History Literature / WatershipDown

Their journey is long -- for a rabbit (about five miles). And it is punctuated by times of rest, during which they encourage each other with tales of their FolkHero, the first rabbit: El-ahrairah, the Prince With a Thousand Enemies. El-ahrairah is a [[TheTrickster Trickster hero]] (meet us halfway between Literature/{{Beowulf}} and WesternAnimation/BugsBunny and you've got the idea), and the legends we hear deal with everything from the rabbit's creation myth to El-ahrairah's [[ToHellAndBack descent into Inlé]] to meet [[TheGrimReaper the Black Rabbit]]. And don't think that the stories are separate from the action, because they build up an intricate belief system that rewards us with major character moments, up to and including the very end of the story.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Usually, the Chief Rabbit of a warren is among its toughest fighters -- Woundwort is a particularly vivid case, as he became the Chief Rabbit of Efrafa by killing the previous chief and another rival to take the warren by force. Averted as a plot point late in the novel, when [[spoiler:Bigwig tells Woundwort his Chief told him to defend the run, revealing that Bigwig isn't the Chief himself ... and the Efrafans panic, thinking there must be an even bigger and tougher rabbit they haven't met yet. In fact Hazel, the limping rabbit they met earlier, is Bigwig's Chief, but the military Efrafans never guess this. When he fails to defeat Bigwig in single combat, Woundwort starts to feel his authority slip away]].

** A real one appears in ''Tales from Watership Down'', in the short story "The Comical Field." Whatever ''it'' was, El-Ahrairah never once could bring himself to describe what it was. All he could say was that it was scarier than the Black Rabbit of Inlé because it was "evil, wicked and cruel." It lived inside a hedge maze that was part of an abandoned country estate, and somehow was bound inside it.

* FantasyPantheon: The rabbits have a fairly standard pantheon of gods -- Frith the creator and sun god, his lieutenant Prince Rainbow (who seems to represent humanity), the Black Rabbit of Inlé as a god of death, and El-ahrairah, the heroic prince of rabbits. It's implied that other animals have their own patrons in the vein of El-ahrairah as well -- El-ahrairah has no trouble convincing a guard dog that fairy canines exist. And at the end, [[spoiler: Woundwort is added as the rabbit version of [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight the bogeyman]].]]

** [[spoiler:Woundwort himself,]] against an enormous savage dog. We don't get to see the result.[[note]] The dog (obviously) survives, though described as "unexpectedly scratched and bitten", and kills at least one other rabbit before heading back to the farm. The dog is said to have "left Woundwort" but Woundwort's condition is not elaborated on and the body is never found. The possibility of Woundwort's survival is left ambiguous, but no Watership Down or Efrafan rabbit ever sees him again.[[/note]]

* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: Of General Woundwort. Efrafans are convinced that he didn't die, but went away to find a more worthy warren. Eventually, he becomes a legendary bogeyman figure in the rabbit mythology.]][[note]] ''And yet there endured the legend that somewhere out over the down there lived a great and solitary rabbit, a giant who drove the elil like mice and sometimes went to silflay in the sky. If ever great danger arose, he would come back to fight for those who honored his name. And mother rabbits would tell their kittens that if they did not do as they were told, the General would get them—the General who was first cousin to the Black Rabbit himself. Such was Woundwort's monument: and perhaps it would not have displeased him.''[[/note]]

** Bigwig has one when he hears his name being called in an unearthly voice in a dark night as he thinks it's the Black Rabbit of Inlé calling him to his death. [[spoiler:It's actually Captain Holly of the Sandleford Owsla.]]

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: [[spoiler: Efrafa. It was designed to be completely and utterly safe from humans.]] Before that, [[spoiler:Cowslip's warren is seen as a perfect utopia for rabbits... [[TownWithADarkSecret provided you never ask where anybody is]]]]

* WickedCultured: The [[CityInABottle doomed rabbits]] of Cowslip's warren have gotten into poetry, rudimentary cave art, and other human-like mannerisms. And in every dramatization Cowslip speaks with a [[AristocratsAreEvil posh accent]].

** It happens again in Cowslip's warren with Hazel, who as Fiver notes bitterly should know better.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Woundwort's main assurance to his officers who get spooked by different ''elil'' is to simply say they "aren't dangerous." He says this multiple times throughout the novel, such as "Stoats aren't dangerous," or "birds aren't dangerous." It goes to show just how badass the general is since he has the muscle to back up what he says. [[spoiler: These wind up being the last words we hear from him when he fights a large ''dog''.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: In-universe with the stories of El-ahrairah. "The King's Lettuce" and its sequel "The Trial of El-ahrairah" are funny tales where the Prince of Rabbits employs his wits to get the better of his enemies. However, "The Story of El-ahrairah and the Black Rabbit" is a much darker and horrific tale where the consequences of El-ahrairah's actions in the previous stories finally catch up to him. His failure to outsmart his foes force him to attempt a deal out of desperation with [[TheGrimReaper the Black Rabbit]].

** We don't get to hear the details of Hazel's plan to [[spoiler:release the dog]] until it's well underway. And a good thing too.

** And Woundwort as well for being TheDeterminator, when he rallies his forces despite a raging downpour and Kehaar divebombing them at every opportunity.

* HeroicSacrifice: How El-ahrairah tried to save his people in The Black Rabbit of Inlé. [[spoiler:Failed, however. He ends up getting what he wants from the Black Rabbit simply for his persistence in remaining alive and thus disturbing the place of the dead beyond bearing.]]

** In-universe, a steam train which saves the first Watership envoy from pursuing Efrafans; Holly and the envoy are nearly driven tharn simply by its passage. The Efrafans, who live near the railroad, do not regard it with such awe.

* EverybodySmokes: A weird variant. The ''rabbits'' don't smoke, of course, but humans are seldom mentioned without some reference to the "white sticks" they burn in their mouths. However this is a case of SocietyMarchesOn - in the early 1970s when the book was written over half of all adult males in the UK were regular smokers (it's around a quarter in the present day).

* FantasyHonorifics: Rabbit leaders have the suffix "-rah" added to their names. Thus, when Hazel becomes Chief Rabbit he's referred to as "Hazel-rah."

* ComeToGawk: After Blackaver is caught and his ears are mutilated for attempting to leave the warren, he is displayed to all the other rabbits as an example.

* NobleDemon: General Woundwort may be a tyrant, but his worldview has been shaped by events in his life and his heavy-handedness proved to have kept the warren from being attacked and allowed it to "thrive", at least until it become overpopulated. When fighting Bigwig he deems him a WorthyOpponent and offers him a position back in his Owsla if he gives up. Captain Campion also fits this role as well. He follows Woundwort out of honor and attacking Hazel's warren is nothing personal to him. after Woundwort is defeated, he leads the survivors back to Efrafa and becomes their leader. With Woundwort gone he no longer is a NobleDemon because his purpose of honorably serving Woundwort is fulfilled. He becomes the new leader of Efrafa and gives the rabbits more freedoms. He also forms a pact with Hazel and allows rabbits to leave Efrafa to create a new warren with some of Hazel's rabbits.

* KillerRabbit: Woundwort is psychotic even by ''human'' standards.

-->--'''Lord Frith, "The Blessing of El-ahrairah"'''

** Bigwig has one when he hears his name being called in an unearthly voice in a dark night as he thinks it's the Black Rabbit of Inlé calling him to his death. [[spoiler:It's actually Captain Holly of the Sandleford Owsla]]

* OhCrap: Bigwig has one when he hears his name being called in an unearthly voice in a dark night as he thinks it's the Black Rabbit of Inlé calling him to his death. [[spoiler:It's actually Captain Holly of the Sandleford Owsla]]

* WhamLine: InUniverse, [[spoiler:Bigwig]]'s reveal that he was [[spoiler:not the Chief Rabbit]] was an effective WhamLine to [[spoiler:Woundwort and the other Efrafans]] -- who, given that [[spoiler:Bigwig had effectively beaten Woundwort]], found the idea of [[spoiler:Watership Down possibly containing a stronger rabbit than Bigwig]] terrifying.

* NothingIsScarier: The [[BeastInTheMaze thing in the comical field]] goes unseen throughout El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle's attempts to flee from it. It briefly comes into view toward the end, spurring on their final dash that takes them out of the field. The sight of it is not described for the reader; the narration only says that El-ahrairah would never describe what he saw, and would only speak of it once, implying that it was evil, before refusing to say more.

* NothingIsScarier: The [[BeastInTheMaze thing in the comical field]] goes unseen throughout El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle's attempts to flee from it. It briefly comes into view toward the end, spurring on their final dash that takes them out of the field. The sight of it is not described for the reader; it only says that El-ahrairah would never describe what he saw, and would only speak of it once, implying that it was evil, before refusing to say more.

* {{Just So Stor|y}}ies: Half of the rabbit folktales.

* GenrePopularizer: There are a number of other "epic animal adventure" stories, but it is difficult to read them without comparing them to ''Watership''.

Also notable is the 1978 [[AnimatedAdaptation animated feature film]] based upon the book, directed by Martin Rosen. ([[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown Its page is here]].) It's a very well-done {{adaptation|Distillation}}, and well worth watching. The insanely detailed animation fits the story perfectly, and real effort is made to respect the seriousness with which the rabbits take their quest. The film is also well-known for how gritty and violent it is, far more than most animated films. Likewise notable is its voice cast, consisting of some of the best British actors of the day, including Creator/JohnHurt as Hazel, Creator/RalphRichardson as the Threarah, Creator/NigelHawthorne as Campion, and Creator/RichardBriers as Fiver. The American character actor Zero Mostel voiced Kehaar the seagull. As of 2015, the film is now a part of the Creator/CriterionCollection.

There is also a far more obscure television series, made in collaboration with Canadian network Creator/{{YTV}} in 1999. Its page can be found [[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown1999 here]].

In 2018, Creator/{{Netflix}} and Creator/{{BBC}} One produced a four-part [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] miniseries with an AllStarCast. Its page can be found [[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown2018 here]].

Also notable is the 1978 [[AnimatedAdaptation animated feature film]] based upon the book, directed by Martin Rosen. ([[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown Its page is here]].) It's a very well-done {{adaptation|Distillation}}, and well worth watching. The insanely detailed animation fits the story perfectly, and real effort is made to respect the seriousness with which the rabbits take their quest. The film is also notable for its voice cast, consisting of some of the best British actors of the day, including Creator/JohnHurt as Hazel, Creator/RalphRichardson as the Threarah, Creator/NigelHawthorne as Campion, and Creator/RichardBriers as Fiver. The American character actor Zero Mostel voiced Kehaar the seagull. As of 2015, the film is now a part of the Creator/CriterionCollection.

Also notable is the 1978 [[AnimatedAdaptation animated feature film]] based upon the book, directed by Martin Rosen. ([[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown Its page is here]].) It's a very well-done {{adaptation|Distillation}}, and well worth watching. The insanely detailed animation fits the story perfectly, and real effort is made to respect the seriousness with which the rabbits take their quest. The film is also notable for its voice cast, consisting of some of the best British actors of the day, including Creator/JohnHurt as Hazel, Creator/RalphRichardson as the Threarah, Creator/NigelHawthorne as Campion, and Creator/RichardBriers as Fiver. The American character actor Zero Mostel voiced Kehaar the seagull. As of 2015, the animated adaptation is now a part of the Creator/CriterionCollection.

Also notable is the 1978 [[AnimatedAdaptation animated feature film]] based upon the book, directed by Martin Rosen. ([[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown Its page is here]].) It's a very well-done {{adaptation|Distillation}}, and well worth watching. The insanely detailed animation fits the story perfectly, and real effort is made to respect the seriousness with which the rabbits take their quest. The film is also notable for its voice cast, consisting of some of the best British actors of the day, including Creator/JohnHurt as Hazel, Creator/RalphRichardson as the Threarah, Creator/NigelHawthorne as Campion, and Creator/RichardBriers as Fiver. The American character actor Zero Mostel voiced Kehaar the seagull.

The thing is, the film is notorious in Internet culture for one simple reason: it's one of the most painfully graphic pieces of children's fiction ever animated. Certainly, [=DVD=] cover art like [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078480/mediaviewer/rm590821632 this]] doesn't help, but what gets us here at TV Tropes is that you'd think more people would have heard of the book. Parents of bunny-obsessed children: while the author may have considered it acceptable to subject his young daughters (the oldest of whom was eight) to such NightmareFuel as Bigwig's brush with death and his battle with General Woundwort, General Woundwort ''himself'', the awfully long scene (scored to ''Bright Eyes'') where Hazel is almost certainly dead and Fiver is lost without him, Blackavar's story, or Holly recounting how he barely escaped the destruction of Sandleford Warren, you may at the very least wish to take extreme caution in doing so. On the off chance you need further convincing, please note that the latter sequence, faithful to the novel, is a semi-hallucinatory depiction of ''cute bunnies clawing out the throats of other cute bunnies as they all slowly suffocate''.

As of 2015, the animated adaptation is now a part of the Creator/CriterionCollection.

In 2018, Creator/{{Netflix}} and Creator/{{BBC}} One produced a four-part [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] miniseries with an AllStarCast. Its page can be found [[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown2018 here]].

* CurbStompBattle: The Battle of Watership Down, and its aftermath. The Watership rabbits come out without a single loss (in the book) or only a single casualty (in the film). By contrast, of the twenty-six or twenty-seven rabbits Woundwort leads from Efrafa, only seven or eight make it back alive when the elil get through with them. To put this into perspective: a large warren like Efrafa has a max population of about 100 rabbits. (The Watership Down warren had around twenty-five rabbits after acquiring the Efrafan does.) So the Efrafans probably lost around a ''quarter'' of their strength, as well as their leader, in that one disastrous expedition. No wonder they were happy to make peace afterwards.

* RealityEnsues: It doesn't matter how big and badass a rabbit you are, taking on a large and vicious farm dog in single combat is never going to end in victory for you.

** The Sandleford Chief Rabbit does nothing in response to Fiver's warnings that the warren is in danger. In fairness to him, moving an entire warren would be a logistical nightmare, and in most cases they'd lose fewer lives by staying underground and riding it out. Unfortunately, what they ''don't'' anticipate (because they've never met it before) is the humans' use of earth-movers and poison gas.
** General Woundwort and his Council are so fixated on maintaining their authority and minimizing the risks of detection by humans that they fail to do anything about Efrafa's overcrowding, like encouraging migration or sending out expeditions to form new warrens - even digging new burrowsis out of question.

* SedgwickSpeech: [[spoiler:Woundwort]]'s FamousLastWords. "Dogs aren't dangerous!"

The novel proved so popular that, decades later, Adams wrote a set of sequel stories. Called ''Tales From Watership Down'', the stories actually take place ''during'' the original novel, though after the resolution of the plot. Two thirds of the book are a mixed bag of new Lapine mythology (ranging from EldritchAbomination to {{Cloudcuckoolander}} tales, including a new one with a Woundwort {{Expy}}). The final third expands the Watership warren's post-battle history, that had previously just been given a brief mention in the original [[DistantFinale Epilogue]]. They include what became of [[TheChick Hyzenthlay]], the formation of the new Watership-Efrafa joint warren (and its salvation from a pack of roving weasels), and what happened to Campion and Efrafa after Woundwort.

Also notable is the 1978 [[AnimatedAdaptation animated feature film]] based upon the book, directed by Martin Rosen. ([[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown Its page is here]]) It's a very well-done {{adaptation|Distillation}}, and well worth watching. The insanely detailed animation fits the story perfectly, and real effort is made to respect the seriousness with which the rabbits take their quest. The film is also notable for its voice cast, consisting of some of the best British actors of the day, including Creator/JohnHurt as Hazel, Creator/RalphRichardson as the Threarah, Creator/NigelHawthorne as Campion, and Creator/RichardBriers as Fiver. The American character actor Zero Mostel voiced Kehaar the seagull.

The thing is, the film is notorious in Internet culture for one simple reason: it's one of the most painfully graphic pieces of children's fiction ever animated. Certainly, [=DVD=] cover art like [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078480/mediaviewer/rm590821632 this]] doesn't help, but what gets us here at TV Tropes is that you'd think more people would have heard of the book. Parents of bunny-obsessed children, while the author may have considered it acceptable to subject his young daughters (the oldest of whom was eight) to such NightmareFuel as Bigwig's brush with death and his battle with General Woundwort, General Woundwort ''himself'', the awfully long scene (scored to ''Bright Eyes'') where Hazel is almost certainly dead and Fiver is lost without him, Blackavar's story, or Holly recounting how he barely escaped the destruction of Sandleford Warren, you may at the very least wish to take extreme caution in doing so. On the off chance you need further convincing, please note that the latter sequence, faithful to the novel, is a semi-hallucinatory depiction of ''cute bunnies clawing out the throats of other cute bunnies as they all slowly suffocate''.

* OnlyYouCanRepopulateMyRace: A major plot driver for the second half of the story. The group didn't think (or weren't able) to bring any females with them, so they need to find some or the new warren is doomed.

* ThePlace: The eponymous hill is where the main characters make their home and is one of the main locations.