Mr. Nancy is a major supporting character from the novel American Gods and its spin-off Anansi Boys. He is one of the Old Gods and the American incarnation of the Ghanian spider trickster god Anansi.
During the growing conflict between the Old and New Gods, Mr. Nancy sided with Mr. Wednesday (Odin), acting as his spymaster in preparing for the conflict between the Old and New Gods. Before the conflict escalated into a proper war, however, Shadow Moon (Baldur) revealed that Mr. Wednesday was working with the New God Mr. World, in truth Low-Key Lysmith or Loki, were playing both sides to start a war, something Wednesday and Loki would both benefit from as a god of war and chaos respectively.
Sometime later, Mr. Nancy died from a heart attack. His ghost would aid his sons, Fat Charlie and Spider, in defeating the many enemies he made in life that came looking for revenge. Satisfied with his sons’ success, Mr. Nancy considered resurrecting himself in 20 or 25 years.
Battle vs. Bigby Wolf (by LokoDito)[]
Jolliness hung in the air inside the Manhattan club where Mr. Nancy was staying. Pop music roared like thunder inside the small humid pit, colorful dizzying lights spun around the ceiling and walls, and young unsupervised rich brats danced and made out on the dance floor.
Even with its dreary, loud, worse-than-war atmosphere, the old man loved the place. Unbeknownst to these kids, he was a god — the same ones they’d read in their English classes. He was far from what his mythology wrote, yet even if he was never the god of parties, he was nonetheless in control of his destiny. He was the god of this club for now — a god who would drink, sing, and fuck way beyond a human could handle.
That night, however, was different from all the other nights, as a lone hairy man in a stained polo and a tie, barged uninvited into the club. A certain darkness covered the place as the man came in. While the young kids were too drunk or too sexed to care, Mr. Nancy felt the inhuman power this stranger brought. Coldness crept through his non-existent spine. A certain coldness that told him to prepare.
The man was indeed not human. He was a fable, a certain character from fairy tale books, who took refuge in this mundane normal world. Specifically, this character was known as the Big Bad Wolf, though he preferred the name Bigby to everyone he met. If one wondered how a wolf was walking in man’s territory, one should only remember of the phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” But instead of sheep, he wore man’s skin — a sort of reverse werewolf. He was no man transformed into a wolf. He was a smart wolf turned into a man.
Bigby scanned the room, and once his eyes picked Mr. Nancy, he went to him in slight haste. The spider god prepared himself for what this stranger was planning. He had his wits if the stranger wanted to talk, and he’d have his powers and fists if things went dirty.
“You are Mr. Nancy?” Bigby asked.
“You’re looking at the one and only,” replied Mr. Nancy.
“Hardly,” added Bigby. “Listen. You’re not allowed to be here. This is fabletown territory.”
“Come on. Can’t you spare a brother some good time?”
“Nope. The magic you’re bringing is making a lot of us nervous. We’ve had our run-ins with all manners of literals and gods to just stand here and hope nothing will happen.”
“Nothing will happen if you don’t fuck with me, boy.”
“We’re not taking any chances. Now, either you can leave or I’ll have to drag your—“
Suddenly, Mr. Nancy socked Bigby Wolf in the cheek. Though that punch was pathetic compared to what Bigby had been through, the surprise attack distracted him long enough for Mr. Nancy to teleport away. Once Bigby got back to his senses, the old man was gone.
“So much for a god,” Bigby jested. He then felt creatures crawling in his pants, which began to fill his skin with bites and pinches. Bigby panicked at the sight of spiders, both venomous and non-venomous, cultivating his barren thighs with their painful jaws.
—-
Mr. Nancy arrived near the highways of central park. That was a close call, but the battle was not over yet. As long as that bastard lived, Mr. Nancy would always have a dagger sticking in his back. He needed to do something if he wanted his stay in New York City to be a pleasant one.
He then began yelling and jesting in order to grab the attention of the people. There were colorful mighty sparks combined with his booming voice, which lured people unto him like flies to a rotting carcass. As hundreds of people watched, Mr. Nancy began to proclaim with a charismatic voice that every corrupt politician would envy, “Everyone! Gather all to me! A terrorist has again entered New York City! We gotta do something fast if we don’t want ourselves to be under attack. Remember! You are strong! Our country is strong. But only together do we become truly invincible!”
Bigby Wolf got out of the club and began roaming around Manhattan in search of his target. The stings from those spiders were gone but the annoyance and embarrassment they caused remained in Bigby. That old man would pay dearly for his insolence.
Bigby had little trouble getting himself back on track. The winds obeyed his command, and they brought to him the scent of the spider god. With superhuman speed, Bigby ran towards the direction of the smell.
But as he entered the park, he heard someone yelling “Terrorist!” as a bat hit him in the head. Other people started coming out of trees, bushes, and other covers, carrying an assortment of weapons like goof clubs, batons, nailed bats, and metal pipes. They ran towards Bigby with anger in their eyes. Bigby found something wrong with this situation. There were many people, all of whom were stupid and unreasonable. Someone had taken control of their minds and he knew just who.
As melee weapons pounded Bigby Wolf like there was no tomorrow, the fable had no choice but to unleash his werewolf form. With tattered remains, and now sprouting fur, teeth, and claws, Bigby threw the brainwashed pedestrians with his superior physicality. Even though there were many of them, in time, Bigby succeeded in eradicating their number.
Suddenly, something powerful smashed into Bigby, which threw him away unto a tree. With a growl full of annoyance and the grinding of teeth, Bigby charged at Mr. Nancy, who took the form of a tall tribal man with 6 arms. The wolf grabbed two of his arms, and with ease, ripped them out of their sockets. Mr. Nancy screamed in agony as he laid down, blood bathing the park’s grass.
“You should have walked away!” Bigby growled.
“Fuck you!” Nancy screamed, as he transformed into a giant tarantula. Mr. Nancy raised his giant arms and smashed it on Bigby, flattening the wolf and burying him to the ground. As Bigby tried to get up, he found that one of his arms and legs were missing.
“I don’t think you would be needing those, where you’re going,” bantered Mr. Nancy.
“Heh, interesting,”. Bigby replied, and in front of Mr. Nancy, the fable finally unleashed his true form. He transformed into a wolf the size of a small elephant.
“No fair!” Mr. Nancy remarked as he tried to get away. But Bigby unleashed a mighty gust of breath that flipped Mr. Nancy to his back. A paw then slammed into his thorax, pinning him. The spider god tried to bite Bigby’s paw again and again, menacing and shredding it with his long pincers, but to no avail.
“Please! Leave me be! I promise I won’t make any trouble.” Mr. Nancy begged.
“Nope,” replied the Big Bad Wolf.
“Please! I think we can work something out. Maybe you need something? Anything?! I am a god! I can help you! I can make your wishes come true!”
“Nah. Now stay steady, so I can kill you quick.”
“Wait!”
There was a loud crunch, and thick goo running from Bigby’s jaws. With a tug, he pulled Mr. Nancy’s head off and tossed it to the ground. The fable then transformed back into human form and left the rotting carcass of the giant spider. He was too tired to do anything else. Maybe Flycatcher could burn or clean it up for him.
Expert's Opinion[]
Bigby Wolf won because of his tremendous strength and speed, better transformation, and aerokinesis. While Mr. Nancy was smarter and had a few tricks up in his sleeve, Bigby didn’t lag behind as a detective and had all the skills and powers to track Mr. Nancy down and capture him.