| “ | I'm the god of winter! I'm incapable of crimes! Anything I choose to do is divine by definition! And anyone who attempts to impede me is an evil, sacrilegious sinner by definition! | „ |
| ― Jack Horner temporarily possessing divine powers in the guise of Jack Frost in Jack of Fables #11 — "Jack Frost, Part Two (of Two)" |
Gods are a powerful multispecies of Fable that debuts in Fables #1 — "Chapter One: Old Tales Revisited."
Physiology and traits
Gods, also known as deities, are mystical entities of immense strength, that are among the most powerful of all Fables. They are incredibly hard to kill.[1] An average elder god is a fifty-fifty mixture of magic and mundane material.[2]
The term demigod, applied to Bright Day,[3] Radiant Sun,[3] Dark Night[3] and Blossom Wolf (although the latter is also referred to as a god)[4] seems to refer to a being with partial or lesser divine status.
History
Pre-Empire
According to Mister Revise, when he first came to the mundane world it was filthy with magic, and had witches, angels, devils, and pagan gods everywhere. He and his team nearly had that world completely free from magic when Fablekind arrived.[5]
The Lady of the Lake bestowed upon Sorcerer Atlantes a fate in which he would marry the most beautiful woman in many worlds, who would bear him seven children who would go on to become the gods and monsters who laid waste to many worlds.[6] Subsequently, the cunning Lake exchanged his destiny with that of Bigby Wolf, who was then assigned the fate of Atlantes.[7] Bigby would go on to have[8] seven[9] children with Snow White.[8] It is revealed that all the sons and daughters of Snow and Bigby are powerful because they are the result of two magic bloodlines mixed to become more than their parts, and had they been raised differently, they could have become the gods and monsters of a long and dark age.[10] The sole offspring of Snow and Bigby that are actually designated as gods are Blossom Wolf, who is identified as a demigod and a self-elected nature god;[4] and Winter Wolf, who is recognized as a deity.[11]
Prior to the invasion of the Empire, a young Nalayani had a dream that the gods Brahma, Ganesha, Lakshmi, Nandi and Rama were her friends and that Rama taught her how to shoot with a bow and arrow. This motivated her to pursue training in archery.[12]
Age of the Empire
Early during the Empire's rise, an elite unit of warlocks known as the Boxing League, was formed.[13] Their purpose was to lock up any magical creatures that didn't directly serve the Empire, so that nothing could threaten the Emperor's monopoly on power. Over the centuries they managed to box up numerous beasts, gods, monsters and grumpkins. The containment boxes were safely hidden away in deep, inaccessible places, or behind stout walls.[14]
Imperial citizens lack religious freedom; they are permitted only to worship gods and demons sanctioned by the Empire.[15]
Post-Empire
A group of relic thieves use stolen museum artifacts to unlock a portal to the afterlife,[16] unleashing dangerous revenants in the city of San Francisco. In order to prevent the revenants from devouring every living thing on earth, Feathertop is forced to make a deal with a group of deities representing the various Underworlds whose denizens' souls have been summoned.[17]
Blossom Wolf, the daughter of Snow White and the Wolf God Bigby Wolf, serves as the caretaker of an entire world; calling up the birthings and fresh growth of spring, and overseeing the culling of the weak before the trials of winter. She is referred to both as a demigod and a self-elected nature god, with Blossom herself stating that her pedigree suggests the latter. [4]
Alternate universe
An alternative version of Ambrose, Blossom, Connor, Darien, Therese and Winter Wolf appears in The Unwritten Fables, which takes place in an alternate universe where Mister Dark was never defeated. Snow White now describes her children as "young godlings," noting that their remarkable first impressions captured the attention of the man of her dreams, Mister Dark, who eventually married her.[18] Dark aims to conquer all other realms and universes, contending that a shadow that covers everything no longer retains its identity when deprived of light, which is essential for its definition, thereby positioning himself as god.[19]
Known gods
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Original source
In worldwide religion and mythology, gods are spirits or beings that are believed to exert influence over a specific aspect of the cosmos or existence, and are frequently venerated for this reason.[30]