ONCE046: Who is Dr. Whale?

August 8, 2012 by 25 Comments
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Could Dr. Whale be the Wizard of Oz, Jack from the beanstalk, Monstro, Merlin, or someone else completely different? We share our theories and yours!

Let David Anders (“Dr. Whale”) know what you think via Twitter!

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Main discussion and feedback

I’ve been saying this for a long time, and I’ve always thought that Dr. Whale is Prince Eric! They would’ve chosen the most simple alias to throw people off, though if you think about it, Prince Eric was faithful to one woman. Dr. Whale tends to hit on almost every woman in town. As well as the fact the creators were trying to think of some way to get Ariel on the show and it’s no coincidence that she shows up in season 2 as well as we find out who he is…

Joanna

People do seem to be their own opposites in Storybrooke. But Dr. Whale seems like he would be a much more prominent fairy tale because of how long the writers have kept us guessing.

Hey guys!

it bugged me all last season about who Dr. Whale is and will probably bug me until I know but I had a thought I don’t like the idea of Dr. Whale being a whale sorry I just can’t wrap my head around it. BUT I remembered a old not as well known fairy tale from my childhood called The Fisherman and His wife it’s about a poor man who had a wife he couldn’t please, so one day he was fishing and caught a flounder who claimed he was an enchanted prince and her would grant him a wish, so the fisherman lets him go and his wife yells at him to go back and ask for a cottage so he hose back and the fish grants it. The fisherman’s wife becomes greedy and eventually the fish gets mad and reverses the wish and they go back to their previous life. I think Dr. Whale is the fisherman in the story that’s my rant. I would love your two cents worth!

Love,
Oncer

From Wikipedia:

The fisherman and his wife live in a hovel by the sea. One day the fisherman catches a golden flounder who claims to be an enchanted prince. The fisherman kindly releases it. When his wife hears the story, she says he ought to have had the flounder grant him a wish. She tells him to go back and ask the flounder to grant her wish for a nice house instead of their hovel. He returns to the shore and is uneasy when he finds the sea seems to be turning dark when it was so clear before. He makes up a rhyme to summon the flounder, and it grants the wife’s wish. However, the wife gets greedy and makes increasingly outrageous demands: a castle, to become queen, then become empress, and finally become pope. The fisherman knows this is wrong but there is no reasoning with his wife. The flounder grants the wishes, but the sea grows increasingly stormy every time the fisherman goes to summon it. Eventually the wife goes too far when she wishes to become equal to God. The flounder revokes everything it granted, and the fisherman and his wife are back in their hovel.

Wow! You have a great knowledge of fairy tales! We’re thinking Dr. Whale would come from a more popular fairy tale.

Dr. Whale, not Monstro but a new villain

Hello Daniel and Once Podcast Crew,

I had a thought about Dr. Whale’s fairytale character. What if he’s not the whale from Pinnochio? A lot of fans are expecting him to be Monstro but what if he turns out to be a new fairytale character villain? And if he is a new villain, I think it would be funny to give his character a British accent because the last two villainy roles David Anders has portrayed had British accents (Sark from Alias and Adam Monroe for Heroes).

~ obisgirl

We would definitely like to see Dr. Whale be someone completely different from what we all expect or theorize!

Dear Once Podcast,

I have a theory which involves Dr. Whale, and no, it doesn’t involve him being an actual whale. So far, he has hit on Ruby and had a fling with Mary Margaret. He also seemed to have some connection to David when he was in a comma and reported back to Regina about his status. In the S1 finale, Dr. Whale appeared aghast and dumbfounded after the curse lifted and he realized his true fairy-tale identity. These things initially made me think of him as a villain. Yet, as has been pointed out on the forum, his poor behavior could have been caused by the curse, similarly to how David acted unbecomingly and the opposite of Prince Charming.

This has led me to surmise that perhaps Dr. Whale is really a protagonist. Though the curse may have caused him to act less-than-gentlemanly towards Ruby in SB, what is clear is that he is somehow linked to her character in FTL. In the original Little Red Riding Hood fairytale, Red is rescued from the belly of the wolf by a woodcutter. What if Dr. Whale is the one who saved Red in FTL? Even though OUAT has transformed the original tale so that Red herself is the wolf, there could be some further twist so that Dr. Whale is the one who rescues Ruby from herself. Either he could be the woodcutter from the fairytale version or he could be the wizard who gave Granny the magic cloak for Red so she doesn’t faze into a wolf in the OUAT version. He could also have provided Red a safe-haven from the angry mob after she accidentally killed people in 1×15. I’m thinking he could even become Ruby’s new love interest in S2. Finally, he could also have given shelter to Snow White, since she was also on the run with Ruby. Since Snow and Ruby are friends in FTL, perhaps the curse caused Dr. Whale to go for the wrong girl in SB. In FTL, he was hopefully honorable and noble.

Finally, I think the name “whale” could still be linked to “wolf” since both are hypothesized to share a common prehistoric ancestor. This would be a subtle connection to Red’s story, but the executive producers like to keep us guessing. The term “whale” could have been chosen to throw us all for a loop, making us thinking he is Monstro from Pinocchio. The “Dr.” part could simply be a way of highlighting his status in FTL.

Thank you so very much for your amazing podcast!

Sincerely,
Slurpeez108

There’s good evidence of a connection, but not sure what it could be.

Always_Golden thinks Dr. Whale could be Merlin.

Nicole pointed out that Dr. Whale wasn’t in Regina’s dream in “An Apple Red as Blood” (s01e21). For reference, all the ones there were Emma, Regina, Henry, Dr. Hopper, David, Mary Margaret, Ruby, Granny, and all seven dwarfs.

Check out a bunch of other Dr. Whale theories in our Once Upon a Time forums.

Summer schedule

With the summer hiatus, we’re adjusting our live podcast schedule. We’ll record live episodes biweekly at 8:00 p.m. (EDT/GMT -4:00) on ONCEpodcast.com/live.

  • August 22, 2012
  • September 5, 2012
  • September 19, 2012
  • September 30, 2012—Season-two premiere and initial-reactions podcast!

This schedule will remain in effect unless otherwise announced.

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  • http://obisgirl.tumblr.com obisgirl

    Actually, I don’t watch episodes on hulu. I DVR them.

    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      Ha ha. I forgot that was in the episode and not after it.

      • http://obisgirl.tumblr.com obisgirl

        I was listening this morning.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kasey.thacker Kasey Thacker

    I like the idea someone mentioned in an earlier episode that he’d be the Pied Piper. At the very least I hope they use the Piped Piper in the mythos of the Troll war. Having the pied piper lead the children to war was a great idea (sorry I can’t remember which listener talked about it).
    For the longest time, I thought he was Jack in the beanstalk, but I think Jack is going to be a new character that’s Emma’s love interest. Emma seems to have a history of liking bad boys, and Jack was basically a very brave robber…
    I wouldn’t be surprised if Whale was a reference to a song or a musician like Jefferson’s name.

    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      When we learn who he is, we’ll all probably slap our heads over “Whale.” :P

  • http://www.facebook.com/sarah.e.watson.92 Sarah E. Watson

    I am currently listening to the Dr. Whale
    episode and suddenly had a revelation. I included “spoiler” in the subject line
    b/c I know one of you don’t want to know anything about Season 2, and this has
    to do with something that was revealed about Season 2. So here is who I think
    Dr. Whale is:

    The Giant from Jack and the
    Beanstalk.

    First, we know that Jack and the Beanstalk
    will be in Season 2 (from the title sequences that were revealed). Second, a
    whale is a giant creature, and the writers could have just used a play-on-words
    for his name. Third, he is in a position of power in Storybrooke, which has
    usually meant that the person what either evil or the queen had manipulated
    him/her to evil purposes, and the Giant was the “bad guy” in Jack and the
    Beanstalk.

    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      That’s a good idea!

  • True Believer

    I was thinking maybe Dr.Whale is the Frog Prince. It’s a fairly popular story, and the opposite of whale (or big) could be a frog, because they’re small. Also, I think once the frog got transformed into a prince he was handsome and nice. So maybe it’s saying he’s now like a frog, who are slimy and gross. ;) Just a theory!

    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      Interesting. If we see the Frog Prince, I’m thinking it would be Cinderella’s Prince Thomas.

  • unnie

    After listening to your podcast I am now convinced that Dr. Whale has to be in some way linked to Gulliver, from Gulliver’s Travels. However I also like the idea that he is in fact a wizard also. As the writers like to link two different characters together (with Rumplestiltskin/the beast) I wonder whether he could also be the Wizard too?
    Gulliver lands on the island of Lilliput with the little people, who could, in theory, also be the munchkins. And instead of being shipwrecked he could instead have crashed his balloon there. I thought there were some interesting crossovers between the two stories that could possibly be worked into the character. I don’t know too much about the story of Gulliver’s Travels, but I thought it was a interesting link.
    As for Dr. Whale being the Pied Piper, I don’t think this, and instead really believe that Rumplestiltskin is him. As Rumplestiltskin made a reference to the story of the Pied Piper when speaking to his son, Bae, and said something along the lines of: ‘I brought all the children back from the mountains, didn’t I?’ Which although is slightly different to the story, (the pied piper took the children to the mountains and they never returned) I figured that because of Bae, Rumplestiltskin had a change of heart.
    I love the podcast and can’t wait for the new series to start airing.

    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      I think we could also be over-thinking this. Like there’s a simple explanation we’re not considering.

      Actually, Rumplestiltskin said he brought the children back from the war.

  • http://www.facebook.com/edgar.arevalo.946 Edgar Arevalo

    I like the Wizard of Oz theory. That might explain why he was confused when the curse was broken because he was actually originally from our world but ended up in FTL/Oz and via the curse is back home.

    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      Why do you think a curse would bring him home?

  • Sharon

    Perhaps “Whale” could be a play on spelling from “Wales”? Maybe he is a character from Wales? Such as… Robin Hood?? His Singletown answers have been sticking in my mind. Dr. Whale said the “lucky” lady would get a dinner at Granny’s and a single carnation flower. But he’s a doctor!! What a cheap date for someone who can clearly provide more. I mean…not even a rose? Robin Hood steals from the rich and gives to the poor. Perhaps his curse is giving him the opposite temperament: stinginess. He still claims to want to do the unexpected and is “delightfully mysterious.” I’ve heard the Peter Pan theory and I think it’s possible, but how does “Whale” fit “Peter Pan”?

    • Sharon

      *Singlebrook answers.

    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      Nice connection! The sound of his name could certainly hold the secret instead of the spelling. Robin Hood is a great guess. I can see him as either Robin Hood or Peter Pan.

  • boynamedwolf5213

    With the consistent theories regarding Dr. Whale as an antagonist, I wanted to go against the grain and pose the possibility that he is a more favorable character. With the teaser trailer I saw recently with the Hook, I gave more possibility that the good doctor could be another of my “gray” characters. Snow, Charming, Emma and the dwarves leading the fight for good and the Queen clearly opposing them, there are several characters who do not have clear allegiances. The unknowns would consist of Rumple(sometimes helpful, but still plays for his own sometimes dark interest), and we weren’t sure of how August and Graham would turn out, so while they occupy this group I would put them in leaning towards Snows squad. A personal favorite is the Hatter who I believe is good hearted and only dabbled with the Queen to give his daughter a better life (also had my favorite line in season 1, ” You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants a magical solution for their problem, and everyone refuses to believe in magic. ” .

    That brings us back to the Doc. What if he were Peter Pan? Again I cite the season 2 trailer leading me to believe if the Doc is more of a “gray” character, the supply of allies for the Queen is only beginning to be tapped. And who will be there to oppose the apparent new threat? An older, still lost- boy, turned man, confused by becoming what he fought so long against, ADULT, Peter Pan. The eyeballing Red as distasteful as it was I agree, could be his clouded under the curse, thirst for youthfulness. At the end of season 1 with his head in his hands with either confusion or guilt, realizing how he has aged, hoping to find a fairy to return him back to Neverland. And like the Hatter and Graham forced to serve the Evil Queen under threat death or the hope of return to home. Also, and maybe a little bit of a leap, just to get the quote and double check some of my facts I came across this picture (http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111031223448/onceuponatime8042/images/6/61/Doc.jpg) which reminds me a little of this guy (http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120710221107/cartoons/images/e/e5/Peter-Pan-disney-30712203-237-391.gif).

    Thanks Once Podcast, you guys are delightful, insightful and most important a fun listen. Keep up the great work.

  • Ryan

    I think Dr. Whale is Merlin. If Fairies become Nuns in our world, maybe Wizards become Doctors?

    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      That’s a good thought.

  • Sara Klavan
    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      HA HA!

  • Lana Parrilla Fan

    Ok. My opinion! is in my blog: http://lana-parilla.tumblr.com/, but… who ever he is he was not cursed (he was out of storybrooke so he could leave it). He appeared in some of season 1 episodes (he was the doctor treating Charming, and in the last episode he was treating Henry) and now in season 2. He clearly belonged to fairytale land, but since he was not cursed he had to be out of there before the curse was spelled. My thoughts is that he is Rumpelstiltskin son.

    • http://DanielJLewis.net/about Daniel J. Lewis

      What makes you think Dr. Whale wasn’t cursed? I don’t see any evidence of this.

      If he was Bae and he was uncursed, he would have gone to Mr. Gold a long time ago.