Cluny the Scourge

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Cluny the Scourge, an anthropomorphised rat, is the antagonist in the novel Redwall by Brian Jacques. Cluny is voiced on the TV series by Diego Matamoros, and by Jason Mulhearn in the full-cast audiobook (Mulhearn performed the character with a distinctive Spanish accent).

He is an evil leader with an eye patch and a poisonous barb on his unusually long tail, which is physically used as a whip (or in some cases, a fifth limb). Cluny is plagued in his dreams by the guardian spirit of Redwall, Martin the Warrior. According to the first chapters of the book, Cluny the Scourge is said to be a Portuguese rat (this being one of the few references to the human world in the whole series). However, his true origins are uncertain, and it is also speculated that he was born in a jungle.

Cluny grew up as a searat, but came ashore with his army seeking plunder and destruction. His atrocities were told about across the land, though most believed him a story for frightening children. He committed many crimes, including the death of Matthias' family in the TV series. He came to Mossflower seeking to take over, wanting to make Redwall Abbey into "Cluny's Castle". He expected little difficulty in defeating the inexperienced Redwallers, but was thwarted time and time again by their bravery and ingenuity.

Cluny's efforts were further hampered by nightmares of Martin the Warrior. Cluny kept envisioning the warrior mouse, often with some other fell image with him, such as Cluny's dead soldier or the serpent Asmodeus. Despite this, Cluny pressed on. However, his plans, which included a battering ram, tunneling, getting onto the walls using a siege tower or plank stretched from a tree, and stealing the tapestry of Martin the Warrior, all failed.

Cluny eventually managed to get into Redwall by threatening the family of a dormouse he had captured. The lead dormouse, named Plumpen, sneaked into Redwall and opened the main gate while everyone else was asleep. Cluny's horde broke in, capturing the defenders and taking over. Cluny was about to kill Abbot Mortimer when Matthias, returning from his journey to find the Sword of Martin, attacked with an army of Guosim shrews and sparrows. Cluny's horde was defeated, and Cluny himself perished at the warrior's hand when Matthias cut down the Joseph Bell, crushing Cluny to death. However, the poison from the barb on the end of Cluny's tail was already taking effect on the abbot by the time Matthias returned to him.

Cluny is portrayed as a good general and a fine tactician and is one of the three vermin invaders ever to make it into the Great Hall of the Abbey (the others being the raven General Ironbeak in Mattimeo and the Marlfoxes of Marlfox) and the only one to invade "en masse", but he is still driven out by the Redwallers in the end. Cluny was a savage and skilled fighter (he was said to have slain a pike) and even Matthias the Warrior could not best him physically. He was only killed when he is crushed by the Joseph Bell of Redwall Abbey while fighting the mouse hero. His main weapon was his tail, from which he took his name, but in his battle with Matthias, he wielded a metal spike taken from a church fence. His main outfit for battle was a set of armor with the horns of a stag beetle attached to the helmet.