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Redwall's Defenders
Matthias the Warrior
Voiced by: Tyrone Savage (English), Emmanuel Garijo (European French, Season 1), Alexandre Gillet (European French, Season 2)
"I AM THAT IS!"
A young mouse who idolises the long-dead Martin the Warrior, Matthias is a dreamer who doesn't quite fit in with the other mice at Redwall Abbey. When Cluny the Scourge lays siege to the Abbey, Matthias' clear thinking and iron spine make him one of the Abbey's chief defenders, teaching the quarterstaff and organizing the defenses. Convinced that only by recovering Martin's sword can the Abbey prevail, Matthias sets out on a dangerous journey that will take him from the sparrow colony at the top of the Abbey, to the depths of Asmodeus' den, and into a fateful duel with Cluny himself. Awarded the title of Abbey Warrior, Matthias is eventually forced back into action when Slagar the Cruel kidnaps his son Mattimeo, and heads off on a journey to bring his son home.
- Adaptation Expansion: In the books, it's never explained where Matthias came from prior to living in Redwall. In the TV series, Matthias was a commoner child whose village and family was attacked by Cluny. His older sister Myrtle saved him from being trapped in their burning house then brought him to Redwall Abbey just before dying herself from exhaustion.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Woe to whoever threatens his friends.
- The Champion: Ends up with the official title of Abbey Warrior, making him the first official Abbey champion since Martin himself.
- The Chosen One: Chosen by Martin the Warrior himself to take up his sword. Matthias is shocked and confused about how this happened, since he wasn't even born at the time but, believing it was Martin's spirit, eventually accepts his destiny for the sake of his home and family.
- Combat Pragmatist: As evidenced by his defeat of Cluny. He's well aware of how small he is as opposed to most of his enemies.
- Good Parents: To Mattimeo.
- Happily Adopted: By the Order and by Abbot Mortimer in particular.
- Happily Married: To Cornflower.
- The Hero: He goes from a gawky novice to a match for Cluny by going on a quest for Martin's sword, overcoming physical fear, and making allies of the Guosim and sparrows.
- Hot-Blooded: Matthias is smart and can be very cunning, as seen by how he defeated Cluny. However, he can be impulsive and prone to rush into things regardless of the risks and with no care for himself, especially in Redwall. He gets better in Mattimeo on account of being Older and Wiser.
- I Am Your Opponent: "Cluny the Scourge: I have come to settle with you!"
- In the Back: Matthias is a very good fighter, but he appears to be very very bad at watching his back. Evidenced by how often his friends have to save him in both Redwall and Mattimeo. Might have to do with his temper.
- Jumped at the Call: He practically leaps at the chance to do his best as a defender of the Abbey once the threat of Cluny becomes apparent, and he adapts to it with natural ease.
- Martial Pacifist: Matthias has little desire to fight, but when he does there are few who can stand against him.
- Master Swordsman: And a natural one, at that.
- Obfuscating Insanity: When captured by the Sparra, Matthias pretends to be mad in order to deflect suspicion away from himself and make the sparrows leave him alone.
- Papa Wolf: In Mattimeo.
- The Protagonist: In Redwall. In Mattimeo, he's the deuteragonist.
- Reincarnation: Though the original books make it hard to tell,
Word of God confirms that he is Martin's reincarnation. Notably, he's one of the only two who even get this treatment throughout the series. - Significant Anagram: The Arc Words "I am that is" are an anagram of "I, Matthias", establishing him as The Chosen One in Martin's prophecy.
- Take Up My Sword: Martin bids him to do so.
- Took a Level in Badass: Starts out as a clumsy young mouse. Ends as the most feared fighter in Mossflower.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: With Abbot Mortimer filling the father role.
Cornflower Fieldmouse
Voiced by: Alison Pill
The quiet, attractive daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fieldmouse, Cornflower is a level-headed young mouse who hides an agile mind and strong will behind her pretty face. She's attracted to Matthias from the start, and is one of his strongest supporters during the defense of the Abbey from Cluny the Scourge. During the later invasion by General Ironbeak she is one of the Abbey's chief defenders, alongside Constance.
- Action Girl: Downplayed, but she's not afraid of getting her paws dirty. She sets fire to Cluny's siege tower, bites General Ironbeak in the foot, and helps to mastermind the scheme involving "Martin's ghost". Later on in Mattimeo, she helps the Redwallers resist the siege by General Ironbeak by dressing up in her husband's armor and scaring the living daylights out of them by pretending to be Martin the Warrior, even though the task was pretty dangerous and she could have been caught.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's one of Redwall's kindest inhabitants, and is brave enough to defend her home when the chips are down. She's certainly not above burning down a siege tower should she get the opportunity. For context, in this universe fire is considered such a dangerous weapon that almost no one even entertains the idea of using it, not even Cluny the Scourge himself.
- Damsel in Distress: She's briefly captured by General Ironbeak and traded for one of Redwall's magpie hostages.
- In the cartoon she takes Friar Hugo's place in the climax.
- Good Parents: To Mattimeo.
- Guile Hero: Helps scare magpies and crows during Ironbeak's siege of Redwall in Mattimeo by dressing up in Matthias's armor to impersonate Martin the Warrior, which he left behind, with the help of Constance the badger and some "smoke and mirrors"
- Happily Married: To Matthias.
- Nice Girl: Her kindness is one of her defining characteristics.
- Scarecrow Solution: In Mattimeo, she embarks on a campaign to demoralize Ironbeak's troops by masquerading as the ghost of Martin the Warrior.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Seriously, you do not want to mess with her. She is one of Redwall's leaders during General Ironbeak's siege in Mattimeo.
- Took a Level in Badass: By Mattimeo she's far more confident and willing to make suggestions as to the defense of the Abbey. She even works to demoralize Ironbeak's forces by pretending to be Martin's ghost.
Abbot Mortimer
Voiced by: Chris Wiggins
The Father Abbot of Redwall at the time of Cluny's arrival in Mossflower, Abbot Mortimer is a kindly old mouse who serves as a surrogate father to Matthias.
- Actual Pacifist: So much that he is barely even willing to use force in self-defense. While insistent of this in the cartoon, he subverts this in the final battle, though is very apologetic.
- Big Good: Of Redwall.
- Cool Old Guy: Friendly, compassionate, and willing to stand up to Cluny the Scourge even when at his mercy.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Succumbs to Cluny's poison after the final battle in the book. He was spared of this in the cartoon, but while he still dies in the end, it never shows what led to it.
- Friend to All Living Things: Even willing to parlay with, and treat the wounds of, rats. Snakes are the sole exception.
- Horrible Judge of Character: He seems to think there's good in everyone, even Cluny.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He and Methuselah are both mentors to Matthias. Both of them end up dead.
- Parental Substitute: Is said to have been one to a young Matthias.
Methuselah
Voiced by: Wayne Robson
An ancient mouse who acts as the Abbey's Gatekeeper and Recorder, Methuselah has held his job longer than anybody can remember. He's eager to join Matthias' quest for Martin's sword, and helps him decipher the riddles that lead to the fabled weapon.
- Accidental Murder: Chickenhound didn't mean to kill him, just knock him out of the way.
- Cool Old Guy: Idolized by Matthias and he tries to stop Chickenhound single-handed.
- Meaningful Name: A biblical one at that.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He and Abbot Mortimer are Matthias' two mentors. They both end up dead.
- Noodle Incident: He indicates that he knows Chickenhound's mother Sela, as he accuses Chickenhound of being far worse.
- Omniglot: He can communicate with almost any living creature, and helps interpret the moles' speech for Matthias.
- Senior Sleep-Cycle: He's known for taking naps in the middle of the day.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Sort of. In the book, he is killed immediately by Chickenhound. In the series, he doesn't die right away, and lives two more episodes before dying of his injuries.
Constance
Voiced by: Janet Wright
The Badger Mother of Redwall Abbey during Matthias' time, Constance is tough and determined, with an aggressive streak that occasionally causes her to clash with the Abbot. She's one of the chief defenders during Cluny's siege of the Abbey, forming a rather personal rivalry with his right-hand rat, Redtooth, and is worth a small army of mice in combat. During General Ironbeak's invasion in Mattimeo she is put in charge of the defenses, and again picks up a rival, this time in the form of Ironbeak's right-hand crow, Mangiz.
- Action Girl: She's one of the most active combatants during Cluny and Ironbeak's respective sieges of Redwall.
- Apron Matron: She's a natural mother figure as well as a fierce fighter.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She is strict but all around pleasant as long as you don't attack her and the Abbey; she also kills Fangburn by repeatedly smashing his head against the Abbey's walls. In the show, it's even worse — he's last seen being raised head-first to her mouth, with Constance coldly proclaiming "you're mine" before the screen goes black and a Sickening "Crunch!" can be heard, implying that she bit through his skull.
- The Big Guy: The biggest strongest and toughest beast in the Abbey. Being a badger helps.
- The Dreaded: Badgers are among the largest of species in the series and have strength to match. Both Cluny's hordes and Ironbeak's soldiers are terrified of her for this reason.
- Good Is Not Soft: While she's a warm and kindly individual, she's not above getting her hands dirty when need be and has a somewhat more militant, unforgiving attitude than many other abbey-dwellers. Some of her most notable moments in the first book include threatening to crush Cluny and Redtooth under a massive table, criticizing Abbot Mortimer for not allowing attacks on Cluny's horde as they retreat after their first siege of the abbey, ambushing Sela and taking her copy of Cluny's (fake) plans, straight-up trying to assassinate Cluny by shooting him with a giant crossbow while he's in his tent (which likely would have worked had Cheesethief not let his ego get to his head and decided to wear his boss's armor), and bludgeoning Redtooth to death (or implicitly biting through his skull in the TV series) during the final battle.
- History Repeats: During both sieges of Redwall Abbey that occur in her lifetime, she develops a personal grudge against the Number Two of the enemy leader; first Redtooth, then Mangiz.
- Hot-Blooded: Comes with the badger territory.
- Human Hammer-Throw: Constance does this to Redtooth in her fight with him. She grabs him by the tail and spins him around several times before sending him flying. The text notes he would have flown a record distance if he hadn't crashed into a stout sycamore tree nearby. Ouch.
- It's Personal: With both Redtooth and Mangiz.
- Made of Iron: Barely notices the absolutely hideous injuries that Redtooth inflicts on her with his cutlass. Basil notes that almost no other animal could have put up with wounds like the ones she's taken. Retroactively, the series establishes that badgers in general are really freaking hard to kill; Constance simply set the example.
- Mama Bear: Mess with the abbey or anyone in it, and she will kick your ass.
- Natural Weapon: Uses her size and her claws as her main weapons.
- Never Mess with Granny: No kidding. Her response to Cluny's ultimatum is to pick up a feast-laden table and threaten to cave his head in with it.
- It's implied that she's probably the only other Abbeydweller besides Matthias who could take Cluny in a fight. When Cluny mocks her for failing to kill him with a crossbow, the text mentions how lucky he is that he's far away from her.
- When she finally confronts Redtooth, she's curbstomping him until he tosses some dirt in her eyes. He hits her several times, but when she clears her vision, it's all over.
- Number Two: To the Abbot.
- Only a Flesh Wound: She has this attitude to the injuries she suffers in her fight with Redtooth, and only grudgingly goes with Basil to the infirmary.
- Pragmatic Hero: When Sela tries to sell information to Redwall, she knows the Vixen isn't to be trusted, so she simply ambushes her at the prearranged meeting place, knocks her out and takes her intelligence.
- Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Has a rather epic one towards Fangburn in the TV adaptation.Constance: (to Fangburn, coldly): You're mine.
- Training the Peaceful Villagers: She's one of the few experienced fighters the Abbey has. One of her contributions to the war effort is teaching the Abbeydwellers how to actually fight.
Basil Stag Hare
Voiced by: Richard Binsley
An eccentric hare who wants to be a stag, Basil is a retired regimental scout and foot-fighter, who joins forces with the Abbey during the war against Cluny the Scourge. He is fast friends with Matthias and Jess Squirrel, and accompanies both of them in Mattimeo, on the journey to retrieve the Abbey's kidnapped young ones.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Despite being all around goofy and eccentric, Basil's still a seasoned soldier, and it definitely shows when push comes to shove. Most other hares take after him in this regard.
- Battle Cry: "Give 'em blood and vinegar!"
- Big Eater: He's a hare, it's in his species.
- One should also note though that this trope is played completely straight as he's not gluttonous. At a feast, he can eat as much food as Constance, and considering she's a badger, a species known for having a large appetite by virtue of their size, that's a lot of food. However, he never is rude about it and never steals food from his companions, unlike some other hare characters in later books in the series. Heck, his first appearance is him sharing his food with Matthias. Moreover, he's gone for long treks with Matthias and his band (as shown by Mattimeo) and barely complained about the implied rationing of their supplies.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: No pun intended. He talks funny and is initially seen by Matthias as downright weird. However, he's incredibly good at fighting with weapons, or simply with his legs and fists, an excellent tracker, and very experienced in stealth and tactics. When he and Jess Squirrel recover the tapestry piece from Cluny, he plays up a minor injury for sympathy (and to continue eating a metric ton); the instant Cluny's horde attacks, he casts off the bandage and completely ignores the "honorable war wound" to defend Redwall.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: He quickly establishes himself as one.
- Deadpan Snarker: Especially when facing overwhelming odds.
- Do-Anything Soldier: He's an excellent tracker, he's also very good at hiding in the bush and he is an excellent fighter.
- Drama Queen: Subverted. He acts like a minor injury is something far more serious, but it becomes clear he's just kidding. Occasionally acted in a sort of inverted way as he gets very hystrionic over the fights that he picks and in chastising his enemies.
- Extremity Extremist: Being a hare, he mainly uses his powerful hind legs to kick his enemies, but will occasionally use a staff and his hands.
- Fountain of Expies: Since he's the original hare and they more or less all have the same personality, he could be considered this.
- The Lancer: To Matthias.
- Large Ham: Lectures Matthias early on in Redwall about how to track and what he is, but also loves to lecture his enemy, with insults.
- Meaningful Name: Arguably subverted. Brian Jacques named him after Basil Fawlty, but the hare Basil is much friendlier, cool-headed and especially competent than the human Basil could ever hope to be.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: He gets a minor injury during the mission to retrieve the bit of tapestry Shadow stole. True to his hammy personality, he acts like he's been grievously wounded.
- Officer and a Gentleman: A silly, overexuberant one, but he qualifies nevertheless.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Easily the most comedic of the heroes, he's the one who established hares as amusing, but dangerous.
- Retired Badass: He's a retired soldier, but he hasn't lost any of his badassery since then.
- Supporting Leader: Matthias is the main character of the story, but Basil's the one that takes command of Redwall's defense.
- Training the Peaceful Villagers: Basil is a seasoned soldier, and helps train the peaceful Abbeydwellers to fight. Notably, he works wonders with the archers.
- Verbal Tic: Sometimes ends his sentences with "wot".
- You Fight Like a Cow: Basil is never without an insult to throw at an enemy. The barrage that he levels at Cluny and his rats is never equaled in the series. Subverted when he briefly fights Cluny, realizing that Cluny's a far better fighter than most of his horde and that pushing him too far might be a bad idea.
Jess Squirrel
Voiced by: Susan Roman
The mother of Sam Squirrel, and Mossflower's champion climber, Mrs. Squirrel—who insists on being addressed as Jess—is one of the Abbey's most resolute allies. Fast friends with Basil Stag Hare, she helps him steal Martin's portrait back from Cluny the Scourge, and later joins he and Matthias in the pursuit of Slagar the Cruel, who kidnapped her son Sam, in addition to Matthias' Mattimeo.
- Action Mom: Jess is an expert climber and fighter, fending off numerous sparrows and stealing Martin back from under Cluny's nose in Redwall, and singlehandedly putting an end to the Painted Ones' attacks on Matthias party in Mattimeo.
- Battle Cry: "Treetops n' Timber!"
- Happily Married: She and Mr. Squirrel seem quite happy together.
- Mama Bear: Don't touch Sam if you know what's good for you.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Seems to have this dynamic with her husband. Jess is willing to get into the thick of the action, while Mr. Squirrel is less so.
- Wall Crawl: Averted. She is an excellent climber that can get up rather problematic surfaces such as the side of Redwall Abbey, but does use a safety line and even she is afraid of strong winds at high altitudes.
Foremole
Voiced by: Graham Haley
The leader of moles in Redwall Abbey.
Cluny's Horde
Cluny the Scourge
Voiced by: Diego Matamoros
"Who dares challenge Cluny the Scourge shall perish!"
A brutal rat warlord with a career that has passed into legend, Cluny the Scourge arrives in Mossflower looking to settle down and become ruler of the countryside. He seizes on Redwall Abbey as a potential stronghold, and lays siege to the Abbey, intent on renaming it "Cluny's Castle", and making Mossflower his personal fiefdom. Troubled by nightmares in which he is slain by a warrior mouse, Cluny gradually loses his grip on reality, and becomes obsessed with the tapestry, and legacy, of Martin the Warrior.
- Adaptational Intelligence: In the series, he's aware of both the Redwallers' plan to assassinate him with a crossbow and Cheesethief's attempts to overthrow him, and so promotes Cheesethief so as to set him up to be killed. In the novel, he was unaware of either, and escaped death by the crossbow through pure luck.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: The books describe him as a black rat, but he's brown in the series.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: In the series, Cluny and his horde ransacked Matthias’ hometown and killed most of his family, events that spurred Matthias’ eventual arrival at Redwall.
- Angry Fist-Shake: All the time.
- Ax-Crazy: He'll gladly kill somebody for the crime of annoying him, especially if their success record isn't up to snuff.
- Badass Cape: A cape made of batwings.
- Bad Boss: Treats his troops as expendable, and has a very low tolerance for failure. However, the few genuinely competent soldiers in his army can get promoted fast, regardless of species, which at least makes him a better commander than Cheesethief.
- The Berserker: He manages to kill a pike in battle, albeit at the cost of getting his eye ripped out. He's also one of the few characters in the series to give Matthias a serious fight.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: Cluny has a poisoned barbed spike attached to the end of his massive, whiplike tail, and even after Matthias chops it off, he uses the bleeding end as a lash in their duel.
- Big Bad: Of Redwall.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He's fully aware that he's the bad guy, even saying that he's the opposite of someone like Martin.
- The Chessmaster: Every chapter has him adapting his Evil Plan to exploit some new development or perceived weakness. Lampshaded at one point, when he muses that he should learn to play chess someday, convinced he'd be unbeatable.
- Combat Pragmatist: A tactical genius, his patience and know-how in warfare make him formidable.
- Cool Helmet: Made out of a rabbit skull and with stag beetle horns mounted atop it.
- Covered with Scars: No stranger to personal combat, and it shows.
- Dark Is Evil: A giant rat with a whiplike tail, wearing a cloak made of batwings, and a helmet with stag beetle horns on it. Yes, he's evil.
- Death by Looking Up: When the Joseph Bell is falling on him, his one good eye swivels up to it. It’s quite clear that his last moments are of the deer-in-headlights variety.
- Determinator: He never stops trying to conquer Redwall, and actually manages to do it, if only for a few hours.
- Deuteragonist: He gets just as much focus as Matthias himself and the book spends a lot of time in his head as he comes up with plans to conquer the Abbey.
- The Dreaded: Feared in Mossflower country long before he ever appears at the Abbey, to the point that the Redwallers use his name as a sort of boogeyman for naughty children.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: He has no problem with recruiting weasels, stoats or ferrets, and competent members of his horde can rise through the ranks regardless of species. The latter policy causes resentment from Cheesethief, who resents the prospect of serving under a non-rat.
- Evil Is Hammy: He's about as hammy as you can get in a text-based medium.
- Exact Words: He blackmails Plumpen into helping him by holding his family hostage. He tells him his family will not be harmed if Plumpen lives up to his end. He never said he wouldn't harm Plumpen himself (though he survives).
- Eyepatch of Power: Lost his eye in a battle with a pike. The pike is no longer with us. For reference, pike in this setting are essentially freshwater sharks, and the Gloomer (an unthinking killing machine) one book later in Mossflower went out fighting a pike.
- Famed In-Story: Tales about Cluny and his horde are widespread in Mossflower country. Even in the books that take place long, long after his death such as Taggerung, he's still remembered as a fearsome warrior and conqueror, an honor afforded to almost no other villain in the series.
- Four-Star Badass: Infamous as both a general and a fighter.
- Frontline General: He's more than willing to dive into the action himself, sometimes taking on dangerous assignments personally.
- Gambit Speed Chess: In general, Cluny is highly competent at adapting his plans on the fly, but the most impressive is his counter-plan against Sela: He draws up a fake attack plan with obvious instructions to make it look like he's sticking with his battering ram strategy, knowing Sela will steal it, so the Redwallers won't know he actually plans to tunnel in.
- Genius Bruiser: Cluny's constant strategies, manipulative ability and considerable fighting skills cement his status as one of the smartest villains in the series. He's an intellectual match for Sela, the only other character in the book to rival his cleverness.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He often flies into a rage at mildly bad news or failure, and executes a soldier for calling him a coward (though that soldier really should have known better).
- Handicapped Badass: Cluny's missing an eye, but this does nothing to slow him down.
- Honor Before Reason: He considers Matthias naive for abiding by this trope, but when negotiating with him in the final battle, he does let Friar Hugo/Cornflower go, trusting that Matthias will then live up to his end of the deal. He does (with a slight lie of omission).
- I Control My Minions Through...: A combination of fear and respect. Cluny's soldiers are either press-ganged into his service under pain of death, or they join him willingly after witnessing his military prowess.
- I Have Your Wife: A favorite tactic of his.
- Jerkass: He's certainly not pleasant to work for as his temper and ego don't allow him even a semblance of manners or class.
- Large and in Charge: The text stresses many times how big he is for a rat.
- Large Ham: One of the hammiest villains in the series. Diego Matamoros's voice work in the television series really does him justice, too.
- Leave No Survivors: Originally, he intended to enslave the Redwallers. Once they resisted, he decides that if he captures the abbey, he would kill every one of its inhabitants. He almost does.
- Lightning Bruiser: Not only is he much stronger and tougher than the average rat, he can strike very quickly and his running speed is such that he's almost impossible to catch or escape from in an open area.
- Made of Iron: He suffers crippling injuries when Constance knocks him off a plank from a great height. He's coming up with new plans within twenty-four hours, and he's back to normal in only a few days (which is much faster than Sela expected). In the final battle, Matthias inflicts about a dozen wounds on him, but Cluny refuses to stay down until he gets a bell dropped on him.
- The Magnificent: He has the epithet of "The Scourge", due to his habit of using his tail as a whip.
- Meaningful Name: Double subverted. There's a Cluny Abbey
in France, but the author says he wasn't aware of it at the time of writing. Brian Jacques actually got the name from the word "loony", which certainly fits Cluny's personality. - Multiple-Choice Past: Rumors abound as to where exactly Cluny came from, but nobody truly knows.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His name seems to be well known across Mossflower. Would you really want to be within 10 feet of anyone named Cluny the Scourge?!
- Near-Villain Victory: One of the very few villains in the series to successfully capture Redwall and everyone in it near the end. It didn't last though.
- Obviously Evil: A sinister voice, a sneering disposition, a poisonous barb on his tail. Even before meeting him, he is the stuff of legends.
- Oh, Crap!: Right before his death. Understandable, as a large bell is falling directly towards him.
- Pintsized Powerhouse: Zigzagged; as a rat, Cluny is much larger than his mouse rival Matthias, but his fighting skills are also enough to intimidate and impress even larger beasts like weasels and ferrets. Most impressively, in his backstory, Cluny killed a pike, albeit losing an eye in the fight. For comparison's sake, presuming they scale to real-world creatures, Cluny would be about 20-40 centimeters long, whilst a pike would be 55 to 150 centimeters long... that's roughly akin to a human killing a 12ft long shark in hand to hand combat.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Part of his formidable nature is that he is capable of restraining himself and holding back his (ferocious) anger if he really puts himself to it.
- While he's a Bad Boss, he's also quick to recognize talent in his subordinates and is shown to reward merit and initiative.
- Like nearly everyone else in the setting, he doesn't consider using fire as a weapon against the mice, since it's too easy to lose control of.
- When the battering ram fails and many of his horde are stung to death, Cluny decides not to berate his troops over it, as since their morale is so low, it would encourage desertion.
- Red Right Hand: His unusually long tail, which he draws attention to by using it as a whip, even outfitting the tip with a venom-slathered barb.
- Sadistic Choice: A favourite tactic of Cluny's.
- Sanity Slippage: Cluny was never fully stable to begin with, and his sanity gets worse and worse over the course of the novel. He starts having nightmares by the fourth chapter, and when he finally captures Redwall, he's raving like a lunatic about renaming everything in the Abbey, ranging from "Ferret Gates" to "Stoat Orchard" to "Weasel Bell", along with the Abbey itself being "Cluny's Castle."
- Satanic Archetype: Cluny is manipulative, highly intelligent, convinces friendly (or at least neutral) parties to join his crusade of evil, and even proposes a Deal with the Devil with Plumpen. As he puts it: "Martin is some kind of angel, I'm the opposite."
- Sergeant Rock: A villianous example. He's an unforgiving taskmaster, but inspires genuine loyalty from the troops because he's a fierce fighter, skilled tactician, and doesn't ask them to do anything he can't do himself.
- Shrouded in Myth: There are many who don't believe he exists, and he's often used as a bogeyman to scare children into compliance. Not much is known about his history, either, with speculation that he's from the frozen wastes of the north, some steamy jungle overseas, or Portugal.
- Smarter Than You Look: He may seem like little more than a vicious brute, but he's one of the most intelligent and cunning antagonists in the entire series.
- The Sociopath: He has no sympathy for anyone at all and barely cares when his lieutenants get picked off.
- Squashed Flat: His final fate and a realistic example. Matthias plays to his ego long enough to get him right under the abbey's bell and then cuts its ropes, sending it plummeting with Cluny still under it, crushing him.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Most of his officers are, to put it bluntly, not very bright note . Cluny muses to himself that it's the price of leadership, since if they were smarter, they'd likely strike out on their own.
- Underestimating Badassery: Initially thinks Redwall is full of pushovers, and that Constance is a bumpkin who wouldn't dare to stand in his way. She and Abbot Mortimer make it abundantly clear that this is not the case. To his credit, however, he quickly learns from his mistake.
- Villainous Breakdown: He has one on occasion, usually because of a serious setback. His biggest one, however, is when Matthias shows up with Martin's sword, the spitting image of the warrior mouse haunting his dreams.
- Villainous Valour: He's one of the only Redwall villains who actually puts up a serious fight, getting extra points for managing to fight evenly with Matthias for more than a few minutes. He's also more willing than most to get into the action himself, rather than let his troops do all the work.
- Walking the Earth: He and his horde have been wandering around for at least six years by the time they arrive in Mossflower.
- The Warlord: Cluny is implied to have originally been a piratenote before making landfall, amassing a horde of rats and other vermin, and rampaging for six years — razing villages, eating piglets alive, and infecting cattle with diseases.
- Whip of Dominance: He is a brutal rat warlord and slaver, and is named "the Scourge" for his long whip-like tail - and his tendency to use it as an actual whip against captives and combatants alike. For good measure, he also equips it with a venom-tipped barb in battle.
- Worthy Opponent:
- Downplayed. He feels only fear and anger towards the Great Warrior who seems destined to slay him (as respect for anyone but himself is unthinkable to him) but when he finally encounters him, he rather begrudgingly admits that Matthias is tougher than any other opponent he's ever faced.
- In Mattimeo, some of the Redwallers express the opinion that he and his horde were at least proper warriors, and consider Ironbeak to be a completely unworthy successor.
- Would Harm a Senior: He fatally poisons Abbot Mortimer with the barb on his tail.
- Would Hurt a Child: Intends to kill everyone at Redwall, including their young.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: He's quick to adjust his plans in the face of new developments and unexpected complications.
- You Dirty Rat!: One of the most famous examples in children's literature. Evil, cunning, manipulative, murderous, unforgiving, and unrelenting.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He appoints Shadow the task of stealing a large piece of Redwall's tapestry, specifically one with Martin the Warrior. Though Shadow succeeds, he falls to near death, leaving Cluny to take the piece and leave the rat to his fate.
Shadow
Voiced by: François Klanfer
Cluny's secret weapon, the Shadow is a master of stealth, and serves Cluny as a burglar and assassin. Sent to steal the tapestry of Martin the Warrior, Shadow breaks into the Abbey, where a chance encounter with Matthias nearly ruins the entire plan.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: The series changes his eye color from black to red.
- Black Cloak: And it makes his job as the sneak all the more fitting.
- Black Eyes of Evil: In the book.
- Dark Is Evil: A black-furred, black-eyed creature of indeterminate species, wrapped head to foot in a black cloak? Must be a hero.
- In the Hood: Prefers to be shrouded in a cloak and hood which is to be expected from a lonely spy.
- Phantom Thief: He steals the tapestry and is only noticed by Matthias, who, though unsuccessful in recovering the tapestry, accidentally kills him.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: In the animated series.
- Wicked Weasel/You Dirty Rat!: No one in-universe or out is quite sure what Shadow is, adding to his mysterious nature.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Cluny leaves him to die after he's fatally injured stealing the tapestry of Martin the Warrior.
Redtooth
Voiced by: Andrew Gillies
Cluny's second-in-command (in the books), Redtooth is an ambitious rat who hopes to one day lead the horde himself. Loyal to Cluny out of fear and awe, Redtooth accompanies his master during his negotiations with the Redwallers, and makes a very personal—and dangerous—enemy out of Constance the badger.
- Adaptational Dumbass: In the book, he's one of the smartest and most ambitious members of Cluny's horde, while in the TV series, he comes across as little more than a thug.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the television series. He doesn't become Constance's archenemy and is less tough.
- Ambition Is Evil: It's noted several times that Redtooth is an ambitious rat and that he may hope to lead the Horde himself one day. Cluny, of course, has no desire to give him it.
- Badass Bookworm: He was one of the smartest (it's noted he's literate) and one of the strongest (he uses a cutlass) characters in Cluny's horde.
- Bad Boss: He flogs and starves the sentries who let the Vole Family escape (though he considers that lenient compared to what Cluny would have done) and viciously beats Fangburn for talking too much.
- Colonel Badass: He leads the horde pretty competently when Cluny puts him in charge of a diversionary attack and later manages to fight Constance evenly for a few moments.
- Combat Pragmatist: During his fight with Constance, he throws dirt into her eyes and then wails on her with his sword.
- Demoted to Extra: In the animated series, he isn't Cluny's Dragon (with that role instead falling to Darkclaw) and his animosity with Constance is removed.
- The Dragon: Cluny's initial Number Two. He's also a fairly competent soldier, and is able to put up a respectable fight against Constance the Badger, which is no mean feat.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Generally treats the troops pretty well, and hates Cheesethief and Fangburn because of their behaviour.
- Evil Is Bigger: He's noted to be a rather tall rat.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Like Cluny, he can lose his temper pretty quickly, especially when Fangburn's the culprit.
- Human Hammer-Throw: How his fight with Constance ends. She spins him around by his tail several times and sends him flying. The text tells us he would have flown a record distance if he hadn't crashed into a stout sycamore tree nearby. Ouch.
- It's Personal: Develops a vendetta against Constance after she embarrasses him and Cluny. It ends with the two of them going into a Duel to the Death where he comes up short.
- Mouth of Sauron: He accompanies Cluny inside Redwall when the Horde first arrives at the Abbey, and speaks for his master during the "negotiations."
- Number Two: He's explicitly second-in-command of the horde after Cluny, and takes temporary command when Cluny is nearly killed by his injuries.
- Sinister Scimitar: Cutlass actually, but it has the same effect.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Maybe. In the TV series, he is seemingly killed when Cornflower pours hot soup on him but is shown running away as a "blooper", possibly meaning he deserted Cluny's horde.
- The Starscream: Downplayed; Redtooth has vague ambitions to lead the horde himself, but he never actively attempts to undermine or usurp Cluny.
- Villainous Valour: He takes on Constance by himself, and nearly wins.
- Wicked Cultured: Only in comparison to his cohorts, but Redtooth is one of the few rats in Cluny's horde explicitly shown to be literate; it's him who points out the name of St. Ninian's church written on a nearby sign, and part of his duties include reading out articles of surrender to both new recruits and the Redwallers.
- You Are in Command Now: He takes temporary-emphasis on the temporary-command of the horde while Cluny is laid up from his injuries. When a dozen rats are set to be punished for letting Matthias and Basil rescue a group of captive mice, Redtooth orders them starved until further notice. The text notes that he was lenient with them, as Cluny would have killed them all on the spot.
Darkclaw
Voiced by: Benedict Campbell
Cluny's left-hand rat (second hand in the TV series), and the one who is the most personally loyal to him, Darkclaw is Cluny's stablest, and most trusted officer. While he resents playing second fiddle to the likes of Redtooth and Cheesethief, his fealty to Cluny never wavers, and he eventually ascends to the position of second-in-command.
- Boring, but Practical: Cluny views him as this - Darkclaw is solid and dependable and makes a good number three, but he's too unambitious to make a good number two.
- Composite Character: An odd example; he takes on many of Redtooth's characteristics in the series, despite Redtooth existing in the series as well.
- The Dragon: He's Cluny's number three rat from very early on (a position he holds as other Dragons come and go), and eventually ascends to this position after Cheesethief dies.
- Dragon Ascendant: He temporarily leads the horde while Cluny's off having a breakdown. It doesn't end well for him, though.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Generally treats the troops pretty well, and hates Cheesethief because of his behaviour.
- Fat Bastard: He's a rather stocky rat.
- Kill It with Water: Boiling water to be precise.
- Only Sane Man: Plays the role of peacemaker in the horde, keeping the rats and the weasels, ferrets and stoats from one another's throats. He is a cool-headed strategist who cares only about results after all.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Does his best to be the peacemaker and placate the hordebeasts, not out of the goodness of his heart, but because it makes things easier.
- The Reliable One: Shares this with Killconey.
- Spared By Adaptation: He survives longer in the series than he did in the book.
- Undying Loyalty: While the rest of the horde serve Cluny out of fear or ambition, Darkclaw honestly seems to do so out of personal loyalty. When Cluny has a Villainous BSoD after the failure of the seige tower, it's Darkclaw who takes control of the horde and continues issuing orders in his name so that the horde will stay loyal to Cluny.
Cheesethief
Voiced by: John Stocker
A minor officer with vast aspirations, Cheesethief is a coward, a bully, and an all around detestable character. Disliked by the troops, but valued by Cluny, Cheesethief tries to catch his boss' eye, and drives the soldiers mercilessly to do so.
- Adaptational Dumbass: He overestimates himself much more in the cartoon than he does in the book. In the cartoon, Cluny only pretends to promote him as a way of tricking the Redwallers into killing him and ending his goal of being The Starscream. In the book, Cluny actually means it when he leaves Cheesethief in charge while he's away. The text even says that mentally, he'd already promoted Cheesethief to be second-in-command. He's impressed by Cheesethief's determination and drive in leading the battering ram gang.
- Ambition Is Evil: Motivated only by his desire to rise through the ranks.
- Asshole Victim: He's mistakenly killed by Constance with a giant arrow. No one mourns.
- Bad Boss: All of Cluny's cruelty, with none of his restraint.
- Bait the Dog: At first, he comes off as an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain. Don't be fooled.
- Battering Ram: Drives one for Cluny.
- The Bully: He acts like a slave driver when he mans the battering ram, pressgangs other horde members into volunteering, and keeps some of them on the ram for up to two hours.
- Dirty Coward: He rarely risks his own neck in combat. As far as he's concerned, his subordinates can do the tough work, while he takes all the credit.
- Disproportionate Retribution: He kills Scragg for the crime of being more competent than he is.
- The Dragon: Becomes Cluny's right-hand after Redtooth dies. He doesn't last long.
- Fantastic Racism: Views rats as the elite of Cluny's horde and deeply resents the idea of having to work for a weasel.
- Faux Affably Evil: He even acts light and cheery while suffocating poor Scragg to death.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Goes from an incompetent minor officer to The Dragon who abuses the troops even worse than Cluny himself. It doesn't last long, though.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He brutally kills Scragg the weasel because of the mere possibility that he might get promoted over him.
- Hate Sink: There's no topping this rodent in terms of sheer loathsomeness. He does everything possible to make you hate him every time he appears.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His death is a direct result of him getting full of himself and drunk on power, as Constance shoots him with a long-range arrow meant for Cluny while he's dressed in Cluny's armor.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Constance's arrow is so powerful it punches through Cluny's armor and Cheesethief's body to leave him impaled on the shaft.
- Karmic Death: The way that Constance snipes him.
- Lack of Empathy: He sneeringly mocks Killconey for mourning Scragg's death, lying that it was his own "clumsiness" that got him killed, and adding that a weasel had no business ordering rats about.
- The Neidermeyer: Hated by all of the other hordebeasts, including Darkclaw and Killconey, due to the viciousness with which he drives them.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Dresses up as and pretends to be Cluny, while also being a despicable character in every possible sense.
- Sadist: Part of why he treats his troops so badly is because he enjoys it.
- Small Name, Big Ego: He thinks he could lead the horde himself if the opportunity came up. The reason Cluny makes him second-in-command is that he's showing genuine promise as an officer. Of the rest of Cluny's officers, Redtooth is dead, Darkclaw works best as third-in-command, Frogblood is a sadistic bully who's best used as a Drill Sergeant Nasty, Killconey is needed to act as a liaison between the rats and the ferrets, weasels and stoats, Scumnose's main skills are recruitment and communications, and Fangburn and Mangefur are too incompetent. If Constance hadn't accidentally killed Cheesethief, Cluny would have happily done it himself if he came back in time to see Cheesethief wearing his armor.
- Smug Snake: He thinks the world of himself, but has absolutely nothing to back it up. Cluny at least has intelligence, resourcefulness, courage, and martial ability going for him, but Cheesethief has none of that.
- The Sociopath: He fits every marker to be identified as one: Superficial charisma, sky-high ego, and complete disregard for anyone but himself.
- Sociopathic Soldier: As is evidenced by his murder of fellow hordebeast Scragg.
- The Starscream: Once promoted to The Dragon, he starts entertaining fantasies of supplanting Cluny as horde leader. He dies before he can act on this, but Cluny concludes that Cheesethief undoubtedly would have done something, given that he went so far as dressing up in his battle armor.
- Unknown Rival: To Scragg, who never directly interacted with him and would have no idea what he'd done to provoke his wrath.
- Violent Glaswegian: Has a Scottish accent in the TV series. Also a rough and pushy individual.
- Vocal Dissonance: You'd never guess what a monster he is by the meek-sounding voice he has in the audiobook version. The TV series gives him a much more gruff voice however.
- You Dirty Rat!: Cheesethief stands out as vile even among other rats.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Subverted in the book. While Cluny makes a big show of Cheesethief's death, claiming that he would've betrayed the horde to the Abbeydwellers, he's actually furious about losing a valuable captain.
Fangburn
Voiced by: Lawrence Bayne
A rat captain in Cluny's horde, Fangburn is loyal, but not especially bright, ranking well below Redtooth, Darkclaw, and even Killconey and Cheesethief in the horde's hierarchy. Illiterate, and easily manipulated, he's little more than a tool for the horde's brighter officers.
- The Brute: Chief among the captains for being the muscle of the bunch.
- Butt-Monkey: If something bad happens to one of Cluny's captains, it will more often than not be this guy.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Constance always kills him in the final battle, but the way she does it varies between mediums. In the book, she traps him in a net and smashes him to a pulp against the Abbey walls. In the cartoon, she lunges right at him before the scene cuts to black and we hear a loud crunch, implying she bit right through his skull.
- Dumb Muscle: Fangburn is a thug, rather than a thinker, and is kept around for little reason beyond this.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Constance marches up to him in the final battle and coldly tells him "you're mine". The scene then fades out as she leans towards him, and we hear a loud crunch.
- Head Crushing: Constance does this to him in the cartoon by crushing his skull in her jaws.
- Idiot Ball: He lets Sela write out a message for Chickenhound to deliver and doesn't think to get it read, as he can't read himself. Cluny points out how stupid this was, and notes that he would have executed him for this if he hadn't been recovering from severe injuries. On the other hand, Cluny only berated him for show, since he wanted Sela to leak his false plans to the Redwallers.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: He's rather incompetent and illiterate to boot, and Redtooth beats him at one point out frustration with his constant failures.
- Never Learned to Read: A fact of which he is rather proud.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: In the book, Constance kills him by smashing his head against the abbey walls repeatedly.
- Off with His Head!: In the series, however, Constance kills him by biting his head off (or possibly by biting through his skull).
- Overranked Soldier: Considering how stupid he is, it's astonishing Cluny made him a captain in the first place.
- Red Right Hand: He has a hunchback, and is definitely not on the side of the angels.
- Stupid Evil: Fangburn is easily the least intelligent of Cluny’s captains, most of whom are nothing to write home about brains-wise in the first place.
- Tattooed Crook: In the series, he has black tattoos on his head and upper arms.
- You Dirty Rat!: A given, being part of Cluny's horde and all.
Frogblood
A rat captain in Cluny's horde, Frogblood is one of the warlord's recruiters, responsible for press-ganging fresh talent.
- The Brute: Cluny seems to have kept him around for the purposes of beating those who refused to join up with his horde.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Cluny puts him in charge of whipping the pressganged local vermin into soldiers.
- Meaningful Name: Frogs are cold-blooded, implying that Frogblood has a cold-blooded personality. He viciously beats any vermin who aren't keen on joining Cluny's horde, and hardly speaks at all.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: This is Frogblood's usual way of "persuading" vermin that it'd be a good idea to join Cluny's horde.
- The Stoic: Implied by his lack of dialogue, his cold-blooded personality and his willingness to give out as many sadistic beatings as necessary to "convince" vermin to join Cluny's horde.
- The Worf Effect: He's consistently shown as tough, making it all the more shocking when Matthias kills him effortlessly.
Mangefur
A rat captain in Cluny's horde, Mangefur is one of the warlord's recruiters, responsible for press-ganging fresh talent.
- The Brute: As a recruiter, he has to be this.
- Dumb Muscle: He completely failed in his foraging assignment, and tried to pin the blame on Ragear.
Ragear
Voiced by: Dan Hennessey
One of Cluny's least competent officers, mostly kept around because he's expendable.
- Butt-Monkey: He gets yelled at by Cluny, lost in the woods, knocked out and tied up by Matthias, and finally killed and eaten by Asmodeus.
- Fat Bastard: In the book, though not in the series.
- Fat Idiot: In the book. Still not very bright in the series, though.
- Human Shield: More like Rat Shield. The only use Cluny has for him is to potentially blunder into any hazards or traps and take the hits for more competent horde members.
- No Sense of Direction: Gets himself lost in Mossflower while trying to find the horde's base again.
- Oh, Crap!: Once he see Asmodeus approaching him. The utterly and rightfully terrified look on his face speaks volumes.
- Overranked Soldier: Comes off as barely competent enough to be a corporal, let alone a captain.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Thinks of himself as a worthy successor to Cluny, even fantasizing about Cluny giving him control of the horde after he retires.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Cluny only keeps him around as a Human Shield. Once he does that, Cluny leaves him for dead.
Killconey
Voiced by: Lawrence Bayne
A ferret who joined up with Cluny for the plunder, Killconey acts as a liaison between the rat warlord, and the weasels, ferrets, and stoats of the horde. Brighter than most of Cluny's other officers, Killconey is unafraid to volunteer plans, making him a useful officer.
- Affably Evil: All of Cluny's other lieutenants are personally unpleasant to some degree or another, but Killconey's pretty amicable towards his comrades.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: His personality gives the impression that he's not all there, but he's one of the few truly competent horde members, and Cluny comes to rely on him a lot.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Often references his "ould mother", whom he seems to be genuinely fond of.
- Evil Genius: The brains of Cluny's horde.
- Fat Bastard: In the show, though not the novel.
- Funetik Aksent: Irish.
- Gender Bender: There's a line in the book that refers to him as female.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: At the hands of Matthias when Cluny uses him as a Human Shield.
- Human Shield: Dies when Cluny uses him as one.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: He's quite skilled in several areas, and consistently gets results.
- In Name Only: Inverted. Although Cluny never formally promotes Killconey to be a Captain, he still becomes part of Cluny's inner circle and Cluny consults him more than some of the actual Captains. It's implied that Cluny uses him to stay connected with what the non-rat horde members are saying and thinknig.
- Meaningful Name: "One who kills rabbits." He's a ferret, so...
- Only Sane Man: Shares this with Darkclaw.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Killconey isn't especially sympathetic, but he never does anything especially bad either. He's just a soldier who happens to be working for Cluny.
- The Reliable One: Shares this with Darkclaw.
- Stealth Expert: He's an expert at stealth in the cartoon. Cluny uses him as a spy to eavesdrop on the Abbeydwellers and also to dissident members of the horde. While Cluny never learned about the Redwallers' crossbow or Cheesethief's usurpation plans in the book until after the fact, Killconey tips him off to both of them in the TV series.
- Tunnel King: His expertise in digging is a valuable asset to the horde.
- Wicked Weasel: The first member of the weasel family (a ferret) to be prominently featured.
Scumnose
Another rat captain in Cluny's horde.
- Flat Character: The least developed character-wise of Cluny's captains in the book.
- Stupid Evil: In the series, he looks to his left, and tells his detail it's all clear. When he looks to his right, however, he realizes too late that he stumbled into a rather embarrassing trap.
Skullface
One of Cluny's rat captains. When the horse pulling the cart carrying Cluny's horde stops to rest, Cluny makes Skullface bite it so it gets moving again. The horse is so frightened it rears up the moment Skullface jumps on it. He falls off and is crushed under the wagon wheels.
- Give My Regards in the Next World: When Skullface is dying, the last thing he sees is Cluny telling him to tell the Devil that Cluny sent him.
- Got Volunteered: Cluny orders him to bite the horse to get it moving again. He's more than a little reluctant, since he's afraid the horse will bite him back. A beating from Cluny "persuades" him to do it.
- Insane Troll Logic: He refuses to bite the horse because he's afraid it'll bite him back.
- Meaningful Name: The text describes him as having a "villainous-looking head."
- Morton's Fork: Either he jumps on the horse and it bites him back when he bites it, or Cluny kills him for refusing. What actually happens is that he doesn't even get to bite the horse because it rears up when he jumps on and he falls off to get Squashed Flat.
- Squashed Flat: He falls off the horse when it rears up and is crushed to a pulp under the wagon wheels.
- This Is Gonna Suck: He feels this way when he jumps onto the horse, knowing that Cluny will kill him if he doesn't.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He's the very first character to die in the very first book in the entire series. He only gets two pages of development before he's crushed like a bug, which is mainly meant to set up Cluny's Establishing Character Moment as a Bad Boss.
Sela
Voiced by: Julie Lemieux
A vixen who works as a healer, Sela is a spy and a traitor by nature. Attempting to play Cluny and the Redwallers against each other, Sela is found out by Cluny, who has her executed for her treachery.
- Asshole Victim: Gets killed because Cluny finds out about her double-dealing.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: When Cluny realizes what's going on, he has to play it carefully because he needs her treatment to recover from his injuries. He's content to let her live at first, while adjusting his attack plan and controlling what information she leaks to the Redwallers. However, she goes too far when she eavesdrops on a meeting and finds out his real plan, which would be damaging if she leaked it. By this point, Cluny has had enough and executes her.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: To both the abbey residents and Cluny.
- Cunning Like a Fox: She's treacherous by nature and will betray either side as long as she comes out ahead.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: While Sela is killed in a ditch in the book, she meets her fate differently in the cartoon, as she was with Chickenhound when he attacked old Methuslah. She was captured by the Redwallers after they both tried to escape. Basil suggested plenty of harsh punishments before deciding that they should just let her go... so that Cluny would deal with her personally. They then threw her out, where the villain's army was waiting for her. She was then executed by Cluny and his men near Redwall's front door, with only the sound of weapons slashing to confirm her death.
- Cluny: If I were you... I'd run.Sela: HEEEEELLLPP!!!
- Dirty Coward: She folds on the spot when Constance ambushes her.
- Feed the Mole: On the receiving end. Cluny comes to (correctly) suspect she's willing to pass information on to his enemies, so he draws up a fake battle plan suggesting the success of his assault will depend solely on the Battering Ram and deliberately leaves it visible, even pretending to be asleep while she steals it.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: She never truly sides with anyone. She intends to pillage Redwall if Cluny wins, while intending to extort plenty of valuables from them in exchange for intel on Cluny's plans.
- Noodle Incident: She seems to have some bad history with Constance and Methuselah, both of whom hold a negative opinion of her.
- Phony Psychic: She pretends to be a mystical healer and puts on a show of mumbo-jumbo for her patients as a way to con them into paying more. Cluny isn't fooled for a second, but hires her because she is a legitimately skilled doctor.
- Playing Both Sides: She tries to do this. It doesn't end well for her.
- Playing Drunk: At one point, she pretends to be drunk to get Cluny to let down his guard. Little did she know that Cluny saw right through her and prepared accordingly.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She's only a minor villain and doesn't survive the events of Redwall, but her death serves as Chickenhound/Slagar's Freudian Excuse in Mattimeo.
- Smug Snake: She's been a successful con artist up to this point and thinks that Cluny is just Dumb Muscle. Boy, was she surprised.
- Too Dumb to Live: Despite skating on thin ice with Cluny, she and Chickenhound blatantly eavesdrop on his private meeting in plain view of the other soldiers, after being expressly told not to try anything.
- Underestimating Badassery: Does this with both the Redwallers and Cluny. She thinks the Redwallers wouldn't dare resist handing over their valuables in exchange for information, and thinks Cluny is an oaf who will let her get away with anything. She's dead wrong on both counts.
- Villain Ball: You'd think that if she just helped Cluny overrun Redwall, she'd get all the plunder she wanted. There's no real reason to screw him over, and it ultimately gets her killed.
- Wild Card: She doesn't care who wins, she just wants to get as much loot as she can out of it.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: She's described as having gold eyes, and is a con and backstabber by nature.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: While he obviously didn't like her passing information to Redwall, Cluny still lets Sela live because she was the only person he could find who was both willing and able to treat his injuries. Once he's recovered to a point that he doesn't need her care anymore, he has her executed.
Others
Guosim
Voiced by: Marion Day
President of the Guerilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower (hence her bearing their acronym as her name). She has something of a rivalry with tribal elder, Log-a-Log, but is eventually persuaded to assist Redwall against Cluny.
- Chummy Commies: She leads a band of them. They often settle things on a vote and [in the book] pass a rock to represent a speaker, though it sometimes falls into chaos.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Initially is very cold and mistrustful of Matthias, but she has a good heart.
- Killed Offscreen: While helping Matthias infiltrate Asmodeus's lair, she accidentally opens up a secret passage and falls in. The next time she shows up, she's been killed by Asmodeus' poison.
Log-A-Log
Voiced by: Bruce Dow
A respected elder and leader of the Guosim, Log-a-Log quickly makes friends with Matthias, allying his shrews with Redwall in order to recover Martin's sword and fend off Cluny the Scourge. He later joins forces with Matthias to pursue Slagar the Cruel and his slaving band.
- Catchphrase: "LOGALOGALOGALOGALOGALOG!"
- Chummy Commies: The shrews have a rather communistic feel to them. The television series took this and ran with it, giving them all Russian accents.
- Cool Old Guy: Log-a-Log is old, but there are few within or without the Guosim who can match him in a fight. Seriously, be wary of that rapier of his.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the TV series, he dies taking a spear for Matthias. Not the case in the book, where it was meant for him.
- Only Known By His Nickname: "Log-a-Log" is established in the series as a title given to the Guosim leader rather than an actual name; however, Early-Installment Weirdness means he's technically subordinate to Guosim, which is especially weird since later books establish that he's nowhere near the first Log-a-Log chronologically.
- Peaceful in Death: Dies with a smile on his face.
- You Are in Command Now: Gets to be on both ends of this. He takes over the Guosim shrews when Guosim herself dies, and passes leadership to Flugg when he himself dies.
Queen Warbeak
Voiced by: Tracey Moore
A young sparrow—or Sparra—whom Matthias first captures, and later befriends, during the siege of Redwall. Upon the death of her uncle King Bull Sparra, Warbeak becomes queen of the sparrows, and allies her tribe with the Redwallers, joining the war against Cluny, and later, the pursuit of Slagar the Cruel.
- Action Girl: All Sparra are warriors, regardless of gender.
- Ax-Crazy: Her first words when she meets Matthias? "KILLEE KILLEE!" It's pretty much a Verbal Tic early on.
- Big Damn Heroes: How she dies, delivering a vital message to Matthias about the location of Slagar's hideout and also saving him and his friends during a dangerous river crossing.
- Hot-Blooded: Like the rest of her kind, she's always eager to get into a fight.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even before she Took a Level in Kindness, she showed that she could be nice.
- Motor Mouth: Even compared to her fellow Sparra, she's quite the talkative sort.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Actively takes part in numerous missions. Her final one us to deliver a map to Matthias showing where Slagar was taking the Abbey children to, and she dies in battle while doing so.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Her father was killed by Asmodeus before she hatched.
- Sweet Tooth: She has a love for candied chestnuts.
- Took a Level in Kindness: She starts out as a rude, vicious psycho who looks down on anything that can't fly, but later becomes a benevolent queen and firm ally of Redwall.
- Undying Loyalty: To Matthias. To the point of her death.
- Warrior Princess: While she was heir to the Sparra throne, she took part in the attack on Jess during her climb. After becoming queen, she led her forces into battle at least twice.
King Bull Sparra
Voiced by: Benedict Campbell
The mad king of the Sparra, King Bull is the deranged king, and the former owner of Martin's sword, which he lost to Asmodeus. Void of scruples, and verging on the edge of insanity, King Bull is nevertheless a wily, dangerous adversary.
- An Arm and a Leg: Loses part of his beak before he died.
- The Caligula: He's one of the craziest leaders we see in the series. No more evil than most others, but definitely more cuckoo than average. Basil recognizes him as this while Matthias talked about him following his death.
- Disney Villain Death: Falls to his death trying to retrieve the scabbard of Martin the Warrior from Matthias.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Well, he's more manipulative and deranged than outright evil, but he still seems to genuinely care about his sister and niece.
- Forgetful Jones: Notorious for forgetting his grandiose schemes, though it's implied this may be part of his act.
- Jabba Table Manners: He's a very messy eater, frequently covering himself with food.
- Jerkass: To all but his sister and his niece.
- Manipulative Bastard: Despite being stark raving mad, he manages to play people like fiddles.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: A la Lord Shojo, he's a lot smarter then he looks. He IS batshit bonkers, but he's smart about it and it's not that easy to trick him and avoid his inquisitive nature.
- Pet the Dog: To his sister and niece.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's no idle ruler, as shown by his willingness to go out on foraging expeditions.
- Sweet Tooth: Like Warbeak, his love of candied chestnuts points to this.
- You Are in Command Now / You Have Failed Me: It's hard to tell which. He promotes and demotes sparrows at random.
Asmodeus Poisonteeth
Voiced by: David Hemblen
An immense adder with a fearsome reputation, Asmodeus views himself as an angel of death, helping his victims pass into eternity. Haunting the woods about Redwall Abbey, Asmodeus is avoided by all, except Matthias, who discovers that the deadly serpent is in possession of Martin the Warrior's sword.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: In the original books, he and Matthias don't really interact face to face until he must retrieve Martin's sword. During Matthias' expanded backstory in the animated series, Asmodeus is shown to have been slithering nearby when Myrtle was carrying her young brother to safety after the loss of their village. In an effort to avoid being spotted by the serpent, she hurriedly ran away, only to fall down a hill to be found by the residents of the Abbey and succumb to her wounds and exhaustion. This makes Asmodeus indirectly responsible the death of Myrtle, something Matthias had no idea of, meaning he unknowingly avenges his sister by slaying the snake.
- A God Am I: Asmodeus seems to see himself as The Grim Reaper.
- Ambiguously Evil: While a natural carnivore, being a snake, he does seem to play up his demonic reputation, and Word of God says that he IS evil. There are hints he kills for fun as some of his victims' corpses remain intact.
- Big Eater: When it comes to rodents.
- Dragons Are Demonic: Started the series' tendency to use snakes as stand-ins for dragons, and is named after a demon lord.
- The Dreaded: Everyone is scared of this snake, Cluny's soldiers included. Even the Abbot, who will reluctantly treat vermin such as rats, weasels, ferrets and stoats, states that Redwall would never treat a snake.
- Evil Versus Evil: Some of his victims were Cluny's minions.
- Eye Lights Out: In the TV show, his eyes glow yellow, and dim after Matthias beheads him.
- Faux Affably Evil: Speaks in a calm tone telling people to not fret before eating them.
- Hell Is That Noise: "Asmodeusss... Asmodeussss..." The general response to hearing this is proverbial pants-soiling.
- Hero Killer: Although he kills his share of villains, too.
- Horrifying the Horror: Even the fearsome King Bull Sparra is terrified of him, especially after he steals his sword and kills his brother-in-law. It's also implied Cluny is afraid of him to some extent, considering he appears in at least one of his nightmares.
- Hypnotic Eyes: How he transfixes his victims.
- Kick The Son Of A Bitch: He's eaten some of Cluny's henchmen, and he also attacked Chickenhound right after the young fox robbed Redwall and killed Methuselah.
- Knight of Cerebus: Cluny has a few funny moments because of how dumb his subordinates are. Asmodeus is always played seriously and the death count usually rises when he shows up.
- MacGuffin Guardian: Martin's sword eventually ends up in his possession, and he guards it jealously.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Named for a demon lord. This is acknowledged in-story.
- Natural Weapon: His poisoned fangs and crushing coils.
- Off with His Head!: Beheaded by Matthias with Martin's sword.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Started the trend of adders being the series' counterpart to dragons.
- The Paralyzer: It's hypnosis, but it still qualifies.
- Pokémon Speak: Half the words out of his mouth are his own name. He even does it in his sleep. Due to predating the Trope Namer by ten years, he is an example of an Unbuilt Trope, in that he can speak normally, but his love of his own name means its what comes out of his mouth most the time.
- Red Baron: The shrews refer to him as "Giant Ice Eyes". Make sense, given his hypnotic stare.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: He's pretty much considered a monster and set the tone for what snakes are in the books.
- Satanic Archetype: While this trope is discussed in regards to Asmodeus, he ultimately averts it. He doesn't fit any of the criteria listed on the trope's page; he's just a vicious predator who happens to have a demonic name.
- Smug Snake: A literal example. He has a massive god complex over the other woodland creatures, but his only real threat comes from his hypnotic abilities; once Matthias breaks free from his trance, the ensuing "fight" lasts exactly one paragraph.
- Snakes Are Sinister: Not only is he a widely feared predator, it's implied he may have Serial Killer tendencies.
- Sssssnaketalk: Given that he's an actual snake and all. Made especially pronounced by his love of his own name, which naturally contains a lot of "s" sounds.
Captain Snow
Voiced by: Richard Denison
A Snowy Owl who lives in an abandoned farm. Well known as a mouse-eater, he's a pompous puff of feathers whose life was once saved by Basil, and who happens to know where Asmodeus Poisonteeth is holed up.
- Androcles' Lion: Basil once rescued him from a fallen roosting tree, and was awarded a medal. That medal is what allows Matthias to talk with him and remain uneaten (if barely).
- Big Damn Heroes: His vow was to never again eat mice or shrews if Matthias killed Asmodeus. He never said anything about rats...
- The Captain: And don't you ever forget it. Matthias is advised by Basil that if he ever forgets the honorific, he'll be eaten on the spot.
- Heel–Face Turn: After Matthias kills Asmodeus, he promises not to kill mice and shrews again, reforms his fire-forged friendship with Julian, and firmly joins the side of the heroes.
- I'm a Humanitarian: He's quite happy to dine on anything - or anyone - small enough to swallow. Is made to promise reform by Matthias, however, if he succeeds in killing Asmodeus.
- It's All About Me: He's quite the prickly martinet, which leads to the breach with his lifelong friend Julian.
- Ominous Owl: He starts out a nasty piece of work, but gets better.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man to Julian's Sensitive Guy, being a tough, unsentimental military officer.
- We Used to Be Friends: Was once friends with the Squire Julian Gingivere, a farm cat, and disdains his vegetarian habits. He's required to promise to apologize to Julian, and by the end of Redwall, they're good friends again.
Squire Julian Gingivere
Voiced by: Keith Knight
A farm cat who ends up aiding Matthias.
- Cats Are Mean: Averted. He’s not interested in eating mice and he helps Matthias out.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Julian is the Sensitive Guy to Captain Snow’s Manly Man.
- Vegetarian Carnivore: He dislikes the taste of mice. He’s not averse to eating fish, though.
- We Used to Be Friends: Was once friends with Captain Snow the owl. After Captain Snow apologizes, the two are friends again.
