History Literature / Bluebeard

* The musical being staged on the night of the 1903 Iroquois theater fire in Chicago was a very loose adaptation of the folk tale which turned it into a musical comedy. Entitled ''Mr Bluebeard'', it moved the action to a heavily exoticized version of [[ArabianNightsDays Baghdad]], not that this stopped the show including Irish charmers, a number about ''Hamlet'' and a platoon of singing Hussars, or paying a whistle-stop tour of [[InterchangeableAsianCultures India and Japan]]. The characters had [[StockForeignName stock foreign names]] like Fatima, Abulim, Beco, Zoli and, most bafflingly of all, ''Anne''. Even by the standards of the time it wasn't considered a very good show, and the fire is probably the only reason anyone remembers ''Mr Bluebeard'' at all.

-->-- "Bluebeard"

-->''Be bold, be bold, but not too bold,''
-->''Lest your heart’s blood should run cold''

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: In one regional variant, the girl escapes, a furious Bluebeard goes in search of her for three months...[[ExitPursuedByABear and then gets killed]] by ''a werewolf,'' which was in no way set up beforehand.

* "The White Road" by Creator/NeilGaiman is a version of the "Mr. Fox" variant, with a twist - [[spoiler: Mr. Fox may be innocent, having been framed by a {{kitsune}}.]] (That said, it's very ambiguous if you read the story closely.)

* ''Film/BlueBeard'', a 1901 French silent film based on the fairy tale by George Melies.

* Much like many other fairy tale/fable characters, Bluebeard was a prominent character in the comic book series ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'' for several story arcs.

* Appears as episode 16 of the anime ''Anime/GrimmsFairyTaleClassics''. Based on the Brothers Grimm's retelling. It also expands the story a little: Bluebeard is redesigned to look like the aforementioned Henry VIII, the girl is named Josephine and her origins are shown (she's a humble peasant girl, implied to have been raised ''and'' very sheltered by [[PromotionToParent her three]][[BigBrotherInstinct big brothers]]), her first days at the manse is shown, etc. It's also infamous for its ''very'' creepy imagery including the wives' corpses [[DeadGuyOnDisplay mounted as trophies]] in the forbidden room, white roses that turn red when Josephine gets inside, et.

* Bluebeard is a darklord in the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', and featured in the first anthology. Mr. Fox also appears as a bogeyman in the ''Dark Tales and Disturbing Legends'' supplement.

* ''Film/Bluebeard1944'' (1944), a film noir based on the fairy tale featuring a murderous artist played by John Carradine.

* ''{{Film/Bluebeard 1944}}'' (1944), a film noir based on the fairy tale featuring a murderous artist played by John Carradine.

* ''Barbe Bleue'', a 2009 {{Euroshlock}} film by Creator/CatherineBreillat.
* ''Elizabeth Harvest'' a 2018 sci-fi horror film directed by Sebastian Guiterrez that takes a modern approach to the tale.

* ''Film/Bluebeard1972'' (1972), is loosely based on the tale, its setting changed to 1930s Austria and the titular character being a World War 1 veteran pilot.

* ''Bluebeard'' (1972), is loosely based on the tale, its setting changed to 1930s Austria and the titular character being a World War 1 veteran pilot.

* ''Bluebeard'' (1944), a film noir based on the fairy tale featuring a murderous artist played by John Carradine.

* ''Blue Beard'', a 1901 French silent film based on the fairy tale by George Melies.

* ''''Bluebeard'' (1972), is loosely based on the tale, its setting changed to 1930s Austria and the titular character being a World War 1 veteran pilot.
* ''Barbe Bleue'', a 2009 Euroshlock film by Creator/CatherineBreillat.

* Caster Gilles de Rais appears again in VideoGame/FateGrandOrder as an antagonist and summonable Servant.
** A younger Saber version of Gilles appears in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' and, being a [[SanitySlippage mostly]] moral man, is offended by the "Bluebeard" moniker.

* The ballad "Bridegroom" by Creator/AlexanderPushkin is similar to the "Mr. Fox" version. A merchant's daughter got lost in the woods and came back 3 days later after experiencing something horrible, which she refuses to tell. Later she is [[ArrangedMarriage forced to marry]] some man she is afraid of. At the wedding she retells a nightmare, where she stumbles upon a strange house, hides and watches a wedding of a bandit leader that ends with the bride's murder and chopping her hand off. Then she asks her groom if he recognizes [[ThatWasNotADream the ring from that hand]]. The groom is promptly arrested, tried and executed.

* The ballad "Bridegroom" by Creator/AlexanderPushkin is similar to the "Mr. Fox" version. A merchant's daughter got lost in the woods and came back 3 days later after experiencing something horrible, which she refuses to tell. Later she is [[ArrangedMarriage forced to marry]] some man she is afraid of. At the wedding she [[AllJustADream retells a nightmare]], where she stumbles upon a strange house, hides and watches a wedding of a bandit leader that ends with the bride's murder and chopping her hand off. Then she asks her groom if he recognizes [[ThatWasNotADream the ring from that hand]]. The groom is promptly arrested, tried and executed.

* Russian folktale "The Cat with the Golden Tail" replaces Bluebeard with a ''bear'', who kidnaps girls and forces them to live in his house as his wife and housekeeper. He murders them for entering a forbidden storehouse with kegs of magic liquids (that can turn anything to gold, to silver, [[HealingSpring resurrect the dead]] or heal wounds but kill the patient). He also ends up storing the corpses next to kegs.[[note]] The third girl resurrects her sisters, tricks the bear into carrying them all home and arranges the accident that kills him.[[/note]]

* Russian folktale ''The Cat with the Golden Tail'' replaces Bluebeard with a ''bear'', who kidnaps girls and forces them to live in his house as his wife and housekeeper. He murders them for entering a forbidden storehouse with kegs of magic liquids (that can turn anything to gold, to silver, [[HealingSpring resurrect the dead]] or [[GrimyWater heal wounds but kill the patient]]). He also ends up storing the corpses next to kegs.[[note]] The third girl resurrects her sisters, tricks the bear into carrying them all home and arranges the accident that kills him.[[/note]]

* The ballad ''Bridegroom'' by Creator/AlexanderPushkin is similar to the "Mr. Fox" version. A merchant's daughter got lost in the woods and came back 3 days later after experiencing something horrible, which she refuses to tell. Later she is [[ArrangedMarriage forced to marry]] some man she is afraid of. At the wedding she [[AllJustADream retells a nightmare]], where she stumbles upon a strange house, hides and watches a wedding of a bandit leader that ends with the bride's murder and chopping her hand off. Then she asks her groom if he recognizes [[ThatWasNotADream the ring from that hand]]. The groom is promptly arrested, tried and executed.

* "The White Road" by Creator/NeilGaiman is a version of the "Mr. Fox" variant, with a twist - [[spoiler: Mr. Fox may be innocent, having been framed by a {{kitsune}}.]] (That said, it's [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation very]] [[EpilepticTree ambiguous]] if you read the story closely.)

* Caster Gilles de Rais appears again in VideoGame/FateGrandOrder.

[[folder:Ballads]]

* The ballad ''Bridegroom'' by Creator/AlexanderPushkin is similar to the "Mr. Fox" version. A merchant's daughter got lost in the woods and came back 3 days later after experiencing something horrible, which she refuses to tell. Later she is [[ArrangedMarriage forced to marry]] some man she is afraid of. At the wedding she [[AllJustADream retells a nightmare]], where she stumbles upon a strange house, hides and watches a wedding of a bandit leader that ends with the bride's murder and chopping her hand off. Then she asks her groom if he recognizes [[ThatWasNotADream the ring from that hand]]. The groom is promptly arrested, tried and executed.
* Russian folktale ''The Cat with the Golden Tail'' replaces Bluebeard with a ''bear'', who kidnaps girls and forces them to live in his house as his wife and housekeeper. He murders them for entering a forbidden storehouse with kegs of magic liquids (that can turn anything to gold, to silver, [[HealingSpring resurrect the dead]] or [[GrimyWater heal wounds but kill the patient]]). He also ends up storing the corpses next to kegs.[[note]] The third girl resurrects her sisters, tricks the bear into carrying them all home and arranges the accident that kills him.[[/note]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtmrldwPVng A Russian cartoon]] exists that toys with the story: Bluebeard tells everything to a modern detective. His first wife was a dopey party girl, whom he accidentally set on fire, stepping on her pet dragon's tail. The second wife was a snobbish health nut, who starved Bluebeard and accidentally poisoned herself by eating a toadstool that Bluebeard was going to eat (believing it to be edible). The third (and final) bride was an adulteress, who had her lover kill Bluebeard when he accidentally walked in on them (Bluebeard seems to have survived, however, as he is telling this). Presumably, she made up the fairy tale to save face. The weird thing was: before each death Bluebeard quickly grew an elbow-long blue beard. Then the detective's wife throws a jealous fit and ''the detective'' grows a blue beard bigger than his car.
-->Sorry, Love, it was an accident.

* "The White Road" by Creator/NeilGaiman is a version of the "Mr. Fox" variant, with a twist - [[spoiler: Mr. Fox may be innocent, having been framed by a {{kitsune}}.]] (That said, it's [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation very]] [[EpilepticTree ambiguous]] if you read the story closely.)

* The musical being staged on the night of the 1903 Iroquois theater fire in Chicago was a very loose adaptation of the folk tale which turned it into a musical comedy. Entitled ''Mr Bluebeard'', it moved the action to a heavily exoticized version of [[ArabianNightsDays Baghdad]], not that this stopped the show including Irish charmers, a number about ''Hamlet'' and a platoon of singing Hussars, or paying a whistle-stop tour of [[InterchangeableAsianCultures India and Japan]]. The characters had [[StockForeignName stock foreign names]] like Fatima, Abulim, Beco, Zoli and, most bafflingly of all, ''Anne''. Even by the standards of the time it wasn't considered a very good show, and the fire is probably the only reason anyone remembers ''Mr Bluebeard'' at all.

** He also appears in ''VideoGame/TheWolfAmongUs'', with it being based on the comics.

* "The White Road" by Creator/NeilGaiman is a version of the "Mr. Fox" variant, with a twist - [[spoiler: Mr. Fox may be innocent, having been framed by a {{kitsune}}.]] (That said, it's [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation very]] [[EpilepticTree ambiguous]] if you read the story closely.)
* Appears as episode 16 of the anime ''Anime/GrimmsFairyTaleClassics''. Based on the Brothers Grimm's retelling. It also expands the story a little: Bluebeard is redesigned to look like the aforementioned Henry VIII, the girl is named Josephine and her origins are shown (she's a humble peasant girl, implied to have been raised ''and'' very sheltered by [[PromotionToParent her three]][[BigBrotherInstinct big brothers]]), her first days at the manse is shown, etc. It's also infamous for its ''very'' creepy imaginery including the wives's corpses [[DeadGuyOnDisplay mounted as trophies]] in the forbidden room, white roses that turn red when Josephine gets inside, et.

* The Caster class of Servant in ''Literature/FateZero'' is UsefulNotes/GillesDeRais and refers to himself as Bluebeard.
** A younger Saber version of Gilles appears in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' and, being a [[SanitySlippage mostly]] moral man, is offended by the "Bluebeard" moniker.
* Music/SoundHorizon's song "Aoki Hakushaku no Shiro" on their ''Marchen'' album is based around this story. In a small twist, the story is told from the perspective of the ghost of his first wife.
* The ballad ''Bridegroom'' by Creator/AlexanderPushkin is similar to the "Mr. Fox" version. A merchant's daughter got lost in the woods and came back 3 days later after experiencing something horrible, which she refuses to tell. Later she is [[ArrangedMarriage forced to marry]] some man she is afraid of. At the wedding she [[AllJustADream retells a nightmare]], where she stumbles upon a strange house, hides and watches a wedding of a bandit leader that ends with the bride's murder and chopping her hand off. Then she asks her groom if he recognizes [[ThatWasNotADream the ring from that hand]]. The groom is promptly arrested, tried and executed.
* Russian folktale ''The Cat with the Golden Tail'' replaces Bluebeard with a ''bear'', who kidnaps girls and forces them to live in his house as his wife and housekeeper. He murders them for entering a forbidden storehouse with kegs of magic liquids (that can turn anything to gold, to silver, [[HealingSpring resurrect the dead]] or [[GrimyWater heal wounds but kill the patient]]). He also ends up storing the corpses next to kegs.[[note]] The third girl resurrects her sisters, tricks the bear into carrying them all home and arranges the accident that kills him.[[/note]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtmrldwPVng A Russian cartoon]] exists that toys with the story: Bluebeard tells everything to a modern detective. His first wife was a dopey party girl, whom he accidentally set on fire, stepping on her pet dragon's tail. The second wife was a snobbish health nut, who starved Bluebeard and accidentally poisoned herself by eating a toadstool that Bluebeard was going to eat (believing it to be edible). The third (and final) bride was an adulteress, who had her lover kill Bluebeard when he accidentally walked in on them (Bluebeard seems to have survived, however, as he is telling this). Presumably, she made up the fairy tale to save face. The weird thing was: before each death Bluebeard quickly grew an elbow-long blue beard. Then the detective's wife throws a jealous fit and ''the detective'' grows a blue beard bigger than his car.
-->Sorry, Love, it was an accident.

* Bluebeard is a darklord in the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', and featured in the first anthology. Mr. Fox also appears as a bogeyman in the ''Dark Tales and Disturbing Legends'' supplement.
* A villain named Bluebeard appeared in the 1949 WesternAnimation/PorkyPig short "Bye Bye Bluebeard", where he was wolf-like and did, indeed, have a blue beard. (He was [[VileVillainSaccharineShow far more evil]] than most ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' villains, tying poor Porky up and building a guillotine to use on him. Fortunately for Porky, this version is a VillainousGlutton, and he's saved when a mouse tricks Bluebeard into eating bombs disguised as popovers.)

* The musical being staged on the night of the 1903 Iroquois theater fire in Chicago was a very loose adaptation of the folk tale which turned it into a musical comedy. Entitled ''Mr Bluebeard'', it moved the action to a heavily exoticized version of [[ArabianNightsDays Baghdad]], not that this stopped the show including Irish charmers, a number about ''Hamlet'' and a platoon of singing Hussars, or paying a whistle-stop tour of [[InterchangeableAsianCultures India and Japan]]. The characters had [[StockForeignName stock foreign names]] like Fatima, Abulim, Beco, Zoli and, most bafflingly of all, ''Anne''. Even by the standards of the time it wasn't considered a very good show, and the fire is probably the only reason anyone remembers ''Mr Bluebeard'' at all.
* Creator/UrsulaVernon's short story "Bluebeard's Wife" (in which Bluebeard marries a woman who grew up in a nosy family and consequently determines that if he wants his own private space she's not going to intrude) and novel ''The Seventh Bride'' (in which the Bluebeard character is a sorcerer and the price for failing his tests is not so simple as death).
* In the horror novel ''{{Literature/Dove Keeper}}'', the villain, UsefulNotes/GillesDeRais, is constantly compared to Bluebeard because of his crimes.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Or at least a blue beard.

An old French Folktale ([[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/bluebeard/index.html online version here]]) written as ''La Barbe Bleue'' ("The Blue Beard") by Creator/CharlesPerrault in 1697, which later found its way into [[Creator/TheBrothersGrimm the Grimms']] first edition of 1812 as ''König Blaubart'' ("King Bluebeard"). (In various versions of the fairy tale the eponymous man is a king, sometimes a knight or other rich person.) The story starts with a rich gentleman, who is a widower, asking for the hand of a fair young maiden in marriage. After the wedding, he gives her a key-ring with the keys to all the doors of his mansion (or palace), with the request that if she loves him she must never, ever, ''ever'' use the golden key to open a certain door in the house.