The announcement of a new Fable game for the Xbox Series X came as a surprise to many. More surprising to some is the fact that the new Fable will be a reboot of the franchise, leaving many fans to speculate about the many directions the story could go in.
Microsoft’s Head of Studios has already said that the new game’s team has a “unique view of what’s core to Fable," which to many fans likely sounds as ominous as it sounds like a fresh opportunity. With the franchise at a crossroads, there’s one antagonist Fable fans would love to see make a return.
Fable's Greatest Villain
Jack of Blades appeared as the villain in the first Fable game. Not only were his visual design and mysterious origins great introductions to Fable’s stylized world, but he also presented some of the most difficult choices in the game. During the first game’s arena segment, Jack announces his return to Albion after an “eternity.” At this point only two heroes remain, the player, and their childhood friend, Whisper. Jack demands that the two friends fight to the death, and if the player ultimately decides to kill Whisper, Jack will reward them with 10,000 gold.
One of the best things about Jack as a villain is that, while he has his own nefarious schemes, the character was designed to give the player themselves opportunities to make evil choices in Fable. Jack represents what the Hero of Oakvale could become. He is feared shown when the scholar studying the Focus Sites abandons his work as soon as he realizes Jack is involved, and beloved, shown at the arena where he is introduced as the “hero of heroes”.
Fable 1 had a moral alignment system like many other games. While system’s like Mass Effect’s paragon/renegade system punished players for doing evil to the extent that almost all players chose the paragon track, Jack stands to demonstrate that the wily Fable player can have it all, if they are willing the be ruthless enough.
After the player kills Jack at the end of the first Fable game, the purpose of his character remains clear. The player is presented with a choice: kill their character’s sister, Theresa, and claim the Sword of Aeons, or destroy the sword and lose that power forever.
Fable: How Jack of Blades Could Come Back
There are plenty of reasons Jack of Blades could return in a Fable reboot. If the hero ends the first game’s expansions wearing both the Sword of Aeons and Jack’s blade they are implied to have been taken over by Jack himself, with the player’s in-game journal reading “How pathetic of this little Hero to keep a journal. Well, he is dead now, and Jack of Blades lives. Nothing in Albion can stop me now.”
Jack is also hinted to be older than humanity itself, using the mask to jump from host to host to stay alive indefinitely, as well as having origins in The Void that might mean that he returns there after his defeat in Fable's Albion anyway.
The main point, however, is that whoever the new Fable’s villain turns out to be, the Fable reboot's developer should look to Jack of Blades as the template. His villainy isn’t just about being purely antagonistic, but providing the player with opportunities to become more and more like him for increasingly great rewards until they are one and the same. That was part of the genius of the original game’s morality system – it rewarded evil, but through the villain showed the player exactly what price they would pay as well.
A Fable reboot could go in any direction, but if Jack of Blades is the antagonist, at least in spirit, it will likely be on the right track to recapture the series’ heights and help launch the Xbox Series X's RPG line-up for the next-gen of consoles.
Fable is currently in development for PC and Xbox Series X.