The Wolf Among Us

The Wolf Among Us is an episodic adventure game by Telltale Games, the developer behind The Walking Dead. It takes place in the world of Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series, and is canonically a prequel to the events of said comics. In a nutshell, it's a film noir set around characters of archaic tales, and their difficulty surviving in a modern, crapsack world.

The player takes control of Bigby Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf famed in fairy tales, as he faces a conflict between his suppressed lupine nature and his desire to turn over a new leaf, keeping the citizens of Fabletown safe. All is not well in Fabletown, and a mysterious murder kicks off a situation which rapidly begins to deteriorate, threatening the entire community, leaving Bigby to cut through the tangled web of deceit and sniff out the truth -- before it's too late.

The game features combat similar to The Walking Dead, Telltale's previous choice-based adventure game, in that the player must use their cursor to quickly react to events and beat down their opponents. However, there are differences between Lee and Bigby; Bigby, being the Big Bad Wolf, is larger and much more physically powerful than Lee, and he won't be fighting off any zombies, so unarmed combat and improvised weaponry are far more par for the course than are the guns featured in The Walking Dead.

Gameplay, however, is focused primarily on solving the mystery surrounding the aforementioned murder, and sharp-eyed players will find themselves at a significant advantage here. The more evidence Bigby collects at a scene, the more pieces of the puzzle he will have.

The first season consists of five episodes:


 * Episode 1 - "Faith" (Released October 11, 2013)
 * Episode 2 - "Smoke and Mirrors" (Released February 4, 2014)
 * Episode 3 - "A Crooked Mile" (Released April 8, 2014)
 * Episode 4 - "In Sheep's Clothing" (Released May 27, 2014)
 * Episode 5 - "Cry Wolf" (Released July 8, 2014)

A second season was announced in 2018, but it was later cancelled due to the abrupt closure of Telltale Games. The game was Un Cancelled in 2019 after Telltale Games was reformed by LCG Entertainment.

The Wolf Among Us has also been adapted into a 16-issue digital-first comic series. The comic closely follows the plot of the game, but adds a lot of backstory, with a good third of the comic devoted to extended flashback sequences in which we not only see Bigby's early years in the mundane world and his history with some of the other characters, but also the backstories of the game's antagonists.

"Bigby: I thought you were Snow. Snow: And that makes it okay?"
 * Aborted Arc:
 * Kelsey Brannigan, the cop that grills Bigby in Episode 2's beginning, is shown in pre-release Episode 3 materials and it's hinted that Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are assigned to watch her if you go a particular path. Nothing is ever made of this by the end of the season.
 * The preview of Episode 2 at the end of Episode 1 shows Bigby discussing with Crane the (very realistic) possibility that a serial killer is responsible for the murders., Bigby never brings the possibility up, and the purpose of the murders was to cover up a conspiracy.
 * Accidental Hero: As the Woodsman confesses, he went to Grandmother's House attempting to rob her and Red Riding Hood, only to find Bigby already there and end up being lauded as a hero for cutting the pair out.
 * Acrofatic: Tweedle Dee, in spades, during his foot chase with Bigby. It's assumed Dum is as well, being, well, twins.
 * Adaptation Induced Plot Hole:
 * Bigby's sense of smell. In the comics, it is revealed that Bigby's sense of smell is so powerful, he has to chain smoke to dull his senses and make things bearable. A lot of points in the game rely on things being a surprise to the player, and by extension Bigby himself. The majority of these moments of tension wouldn't last for more than a few minutes if his sense of smell was as powerful as it is in the comics, and if it was even as strong as a normal dog or wolf, the chase scenes would be much less "which way did they go"-ish.
 * Flycatcher having been "let go" by Ichabod Crane and getting a job for the Tweedles instead. The comics, however, make it clear that Flycatcher isn't actually employed by the Fabletown government -- he's on constant community service because he keeps eating flies in public. The comics also very plainly show that if he is released from that community service and instead is offered an actual job that he can quit any time he likes, he goes into a Heroic BSOD because then he feels compelled to quit the job and return to the Homelands to look for his missing family.
 * Adaptational Attractiveness: Bluebeard appears as a handsome bald man in the game. The original Bluebeard was described as hideously ugly (with wild, unkempt hair). Justified, as he could have cleaned up in the past 300 years and it does match his appearance in the source material. It's also possible he could be glamoured.
 * Adaptation Distillation: The game focuses primarily on Bigby Wolf and the Noir sensibility.
 * Adaptation Expansion: The digital-first comic adaptation of the game adds a lot more backstory. In fact, more than a third of the comic consists of flashback sequences which explores the backstoried and relations of several characters which weren't touched upon at all in the game, such as Bigby's history with Ichabod Crane or Bloody Mary's origin.
 * Adaptational Villainy: Like the Fables comic series it's based on, the game takes a few characters who were innocent in their respective stories and turns them into immoral antagonists:
 * The Woodsman in Episode 1, but he gets better later in the series.
 * Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, who frequently hinder Bigby's investigation.
 * Georgie Porgie, who is an all-round piece of shit to everyone.
 * Affably Evil: . Although there are a number of Ax Crazy villains on the payroll, episode 4 reveals that This is thoroughly revealed to actually be Faux Affably Evil in Episode 5, however.
 * Alas, Poor Villain:
 * The Alcoholic:
 * Bufkin has to be chided by Bigby and Snow both to stop drinking on the job.
 * The Woodsman is a regular at the Trip-Trap, and makes his debut in a drunken rage against Faith. In his case, he's extremely bitter about failing to live up to his role as the "hero" of his story.
 * Alcohol Induced Idiocy: The Woodsman is already a very bitter man, but when drunk (as he often is), he's a very bitter, violent man. The entire first scene of the game would've gone much simpler and without such a bloody fight if he wasn't in a drunken rage against Faith.
 * All Myths Are True: As with Fables, all myths and fairytale characters are real people, and the story takes place in Fabletown, a community of New York-residing "Fables." Working in the police department, Snow, Crane, and Bigby have access to the Book of Fables that documents them all, but also serves as documentation on who is still alive and who isn't.
 * All There In The Manual: As you progress and/or replay through the game, you unlock entries in the "Book of Fables". These entries explain the terminology or items the characters use, the locations name-dropped, as well as events and profiles specific to the characters, presumably to avoid confusing people who didn't pick up the comic books.
 * Ambiguous Ending: Even as of Episode 5's ending, questions remain due to the closing segment -- two interpretations of the finale exist, as the Wham Line means either: A) ; or B)
 * Anchored Ship: Bigby and Snow never get a Relationship Upgrade in the game since it's a matter that's settled in the comics, which happens after the events of this game.
 * And I Must Scream:
 * Anti Frustration Features: When investigating Toad's house in the first episode, you have to check a lot of stuff that can be missed relatively easily - the busted lock, the broken lamp, the table the lamp actually used to be on, the window, the poker, and the blood on the wall - and catch Toad in his lies at least a majority of the time. This can be difficult for a first time player and just tedious for later players. Thankfully, there's an option to talk with Toad, threaten him, and slap him; while this will cause TJ to be scared of you, Toad to dislike you, and Snow to be a bit more unsure of you, it will immediately proceed on to the part where Toad tells the truth. You don't need to analyze anything to do this, so if you're fine with a little bit of a bad reputation from a couple characters, you can speed right through this part.
 * Anvil On Head:
 * Arc Words: "These lips are sealed," said by Faith, Nerissa, and Vivian, all employees of the Pudding & Pie. Bigby quickly infers that something is preventing them from telling him what he needs to know, and we learn by the end that
 * An Arm And A Leg: At the end of his fight with Grendel, Bigby can choose whether to rip Grendel's arm off or not.
 * Anguished Declaration Of Love: In episode 3, Crane confesses his love for Snow when he's finally cornered. Snow promptly and angrily tells him off, as what he's feeling is clearly anything but love.
 * Armor Piercing Question: Snow will give Bigby once at the beginning of Episode 2 if he was
 * Armor Piercing Question: Snow will give Bigby once at the beginning of Episode 2 if he was


 * Asskicking Equals Authority: Bigby, considering who he is. It's up to the player how much they embrace it, but intimidation and violence is always in Bigby's disposal.
 * The Atoner: Our protagonist is the former Big Bad Wolf turned Noir Detective. He is anything but popular among the Fabletown residents, enemies with a few, and his job is only made harder by how unwilling everyone is to comply with him. The decisions made by the player affect how well the citizens warm up to him, if at all. Certain dialogue options will play up how much Bigby wants to right what he's done wrong.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Though the same can't be said for Crane, Sheriff Bigby is much more than capable in a fight, and gets into more than one No Holds Barred Beatdown over the course of his investigations.