The Dresden Files > DF Reference Collection
Mouse's Origins
Serack:
This is an attempt to outline a strong theory post for Mouse's Origin based off of lots of earlier discussions from about a year ago. Also, like many of my theory posts, this one is heavily reliant on text quotes and WoJ's and rather than pepper it with blocks of quotes, I'll place them all at the bottom and reference them in the body of the theory as I go.
I like to split Mouse's origin into three ideas. His physical origin, his temporal origin, and the source of his power.
Mouse's Physical Origin:
Physically Mouse was probably born in a monastery somewhere on the Tibetan Plateau. This is based off of Harry's description of them at the beginning of Blood Rites,txt#1 and the assumption that Esmerelda's "Land of Dreams"txt#4 is a reference to Edmund Candler's and other British descriptions of Tibet in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Props to lovejoy69 for bringing Candler to my attention)
Mouse's Temporal Origin:
According to Harry in BRtxt#1 and Bob in WNtxt#2 Mouse is quite possibly from a lineage of Scions of a "celestial guard spirit." Harry and Bob both make their descriptions with a little skepticism sprinkled in, but the reactions of several others when they see Mousetxt#3 lend pretty strong weight to this idea.
Mouse's source of power:
Text Reference #5 is the reason why this gets it's own section, and it is where I have the most fun theorizing about Mouse. Lea seems to think that Mouse needs to be near Tibet to truly exert his strength, but Mouse implies that being near Harry is good enough for him. This coupled with the Wikipedia description of Foo Dogs makes me think that the Foo Dog's typical source of power is tied to the purpose/calling of guarding the mystically/magically significant Buddhist temples. No guard duty, no power. And Mouse cheats by guarding something possibly just as metaphysically important... Harry. I think their mutual loyalty is heavily tied into this too.
Aforementioned WoJ's and Book ExcerptsText Reference #1
--- Quote from: Blood Rites Ch. 1 ---Thomas glanced back at the box. "Cute little furballs. What's their story?"
"Guardian dogs from some monastery in the Himalayas. Someone snatched them and came here. A couple of monks hired me to get them back."
"What, they don't have dog pounds in Tibet?"
They believe these dogs have a foo heritage."
"Is that like epilepsy or something?"
I snorted... "The monks think their great-grandcestor was a divine spirit-animal. Celestial guard spirit. Foo dog. They believe it makes the bloodline special."
--- End quote ---
Text Reference #2
Bob on Foo Dogs:
--- Quote from: White Night Ch. 14 ---Well, the're not entirely mortal," Bob said. They're Scions of a celstial being called a Foo Dog and a mortal canine. The're very intelligent, very loyal, tough, and can seriously kick ass if they need to do it. But mostly, they're sentinels. They keep an eye out for dark spirits or dark energy, guard the people or places they're supposed to guard, and alert others to the presence of danger."
--- End quote ---
Text Reference #3
--- Quote from: TC ch. 47 ---[Ancient] Mai looked as if someone had hit her between the eyes with a sledgehammer. "That," she said, in a breathless tone, "is a Foo dog." She stared at me. "Where did you get such a thing? And why were you allowed to keep it?"
"He sort of picked me," I said.
--- End quote ---
Text Reference #4
--- Quote from: Changes Ch. 26 ---"What is it, our love?" Esteban asked quietly.
"The Ik'k'uox," she said in a distant, puzzled voice. "It is in pain. It flees. It..." She opened her eyes very wide, and suddenly they flooded in solid black, just as the creature's had been. "Oh! It cheated!" Her face turned down to mine, and she bared her fangs. "It cheated! It brought a demon of its own! A mountain ice demon fron the Land of Dreams!"
"If you don't exercise them, they're impossible," I said, philosophically.
--- End quote ---
Text Reference #5
--- Quote from: Changes Ch. 41 ---"You are far from your sources of power here, my dear demon."
"I live with a wizard. I cheat."
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: WoJ --- @longshotauthor: Oh, wow, here is almost exactly Mouse: http://bit.ly/f6Ot9M
--- End quote ---
More recent WOJs on the subject:
--- Quote from: WOJ ---badowntown: Is mouse a Foo dog or a Temple dog? My understanding is that Foo dogs are Tibetan celestial beings, and Temple dogs are Foo dogs crossed with mortal canines (possibly multiple generations removed).
You, at one point, referred to mouse as a Temple dog, but Ancient Mai at one point in Turn Coat exclaims something like "That is a Foo Dog. Where did you get it!?". Could you clarify?
Jim: You're splitting hairs, here. They're the same thing (for every practical purpose). A Foo Dog is a celestial being which chooses to give up its divinity (and immortality) to serve and protect in the mortal world. Part of being mortal is having offspring, who share in their progenitor's power.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: WOJ ---Marathonbrewer: Will Mouse continue to operate at Foo dog level now that he's guarding Maggie? When he faced down Lea in Mexico she said that he was far from his place of power, but he replied that he cheated by living with a wizard. Does that mean he needs to live with a full-fledged wizard or just someone with wizard talent? Obviously he'd still be a giant killing machine with a snarky personality, but I worry that he might try to bite off more than he can chew if he loses the Superdog status.
Jim: Here's something I'm not sure will ever make the books: Mouse draws the fundaments of his power from a house's threshold. /Weaker/ at the /Carpenter's/? Ye gods and little fishes, he went from Thing to Hulk when he moved in to protect Maggie. But, having grown up with a wizard who regards conventions as things to mourn as they are shattered into little pieces, and to speak nicely about in retrospect, he's learned to use other kinds of power, too.
--- End quote ---
-Elegast
Second Aristh:
It may be outside the bounds you want to set, but I noticed that the Wiki entry on Foo Dogs mentions multiple times that Foo Dogs always come in pairs, one male and one female. Combine that with this WoJ...
--- Quote ---About Mouse's siblings
he does have a bunch of brothers and sisters who wonder how come they haven’t heard from him. ‘You never howl, you never pee on anything….’ And plus, there is…uh, I will just say that the possibility exists that Harry didn’t rescue all of them, and if so, where are the others?
--- End quote ---
I'm actually kind of surprised that this one hasn't sparked rampant speculation yet honestly. Especially since Jim wants to bring in some Asian lore eventually.
Oh, and one more excerpt and WoJ for your Lea/Mouse conversation:
Mouse has just threatened Lea in order to get her to change everyone back from hounds, including causing a mini-earthquake and St. Elmo's fire to start falling from his mouth.
Changes p.350
--- Quote ---The Leanansidhe shook her head slowly. Then she said, "How did Dresden ever win you?"
"He didn't," Mouse said. "I won him."
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---#136 “I am interested in knowing if we will ever get back to Mouse’s comment about “winning” Harry. I’m totally mystified. ”
It might help to know that while Mouse and Lea are both using the same word, winning, they are talking about entirely different meanings of it. As a result, Lea was mystified, too.
--- End quote ---
The "winning" may have something to do with Mouse having some special source of power.
laura118b:
My personal take on Mouse and Lea meaning very different things is that Lea said "won" like a prize, Mouse said "won" like he won Harry's heart over. Harry didn't want him at first, Mouse made Harry fall in love with him.
And at the KC signing Jim was more direct, I remember him saying that Harry didn't get all the puppies, there was no "possibility" thrown in the sentence.
NutJobismyJob:
That would be how I would interpret the winning exchange as well. As for speculation on Mouse's siblings, I think we just don't have enough info to speculate much. We haven't seen any of them since Harry rescued some of them and my mythology knowledge may not be so great but I'm not aware of any demons that generally look like giant purple monkeys that fling burning poo. So yeah, not much to go on.
Second Aristh:
Now wait a minute. I thought everybody had heard of these guys ;D
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