Watership Down

Large, impulsive, and friendly but inclined toward fighting, Bigwig is a member of the Threarah’s Owsla who defects to Hazel’s group and helps them escape the destruction of their warren. A loyal and daring member of the Watership Down group, and the first member of Hazel’s informal Owsla, Bigwig engineers the escape of several does from the dangerously repressive Efrafa warren, and he defeats the larger rabbit Woundwort in combat while defending Hazel’s warren. Bigwig is an object lesson in being big, brave, and feisty while also being fair-minded and considerate of others.

The fifth and smallest of the litter he shared with Hazel, Fiver is a worrier. Acutely alert to any sign of danger, he’s the first to recognize a looming disaster for the Threarah’s warren, and he later warns the escapees to avoid Cowslip’s warren because it’s merely an alluring death trap.

Fiver possesses a gift of prophecy, and he often tests the others’ patience with his strange, priest-like predictions of doom. Hazel, though, trusts and defends him, with good cause: Fiver’s predictions always come true. His public prediction of the warren’s victory over Woundwort is itself a partial cause of that victory when it spooks the invaders. He’s best understood by his brother, Hazel, and by his mate, Vilthuril, but the warren as a whole comes to realize that, though eccentric, Fiver always has their best interests at heart.

Because rabbits can’t count past four—anything larger is simply “hrair—‘a lot,’ or ‘a thousand’”—Fiver’s rabbit name is Hrairoo, which means “Little Thousand,” or the runt of a large litter (10 fn.). His is the type of unusually talented mind often rejected by others, but that benefits those who respect him.

General Woundwort is the Efrafa warren’s dictator and the story's chief antagonist. Large, deadly, and ruthless, he rules with an iron grip and works continually to increase his control over the other rabbits. Enraged when Bigwig escapes with several does, Woundwort pursues them but underestimates Watership warren’s true strengths and fails to conquer them. He is last seen fighting the dog brought against him by Hazel’s team: “He was a fighting animal—fierce as a rat or a dog. He fought because he actually felt safer fighting than running” (607).

More of a force of nature than a rabbit, Woundwort represents the mania of leaders who become tyrants. His approach is the opposite of Hazel’s, who’d rather cooperate than fight and who wins through clever tactics instead of brute force.

One of the does who wants to leave Efrafa, Hyzenthlay—“fur shining like dew” in Lapine (618)—conspires with Bigwig and several other does to escape from their imprisoning warren. She’s smart, resourceful, clear-headed, and patient. She also shares some of Fiver’s psychic abilities. Hazel recognizes her virtues, and they become mating partners. (In the book’s sequel, Tales from Watership Down, she becomes co-leader of the warren.) Hyzenthlay represents the deep, hidden wisdom and intelligence of the does—who, too often, are disregarded by the bucks and must struggle to communicate with them and make contributions to the group.

Elil-Hrair-Rah, “The Prince with a Thousand Enemies” (31), or El-ahrairah, is a heroic character in rabbit lore. An early king of the rabbits, he combines Robin Hood’s courage with the deceptive trickery of Odysseus or Brer Rabbit. To entertain or calm Hazel’s group, Dandelion tells many of these stories. El-ahrairah symbolizes the resourceful wits of animals who often must steal food and evade predators to survive. Hazel, too, plays tricks on enemies and endures great hardship, and his adventures begin to be confused with those of El-ahrairah.

Kehaar is a black-headed gull who is injured by a cat and rescued by Hazel. Grateful, Kehaar becomes an ally, finds two sources of does for his rabbit friends, and assists them in the fight to rescue a dozen females from Efrafa. He’s smart, sassy, impatient, funny, and courageous. His friendship with the Watership Down rabbits serves as a reminder of Hazel’s foresight and compassion; his wry comments add comic relief to the story; and his aerial feats provide dashes of excitement.

Threarah’s Owsla captain, Holly, early in the story, tries to arrest Bigwig for desertion, but he loses the fight, and Hazel’s group departs. Holly is dutiful and loyal rather than cruel; though not a true leader, he’s “something of the born second-in-command” (183). Holly is injured during the destruction of the Sandleford warren and, later, in a fight with Woundwort’s rabbits. He finds his way to Watership Down, where he apologizes to Bigwig for disbelieving him about their warren’s impending disaster. Holly mates with Clover and fathers kittens with her. Along with Bigwig, Holly is a strong, sturdy, and fierce defender of the warren, his toughness leavened by an honest and good heart.

Perhaps the brightest of Hazel’s rabbits, Blackberry helps solve difficult problems that face them. He discovers how to ferry the wounded Pipkin across a body of water atop a piece of wood, figures out the peg that holds Bigwig in a snare, develops the scheme to free several female rabbits from the Efrafa warren, and converts a small river punt into an escape vehicle for them. He helps Hazel set up the climatic trick of sending a farm dog to scatter Woundwort’s forces. Blackberry represents those who, through outstanding intelligence, find new ways to do things, something often resisted by stodgy leaders but appreciated by forward-looking ones like Hazel.

Dandelion is a natural storyteller, and often he regales Hazel’s warren with tales of the swashbuckling rabbit hero El-ahrairah. He’s also a very fast runner and uses that in service to the warren during dangerous encounters with predators. With Dr. Adams, who appears briefly near the end of the book, Dandelion serves as a stand-in for the author because he’s the book’s chief storyteller.

Bluebell is a friend of Holly and accompanies him when they escape with their lives from the destruction of the Threarah’s warren. Ever the comedian, Bluebell is always ready with a quip or a humorous, rhyming couplet. Loyal to Holly and Hazel, he’s also a good source of advice and wisdom. He’s the character who keeps everyone’s spirits up when they’re tired or frightened.

A large and healthy member of Cowslip’s warren, Strawberry has a mate, Nildro-hain, to whom he’s “touchingly devoted.” He goes along with the warren’s philosophy of resignation about being food for their human benefactor until Hazel’s group leaves, whereupon he joins them. Strawberry helps the migrants build at Watership Down a large, central burrow hall like the one at Cowslip’s warren. He also helps in the conflict with Efrafa. He represents the rare individual who turns his back on a predatory culture and becomes a worthy member of a constructive society.

A friend of Fiver, Pipkin—in Lapine, Hlao, a dimple of moisture—shares Fiver’s small size and nervousness. Injured early on, Pipkin struggles to keep up until Hazel removes a thorn from his paw. Pipkin is a symbol of Hazel’s concern for the weaker members among his followers. His resulting utter love and loyalty for Hazel suggests the power of compassion in a leader’s personality.

A member of the Efrafa warren who encouraged does to run away, Blackavar himself tries but fails to escape and is severely punished. He has “very dark fur—almost black” and is “dreadfully mutilated. His ears were nothing but shapeless shreds” following Efrafan punishment (411). He joins Bigwig’s Efrafan escape. The harsh training of life as an Efrafan Owsla makes Blackavar an especially strong new member of the Watership Warren. A fellow Owsla, he becomes good friends with Holly. He escapes because Bigwig takes pity on him; it’s part of the book’s mapping of Bigwig’s personality as much bigger and more compassionate than most Owslas’s.

An Owsla mate of Bigwig’s at the Threarah’s warren, Silver joins Hazel on his cross-country journey and proves a strong, reliable rabbit and a dependable soldier during battle. With Bigwig, Holly, and Blackavar, Silver becomes part of the military side of Hazel’s informal Owsla.

A leader of the farmer’s rabbit warren, Cowslip encourages Hazel’s group to join them and enjoy their lush lifestyle. In fact, he hope they’ll become the victims of the farmer’s traps instead of his own people, so he ignores their questions about rabbits who disappear. Effectively, he lies to the newcomers, who learn, almost too late, of his duplicity. Cowslip is an example of someone who sells his soul for temporary pleasures and then tries to foist his costs onto others.