Winter Wolf

This article is about Bigby's eldest daughter, Winter, the second incarnation of the North Wind. You may be looking for the first incarnation of the North Wind; or Bigby's mother Winter, or the latter's counterpart mentioned in the video game.

Winter Wolf
Biographical information
Real name	Winter Wolf
Aliases	The North Wind
Status	Alive
Species	2/4 human, 1/4 wolf, 1/4 wind (cardinal wind) (Fable) Deity Great Power
Gender	Female
Occupation	King of the North
Affiliation	Cardinal winds Great Powers
Homeland	Mundane world
Family information
Relatives	Click here for complete family tree Lauda (maternal grandmother, presumed deceased) Unnamed maternal grandfather † Unnamed maternal great-aunt (presumed deceased) Boreas Frostheart † (paternal grandfather) Winter † (paternal grandmother) Bigby Wolf (father) Snow White (mother) Rose Red (maternal aunt) Blossom Wolf (sister) Therese Wolf (sister) Darien Wolf † (brother) Connor Wolf (brother) Ambrose Wolf (brother) Ghost Wolf (brother) Unnamed siblings ("the pups") Lake (sister-in-law through marriage to Ambrose) Six unnamed nephews and nieces via Ambrose Multiple ex-husbands
Appearances
First issue	Fables #30 — "The Cruel, Hot Summer"
Last issue	Fables #162 — "The Black Forest Chapter Twelve: Rightful Prey"
Original source	North Wind from Greek mythology

“	I inhabit each snowflake on its windswept fall towards countless worlds. I direct every northern breeze, and command the mighty works of infinite storms. All those scattered moments come home to accumulate in me. Ages come and go in a wink. Against my wishes, I am already old and wise. I won't be babied, humored or patronized! And I will not submit myself to you!	„
	~ Winter banishing the other cardinal winds in Fables #137 — "An Early Winter: Part Six of Camelot"

Winter Wolf, also known as the North Wind, is one of the seven children of Bigby Wolf and Snow White. She debuts in Fables #30 — "The Cruel, Hot Summer." She was named after her late paternal grandmother. Winter is Snow and Bigby's firstborn, and was the only one out of all siblings to be born looking completely human. She is also the runt of the litter (at least according to her brother Darien).

History

Early life

Winter was the first of Snow White and Bigby's seven children to be born. Despite being the most human looking out of her siblings at birth, she still possessed the same powers and abilities as them. Shortly after the cubs' birth, their mother moved to the Farm with them, where they could grow up without being spotted by mundies.

After the arrival of her grandfather at the Farm, she and her brothers were taught to control their natural shapeshifting and flight powers, soon becoming able to transform between their wolf and human forms at will.

Winter and her siblings only met their father when they were around four years old, when a way was devised for the Wolf family to be able to live together (as Bigby wasn't allowed on the Farm). Snow and Bigby were soon married, their children being present at the wedding, and moved to the brand new Wolf Manor.

On the Cubs' fifth birthday, the siblings were told about the existence of their zephyr brother, Ghost, who settled in as a beloved member of the family from then on.

All of the Cubs (except, of course, for Ghost) were very close to their grandfather, and frequently visited him at his castle (which was also a safe place for them to stay after the release of Mr. Dark). Mr. North would often read stories to his grandchildren in his library.

Inherit the wind

After Mr. North passed away, sacrificing himself to defeat Mister Dark and spare Ghost's life, the family was informed one of the Cubs was to become the new North Wind (since his other descendants, Bigby and his brothers, were unfit for the position). The Cubs (except for Ghost) were submitted to tests by Mr. North's attendant winds. During the last test, Winter went missing for three weeks, being feared dead by her family and the winds alike. However, she had managed to fly to the Homeland of the North (coming across the Casket of Ancient Winds and finding Bellflower and Dunster Happ, who she brought back with her) which marked her as the rightful heir to her grandfather's position.

The North Wind

Winter as a child, and already wise beyond her years

Winter took on the role of the North Wind, and despite keeping a childlike appearance and attitude, she became very powerful in time. Her new role gave her the ability to be everywhere at once, if she so desires. Among her other abilities, she can also be in more than one place at a time, and is seen using this power several times in the story.

For her mother's sake, she keeps acting like a child her age, but is wise beyond her years (which results from being both Winter the child and the North Wind, an elemental power with millennia of accumulated knowledge).

After Rose Red freed Prince Brandish and began building up forces for her New Camelot project, driving a wedge in her relationship with Snow, many Fables began to think the two sisters would eventually fight each other. Keeping this in mind, Winter decided to an army of her own to fight on Snow's side when the battle came. She recruits the help of the other three cardinal winds, Lumi, Santa (who are both aspects of the North Wind), and her uncles (Bigby's surviving five brothers), among others.

As soon as her father is brought back to his normal state by her brother Conner, Winter reveals the existence of her army to her family. They prepare for the upcoming battle, which will result in the destruction of the mundane world according to Winter. However, Rose Red ultimately chooses not to go through with it, realizing their family curse has either been broken or can be broken in the future, and the two sisters part ways, with Rose moving to a distant world and the Wolf family to another (as far as possible from Rose).

The Black Forest

After Rose Red calls off the war between Snow White and her forces, the Wolf family relocates to the Hesse and build a new manor house for themselves in Bigby's ancestral home in the Black Forest.

After Bigby encourages his cubs to explore the woods and have a grand adventure, Winter discovers the World Turtle among the trees, who shares information about the Teacup World on her shell. Winter takes in the view of the world, marveling at all the people, boats and islands. She questions if it can be real, so she reduces her size and immerses herself into the world to find out. The Turtle yells a warning that Winter can never leave once she enters, but it is too late for her to hear it.

Winter strikes up conversations with the locals of the Teacup World, and soon discovers that even though she is the North Wind, she has no access to her powers within this world, and cannot even create a breeze, as it is one of the realms of the South Wind. Winter embarks on various escapades, but eventually, her parents discover the Turtle and bring in a fully grown avatar of Winter to join them. Winter's avatar says it can rescue the young girl, but doing so would involve destroying the Teacup World. Bigby comes up with the concept of pulling Winter out instead. The avatar uses her fingers and dexterity and focuses just small enough to be able to reach inside. However, her aim is off, so she accidentally pulls out Winter's companion from within the cup instead. The avatar finally manages to pull out the correct person.

Winter at the Wolf family reunion

Later life

Winter is briefly glimpsed as an adult, having grown further into her North Wind persona. She mentions having had several husbands in her life, all of which she ended up divorcing due to her fundamentally fickle nature as a wind. The Snow Queen (who has had relationship problems of her own) suggests that the two of them get together, which leaves Winter speechless. Her response is never shown, but Lumi never accompanies her with the Wolf family.

When her aunt Rose Red visits her family, after having spent 1000 years apart from then, Winter is seen among the hundreds of individuals that make up the 20 generations descended from Snow and Bigby. One of the family members seen, the goddess Hel, is said to be descended from Winter, though the exact line of descent is not known. Winter herself is seen accompanied by an unknown entity by her side.

Personality

As a child, Winter is a shy girl. She is often shown to be holding a stuffed animal, and sometimes sucking on her thumb. She is generally regarded by her brother, Darien, to be the runt of the litter, despite being the firstborn. Furthermore, she is generally regarded by her family to be a sweet and kind girl.

Physical appearance

In her child form, Winter has a strong resemblance to her mother, Snow White, at that age. Her black hair is usually styled into pigtails, and she tends to wear clothes which are pink or purple in color, with a polka-dot pattern. By the "Camelot" arc, she starts styling her hair into a single long ponytail instead.

Her wolf form has dark gray fur.

In her adult, North Wind form, Winter has long white hair with two black stripes. She wears a fur-lined cloak and an outfit reminiscent of the one her grandfather wore during his last confrontation with Mister Dark.

Powers and abilities

• Cold immunity: All of the Wolf cubs are impervious to cold and need no protection from the elements.
• Flight: Like her siblings, Winter can fly.
• Invisibility: In her role as the North Wind, Winter possesses the ability to become invisible, allowing her to observe others without being seen.
• Omnipotence: Winter has a version of omnipresence in which she is present in every world all at once by duplicating herself, a concept she learned from Santa Claus. There exist millions of duplicate versions of her. She also inhabits every snowflake on its windswept fall toward countless worlds.
• Omniscience: As the North Wind, Winter possesses a certain degree of omniscience, as all the scattered moments of inhabiting every snowflake, directing every northern breeze and commanding infinite storms, come home to accumulate in her; against her wishes, she is already old and wise, which are a jarring contrast to the still childlike part of her personality.
• Shapeshifting: Winter can transform between her human form and wolf form at will. According to her grandfather, she and her siblings can assume a variety of other forms with proper training, and she has been known to shapeshift into a winged, four-legged being covered in fur, complete with a tail. At one point, one of her duplicates is able to focus just small enough to be able to reach inside the Teacup World with her fingers, allowing her to extract another version of herself.
• Wind manipulation: As the North Wind, Winter is able to direct every northern breeze and command the mighty works of infinite storms, and is able to blow people far away with a strong wind.

Weaknesses

• Magic: Even the Great Powers have proven susceptible to the effects of powerful magic.
• Foreign realms: There do exist places where the North Wind has no power. For example, in a cupped land of tropical islands and blue waters on the back of a talking turtle, Winter cannot summon even a single wind.

Original source

Winter and her grandfather are both based on based on the North Wind from Greek mythology.

Etymology

She is named after Winter, her father's mother. The family name Wolf is an obvious reference to her lupine nature, particularly given that Winter's father is named Bigby Wolf.

Trivia

• When the cubs are playing a game of pretend in Fables #69 — "The Good Prince, Chapter Nine, Conclusion: Eternal," one of the girls (we don't see which one) wants to be King Ambrose, but Darien, who is playing that part, snidely dismisses the idea, saying that girls can't be kings. This foreshadows Winter becoming King of the North in Fables #111 — "Windswept: Chapter Four of Inherit the Wind," and Darien's furious reaction at not being the one chosen.
• After the North Wind's death, it was eventually confirmed that Winter was the firstborn child of Snow White and Bigby when she replaced her grandfather.