Hi I Have A Hot Take (Rant-ish?)
So lately I've been saltposting about how disappointed I am with Fables as a source material. Like holy fuck. So after reading an analysis on Fables' Bigby Wolf as an unrepentant and cruel character seen as a cool power fantasy for the author, I have some words to say.
My guess is that Bill Willingham didn't learn the fundamental elementary rule that when your cause is for the good of others, it's more powerful and has more drive than just selfish desires and power trips.
A power fantasy, like a true power fantasy of an infallible god of a character is possible. And even likeable! An infallible godlike character actually doesn't even have to be a gary stu/mary sue. They just have to be fighting for the right reasons. They need to have humanizing moments that make them both relatable and a role model.
Power fantasies are exactly that: powerful! I have my own that I channel though an OC I have. A self insert with the means to be the powerful change I want to see in the world, an influence and a force all her own. She's me but with just, a couple extra things tacked on.
That's because I like who I am, and I don't have to be cruel to get the point across that I'd grab hold of the universe by its thin little reigns and move it with my own two hands if I could. I don't have to be disgusting to get the point across that I am powerful and I have allies that care about me enough that they fight alongside me for a common cause.
I like who I am, and I'm just bestowing myself with some self indulgent extras like a saccharine-sweet romance (a self insert ship with one of the female leads) and means to express my identity more freely than I can currently, as well as imbuing myself with the ability to reach into the world and see it change, even a little, because of me.
Willingham's desperately trying to compensate for his own shortcomings by making Fables Bigby an infallible no-bullshit badass, but he's just a prick, a psycho and worst of all a rapist. It's a sad attempt that reads more as "Am I cool yet??? Am I noxiously masculine enough???" than "I take no shit, don't get in my way.".
A bit of a bold take here, but, Willingham probably doesn't like himself.
He's under the impression that being mean-spirited, hardened, and taking whatever he wants is the way to look cool. To gain a mass of people who, along with you, say, "I want that to be me someday."
But it isn't.
Telltale's handling of The Wolf Among Us gave fans the image of a protagonist with dimension other than rugged cruelty. TWAU's Bigby Wolf is a full fledged badass, and in the widely accepted playthrough style of TWAU, he's trying his best to make amends. A person who can rise far above what they've done and set the bar high for their own behaviour is someone that people can immediately respect and find a powerful figure in.
On an adjacent matter, with the social change around us even in the era that Fables started and finished, it's clear that the route of vileness and apathy as a form of grandeur... isn't the way to go.
You need to be relatable. Be "human", even if your character isn't a mortal.
If you want a badass hero, them being a gritty perma-loner will never work. People thrive off of the emotional bonds characters can create with eachother.
If you want a badass, make them a protector. Make them someone who, infallible or not, will stop at nothing to fight for the people they love and the causes they champion.
Even if they start out a loner, a good story won't keep them like that forever.
Because we, as human beings, all just desire one thing in all truth.
No matter if we crave power or money or fame or sexual prowess or anything else. No matter if we're opposed to romance or sex or anything of the like, there's a reason why power fantasy characters rear their beautiful or ugly faces in the first place.
We just want to be loved.
And that's why Billy Willy fucked up bad Thankyou and goodnight.
