The Fair Folk: Difference between revisions
m
→Web Original
(Rescuing 2 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8.7) |
m (→Web Original) |
||
| (4 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 11:
''[[Light Is Not Good|No one ever said elves are '''nice''']].
''[[Eldritch Abomination|Elves are '''bad]]'''.''
|[[Terry Pratchett]]|''[[
Modern society has lived with [[Disneyfication|the Disneyfied vision]] of Fairies for so long—the Fairy Godmothers of "[[Cinderella (novel)|Cinderella]]" and "[[Sleeping Beauty]]", Tinkerbell in ''[[Peter Pan (Disney film)|Peter Pan]]''<ref>Tink was actually quite capable of mischief in the original movie. And she tried to kill Wendy! But she has since been princess-ified.</ref>—that it seems hard to imagine that some would consider Fairies evil.
Line 29:
The return of this trope to popular awareness can be traced back to at least 1988, when ''[[The Sandman]]'', a [[Comic Book]] penned by [[Neil Gaiman]], featured a number of Fairy characters who were often either outright malicious or self-centered to the point of sociopathy. Gaiman also used traditional Fairies in his novels and short stories as well as other comic books, and directly inspired authors such as [[Terry Pratchett]] (a friend of Gaiman's in long standing) and Susanna Clarke, author of ''[[Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell]]''. Ten years earlier, the artist [[Brian Froud]] did a series of illustrated books cataloging the ''Shee'' or bad fairies, and their close cousins, the [[Our Goblins Are Wickeder|goblins]]. His work was also the inspiration for the 1982 film ''[[The Dark Crystal]]''.
These Fairies can sometimes share a world with [[The Lord of the Rings|Tolkienesque]] [[Our Elves Are Better|Elves]], who, depending on the setting, may not themselves officially be part of [[Faerie]]. The principal distinction between the two, if there is one, is that Elves are [[Proud Scholar Race|a mildly superhuman longlived race]] living in the mortal world (or a [[Hidden Elf Village|distant corner]] of it), whereas Fairies are much more intensely magical, and live in a [[Fairyland]] outside the mortal world.
Ever wonder why Fairies are called "the Fair Folk" or "the Good Folk"? It's because calling them an ''unkind'' name is a good way to bring down their wrath upon your head. Especially [[The Wild Hunt]]. In addition, simply using the word "fairy" is considered insulting. (It's not clear why. The popular theory is it's like calling a human an ape.) On the subject of names, there's a 90% chance that a named fairy leader will be called Oberon, Titania or Mab. Other fairies are just as likely to have names drawn from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.
Line 53:
'''The Fair Folk''' are often depicted as an [[Inhumanly Beautiful Race]]. Compare and contrast [[Fairy Companion]], [[Our Elves Are Better]], [[Our Fairies Are Different]], [[Witch Species]], [[Our Goblins Are Wickeder]], [[All Trolls Are Different]], [[Our Mermaids Are Different]], and [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same]]. See also [[Youkai]] for a rough Japanese equivalent. [[The Greys]] is more modern trope with [[Sci Fi Counterpart|many similarities]]. An extreme example may be an [[Eldritch Abomination]] or [[Humanoid Abomination]]. When humanity appears this way is [[Humans Are Cthulhu]].
{{noreallife|at least, not until we have evidence that the Fair Folk exist}}
{{examples}}
Line 168:
** ''Here Abide Monsters''. A [[Speculative Fiction]] novel including flying saucers. Nevertheless, the people of Avalon - the [[Alternate Universe]] into which the protagonists stumble via a [[Cool Gate]] - are The Fair Folk.
** In the short story "The Long Night of Waiting", Lizzie's description of the people in the [[Alternate Universe]] in which she and her brother were trapped clearly indicates The Fair Folk, although they seem well-intentioned. Note that "Lizzie" is also the name of one of the girls in Christina Rossetti's ''[[Goblin Market]]''.
* The Elves of [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' series, as seen in ''[[
** However, while they are powerful and cruel, they tend to be thick and unable to learn, and aside from the Queen and select Lords (and even they tend to be highly unimaginative), seem to be almost incapable of forming much original thought.
{{quote|'''Granny Weatherwax''': You call yourself some kind of goddess and you know nothing, madam, nothing. What don't die can't live. What don't live can't change. What don't change can't learn. The smallest creature that dies in the grass knows more than you. You're right. I'm older. You've lived longer than me but I'm older than you. And better'n you. And, madam, that ain't hard.}}
Line 460:
** ''"(Seriously, we could have died. We probably still will. Faeries are tricky.)"''
* In the [[Whateley Universe]], the Faerie are an ancient race who think of humans as pets raised (originally) in a garden world. They apparently feel the same way about werewolves. Fey, one of the protagonists, was changed into her current appearance by an ancient Faerie spirit who now resides in Fey's head. While Fey is inhumanly beautiful, in "Ill Winds" her true form is a luminescent energy form that isn't remotely human.
* Possibly [https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Faeries_(SCP_Foundation)#:~:text=The%20Faeries%2C%20or%20the%20Fae,failure%20at%20destroying%20the%20Foundation. The Faeries] in ''[[SCP Foundation]]'' lore. These beings were first presented as enemies of the Foundation in the lore of [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-001-o5 SCP-001 (Dr. Bright’s proposal, “the Factory”)] named such because the name of the race is unknown and they share the Fair Folk’s vulnerability to iron. No physical description of them is given in this proposal, though animated adaptations do tend to make them look like [[Dark Action Girl]] versions of Tinkerbell. They were fleshed out more in later SCPs, making them fit the Trope far more, such as [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/taboo SCP-4000] (their home, which resembles a [[Land of Faerie]] setting and establishes how they can steal names because they lost theirs - the reason nobody knows the actual name of the race), [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-2932 SCP-2932] and [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-6666 SCP-6666], both [[Eldritch Location]]s containing information on their history and relations to other SCPs. Curiously, these “updates” seem to imply that the original conflict at the Factory occurred [[Good All Along|because they tried to warn the soldiers]] (stated to be forerunners of the Foundation) of the incredible evil the Factory (which the Foundation was trying to use for their own benefit), and [[Cassandra Truth|the Foundation refused to listen.]]
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* The "Third Race" from ''[[Gargoyles]]''. Especially the episode when Oberon and Titania were out to capture Xanatos's son Alexander for the Gathering. Goliath thought it was so vile that he actually ''sides'' with Xanatos to prevent Alexander's capture.
** Oberon is consistently depicted in the series as capricious, vain and arrogant, [[Screw the Rules, I Make Them|making and breaking edicts on a whim]]. Sure, he'll say his magic will never harm you and yours, and it won't... until he wants it to.
** Aside from their [[Jerkass]] leaders, the other "Children of Oberon" in the series vary greatly in personality, disposition, and form. Though they all tend to be pretty mischievous, even the ones that like humans and Gargoyles. This group also includes [[Macbeth|the Weird Sisters.]]
*** Interestingly, [[Word of God]] has said they used to be a whole lot worse. After being banished from Avalon most changed considerably; besides Oberon who, at the time, was mature and compassionate in comparison. And don't even get started on his [[God Save Us From the Queen|mother]].
*** Titania, his wife, seems to be of the other type thankfully, and is more than capable of controlling her husband. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, she's the instigator for the incident with Alexander. And then also the instigator for the interference of the Gargoyles}}.
| |||