There's a description of him and his connection to the Fablehaven storyline on the Fablehaven fan wiki here: https://fablehaven.fandom.com/wiki/Olloch_the_Glutton
I was reminded of Olloch while I was listening to the audio book of "A World Without Heroes" not long ago.
Here's a passage from page 333:
"Jason sat taller, scanning the water ahead. Off to one side he spotted a fat frog squatting on a floating log. Bigger than a rabbit, the frog bulged with warty bumps.
"'Big frog,' Jason said.
"Jasher snorted.
"'They get bigger?' Rachel asked.
"'Big enough to prey on men, I am told,' Jasher whispered."
Frogs big enough to prey on men? You can see why this made me think of Olloch, and I'm probably not the first to make the connection. It got me thinking: could Olloch be one of the giant frogs from Lyrian?
But they're in Lyrian, not on Earth. And Olloch is currently a statue. And they're frogs. They only have one tongue--Jasher slices one off later on when one of the giant frogs tries to eat them.
So let's tackle this one piece at a time. First off, the giant frogs are in Lyrian. This one is actually pretty easy to address: Jason is from Earth and is in Lyrian. He gets sent back to earth through water at the end of "A World Without Heroes." It's pretty widely accepted that not all pathways between Lyrian and other realities are known, so it is pretty conceivable that another passage exists through water. Possibly even in the sunken lands. It makes sense that these passages wouldn't be known because nobody likes to go to the sunken lands. It's not exactly an ideal vacation spot. Nor is vacation really a think in Lyrian, travel being frowned upon and all that.
So it actually doesn't seem that far-fetched that an animal could "accidentally" travel through a portal from Lyrain to "the beyond" (I don't think it's ever an accident, even if the individual doesn't expect it).
Then there's the whole thing about Olloch taking the form of a statue. Frogs don't do that. There's no indication in The Beyonders series that these Frogs are part gargoyle and turn to stone at any point in time. They're just frogs that can get really big.
Well, "The Caretaker's Guide to Fablehaven" actually has some answers for us on this one: "This froklike demon has been transformed by a spell into a polished, green-speckled-jade toad figurine." (page 72).
It was a spell that turned him into a statue. Not part of his nature. Someone, probably in an attempt to prevent Olloch from gaining any more power, cast a spell on him. I know this description says "figurine," and in the fan wiki it explains that he is changed back into a larger version of the statue, but that's just a difference in timeline. The Caretaker's guide was obviously put together before Seth awakened Olloch. In fact, Seth and Kendra have both left additional notes about Olloch on that page of the Caretaker's Guide.
That one is pretty easy to explain as well. The piece that isn't is the fact that Olloch is a froglike demon, not a frog. And he has multiple tongues. The frogs in the sunken lands do not have multiple tongues, and as large as they can get, they are still just frogs.
To respond to this, I turn to the most recent addition to the Mull-Tiverse: "Dragonwatch: Champion of the Titan Games."
Near the end of this book, Seth has a conversation with the creator of the Titan Games, the demon Humbuggle (my all-time favorite of the demons). Part of their conversation reveals the nature of demons. It touches on the biggest theme of the entire Fablehaven and Dragonwatch series: good and evil is about choice.
Seth asks of demons have children, and Humbuggle's response is awesome:
"Less frequently than you might suppose, but yes, some do... And the babies are not demons. They must be trained. They can choose to become demons. But not one demon started out the way they ended up. They grow monstrous over time. Any thinking being can qualify. It's why there is so much variety among demonkind." (page 511).
Any thinking being? Hmmm... can frogs think? Well, they can at least think enough to catch their prey. And what does Olloch do? He's called Olloch the glutton!
This passage from "Champion of the Titan Games" was enough to convince me that, yes, Olloch could definitely be one of the giant frogs from Lyrian. But just to make sure, let's dig a little deeper.
The first thing Humbuggle says is that in order to become demons, the creature or being "must be trained." Trained by whom? The most obvious assumption would be by another demon, but there is no mention of any demons in Lyrian. That's not to say they couldn't exist, but it doesn't help solidify our case at all.
But if we look at the broader theme of the books in the Fablehaven universe, it may not matter if a being was trained by an actual demon or not. In the Fablehaven universe, there are no beings that are inherently good or bad--there is light and there is darkness. Beings can change from creatures of light to creatures of darkness, or vice versa. The first obvious example of this is in "Grip of the Shadow Plague," but the change can happen more gradually, over time as well. There is a clear sense of right and wrong, but that is more a matter of choice.
While it looks a bit different in Lyrian, it is still the same case. Look at Maldor vs. Rachel for example. Odd comparison? Maybe, but think of their interaction at the end of "Seeds of Rebellion." Both are naturally gifted in the use of Edomic. Both have the same power, but they use it very differently. Maldor invites Rachel to be his apprentice and Rachel is tempted because she knows the power she has can be improved. But that does not mean Rachel would use it for evil as Maldor has. Not much later, she receivs a similar offer from the Oracle where she could use her power to help others.
Rachel would use her power to support others while Maldor would use it to support himself. It's what he's done for years, back from when he and Orruck were fighting each other over who would gain control.
And look what happened to Orruck for that matter! He used to be humanoid, but his obsession with using Edomic to gain power transformed him into something that Rachel didn't even recognize at first--she thought his head was his entire body when she first saw him... He transformed... into something else... because of choices he made to use his power for evil... If that doesn't sound like what Humbuggle is describing, I don't know what does.
So we have an evil being who transformed over a loooong period of time into something completely different. And he lives in Lyrian...in the sunken lands... where the frogs live... And his name is Orruck. I know this feels like a stretch, but what if one of the frogs ventured far enough out of the part of the swamp they control in search of something bigger to eat and found Orruck? I'm not implying that Orruck would willingly take on a frog as a tutor, but a frog, being a thinking being, may have learned a few things from watching this creature that was way bigger than he was and how he got so big.
As trivial as it is (because, let's face it, this is all trivial fan theory anyway), I also really like the idea that Olloch could just be a poor pronunciation of Orruck. Perhaps from a being who is just learning to speak?
Here's what I think: Olloch wandered off looking for bigger food, found Orruck and though I want to be like that thing and observed, learned a few tricks and started to transform into something else because of Edomic. Somewhere along his journey, probably while chasing after some food, he accidentally got transported into "the beyond," and ended up in the world of the Fablehaven universe and continued his journey to demonhood, already having been partially transformed beforehand.
I'd love to hear input from other Brandon Mull super fans on if you think this is a possible connection in the Mull-Tiverse.
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