fables

Ragana: What now? Where are you taking me, Slogutis?
Slogutis: Me? I assumed it was you dragging me along.
Ragana and Slogutis being sprung from box, Fables #141 — "Remembrance Day: Chapter One of Happily Ever After"


Slogutis is a Fable who is one of the many creatures that was boxed up by the Boxing League. He debuts in Fables #141 — "Remembrance Day: Chapter One of Happily Ever After."

Reign of the Empire

Early during the Empire's rise, an elite unit of warlocks specializing in capturing and containing the most dangerous of magical threats, known as the Boxing League, was formed.[2] 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 boxes were safely hidden away in deep, inaccessible places, or behind stout walls.[1]

Among the beings boxed up by the Boxing League was Slogutis. The League invested substantial effort into capturing him, as he mounted a fierce resistance, slaying dozens Boxers while riding a horned beast with white fur and brandishing a sharp weapon. Ultimately, however, they managed to confine him[1]

A new container

After the fall of the Empire, several boxes, too deftly hidden to be found, mysteriously spring open all on the same day. Black Shuck, Grindlylow, Habetrot, Ragana and Slogutis, along with a host of others, are all freed from the box. As his former prison bursts open, Slogutis finds himself pulled along with Ragana. Believing Slogutis is leading her somewhere, Ragana inquires about their destination. Slogutis, however, replies that he thought she was the one pulling him. One of them proposes that by standing together, they might evade a fate they cannot escape individually. Yet, it soon becomes clear that they are merely being moved to another container, as they are inexplicably absorbed into Rose Red's body. [1]

As Rose Red decides it's time to let loose all her monsters, Ragana and Slogutis appear behind her in a group illustration.[3]

In her quest to wage war against her sister, Snow White, Rose Red releases Slogutis and the other trapped creatures from their confinement, compelling them to serve as soldiers in her army. Rose Red notes how tame the creatures are to her whip, stating that it was just a matter of keeping them in a scarier box. Thankfully, the war is avoided as Snow and her sister reach an agreement to disband their armies and peacefully go separate ways.[4]

Appearances

Fables

Original source

Slogutis is based on the creature of the same name from Lithuanian folklore. It is a being that inflicts torment upon individuals while they sleep, often originating from unbaptized deceased children. This entity can manifest in both human forms (such as a child, man, woman, or Jew) and animal forms (including cat, dog, hen, or pig). While the concept of slogutis shares similarities with the European ideas of succubi and incubi, it does not align perfectly with them. The choice of victim may stem from a disregard for communal norms, the breaking of taboos, or the commission of wrongdoings, with Slogutis serving as a form of retribution. There are also accounts of Slogutis acting as a means of vengeance.[5]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Fables #141 — "Remembrance Day: Chapter One of Happily Ever After"
  2. Fables #86 — "Boxing Days"
  3. Fables #149 — "Generations: Chapter Nine of Happily Ever After"
  4. Fables #150 — "Farewell"
  5. Skujytė-Razmienė, Asta (December 20, 2017). Don't Hurt Anybody, or You'll Get the Mare: Connections between Common Cold and the Mythical Being slogutis in Lithuanian Folklore. Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore. "According to etiological and folk belief legends, slogutis (incubus, or nightmare), a being that tortures people in their sleep, most frequently evolves from the dead unbaptized children. This being can appear both in anthropomorphic (child, man, woman, Jew) or zoomorphic (cat, dog, hen, pig) shape. Although in terms of gender slogutis correlates with the general European notion of succubus / incubus, it does not quite correspond to it. Motivation for choosing the victim could include disregard for the rules of the community life or violation of taboos, or perpetrating some wrongs (with slogutis as a punishment). There are references to oppression by slogutis as a form of revenge."