About Bob... (Spoilers All, Spoilers today's AMA)

[ClintACK]

Question: Who are Bob's Parents?
Jim Butcher: "Wow, really? I thought it was obvious. -- Both of Bob's parents have appeared in the Dresden Files. "

Okay...  Presumably one has to be (or have been) a mortal human at the time, and one has to be something more supernatural. And there has to have been a soul/mental melding and an act of loving self-sacrifice. Plus both have to still be around, to have been on screen. And they have to be old enough to pre-date Kemmler.

Possible clues:

• Bob says faith is completely orthogonal to him (in Death Masks when he's explaining why he can't go looking for the Shroud) -- so his supernatural parent is probably not an angel.
• His parents have both appeared on screen -- so Kemmler can't be the human parent, since we haven't seen him on screen.
• "Mortal" parent old enough to predate Kemmler, but has still been seen on screen -- perhaps a Denarian or Fairy or an older wizard?
• He's afraid of Mab -- could she have been his mortal birth-parent?

Possibilities -- Lea, Mab, Odin, the Senior Council, Cowl, Corpsetaker...? An earlier version of the Archive?

*shrug* I haven't got a good guess at the moment.

[Snark Knight]

Only some of the senior Council. If Bob is really ~1000 years old, Rashid and maybe Ancient Mai are the only compelling candidates. Most of the rest would have been born in the late 1600's / early 1700's.

I'm not sure if the wording means someone who has appeared live on page, though, or the original Merlin might qualify.

(click to show/hide)

PT did pretty much drop that he had a romantic history with Mab

Heck, if Jim had to lie about OG Merlin being the unnamed British prisoner to preserve a major plot point, he would have appeared on page anyway.

[Mira]

The Erking and Mab would make good parents for Bob, back in the day maybe before she became Lady.  If he has "mommy issues" that might explain why he is afraid of her.

[BrainFireBob]

One of the Valkyries
Odin
Eldest Gruff
Rashid
Titania
The Naga?
A loa?
Cowl?
Mavra

[tacorrific]

"appeared in the Dresden Files" could also apply to passing references made throughout the books.  Jim has a tendency to stretch his words.  So that would widen the possibilities considerably. 

Does someone have to die or make a huge sacrifice in order to create a spirit of intellect?

[tacorrific]

Bob is around a thousand years old right?  That would seem to align with the time Mab and Titania accended to become Queens, right?  Could one of the former Queens of Summer or Winter have created Bob when they died and passed on?  The Queen's mantle is still in the story even if the specific character is not.  In Cold Days Mab seemed to have some affection for her former knight Tam Lin.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I had long pegged Lea as his mother (see multiple posts) his reaction to her AND she is a muse whose love drives men mad and to their death, sounds like someone dying from a spirit of intellect.

I think the English Prisoner could be dad, hiding out from Lea and Bob in the one place Lea can’t go.

On this basis this could be a previous Winter Knight like Tam Lin who escaped the Mantle. He was associated with the Winter Court before even Mab, and I think Lea is actually much older than Mab. The escape from the Mantle would certainly have enraged the Winter Queen, and may have precipitated events leading to her demise.  Mab wouldn’t have been Queen at this point, the English Prisoner might not be aware there has been a change in Winter Queen, and that it is actually safe for him to come out of hiding.

[morriswalters]

Etienne the Enchanter bound Bob to the skull, and the WOJ on the enchanter puts him in the Inquisition which began in 12 century France.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Which would be when he would have fled from Mab, unless he was new born Bob could be considerably older.

[BrainFireBob]

Sidenote: Bob's a thousand years old, but Etienne put him in the skull around 800 years ago. Lot of readers connect the two, but there's no reason to- Bob could have been wandering around "free" for a long time before Etienne made him the skull- which has all the earmarks of a bargain; he has to be released from it but he's always safe from the Sun.

Main point: Wrong thread, moved!

Personally, I vote for one of the Queens. Bob's parent has to not mind that he's running around, or not care.

[Dina]

Mab + Merlin

[TheCuriousFan]

I had long pegged Lea as his mother (see multiple posts) his reaction to her AND she is a muse whose love drives men mad and to their death, sounds like someone dying from a spirit of intellect.

I think the English Prisoner could be dad, hiding out from Lea and Bob in the one place Lea can’t go.

On this basis this could be a previous Winter Knight like Tam Lin who escaped the Mantle. He was associated with the Winter Court before even Mab, and I think Lea is actually much older than Mab. The escape from the Mantle would certainly have enraged the Winter Queen, and may have precipitated events leading to her demise.  Mab wouldn’t have been Queen at this point, the English Prisoner might not be aware there has been a change in Winter Queen, and that it is actually safe for him to come out of hiding.

Also she's got love from somebody judging by Grave Peril.

[Con]

Also she's got love from somebody judging by Grave Peril.

I thought that was just a side effect of getting all of Susans memories of Harry. Susan loved Harry therefore protection

[The_Sibelis]

I thought that was just a side effect of getting all of Susans memories of Harry. Susan loved Harry therefore protection

ditto. It was the whole point of taking her memories I believe

[Regenbogen]

Oh, another thread.
OK, my guess again:

Merlin & Demonreach

Explanation see other thread