Maddy

Maddy
Biographical information
Real name	Unknown
Aliases	Medea Maddy Scythian Raven Sycorax
Status	Alive
Species	Unknown (Fable)
Gender	Female
Occupation	Sorceress Member of 13th Floor magicians
Affiliation	Fabletown 13th Floor magicians
Appearances
First issue	Fables #25 — "Our Right to Assemble Issue: Chapter Six — March of the Wooden Soldiers"
Last issue	Fables #159 — "The Black Forest Chapter Nine: The Man/Woman/Beast Who Would Be King"
Original source	Sycorax from The Tempest, and Medea from Greek mythology

“	Try to hide from me and all you do is present an irresistible challenge. After all, I'm the invisible walker. Once called the Scythian Raven. Once called Medea. Once called Sycorax. More to the point, I'm our acknowledged specialist in matters of hide and seek. And look at that. My stronger working has found you. Whatever can you be up to in the darkest part of the forest, Totenkinder?	„
	~ Maddy to herself, while tracking Frau Totenkinder in Fables #88 — "Totenkinder: Chapter Two of Witches"

Maddy is a black Fable cat who is a member of the 13th Floor magicians. She first appears in Fables #25 — "Our Right to Assemble Issue: Chapter Six — March of the Wooden Soldiers." She was particularly active against Mister Dark.

History

Background

Maddy is an enchantress with incredible power, who went by many names over hundreds of years. Her more famous guises were as Medea, and Sycorax.

Preferring the current form of a black cat with a devil tail, Maddy is a member of the 13th Floor magicians.

Invasion of the wooden solders

As Fabletown gears up for battle with the wooden soldiers, Snow White takes a moment to brief Maddy and the other 13th Floor members on their roles in the upcoming fight. She explains that while their impressive abilities would be useful in battle, they are needed to ensure that the mundies remain unaware of what is happening: They must prevent the mundies from noticing or remembering anything that occurs there in the next few days. Snow makes it clear that they have been recruited for an officially declared emergency and, as a result, Fabletown will not be compensating them for their work; they must work without pay until the crisis is over. Their leader, Frau Totenkinder, agrees to this arrangement and states that they are willing to assist however they can.

Threat of Mister Dark

As Maddy creeps along to spy on Frau Totenkinder, the little dog wanders over, curious if this is a new visitor to the Farm that he hasn't seen yet seen. He circles around her in excitement, eagerly asking if she fell out of the sky when it was raining cats and dogs earlier and if she wants to play. But his enthusiasm is short-lived; when Maddy suddenly grows larger and gruffly tells him to get lost, he scampers off, yelping in terror.

Maddy later volunteers to spy on Mister Dark who, even with all his power, cannot detect her presence.

Return to the Farm

As the Fables ready themselves to return to the Farm after seeking refuge in Haven from the threat of Mister Dark, Flycatcher magically transports Bagheera, Clara, Maddy and Rose Red to the Farm to investigate potential threats. Upon reaching their destination, Maddy communicates to Rose Red that she does not perceive any immediate foreign spells. She then hastens away to investigate the magical status more thoroughly.

Powers and abilities

“	There's no power on this or any world that can notice me, once I've decided I don't want to be noticed.	„
	~ Maddy to Ozma, Fables #90 — "Ozma: Chapter Four of Witches"

• Immortality: Like all Fables, Maddy is unaging and difficult to kill. Allegedly, a Fable's degree of invulnerability is based on how popular they are among the mundanes.
• Witchcraft: Like her fellow Witches of the 13th Floor, Maddy has been shown to be an immensely powerful magic user, with her abilities & knowledge being comparable to her fellow 13th floor coven mates Frau Totenkinder and Ozma and her age having been implied to be close to their own. Maddy herself was noted to have assisted the other witches of the 13th Floor in creating the numerous anti detection spells placed on Fabletown and was later noted to have also assisted them in weaponizing and analyzing the unique sleeping curse placed on Briar Rose and later served as one of the primary teachers for the newly opened Frau Totenkinder Memorial School.
  • Transformation and shapeshifting: Maddy has showcased immense skill in the art of transformation and shapeshifting having displayed the ability to freely change her shape into any form she desired, as seen when she was able to easily change herself into a crow for aerial travel and reconnaissance and implied that prior to changing into her current cat form, she had taken a variety of different appearances & identities over the centuries during the course of her long life.
  • Detection and tracking: Maddy has stated that she was the master of hide and seek and later proclaimed that no one was capable of hiding themselves from her the moment she set her sights on them, as seen when she managed to easily track down the immensely powerful Frau Totenkinder despite her actively trying to hide her location from her fellow Witches of the 13th Floor.
  • Stealth: However, Maddy's most impressive skills and powers lied in her ability to completely hide her presence even from the most powerful magic users, as seen when she managed to easily spy on both Frau Totenkinder and Geppetto without either of them noticing her despite both of them being immensely powerful magic users as well. She was also able to spy and infiltrate the controlled territory of Mister Dark, one of the Great Powers for a prolonged period of time without being detected by him despite his immense power and even managed to send discrete messages and intelligence to her comrades in Fabletown without his notice.

Original source

Sources

Maddy is based on Sycorax from Shakespeare's The Tempest, and Medea from Greek mythology. Although Shakespeare's source for Sycorax remains unproven, the figure of Medea is believed to be the playwright's main source for the character. Maddy's alias, the "Scythian Raven," alludes to one of Medea's surnames and the speculation that Shakespeare combined the words "Scythian" and "corax" (Greek for "raven") to create Sycorax's name.

Sycorax

Sycorax is an unseen character in The Tempest. Though she is already dead when the story begins, her story runs parallel to Prospero's and while Prospero spends fifteen years on a Mediterranean island, Sycorax's reign over it mirrors his. Prospero, who had been unjustly removed from his position as Duke of Milan, was spared from execution and instead put onto a small boat with his infant daughter, Miranda. He drifted on the Mediterranean Sea until he finally landed on a distant island. Sycorax was exiled from Algiers to the island due to her practice of sorcery, during her pregnancy. This mirrors Prospero's fate of being overthrown for his focus on his studies rather than ruling his kingdom, and ultimately finding himself stranded on the same island. Similar to Prospero, Sycorax was also spared from death. However, she was brought to the island by sailors and left there to fend for herself. When her son Caliban was born, she indoctrinated him in the worship of the demonic deity, Setebos, and taught him how to use the island's resources for survival.

Upon Prospero's arrival on the island, he discovers traces of a past resident — a witch who wielded dark and harmful magic and had a son, the deformed and almost inhuman being known as Caliban. Prospero has gained knowledge and abilities through his studies, allowing him to practice magic on his own. One of his first tasks was to free the spirit, Ariel, from the oak tree where Sycorax had imprisoned him. He also used his magic to enslave Sycorax's son and control him for his own purposes. Prospero has freed several other spirits from the cruel fate imposed on them by Sycorax, and they now reside on the island under his care. To keep Ariel in line, Prospero often reminds him of the harsh treatment he received from Sycorax and warns that he could suffer the same fate if he rebels. Prospero is a mirror image of Sycorax, doing much the same things, but laterally reversed: he releases Ariel and tortures Caliban.

Medea

According to Greek mythology, Medea was an enchantress who assisted Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, in obtaining the Golden Fleece from her father, King Aeëtes of Colchis. She possessed divine heritage and had the ability to see into the future. After marrying Jason, Medea used her magical abilities and wise counsel to assist him. In one variation of the tale, as they flee and are chased by Aeëtes, Jason devises a plan with Medea's help to dismember her brother Apsyrtus and toss his remains into the ocean in order to delay their pursuer.