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Someone got me all excited that August could be Peter Pan. Now am all excited about the Piper. But, I see the piper being a musician not a DR.
I also LOVE the idea of the wolf. Druids can also be shape shifters. I also kept thinking his attraction to Ruby may have something to do with his ability to sense her shape shifting nature.
It is soo hard to come up with male character ideas with so little to go on. I do love this show.
[adrotate group="5"]I don’t see Dr. Whale as being the Big Bad Wolf from the 3 Little Pigs. There are already two ‘wolves’ in Storybrooke – Granny and Red. Perhaps, another type of shapeshifter that has a few tales about them – like a Selkie Lord.
I didn’t know where else to put this, but since there’s so little else known about Dr. Whale I decided to cobble up some info and post a couple theories.
What is known about Dr. Whale from the show/sources
He is a doctor in Storybrooke who appears educated in the medical field and is actually concerned for his patient’s recovery.
He comes across as slightly arrogant, full of himself, and inconsiderate of others. “He can’t be tied down.”
He seems to be working with Regina, although he could just be doing what she tells him, similar to Archie in regards to Henry.
He has shown an intense attraction to Ruby more than once – which is not reciprocated and which may or may not have turned ugly had he not been interrupted on one occasion.
He prefers to go into situations “never knowing what’s expected” because “it keeps life interesting.”
Theories/Speculation
Dr. Whale is the SB counterpart of Dr. Knowall, from the Grimm tale of the same name.
Dr. Whale is the SB counterpart of Lemuel Gulliver, from the Jonathan Swift novel ‘Gullver’s Travels.
Dr. Whale is the SB counterpart of Prince Eric, from the Disney-fied version of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale.
Dr. Whale is the SB counterpart of Erik the Red (aka Eirik Raude), an actual Viking explorer and inspiration of Viking tales.
Theories/Speculation further defined
Dr. Whale can be any number of the above but, in the hands of the OUAT writers, is probably a conglomeration of two of them.
Firstly, Dr. Whale could turn out to be both Knowall and Gulliver. The Grimm tales gives a story about a peasant named Crabb and mentions a wife named Grete (or Greta). However, it doesn’t define whether Crabb is his first name or last. In the first theory, let’s decide on the former and we have Lemuel Crabb, a modest man who wants to be more. To coincide with Gulliver’s Travels, he doesn’t just pose as a doctor but takes up an apprenticeship with James Bates (from Gulliver’s Travels). Prior to his adventures in that story, Crabb has the one told by Grimm and becomes a considerably wealthy man. A man who seems to either enjoy explaining everything to his wife or feels he must. Some time later, something happens to seperate Crabb from his wife, Grete, and he changes his name to Lemuel Gulliver and has his travels, eventually marrying his next wife, Mary Burton. Gulliver is known for leaving to go on travels but always returning home – being on the sea, of course, it’s not really explained if he is faithful to his wife while away from home. If not, that would explain Dr. Whale’s attitude toward women. ((FYI, there was an actual Lemuel Crabb who lived from 1800-1865, was a farmer & carpenter, and had a wife named Sarah))
The second way Dr. Whale’s tale can go would be a mix of Prince Erik and Erik the Red. Of course, Erik the Red had a wife and four kids. The original HCA tale has the prince turning away from the little mermaid (Ariel) to marry someone else he already loved which, in OUAT writers’ hands, would possibly be someone named Vanessa to go along with the Disney-fied version. Throw in the possibility that the man in red among Regina’s group of evil when the Dark Curse was cast could possibly be Erik the Red and that a man who “can’t be tied down” may be an allusion to Dr. Whale being a selkie lord and you have one interesting, if not confusing, backstory.
Okay, so I have to agree with what was said in the Initial Reactions for the finale about how Dr. Whale looked like he was struggling with his memory coming back. Does anyone else think he can turn out to be a really bad person? If we go the route of the curse makes some people the opposite of who they really are, then Dr. Whale can possibly turn out to be Bluebeard or someone similar. 😯
@Lorem Ipsum wrote:
Dr. Whale’s reminds me of Judge Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
But would that be considered a Fairy Tale … despite Disney making it an animated movie? Same question goes to those who might suggest Moby Dick?
Bluebeard is actually a fairy tale. Albeit, he’s Jack the Ripper of Fairy Tales, but a fairy tale nonetheless.
The promo’s for the show say that an Evil Queen sent a bunch of storybook characters via a curse etc. etc.
Alice in Wonderland isn’t a fairytale, neither is Pinocchio. Or for that matter The Wizard of Oz.
King Midas is from Greek MythologyI believe the writers of OUAT are using great literary characters, mainly children’s stories whether they be fairy tales or children’s literature. They could very well move into the realm of required school reading like Moby Dick. These are stories and characters we all know or are familiar with through some kind of media. And since Disney owns ABC (or is it vice versa) I would not be surprised to see any of the Disney, or Pixar, animated movies depicted in OUAT. Disney has taken popular fairytales (Snow White), children’s literature (Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland) and legends (Arthur & Merlin, Robin Hood), and brought them to the screen with a Disney retelling. An interview with Horowitz & Kitsis said they were using the Disney versions of these stories because that is what everyone is familiar with.
My opinion is, despite the numerous fairy tales, the general populace is only really familiar with a small percentage. But incorporating a broader spectrum of children’s literature, like Alice in Wonderland, opens up more possibilities.
Whether they will go as far as Moby Dick or Hunchback, i don’t know because those stories are more mature than what they have used up until now. Disney’s Hunchback and Hugo’s Hunchback are quite different. But my point was that Frollo’s leering and obsessiveness with Esmerelda reminded me of Dr. Whale and Ruby.
The pilot states that “Once upon a time there was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know. Or think we know.”
Classic characters, not fairy tale characters.
When the curse was broke and Henry woke up, did anyone else wish that someone would have gone over to Dr. Whale and tapped him on the shoulder and asked “Who are you?”
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
@Josephine wrote:
When the curse was broke and Henry woke up, did anyone else wish that someone would have gone over to Dr. Whale and tapped him on the shoulder and asked “Who are you?”
hahahahaha Yes!!
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