List of species in Redwall

In the Redwall series of books by Brian Jacques, many species of animals are featured as protagonists and antagonists. With a few exceptions, all the animals in the books are native to Jacques' home nation of Britain. __TOC__

Good creatures

Mice

Mice are very often the main characters of the books, especially early in the series. Though small, they can be strong warriors, including the most famous warriors in the novels, Martin the Warrior and Matthias.

Dormice aren't very common in the Redwall books, but when they do Appear, they are usually tribe creatures or hermits. In the TV series, a dormouse named Furlo appeared; he was a fierce fighter and carried a long rapier.

Otters

Otters are water-loving creatures, typically living near rivers, or, in the case of sea otters, near the ocean. They are skilled and aggressive fighters, favoring slings and javelins, and they are good sailors. They are also noted for liking spicy foods, particularly their favorite dish watershrimp and hotroot soup. Otters at or near Redwall are led by the Skipper of Otters, who is usually male, while otters living at Green Isle are ruled by the High Rhulain (always female).

Squirrels

Squirrels are adept climbers and are noted for their speed and dexterity. They are typically expert archers. In the book Mossflower, the squirrels are led by Lady Amber, an expert archer and tree-climber. However, in Martin the Warrior, the Gawtrybe are primitive, savage, and use only flint axes and wooden javelins as weapons. They try to kill the main characters, but later come to their aid.

Shrews

Shrews are the smallest of the woodlanders, but are fierce warriors, typically fighting with small rapiers. Shrews have their own armed force structure called the Guosim (Guerilla Union Of Shrews In Mossflower), or Guosssom (Guerrilla Union Of South Stream Shrews Of Mossflower) in Salamandastron, or Guoraf (Guerilla Union Of Roving And Fighting (Shrews)) in Loamhedge. The shrews live outside the walls of Redwall in the forest (with the exception of Crikulis the gatekeeper in Triss) and Sister Setiva in Loamhedge)and are allied to the Abbey, retaining a strict hierarchy and GeneRally appearing as akin to human guerrillas. In most books, the Shrews are led by one shrew who is given The Title Log-a-log, which may or may not be followed by the shrew's first name. Also, the shrews often possess a black pebble/stone that they use to keep peace. Only the shrew holding the stone may talk.

Pygmy Shrews

Pygmy Shrews appear only in The Taggerung and Martin the Warrior. They are the smallest animals in the Redwall world, and eat eels and crabs. Their language is difficult to decipher, and they are ruled by a queen or a regular chieftain.

Hares

Hares are generally good-natured and talkative creatures, and are known for their ability to eat large quantities of food in a single sitting, as well as their upper class British accents. They are also some of the best trained warriors among the good creatures. Most of them live at Salamandastron, and many of those are a part of an elite fighting force called the Long Patrol. (Rabbits are far less common in the series, though a few do appear. When they do appear, there isn't much difference between the rabbits and the hares (excepting the hares' more warlike qualities). However, the hares seem to take offense if referred to as rabbits.

Badgers

Badgers are the least numerous of the regularly appearing good creatures, with each book typically only having one or two badger characters, usually either the Badger Lord of Salamandastron (almost always male) or the Badger Mother of Redwall Abbey. Most Badger Lords are extremely skilled at crafting armor and weapons. Badgers are quite large compared to the other creatures, and accordingly can defeat much larger numbers in battle, especially when they are overcome by the Bloodwrath, a berserk condition in which they are completely focused on the battle and fight with unrivaled ferocity.

Moles

Moles are digging creatures who prefer to stay close to the ground (as opposed to in the trees or on the ramparts of Redwall Abbey). They also dislike being on boats or being in water. In battles, they often provide combat Engineering support by undermining enemy building foundations or making useful tunnels. They are also noted for their love of "deeper'n'ever turnip'n'tater'n'beetroot pie." They speak in a rural accent with rare exceptions. They have no likings or dislikings for any weapon. Moles are usually simple-minded and are known for their "mole logic," which is usually stating the obvious or looking at a problem in a simpleminded way. This logic is surprisingly effective. For the most part, moles are less academically educated but more skilled craftsmen than other animals.

Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs are the least defined of the good creatures in the Redwall series. Some are strong fighters, often using their spines to their advantage, whereas others are herbalists and artisans. Hedgehogs seem to be a mostly tribal race in Redwall, characters outside of the abbey are almost exclusively members of some type of tribe, with groups such as the Dillypins and Dunehogs, or the Migooch tribe. Redwall's brew master is generally a hedgehog.

Voles

Voles are mostly good creatures with the exception of Druwp the bankvole in Martin the Warrior, Gray One in "Marlfox", and the unnamed bankvole in "Eulalia". They are somewhat clannish, cowardly and argumentative. Female voles tend to be rather fussy (as shown by Sister Viola in Pearls of Lutra and The Long Patrol) However, they are wise and will support fellow Redwallers in times of war. They look similar to mice but have a shorter, wider and blunter snout, and are darker in color.

Other creatures

Other creatures are less commonly featured, such as sparrows, who act as a rudimentary air force. The most notable appearance of sparrows was in Mattimeo, when Queen Warbeak led her sparrows to war at the cost of her own life. In High Rhulain, the injured goose Brantalis, comes to Redwall and is healed. When a baby creature is attacked by a gannet, Brantalis courageously flies to its defense and fights the gannet fiercely, despite knowing it could not win a confrontation with such a bird. Seals, known as sealfolk, are occasionally featured aligned with the forces of good. The first book features an unnamed beaver as a good creature, but beavers do not appear at any other point in the series. Bats are also mentioned fleetingly throughout the series as good creatures, and appear in the books Mossflower and Outcast of Redwall as the inhabitants of Bat Mountpit, a massive underground tunnel system. Occasionally, a single unique animal will come to aid Redwall in its many battles. Such creatures have included a red kite, a cat, a beaver starred in redwall, a robin, a hamster starred in Triss, and a family of little owls.

Neutral creatures

Some creatures in the Redwall series are only seen occasionally, and do not fall under the general categories of good and evil. Sometimes these creatures help the woodlanders, but do not have any allegiance to them—other times, the creatures take no sides at all, and act for their own benefit, thus they are categorized as neutral.

Rabbits

Rabbits have only been featured very fleetingly in the series, and when they have, do not appear to have any allegiances at all. It is possible that Jacques is not willing to write rabbits into the books, as they have already been famously fictionalized by Richard Adams in his novel Watership Down.

Barnyard and other domesticated animals

Several barnyard and other domesticated animals are mentioned sporadically throught the novels. The first book, Redwall, features a horse pulling Cluny the Scourge and his rat horde to the abbey in a cart. It is notable that the horse does not appear to have the same sentience as the other animals and is treated by its rat masters exactly as a human would. Pigs, cows and dogs were also mentioned in Redwall, although none appeared in the story itself.

Birds of prey

In Redwall, the character Methuselah mentions that he once tended a sparrowhawk with a broken wing. Such birds of prey have ambiguous status in the series, sometimes neutral, sometimes allied to the abbey, and sometimes enemies. A swan attacks Martin and his friends in The Legend of Luke, as well as in Mossflower, although it is stated that the swan was trying only to defend its family.

Invertebrates

Invertebrates appear in many books. In Redwall, Constance throws a barrel of hornets on Cluny's horde. In Mossflower, a beetle named Grubwhacker is pet to a shrew living on the shore; Gonff also dances with a crab in that book. Two invertebrates also appear in Mariel of Redwall: Gabool's pet giant scorpion, Skrabbleg, and a lobster that guards a special metal swallow that Mariel needs. Much like in our world, the invertebrates in the Redwall novels do not talk.

Bad creatures ("Vermin")

Bad creatures are collectively known as "vermin". There are some villains which were raised evil and later redeemed themselves, but there is only one book, Outcast of Redwall, where the central theme is the inverse; that is, raised by Redwallers but outcast for evil deeds.

Ferrets, weasels, and stoats tend to be the most common enemies, with rats being the most numerous and foxes typically the least common. While they tend to band together, especially under a successful and ruthless leader, to pillage defenseless woodlanders, they generally dislike each other and often consider their own species to be superior to the others. For example, foxes particularly tend to consider their own species more cunning than any other, and most individual foxes of course consider themselves the most cunning fox of all.

Allegiance among vermin tends to break down roughly along species lines, foxes loyal to foxes, rats loyal to rats, and so forth. Weasels, ferrets, and stoats often all tend to ally together, resenting the way rats and foxes usually dominate--rats through numbers, foxes through cunning. However, when strong leadership and the fear of domination by other species is absent, weasels, stoats, and ferrets tend to fight each other along species lines, as in Mattimeo, when a fight breaks out between members of the slaving band, with a stoat [...] the sole ferret and the remnants fighting until all the remaining stoats are killed. Even when solely among their own species, vermin tend to be treacherous and cruel. Searats in particular are often noted as warring with each other or fighting duels to rise to the rank of leader; even searats that appear to be friends one moment might try to kill each other the next.

A strong leader can raise an army or even a great horde that mixes many different vermin and compel them to more or less put aside their differences through a series of successful military campaigns (whenever possible, of course, these 'campaigns' are the plundering and [...] of peaceful and relatively defenseless communities of woodlanders) and ruthless discipline. A vermin warlord typically attains and holds the position through a combination of fighting prowess and cunning. Occasionally, a warlord will rule over an army by holding a royal throne (Tsarmina's father Verdauga established a monarchy in Mossflower, and Tsarmina succeeded him, referring to herself as Queen; in Triss, the ferrets who rule are considered a monarchial family by their Ratguard servants.) In nearly every book, a vermin warlord will have to deal with at least one serious potential rival for their power or an assassination attempt; this includes even those that are considered royalty by their followers. Often, family members of the 'royal' family will plot against each other, or they will be forced to make alliances with vermin warlords with their own private armies, and each will scheme against the other even while working together against their woodlander enemies. Typically, the novel's most prominent vermin warlord will defeat his or her challenger through a display of cunning, ruthless, unethical behavior. Particularly in the early books, hordes are led by rats, due to the fact that they are the most numerous creatures in the horde, or are even the exclusive makeup of the army, a fox, or some creature that was not a weasel, ferret or stoat. Typically, even in a horde where a rat leads due to numbers or a fox due to cunning, the warlord can defeat any member of his horde that challenges him. For example, the rat warlord Cluny the Scourge individually attacks the weasel, ferret and stoat new recruits to his horde and sends them running, in order to establish for certain that they realize they cannot beat him in combat and will follow his commands. In later books, weasels, ferrets and stoats aspire to leadership of their own gangs, tribes, or hordes.

Vermin groupings can be relatively small gangs, usually involved in slaving or petty robbery of travelers. In many of the books, however, the vermin enemies are organized in great hordes, typically almost too numerous to count. Many vermin enslave woodlanders, particularly searats and corsairs, using them as oar slaves. It is uncommon, but not unheard of, for searats and corsairs to enslave even their fellow searats and corsairs, especially when they find it difficult to capture woodlander slaves. Vermin attempting to construct a stationary emplacement also typically employ slave labor.

It should be pointed out, though, that not all vermin are bad. In a few rare cases, there are some vermin that were once part of vermin gangs or hordes, but decided to abandon their evil ways. This results in a feeling of hatred towards this individual from their former comrades, and it also puts them in danger, for vermin that desert their clans are put to death if they happen to be caught.

Rats

Rats are the main foot soldiers in the Redwall series and usually the most 'dispensable' as they make up the majority of most vermin hordes. Most rats have similar character traits, but there is a large difference between searats and the average rats on land.

Henchrats are basically the main body of vermin hordes on land. They are usually bullies, aggressive yet cowardly. They are often guards of an evil warlord's fortress or the foot soldiers of a wandering horde. Hate and fear are their main reasons for fighting as they have no courage or true loyalty. They are also seldom skillful and a large number of them often fall to a single skilled warrior (hero or villain). Some notable groups of henchrats are the Ratguards from Triss and the Blackrobes from Mattimeo.

Searats are both strong and fearless, the pirates of the seas surrounding Mossflower. They are most notable in Mariel of Redwall, and in later books, the searats become part of a larger seafaring group classified as corsairs, which all have similar characteristics of ruthlessness and gluttony. The only rat warlords from the novels are searats, specifically Cluny the Scourge from Redwall, and Damug Warfang from The Long Patrol. The most characteristic searats are Gabool the Wild, the insane searat king from Mariel of Redwall, and his rival, the treacherous Greypatch.

River rats: River rats have appeared in Marlfox, High Rhulain, and Rakkety Tam; they are somewhat like a cross between a searat and a henchrat. They are also the least educated of the three types of rats, and in some cases they are apt only to fight when being commanded by a leader they fear.

Foxes

Foxes are sly, cunning creatures, and seldom have loyalty to anyone besides themselves. Unlike most vermin, male foxes are the exclusive fighters, as the vixens are seers. There are some exceptions to this idea in Marlfox and Rakkety Tam when the foxes and their mates go into war together. Another exception is Shang Damsontongue, a fighting vixen who dominates a large clan of foxes in Outcast of Redwall.

Male foxes are sly and stubborn. They are also infamously proud. These foxes seldom remain in a horde for the duration of a story without rebelling. Some foxes are betrayers and instigators such as Skalrag (Martin the Warrior) and Rasconza (The Pearls of Lutra). The Marlfoxes from Marlfox fight each other off as well as their adversaries, and Chickenhound and his mother betray both Cluny and Redwall in Redwall. In Mattimeo, Slagar the Cruel, who is Chickenhound's adult persona, is the leader of a band of slavers, and likewise, Plugg Firetail is the proud leader of a crew of corsairs in Triss. However, even evil foxes are not all bad. Chickenhound, for example, suffered momentary pangs of guilt after accidentally [...] Brother Methuselah in Redwall. However, he takes advantage of this distraction to gain a headstart. On his way, he is attacked by Asmodeus Poisonteeth, and only narrowly escapes. In the process, he is horribly disfigured, and as an adult, becomes the Slagar hated throughout Mossflower.

Vixens are usually seers, responsible for the prediction of future events. Some are phony, such as Sela, the healer from Redwall, while others are unnaturally loyal, such as Nightshade in Outcast of Redwall. Nightshade uses her magic to help Swartt Sixclaw, and Grissoul and Ermath in The Taggerung read omens in various artifacts to foretell the future of their tribe. Some vixens do not appear as seers, though. The Marlfox vixens lacked the beyond-sight, but made up for it in cruelty. All vixens are deceitful, loyal or not, especially in the case of the vixen in Marlfox, who stated 'Never trust a vixen'. However, in both Redwall and Mossflower, fox/vixen healers feature and are mentioned; although Sela and Fortunata (Mossflower) are selfish and evil, the fact they can operate as healers without facing widespread suspicion may indicate that it is not unusual for a vixen to take such an important position amongst non-vermin. However, this idea appears to have been dropped later in the series.

Arctic foxes have appeared only in Rakkety Tam. They are white during the winter, just like ermine, and turn silver during the summer, and are cannibals. They are smaller then red foxes and seem to be more clever.

Stoats

Stoats are somewhat dim-witted (unless they are chieftains or warlords), and tend to be lazy. They also tend to have big appetites compared to other vermin.

Ermine

Ermine are similar to stoats in our world but with lighter fur; they also turn white during the winter. They are usually portrayed temperamentally like stoats; however, the Dirgecallers in The Bellmaker were savage, dumb, creatures that hunted down other creatures to eat. In all the books, ermines are cannibalistic.

Ferrets

Ferrets are shifty, bad tempered creatures, mainly smarter than stoats. They are often warlords, being ruthless and cruel.

Weasels

Weasels are stubborn, overconfident vermin, and usually talk too much. They are however, shown as cunning and tricky as a primary villains (such as Ferahgo the Assassin and especially his son Klitch). They also appear, in one instance, relatively sympathetic to fellow weasels when faced with vermin of other species, such as in Mattimeo where a group of them band together against thier former comrades (who through gradual attrition, were all stoats). As with all weasels, ferrets, and stoats, they are usually larger than rats and marginally harder to kill.

Pine Martens

Pine Martens only appear in three books (Ashleg in Mossflower, Ublaz Mad-Eyes in The Pearls of Lutra, and Atunra in High Rhulain). Thus far, they have always held positions of power over others.

Polecats

Polecats have only appeared in one book, Mattimeo, in the form of Malkariss, the ancient ruler of the Blackrobe rats. (However, this is debatable, as a ferret is a subspecies of polecat.)

Lizards

Lizards are featured in various books, always as evildoers. Rather than affiliating themselves with a vermin horde, they generally operate as thieves and bandits. Whipscale, from Mossflower, practiced extortion. A tribe of lizards from Martin the Warrior were unable to speak, but practiced cannibalism.

Monitor lizards only appear in The Pearls of Lutra, the Monitors were the shock troops of Ublaz Mad-Eyes. Larger than vermin, the Monitors were feared even by their own allies.

Toads

Toads play a similar role to lizards in the series. Functioning as a primitive tribal society, they are hostile to mammals and not above cannibalism. They appeared notably in Mariel of Redwall.

Newts

Newts are similar to lizards and toads, and are sometimes referred to as lizards, though this is biologically untrue. However, Firl from Mariel of Redwall helped the main characters to retrieve a valuable item.

Wildcats

Wildcats are sometimes featured as villains, such as Tsarmina from Mossflower and Ungatt Trunn from Lord Brocktree, while other times featured as benevolent characters like Squire Julian Gingivere from Redwall and Gingivere Greeneyes from Mossflower. Interestingly, one must note that most the wildcats seen thus far are related. Gingivere and Tsarmina are brother and sister, it's made fairly clear in Mossflower that Squire Julian is Gingivere Greeneyes's descendant, Sandingomm is Gingivere Greeneyes's mate, and dialogue in Lord Brocktree reveals that Ungatt Trunn is Tsarmina and Gingivere's uncle. The one exception so far is Riggu Felis, the villain of High Rhulain, though it is possible that Felis is distantly related to Ungatt Trunn.

The wildcats in Lord Brocktree and in Mossflower mention of a place far to north, where Ungatt Trunn and Tsarmina's father, Verdauga Greeneyes came from. This 'empire' in the north was ruled by Tsarmina's grandfather, High King Mortspear.

Feral cats (felis silvestris catus as opposed to felis silvestris grampia): Riggu Felis's queen and mate is a feral cat, as well as his foot soldiers, the primary oppressors of the otter clans of Green Isle. Feral cats are semi-professional and have armor which appears to be illustrated as a pared down version of the armor worn by the foot soldiers and samurai of Feudal Japan. They are among the rare non-British-native species in the series (feral/domestic cats evolved from the African Wildcat rather than the European Wildcat; e.g. Verdauga, Gingivere).

Sea Monsters and Fish

Sea monsters & Fish are featured several times in the novels. The Deepcoiler and the shark attack the seafaring crews in Salamandastron, The Bellmaker and Triss. The Deepcoiler will attack to catch a shrew or two, and then disappear underwater for a while before attacking again. The shark, on the other hand, merely tows the ship at a dangerous speed and then attempts to eat one of the travelers. Slothunog, featured in High Rhulain is also a sea monster. Otters who rebel against Riggu Felis are thrown to Slothunog, who lives in a lake called Deeplough, which is inside a giant crater. Slothunog is probably based on the Loch Ness Monster. Pike are often featured in the books as powerful predators that pose dangers to the main characters. However, Stormfin from Mossflower helped the main characters get rid of an enemy (though unintentionally). Eels sometimes make appearances, like the 'snakeyfish' that the pygmy shrews eat in The Taggerung, and also the Snakefish, from Mossflower. Though he was used by toads to eat enemies, he helped the main characters and attacked the toads instead.

Snakes

Snakes are giants in Redwall who attack the woodlanders. Only adders, such as Asmodeus Poisonteeth, have the power to hypnotize. There are, however, mimics, such as Deathcoil, the grass snake who disguised himself as an adder. Asmodeus is the evil monster in Redwall who steals the Sword of Martin and feeds off unfortunate rats, dead or alive, during the war. There is a three-headed serpent in Triss (the result of three snakes being caught in the grip of a mace) who eerily hunts the treasure-seekers; each 'head' is a different snake, ruled by Zassalass, the oldest of the three.

Monsters

In many of the books there is usually some unnatural monster which poses a unique challenge to the defenders of Mossflower.

Most monsters are hybrids, as they are described with defining features of two types of villains with unique features that distinguish them. Some, like Shadow from Redwall and Farran the Poisoner in Salamandastron, work undercover, while others, like the Wearet, the slavemaster of Malkariss who poses a threat in Mattimeo, and also the leader of the Great Gorge in Loamhedge, work alone. Some are neutral. The Painted Ones from Mattimeo are among this category, although they are hostile to travelers. These are unique among the hybrids, as they are never properly described, act primitive, and live in a large society.

There is another creature never physically described except as the ancestor of foxes and the ruler of the Hellgates. He is invoked in an incantation by Grissoul the Vixen in The Taggerung to reveal the future to her. It is vague as to the origins of this creature, but it is probably meant to be some evil spirit that the foxes call upon to reveal the future, whether a myth or not.

Slothonog & Deepcoiler: Slothonog from High Rhulain and Deepcoiler from Salamandastron are one of the only few creatures which aren't real. Deepcoiler is some kind of giant water snake. And Slothonog is a plesiosaurus, a giant whale-bodied, snake-necked marine animal from the dinosaur era.

Birds

There are several birds who oppose the woodlanders, sometimes natural predators, usually as thieves and killers. Rooks, magpies, and crows are the main aerial villains. They are greedy and dangerous. All of these types of birds attack Redwall under the command of General Ironbeak, a raven, in Mattimeo. In Salamandastron there is an entire army of crows that live in the plains; also, a tribe of crows appear in The Legend of Luke. There are also eagles involved in some books, such as the old eagle Argulor, who regularly attacked Tsarmina's troops, yet still caused some strife between woodlanders. In Martin the Warrior, The Warden of Marshwood Hill, though not a villain, is definitely a danger to those around him. Iraktaan is a long-legged wading bird that threatens Mariel and her companions as they cross the stream. Both are herons. King Bull Sparra is the mad sparrow king in Redwall who poses a threat to any under his wings. In The Pearls of Lutra, a colony of jackdaws roosted in St. Ninian's Church, and were responsible for the death of Piknim, and created several serious wounds among the Redwallers. In the book Loamhedge there is a honey buzzard who is guarding his territory and stops Lonna and an otter. Buteo (the honey buzzard) gives them a riddle they have to solve. They do, for the riddle is easy, and Buteo lets them go. I'm not sure if he evil or just old and decripit.

Wolverines

Wolverines are huge, savage beasts about the size and build of a badger. They come from the northern lands and are cannibals who eat all their dead. Gulo the Savage, a wolverine, leads a contingent of white foxes and ermine stoats in Rakkety Tam and is arguably the most powerful creature to cross the Redwall world, having almost smashed Rakkety Tam's Buckler with his bare fists, and making the sword of Martin look like an over-sized toothpick.