History Characters / RedwallOutcastOfRedwall

* GeneralFailure: Given that Swartt started out as the leader of a small, roving gang, it's not surprising that his experience translates poorly when taking command of a whole army. This becomes apparent on his first days after usurping Bowfleg, where he woefully underestimates the logistics of uprooting what amounts to a whole settlement and marching them into a dusty wasteland with little food and resources. [[FromBadToWorse And then getting lost.]] He then proceeds to stumble from one misfortune or near-rebellion to the next, with Nightshade pretty much single-handedly keeping him aloft along the way, until he finally gets handed a crushing defeat at Salamandastron.

The son of Bella of Brockhall and her husband, Barkstripe, Sunflash--formerly Sunstripe--is an unusually coloured badger, with a single yellow stripe in the midst of his forehead. Captured and tormented for years by Swartt Sixclaw when both were young, Sunflash makes a vow to one day slay the ferret. Following his destiny to Salamandastron, Sunflash becomes Badger Lord of the mountain like his grandfather and great-grandfather before him, only to learn that Swartt, with a vast army at his command, is now camped out on his doorstep.

* {{Retirony}}: Inverted. Bowfleg and his army already had all the treasures and rewards they wanted and saw no need to terrorize the rest of Mossflower. It isn't until Swartt shows up and tries to persuade him to go back to his evil ways that he ends up getting killed.

* TheQuietOne

A kestrel who was captured by Swartt Sixclaw during a bitterly cold winter, Skarlath was freed by Sunflash before Swartt could eat him. He is Sunflash's closest friend and ally in his war with Swartt.

A vicious, psychopathic ferret with a sixclawed paw, Swartt Sixclaw was left maimed and furious when Sunflash the Mace escaped him. Swearing vengeance, Swartt tracks Sunflash across the length and breadth of the country, leaving a trail of poison and death in his wake, as his army and infamy swell. Growing from the young leader of a robber band into the greatest warlord in the country, Swartt never loses sight of his one goal in life; recapturing Sunflash and putting him to death as slowly and painfully as possible.

* TeensAreMonsters: Was bad even as a youth.

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:Her death is so violent that it's treated as a GoryDiscretionShot. While the book makes it seem like she was clubbed to death, The Redwall Wiki states that she was ''crushed'' to death (then again, considering the size of Sunflash and [[TelephonePolearm his weapon]] along with the badger's strength, a blow from his club would reasonably be expected to turn her into roadkill)]].

Swartt's son, whom he abandoned during a battle near Redwall, Veil grows up to be near as cruel and manipulative as his father. Exiled from the Abbey, Veil takes his misery with him wherever he goes.

* NobleDemon: He's quite willing to be bad, but has some lines he wouldn't cross. When he robs the dormouse family, he doesn't kill them and only knocks one of them out, and it's said that the injury wasn't serious. Also, when Brool and Renn arrive at his campside, Veil actually tries to be friendly and make conversation, only turning hostile when they try to rob him.
* OrcRaisedByElves: Veil is a vermin (and thus AlwaysChaoticEvil) raised by the Abbey Dwellers (generally AlwaysLawfulGood) and is presented as definitely leaning toward evil, but ultimately makes a HeroicSacrifice. It was strongly implied that the Abbey Dwellers [[ThenLetMeBeEvil made him morally ambiguous]] by treating him with suspicion since childhood, which fed bad vibes into his head resulting in a rebellious attitude that [[ViciousCycle in turn cemented his role as a villain in their eyes]].

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:PlayedWith. It isn't until ''after'' Veil sacrifices his life to save Bryony from getting impaled by Swartt that she gets told to say he was EvilAllAlong at his request, even though she knew the contrary at that precise moment]].

* TeensAreMonsters: Zig-zagged. It's implied he was at least partially made into the monster he was by the prejudices of the Redwallers, and never quite gets over it until [[spoiler:Bryony is threatened.]]

Veil's adopted mother, who raised him at the Abbey since infancy. Also Gonff’s descendant, although unlike with Dandin, she is nothing like Gonff and it’s only mentioned once in passing.

* HypercompetentSidekick: He warns Bowfleg from the start that Swartt is dangerous. Immediately after Bowfleg's body is discovered, he concludes that Swartt is responsible and hauls him in. He was even smart enough to call him out on all his lies that he didn't poison Bowfleg, or that he didn't know who Nightshade was.
* TooDumbToLive: Inverted. Greenclaw was the only one who was smart enough to realize that Swartt and Nightshade were lying their asses off about what happened to Bowfleg. He ends up getting killed anyway before he has time to slay Swartt.

* DeathByMaterialism: Gets fooled into walking into a quarry ''full of adders'' simply because Nightshade told him it was full of treasure.

* VillainousBSOD: When he realizes he just walked into a quarry full of adders, he just stands still and stares at them in utter horror before they kill him.

* CombatPragmatist: Oh, yeah. Hacking a defenceless hare to death while she was already wounded and unable to run qualifies. He also ends up resorting to dirty tactics when dueling Sabretache.

* MauveShirt: Barely. The only reason why she's not a RedShirt is because [[NominalImportance the author gave her a name]] before killing her off, and more than one character was actually upset over her death.

* CurbstompBattle: [[spoiler:He and Sunflash face off at the end and it is incredibly lopsided. Swartt manages only one cut before Sunflash breaks his sword and smashes him in the head. Swartt may have already been dead when Sunflash threw him off the mountain.]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:Her death was so violent that it was treated as a GoryDiscretionShot. While the book made it seem like she was clubbed to death, The Redwall Wiki states that she was ''crushed'' to death (then again, considering the size of Sunflash and [[TelephonePolearm his weapon]] along with the badger's strength, a blow from his club would reasonably be expected to turn her into roadkill)]].

* OverlyLongName: ''LOOK AT IT''.

* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** They knock out Veil, torment him briefly, and eat most of his food. [[LaserGuidedKarma This happened on the same day Veil stole from three harmless mice and injured one of them]].
** Applies to them, too. They ''really'' do everything possible to put the reader off them.

* CallToAgriculture: He develops a special love for farming.

* InTheBlood: Descended from Boar the Fighter and Lord Brocktree, two of the most famous Badger Lords ever.

Veil's adopted mother, who raised him at the Abbey since infancy.

* KilledOffForReal: Shot out of the sky by Nightshade with a poisoned arrow.

* ParentalAbandonment: Not willingly mind, but he doesn't remember his parents at all really, and has no idea how he came to be Swartt's captive.
* TheProtagonist: Veil may be given top billing (and is the title character) in ''The Outcast of Redwall'', but Sunflash is clearly the main character.

* RevengeBeforeReason: Immediately after escaping from his enslavement under Swartt Sixclaw, Sunflash resolves to go back and take his vengeance now that he's eaten and has a weapon (the hornbeam limb). Skarlath quickly objects, pointing out that Swartt has way too many mooks for Sunflash to survive fighting, and Sunflash basically says he doesn't care. It takes a bit for [[TheSmartGuy Skarlath]] to talk him out of it.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: A high ranking member of the Long Patrol, and lethal in combat.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: He's incredibly sure of his skill with the rapier. Unfortunately for him, Sabretache is by far superior.

* CombatPragmatist: Oh, yeah. Hacking a defenceless hare to death while she was already wounded and unable to run qualifies. He also ends up resorting to dirty tactics when dueling Sabretache.

* VillainsWantMercy: Has the nerve to beg for his life when Sabertache's got him dead to rights after killing a helpless Fordpetal. He gets none.

* AnAxeToGrind: A double-headed axe, no less.

* TyrantTakesTheHelm: When Bowfleg doesn't cooperate with him, Swartt assassinates him and takes command of his horde. He informs them that they now belong to him and are to do whatever he says, and anyone who disobeys him or tries to leave will be instantly killed.

* HateSink: Swartt is one of the darkest villains in the series, and is played completely straight. The insight we get into his mind shows that he's a vicious psychopath who simply enjoys inflicting pain on others, and his treatment of his family makes his cruelty much more realistic to the reader. His actions are too brutal and sadistic to find entertaining, and the psychological trauma he leaves on Sunflash and Veil is played for drama.

* BadBoss: Though not to the extremes of some of the other villains, as he's at least smart enough to reward good behaviour.

* NotSoAboveItAll: She's generally the smart one, but makes a critical mistake during the war with Krakulat and his crows, when she urges Swartt to wipe them out with fire arrows instead of just leaving. While it does kill some of them, the survivors are so pissed off that they follow the horde with the intention of killing them one by one. It takes Shang Damsontongue's intervention to bail Swartt out of that one.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: With a name like "Sabretache", he was bound to be badass.

%%* WeHardlyKnewYe

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:Her death was so violent that it was treated as a GoryDiscretionShot. While the book made it seem like she was clubbed to death, The Redwall Wiki states that she was ''crushed'' to death]].

%%* CunningLikeAFox

%%* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast

* ChildByRape: Implied. His mother Bluefen was basically a prize Swartt won by killing her father and he noted her attractiveness, but had no emotional attachment to her whatsoever. For her part [[AbusiveParents experience]] accurately taught Bluefen about warlords' vicious tempers so she tried to stay out of Swartt's way for the most part. It seems therefore unlikely that their relations were consensual.

%%* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast

%%* MookLieutenant

* CunningLikeAFox

* HeroKiller: [[spoiler: She kills Skarlath with a poisoned arrow]].
* HypercompetentSidekick: Swartt wouldn't get too far without her [[spoiler: and she is the one who deals the biggest blow to Sunflash, by killing Skarlath]].

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast

* DeadpanSnarker
* DecoyProtagonist: He isn't even born until Part 2 of the book, and he doesn't do much of importance until the end of Part 2; by then, the novel has already established that Sunflash is the protagonist, not Veil, despite the book's description talking about nothing but him. [[spoiler: He even dies in the end, and his death only impacted one character (a character who quickly got over it)]]. At best, Veil's the [[{{Deuteragonist}} Tritagonist]].

* TheSociopath: Not nearly as bad as Swartt, to a point where the trope is zig-zagged. The only person he cares about is, fittingly, the only person who genuinely respected him - Bryony. [[spoiler: It took a threat to her life to make him realize it.]]

* TeensAreMonsters: Zig-zagged. It's implied he was at least partially made into the monster he was by the prejudices of the Redwallers, and never quite gets over it until [[spoiler: Bryony is threatened.]]
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Why he goes bad. [[spoiler: He asks Bryony to not mourn him, and instead just go back to Redwall and tell them he was a bad one.]]
* TurnOutLikeHisFather: A major concern of the Abbey-dwellers. They know who Swartt is and what he's done. [[spoiler: It's then zigzagged.]]

* OrcusOnHisThrone

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast

* MookLieutenant

* WeHardlyKnewYe

* DeadpanSnarker

* {{Foil}}: To Zigu. Both are skilled swordsbeasts on opposite sides of the conflict. Their fighting styles reflect this, as while Zigu uses a rapier, Sabretache uses a, well, sabre. Zigu is WickedCultured, while Sabretache is AnOfficerAndAGentleman. Zigu plots against Swartt, while Sabretache has UndyingLoyalty to Sunflash. Their differences come to the forefront when they fight.

* AnOfficerAndAGentleman: A captain of the Long Patrol, who behaves in a very dignified manner.