship. Bookburner shares his brother's vision of a peaceful, magic-free world, but he prefers erasing fables completely from existence, rather than stripping them of their magic and allowing them to live out their lives peacefully. When he learns of Revise's failing project, he resolves to take out all of Fablekind in one fell swoop by storming his brother's facility. He carries a deep grudge toward Revise due to a LoveTriangle between them and Prose Page.

* AffablyEvil: Outgoing, polite, and in general a much friendlier person than his brother. He seems averse to hurting or killing fellow literals, and his love for Prose Page was seemingly genuine. He does, however, carry a murderous grudge towards Fablekind.
* BigBad: Of ''Jack Of Fables'' issues #17-32.
* BloodKnight: It's pretty clear that he takes sadistic pleasure in hurting and killing Fables, as opposed to Mundanes and Literals.
* TheDreaded: All Fables and more than a few Literals fear the Bookburner, for good reason. Word of his arrival in the Mundane world causes '''everyone''' to panic. Even the insane serial killer Lady Luck admits she trembles at the sound of his name.
* FaceFramedInShadow: His hat shadows the upper half of his face whenever he indulges in sinister resolve.
* KillItWithFire: He can destroy any Fable by burning the book they originated in. This is his standard operating procedure.
* LoveTriangle: He, his brother Revise, and Prose.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:He is the father of Robin and Priscilla Page. Having lost their mother to Revise shortly after conceiving them, he is unaware of this fact.]]
* MadeOfIron: Jack unloads a fully loaded revolver into him during negotiations, but it fails to do more than knock him of his feet. He admits that it hurts, though.
* NightOfTheLivingMooks: He has a vast collection of eidolons made from forgotten Fables at his disposal, not to mention a fair share of actual zombies.
* PutOnABus: According to the Pathetic Fallacy, his eventual [[spoiler: "death"]] can best be described as this. He will return when he "comes into fashion" again.
* RetGone: His modus operandi. If he possesses the original printing of a fairy tale, he can erase the fable it concerns from existence by burning the book.
* ShameIfSomethingHappened: Has coerced living Fables to work for him by threatening to burn their books.
* SiblingYinYang: Along with the LoveTriangle, their conflicting philosophies are what keeps the resentment between him and Revise going.
* SouthernGentleman: Acts and dresses like one, albeit with a brown suit rather than a white one.
* SmugSuper: How he views the Fables. It is part of his grudge against them.
--> ''' to Revise, after getting shot by Jack multiple times during wartime negotiations:''' "Do you see it, Revise? Do you see what a ''pestilence'' these creatures are? Underneath all their magic and pretty stories is the belief that they're above everyone else. That they are ''better'' ".
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Deus Ex Machina ("Dex")]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1622625_deus.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I believe that's my cue."'']]
The Literal whose job it is to save the day and wrap things up just when all seems lost, or there is no logical form of story progression that would resolve things otherwise.
----
* BadassMustache: Sports sleek, stylish facial hair on his upper lip.
* CoolHat: Wears a nice skipper's cap.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Prose Page]]
[[quoteright:293:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4721182_p_32_17.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:293:some caption text]]
Mother of the Prose Sisters.
----
* YourCheatingHeart: Had an affair with Mister Revise while she was with Bookburner, resulting in [[spoiler: the birth of Priscilla and Robin Page]].
[[/folder]]

!The Page Sisters
[[folder: General]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4352629_jan150396.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"We're the '''Page Sisters'''. We're the biggest, baddest, hottest librarians the world has ever seen."'']]
-> ''"Even if we don't stand a chance, it's better to go down fighting. We aren't fragile little Mundys, or even Fables. We're '''Literals'''! Better than that, '''we're the Page Sisters!'''"''
Senior Librarians at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village. They report directly to Mister Revise and serve as his main lieutenants and enforcers. After the dissolution of the Village, they develop their own agenda; rebuilding the Great Library by recovering the tomes containing the original Fable stories.


Tropes applying to all of them:

* ActionGirl: Supremely skilled with firearms, and have the desire to utilize them. They are hell on wheels when they get going.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: The only explanation for their inexplicable attraction to Jack. Eliza Wall even Lampshades this.
* AmazonBrigade: They become this after the Golden Boughs is no more and they go on their own.
* BadassBookworm: All three are quite well read and brainy, and also know their way around weaponry.
* BigNo: All three let out one when [[spoiler: Jack the Dragon incinerates the True Books]].
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Hillary is the blonde, Robin is the brunette, and Priscilla is the redhead.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Because they refused to enter [[ItMakesSenseInContext the new universe inside the egg]], they lost their Literal qualities, becoming regular Mundy women who just happen to be smart, drop dead gorgeous, and able to drop a man at 1000 feet.
* CuteBruiser: They are very comely and very good in martial arts.
* FormFittingWardrobe: They start wearing black catsuits when they embark on their quest to recover the books containing the original stories of Fables.
* GunNut: Man, do these girls love packing (and using) heat.
* HotLibrarian: ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Hillary even sports the t-shirt.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: Hillary Page]]
-> ''"It's not the end of the world. It's the beginning of a whole new '''chapter''' in our lives. Once again, the Page Sisters are about to kick '''ass''' and take '''names'''!"'' - Hillary Page
[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hillary_page.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:310:''"We're about to bring Literals back to this blighted place, and this time do it with grace, elan and '''style'''."'']]
Senior Librarian in charge of Research at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village.
----

* BareYourMidriff: Her usual mode of dress includes a very tight, not all there t-shirt, emblazoned with some spiffy phrase.
* TheFlapper: She takes on this guise while the treasure seeking group is lying low in the "gangland" section of Americana.
* GroinAttack: kicks Jack right in the junk after he brags to her about sleeping with her sisters, and his intention to "up the ante" by having all three of them at once.
* {{Hypocrite}}: While shopping for supplies at a "Super Mart" (an obvious Expy of Walmart), Hilary admits that such stores are awfully convenient, though she's opposed to them on principle.
* KilledOffForReal: The Tin Woodsman [[spoiler: blasts a hole through her during the final battle in the dragon's cave.]]
* LukeYouAreMyFather: Undertakes a huge quest to Americana to locate the Bookburner, thinking he is her father. [[spoiler: He is not: it's actually Mr. Revise Bookburner rather cruelly disabuses her of this notion]].
* {{Meganekko}}: All three are attractive, but Hillary is more on the "cute" side than her more conventionally "beautiful" sisters.
* PlaceOfPower: Any library, where she can discern anything she needs to know from the books and periodicals inside.
* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Hillary secures the last piece of Humpty Dumpty's shell (printed with a crucial section of a treasure map) in her bra.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Priscilla Page]]
-> ''"I'm not so vain as most, but I happen to know for a fact that I'm hotter than any six other women combined. I'm so hot I should be continued on the next girl."'' - Priscilla Page
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3615534_jack_of_fables_26.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"It's a bigger, badder, stranger world than you might suspect."'']]
Senior Librarian who heads up Retrievals at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village.
----

* AlliterativeName: '''P'''riscilla '''P'''age.
* BeautifulAllAlong: From childhood to young adulthood, she was rather gangly, awkward and rather unpopular, if not outright unnoticeable. But an extensive makeover from her sister Robin brings out her inner beauty and instills her with aggressive self-assuredness.
* BlingBlingBang: Brings along a revolver plated with gold from a melted down magical horseshoe, which is vital in the successful capture and retrieval of Lady Luck.
* BoobsOfSteel: Prodigious as they are, they in no way impede her effectiveness.
* IJustWantToBeLoved: Drives her to succeed in her career and seek the affections of men outside of it.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Incinerated by Humpty Dumpty]] during the melee inside Jack the Dragon's cave.
* MostCommonSuperpower: The bustiest of the sisters.
* PlaceOfPower: The open road, where she can find any short cut to ''anywhere''.
* SheIsAllGrownUp: Depicted as very geeky and skinny as a child; needless to say, she has blossomed considerably in pulchritude and voluptuousness since then.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Robin Page]]
[[quoteright:289:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_2819.png]]
[[caption-width-right:289:some caption text]]
Senior Librarian at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village in charge of Security.
----

* ActionMom: Having a rugrat doesn't slow her down at all.
* AllWomenAreLustful: Has a couple of secret sexual encounters with Jack, to satisfy her fiery passions.
* TheBeastmaster: Used vicious tigers to contain prisoners in her capacity as Security Chief of the Golden Boughs. Even after its destruction, she retained her affinity with big cats.
* KilledOffForReal: The ''Fiercely'' Lion of Oz [[spoiler: mauls her to death]] during the final battle in Jack the Dragon's cave.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Asks herself this when it's revealed that Jack Horner [[spoiler: is her half brother]], and that she has nevertheless fallen in love with him.
* OneNightStandPregnancy: She and Old Sam had just the one time fling, but it was enough to produce a baby boy.
* ReallyGetsAround: Depicted as having a very healthy libido, with no shortage of willing partners.
* RecklessGunUsage: Subverted. At one point, during a mission, Robin gives her baby a .357 revolver to play with. But of course, it's unloaded. It's not like she's a ''monster''.
[[/folder]]


!Mundanes ("Mundys")

[[folder: Tommy Sharp]]
-> ''"Welcome to the world you '''made''', you pathetic little media fuck."'' - Bigby Wolf
[[quoteright:239:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i12_tommy_sharp.png]]
[[caption-width-right:239:''"I only wanted a big story. I didn't '''mean''' anything."'']]
A reporter for the Daily News who has realized that the Fabletown residents never age.
----
* EntertaininglyWrong: He thinks the Fables are immortal because they're Vampires.
* ExpositionOfImmortality: He wants to do this in an article about them.
* KilledOffForReal: Bluebeard makes sure of it himself.
* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: Bigby almost murders Sharp upon their first meeting, in front of God and everybody, but correctly guesses that Sharp has made provisions against just such a contingency. But once those provisions have been eliminated, Bluebeard takes it upon himself to carry it out.
* TooDumbToLive: Seriously, who discovers an ancient community of (supposed) vampires, decides to out them against their will, and ''warns them in advance''?
** Someone who, out of a sense of journalistic integrity, wanted to give them a chance to tell their side of the story before he blew the proverbial whistle. Needless to say it was the last mistake he ever made.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Meghan]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4812902_meghan.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"The truth is, I don't want to hear any more '''fairy tales'''"''.]]
This Louisiana FarmGirl had her life irrevocably changed when Reynard the Fox literally dropped into her life and caused her to fall in love.
----

* FarmGirl: Which is how Reynard discovers her.
* FieryRedhead: Normally very mild and even-tempered, but the likes of [[{{Jerkass}} Reynard]] would tax anyone's patience.

* Characters/FablesTheFarm
* Characters/FablesTheWolfClan

* Characters/FablesOtherFables

* Characters/FablesLiterals
* Characters/FablesOtherFables

* Characters/FablesFabletownCitizens