Prince Charming

Disney

Two Disney characters are primarily known as Prince Charming. The first being the love interest and later husband of Snow White. The second being the love interest and later husband of Cinderella. Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty is sometimes also referred to as Prince Charming.

Fables

Before he came to Fable Town, Prince Charming was the same Prince Charming of all three legends of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella in consecutive order. Each divorced him as each discovered his infidelity.

Charming lost all his wealth when he fled the “Homelands” and it is known he spent many years sponging off mundane European royalty with his unusually high charisma. When he returned to Fable Town, he auctioned of his lands and titles in the Fablelands in attempt to make some ready cash, but bought it back the next day. He becomes truly involved in the events of Fable Town when he killed Bluebeard for making an attempt on Bigby’s life, claiming it was because Snow had become fond of Bigby Wolf and Charming wanted to make up for hurting her so many years ago.

Seeing the vast wealth of Bluebeard’s money going into the Fable Town coffers, Charming decided to run for Mayor. Because of his charisma and a promise to give all non-human fables permanent transformation charms in order to allow them to leave the Farm, he won the election. Unfortunately, he discovered the night of his election that the witches of Fable Town would not be able to give him such charms; they asked for too high a price. (This failed election promise has come back to haunt him.) He moved into his office and installed Beauty as Deputy Mayor and Beast as Sheriff to replace the departing Snow White and Bigby Wolf. He struggled in the office for a few months, but slowly got the hang of things. He has been very proactive against the Adversary, sending Little Boy Blue into the Homelands to spy under the premise that Blue had took off on his own with a number of powerful magical artifacts. Charming later sent Bigby in to destroy the Adversary’s magical grove and present him with an ultimatum.

He made a pass at Beauty, but was rebuffed. However, it was observed by the highly talkative and confused Bufkin monkey and it may be only a matter of time before the Beast learns of it.

In spite of his persistent unfaithfulness, Prince Charming has a good side few are aware of. During the Storybook Love story-arc he expressed deep regret that his betrayal of Snow White hurt her so badly, and took it upon himself to kill Bluebeard partly because he knew Bluebeard planned to murder Bigby Wolf, whom Snow had grown fond of. Before the Battle of Fabletown in March of the Wooden Soldiers he supervised building the barricades, then fought bravely during the battle itself, defying the gun-carrying wooden soldiers while armed a sword. In the battle’s aftermath, he led the firefighters that went into the damaged buildings to extinguish the last blazes. Despite the fact that he took the job of mayor primarily for its economic benefits, he has since dedicated himself sincerely to the duties of mayor, including setting up defenses for Fabletown against the Adversary and, in the Happily Ever After story, giving Bigby Wolf land next to the farm in order to live with his new wife, Snow White, and their children.

In the run-up to the war against the Empire, Charming resigned as Mayor, returning the job to King Cole, in order to focus on the war effort. During the War and Pieces storyline, he held the position of Combat Commander on the skyship Glory of Baghdad built by the Arabian Fables and commanded by Sinbad, running the offensive and defensive operations of the ship during the war and the Glory’s mission to bomb the gates connecting the Imperial homeworld to the rest of the Empire. After the Glory’s destruction, Charming, despite serious injuries, dragged a bomb by foot to the last remaining gate, with Sinbad accompanying him to defend against hostile forces. Arriving at their destination against considerable opposition, Charming dragged the bomb into the gatesite, stating that he would set the longest fuse possible to give himself the best opportunity to get clear of the blast.

What subsequently happened next was not depicted, but according to Sinbad, Charming failed to emerge before the bomb detonated. His body is never shown, and a coffin containing his uniform, medals and some personal effects was buried at the Farm cemetery in absentia. A statue of Charming in Fabletown is dedicated to his memory.

Theories both on and off the page speculate that he gives off powerful/magic pheromones, which are responsible for his strong ability to seduce nearly any woman he wishes. According to the answers given in the Burning Questions issue, Prince Charming had no less than 1,412 romantic conquests by the age of fifteen. He stated that he is able to win any courtship, be it that of a single woman, or a political election. Very popular fables are difficult to kill, so its unknown if Prince Charming will somehow be resurrected or be replaced.

Charming showed up in the pages of ‘Fairest’, now a popular political figure in the ‘Hindu’. This is the land of Fables for fables from the country of India. Again, Charming had taken a leadership role through guile, cunning and trickery. And again he had to come to care for the people under his command, ultimately doing what was best for them, not for him. During this adventure Charming reveals he has had male lovers in the past.