Origin
Bluebeard is a French fairy tale written by Charles Perrault. It is about a nobleman who murders his wives. He is based on Henry VIII.
Appearances
Fables
The former nobleman and serial killer who has reformed, or rather pretended he had, Bluebeard was involved with various shady dealings in Fabletown. He was enormously wealthy, nearly singlehandedly supporting the Fabletown government (which had no way to levy taxes, and thus relied on donations from wealthy patrons) and was able to afford even the top magical spells (his entire palace was hidden inside a room of his apartment). He was a brief fiance of Rose Red, because of Jack Horner’s internet scheme for money. However, due to Snow and Bigby’s investigation they both had everything annulled and Prince Charming giving his money to Bluebeard. He considered himself to be the nemesis of Bigby Wolf, using every opportunity to try to put the Sheriff down. When he pointed out to Wolf that his threats lost their value if Bigby didn’t follow them through, Bigby responded that he never needed to because Bluebeard, a terror against weaker and/or helpless opponents, always backed down when faced with a stronger one. This observation caused Bluebeard to shed tears, and to hate Bigby even more and he attempted to engineer his assassination and that of Snow White, working in conjunction with Goldilocks. Bluebeard was killed by Prince Charming who, out of some guilt over his own mistreatment of Snow White, sought to prevent Bluebeard from ordering that assassination attempt on Snow and Bigby. However, it had already been put into motion.
As well, Charming wanted to seize his vast assets. Contrary to what his name might suggest, he is not, nor ever was, a pirate (though Willingham identified that Bluebeard’s character design was supposed to be that of Captain Hook, absent from Fables because of copyright. His body was dropped down the witching well. Bluebeard appears along with other deceased Fables, Bluebeard says that he has learned to be virtuous, though Lancelot and Fly believe that his position of villain has not changed. After being caught conspiring with Shere Khan to kill Flycatcher, his flesh form was taken away. He aided the Adversary’s troops in attacking Fly’s new stronghold, as Fly anticipated. Afterwards, he stayed with the Adversary, whose magicians are attempting to make him once more corporeal. With the fall of the Empire in the War and Pieces story-arc, his current situation is unknown.
Grimm Fairy Tales Version
Sela tells the story of Bluebeard to a young wife who is concerned that her husband might be having an affair, and thus also trying to kill her. In the story the mysterious Bluebeard moves to a deserted castle and claims it as his birthright. He sends out the message that he is searching for a bride, yet most are apprehensive to the mysterious stranger. Eventually one woman comes forward and says she will marry him and the two are wed the next day. Bluebeard reveals that she can have everything if she has his trust. He leaves her alone as he heads off on business and leaves her the keys to the castle, instructing her she can look in all rooms but one. Her curiosity is sufficient for two days but then consumes her on the third. She ventures into the room and finds the mutilated bodies of women. When he returns he confronts her, and she grabs a knife and runs to the basement. He follows her and stabs him. The story cuts back to the modern era where the young woman stops reading because she is so disturbed, and when her husband comes home with a surprise trip, she grabs a knife as the two head off. He takes her to a barn where he has planned a surprise party, but she stabs him before he can reveal it. Sela interjects and says that she should have finished the story, as Bluebeard while bleeding to death reveals that the images of the mutilated women were just an illusion which caused his bride to see what she suspected. In his innocence she discovers she betrayed him and acted on her impulses.
Other Media
Video Games
He appears in the game The Wolf Among Us by Telltale Games.