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Martin The Warrior is an animal reincarnation of the Avatar.

As well as all of the creatures he chose to succeed him. After he died, his spirit still roams Redwall, giving visions to the good guys and scaring the crap out of the bad guys.

The sword is his relic. In one case, one of his successors magically learn his skills by touching his sword.

So as well as Martin the Warrior, we have:

• Matthias (From Redwall)
• Mattimeo (From Mattimeo) Does not count as a reincarnation, because he has had little, if any communication with Martin's spirit.
  • Plus he was alive at the same time as Matthias, who was definitely a reincarnation of Martin. This also eliminates Martin II, Matthias' grandson.
• Dandin (From Mariel of Redwall)
• Samkim (From Salamandastron)
• Dannflor (From Marlfox)
• Deyna (From The Taggerung)
• Triss (From Triss)
• Bragoon, Sarobando, or Horty (From Loamhedge)
• Tam (From Rakkety Tam)
• Bowlaynee (From Doomwyte.)

Martin's Sword is not magical

There's no magic in the sword, as speculated by many of the characters. Martin simply uses it to speak to others because he had a strong connection to it in life. (See: Martin the Warrior and Mossflower where the plot boils down to "Vermin steals Martin's sword; Martin kills everything in a ten mile radius with his bare paws and retrieves it.") The sword doesn't actually contain his spirit or imbue the wielder with Martin's power or anything like that; he just has a much easier time speaking from the spirit realm to those who are holding his sword.

• It's just (in DnD terms) a masterwork adamantine greatsword. Its only special quality appears to be cutting through steel, and meteors are said to be a common source of adamantine.

Matthias is distantly related to Martin the Warrior

Blood ties are extremely important in the Redwall 'verse. Martin is able to speak to Matthias through visions even when Matthias isn't holding the sword because they are distantly related. This explains why Martin's contact with other wielders of his sword (besides Mattimeo and Martin II, who are both descendants of Matthias) is much less direct.

• This raises the question of how they're related. Martin was the last living member of his family and it's been stated that he had no children.
  • Eh. He settles down and hangs up his sword at the end of The Legend Of Luke. Maybe he fooled around with somebody on the side?
  • Maybe they're descendents of Gonff? The last one known to exist was Dandin; maybe he and Mariel had kids and one of their descendents came back to the Abbey.
  • John Churchmouse grew up in St. Ninian's, where Gonff moved to after Redwall was built. That could make Tim and Tess, and thus Mattimeo and Martin II, descendants of Gonff.

Martin's sword is a Piece of Eden.

Think about it: Everyone who holds the sword becomes a great leader, unless they stole it, in which case they promptly die. Also, everyone who wields the sword instantly becomes an expert in its use.

We know from the second Assassin's Creed game that one of the pieces is sword-shaped. Somehow, before his death, Martin managed to unlock the secrets of the sword, and give it simple instructions. Now it protects the abbey, using induced visions to guide prospective owners and torment anyone who threatens the people Martin swore to protect. It also gives free sword training brain downloads on contact.

If Matthias is a reincarnation of Martin, then Cornflower is a reincarnation of Rose.

Hey, it's only fair.

• The names even match. Good one!

The Woodlanders ARE in a Religion.

A horrible Xenophobic religion!

Stoat eats birds? HE'S EVIL! Rat is farming peacefully? HE KILLED THE POOR BEAST IN CHARGE OF THE FARM! Fox fishing peacefully? SHE IS DOING IT EVILLY!

Martin was highly racist about "Vermin" because he was 'enslaved' by the bad kind of fox, and he had bad luck and ran into another "Vermin" who he instantly said was evil due to childhood traumatic experience, killed him,and made up a lie to justify the means. He was EVIL. Evil! that's all he had to say! "He was attacking an innocent mouse! what else was I to do then to slay him?"

He came across a Wild cat who was simply playing a "game" of King of the Hill with a castle with a group of woodlanders, fed them LIES about the Wild cat to, again, justify why he must kill her. Using his mastery of speech, which he excelled in after a 'crusade against evil' spree of lies and hatred, he then got his ass handed to him only to survive because of the plot or by whatever deity is sponsoring him.

The stories are all LIES told by the main character, who was told MORE lies to by the Abbey-Beast to fuel the vicious cycle of hatred in Martin's happy little Abbey!

In Veil's case, he was the son of a "Vermin" and therefor treated like crap and probably not fed or taken care of properly; therefore, he 'Stole' food and played 'tricks', which were not for the Evulz but for attention. He is dying; he NEEDS food, water, and friends. In the end, he did something that a beast other than woodlanders from around the Abbey saw, so they could not change that tidbit in the story; instead, they twist and turn the words and actions of the poor little guy to make him seen as people have said 'Horrid little bastard' so if somebeast from that area reads it, they will assume its the 'Real' Story and thus spread the facts. Even though grandpa and Nana were there and they are still alive to tell the tale that they saw him do something for the greater good, they lied just for a good story and Veil was a 'Horrid little bastard'.

Look at other "Vermin" in the story: the odds, the unbelievable feats against them in favor of the good guys, they are IMPOSSIBLE!

This is to embellish the views of the Cult and spread the glorious word of Martin! and you fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

So, who will you be cheering for? The good guys, or the 'Vermin'?

There were at one point humans in Mossflower, but they either died out or emigrated to somewhere very far away.

Even taking into account that most of Redwall's setup, including the horse and haycart, has been retconned, the "feral cats" in High Rhulain openly say their ancestors were kept as pets by "creatures more powerful than themselves", and the Coin in The Sable Quean had to come from somewhere, Mossflower's animals don't seem to bother with currency, and they claim the "strange markings" on the Coin were worn off to the point of unreadability, so it's not impossible it was made by humans.

Redwall takes place on Earth thousands of years into the future

A result of human/animal gene splicing/intelligence enhancement, an apocalypse that wiped out the human race, and evolution

• Redwall takes place in the same universe as Jack?
  • Well, Jack does feature Artie working at Saint Ninian's Hospital and reading Redwall to the kids ("I can't read dis book ...") and Farrago claims to have been a female soldier "before the days of guns and artillery". Since reincarnations in the Jackverse seem to share similar names and appearances with their originals, one kind of hopes she's not actually a reincarnation of Ferahgo.

ALL the Swordbearers, not just Matthias, are the reincarnation of Martin.

It would explain the Instant Expert routine; they retain the knowledge of weaponry from all of his/their previous lives. Also, it could explain why there's only ever been one female Swordbearer (and this troper is now tempted to write a fic exploring Triss's potential resulting gender identity issues).

Vermin are Exclusively Evil because of their reproductive biology.

There is evidence in the books that vermin are psychologically and biologically very slightly closer to their Real Life animalian counterparts than the woodlanders. Thus, I posit that their reproductive systems are also closer, meaning the females tend to produce large litters, unlike the woodlanders who usually seem to have only one or two at a time (barring a few throwbacks, which would explain Rosie and Tarquin producing twelve kids in one year, or Log-a-Log Furmo's eight). Since they require more meat in their diets than the herbivorous/piscetarian woodlanders, the laws of trophic energy transfer conspire with their higher birth rate to mean that the country could never support them if they all survived to breed. Thus, they become highly aggressive and competitive, and usually keep their population growth down by battling amongst themselves. Every so often they build up to levels high enough to form a horde, which then gets wiped out by the woodlanders, leaving only those whose genes have something to offer in the way of skill or luck and ensuring that the next generation get the good genetic material. Veil was the only vermin infant whose birth was actually mentioned and he was an only child, but it's not unusual for small or frail mother animals, particularly first-time mothers, to produce one big healthy cub rather than a litter which are likely to be sickly and difficult to care for.

Sunflash the Mace started Urgan Nagru down his path.

Early in 'Outcast of Redwall', Sunflash scared a family of foxes away from two families of hedgehogs and moles. In return for their lives, he sent them north. In 'The Bellmaker', Urgan Nagru's backstory says that he came from the north. Though he should have reached Mossflower Wood before Southsward, he remembered his family's deal with Sunflash, and skipped over it in an example of honor among thieves, or just hoping that by going further south, Sunflash would never find him.

Martin is a Time Lord.

The various characters who carry spiritual connections to Martin are his reincarnations, The Warrior is his Time Lord name, and the sword is his TARDIS.

Hares eat as much as they do because ...

... they're trying to absorb enough nutrients that they don't have to resort to coprophagy as real hares and rabbits do. Or they're trying to get rid of the taste when they do have to do that.

The Redwallers believe that eating cures depression.

It would explain why many of them are described as being chubby, fat, or flat-out obese. It would also explain why Redwallers have a knack for hosting feasts shortly after someone's death and seemingly mentioning the dead character's name only a few times later in each novel. And given the high death rate in Mossflower, it makes sense once you think about it.

Martin is/was an Exalted.

This sort of ties in with the idea that each of his successors are his reincarnations - perhaps his sword contains his Exaltation, and that's why they seem to attain mastery so quickly. I think he's either a Dawn or a Zenith, based on his abilities.