History Headscratchers / Fables

* If the belief in their stories in the Mundane world sustains and empowers them, then why is the Adversary [[spoiler:waging all-out war on both the Fables ''and'' the Mundanes, and turning the planet into a prison in the aftermath]]? You'd think that someone as resourceful and clever as [[spoiler:Geppetto]] would realize he'd be slitting his own throat with his plan.

** The Adversary rules a massive Fable empire filled with subjects no human had ever heard of, and they all seem to be fine. Besides, [[spoiler:Geppetto had been conquering for centuries before ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' was published in the 1880s.]] If anyone has cause to doubt the human belief theory, it's him.

** They way it's been presented so far is that it only allows them to live through otherwise deadly wounds, and [[spoiler:Geppetto]] had enough magic protection on him not to really care.

*** This is also why the Adversary was [[spoiler:Geppetto]]. Originally, The Adversary was intended to be [[spoiler:Peter Pan]].
*** [[spoiler: Then Peter Pan was taken up for being a villain in Series/OnceUponATime]]

*** Say, about as long as it takes for copyright to wear off and for characters and worlds to enter into the public domain? Perhaps the Obstructive Bureaucrats who keep extending copyright protection are servants of the Adversary, making it harder for “our” world to intersect with the Fables’ worlds.

** In Jack of Fables, Jack Frost has adventures in a number of generic sci-fi-y worlds (mostly reminiscent of 1950's-60's golden age scifi). The Empire definitely had not conquered them. Either they couldn't, didn't want to, or had not gotten around to trying yet.

* In #80, [[spoiler:the Woodland collapses. Post 9/11. On the upper west side of Manhattan. And they were able to get out of there without any issues worth mentioning?]]
** [[spoiler:Mr. Dark mind screwed the city into ignoring it.]]
*** [[spoiler:Mr. Dark only arrived at the scene long after the buildings had collapsed and the Fabletown residents had fled. Maybe he retroactively made people forget the whole thing, but that doesn't explain why the Fables had seemingly no problems getting out of there.]]

* So, now we have [[spoiler:the Literals, beings who represent literary ''concepts'' instead of merely characters, and are thus exponentially more powerful]]. So, does that mean that [[spoiler:we might be seeing a Literal that governs Rule 34]] in the future?
** Not after [[spoiler:the Great Fables Crossover. Willingham has confirmed that nothing more will be mentioned of the Literals in either title.]]

** If you mean the fable that Jack meet [[spoiler: He got a fate worse than death. He was condemed to roam the earth for a thousand years without being able to be seen, heard or felt by anyone. ]]

* In the first story arc, [[spoiler:Bigby Wolf should be able to tell through his super-canine sense of smell that the blood spilled in Rose Red's apartment was not fresh, but had been stored in the refrigerator]]. I thought I would add this because it is a literal case of Fridge Logic.

* Why did it take everyone centuries, even within the empire to figure out that the Emperor was really [[spoiler:Geppetto]]? Everything pointed towards him from the beginning, what with his troops, and depictions of the Empire couldn't seem to decide if it was actually a secret or an "open secret".
** Its simple and not really a headscratcher since its perfectly established in the series: the wooden soldiers are EliteMooks, only sent for special missions or made to impersonate people and take their place. The common Mooks are Orcs, goblins, giants, dragons, normal human soldiers and whatever else from the many worlds conquered by TheEmpire. The Fables didn't even know about the wooden soldiers until the specific StoryArc introduced them. As for [[spoiler:Geppetto]], pincochio and by extension the fables came to the conclusion that rather than killed in the invasion, he was captured and forced to create the wooden soldiers. Not only that, but the Empire is so mind-numbingly large that most people don't even know who [[spoiler:Geppetto]] is, and just think that he's [[spoiler:some old man that talks to the Emperor and is for some reason considered important despite being some old woodcarver.]] Really, the only ones in the Empire who do know are [[spoiler:Geppetto's]] sons, the Snow Queen, The Emperor and possibly The Nome King and Baba Yaga [[spoiler: and Frau totenkinder, but she didn't tell the fables that.]]
* What determines how and when Fables age? It seems to be fairly random. Some of them are old people and some of them are 20 or 30 somethings forever. Is everyone in the Homelands a Fable, and by that I mean immortal, and ageless? Because that doesn't jar with the pictures of the Homelands we've seen - everyone should be in their 20's in terms of appearance. Also, you'd have generation upon generation of immortals cooped up with each other instead of the sensible progressing of aging and dying that we see in most of the character's backstories. Are only "named" Fables immortal and ageless with the rest being average humans, the literary equivalent of "extras"? If so, why isn't this noticed.

* How did Jack [[spoiler: pull his postmortem KarmaHoudini moment]] at the end of his series? I seem to recall that [[spoiler:each DealWithTheDevil included buying up the previous agreement.]]

* This question has spoilers for the "Peter & Max" novel. [[spoiler:Why was Frau Totenkinder unable to kill Max when she was later shown to be capable of nearly taking out a primal force of darkness who could affect things on a planetary scale?]]
** It's a matter of skill vs strength in regards to magic. [[spoiler:Mister Dark]] had alot of power, but isn't particularly good at using it efficiently. Both Frau Totenkinder and [[spoiler:Max Piper]] are extremely skilled in how they use their magic.

* So, in the post Mr. Dark story arc [[spoiler:why on earth were the Fabletown folks so slow when it came to helping Snow with her technical first husband? Yes, he had a lot of magic, and he was legally in the clear. But the Fables aren't supposed to be a bunch of sticklers for the rules (they're a family not a nation ruled by an uncaring government), and from what we know, the magic only protected the prince from physical harm.]]
** Yes, it does seem as if they'd been authorially constrained not to deal with the situation until [[spoiler: Rose Red and Bigby showed up, doesn't it? Was Rose really the only one capable of thinking of "knock him out and tie him up"?]] And also in that storyline, was Snow really planning to [[spoiler: just keep her mouth shut and let Bigby unknowingly murder her? Even if she didn't care if she lived or died at that point, it seems like a pretty terrible thing to do to someone she loved.]]
* So, I just finished reading Fairest - In All The Land, and I know StatusQuoIsGod and such, but how the hell did [[spoiler: Beast, the Blue Fairy and many others come back to life after being killed by the Sword of Regret? The word can only resurrect one of the two victims claimed, and Cinderella only chooses to save the girls, yet in the main comic Beast is still alive so he can die fighting Bigby or how Aspen is still alive with Bellflower near the North Wind's palace)]]. The comic doesn't mention how they resurrect, and it contradicts the main storyline. Does this mean that we should treat it as an imaginary story or that they somehow got back to life without an explanation? Also, I apologize if I confused a few details, as the comic is very long and the timeline is too confusing for me to grasp it in one sitting.
** The events are somewhat alluded in #141, so while it's unclear when they happen, at least they happen before that one. [[spoiler: Beast was never killed. When Goldilocks killed Beauty, somehow the Lamia was inside her and was the second kill for the sword. Bellflower has since reappeared in Fabletown without her husband, and no mention is made of him. Lady of the Lake was chosen over the Blue Fairy, and she hasn't appeared either(with the implication that the experience has made Lake an alcoholic). All others, if I remember correctly, were characters that only debuted to be killed... and Goldilocks]]

* In Ambrose’s arc, he says that any of the ghosts that leave his kingdom become incorporeal again. So how was [[spoiler: Weyland Smith killed by Brandish while outside Fly’s kingdom? Or was the initial statement retconned?]]

*** [[spoiler: then peter pan was taken up for being a Villain in Once upon a time]]

** Actually, people are believing in Fables less and less. But once the big bad wolf shows up and starts chowing on relatives, your belief in him skyrockets. While the adversary threatened to exterminate the mundanes, his real plan is subjugation - a which point their belief can be amplified, controlled, and directed at approporiately loyal targets.

** The Voice of God has been very clear that the idea that Fables' power is tied to their popularity is just an in-universe theory held by the Fables, not a fundamental rule. He has heavily implied that the real rules of the universe are more complicated, or at least different. Even if they turn out to be right, as mentioned above, the Adversary very well may not believe it. Even among Fables it isn't a universal theory.

* I know it's called "Fables", but where's Ender? Where's KnownSpace? Where's Dune and the 2001 where we went to Titan and ''Star Trek'' and ''Star Wars'' and the ''Lord of the Rings''? Hell, where's ''Dungeons and Dragons''? These things all occupy just as much, if not more, headspace as the other fables found in the comics, and yet they're not even given a passing mention.

** I think that in the Fableverse the Fables that exist there never really went out of style and remained around. This is supported by the popularity of Jack's movies, the cubs playing with action figures of Jack and King Arthur and in an early comic Blue, Pinnochio and Flycatcher are seen reading comics called [[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} Oz-Men]], [[ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns Red Hood: Riding Hood Returns]], and [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Fairytale Four]].

** The events are somewhat alluded in #141, so while it's unclear when they happen, at least they happen before that one. [[spoiler: Beast was never killed. When Goldilocks killed Beauty, somehow the Lamia was inside her and was the second kill for the sword. Bellflower has since reappeared in Fabletown without her husband, and no mention is made of him. All others, if I remember correctly, were characters that only debuted to be killed... and Goldilocks]]

* If the belief in their stories in the Mundane world sustains and empowers them, then why is the Adversary [[spoiler:waging all-out war on both the Fables ''and'' the Mundanes, and turning the planet into a prison in the aftermath]]? You'd think that someone as resourceful and clever as [[spoiler:Gepetto]] would realize he'd be slitting his own throat with his plan.

*** This is also why the Adversary was [[spoiler:Gepetto]]. Originally, The Adversary was intended to be [[spoiler:Peter Pan]].

* Why did it take everyone centuries, even within the empire to figure out that the Emperor was really [[spoiler:Gepetto]]? Everything pointed towards him from the beginning, what with his troops, and depictions of the Empire couldn't seem to decide if it was actually a secret or an "open secret".
** Its simple and not really a headscratcher since its perfectly established in the series: the wooden soldiers are EliteMooks, only sent for special missions or made to impersonate people and take their place. The common Mooks are Orcs, goblins, giants, dragons, normal human soldiers and whatever else from the many worlds conquered by TheEmpire. The Fables didn't even know about the wooden soldiers until the specific StoryArc introduced them. As for [[spoiler:Gepetto]], pincochio and by extension the fables came to the conclusion that rather than killed in the invasion, he was captured and forced to create the wooden soldiers. Not only that, but the Empire is so mind-numbingly large that most people don't even know who [[spoiler:Gepetto]] is, and just think that he's [[spoiler:some old man that talks to the Emperor and is for some reason considered important despite being some old woodcarver.]] Really, the only ones in the Empire who do know are [[spoiler:Gepetto's]] sons, the Snow Queen, The Emperor and possibly The Nome King and Baba Yaga [[spoiler: and Frau totenkinder, but she didn't tell the fables that.]]

** Gepetto told Boy Blue when talking about getting rid of some of his co-conspirators about trying to figure out if they where like "Us". It would seem that the immortality thing true of every person living in the homeland. It probably has to do if the person is a character in a folktale or not.

* In ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'', Baba Yaga mentions that the Red Riding Hood imposter Boy Blue had fallen for is still alive, per her words: "She still talks about you" (paraphrasing). However, after Blue finds out the real Riding Hood isn't the one he fell for, he completely gives up his search and it's never mentioned again. What happened with the revelation that the imposter he fell for is still alive somewhere? Or was that just meant to be Baba Yaga lying? If so I didn't catch up on it.