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This is a list of characters in Watership Down, a 1972 novel by Richard Adams. The majority also appear in the 1978 feature film adapation, 1996 follow-up collection of short stories, and 1999–2001 television adaptation.
[edit] Watership Down rabbits
- Hazel – Fiver's older brother; he leads the rabbits from Sandleford and eventually becomes Chief Rabbit. He is shot and almost dies, but is saved by his brother Fiver. At the Watership Down warren, he mates with Hyzenthlay from Efrafa, and the two become co-Chief Rabbit. At the end of the novel, he dies of old age and is taken away by El-ahrairah to join his Owsla.
- Bigwig – A large rabbit who was formerly an officer in the Sandleford Owsla. His name is Lapine is Thlayli, which means "Fur-head" and refers to the shock of fur on the back of his head. Resilient and powerful, he survives both a snare and an attack by General Woundwort, and infiltrates Efrafa to rescue Hyzenthlay and Blackavar, among others. Later, he became captain of the Watership warren's "free-and-easy" Owsla.
- Fiver – A small, runt rabbit; his Lapine name is Hrairoo, which means "Little-five" or "Little-thousand" (rabbits are stated to be capable of counting only up to four, so there are no specific numerical fixes beyond four). He is a seer, and his visions of the destruction of the Sandleford warren led him to leave, along with his brother Hazel and several other rabbits. He saves Hazel's life when he is shot, and inspires Hazel to set up the release of the Nuthanger Farm dog, which saves the Watership Down warren.
- Blackberry – A clever buck rabbit with characteristically black-tipped ears. He is the often capable of understanding concepts that the other rabbits find incomprehensible. He realises, for instance, that wood floats, and the rabbits use this twice to traverse on water. In the television series, Blackberry was made a doe and falls in love with Campion.
- Dandelion – A buck rabbit, notable for his storytelling ability and speed; he is instrumental in luring the Nuthanger Farm dog up the hill to scatter the Efrafans near the end of the book. He is voice acted by Richard O'Callaghan in the film and Phill Jupitus in the television series.
- Pipkin - A young and rather timid buck rabbit. Because of this, he is courageously loyal to Hazel, to whom he constantly looks for guidance and protection.
- Silver - A large rabbit with grey fur (hence his name) and the Threarah's nephew. He was a member of the Sandleford Owsla but decided to desert along with Hazel's band. His stolid reliability have served Hazel at those times when Bigwig's hot-headedness is more a hindrance than help.
- Speedwell, Acorn, Hawkbit, and Buckthorn - Other fugitives from the Sandleford Warren. On their first journey, when the going became tough, the first three expressed a desire to go back to Sandleford, but were brutally beaten into submission by Bigwig. Later, at Cowslip's warren, Hawkbit apologized to Hazel.
- Holly – Former captain of the Sandleford Owsla, He tries but fails to arrest Hazel and his group when they leave Sandleford. Later, when men poison-gas the Sandleford warren to exterminate the rabbits, he manages to escape and eventually finds the Watership Down rabbits, though he is ill and exhausted. Following his harrowing escape, he subjugates himself to Hazel and follows him loyally.
- Bluebell - The only Sandleford rabbit besides Holly to join Hazel's band. Bluebell is a compulsive joker whose chattering has often kept the others running, for good or for ill, when physical exertion takes its toll.
- Sandwort - Sandwort is the protagonist of the eponymous story in Tales from Watership Down. He refuses to respect any of his elders (including Hazel and Bigwig), but learns sense when his disrespect lands him at the bottom of a well.
[edit] Sandleford rabbits
- The Threarah – The Threarah (also known as "Lord Rowan Tree", since "Threar" is Lapine for "rowan tree") is the Chief Rabbit of the Sandleford warren. He dismisses Fiver's warning as an attempt by Fiver to increase his status in the warren. He later gives the order to have Bigwig arrested, but when Bigwig and the rest of Hazel's party escape, he decides that they are not worth chasing after. He dies in the destruction of Sandleford.
- Toadflax - A rabbit of the Sandleford Owsla who refuses to let Hazel and Fiver eat a cowslip.
- Pimpernel - When Holly and Bluebell escaped from the Sandleford warren, Pimpernel was with them until they reached Cowslip's warren. The rabbits there killed him upon learning that they were friends of Hazel and his companions.
[edit] Hutch rabbits
- Clover – A strong and active Angora doe, who mates with Holly and provides the Watership Down warren with its first litter.
- Boxwood – A "black and white Himalayan" buck, and Haystack's mate.
- Haystack – A Himalayan doe who is Boxwood's mate.
- Laurel – A "short-haired black Angora" buck, he fails to escape the farm and consequentially doesn't join the Watership Down warren.
[edit] Cowslip's warren (the Warren of Snares)
- Cowslip – Although he is not a Chief Rabbit, his strange warren is usually referred to as "Cowslip's Warren" because he was the first resident that the Watership Down rabbits meet. He is laconic and almost too refined, with great size and a strange scent, perhaps from a life of superior food, and he seems typical of his fellows. A farmer leaves vegetables out so that he can trap rabbits coming and going, but this is a severely taboo subject in the warren, and Cowslip refuses to help or even acknowledge Bigwig, who was trapped in a snare. When Holly, Bluebell, and Pimpernel later happen into the area, Cowslip leads an attack upon these other surviving Sandleforders. However, while the locals have remarkable cultural sophistication (even art), they are woefully unskilled at fighting. His warren—a harvesting ground of rabbit meat for a human—goes down in rabbit-history as being "bewitched".
- Strawberry – Nildro-hain's mate. After Bigwig is freed from the snare, Strawberry chases after the Sandleford rabbits and asks to join them, which they eventually allow him to do, and he becomes a valuable advisor in the construction of the main chamber at the Watership Down warren. Later, while some of the Watership Down rabbits go to Efrafa, he acquires a new mate in the form of one of the hutch does that had been taken from Nuthanger Farm. In Tales from Watership Down, he became a founding father of the new warren between Watership and Efrafa.
- Nildro-hain – Strawberry's mate in Cowslip's warren; she is killed by a snare, following which incident Strawberry escapes to join Hazel's band. Her name is Lapine for "blackbird's song."
- Silverweed – The local equivalent of a storyteller, Silverweed recites disturbing poetry which makes Fiver fearful and wary. In the television series, he is given a new backstory, in that he is a seer with mental abilities similar to Fiver, in particular possessing the ability to see into another rabbit's mind by touch.
[edit] Efrafan rabbits
- General Woundwort – The Chief Rabbit of Efrafa. He is a hard and brutally efficient rabbit, who was orphaned at a young age, and founded the Efrafa warren. He attacked the Watership Down warren, and, after fighting (and losing to) Bigwig, was thought to have been killed fighting the Nuthanger Farm dog, but he lives on in rabbit legend as a bogeyman.
- Hyzenthlay – A doe; she is one of the representative leaders of a group who unsuccessfully tried to convince General Woundwort to extend the warren due to overcrowding. Later, she and several other Efrafan does escape while Bigwig distracts the guards. In Tales from Watership Down she mates with Hazel and the two rule the warren as co-Chief Rabbits.[1] In the television series adaptation, Hyzenthlay was renamed Primrose. Hyzenthlay's name is Lapine for "fur shining like dew."
- Thethuthinnang - Hyzenthlay's friend and also one of the leaders of the Efrafan does. Her name is Lapine for "movement of leaves."
- Groundsel - A general in the Efrafan army. He was captured at the end of Woundwort's raid on the warren at Watership Down and later was allowed to join the warren. In the end, he becomes Chief Rabbit of a new warren between Watership Down and Efrafa.
- Campion – A captain of the Owsla; he is a brave and a skillful leader, and respected by General Woundwort. He takes over the warren of Efrafa after Woundwort's disappearance, and agrees that Efrafa and Watership Down can co-exist in peace. In Tales from Watership Down, the final chapter is devoted to Campion; he eventually dies on patrol after a fight with a pair of cats. In the television series, Campion falls in love with Blackberry, now a doe, and settles with her in Watership Down.
- Vilthuril - One of the escaping does. Eventually she becomes Fiver's mate.
- Blackavar – A rabbit with very dark fur. He tried to escape from Efrafa when he was prevented from joining the Owsla, but when he was apprehended by Campion, his ears were slashed to ribbons and he was kept in solitary confinement. When he was liberated by Bigwig, he quickly proved himself as an expert tracker and ranger, and Hazel came to trust and rely upon him. In the book, Blackavar survives the climactic battle with the Efrafans, but in the film he is shown being killed by Woundwort himself. He was voiced by Clifton Jones in the feature film and by Stephen Gately in the television series.
- Vervain – The head of the Owslafa (Council police) in Efrafa. He is a large and bullying rabbit, more used to dealing with prisoners than with active combatants, and dislikes his peer Campion. After the loss of Woundwort and the battle for Watership Down, elil kill half of the retreating survivors including Vervain, but he had already lost heart and his sense of purpose. His name comes from an alternative name for verbena, a type of small flowering plant found in England.
- Chervil – An Owsla officer assigned to show Bigwig around the warren when he "joins" Efrafa. Like Vervain he is something of a bully, and has severe contempt for the "lesser" Efrafans. He is very mean to Blackavar in particular. When Bigwig escapes with the does, he attacks and injures Chervil. In the film, Chervil is voiced by Derrek Griffiths (who is misidentified in the credits as voicing Vervain, who has no speaking lines). His name is also mispronounced as "Sherbil."
- Avens - Another Owsla officer who accompanies Chervil while training Bigwig.
- Nelthilta – A young doe, spirited and rebellious but not especially smart. When she thinks she's going to escape with Bigwig's group she can't resist dropping hints by taunting an Efrafan officer, whereupon she is arrested and forced to confess to the Council, nearly ruining the whole plan.
- Bartsia - An Owslafa officer who is Blackavar's escort.
- Snowdrop - A very old rabbit who acts as Woundwort's advisor on the Council.
- Charlock - An Owsla captain who was chasing Holly, Silver, Buckthorn, and Strawberry when they escaped from Efrafa. He and the few other officers who were with him were run over by a train as they were chasing the Down rabbits.
- Mallow - Another Owsla captain who was killed. This time by a fox that was chasing Bigwig. Mallow was killed while on a Wide Patrol tracking the other Down rabbits who were nearby.
- Marjoram and Moneywort - A couple sentries under Captain Chervil who, one way or another, are known to Woundwort.
- Thrayonlosa - One of the does who escaped from Efrafa with Bigwig and Hyzenthlay. She sustains severe injuries from the Efrafan Owsla during the escape. She died in her sleep that night.
- Coltsfoot - After the disastrous attack on Watership, Coltsfoot settles on the Down. Despite this, the others give him a wide berth because of his demeanor, which turns out to be a product of a strange encounter he had as a youngster. This event forms the plot of "The Rabbit's Ghost Story" in Tales from Watership Down. Once he has told this story, and after spending much time with Fiver (who seemed to understand it best), he became as agreeable as any rabbit.
- Nyreem - In the Tales from Watership Down story "Hyzenthlay in Action," Nyreem is one of a group of Efrafan does whom Campion has sent to the Down, in order to deal with overpopulation in his warren. Because she has injured her leg, the others are forced to go on without her. Hyzenthlay (who had just become co-Chief with Hazel) exercised her new authority by sitting with Nyreem all night until Bigwig came to assist her. Later, Nyreem and one of her friends witness Sandwort's lucky escape from the well.
[edit] Mythical characters
- Lord Frith - The sun-god, and creator of the universe. In the rabbits' creation story, he grants all the animals their distinguishing features.
- The Black Rabbit of Inlé – He appears in fictional rabbit folklore as a sinister phantom servant of the Great Frith; he is the rabbit equivalent of a grim reaper in human folklore and similarly ensures all rabbits die at their pre-destined time.
- El-ahrairah – A rabbit trickster folk hero, who is the protagonist of nearly all of the rabbits' stories. He represents what every rabbit wants to be: smart, devious, tricky, and devoted to the well-being of his warren. A complex folklore was created around him in both Watership Down and Tales from Watership Down. In Lapine, his name is a contraction of the phrase Elil-Hrair-Rah, meaning "prince with a thousand enemies".
- Rabscuttle - Captain of El-ahrairah's Owsla, Rabscuttle is totally loyal to his "master" and often assists him in his tricks and adventures.
- Prince Rainbow - Frith's deputy on earth, who has "the power of the sky and the power of the hills," often tries to keep El-ahrairah and his people in line, but is invariably thwarted. In Tales, he gives El-ahrairah good advice before he undertakes several adventures.
- Yona - Yona's name, which means "hedgehog" in Lapine, is well deserved, since that is what he is. Yona's loyalty often wavers because of his penchant for gossip.
- Kehaar – A black-headed gull who is forced, by an injured wing, to take refuge on Watership Down. He is characterized by his frequent impatience, guttural accent and unusual phrasing. Eventually, after Hazel and the others befriend him, he flies over the countryside in an attempt to discover other warrens where the rabbits might find does to mate with. He discovers the Efrafa warren, and after helping the rabbits he flies back to the sea to rejoin his colony, though he frequently returns for a visit. According to Richard Adams, Kehaar was based on a fighter from the Norwegian Resistance in the Second World War.[2] In the film adaptation, Keehar was supplied with a memorably pompous East-European accent by Zero Mostel. In the television series, Kehaar is voiced by English comedian Rik Mayall.
- Mouse - A native of Watership Down. Hazel's warren does him a good turn when they shelter him from a threatening kestrel. He is deeply grateful and later, although he does not understand the situation, he tells the Watership Down rabbits, after their friendly extraction of dissidents from Efrafa, that other rabbits are approaching their warren. Hazel correctly surmises that they must be the Efrafan Owsla coming to retaliate for the raid and without the mouse's warning, they would have taken the Watership Down warren completely by surprise.
- Flyairth - The Watership rabbits first hear of Flyairth from Vilthuril, Hyzenthlay, and Thethuthinnang, who had learned about her from a mysterious "secret river" of knowledge. Flyairth was Chief Rabbit of a doe-dominated warren called Thinial, but she was later expelled from it because of her obsession with preventing an outbreak of the "White Blindness." Later, she moves to Watership, where she continues her campaign against the Blindness. She believes that humans will infect any rabbit they see with it; as such, she sees the Watership warren as being in great danger because it is directly next to a human footpath. Eventually, she leaves, taking a sizable number of rabbits with her.
[edit] References
- ^ J. D. Biersdorfer (1996-12-01). Books in Brief: Fiction. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ Introduction by Richard Adams in Watership Down, Scribner edition, USA 2005. ISBN 0743277708.
