Bill Willingham's Fables series rounds up scores of fairy tale characters, then places them in a secret yet modern world. Don't be fooled by Disney's depictions of these world-famous figures - most of these characters are deeply flawed, often selfish individuals only looking out for their own. In other words, they've got more in common with the average human.
When you're dealing with such complex figures, you're bound to come across controversy. What makes Fables so jarring, however, is how close it hits to home; it's not some random woman who bounds from one unstable relationship to the next, it's Rose Red! Come delve into this rabbit hole with us, as we examine ten of the most controversial moments from Bill Willingham's fantasy franchise.
10 Everything About Jack Horner
Just because a character is a protagonist doesn't mean they're a hero. Jack Horner lends credence to this claim during his time Fables; he's the embodiment of the concept of a protagonist, yet he's a selfish and hedonistic jerk. Horner hardly has a noble bone in his body, only doing the right thing when he feels like it.
Jack is also one of the Fables that completely devalues human life. We get it, humans can be arrogant, selfish, and destructive. But those same traits sum up Jack perfectly as well - the glib little hypocrite!
9 Killing Tommy Sharp
Hey, we get it; silence is golden, and privacy is a new luxury. One's right to seclusion becomes even more valuable when you're a fire-breathing dragon or a big bad wolf. Still, it's hard to get behind the Fables' desire to kill Tommy Sharp - a normal human who inadvertently discovered Fabletown.
You're telling us that a town full of magical beings and sorcerors couldn't find a better solution than murder? Heck, the Fables could've polymorphed Tommy until they came up with something more concrete. We just think that not enough of them wanted to try in the end.
8 Geppetto Exploiting The Blue Fairy
Do you remember all of those depictions of Geppetto as a loving man that just wanted a son? Throw all of that out the window when you're discussing his Fables counterpart. Geppetto is a full-fledged villain in the comics, with others calling him the Adversary out of fear. Typically, Geppetto and Pinocchio live happily ever after when the Blue Fairy gives the doll life.
In Fables, Geppetto captured the Blue Fairy and drained the magic out of her! By the time we see her, she's sadly a rotting corpse.
7 Snow White's Fables #100 Speech
Snow White is probably one of the most consistently controversial characters in Fables, next to Bigby Wolf himself. Far from being a damsel in distress, Snow harbors a cold yet rationale outlook on life. When she got into an argument with Nurse Spratt in issue #100, Snow didn't hesitate to verbally obliterate Leigh Douglas.
Snow essentially tells Nurse Pratt that beautiful people can get away with things because of their looks. Conventionally less attractive people, however, need to 'make up' for their appearances with nice attitudes. Yeah, Fables is full of controversial topics like this - that's a large part of what makes reading these comics so interesting.
6 Snow's Reunion With Ghost
Despite her often cold-hearted demeanor, Snow White does deeply care for her children. That's why she began unraveling at her seams when her child Ghost went missing. For a while, readers wondered what became of Snow and Bigby's child - who was invisible and needed to feed on air to live.
This lead Ghost to accidentally kill a bunch of other Fables while he was still a child. It'll be a while until Ghost fully understands his actions, but he'll be in for a painful yet valuable lesson about powers and responsibility.
5 Boy Blue's Swansong
In many respects, Boy Blue is the antithesis of Jack Horner; Blue is kind, compassionate, and benevolent despite being a comparatively less prominent character. When the Fables had to battle against Geppetto's Empire, Boy Blue suited up and prepared to defend his home. Despite the odds, Blue succeeded - albeit at the cost of his own life.
Of all the other Fables, Boy Blue was one of the most unequivocally good - alongside Flycatcher. His death left a huge rift in Fabletown and hit many fans hard.
4 The Origins Of Therese' Toy Companions
Initially, Therese Wolf was a spoiled little girl who constantly argued with her siblings. She was as headstrong as her mother and as unwieldy as her father, in her own way. That all changed when Therese and her brother Darien got lost in Toyland. Most other Fables call the place Discardia, as it's a home for abandoned children's toys.
Turns out that all of the toys from Discarbia accidentally hurt children in some way; some toys choked toddlers who swallowed them, while others left scratches due to their sharp edges. This arc feels reminiscent of Toy Story 3 - very dark and hardly child-friendly in the grand scheme of things.
3 Darien Wolf's Sacrifice
As you could imagine, it's quite difficult to leave Toyland. Were it any easier, its inhabitants would've set a course for greener pastures long ago. Therese and Darien find this out the hard way - with the Wolf siblings nearly dying while attempting to return home. Eventually encountering powerful magic, Darien learns of a way to save his sister's life at the cost of his own.
Though he's just a child, Darien allows himself to die for his sister's sake. Therese spends the rest of her time in Fables making Dare's sacrifice mean something.
2 1001 Nights Of Snowfall - A Frog's Eye View
1001 Nights of Snowfall serves a prequel anthology to the Fables universe; Snow White gets held hostage by an Arabian Fable and tells him various stories to save her life. Most of these stories delve into the past of Fabletown's residents, including Bigby and Snow White herself. Things become exceedingly tragic, however, when Snow recounts the Flycatcher's tale.
We learn that Ambrose lost his family and his kingdom when the Adversary marched against him. Prepared to fight to the bitter end, the Flycatcher was instead turned into a frog. Unable to defend his family, Ambrose had to helplessly watch as his family was butchered right in front of him.
1 Bigby Wolf's Characterization In General
We don't think that Bigby is controversial because he's kind of a jerk and a Social Darwinist - plenty of characters that fit that bill exist in more mainstream comics. No, Bigby's controversial in our book because he's a mouthpiece for many of Bill Willingham's views. We actually think it's fascinating that Fables can allow a bit of discourse between readers and the author.
But not everyone will find the experience to be mentally stimulating or thought-provoking. Bill Willingham has strong views on life that might rub you the wrong way, depending on your own beliefs. So if you do read Fables, just be prepared for Bigby to shake things up and make an impression on you for sure.