Slagar
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Slagar the Fox is a cruel slaver in the Redwall novel Mattimeo. He has many hidden plans and reasons which he only reveals by his own free will. Although only named in one book, he also appears in another book from the same series, adding to his mysterious history. Although he is the main villain, he himself is second to other, more evil, villains in all but his plans. His most characteristic trait is his desire for revenge and his pursuit of it, leaving death and misery in its wake. He was voiced by Simon Smithies in the full-cast audiobook of Redwall (as Chickenhound) and by Paul Braithwaite in Mattimeo.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Slagar revealed himself as Chickenhound, the fox from Redwall, to Mattimeo during their journey. He gave Mattimeo a biased story in which he was a clever thief whom the Redwallers were responsible for injuring, and he had personified them in Matthias. In truth, he was the child of the healer Sela. He and his mother Sela acted as traitors to both the horde of Cluny the Scourge they were employed by, and the Redwall creatures who took them in, to exploit the most benefit from each side. He was Sela's assistant while they were posing as mere healers.
Cluny suspected the foxes were planning to double cross him, and set a trap to expose them. They were caught, and Cluny had the rats execute them. Sela was slain, but Chickenhound survived, and dragged himself to Redwall. He was cared for in the infimary, and told the Redwallers about Cluny's plans to tunnel into the abbey, an act that quite likely saved Redwall from being conquered. After he recovered, he decided to steal valuables from the abbey on his way out. He was caught, and in his haste to escape, accidentally killed an old mouse named Methuselah.
Running for his life, Chickenhound hid in an old log where Asmodeus the snake found and bit him, grazing his cheek with a poisonous fang. Chickenhound escaped from the snake's lair and nursed himself back to health with the 'art of the healers' and his lust for revenge. His face remained horribly disfigured by the wound, and so Chickenhound began wearing a harlequin hood to conceal it. His mind was warped by the venom, and he began to believe the Redwallers responsible for his condition. And so, he became the prideful Slagar the Cruel.
[edit] As a slaver
It was shown that Slagar was a slaver from the Prologue itself. This also demonstrated that although his most driving ultimatum was his revenge on Redwall, that he also had some other plan for collecting the slaves. Eventually, it is discovered that he acts as a slaver for Malkariss, a speaking statue which contained a wily polecat in an underground city of rats. Slagar had been slaving for many seasons before he came to Redwall, as he had employed himself with Malkariss replenishing the need for slaves under the spoken agreement he would receive permission to rule the territory above the underground city. He had become infamous even before his attempt at Redwall and therefore, although not in view of Redwall, had made slaving a practice, but not his future.
Slagar's future, as he determined it, was the command of the evil realm of Malkariss within the ruins of old Loamhedge, the abbey that preceded Redwall. His plans centered on bringing the unfortunate young slaves to Malkariss, to align himself with the evil forces within. The list for sweet revenge drove him on to kidnapping Mattimeo and the Redwall young ones, but in his insatiable hunger for power and being told to continue servitude to Malkariss before being granted his territory drove him to plot further to overthrow Malkariss and rule the above and the below lands. Yet, before he could act on his intentions, the warriors of Redwall and Mossflower destroyed Malkariss, freed the slaves, and Slagar met with the bitter fate of being chased until falling down a well leading into the depths of the earth, and dying a coward as did many of the other villains in the Redwall series.
[edit] Origin
In Britain, foxes have been hunted as a sport, yet always had some sly way of escaping. This observation, which existed even before foxhunting, led to foxes becoming the personification of all that is sly. This tradition has been demonstrated as far back as Aesop's Fables, and even in modern stories, foxes are very seldom dull-witted or naive. This tradition was doubtlessly followed in making Slagar a fox. Of all the other fox villains in Brian Jacques literature, Slagar proves the best caricature of the fox's personifications, from cleverly eluding the Redwallers to his pride and treachery.
Jacques himself stated at Redwall.org that he uses certain hard phoenetic sounds for naming his villains. It can be observed that in replacing the 'g' with a 'v', his name is pronounced "slaver". The writer makes frequent use of these clever tricks, both intentionally and unintentionally.
[edit] Animation
In the animated version of Mattimeo: A Tale of Redwall, Slagar is played by Tim Curry.
