Watership Down Richard Adams

Rabbits

Sandleford warren

• Hazel/Hazel-rah: The novel's protagonist. Though Hazel is not particularly large or powerful, he is loyal, brave, affectionate and a quick thinker. He sees the good in each individual, and what they bring to the table; in so doing, he makes sure no one gets left behind, thus earning the respect and loyalty of his warren. He becomes their Chief Rabbit in the process, with his name accordingly expanded to Hazel-rah ("Chief Hazel" or "Prince Hazel" in Lapine). He often relies on Fiver's advice, and he trusts his brother's instincts most of the time.
• Fiver: Hazel's younger brother, a runt rabbit whose Lapine name means "Little One of Many" (Rabbits have a single word, "hrair" - sometimes translated as "thousand" - for all numbers greater than four. Fiver's name in Lapine, Hrairoo, indicates that he is the smallest of a litter of five or more rabbits.)[23] As a seer, he has visions and strong instincts. He is shy, kind, and intelligent, and though he does not directly act as a leader, the others listen to and follow his advice. Vilthuril becomes his mate.
• Bigwig: An ex-Owsla officer, and the largest, strongest, and bravest rabbit of the group. His name in Lapine is Thlayli, which literally means "Fur-head" and refers to the shock of fur on the back of his head. Though he is initially harsh and cynical, he is naturally compassioniate and eventually learns to be less quick-tempered. He is also shown to be cunning in his own way when he rescues the does from Efrafa, and later devises a plan to defeat the larger and stronger General Woundwort. This final confrontation leaves him severely wounded, but he survives and becomes the leader of Hazel's Owsla.
• Blackberry: A clever buck rabbit with black-tipped ears. He is often capable of understanding concepts the other rabbits find incomprehensible. He realizes, for instance, that wood floats, and the rabbits use this tactic twice to travel on water. He also works out how to dismantle the snare that almost kills Bigwig, saving him. He is one of Hazel's most trusted advisors, and he and Kehaar devise the plan to rescue does from Efrafa.
• Dandelion: Described as a "dashing" buck rabbit, notable for his storytelling ability and speed. He is the first to recognize Watership Down as their best new home, and is instrumental in both raids on Nuthanger farm.
• Buckthorn: A strong half-grown buck who was expected to be part of the Sandleford Owsla once he reached maturity. He joins Bigwig and Silver as a fighter for the group.
• Hawkbit: Described in the book as a "rather slow, stupid rabbit", but is accepted by Hazel regardless.
• Speedwell and Acorn: Pair of rank-and-file rabbits who are friends of Hawkbit. Like him, they are initially distrustful of Hazel, but soon become valuable sentries and burrow diggers.
• Silver: The sturdy and level-headed nephew of Sandleford's Chief Rabbit. At Sandleford, he is teased for his pale grey fur (his namesake) and accused of getting his position in the Owsla through nepotism, prompting him to join the fugitives. He, Bigwig and Buckthorn frequently defend the other rabbits along their journey.
• Pipkin: A small and initially timid buck rabbit. Hazel refuses to leave him behind when he is wounded, and Pipkin grows fiercely loyal to Hazel. He serves as a comforter to Holly, and becomes very brave, offering to go into Efrafa himself when Bigwig is late in returning. He also is the first to jump into the River Test, when Hazel orders the rabbits to do so. His name is Hlao-roo ("Little Dimple in the Grass") in Lapine.
• Holly: Former captain of the Sandleford Warren Owsla, escapes with Bluebell when his warren is destroyed by men. He is near death when he finds the warren at Watership Down, but is nursed back to health and welcomed by the fugitives.
• Bluebell: Buck rabbit who escapes with Holly during the destruction of Sandleford. He tells jokes (often in rhyme) to cope, and to help himself and Holly recover from the mental strain of seeing the Sandleford warren destroyed and Pimpernel killed by Cowslip's rabbits. He, like Dandelion, is also a storyteller.
• Pimpernel: A Sandleford rabbit, who helps Bluebell to escape the poisoning of the Sandleford warren but becomes very ill and weak in the process. He travels towards Watership with Holly and Bluebell, but is murdered by Cowslip's rabbits.
• Threarah - Usually called "THE Threarah" because his name means "Lord/Prince Rowan Tree" in Lapine, and there is only one rowan near the warren. He is Silver's uncle, and the cool and detached leader of the Sandleford Warren. He believes in the gift of foresight, but dismisses Fiver's fears, believing rabbits can best weather any dangers by sitting tight. He is presumed killed when the men poison his warren.

Cowslip's warren

• Cowslip: While not chief rabbit of his warren, he is the first to meet Hazel and the others, and tricks them into staying in the Warren of the Snares, which is why they refer to it as "Cowslip's Warren" afterwards. He and the others refuse to answer any questions or discuss the snares. After Fiver exposes and ruins their blissful denial and Strawberry defects to Fiver's side, Cowslip leads some other rabbits to attack Holly's group as it passes through their territory.
• Strawberry: A large, sleek buck from Cowslip's warren who leaves with the Watership Down rabbits after his doe, Nildro-hain ("Blackbird's Song", in Lapine), is killed by a snare.

Nuthanger Farm

• Haystack and Clover: Two of the hutch does, who escape in order to live with the wild rabbits. Clover's mate, Laurel, does not escape with her and allows himself to be taken back to the hutch by the farmer. Later, Holly becomes Clover's new mate.
• Boxwood: A hutch buck who escapes in order to live with the wild rabbits. He is taken under Strawberry's wing, as he initially does not know how to survive in the wild. He is Haystack's mate.

Efrafa

• General Woundwort: The main antagonist of the novel. A fearless, cunning and brutally efficient rabbit who was orphaned at a young age and raised by humans, Woundwort escaped, founded the Efrafa warren, and is its tyrannical chief. Though larger and stronger than Bigwig, he lacks mercy and kindness. He even leads an attack to destroy the Watership warren as an act of revenge against Bigwig's stealing does from Efrafa, an attack defeated by Hazel's ingenuity and Bigwig's bravery. After fighting the Nuthanger farm dog, he disappears completely, and many rabbits remain unsure if he still lives or not.
• Captain Campion: Woundwort's most trusted subordinate, Campion is a loyal, brave and clever officer. Despite being on opposite sides, Bigwig and Hazel like Campion and twice refuse to kill him when they have him at their mercy. After Woundwort disappears, Campion becomes the Chief Rabbit of Efrafa and reforms it, making peace with the Watership rabbits.
• Vervain: The sadistic and callous head of the Owslafa (Council Police) in Efrafa, said to be one of the most hated rabbits in the warren. He is ordered to kill Fiver during the Watership attack, but Fiver calmly prophesies his death, and he flees in terror. He disappears during the retreat back to Efrafa, presumably killed by predators.
• Groundsel: A calm, sensible member of Woundwort's Owsla, he rescues an Efrafan patrol when their Captain is killed by a fox. He accompanies Woundwort to Watership with the rest of the Owsla, though he is wisely hesitant to attack Hazel's rabbits after their earlier displays of cleverness. He and four others surrender to Fiver after the dog incident, and he is accepted into Watership as a friend, eventually becoming the Chief Rabbit at the new warren in Caesar's Belt.
• Hyzenthlay: A doe who leads other Efrafan does to oppose Woundwort and his council, as they are unable to reproduce because of overcrowding. Woundwort orders her group to be broken up and scattered across the warren; however, she and several friends escape Efrafa with Bigwig. Like Fiver, she has visions, but has trouble interpreting them. Her name means literally "shine-dew-fur", or "fur shining like dew". She becomes Hazel's mate, and the co-Chief Rabbit of their warren as shown in the sequel.
• Thethuthinnang - In Lapine, "Movement of Leaves". A very sturdy, sensible doe and Hyzenthlay's friend and lieutenant in organizing the rebellion among the Efrafan does.
• Vilthuril: An Efrafan doe - her name's translation is never given. She escapes Efrafa with Bigwig, Hyzenthlay and the other does. She becomes Fiver's mate, and is said to be the only one to understand him as well as Hazel. One of their kittens, Threar, becomes a seer like his father.
• Blackavar: A rabbit with dark fur who tries to escape from Efrafa but is apprehended, mutilated, and put on display to discourage further escape attempts. When he is liberated by Bigwig, he quickly proves himself an expert tracker and ranger, and also shows himself to be an effective fighter when the Efrafan rabbits attack the warren.

Non-rabbits

• Kehaar: A black-headed gull who is forced, by an injured wing, to take refuge on Watership Down, and befriends the rabbits when they help him. He is characterized by his frequent impatience, guttural accent and unusual phrasing. After discovering the Efrafan warren and helping the rabbits, he re-joins his colony, but visits them often. According to Adams, Kehaar was based on a fighter from the Norwegian Resistance in World War II.[20]
• The Mouse: Never named, the mouse is a resident of Watership Down before the arrival of the rabbits. While rabbits usually despise smaller mammals like rodents and shrews, and view them as untrustworthy, Hazel kindly saves the mouse from a kestrel. This action allies the mice and rabbits on Watership Down, and the same mouse later warns them of General Woundwort's intended surprise attack, thus saving many lives.

Mythical characters

• Frith: The primary deity in rabbit folklore, similar to the God of Abraham, said to have created the world. While forced to create elil (predators) because of the rabbits' refusal to stop overpopulating the Earth, Frith promised that rabbits would never be allowed to go extinct. In Lapine, the word Frith means "the sun/sunrise".
• El-ahrairah: A rabbit trickster culture hero, who is the protagonist of nearly all of the rabbits' stories. He represents what every rabbit wants to be: Smart, devious, tricky, and devoted to the well-being of his warren. In Lapine, his name is a contraction of the phrase Elil-hrair-rah, which means "prince with a thousand enemies". His stories of cleverness (and excessive hubris) are similar to Br'er Rabbit and Anansi.
• Prince Rainbow: A lesser deity in rabbit folklore, tasked by Frith to organize the world. He often abuses his power to try to harm or rein in El-ahrairah and the rabbits, but is always outsmarted.
• Rabscuttle: Another mythical folk hero, Rabscuttle is El-ahrairah's second-in-command and Owsla Captain. He participates in many of El-ahrairah's capers. He is considered to be almost as clever as his chief. His name may be a reference to a rabbit's "scut", or tail.
• Black Rabbit of Inlé: Known as Inlé-rah ("Prince/Chief of the Moon" or "Prince/Chief of the Dead") to his ghostly Owsla, he is a sombre phantom servant of the god Frith who appears in rabbit folklore as a kind of analogue to the grim reaper. His duty is to ensure all rabbits die at their predestined time, and he avenges any rabbit killed without his consent. Inlé is the Lapine term for the moon/moonrise, as well as the word for the Land of the Dead.[24]