Ichabod Crane (Video Game)

"I guess we know who's in charge, sheriff. Oh is it? You think you have what it takes to run that office? You think I didn't make sacrifices? I've made sacrifices. And you won't be in that chair one minute before you have to give up something you care about just so the wheels don't fall off the goddamn wagon. I did the best I could with what I had. And the town took everything it could out of me. If I maybe took a little something back in return, then so be it. I have no regrets."

- Crane on his tenure as deputy mayor.

Ichabod Crane is a prominent character, and the main turned quinary antagonist of The Wolf Among Us. He is based on the main protagonist of Sleepy Hollow. After his story, he became the cowardly yet greedy and arrogant Deputy Mayor of Fabletown who was directly responsible for its downward spiral, and as a result, is despised by everyone in the town, even his own workers Bigby and Snow White. He was later revealed to be a pawn of the opportunistic crime lord Crooked Man, who really runs Fabletown through Crane, yet Crane caused enough damage to this town perhaps more than he did.

Episode 1: Faith
"Crane: Don't interrupt me, Ms. Snow! Snow: You asked me a question. Crane: Don't change the subject. You are to blame for this unpleasantness, Ms. Snow!"

- Crane goes off on Snow

After finding Faith's decapitated head on the front steps of the Woodlands, Snow White goes to report her and Bigby's findings to Crane, as he is the acting mayor of Fabletown in the absence of King Cole. The news angers him, and he begins to yell at Snow, claiming that the murder was her fault. Bigby enters the business office as they argue, and intervenes in defense of Snow. Crane then turns to blame him, saying that it's his job to protect the citizens of Fabletown. He asks if Bigby has any leads or suspects, who can point the finger at Bluebeard, the Woodsman, or Faith's pimp, all of which further displease him. Crane then asks Snow to reschedule his "massage" with Vivian, insults her for seemingly forgetting to purchase wine for him, and leaves, snidely telling Bigby to "do his job". Bigby is given the option of replying with an insult to Crane, but before Bigby can do so, Snow will stop him and remark that infuriating him is not a good idea.

Episode 2: Smoke &amp; Mirrors
"What the hell do you think you're doing? You were supposed to wait for us to get back! I told you, if you wanna be involved, you will do things my way: No violence."

- Crane criticizing Bluebeard for attempting to kill Tweedle Dee if Bigby arrested him. (Determinant)

After Bigby is arrested by the NYPD for an unknown reason at the Woodlands, he is brought to a precinct in the Upper West Side. The following afternoon, he is questioned by Detective Brannigan. During the questioning, the detective suddenly seizes up and falls unconscious, along with the rest of the officers in the station. Crane walks in holding in his hands a box with pieces of evidence about a murder in the Woodlands and reveals that he used a memory wipe spell on the cops, allowing him to rescue Bigby and bring him to the Woodlands to interrogate his capture. On the way back he mentions his sadness over Snow's death, to which Bigby can sympathize with him or disbelieve him.

If Bigby uses violence during his interrogation on the prisoner, he will try to stop Bigby thus leading Bigby to nearly hurt him. When Snow appears in the interrogation room, he and the others are beyond shocked to see her alive and well.

Whilst Bigby and Snow are looking at the corpse of Lily he comes to see if Bigby has found any clues, and then says that Snow should stay when Bigby is about to leave to tell Holly of her sister's death; Bigby can permit or forbid Snow's agency. Either way, Crane states "I'd love to join you, but I have some business I need to attend to..." and leaves.

If Bigby arrested Tweedledee, Jack states that Dee was here at the bar and Bigby immediately knew it was Crane who released him from custody.

Later, when Bigby is investigating a motel room in the Open Arms Hotel discovering Lily's real crime scene, he finds a photo of Crane and Lily; it is then revealed that Bigby's sudden discovery was being watched by Crane via the Magic Mirror; in order to prevent himself from being caught, Crane smashed the mirror broken with the magic lamp.

Episode 3: A Crooked Mile
"Crane: I know, but that's...I, I just... I just love you Snow. I love you and I'm- I'm sorry I'm not Prince Charming, okay?! I'm sorry I didn't cheat on you and run away to Europe -- Snow: You don't love me Crane. I've seen this before. It is not love."

- Crane to Bigby and Snow if Bigby brings up that he found the photos during Crane's arrest

Crane is brought up when the two Tweedles order Bigby to stop searching for him at gunpoint at Lily's funeral.

At Lily's funeral, Holly is furious at Bigby for throwing Lily's body down the Witching Well, but Snow reveals that Crane was the one who did it and that Bigby had nothing to do with it; it's likely Crane had disposed of her body after Bigby and Snow leave for the Trip Trap.

Now being pursued by Snow and Bigby, Crane takes a shard from the broken mirror so that they couldn't track him and rips a page about the Ring of Dispel from a book documenting all magical items not kept in the Business Office, and plans to use that ring to prove his innocence since Bigby believes that he's the killer. He then travels to Aunty Greenleaf and she gives him the Ring of Dispel but doesn't tell him that the magic has worn off, and leaves right before Bigby and Snow enter Greenleaf's apartment. When Bigby and Snow catch up to him at the Pudding & Pie, he tries to use the ring on Nerissa only to realize that it's defective after multiple failed attempts, and collapses onto the floor. If Bigby mentions how he found the photos of Crane and a Glamoured Lily in the hotel room, Crane then admits his love to Snow, which horrifies her. While Bigby and Snow cannot technically arrest him for such perverted and especially exploitative acts, they instead arrest him for embezzling money from Fabletown to pay off his debts to the Crooked Man.

When leaving the Pudding & Pie, Crane is wanted by the Crooked Man due to his unpaid debts. The Tweedles and Bloody Mary demand Bigby to surrender the in-custody Crane to them. When he refuses, the twins begin to shoot rapidly at Bigby until he transforms into his massive werewolf form (at which the point the player is given the option of viciously killing Dum). Attempting to defend Crane from being freed, he consequentially receives a silver bullet to his side from Mary and collapses. Snow quickly rushes to Bigby and reluctantly allows Bloody Mary to take Crane with her.

Episode 4: In Sheep's Clothing
During his investigation into the Crooked Man's operations, Bigby discovers Crane's tattered coat which contains the stolen photo of Snow White and the shard from the magic mirror which Crane took when he smashed it; Crane, however, is nowhere to be seen.

Once the mirror is finally repaired, Snow asks to see where Crane is, and shows him being ordered by Bloody Mary to get on a plane to Paris and remain silent, lest she will deal with him in her own way, in which she actually begged him to disobey for her to have a reason to punish him. Unsurprisingly, he flinched, not wanting to incur her wrath.

Episode 5: Cry Wolf
"Bigby's right! You people don't know what the fuck you're talking about! Do you seriously think you want Crane back? He was an asshole, and he didn't do shit for any of you! Snow and Bigby found my sister. When Crane wouldn't even look."

- Holly discussing Crane's abuse of Lily. (Determinant)

In both the previous episode and in this one, Crane is frequently brought up due to how the Crooked Man committed a crime kidnapping him and how he was a terribly unpopular and incompetent leader. It is currently unknown what happens to him now that the Crooked Man is dead/arrested, but his fate could be traced to his appearance in the comics.

Personality
"He's...he was a conniver, a coward, a liar. And I'll always hate him for that. And I'll hate him for how he...held me in his thoughts."

- Snow White discussing Crane's personality.

Being the acting mayor of Fabletown, Crane often abuses his authority for his own pleasures such as ordering Snow around. Despite having the position as the Deputy Mayor of Fabletown, he rarely takes his job seriously and it is later revealed that he has in fact used Fabletown's funds for his own desires. He also has a perverse obsession with Snow White, even going as far as to hire prostitutes like Lily to glamour themselves as Snow so that he can enact his sexual fantasies. He also shows hints of bigotry and possible prejudice toward trolls, for he quotes "should've left them all in the Homelands" and was horrified to see Lily's true form. Also, he seems to not really care about other Fables either, despite his position as Deputy Mayor, which would explain his selfish greed and his overall poor management over Fabletown as a whole.

Although Crane is cowardly, spiteful, cruel, callous, arrogant, temperamental, and egotistical, (with Snow mentioning in the first episode that she is unsatisfied with how he runs the office), he does not turn out to be directly malicious and is certainly not sadistic. He only worked with the Crooked Man and Bloody Mary through coercion, and does have a sense of morality, for instance, if Bigby tortures the Woodsman/Dee in Smoke & Mirrors, he will stand up for the tortured suspect's rights. Crane also appears to be a defenseless weakling and therefore doesn't show any aggression or anger if Bigby slapped him or broke his nose, as well as cowering when Bigby threatens to punch him. Crane also undermines Bigby's authority for he throws Lily's body down the Witching Well, even if Bigby promised Holly her body or wanted to keep it as evidence, and releasing Tweedledee from custody if Bigby arrested him.

Book of Fables Entry
"Hailing from the haunted town of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane has been Deputy Mayor of Fabletown for nearly 115 years. Crane is a bundle of nerves and takes his job very seriously. Though that doesn't mean he always does it well. As one of Fabletown's elite, Crane is often blind to the troubles of the less well-off citizens. Overall, Crane is authoritarian, cowardly, and always hiding something."

Trivia

 * Crane's attitude varies whenever Bigby arrests Tweedle Dee or The Woodsman. If Woody was arrested, Crane will act timid and nervous if Bigby tortures him. He will also muster up the courage to face Bigby and tell him that he has gone too far, and he "dare says" that his "infantile rashness" caused Snow's death; however, he will also instantly cower upon Bigby slamming him in the wall and threatening to punch him. Alternatively, if Dee was arrested, then Crane will act strict and authoritative, demanding that Bluebeard behaves and pulling Bigby aside if Bigby tortures Dee, the second time, having him remind him that he is his boss and that he answers to him. If Bigby continues, then Crane will angrily criticize him and remind him that his recklessness, violent nature, and inability to control himself has caused Snow's death, to which Bigby can again threaten to punch him, but will simply grab him instead of slamming him on the wall.
 * Crane is voiced by Roger L. Jackson, who voices many other Telltale characters.
 * The continuity of Crane's fate can be read in the Fables issue #22. In Paris, Bigby and Cinderella revealed that Crane once again is a traitor to the Fabletown community by revealing their estimated military strength, tactical magic artifacts, weapons manufacturing, as well as personal reports on each Fable to the Adversary. Crane was then killed by Bigby and he made it look like an accident.
 * Unsurprisingly, alongside Bluebeard, he is one of the most hated characters in the game, both by fans and even the other characters in-game. In fact, fans actually rejoiced when they heard of him being killed by Bigby in the comics. Despite having his own sense of morality, it is only to highlight his own selfishness, as Bigby notes, and it doesn't change the fact that he is still a selfish and greedy tyrant who is hated more than the Crooked Man, despite him being technically his minion and not the main threat.

Appearances
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The Wolf Among Us

 * "Faith"
 * "Smoke & Mirrors"
 * "A Crooked Mile"
 * "In Sheep's Clothing" (No Lines)

Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 1

 * "Issue 4"

Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 2

 * "Issue 13"
 * "Issue 14"

Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 3

 * "Issue 15"
 * "Issue 16"
 * "Issue 17" (Flashback)
 * "Issue 18" (Flashback)
 * "Issue 19" (Flashback)
 * "Issue 20" (Flashback)
 * "Issue 21"

Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 4

 * "Issue 24" (Flashback)

Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 5

 * "Issue 30"
 * "Issue 31"
 * "Issue 32" (No Lines)
 * "Issue 33" (No Lines)

Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 6
}}
 * "Issue 38"
 * "Issue 39" (No Lines)