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Jack of Blades

Jack of Blades is a character in the Fable universe and the main villain of the first game: the original Fable (2004), its expanded edition Fable: The Lost Chapters (2005), and the 2014 remaster Fable Anniversary.

As a mysterious and powerful being from ancient times, Jack was well known to the people of Albion. They knew little about the origins of this trickster antagonist and regarded him with respect and well-founded fear.

After his final defeat at the hands of the Hero of Oakvale, Jack became a legend that, along with a certain amount of fiction, was still remembered centuries later. This is why references to him can be found in Fable 2, Fable 3, and Fable: The Journey.

Jack also appeared in the canonical mini-game Tales of Albion, the game Fable Heroes, and the book Fable: Jack of Blades.

History of Jack of Blades

Before the events of Fable

Arrival in Albion. According to Tales of Albion, Jack of Blades, together with the Queen of Blades and the Knight of Blades, was part of the so-called Court. At the dawn of Albion, the three mystical beings emerged from the Void and demanded that humanity bow to their rule.

The peaceful inhabitants of the land refused three times. First, the Court burned the land, then flooded it, and finally twisted the people's minds. In the end, the villains got what they wanted and subjugated Albion for many generations, forcing its people to erect monuments in their honour.

Fall of the Court. The Court's brutal reign was brought to an end by a gifted Will user named William Black. He had possessed extraordinary power since childhood and grew up determined to end their tyranny.

One day, as an adult, he was suddenly transported to the Void and found himself before Jack of Blades, who sat upon a throne surrounded by other figures. Thanks to his powers, Black resisted an attempt to enslave him with the Sword of Aeons and escaped, taking the legendary weapon with him.

After Black returned, the sword began speaking to him and offered to help him defeat the Court in exchange for his soul. William agreed and once again sought out his enemies. He travelled to Albion's highest mountain, Mount Ruon, challenged the Court to battle, and defeated all three members one by one: first the Knight, then Jack, and finally the Queen.

An age without Jack. For a long time afterwards, it was believed that Jack's soul had survived and fled back into the Void. During this period, William Black founded the prosperous Old Kingdom.

Being exceptionally long-lived, he lived to see the kingdom decline under the rule of his descendants, but after his battle with the Queen he had been infected with an unknown disease and could do nothing to stop it. The first Archon eventually disappeared together with the Sword of Aeons, and his kingdom later fell.

Exactly when Jack returned to Albion is unknown. The events of the game only establish that it happened before the first Fable.

In the first Fable

Story development. For a long time, the Hero does not come face to face with the main enemy of his life. Until the Arena, the only mentions of Jack are found in a couple of books and in the description of a sundial at the Picnic Area.

• The book "Jack of Blades" describes the main theories held by Albion's inhabitants about the identity of the figure behind the mask. Each contains some truth: someone from another world, unimaginably cruel, as powerful as ten Heroes, and as old as the Old Kingdom. The book can be found in Maze's quarters.
• The book "The Oakvale Raid" puts forward the correct theory that Jack was behind the attack on the village where the Hero was born.
• The inscription on the sundial at the Picnic Area simply reads: "In memory of Jack, famed during the bloody harvest."

First encounter. Jack can first be seen only at the Arena. At the beginning, the announcer says that he will personally present the prize to the future champion. When the Hero and Whisper make it through every round, Jack appears in the VIP stand to thunderous applause.

"It's the one, the only, the Hero of Heroes, Jack of Blades!" — the announcer declares.

"I have returned. After an eternity away from you all, Jack of Blades is back! This Arena is the only thing left of greatness in Albion. It is an honour to stand before you again," Jack continues.

To "celebrate" the day of his return, he proposes one more round between the two Heroes standing below, so that a single winner can be decided in a fight to the death — although killing the Hero's old friend is ultimately optional.

Influence on Lady Grey. Immediately after his victory at the Arena, the Hero unexpectedly meets the Mayor of Bowerstone. She invites the champion to visit the previously inaccessible northern district of the city.

This meeting later sets off a chain of events revealing that Lady Grey murdered the rightful heir, her own sister Amanda, in order to gain power, and that the idea had been suggested to her by a "masked messenger." It is assumed that Jack thereby gained a way to influence the politics of Albion's largest city.

Conversation with Jack. On the way out, a local guard gives the Hero a brief tour of the Arena and tells him about its former champion, Scarlet Robe — the protagonist's mother, whom he could hardly have imagined in such a role.

Jack has been quietly watching what is happening and, while the Hero is still trying to process what he has just heard, comes over to introduce himself.

While talking about Scarlet's character, Jack openly mocks her, saying that her last battle "changed" the woman, that she is now broken and "lives far from men." According to him, he knew that her son would one day come to this place because blood would call him there. Jack suggests that the Hero bring his sister, Theresa, as well — supposedly because he wants the children to be reunited with their mother.

At the end of the conversation, Jack gives the winner the Champion's Seal and strongly advises him not to lose the priceless reward, which grants access to Bowerstone North. As later becomes clear, the gift was given for a very specific reason.

The truth about Jack. After the Arena, the Hero learns from the Guildmaster that Theresa wants to meet him at the abandoned Grey House. There, his sister reveals that she met Jack much earlier: he was the one who burned Oakvale and blinded her.

Jack was not lying when he said he knew where their mother was, Theresa adds. She knows that Scarlet has been imprisoned in Bargate Prison ever since the night of the attack on the village, and that only the Archaeologist knows how to get inside. Complicating matters further, Jack's minions are hunting both Theresa and the Archaeologist.

Theresa convinces her brother to free their mother, since only she knows how to find the Sword of Aeons.

Jack's cunning plan. The Hero manages to save the Archaeologist from Jack's creatures at the last moment and learns about a secret route into the prison through the ancient Lychfield Graveyard.

After a series of trials involving the undead and a journey through underground tunnels, the protagonist finally reaches the cell where his exhausted mother is being held. They hope to escape, but instead walk straight into a trap set by Jack and both end up as prisoners.

It turns out that Jack has been tracking the Hero through the Arena Champion's Seal and has known about his every move. He now demands that Scarlet tell him where an artefact called the Septimal Key is located.

After spending several years in the cells, the Hero and his mother eventually escape.

Scarlet urges her son to stop Jack, who is already closing in on the Key and, consequently, the Sword of Aeons. The Key is located in an old abbey on Hook Coast. The next part of the plan is to find Theresa before Jack can use her.

Hunt for the Key. After activating the Cullis Gate in Darkwood, the Hero opens a route to Hook Coast, but cannot enter the abbey because the passage is blocked by a magical barrier. Scarlet is just as surprised by this and asks her son to return to the Guild, as she has found a "useful book" in Maze's quarters.

When the player returns, Scarlet is abducted by Jack's minions. The Hero travels back to Hook Coast, where the Guildmaster manages to remove the barrier remotely. Behind it, we find Maze performing a strange ritual, with Theresa lying on the ground as its unwilling "participant."

Maze attempts to convince his former pupil that he is trying to stop Jack and was forced to restrain Theresa because she is supposedly under Jack's control.

Theresa immediately exposes this obvious lie, and while Maze is trying to justify himself, Jack himself appears: he wants the Sword of Aeons as soon as possible and is already growing impatient.

The presence of two descendants of the Archon speeds up the bloody ritual, allowing Jack to obtain the Key and escape. Before leaving, he orders Maze to bring the prisoners to the Chamber of Fate, where Jack himself will soon arrive.

With Theresa's help, the Hero frees himself and defeats Maze in a duel. The old mage does not believe Jack can be defeated, but with his dying breath admits that he may have been wrong.

One step behind. Before dying, Maze leaves one clue: Jack's next move will be to activate the Focus Sites. Back at the Guild, the Guildmaster confirms this information and urges the Hero to stop the process before it is too late.

The protagonist ultimately fails. While the other Heroes are occupied fighting Jack's minions, he activates every magical site and heads to burn down the Guild, taking Scarlet Robe with him.

The Hero of Oakvale rushes after him and arrives at the burning ruins. Descending into the catacombs, he finds Jack already holding the Sword of Aeons. Before the protagonist's eyes, Jack completes the ritual by staining the blade with Scarlet's blood.

First battle with Jack. An epic confrontation then begins — one that would shape the entire future history of Albion.

Jack is supported by numerous minions and initially hides behind a magical shield. During the "melee" phase, he moves rapidly around the battlefield. After losing some of his health, he rises into the air and begins firing powerful magic. The Hero can take cover behind rocks, although the minions will try to prevent him from doing so. Eventually, Jack falls to the ground with a scream and appears to die.

A magical vortex appears where his body fell. Theresa, who had been lying nearby, regains consciousness and gives her brother a choice: kill her with the Sword of Aeons and claim its power, or cast the weapon into the vortex and destroy it.

"They're both where they belong now, lost forever," Theresa says if the Hero chooses the path of good.

Either way, the Hero receives Jack's mask as a trophy and becomes a living legend from that moment on. This was where the story of the original Fable (2004) ended.

One year later. During the Hero's well-earned rest, he is asked to return to the Guild because Scythe has encountered Summoners in the Northern Wastes and is asking for help.

First, the Hero has to enter a Demon Door, behind which the Prophets guard an artefact known as the Fire Heart. They deliver several important warnings: a "beast arises in the north," and the Hero is about to face the greatest evil of all.

During the events that follow, the Hero summons the Ship of the Drowned at Hook Coast and sails to Scythe's aid.

Revelations of the Oracle. When they meet in Snowspire, Scythe explains why he came here many years earlier: even then, the Guild suspected that Jack, in his search for the Sword of Aeons, might turn to the all-knowing stone Oracle. At the same time, the local people fear the opening of the Bronze Gate, believing that it would bring about the end of the world.

Following Scythe's instructions, the Hero travels to the Necropolis and retrieves magical glyphs needed to activate the Oracle. Awakening from its centuries-long slumber, it reveals that the prophecy is coming true: Jack is alive, has awakened the power of the Summoners, and is at that very moment using the blood of the Hero's kin beyond the Bronze Gate. To stop him, the Hero must feed souls to the mask and use them to pass through the gate.

"So Jack has cheated death once more. Never have I encountered a being like him," Scythe says.

The path beyond the Gate. From Briar Rose, we learn that Jack's new form will apparently emerge beyond the Bronze Gate. Opening it will require the souls of three exceptional Heroes.

"Yes, little Hero, I'm back. And our business is not quite finished. You destroyed my sword, remember? Do you have any idea how many centuries I spent looking for it? But what's done is done. Soon I will be so powerful you cannot imagine! And you will be the first to die!" Jack tells the Hero immediately after his conversation with Rose.

The first soul must belong to a King of the Arena — Thunder or another champion from years past. Jack urges the protagonist not to go anywhere at all and simply attack Thunder.

The "good" alternative is to return to the Arena and take the soul of an already dead champion. Before entering, the Hero learns from a wounded man that creatures recently appeared there and killed almost everyone present.

The reason is simple: Jack has decided to put the player through yet another trial, so obtaining the Arena soul requires surviving several unfair "rounds" against various monsters.

Returning to Archon's Shrine, the Hero "gives" it the soul captured with Jack's mask and learns the next requirement: the soul of a Heroine.

The suitable candidates are Briar Rose herself or the Hero's dead mother, Scarlet Robe. If the player chooses the second, more moral option, Jack sends his banshees to torment Scarlet's soul at her grave in Oakvale.

After they are defeated, the Heroine's spirit warns that Jack is powerful and that his new incarnation is almost complete. Scarlet then willingly sacrifices her soul to avenge the other members of her family.

The Hero carries the soul back to the Shrine and learns from Briar that the final soul must belong to the oldest Hero. At that moment, Jack once again attempts to manipulate him, pointing to the Guildmaster. Briar Rose disagrees and suggests returning to the Guild to consult the apprentices.

There, it turns out that the Guildmaster has decided not to wait for the matter to be settled and has fled into the woods, leaving his colleagues to hurriedly seek alternatives. One is soon found: the soul of Nostro, founder of the Guild, who lies buried in the great cemetery.

The end of Jack. After giving all three souls to Archon's Shrine, the Hero opens the Bronze Gate and encounters Jack once again, now in the form of an enormous dragon.

"Ahh, here you are. It's been a long wait, but I knew you'd free me eventually. Yes, always the puppet. Don't you ever get tired of having your strings pulled? I am no mortal man. The gods and demons you fear and worship are as nothing to me!" Jack greets the Hero in a place resembling the depths of hell.

This time, the battle works differently: the dragon can be struck in the head while it is on the ground. It periodically spits fireballs, then flies away and leaves the Hero to fight minions and Summoners.

"Fool, I have existed for millennia. You can't possibly comprehend what I am!" Jack boasts during the battle.

The fastest way to win is to eliminate the lesser enemies as quickly as possible, activate every useful buff, and deal as much damage to the dragon as possible whenever the opportunity arises.

At the end of the battle, the dragon dies and the Hero traps Jack's soul back inside the mask. Through the Guild Seal, Scythe insists that the artefact must be destroyed immediately and that the Hero must never put it on.

This is the final choice in the game: the Hero can throw the mask into the lava or put it on, thereby giving Jack a new body.

"It was a battle that would be talked about for centuries to come, the day the Hero of Oakvale slew the dragon Jack of Blades, the day the strange creature behind the mask was finally banished from this world," the Guildmaster narrates if the good path is chosen.

If the second option is chosen, a brief struggle follows before Jack takes possession of yet another host.

"I told you I could not be killed so easily, Hero!" he says.

"How pathetic of this little Hero to keep a journal. Well, now he is dead, and Jack of Blades lives. Nothing in Albion can stop me now..." Jack writes in the Hero's journal.

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