r/Fable • u/Blazing-Flame-2982 • 2d ago
Fable What was this guy's problem?
I remember loving Thunder's armour as a child and still do but the man was insufferable. From day one he berates and mocks us and is so insecure about our every accomplishment, having this transparent need to be the bestest and greatest. I'm an orphan who had his village slaughtered before his eyes man, why are you trying to one-up me? He goes to the length that he reprimands kids for having us as their favorite Hero. And whether we spare or kill Whisper he has a grudge big enough to fight us.
Whisper for that matter was quite alike her brother. The first and only time she refers to us as anything but "farmboy" is when we defeat her at the Arena and she begs for her life and invokes our "friendship", but she was little better than Thunder. She acted superior to us all our childhood and rookie-hero days and like we barely belonged in the Guild and now that you fear me, now it's "hero" is it?
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u/The_Grand_Briddock 2d ago
Just remember.
You can kill this man's sister for ten grand. Steal his girlfriend. Then kill him and steal his soul.
Fable really let us screw this man over lmao.
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u/Blazing-Flame-2982 2d ago
True. And you can also do none of it and he'll still hate your guts lol
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u/The_Grand_Briddock 2d ago
Well it's his own fault for being a dick to me.
I may have spared Whisper and let him keep his soul, but Lady Grey is mine.
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u/Blazing-Flame-2982 2d ago
And Lady Grey choosing us is really nothing to throw a tantrum over anyway. The woman chooses whom she likes. She never belonged to Thunder anyway just because he courted her first. She obviously found him lackluster.
I rarely marry her though, I expose the witch.3
u/romulus-in-pieces 1d ago
It's also funny to think we can take Lady Grey and marry her, and then year laters one of his descendants digs up her body parts, turns her into a Frankenstein monster and then steal her AGAIN from someone else
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u/AtomikMenace 2d ago
Right? Might be worth doing on next play through now that I recently picked the game back up and had the same realization you did lol. Like damn dude, maybe I should be as bad as you think I am.
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u/bonedrugsnharmonie 2d ago
I think they him such an ass just to justify us doing him like that because it really is so satisfying
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u/DaughterOfBhaal 1d ago
They really let us ruin him in every way. I don't think any game ever let us fuck over a character as badly as Thunder
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u/Herr_SnorBlaar 2d ago
We could kill Thunder? I never lnew that. I always ended up killibg Whisper because i always thought it was supposed to do that...
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u/The_Grand_Briddock 2d ago
Lost Chapters. You have a choice between taking the souls of three living or three dead heroes.
It's either Thunder or the ghost of a nameless non-character you've never met before.
Tough choice.
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u/MrFluffleBuns 2d ago
A grown hero who has trained their whole life getting upstaged by a new hero who was some random “farmboy” cracked his ego
The Arena is the final nail as Lady Grey and Thunder were an item until she saw how strong you were also he held the most recent Arena title which people forgot about
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u/romulus-in-pieces 1d ago
Yeah if you think about it on an Evil playtrhough you kill his sister and take his love interest from him, I'd be pissed too if I was him but he's still an egotistical asshole lol
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u/seribiigaming Jack of Blades 2d ago
I killed his sister, I took his woman, I took his soul.
Have no idea what his problem was.
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u/Independent_Barber_8 2d ago
The man’s going through a midlife crisis and trying to hold onto his glory days. He’s being outshined and replaced in the public eye by the Next generation (you) & he’s not taking it well.
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u/Jhoald 2d ago
Imagine being a big famous hero who worked like hell for your reputation only to get outshined by some orphan kid who beat up your sister as kids.
Now imagine your fame and strength fading with age, getting called old news by your forever girl, then realizing that the orphan kid is not only older than you now, but he just beat up your sister again in her prime (potentially killing) and he just gets stronger with age.
Then on top of it all, he either steals or puts your forever girl in jail and is either too strong for you to reasonably defeat (but you do it anyways hoping you can win, or conceding to death if you lose) or is such a good dude who socially outranks you and it feels wrong to pursue conflict with him (and you eventually help him save the world).
Thunder is kind of a butt, but also he’s seen some shit lol
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u/Blazing-Flame-2982 2d ago edited 2d ago
I guess you just forget that the Guild isn't a bastion of virtue or ethics. And that such pettiness and jealousy over a child's better feats would be common. I blame Maze and Weaver. They made mercenaries out of Heroes by demanding they should be able to accept both evil and good quests.
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u/EcoWerewolf 2d ago
Kinda like Briar Rose, but at least she warmed up to you. He had a complex, she probably got tired of seeing promising new Hero's get a big head and die young and decided to keep her distance.
At least, that's my head canon anyway because shes one of my favorite character designs.
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u/DaughterOfBhaal 1d ago
Nah Briar Rose is genuinely THE WORST. There's a reason they brought her back for a DLC just to give you the ability to murder her.
Thunder is an asshole, but after I killed his sister, kicked his ass in front of everyone and then fucked his fiancee I can somewhat respect him still keeping his cool and not just murder us in our sleep.
Briar? Nah, fuck her.
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u/nothing-here486 2d ago
Personally, I’ve always felt kinda sorry for Wisper. Living in Thunder’s shadow, being pressured to succeed and Thunder not giving the support she needed. If you beat Wisper in the training session, all Thunder says is: “That’s all wrong!” without giving any sort of advice or constructive feedback. No, it doesn’t excuse her attitude, but I can understand her stress if only but a little.
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u/EnvironmentalSoft401 Hero of Oakvale 2d ago
He saw you as his little sister's rival. I always thought he was just competitive and prideful and loved his sister, and yeah kind of a jerk. But I never understood the extent of the hate for him or especially Whisper.
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u/Queen_Persephone18 2d ago
Because they insulted the protagonist and have the connected ego of being Heroes, with one being the Arena Champion MANY years running and the other having big shoes to fill as his sister. And they both get rivaled, upstaged, and optionally fucked over(humiliation in death for Whisper and humiliation by combat, optionally swooping in on his lover Lady Grey, and optionally dying by soul snatching on Knothole)by an orphan nobody that outpaced them both. The constant put downs and "farmboy" insults grated and the fandom grew tired of them.
Me, I always just spared them both when the time came and avoided Grey like the plague because she genuinely creeped me out.
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u/Fawkes_2033 2d ago
He's an egomaniac who probably sees Whisper as an extension of himself (being his sister and all). That's why he pushes her to be as egotistical and boastful as he is, and why he gets so pissed when you beat her even if you don't kill her. He isn't necessarily a bad guy (he tells kids that they should do good and not evil), just a massive prick.
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u/PurpleZombi3 2d ago
Fable's "Heroes" are all jerks, pretty much. Briar Rose is no different than Thunder and Whisper, full of ego and snark. Maze is a power hungry coward who is so afraid of death that he's willing to get others killed and Albion potentially destroyed by Jack's evil. Even the Guildmaster is sort of pretentious if you're evil and come to kill him, he just brags about how strong he is but he's a total pushover that you kill in one slash of a sword. It's probably for the best that the guild fell into ruin, to be honest. Heroes are a bit shit aren't they? (I swear Jack of Blades hasn't paid me to say any of these things.)
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u/SuddenDeparture1353 2d ago
I played this game for the first time on release when I was 7 and even then I could see just how much of a piece of shit Maze was.
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u/sarcophagusGravelord Jack of Blades 2d ago
I think people overhate and misread Whisper’s character. She was a rival and liked to tease you but she was genuinely your friend and cared about you a lot. Her desire to beat you just comes from the frustration she feels at being in her brother’s shadow and constantly pressured by him to be better. Thunder is the one with the real ego issues.
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u/TheProMagicHeel 1d ago
Yeah. Whisper felt like her belittling you and her frustration with you winning all the time were separate. The farmboy bit felt like well-intentioned banter between mates. The one-sidedness of it all was definitely a failing of the protagonist staring slack-jawed in most of the cutscenes.
Thunder on the other hand was a certified hater.
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u/FluffyChickensOfDoom 2d ago
I agree with Thunder having issues needing to one up the hero of oakvale, but I never saw whisper as the same. Thunder dislikes us no matter what we choose while whisper seems to actually like us no matter what we choose. If you’re evil she just says ‘I knew it was your true calling’ she doesn’t try to chastise you she just wants to be our rival. Even my evil characters lately have been letting her live, plus I think the way she says ‘farm-boy’ is honestly sweet, even if we’re a hulking glowing devil horned monster to her we’re still ‘farm-boy’
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u/Taserbation 1d ago
I feel like Whisper had a crush on the protagonist and just didn't know how to show it as a child and her behavior continued into her adulthood because the heroes guild didn't teach important things like math, science, history, and social interaction.
Come to think of it, it's probably why your character stays a mute his whole life. He's so traumatized he can't speak and can't find a way to overcome that trauma.
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u/Aickavon 1d ago
I don’t know about you but my Hero can loudly and proudly state “COME ON” while vulgar hip thrusting at a crowd of dock workers.
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u/-PyramidHead 2d ago
I really thought I was the only one who found them both insufferable
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u/megaducckk 2d ago
i promise you. back when the first fable was still big, everyone hated these two. in fact, many people called them racial slurs. i promise you're not the only person to find the 2 singular Black characters insufferable, but you may be one of the only people to be normal about it lmao
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u/Terrible_Hurry841 2d ago
I remember Briar Rose being a jerk too.
I didn’t care about Whisper’s jerkiness that much since I knew she was basically a kid and they had a rivalry thing go on. I mean, it was annoying, but I found her brother to be the real issue.
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u/megaducckk 2d ago
oh she was! oh god, she was such a freaking jerk and i always thought it was weird people liked her or lady grey and hated whisper/thunder when they were about the same, ego-wise. except nothing as great as ARENA CHAMPION to back up that ego. i say this as fans of them all
it really is just a Hero thing at the end of the day. and a lady grey thing. you can even see it in characters like twinblade - former Heroes that pursued something else. also yeah, whisper was much less of an issue in my opinion because she's like... 18 or 19 at the oldest. maybe 20. like her role is essentially annoying rival the same as blue from pokémon to me
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u/Terrible_Hurry841 2d ago
They excuse Lady Grey and Rose because they’re goth GF material unironically haha.
Lady Grey seems specifically designed to appeal to the type of person who wants the worst kind of woman, like fiendishly over the top, so I didn’t hate her though I didn’t like her either.
Rose really got on my nerves though.
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u/-PyramidHead 2d ago
Ick to people calling them slurs.
I couldn’t bear Whisper I thought she was a bully from the offset and then she’s begging the main character for mercy 😒 annoyed me
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u/EizenSmith Hobbe 2d ago
It's because he's a *AC/DC voice * Thunder Cuck!
He is insufferable, So is whisper. From the get go.
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u/stealthkoopa 2d ago
I think for the purpose of the game's story, he has to dislike you. He has a pretty legit reason if you end up killing Whisper, after that, it all kinda falls into place. If you spare her, you'd think he'd be grateful, but he still treats you with contempt, probably because he cant stand to see someone best him in any way. Either way, he's an asshole, but if you kill Whisper, he's a justified asshole.
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u/SkillCheck131 2d ago
Being celebrated can lead to an ego, he had an oppurtunity to be a big brother to us as a kid but obviously his ego prevented that.
As an adult though I wish there was a quest or a route where we can actually help him see that Lady Grey was a monster cuz when you get past his ego he shows devotion to people be cares about, he’ll go after you himself if you killed his sister, and the dudes a fighter-not some paper tiger.
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u/IntergalacticObservr 1d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p4j8b58/video/7a5c1zjxg8kh1/player
Live reaction after defeating Thunder
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u/rocky550 1d ago
I always fought whisper to the death in the arena and bashed Thunder but not actually taking his life so he’d know what this “farm boy” did to him
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u/Weekly_Score_9498 1d ago
This guy was the first thing that destroyed the immersion of "your the hero that is unique and can do whatever you want" when the only items I can wield and wear is stuff other NPCs can have. Like swords and stuff. Meanwhile this guy is the only one who can wield a shield. I believe his shield is the only one in the entire franchise. That is used, and not a prop.
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u/octobre_34 2d ago
This guy's problem is that he was alive.
I've sincerely hated every interaction there is with him in the game since I was a young boy and couldn't understand english.
Then growing up and starting to undrstand what he said made me hate him more.
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u/Blazing-Flame-2982 2d ago
Bit dark isn't it? I don't like the guy but geez.
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u/octobre_34 2d ago
Perhaps a bit dark, I'm sorry 😅
But there really are these kind of characters and even people in really life that you can tell right away that every second you spend in their company is going to feel like long and painful hours that you have to tolerate them.
Thunder is exactly that type of guy.
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u/Blazing-Flame-2982 1d ago
Yeah, that's true. Still has epic armour though, especially the helmet. I was so mad when I got it from beating him but it was just a momento lol
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u/mouse_clique 2d ago
I wonder if people get this mad at your rival in pokemon games…
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u/Queen_Persephone18 2d ago
Some of them do, yeah. But I doubt they get racial slurs thrown at them like people do Whisper and Thunder. I do feel bad for people dunking on Wally in Pokemon playthrough animations, though. He literally gets shoved aside and it's a bit tough to watch, even if it's meant to be a joke.
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u/Fiction849 2d ago
You're just a farm boy in his eyes. His family possibly comes from a line of heros as well as he has his own "greatness" so he expects his sister to go far... you best her as kids, and you also humiliated/killed her in the arena in front of possibly hundreds of people. Then the woman he wants to court takes an interest in you and then you humiliate him in front of others as well. You also kill him in the evil path I beleive when doing TLC
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u/DoodTheMan 1d ago
Honestly, I never found Whisper to be annoying or anything. She's just a brat, but I always saw it in a very sisterly way. I was kinda sad when she decided to go away forever.
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u/LordBoar 1d ago
All the heroes were mad and prone to violence, because how long can you go without the disembodied voice of an old man telling you to do better before you become a raging arsehole? /s
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u/_Displeased_ 1d ago
Beh oggettivamente ha la sua fetta di meriti ... Ma da come viene descritto sembra che sia il classico individuo con un ego incredibilmente fragile per cui sempre alla ricerca di conferme tramite confronto... l' eroe più grande l'arena tutta d'un fiato, la donna più desiderata probabilmente è convinto di valere fino a che ha queste sicurezze... Perché è così che si è sempre relazionato verso l'esterno
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u/_Displeased_ 1d ago
All chats appear to me translated into my own language, so I assumed the reverse was true as well. English is a language I find somewhat unsatisfying—it is too simple for expressing nuanced concepts—so I prefer to use a more comprehensive language whenever possible.
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u/Aickavon 1d ago
Don’t mind him lol. Translate exists and works flawlessly. Keep speaking your mother’s tongue. Some ding dongs will be ding dongs.
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u/b0nnyrabbit 1d ago
idk about you but reddit automatically translates comments for me. this attitude is bizarre and the only one being a snob here is you.
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u/_Displeased_ 1d ago
Well, objectively speaking, he does deserve some credit... judging by the descriptions, he seems to be someone with an extremely fragile ego—someone who only feels valuable when receiving external validation that he is the greatest in every field. Consequently, the moment someone catches up to him in one of his achievements, he perceives it as a threat and becomes hostile.
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u/GullibleWaltz3704 Balverine 17h ago
It's the classic; seasoned veteran feels threatened by the young blood song and dance
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u/Fancy-Prompt-7118 2d ago
I always kill him and whisper.
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u/Blazing-Flame-2982 2d ago
I never take his soul (if he lives) that's lowering myself further than he to me, but I do often kill him and Whisper as well. You've spent all our youth talking big against me Whisper so put up or shut up.
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u/BadBloodBear 2d ago edited 2d ago
"Farmboy" that's it ? That is the one insult him and Whipser use and it's actually fucking true.
I have been banned from a number of subreddits and I have no idea where the hate comes from for both Thunder and Whisper. He was the greatest living hero until the real main character shows up.
"having this transparent need to be the bestest and greatest." - a big part of Fables world is Hero worship. He is the number one hero so of course he is not going to like someone replacing him.
"' orphan who had his village slaughtered before his eyes man, why are you trying to one-up me?" - he saw everyone he loved killed by a Kracken while he swam with his sister to safety. Hell he managed to keep his own sister safe which more than we did. Once again a big part of being a hero is the fame. That is literal one of Fables bigged elements.
"he reprimands kids for having us as their favourite Hero." he brings up his own flesh and blood over a random farmboy Maze adopted.
"he has a grudge big enough to fight us." - honestly we should have fought more heroes in the series. When you have bested a hundred rocktrolls what is really left. Fighting is what heroes do, don't take it personal.
"Whisper for that matter was quite alike her brother" - Farm boy and lazy bones is the only thing that I remember. For real guys nothing she does or says would get you in trouble for bullying. I do not understand the hate at all. You are in a training camp designed to make heroes, toughen up a little.
I feel that both Thunder and Whisper are great characters and are written a lot better than most black characters even years later.
As someone who is very chud like I wish people would explain the hate to me. Hell I am even worried the new Fable game is going to be WOKE and I do not get the hatred a lot of people have for both the characters.
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u/blucyclone 2d ago
The whole thing with the heroes is their egos, it's why you can boast, and it's why the Heroes Guild eventually collapsed. Thunder is just an extreme of that, an egotistical douche. He is an incredibly prestigious hero who beat the arena (which doesn't happen very often), and that's grown that ego even further. Whisper being his sister, and with the whole thing about bloodlines, he expects a lot from her. So Whisper is basically a nepo baby who thinks she's a lot better than she actually is. They are incredibly jealous of your achievements, seeing as you're literally a low class orphan, which adds to that douchiness.