fables
Fables 27 Totenkinder
"In that one story they simply won't forget, at least they never knew my name"
This article is about a subject whose real name is unknown, and is known only by a title, nickname, alias or description

“ I made some haste earlier in the evening, sir Hare, just to be safe. And I put it in my hat for safekeeping. But I got peckish after tea and baked it into a pudding. „
― The Hatter to the March Hare, Jack of Fables #27 — "Turning Pages, Chapter Three: Hillary"


The Hatter is a human Fable who is a prisoner at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village. He first appears in Jack of Fables #27 — "Turning Pages, Chapter Three: Hillary."

History

Bookburner's attack

The Hatter, March Hare, and Dormouse are all prisoners at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village. As Bookburner advances towards the Golden Boughs, the captive Goldilocks incites a covert revolution, believing that Burner will be their deliverance. The Hatter, March Hare, and Dormouse gather for a meeting where she endeavors to inspire her fellow inmates to join her cause. They hurry to the venue of the meeting, but when the Hare urges him to hurry, the Hatter whimsically retorts that he had made haste earlier in the evening, stored it in his hat for safekeeping, only to feel hungry after tea and subsequently baked it into a pudding. The March Hare confesses his fondness for a good hasty pudding.[1]

The Dormouse misses a significant portion of Goldilocks' presentation due to falling asleep, yet the March Hare and the Hatter engage in conversation: When Goldilocks states that the enemy of her enemy is her friend, the Hare ponders whether this implies that the friend of his friend is his enemy. The Hatter responds that it certainly appears to be the case, and proposes to kill the Dormouse now while he remains unsuspecting. They are then shown with their hands around his throat, just as a keen Dormouse stirs awake while the audience cheers.[1]

Bookburner launches an assault on the Golden Boughs, prompting the Hatter and the March Hare to valiantly charge into combat alongside Goldilocks. However, as Bookburner's forces begin to fire upon the revolutionaries, they opt to flee instead. In their hurried retreat, with the slumbering dormouse nestled between them, the Hare contemplates that, given the adage that discretion is the better part of valor, one might conclude that a tactful retreat is the most valiant action of all. The Hatter responds, "Hear hear! To bravery!"[4]

Death

Decades later, the Dormouse and the Hatter take part in the other Golden Boughs inmates' quest for Fabletown and travel all the way to Canada with them in an attempt to find it. During the bus journey, the Hatter carries a teapot in one hand and a stack of teacups and saucers in the other, carefully balanced atop one another, while the Dormouse peacefully slumbers in the seat beside him.[nb 1] He discusses the prospect of establishing a haberdashery to complement the shoe store in Fabletown, characterizing it as the highlight of Fabletown's merchant streets; however, he mistakenly calls The Glass Slipper Shoes "The Golden Slipper shoe store."[5]

The group finds themselves in the middle of a battle between Jack Frost, and Jack Horner in dragon form. Raven lies to the others and convinces them to protect the dragon, saying the dragon is the only one who knows the secret way to Fabletown. The Hatter bravely rushes into the fray, carrying a steaming teacup. He is killed alongside the Carpenter, the butcher, baker and candlestick maker, and the White Rabbit. His dying words as the dragon fatally flings him through the air are "Fabletown-authorized gods and demons, save us!"[2]

Appearances

Jack of Fables

Original source

The Hatter is based on the character of the same name from the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Although the character is often referred to as the "Mad Hatter," this term never appears in Lewis Carroll's novel;[6] Jack of Fables #27 — "Turning Pages, Chapter Three: Hillary" correctly refers to him as just "Hatter."

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jack of Fables #27 — "Turning Pages, Chapter Three: Hillary"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jack of Fables #50 — "The Dragon, His Sidekick, a Nemesis, & Their Cows: The Final Indispensable Components in the Last Jack of Fables Story of All Time!"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jack of Fables #48 — "The Impaled Wild Man! The Third Ingredient in the Most Unabashedly Genius Jack of Fables Story in Human History!"
  4. ↑ Jack of Fables #30 — "The Book of Restoration: The Books of War, Volume Three"
  5. ↑ Jack of Fables #49 — "A Miniaturized Blue Ox: The Fourth Essential Component in the Most Epically Nifty Jack of Fables Story in the History of the Universe!"
  6. ↑ Hall-Geisler, Kristen. Why Was the Mad Hatter Mad?, HowStuffWorks. "Apparently, Lewis Carroll didn't mean to slander hatters via his tea party host. First, the phrase "Mad Hatter" never appears in the book; he's merely called the Hatter. It's other characters, like Alice and the Cheshire cat, who consider him mad."

Notes

  1. ↑ Note that for some reason, the Dormouse is depicted as a diminutive mouse here, similar to Disney's depiction of the character; unlike the much larger being he was presented as in prior issues of the series.