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Tweedle Dum is a Fable who lives in New York City. He first appears in Fables: The Wolf Among Us #7 — "Chapter Seven," and is the twin brother of Tweedle Dee. The pair works as private investigators, and are hired by the Crooked Man, who uses them as his own personal enforcers and sleuths.
History
Looking-Glass Kingdom
Tweedle Dumand his twin[3] brother Tweedle Dee[4] both hail from the Looking Glass Kingdom,[5] where they are employed by the Knave of Hearts.[6] On November 7, 1887 (mundane world time), they act as witnesses while Mary and the Knave of Hearts are wed by the crow.[5]
They have been serving the Knave for nine months when he unexpectedly fires them both. Enraged, they make a plan to rob his house as revenge. They are interrupted when Mary's untethered reflection Bloody Mary outside his house and orders the Tweedles to take her to the Knave, threatening to cut off body parts if they refuse.[6]
Frightened, the two obey and guide her to the town square, where they bear witness as Bloody Mary confronts the Knave.[6] The Knave states that he needs them to intercept a liaison of his who is short on patience, but the twins remind him that he fired them. He agrees to hire them back at twice their old pay.[3]
Private Investigator
After Faith's death, Dum is sent to Mr. Toad's tenement by his and his brother's employer in order to obtain an unknown possession of the Woodsman. After his search of Woody's apartment proves futile, he breaks into Toad's apartment and asks him for the item. Toad claims not to know what he's talking about, and instead offers him Faith's donkeyskin coat. This enrages Dum, and he attacks Toad with a fire poker, hitting him in the head with it. He threatens the two, saying that if Bigby Wolf or Snow White ever find out he was there, he will return and kill the boy.[2]
Afterward, Bigby finds Dee in Lawrence's apartment and chases him through the neighbourhood. After finally subduing Dee and asking questions about his reasons for being there, Dum sneaks up on Bigby and knocks him unconscious.[1] Dum then gives Woody's apartment one last lookover before leaving. Bigby notices Dum through the hole in the window and runs upstairs to confront him, only to discover he escaped.[2]
Crooked Man's Thug
Shortly afterward, a body glamoured[7] as Snow White is found decapitated on the street.[8] The body is identified as Lily, a troll prostitute.[7] When Lily's funeral is being conducted, Dee and Dum sneak up on Bigby with shotguns and threaten him.[9] Dee demands that Bigby leaves Ichabod Crane alone, and in return they will leave him and his friends alone. Lily's sister Holly notices them and comes over, enraged at their presence.[10]
Tensions rise as both she and Grendel transform, while Snow and Bigby attempt to keep things peaceful. Dee then casually calls Lily a whore, infuriating Holly and Grendel and causing her to charge him. Dee incapacitates her with a shotgun blast to the chest, while Grendel tackles Dum. Dum shoots Grendel in the chin, and shoots Bigby twice in the chest, and the twins make their escape.[10]
Later, after Bigby and Snow apprehend Crane in the Pudding & Pie, a car blocks their exit, and Dum and Dee get out. They still have their shotguns. A third person gets out, revealed to be Bloody Mary. She is brandishing a revolver. They talk, Mary requests Crane be delivered to her, calling Crane the property of the Crooked Man. The Tweedles open fire on Bigby,[11] hurting him badly. He morphs into his wolf form and attacks them ferociously, punching Dum again and again, until Snow orders him to stop.[12] Using a silver bullet, Mary takes Bigby out. After drives off with Crane, Dum and Dee take opioid painkillers to ease the pain.[13]
Bigby locates a portal which transports him to the Crooked Man's lair, where the crime lord is meeting with Dee, Dum, Georgie Porgie, Vivian and the Jersey Devil.[14] Dum stands silently during Bigby's talk with the Crooked Man.[15] When Mary arrives, Dum and the other agents fight him as Mary and the Crooked Man flee. Dee and Dum grab the sheriff from behind as Georgie tries to stab him. However, Bigby breaks free at the last moment, causing Georgie to hit Dee instead and stab him in the side. The duo chooses to escape, abandoning Georgie and causing him to become furious.[16]
The Silverling
In the Silverling, Tweedle Dum flirts with Grendel's mother at a bar, and the two eventually go in an alleyway. However, she reveals her intentions are to slaughter and devour Dee, calling him "dumb," but Dee points out that he isn't Dum — that is his brother. Together, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum manage to kill her and rip her heart out, bringing it back to the Crooked Man.[17]
The Crooked Man's group attempts to activate Mary's glass baby's teleportation powers with the heart; however, the ritual fails,[14] and they find themselves seeking out Aunty Greenleaf.[15] The Tweedles find themselves pondering about the nature of the Silverling, so the Knave explains that the Silvering is where reflections go when they become untethered; it's the Looking-Glass World's Looking-Glass World.[18] As the two ponder why the world is called the Silverling, Greenleaf succeeds in activating the glass baby's teleportation powers.[19]
Castle Allerleirauh
Using the baby, the Tweedles and the rest of the Crooked Man's gang are transported to Castle Allerleirauh in the Homelands. Upon entering the abandoned castle, Abigail Williams is possessed by the ghost of King Edward.[19] They watch as the Crooked Man offers a deal with him: offering to give him his long-lost daughter, Faith, in exchange for the magic word to activate the excretion of the untethered reflection of the deceased donkey that passed gold.[20]
The Crooked Man is confident that they will succeed in finding the donkey: The Tweedles are able to ferret out the stall of the late enchanted donkey, and Aunty Greenleaf is able to fill its trough with reflective water for their travel, so they should have no trouble breaching Castle Alleirauh's own Silverling and lay claim to the untethered reflection of the beast. Edward demands that they deliver his daughter Faith to him, adorned in her three luxurious gowns, and in return, he will reveal the magical word.[21]
The Crooked Man assures them that he knows where Faith is and promises to retrieve her quickly, but he is unaware of the location of the gowns. Edward hints that they can be found with Faith's husband, Prince Lawrence, and urges them to kill him, which delights the Tweedles.[21] Afterward, everyone gets ready for a wedding ceremony with the crow as an officiant, witnesses, and what seems to be a new body for King Edward to inhabit.[22]
Appearances
Fables: The Wolf Among Us
Trivia
- He is based on the character from the nursery rhyme of "Tweedledum and Tweedledee," and Tweedledum from the novel Through the Looking-Glass.
- A common version of the nursery rhyme goes:
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.
Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.
- In the novel Through the Looking-Glass, Alice comes upon two fat little men, and knows which is which in a moment, because one of them has "DUM" embroidered on his collar, and the other "DEE." Alice quotes the nursery rhyme, which the two brothers then go on to enact. They agree to have a battle, but never have one. When they see the crow they take to their heels. The Tweedle brothers never contradict each other, even when one of them, according to the rhyme, "agrees to have a battle." Rather, they complement each other's words. This may have led to illustrator John Tenniel's depiction of them as though they are twins and identical in physical appearance.
References
See also
| 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 |