Swineheart

This article is about the comic series character. You may be looking for his video game counterpart.

Dr. Swineheart
Biographical information
Status	Alive
Species	Human (Fable)
Gender	Male
Occupation	Doctor
Affiliation	Knights of Malta Hospital
Appearances
First issue	Fables #10 — "Twilight of the Dogs: Part Five of Animal Farm" (voice only)
Last issue	Fables: The Wolf Among Us #34 — "Chapter Thirty-Four"
Original source	One of the titular characters of "The Three Army Surgeons"

“	I'm the finest surgeon in a hundred worlds. There's not one single medical emergency that rises above an interesting nuisance to me.	„
	~ Dr. Swineheart to Beast, Fables #100 — "Single Combat"

Dr. Swineheart is a human Fable who works as a doctor in Fabletown in New York City. He first appears, albeit via voice only, in Fables #10 — "Twilight of the Dogs: Part Five of Animal Farm," and appears physically for the first time in Fables: The Last Castle.

History

Exile

In the early nineteenth century, Dr. Swineheart was one of the Fables who hid at the keep at world's end and managed to escape on the last boat out of the Homelands.

In Fabletown, Swineheart works at the Knights of Malta Hospital in New York City, where the Special Research Section is in fact a cover for the private Fables-only medical facility.

Faith's murder

Dr. Swineheart tends to Bigby Wolf's wounds after the latter is injured by a shotgun blast. He also tends to Holly and Grendel, and provides painkillers for them. Swineheart advises Bigby to take better care of his heart and eat less red meat and more chicken, before leaving. He treats Bufkin's burn injuries after the latter tries to stop Ichabod Crane from setting fire to his own apartment. Later, Swineheart finds himself once again treating Bigby, who has been shot with a silver bullet. Dr. Swineheart warns Bigby that another silver bullet may be fatal to him.

Snow White

Swineheart takes charge of Snow White's recovery after she is shot in the head by Goldilocks during the abortive rebellion at the Farm. and also deals with her extensively during her pregnancy with Bigby's children.

Swineheart appears to have taken on some mundane attitudes, most likely because he deals with mundane patients as well as his work with the Fables, to the extent that he starts to suggest the possibility of abortion when Snow expresses her unhappiness about the scandal her pregnancy has resulted in. The appalled Snow stops him going any further, threatening to throw him out of Fabletown if he persists.

Ghost Wolf's killings

Mr. Web accidentally becomes of the victim of Snow's zephyr son Ghost. After carefully examining the body, Swineheart concludes that Web's cause of death was suffocation. However, there are no visible signs of injury or struggle on his body, and Swineheart is at a loss for how this could have happened.

One early morning, the lifeless body of the Little Lamb is discovered in the center of the Farm square. After examining the corpse, Swineheart determines that, like several other victims, the lamb has been suffocated with no visible injuries. He passes the lifeless lamb to Mary, informing her that she can bring it back home with her as there is no need for an autopsy — he won't gain any insight from it. It is later discovered that the murders were tragic accidents caused by Ghost.

Battle of Fabletown

A battlefield surgeon without peer, Dr. Swineheart's services prove invaluable during the battle of Fabletown.

Appearances

Fables Fables #10 (first appearance; voice only) Fables: The Last Castle Fables #17 Fables #19 Fables #25 Fables #26 Fables #27 Fables #30 Fables #31 Fables #32 Fables #33 Fables #51 Fables #71 Fables #75 Fables #77 Fables #78 Fables #79 Fables #80 Fables #81 Fables #98 Fables #100 Fables #129 Fables #131 Fables #132 Fables: The Wolf Among Us Fables: The Wolf Among Us #24 Fables: The Wolf Among Us #26 Fables: The Wolf Among Us #34

Original source

Dr. Swineheart is based on one of the titular characters of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of "The Three Army Surgeons." In the story, three traveling army surgeons perform surgery on themselves to impress an innkeeper. After removing their own organs, they will put them back in the morning. One cuts off his hand, one cuts out his heart, and one removes his own eyes. During the night, a girl working at the inn has a visit from her lover, a soldier. She gives him some food from the cupboard that is holding the organs. The cat comes and takes the organs. After seeing the organs gone, she tells the soldier. He goes to the gallows and cuts the correct hand off a thief and brings it to her. He then gets the heart of a pig and eyes of a cat.

In the morning, the doctors re-attach the missing members using a salve they carry with them. After going on the road again, one doctor could not see with his reinstalled eyes and had the others guide him. Another doctor started rooting around in the dirt. When they reached another inn, the third doctor found he could not help stealing. After traveling back to the original inn, they found the girl had fled, seeing their approach. They threatened to burn down the inn unless the innkeeper makes reparations. He paid them enough to retire, though they still wanted their original organs back.