Trisscar Swordmaid
- Affirmative Action Girl: Although there were Action Girls and female Deuteragonists, the only other definitely-The Hero Action Girl before this was Mariel, and she didn't get Martin's sword.
- The Hero: The book's even named for her.
- Hot-Blooded: She's angry and impulsive after years of slavery and seeing several friends die at the hands of Kurda.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Kurda's never fought a real opponent and Triss breaks her sword, so she runs away and trips onto the broken half. When Triss laments being cheated out of her revenge, Log-a-Log says that it would have been wrong to kill Kurda in cold blood.
- In the Blood: Her father Rocc Arrem was also a swordsbeast.
- This Is Unforgivable!: She swears vengeance against Kurda for killing Drufo in their escape attempt.
Shogg
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Becomes best friends with Kroova very rapidly.
- The Lancer: The oldest of the trio that escapes from Riftgard, and also Triss's most trusted friend.
- Sacrificial Lion: Killed by the adders shortly before the end of the book.
Drufo
- Foregone Conclusion: While the very first page in Triss didn't outright state his death, any Genre Savvy reader can easily guess that Princess Kurda kills him.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Dies after he starts a small slave rebellion in order to free Shogg, Welfo and Triss, and then willingly stays behind to fend off the Ratguards.
Sagaxus (Sagax)
- The Berserker: Like all male badgers, he has the Bloodwrath, although it only shows up once.
- The Big Guy: As per usual with badger characters, he's the biggest of the main cast.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Spends a lot of his time cleaning up after Scarum's messes, and even nearly abandons him after he feels Scarum crossed the line by eating all the food of the hedgehog tribe who'd received them.
- Ironic Name: Named for his ancestor Russano the Wise, which he feels is rather unfitting.
Bescarum Lepuswold Whippscut (Scarum)
- Big Eater: Quite possibly the biggest one in the whole series.
- In fact, he's a minor deconstruction of this hare trait. His appetite gets him in trouble numerous times, and while his punishment usually isn't severe, he does still have to face consequences for munching on things he isn't supposed to.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: It's the hares' trademark at this point in the series.
- Denied Food as Punishment: How the Redwallers deal with him after he eats a trifle that was supposed to be a prize for Dibbuns.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He cares only about himself when he's hungry and tends to whine about it over and over again. Nevertheless, he still cares about his friends, even if he doesn't know how to show it properly.
- Overly Long Name: So everyone just calls him Scarum.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sagax and Kroova rightfully get mad at him when he eats all their food during their trip to find Redwall, which almost led to them starving to death. It happens twice over the course of the book where he eats much of the food of a tribe of hedgehogs that the trio are the guests of, and again when he eats a trifle that was supposed to be given to the Dibbuns of Redwall as a prize.
Pure Ferrets
A royal family of evil, albino ferrets with German accents. They rule the land of Riftgard, and are major antagonists in the book.In general
- Albinos Are Freaks: Inverted. The Pure Ferrets are all albinos. In their eyes, this makes them "pure" and distinguishes them from other creatures, which they see as being below them. In other words, they're the ones on top who are persecuting other creatures. However, to the reader, they are obvious villains, making it easy for the reader to see them as "freaks."
- Kaiserreich: Downplayed. The book is set in medieval Europe, without much regard to specific, real life nations, but the Pure Ferrets are still a royal family with German accents. They're overall quite cruel and overly proud of themselves, believing their shared albinism makes them "pure."
- Pure Is Not Good: They consider themselves "pure" because of their shared albinism, but they are still cruel tyrants.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: They're an evil family of albinos, and as such they all have red eyes.
- Royally Screwed Up: Agarnu's father was a conquering warlord, he himself is a local tinpot dictator, his daughter is a sadist with an inflated sense of her own ability, and his son's a half-mad imbecile. What's more, Agarnu left his father, Sarengo, to die, and hates his daughter, Kurda. Kurda hates Agarnu equally, and treats her brother, Bladd, like crap. Riftun assumes that Bladd is planning to betray Kurda, but we never get to find out if this is true or not.
- Wicked Weasel: They're ferrets, and they're all villainous to some degree.
King Agarnu
The Pure Ferret King of Riftgard, Agarnu is a bloated, one-legged monarch who, following a disastrous excursion in his younger years, never leaves his island. Needing his father's crown in order to cement his status as king, Agarnu sends his daughter, Kurda, and son, Bladd, to retrieve both the crown, and the escaping slaves.
- Adipose Rex: He's the current king of Riftgard, and he's a Fat Bastard who never gets up off his throne.
- Big Bad: He's supposed to be this, but he doesn't do anything but tell his children to go retrieve his father's crown.
- Dirty Coward: In the backstory, when his father was locked in a death battle with a monstrous adder, all Agarnu could think about was running and saving his own hide.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Seems repulsed by his daughter's love of executing slaves, commenting with disgust that she's exactly like her grandfather in this regard.
- Evil Cripple: His past expedition took one of his legs, which he's since replaced with a fish-bone variant of a peg leg. He has since compounded this injury by becoming grossly fat.
- Fat Bastard: To the extent that he has his slaves carry him around on a litter.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Never leaves his island, or indeed, his throne.
- Orcus on His Throne: He does nothing in the book besides sit on his throne.
- Put on a Bus: He doesn't make an appearance for quite a while after Triss, Shogg and Welfo escape from Riftgard. Up until the end of the book, where he dies.
- Super Drowning Skills: He doesn't know how to swim and ends up dying because of it. Being a Fat Bastard didn't help keep him afloat either.
- Too Dumb to Live: A non-fatal example—he has a kingdom overlooking the sea, but no ships of his own apart from one that he commissioned to be built. When Triss and her friends steal that ship, he's left with no way for his guards to pursue them. Kurda even calls him out on it!
- Too Important to Walk: Agarnu never leaves his throne, so his slaves have to carry it around for him. Exploited at the end when he is powerless to stop his slaves from throwing him into the ocean, where he drowns.
- The Unfought: Although he probably wouldn't have put up much of a fight anyway.
King Sarengo
The long-dead father of King Agarnu, Sarengo was a very different beast from his son and grandchildren. On an expedition to Mossflower he was slain in combat with the adder Berussca, though not before taking her with him. The quest to locate his crown is one of the major plotlines in Triss.
- Asshole Victim: While undeniably a badass, one can't deny the fact that he was a nasty piece of work and Berussca did the world a favour by killing him. His son, hardly a saint himself, comments at one point that he loved to execute slaves.
- Determinator: Confronted by an adder after being disarmed, his answer? Attack it. With his teeth.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: He died fighting a fully-grown adder (basically a dragon in this setting) with his teeth, ending the battle in a Mutual Kill.
- Epic Flail: His weapon of choice. Not that he ended up using it. Or needing it.
- Evil Virtues: Valor and Determination. Most villains in Redwall would turn tail and run upon seeing an adder, never mind being disarmed by one. Sarengo? He kept fighting, even while dying from her venom.
- Genius Bruiser: He didn't just Leeroy Jenkins his way into Berussca's lair, oh no. He scouted it out first, making a plan that would have worked if not for his son Agarnu.
- Mutual Kill: With Berussca, an adder. Yes, an ADDER.
- Pet the Dog: While he lived his life as a typical Evil Overlord, he did treat Mokug better than other slaves. Although he did hit Mokug with his pawring hard enough to leave a scar, so that probably isn't saying much.
- Posthumous Character: He's already dead when the book starts.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: From what we know of him, Sarengo fits this bill more than any other villain in the series. He took on a fully-grown adder, alone and unarmed, and ended in a Mutual Kill.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Oh, yes! Leading his forces in the first line and holding the line against an adder make him that.
- Villainous Valour: Quite possibly the biggest example in the series. Sarengo was a brave, deadly fighter, and managed to kill an adder with his teeth.
Princess Kurda
The daughter of the King Agarnu, and granddaughter of King Sarengo, Princess Kurda is an arrogant young Pure Ferret who prides herself on her skill with the rapier. When Triss and her friends escape from Riftgard, Kurda and her brother Bladd are sent to retrieve the slaves, and the crown of their grandfather, King Sarengo, which was lost in Mossflower seasons ago.
- Archenemy: Triss views Kurda as her single worst enemy, and desires revenge on her more than anyone else.
- Co-Dragons: She and Prince Bladd have an equal chance of being chosen as their father's successor, at least in theory. In practise, despite being The Unfavorite Kurda is almost certainly going to succeed her father.
- Death by Falling Over: Dies after running away from Triss like a coward and falling on her own broken sabre.
- Dirty Coward: While she shows no signs of cowardice when confronting Plugg, she completely loses her nerve when Triss comes after her.
- The Dragon: She's actually this to King Agarnu, who sent her and Prince Bladd after Triss in the first place...and to go to Mossflower to retrieve an ancestral heirloom that will confirm his right to be king.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Her father is technically the Big Bad. However, since he never leaves his island, Kurda is the one enforcing his will and leading the expedition sent to retrieve the slaves and the crown.
- Dragon with an Agenda: She's not too happy about being her father's subordinate. She has designs on becoming queen.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Subverted. Kurda doesn't shed a single tear over Prince Bladd after he dies, and Plugg Firetail calls her out on it.
- The Evil Princess: Aims to humiliate or dispose of her brother and eventually replace her father, the king.
- Funetik Aksent: Like all the Pure Ferrets, she speaks with an accent that is probably intended to be Germanic.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: In the climax, she reveals her intent to usurp her father and become this.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: She's prone to losing her temper whenever she doesn't get her way.
- The Heavy: She's only The Dragon to her father in the overall scheme of things, but it's Kurda who pursues Triss and actually drives the plot forwards.
- Informed Ability: While she's repeatedly called a master swordsbeast, we don't see many occasions of her fighting ability outside of practice, or against opponents who can fight back. Her fight with Plugg Firetail turns into a grappling match in short order, and her "duel" with Triss is completely one-sided. Then subverted; it's actually brought up that her entire experience with a blade is chopping vegetables that slaves throw in the air for her, or practicing on tied-up slaves while surrounded by her Ratguards.
- Kingpin in His Gym: Like the trope's namesake, she loves to practice with her saber. This is eventually deconstructed. Kurda's never been in a real swordfight in her life, and when they start fighting for real, Triss hands Kurda her ass.
- Royal Brat: Kurda is selfish, entitled, and arrogant, and thinks nothing of making life miserable for her slaves.
- Sadist: The most openly sadistic member of her family, to the point where it disturbs her father and brother alike.
- Slobs vs. Snobs: Her rivalry with Plugg, which takes on decidedly classist tones.
- Small Name, Big Ego: She claims to be the best swordsbeast in all of Riftgard. Problem is, she's never had the opportunity to face a real adversary before the events of the book.
- Smug Snake: She talks a big game, but isn't so great when dealing with setbacks.
- The Starscream: She plans to eventually overthrow her father and take charge.
- The Unfavorite: Her father hates her, mostly because she reminds him of his own father.
- Villainous Princess: She is The Heavy of the book, who leads the royal guard in an attempt to recapture the heroes, who are escaped slaves. Kurda's brother, Prince Bladd, accompanies her, but he is not nearly as cruel or ambitious as her. The Big Bad is technically their father, King Agarnu, but Agarnu is so lazy and spineless that he has very little effect on the story.
- Wicked Weasel: A thoroughly evil albino ferret.
Prince Bladd
Kurda's fat, childish brother, who is sent along with her on the mission to retrieve Triss and Sarengo's crown. Prone to calling for help whenever trouble arises, he is nevertheless a more likeable beast than his sister.
- Childish Older Sibling: He's Kurda's older brother, but he's far more immature than she is.
- Death by Looking Up: Gets crushed to death by a falling cauldron.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's notably disturbed by his sister's sadism.
- Fat Bastard: Quite corpulent, like his father.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain Speculated at by Riftun, who wagers he'd slip a knife between Kurda's shoulder blades if he had the chance. However, not much comes of it before his death.
- Psychopathic Manchild: He's much more whiny and immature than his sister and has a love of watching, if not perpetrating, violence.
- Pyromaniac: He's rather eager to set fire to Redwall's gates, and sees to the attempt himself.
- Royal Brat: Basically the same deal as his sister, except less violent and more whiny.
- Super Drowning Skills: Just like his father, he can't swim.
- Vague Age: The book never says how old he is, which may explain his childish behavior. However, he's Kurda's older brother, and she acts far more mature than he does.
- Villainous Friendship: With the Freebooters. He gets along rather well with them, particularly Slitfang, and Plugg seems to outright regret his death, saying he had more guts than Kurda.
Riftun
A Ratguard officer who is sent along with Kurda and Bladd to prevent them from murdering one another.
- Call-Back: Most likely unintentional, but recall Ellayo Swifteye's words in Marlfox: "Lightning has a way of finding knives." Or in this case, spears.
- The Dragon: To Princess Kurda.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Mother Nature takes care of him long before any of the heroes get a chance to have a go at him.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: This is the first (and only) time in the series where a character is struck by lightning.
- Too Dumb to Live: For some reason, Riftun thought it was a good idea to try and throw his metal-tipped spear at Shogg in the middle of a violent thunderstorm.
- You Dirty Rat!: Another in the long, long line of rat villains in Redwall.
Captain Plugg Firetail
An affable silver fox with a bright red tail, Plugg is the captain of the Freebooter ship Seascab and one of the most feared pirates to sail the northwestern waters. He is contracted by King Agarnu to ferry Princess Kurda and Prince Bladd to Mossflower, though like most pirates, he has his own agenda.
- Affably Evil: With the Freebooters, anyway.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Both the readers and the Freebooters were devastated over his death. They even gave him a small funeral and openly cried over their loss.
- Attack the Tail: His tail gets cut off after Kroova and Shogg set a trap to sink the boat he, Kurda, and Bladd were riding in.
- Badass Longcoat: Wears a sea-green captain's coat.
- Benevolent Boss: Unlike a lot of other Redwall villains, he treats his crew pretty well. Sure, he berates them for stupidity, and kicks Grubbage in the rear whenever he gets fed up with the deaf searat mishearing his words, but he never kills any of them, either.
- A Father to His Men: He's one of the nicest villains in the whole series, right next to Cap'n Clogg.
- Hijacked by Ganon: Just as he finally decided to fight Princess Kurda, Zassaliss, Harssacss, and Sesstra, the three snakes who stole King Sarengo's crown and had been tormenting the Redwallers for a majority of the book, come out of nowhere and snatch the fox away.
- Red Right Hand: His tail, unlike the rest of his silvery fur, is a vibrant orange-gold. This gave rise to his nickname.
- Slobs vs. Snobs: His enmity with Kurda, which takes on classist overtones as well, with Plugg as the veteran working class pirate and Kurda as the stuck-up, never-worked-a-day-in-her-life princess.
- Troll: He frequently gets on Kurda's nerves for his own entertainment, confident that she's no match for him in either verbal or physical sparring.
- Villainous Friendship: While he originally planned to kill Bladd along with Kurda, he starts developing a liking for the Prince, attempting to teach him to be a real Freebooter. When Bladd is killed, Plugg seems sorry about it and tells Kurda that her brother had more guts than she'll ever possess.
Grubbage
The Seascab's cook, Grubbage is a simpleminded, near deaf rat, who is clearly in the wrong business.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He may be near-deaf, but Grubbage is by no means incompetent. Despite his deafness causing him to constantly mishear Plugg's directions, he generally figures them out on his own anyway.
- Fat Bastard: Averted. He might be fat, but he's actually one of the nicest members of Firetail's crew.
- Heel–Face Turn: In the written epilogue, it's mentioned that he was received rather warmly by the Abbot of Redwall, and agreed to take part in the expedition to Riftguard.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: Bumbling, simple-minded, and prone to mishearing what others say... and he's a pretty nice guy, despite his profession.
- Punch-Clock Villain: He's almost as nice as Blaggut from The Bellmaker.
- Sense Loss Sadness: Averted. Despite having no ears and being borderline deaf, Grubbage is perfectly fine with the way he is. Him mishearing everything his captain said wound up becoming a Running Gag.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Hmm, a seemingly friendly searat who is nowhere near as evil as the rest of the vermin around him, and in the end, his captain dies and he has a Heel–Face Turn and ends up being accepted into Redwall for his good behavior and kindness. Totally not Blaggut.
- Villainous BSoD: He (and the rest of Plugg's crew) suffer from this after they watch their captain being dragged away by three adders while screaming for help.
Ovus
- Big Eater: He even accepts it as payment for undertaking a task.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a greedy, gluttonous owl who talks too much and only assists the Redwallers if he's promised food in return. Despite this, he still cares about the Redwallers and other kindbeasts, and he stays true to his word whenever he promises to help them.
- Perilous Old Fool: He and Bluddbeak named the trope, as despite their incredible age (and Bluddbeak being all but blind), they still think together they can take out a trio of adders who work as a Brother–Sister Team just as they once did in their youth. The "fight" isn't much of one.
- Too Dumb to Live: So Ovus, despite the Redwallers' apprehension, decides to kill three adders along with his very old friend Bluddbeak, who can barely even see. By themselves. It ends as well as you think it would.
Zassaliss, Harssacss, and Sesstra
The sons and daughter of the adder Berussca, born to her shortly before her death in combat with King Sarengo, Zassaliss, Harssacss, and Sesstra are forever tied together, not only by blood, but by Sarengo's mace-and-chain, which wrapped around their tails during the battle. Left with no choice but to cooperate, the three adders, now fully-grown, have become a force to be reckoned with in Mossflower, with no one opposing their ever-widening territory.
- Avenging the Villain: When Kurda's forces prepared to raid Brockhall, Sesstra glances at the mummified remains of their mother and Sarengo and remarks to her brothers that this is an opportunity to make the Pure Ferrets pay for what was done to Berussca.
- Big Bad: Zassaliss is the leader of the trio, and is in the running for the title of the novel's Big Bad.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Zassaliss is in charge, but by virtue of their unusual circumstances, his siblings have too much control over his actions to be considered simply his Co-Dragons. It's more like they're the junior partners in a Big Bad Triumvirate that he leads by mutual consent.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Zassaliss' goals are in direct conflict with those of King Agarnu, as represented by Kurda and Plugg, and the climax of the novel is Kurda's raid on his den.
- Bling of War: Zassaliss wears the crown of King Sarengo. Seen from the wrong angle or in dim light this can give him the appearance of possessing four eyes and golden horns.
- Body Horror: They're bound together at their tails by Sarengo's Epic Flail.
Their tails are rotting. - Cannibal Clan: Pretty much. They're a family of predators who devour other sapient beings for both nutrition and amusement, live in a concealed lair off the beaten path, and follow in the footsteps of their equally predatory mother.
- Conjoined Triplets: Ones that didn't start out that way.
- Dark Action Girl: Sesstra, who is every bit as predatory as her brothers.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They cared enough about their mother for avenging her to be one of their shared goals.
- Eviler than Thou: Take on Kurda and Plugg's forces, and easily show them up, proving that they, rather than the Pure Ferrets or the Freebooters, are the deadliest villains in Triss.
- Genius Bruiser: Zassaliss is a cunning tactician. He easily spots the trap that Princess Kurda has set for he and his siblings and outwits her. And since he's a snake so huge that he can tower over a fox or a badger, he's got the bruiser part down too.
- Hero Killer: The most dangerous antagonists in the book, bar none. They kill a robber stoat, a crow, Ovus, Bluddbeak, Plugg Firetail, one of Princess Kurda's Ratguards, and Shogg, before dying, the latter two while fighting Kurda and Triss' entire forces.
- I'm a Humanitarian: They eat other sapient beings.
- The Leader: Zassaliss is the leader of the trio, by virtue of his size and occupying the central position.
- Multiple Head Case: Not really, but they give this impression.
- Natural Weapon: Their poisonous fangs and sheer size.
- Nothing Is Scarier: We don't know what they are for over half the book, we only know that whenever they're seen, somebeast starts screaming and others start running.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Fulfill the role of a multiheaded dragon, or hydra.
- Parental Abandonment: The three snakes were orphaned when Sarengo killed their mother.
- Rat King: A reptilian variant.
- Siblings in Crime: They're a Sibling Team who have no choice but to work together, and whose occupation could best be described as "classic fantasy dragon".
- Snakes Are Sinister: Probably the most flat out evil snakes to appear in the series since Asmodeus himself.
- Spanner in the Works: To everyone. Zassaliss and his siblings screw up the lives and plans of Kurda, Plugg, Triss, and the Redwallers simply by existing. Zassaliss' own plans for annihilating Kurda's forces are themselves thrown out of whack when Triss invades Brockhall through the backdoor.
- Sssnake Talk: Like most of the adders in the series.
- Terrible Trio: As a set of unnaturally conjoined triplets, they're this by default, with Zassaliss as The Leader (and contender for Big Bad of the novel) while Harssacss and Sesstra act as his lieutenants.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Zassaliss and Harssacss are male, Sesstra is female.
Kroova Wavedog
A lone otter that lives near Salamandastron, Kroova once stole a ship from a group of searats. Naming it the Stopdog after what the rats shouted after him as he sailed away with their ship, Kroova is friends with Sagaxus and Scarum, and ends up traveling to Redwall with them after the pair run away from home after more conflicts with their fathers.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Non-fatal example. He figures that it's better to have the Stopdog burn to cinders than to let her be captured by Freebooters.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Becomes fast friends with Shogg when the two meet at Redwall. When Shogg dies during the final battle, he doesn't take it well.
- Line-of-Sight Name: Named his stolen ship the Stopdog because it's what the searats were shouting at him while attempting to chase him down.
