| This article is about the comic series character. You may be looking for his video game counterpart. |
| “ | I had no trouble being a monster. I loved it, in fact, and would have been perfectly content to grow ever more monstrous, day by day. | „ |
| ~ Bigby to Boy Blue in the afterlife in Fables #134 - "Deeper Into the Woods: A Camelot Interlude" |
Bigby Wolf is an animal Fable who lives in Fabletown in New York City. He debuts in Fables #1 - "Chapter One: Old Tales Revisited." He is the renowned Big Bad Wolf of legend, now capable of assuming human form at will. Bigby is known for tormenting pigs and girls in red hoods, but has since been trying to put those dark days behind him. He has acted as Fabletown's sheriff and remained in his human form, mostly, for centuries.
However, due to his rough past, the citizens of Fabletown are slow to trust him and he has been banned from ever setting foot onto the Farm. Having fallen in love with Snow White centuries ago, he has since tried to suppress his more monstrous urges.
After a magically induced night together, Bigby and Snow had seven children together. After being separated for years, the two finally admitted their love for each other and married. Raising their children together in Wolf Valley, the two found some semblance of happily ever after. But this was inevitably cut short by the death of one of their children, the loss of another, and Bigby's own death. After being resurrected and controlled by Nurse Spratt, Snow and her sister Rose Red entered into a magical war. In the end the crisis was averted, Bigby saved, and he and his wife lived a long and happy life with many descendants.
History
Early life
Centuries ago in the Homelands, the North Wind fell in love with a blazing white she-wolf named Winter. Taking canine form, he courted her and stayed by her side for two seasons but - due to his nature as an ever changing wind - he eventually turned wind again and flew away, leaving Winter heartbroken. Soon after her lover fled, Winter gave birth to a litter of cubs in the Black Forest, including the one that would become the Big Bad Wolf of legend. As the runt of the litter, Bigby was often teased and mockingly called the "Big Bad Wolf" by his brothers, who soon shortened it to "Bigby". However his mother loved all her sons equally and tried her best to shield Bigby from his brother's bullying. Watching his mother die of sadness and unrequited love, young Bigby grew to hate his father and regard him with little respect.[15]
When his mother did finally die, his elder brothers left in search of their father and Bigby remained behind to protect her corpse from scavengers and carrion eaters.Unfortunately, he proved unable to defend her remains due to his small size. Fueled by his loss, Bigby personally swore vengeance against the capricious North Wind, vowing to eat something bigger as each day passed until he became large and strong enough to confront his father.[15]
Life in the Homelands
At some unknown point in his life, Bigby set his sights on three anthropomorphic pigs; while they were not the largest pigs he hunted, he thought by eating all three at once he would technically still be honoring his vow. By the time he actually hunted the Three Little Pigs,[18] he had discovered some of the peculiar gifts he inherited from his father; he apparently failed to kill the pig brothers seeing as all three survived through the Exodus.
Sometime after this, the first humans he hunted and ate were Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. A local woodsman cut him open while Bigby was sleeping, pulled Red Riding Hood and her grandmother out of his stomach (the two had some magic to them and thus survived his assault), sewed rocks into his belly, and threw Bigby into a river.[19] He survived by holding his breath for three weeks (another gift from being the son of the North Wind) and passing the stones until he could manage to swim to the surface.[20] Following that incident, he swore to only hunt humans.[15]
As Bigby began eating humans, he grew unnaturally large. He soon grew to gargantuan size and regularly devoured entire towns, defeated armies, and even killed a dragon. Once he felt he was of sufficient strength to confront his father, Bigby journeyed to Wind's castle seven times to kill him, and seven times was he proved no match for the elemental might of his father. Accepting defeat, Bigby swore to think no more of his dead mother or loathsome father, instead burying his hatred and grief.[15]
The Exodus
In the days leading up to the Exodus, Bigby hunted armies of men and goblins in the Black Forest, making it his personal mission to destroy corrupted invading forces and their camps, devour their night watchmen and destroy their supply trains.
In furtherance of his attempts to frustrate the Adversary, the Wolf took up the task of leading Fables who wished to escape the Adversary through the portal. In order to ensure that no spies were shown passage through, he insisted on tasting the flesh of everyone to whom he showed the path, and determining whether they were tainted or not.
One day, while tearing through their ranks, he discovered a woman with alabaster skin as fresh as snow and hair as black as coal. Upon approaching her, Bigby noticed her pleasant scent, destroyed her shackles and chains, freeing her from captivity; Bigby was amused by the women as she was not as terrified of him as the other captives, enough to take a sword to defend herself if the wolf were to attack.[21] On meeting Snow White for the first time, he (which is apparently, to a wolf, a sign of one's future mate), which he would never be able to forget.[18] It was after this encounter that Bigby began to feel an attraction to Snow, though he would remain in the Homelands for many years before even crossing over into the Mundane world.
The mundane world
After fleeing the Homelands, Bigby spent many years wandering Europe, eventually settling in the Carpathian Mountains. The locals were superstitious, and blamed Bigby's carnage on a local count, whom they claimed was a fell spirit risen from the dead. This meant that the wolf was left alone. The count enjoyed the notoriety and he and the wolf visited occasionally — through the count, the wolf was able to get some news of the wider world.[22]
He was later tracked down by Snow White and Feathertop whom personally promised him safe-guarded passage into the new community. Bigby agreed and Snow White cut him with a lycanthropy-stained knife, granting him the ability to change into human form at will.[22]
1692
Arriving in Salem, Massachusetts, Snow White dropped the newly human Bigby off to learn human civility under Headmaster Crane.[23] Bigby initially had some trouble adjusting to living life as a human and butted heads with Crane, but his lessons in gentility proved fruitful. During one of his lessons, Bigby was called into the nearby woods by a chalk-white doe and came upon a coven of witches led by Tituba. After returning to Crane and listing those in attendance, Crane became enraged when Bigby revealed Crane's lover, Abigail Williams, was amongst them. Crane refused to include her in his list of so-called witches. Crane later orchestrated the excommunication of John Proctor. Abigail feared John would be hanged and went to Crane hoping he'd help. Crane revealed his involvement and tried to forcibly coerce Abigail into serving him. Bigby put a stop to this and Abigail fled Salem. When it came time for an educated Bigby to go to New Amsterdam, he bid Crane a proper farewell shortly before John Proctor's hanging. Before his departure, he encountered a glamoured Aunty Greenleaf and saw her take Abigail's form to do Crane a "favor."[24]
Fabletown
Bigby later became employed as Fabletown's Sheriff under King Cole's administration due to his incredible detective skills and fighting prowess. But - due to his dark past and actions - several Fables were hesitant to trust him, thus banning him from ever setting foot on the Farm.[21]
Shortly after dealing with Tommy Sharp, Bigby and Snow White were enchanted by one of Bluebeard's artifacts. They went camping in Washington for several days under the spell.[25] When they were back to normal, they quickly found that Goldilocks was sent by Bluebeard to kill them.[26] Bigby was able to defeat her. Upon returning to Fabletown, Bigby had to admit that he had slept with Snow White and she was pregnant.[27]
Departure
When Bigby's and Snow White's children were born, it was discovered they inherited their father's talents. As such, they were confined to The Farm until they proved they could control their powers, a place that Bigby was forbidden to go. He retreated into the wilderness of Alaska. One of Bigby's sons, a wind named Ghost, was able to come with him. While there, he lived with a mundy woman named Sarah Tanaraq. Upon hearing that Prince Charming had a way he could live with his family from Mowgli, he returned to Fabletown.[28]
To live with his family, Bigby had to complete a mission for Prince Charming. He climbed up a bean stalk to the Cloud Kingdoms. There, he met Cinderella who prepared him for the mission. Bigby parachuted into Calabri Anagni, the capital of the Empire. Once there, he warned Geppetto that Fabletown will strike back every time the Empire attacks, and blew up the Magic Grove. He attempted to free the Blue Fairy and bring Pinocchio back to Fabletown, but failed.[29]
Upon returning from his mission, Bigby arranged to meet Snow White. He explained that what had once been the Valley of Big Sleepers was now Wolf Valley and asked her to marry him. She agreed. The two of them and their children all moved to Wolf Valley together.[29]
Brief Retirement
Bigby spent the following years in retirement, living with Snow and their children. Despite having retired, Bigby was still involved in some of the executive decisions when it comes to Fabletown. King Cole, Prince Charming, Beauty and Beast often refer to Snow White and Bigby.
He became active again during the War against the Adversary, commanding a war front. The Adversary's army sent a magical arrow intending to kill him with one hit, but Boy Blue intercepted it and Bigby's only injury was a small cut that caused him to sleep for a few days. When he woke up, he challenged the Emperor and killed him with the aid of Boy Blue.
Death
Following the disappearance of two of his children, Bigby went on a mission to find them, only to be called back when he heard of Snow White's troubles with Prince Brandish. He arrived on the scene intent on killing Brandish, not knowing that every injury he gave him would be deflected to Snow. Brandish used his sword's magic to turn Bigby into a statue of glass, and the witches declared that there was no trace of him inside it. The hope of Bigby using his father's powers to shape-shift into a living wolf again was destroyed when Brandish hit Bigby and shattered him into pieces.
The witches gather the pieces to rebuild him, but claim it may take centuries before he is made whole again. While this takes less time than they anticipated, Leigh Duglas has stolen a piece of glass and kept it to herself, leaving the statue incomplete.
In the afterlife, Bigby was told by Boy Blue that he could return to life at great cost, that it would be the most physically and emotionally painful experience of his life.[30] Whether or not Bigby chose to return was left vague. The repaired glass statue of Bigby disappeared, and rumors of a wild beast killing in the streets of New York began to spread.
Resurrection
Bigby "shattered."
Bigby returned from the Lands of the Afterlife in bad shape. He looks broken and cracked, and does not recognize his friends. He is terrorizing New York by killing innocent people, and whether his state has anything to do with the trials Boy Blue spoke of is still unknown. The other Fables attempt to stop or apprehend him, which results in the death of Thrushbeard at the feral Bigby's hands. Unknown to the other Fables, Nurse Spratt is behind Bigby's rampage, having reformed the stolen piece of his glass body into a ring with which she can control his actions—though apparently with some difficulty, as Spratt is shown admonishing Bigby to stop resisting her commands. In addition, Bigby's damaged form is determined to be "leaking" raw magic which can disrupt existing enchantments, resulting in the spells cloaking the new Fabletown castle to weaken and fail, making the structure visible to Mundies for the first time.
Battle of Fabletown
The Black Forest
Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham
Epilogue
Personality
Bigby is pragmatic, cunning, and usually even-tempered despite his animal nature.
Physical appearance
The Big Bad Wolf is a giant, eight-foot tall wolf, but being cut with a lycanthropy stained knife has given him the power to change into human form at will.[21] He has such a fine degree of control over this transformation that he can partially or fully shift between his two forms, or even take a hybrid shape of his wolf and human forms, similar to a supernatural werewolf.[6] Apparently because of his heritage, Bigby could have learned to shape shift of his own will into practically any form he wanted, but he rejected that gift from his father's heritage and grown too set in his ways to learn naturally; Bigby's brothers, who did decide to learn, can assume a multitude of shapes.
Relationships
Snow White
Bigby Wolf encountered Snow White and Rose Red as captives, and freed them.[21] When he went into exile, Snow White visited him and stabbed him with a knife that contained werewolf blood, giving him the ability to take on human form, since he would have to pass as a human in order not to get killed by the Adversary's army. They have seven children, are married and lived in Wolf Valley, before making their new home in the Hesse.
Bigby remembers little things about Snow. In Fables #22 Bigby brings Snow White French chocolates, remembering her sweet tooth for chocolate (from Legends in Exile).[31]
The North Wind
The North Wind is Bigby's father, but he is seen to not get along with Mr. North. Bigby tolerates him only for the sake of his children.
Powers and abilities
Powers
- Immortality: A witch who had the power to prescribe fates to others gave Bigby a fate that decreed he will never grow old and outlive all his children. Whether this amalgamated with his Fable nature, or is what made him a Fable is not known. Bigby has claimed to be millennia old.[32]
- Accelerated healing: Bigby is capable of rapid recovery from even the most grievous of injuries (i.e. impalement) and can do so without any visible scarring.
- Enhanced strength and agility: Bigby has superior strength and agility; his level of strength is enhanced the more wolf-like he is. In his true wolf form he has gone toe-to-toe with dragons, giants, and other sorts of fantastical beasts.
- Enhanced endurance: Bigby has a high-tolerance for pain and remarkable endurance, having once swam across the Bering Strait for days without getting noticeably tired and he even referred to it as "an enjoyable swim". Bigby is also unaffected by the cold.
- Enhanced senses: Bigby has remarkably acute senses of smell and hearing. He can correctly identify an individual merely by smelling a sample of their blood.[5] He is particularly attuned to the scent of Snow White, which he can never block out no matter how hard he tries. He is aware of her location every hour of every day, and can even recognize her mood from changes in her musk.[18]
- Claws and fangs: Bigby can manifest elongated, sharp fangs and claws.
- Limited aerokinesis: As he is the son of the North Wind, Bigby has control over the lower-tier winds, plus the ability to exhale air with the force of a hurricane.[18] He is also able to hold his breath for an abnormally long time, making it near-impossible for him to drown.[20]
Abilities
- Interrogation: Bigby Wolf uses intimidation and violent outbursts of emotion when interrogating suspects. Sometimes, he will blatantly accuse someone of an outrageous crime just to gauge their reaction.
- Investigation: With the aid of his keen analytical mind as well as his canine senses, Bigby is an extremely competent detective. Although he personifies himself in the style of a classic 1930s gumshoe detective, Bigby admits that his chosen profession is a fairly un-glamorous one. In over two-hundred years as a detective, he has never been in a gunfight, or even fired his gun. He's never even learned how to drive, much less experienced the thrill of a high-speed car chase. In his own words, "Even the number of times I've had to chase a suspect on foot can be counted on one hand."[33]
- Experienced hand-to-hand combatant: Bigby, whilst presumably lacking any formal training aside from what he was taught in his military service during the First and Second World Wars, is shown to be very skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
Weaknesses
- Fire: Goldilocks, based on a rudimentary knowledge of werewolf lore, claimed that fire could kill Bigby.[34]
- Magic: Bigby is susceptible to the effects of magic. This is inclusive of mystical artifacts, such as Peter Piper's magical flute Frost.
- Sensory overload: Bigby's sense of smell is so acute that to avoid sensory overload in the middle of bustling New York City, he is forced to smoke constantly and heavily to dull his senses. Even then, he must exert considerable willpower to mentally filter all of the millions of scents and smells.
- Silver: The legends of great and magical wolves often make mention of their weakness to objects or weapons made of silver, and those tales bear out to be true. If injured by a silver weapon, it will take him much longer to heal than it would from being injured by a weapon composed of conventional material. Any silver left in Bigby's body weakens his system, slows his healing, and can cause long term damage.
Killed victims
This list shows the victims Bigby has killed:
- Magus Atlantes
- Numerous counts of Nazi troops
- Ichabod Crane
- Wechsler
- Numerous counts of Empire troops
- Thrushbeard
- Beast
- Ozma
Appearances
Fables
Jack of Fables
- Jack of Fables #1 (via imagination)
- Jack of Fables #22
- Jack of Fables #23
- Jack of Fables #24
- Jack of Fables #31 (mentioned)
- Jack of Fables #33
- Jack of Fables #34
- Jack of Fables #35
The Literals
The Unwritten Fables
- The Unwritten #50 (alternate universe)
- The Unwritten #51 (alternate universe)
- The Unwritten #52 (alternate universe)
- The Unwritten #53 (alternate universe)
- The Unwritten #54 (alternate universe)
Fables: The Wolf Among Us
Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 1 |
Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 2 |
Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 3 |
Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 4 |
Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 5 |
Fables: The Wolf Among Us Volume 6 |
Original source
Bigby Wolf is based on the wolf from the fairy tale of "Little Red Riding Hood," the big grey wolf from the composition Peter and the Wolf, the wolf from the story of "The Three Little Pigs," and the concept of the Big Bad Wolf. His character also draws inspiration from werewolf mythology.
Trivia
- When Bigby casts a shadow on the wall outside Rose Red's apartment in Fables #1 — "Chapter One: Old Tales Revisited," and on the entrance to the Woodlands basement in Fables #27 — "In Like a Lion — Out on the Lam: Chapter Eight, March of the Wooden Soldiers," it takes the form of a wolf even though he is in human form.
- Although Bigby spends the majority of his time in human form, his natural shape is that of a wolf.[6]
- In Bigby's apartment, there is a framed picture of an elderly woman wearing a bonnet; a reference to the grandmother from the fairy tale of "Little Red Riding Hood."[6]
- When Bigby lights a cigarette on the dance floor on Remembrance Day in Fables #4 — "Chapter Four: Remembrance Day," you can see that his cuff button is shaped like a wolf's head.
- Bigby is a chain smoker, though he claims in Fables #16 - "Duel: Storybook Love Part Three" it's to "deaden his senses enough to avoid a sensory overload from living in the city."
- Bigby's cigarette brand is called "Huff & Puff,"[35] a reference to the tale of "The Three Little Pigs," in which the Big Bad Wolf menacingly approaches the dwellings of the three pigs and warns: "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow the house down."[36]
- Bigby is not the first wolf archetype in popular culture to assume the title of Sheriff. In the 1973 Walt Disney film Robin Hood, the part of the Sheriff of Nottingham was personified by a wolf.
- Bigby is the main protagonist in the video game The Wolf Among Us, called to investigate what appears to be nothing more than a minor commotion at Toad's apartment building. This soon turns into a murder mystery when the girl from the apartment, Faith, is later found dead. Bigby also has an entry in the Book of Fables.
References
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See also
| Fables | |
|---|---|
| Series | Fables • Jack of Fables • Fairest • Fables: The Wolf Among Us • Everafter: From the Pages of Fables |
| Specials | Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall • Peter & Max: A Fables Novel • Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love • Cinderella: Fables Are Forever • The Literals • Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland • Fairest: In All the Land • The Unwritten Fables • Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham |
| Characters | Bigby Wolf • Snow White • Rose Red • Prince Charming • Beauty • Beast • Boy Blue • Flycatcher • King Cole • Frau Totenkinder • Geppetto • Snow Queen • North Wind • Jack Horner • Bufkin |
| Video games | The Wolf Among Us • The Wolf Among Us 2 (unreleased) |
| Jack of Fables | |
|---|---|
| Characters | Jack Horner • Kevin Thorn • Gary • Mr. Revise • Robin Page • Priscilla Page • Hillary Page • Jack Frost • Babe • Snow Queen • Wicked John • Alice |
| Locations | Fabletown • Golden Boughs Retirement Village |
| Fabletown | |
|---|---|
| Governing body | King Cole • Snow White (formerly) • Prince Charming (formerly) • Beauty • Ichabod Crane (formerly) |
| Inhabitants | Beast • Bigby Wolf (formerly) • Flycatcher (formerly) • Trusty John • Grimble • Bufkin • Cinderella • Mowgli • Hobbes • Pinocchio • Briar Rose • Doctor Swineheart • Rapunzel • Kay • Edmond Dantès • Crispin Cordwainer • Thrushbeard • Fairy Witch • Frau Totenkinder • Ozma • Fairy Witch • Morgan le Fay |
| Places | Grand Green Florist Shop • Chateau d'If Fencing Academy • Edward Bear's Candies • Ford Laundry • Nod's Books • Lewis Antiques • I Am the Eggman Diner • Yellowbrick Roadhouse • Web 'n' Muffet Market • The Woodland Luxury Apartments • The Glass Slipper Shoes • Branstock Tavern |
| Unique items | Magic Mirror |
| Wolf family | |
|---|---|
| "Patmat" | Snow White • Bigby Wolf |
| The cubs | Winter • Blossom • Therese • Darien • Conner • Ambrose • Ghost |
| Allies | Beauty • Beast • Cinderella • Briar Rose • Boy Blue • King Cole • Prince Charming • Sam • Herne • Herne, son of Herne |
| Enemies | Mister Dark • Leigh Duglas • Prince Brandish • Peter Pan |
| Locations | Wolf Valley • The Hesse |
| Other relatives | North Wind • Winter • Lauda • Lauda's husband • Queen of the Silver Realm • Rose Red • West Wind • East Wind • South Wind • Etan Wolf • Lake • Tannika Wynn • Sam's great-grandson • Hel |