Redwall: Difference between revisions

Has a [[Redwall/Characters|character page]] in progress.

 

 

== Tropes A-D ==

** Averted in some of the earlier books, with a literal aversion in ''Outcast of Redwall''.

* [[The Abridged Series]]: A [[YouTube]] user named Hethrin is in the middle of an abridged series based on the Redwall TV series, which often parodies the many changes that were made in the show, as well as some tropes that appear in the books.

* [[Accidental Murder]]: In ''Mossflower'', Blacktooth and Splitnose start fighting each other over the food they stole from Martin, Gonff and Dinny. Everything was going fine until Splitnose decided to use his spear...

** In ''Salamandastron'', [[Those Two Guys|Dingeye and Thura]] start playing with archery equipment inside the Abbey and aim a bow and arrow ''at the stairs''. Cue Brother Hal.

** Averted in ''Marlfox'', which concludes with the rat army, who had hated their lot in life, joyfully tossing out their arms and armor and learning to live as farmers.

** Somewhat subverted in ''The Sable Quean''. The Quean and one of her [[Mooks]] are plotting revenge on [[The Starscream]], Zwilt the Shade. He {{spoiler|tried to kill the Quean and sent the Mook's mate to his death.}} As they talk about their plans, [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|we hear, for the first time, a vermin say the words, "I loved him."]]

*** In the animated adaptation, and in the first book, there were rats and other vermin who were peaceably living in the area, but Cluny ordered them press-ganged into fighting. Given Cluny's orders: "Smash their dens so they don't have homes to worry about! Kill all who resist!", those that didn't fall in line were probably killed.

** Averted in the very first novel, where the protagonist encounters a wildcat who conscientiously avoids eating meat, and, bar a few personality quirks, is quite happy to help the heroes.

** Don't forget that in ''Martin the Warrior'' we have a tribe of pygmy shrews who are slavers, a tribe of squirrels who make a game of hunting an killing strangers and a hedgehog who is known to poison trespassers.

* [[A Nazi By Any Other Name]]: Ungatt Trunn's Blue Hordes. They insist that they're "The Chosen Ones" and that every creature that isn't one of them is a member of "the lower orders". Also, Riftgard can only be ruled by [[Evil Albino]] "Pure Ferrets", who all speak with ridiculously broad faux-German accents.

* [[And I Must Scream]]: {{spoiler|Ungatt Trunn is assumed to be dead by the heroes and left on the seashore with a broken back. He's not dead. [[Nightmare Fuel|And the tide is coming in very, very slowly]]... and then, to make it all worse, a Woobie ex-mook, whose family Ungatt killed years ago, shows up, to speed on his fate.}}

* [[Human Pincushion|Animal Pincushion]]: Skalrag is hung from the gates of Marshank and used as target practice for Badrang's archers.

** At the end of ''Taggerung'', Deyna, Skipper, and several otters are seconds away from fighting the entire Juskabor tribe, and shit is about to hit the fan. What happens next? {{spoiler|Nothing. Lord Russano pops up out of nowhere (with at least one thousand hares backing him up) and confronts Ruggan Bor. The fox surrenders in a short amount of time, and Russano and his hares force the Juska tribe to crawl away from Redwall.}} A few pages later the book ends.

** If you're expecting the fight against Princess Kurda and Triss to be amazing, you're gonna be disappointed. And if you're expecting the fight against King Agarnu and Triss (and the ending to ''Triss'' entirely) to be amazing, you're gonna be ''very'' disappointed.

** Actually [[Word of God]] says that Asmodeus ''is'' evil.

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: The deaths of {{spoiler|Rose, Skarlath, Rockjaw Grang and Methuselah}} prove that point.

* [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy]]: In ''The Sable Quean'', Buckler is a step or two away from this trope. [[The Rival|His enemy, Zwilt the Shade]] is spot on: he likes to challenge any strong warriors, [[Nonchalant Dodge|effortlessly evade their assaults]] [[Trash Talk|while scorning their efforts]], and oft-times will kill them with their own weapons.

** All of the important Blue Hordes members in ''Lord Brocktree'' are this, Ungatt Trunn the worst of the lot.

* [[Artifact of Death]]: The Tears of All Oceans. The Sword of Martin could fall into this category since it's fine with the good guys but any vermin who tries to mess with it tends to die very quickly.

* [[Author Avatar]]: [[Word of God]] is that Jacques based Gonff the Mousethief on his younger self.

* [[Authority Equals Asskicking]]: Relatively speaking, the strongest fighter in the vermin gangs are almost always the leader.

* [[Babies Ever After]]: Most of the books' epilogues have the new Abbey Recorder telling about what has happened in the seasons since the books' events, with marriages and babies a common staple.

* [[Backstab Backfire]]: Almost constantly. Perhaps the best example was Cheesethief, planning to usurp Cluny's position as leader of the horde. He actually went so far as to try on Cluny's armor, and {{spoiler|got mistaken for Cluny himself by Constance and ended up impaled with a giant crossbow bolt.}}

* [[Badass Adorable]]: From a human point of view, most of the major cast members.

* [[Badass Boast]]: Romsca gets the most significant one in the Pearls of Lutra. Hares, badgers, and eagles often get their own every now and again.

** {{spoiler|Zwilt the Shade}} finds this out the hard way in ''The Sable Quean''.

* [[BFS]]: Martin's sword (duh), and the weapons of Badger Lords (who, being the biggest creatures around, wield weapons too heavy for other animals to lift).

* [[Big Bad]]: In order: Cluny the Scourge, Tsarmina Greeneyes, Slagar the Cruel, Gabool the Wild, Feragho the Assassin, Badrang the Tyrant, Urgan Nagru, Swartt Sixclaw, Emperor Ublaz Mad Eyes, Damug Warfang, Mokkan, Vilu Daskar, Ungatt Trunn, several major villains (with Vallug Bowbeast the most prominent/evil one), Princess Kurda, Raga Bol, Gulo the Savage, Riggu Felis, Vizka Longtooth, Korvus Skurr, Quean Vilaya, Razzid Wearat.

* [[Big Bad Ensemble]]: The number of [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] in ''Taggerung'' is surprisingly high compared to the other Redwall books.

** Season 3 has Clogg, right when he realizes his ship has been set on fire.

** The novel ''Mariel of Redwall'' has Mariel, when she was regaining her memory and remembered Saltar and Ledder rape...err..."assaulting" her.

* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: "Gonff" sounds remarkably like the Yiddish word for Thief. Confirmed by [[Word of God]]. Also Old Norse for "victory" is ''Yulalya" pronounced (all together, boys and girls) '''Eulaliaaaa!'''

* [[Black Cloak]]: A few villains, mostly creepy [[The Dragon|dragon]] types such as Nadaz, Grand Fragorl, and Grissoul.

*** As it's coming from a Northlander's point of view, it may be because they can't hear their own accents.

** Some of the Vermin use pseudo-cockney speech or slang, Random Pseudo-Irish accents pop up amongst both vermin and woodlanders, and the Otters being naturally nautical use either standard English with a hint of [[Talk Like a Pirate]] or what looks like [[The West Country|Devon or Cornish English]] which makes sense as the Cornish peninsula is traditionally famed for fishermen, smugglers and sailors.

* [[Carnivore Confusion]]: See [[Always Chaotic Evil]] and [[Cats Are Mean]].

** The eating habits of the (almost) [[Always Chaotic Evil]] vermin? They're carnivores who by nature would eat mice, but in a setting like Redwall, that would be cannibalism. Mostly when they kill for meat, it's wood pigeons or sea gulls.

* [[Clock Tower]]: The climax of ''Redwall'' takes place in a ''bell'' tower, but it's close enough.

* [[Conjoined Twins|Conjoined Triplets]]: The "three-headed dragon" in ''Triss'' is actually a set of adder triplets, bound together by a mace and chain they were unable to remove.

* [[Continuity Drift]]: The first book of the series more or less stated that the stories take place in the "real world" - there's a full-sized church near Redwall Abbey, some vermin arrive stowed away in a horse-drawn carriage, and [[Big Bad]] Cluny the Scourge is said to come from Portugal. Three or four books down the line, the Redwall world has its own geography, and neither humans nor Portugal has anything to do with it.

** Although the cats in High Rhulain imply that their distant ancestors were once pets.

** Also Salamadastron. In ''Mossflower'' Boar the Fighter uses a metal dragon to scare away any searats/vermin, inducing the legend of the fire lizard. In all the other books Salamandastron is just a military fortress.

* [[Cool Sword]]: The Sword of Martin the Warrior (which was named Ratdeath at the end of ''Redwall'', but Jacques apparently either forgot or decided that wasn't a very good name).

** And also Rawnblade's sword, "Verminfate", even though it only appeared in one book. (Unless it was previously owned by Brocktree and Boar, but that's speculation).

* [[Covers Always Lie]]: The description on the cover of the hardback version of ''Outcast of Redwall'' described Redwall coming under attack from Swartt's army and Veil being forced to choose between his home and his father.

* [[Crapsack World]]: Only and arguably in the later books. Eventually, the world consists of Redwall, Salamandastron...and in between, a wretched hive of [[Always Chaotic Evil]] vermin ready to kill or enslave anybeast who steps outside.

* [[Creepy Crossdresser]]: It probably wasn't ''meant'' to be read that way, but the evil Emperor Ublaz Mad Eyes has a weird fixation on silk robes, perfume, nail polish, and pink pearls.

** Basil doesn't really count, he's maintaining a Long Patrol outpost in Mossflower during Cluny's attack and is officially retired as of Mattimeo.

** Clecky's owl companion Gerul gets a special mention as well for being described by Clecky as "a young duffer" on introduction but turning out to be an absolutely ''ferocious'' fighter.

* [[Cut His Heart Out With a Spoon]]: Most notably, Clogg's announcement that he wishes to cut Badrang's head off and throw it in his face.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: According to this '''SPOILER LADEN''' [[http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/News:<!-- 22Doomwyte22_-_Reviewed_by_the_Redwall_Wiki Review]] of ''Doomwyte'', the series went this way with the later novels. YourMileageMayVary as to whether this actually represents a return to the tone of earlier novels in the series. -->

* [[David Versus Goliath]]: Matthias vs. the Wearat (''Mattimeo''), Tam vs. Gulo (''Rakkety Tam''); ''arguably'' Martin vs. Tsarmina (''Mossflower'')

* [[Dead Guy Junior]]: Mattimeo's full name is Matthias Methuselah Mortimer. Two out of three are dead at the time of his birth.

** {{spoiler|Princess Kurda}}. After her pathetic fight with Triss, she tries to run away...only to {{spoiler|[[Death By Falling Over|trip and stab herself in the chest with her broken sabre]]}}.

* [[Drunk With Power]]: Mokkan {{spoiler|after he becomes the High King of Castle Marl and all the other Marlfoxes die}}. It got so creepy that it looked like he was having a borderline [[Villainous Breakdown]]...

* [[Dynamic Entry]]: Done in ''Mariel'' with a battering ram.

 

** Vizka Longtooth's pirate crew deserted him after he murdered two of his own crew members in cold blood and for no reason whatsoever.

** And during the performer's play in ''Martin the Warrior'', when Ballaw asks the vermin spectators if he should "kill" a pretty squirrelmaiden with a (trick) knife, none of them speak up. Except [[Big Bad|Badrang]].

* [[Evil Albino]]: The Pure Ferrets of Riftgard.

* [[Evil Is Petty]]: Ublaz's big Evil Plan, for which he slaughtered entire tribes and put in years and years of work? Was all so he could have a ''pink pearl crown''. He didn't even seem to think the pearls were magical, he just thought they were pretty. He must have ''way'' too much empty time on his hands. He is a king, so it's likely he does.

** This could also apply to Triss. Plugg didn't think King Agarnu would send [[Psychopathic Manchild|Prince Bladd]] and [[God Save Us From the Queen|Princess Kurda]] sailing across the ocean from Riftgard to Mossflower just to find a long-dead skeleton, a gold crown and a pawring; he thought there ''had'' to be more to it than that.

* [[The Evil Prince|The Evil Princess]]: Tsarmina.

** [[Word of God]] says that her name came about as a mix of both "tsarina" and "mean".

* [[Fail O'Suckyname]]: Most of the vermin get stuck with unflattering nicknames. One can't help but pity the one who ended up as "Stinky".

* [[False Reassurance]]: The scene with Matthias and Cluny in the belltower. It's either [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|awesome]] or [[Moral Dissonance|cringe-worthy]].

** One of the most horrifying examples took place in ''The Legend of Luke''. Two rats are bullying a seemingly defenseless otter, taunting about how they're going to drown him [[For the Evulz|just because they can]]. Martin sees this, but Log-a-Log--knowing who this otter is--[[Genre Savvy|wisely tells him]] to keep Trimp and Chugger from seeing what happens next. And for good reason: Once one of the rats got too close, the 'defenseless' otter sinks his teeth ''directly into the vermin's throat''. But that wasn't all bad...at least the otter [[Carnivore Confusion|had some company for dinner...]]

* [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]: In an odd way, with the moles universally being given broad Somerset accents and the hares talking like [[WW 2]] RAF pilots.

** Well given the [[Write Who You Know]], with [[Word of God]] stating that the moles ''are'' all based on two old men in Somerset that Brian Jacques had to ask for directions once when he was a lorry driver, and with Basil Stag Hare based on a former RAF pilot Brian Jacques worked for once, this is hardly surprising.

** Played straight in the first Redwall book, when [[Big Bad|Cluny the Scourge]] believed his healer Sela was [[Double Agent|trying to double-cross him]]. So when he was sure he'd be left alone, Cluny drew out [[Schmuck Bait|a map with clearly-written instructions for his next attack on Redwall and its focus on the main gate]] and left just a corner of it visible under his pillow, knowing Sela would find it and make a copy of it to sell to his enemies. [[Chessmaster|Of course, this was all as Cluny intended]], [[Kansas City Shuffle|as the attack was going to be from a different position than the one the map indicated and he wanted all of his enemies focused on the main gate.]]

* [[Femme Fatalons]]: Tsarmina. [[Justified Trope]] since [[Cats Are Mean|she's a cat]].

** [[The Hero]]: Dannflor

** [[The Lancer]]: Dippler

* [[Flanderization]]: It becomes common knowledge that hares have big appetites. This is taken [[Up to Eleven]] with Bescarum (who will steal from various hosts when he gets hungry) and Diggs (who simply never talks about anything else.)

* [[Flaying Alive]]: This seems to be a favored method of execution/torture/punishment of Ferahgo the Assassin. He even keeps some of his victim's pelts for clothing.

* [[Flower From the Mountaintop]]: In ''Salamandastron'', one of these is needed to create medicine.

* [[Food Porn]]: Lots in every book. Particularly in the first, where a Redwall feast consists of "tender freshwater shrimp garnished with cream and rose leaves, devilled barely pearls in acorn purée, apple and carrot chews, marinated cabbage stalks steeped in creamed white turnip with nutmeg." Later books stick to a more standard rotation of bread, cheese, soup, pasties, salad, sweets, etc.

** [[Word of God|Jacques]] said in a meet the author that growing up in a food rationed era, he was always annoyed by the lack of descriptions of food in the books he read, and would often just read recipe books.

* [[Good Is Bad and Bad Is Good]]: Some of the vermin's behaviour. See the [[Villain Song]] in ''Triss'', "'Tis Nice To Be A Villain".

* [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: Any hare noted to be a good boxer in the series will normally only utilize their paws for combat, with a sling for distance.

** Also includes Lonna Bowstripe from ''Loamhedge''; he has a pretty hefty scar across his face from an encounter with Raga Bol's scimitar, but he's a good guy.

* [[Gorn]]: The description of the pus-oozing, festering wounds on Baliss's face are a bit ''too'' enthusiastic. You almost feel sorry for it. Also, the infamous searat ballad "Slaughter of the Crew of the ''Rusty Chain''", which is [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin]].

* [[Gory Discretion Shot]]: One of the main reasons why the TV series is [[Lighter and Softer]].

* [[Grim Up North]]: Allusions to the North being war-torn are made in most of the early books, and the books that take place up there...

** I was always slightly disturbed that, in the animated series, all of the characters are dressed well enough...except for the otters, who wear NOTHING AT ALL.

*** A funny note of trivia - this goes back to ''[[The Wind in The Willows]]'', where the four main characters Mole, Rat, Badger and Toad were drawn anthropomorphic, but minor character Otter was drawn as a regular old otter.

* [[Half the Man He Used To Be|Half The Ferret He Used To Be]]: {{spoiler|Killconey}}.

* [[Have a Gay Old Time]]: "Quean" does not mean "queen", nor does it, as Mr Jacques claimed in interviews, mean "wicked woman". According to [http://dictionary.reference.com the online dictionary], it actually means either "promiscuous woman" or "prostitute". Also, the two meanings of the word "mate" in vermin slang can lead to some unintentional [[Minion Shipping]] moments.

* [[Heroic Albino]]: Lord Urthwyte the Mighty, from ''Salamandastron''.

* [[Grotesque Cute]]: The entire series is basically about about cute little fluffy animals wielding bigass weaponry and killing each other in various unpleasant ways. [[Rule of Cool|Hell yeah.]]

* [[I Am a Humanitarian]]: Gulo and his horde are infamous for eating anything that moves. The Flitchaye, a tribe a runty weasels, are presumably cannibals too. Also see [[Carnivore Confusion]].

* [[Idiot Ball]]: Passed around occasionally in ''Triss'', particularly when Malbun and Crikulus leave Redwall in the middle of the night, alone, with no weapons or means to defend themselves from danger.

* [[Impaled With Extreme Prejudice]]: [[Squick|Cludd's death]], in particular. Also Cheesethief.

* [[Intelligible Unintelligible]]: Corporal Rubbadub from ''The Long Patrol'' speaks only in drum sounds (and one time, with a cymbal crash), but others in his regiment understand him fine.

* [[Interspecies Romance]]: Although Bragoon and Sarobando probably come the closest, this never actually occurs. It does, however, show up in songs.

** As well as Vilaya, [[Ungrateful Bastard|who won't think twice about killing those who saved her life.]]

 

** In ''Redwall'' (the novel), the Abbey inhabitants were expressly stated to be an "order", with robes and prayers and all that. Of course, a lot of what happened in ''Redwall'' has been unofficially declared [[Canon Dis Continuity]].

*** For example, Tsarmina's death in ''Mossflower'' didn't happen quite the way ''Redwall'''s intro described it, but this could be partly due to Martin's legendary status by the time the events of ''Redwall'' took place.

* [[Karma Houdini]]: Despite the fact that nearly every major villain in every book dies, there have been a few exceptions...

** Juska chieftain Ruggan Bor in ''Taggerung'' was humiliated and sent home with his tail between his legs by badger lord Russano the Wise. Possibly justified in that he hadn't actually harmed Redwall yet.

** Cap'n Tramun Clogg was the sole survivor of the final battle in ''Martin the Warrior'', but went insane and spent the rest of his days hanging around Marshank's ruins and talking to corpses.

** Also, Agrill in ''Martin The Warrior.'' He drugs the protagonists for absolutely no reason other than disliking them, and it's made very clear that, had they not been in the company of Boldred, he would have ''murdered'' them. Not only is he not punished for this, no one even seems to care.

* [[Karmic Death]]: Many of the main villains had very karmic deaths. Examples: {{spoiler|Cluny was crushed by the bell that had earlier awakened him from his nightmares; hydrophobic Tsarmina drowned; Gabool was stung to death by his pet scorpion, whom he had used to execute foes previously; Ublaz was bitten by his pet snake; Princess Kurda fell and stabbed herself on her own broken sword; Riggu Felis was killed by the same barbed star that he earlier used to trap Pandion; Vilaya fell on her own poisoned dagger, which she had used to kill numerous characters.}}

** Some of the minor villains or [[The Dragon|Dragons]] have karmic deaths too. For instance, Brool and Renn are killed by Veil shortly after they tied him up and stole all his food and gear; the Wraith is accidentally knocked off Salamandastron by Porty; {{spoiler|Klitch drinks the water Farran poisoned just when he thinks he's survived the gruesome battle at Salamandastron; Karangool was presumably whipped and killed by Bucko Bigbones, whom he had tortured in the past}}.

"I said the sky's as blue as the sea." }}

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: "[[How Dare You Die On Me|Wait, you'll never speak to me again if I die?]]"

** "[[Dirty Coward|You have lived the life of a coward,]] [[Face Death With Dignity|now learn t'die like a soldier, sir!]]"

* [[Large Ham]]: Cluny and Ublaz, in particular, are as close to this as you can get in a text-based medium.

** Some of the hares. For example, Cleckstarr Lepus Montisle, aka Clecky.

* [[Master Poisoner]]: Farran [[Captain Obvious|the Poisoner]]

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Slagar the Cruel.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: At the time Veil, the son of a warlord, is taken into the Abbey as an infant, Bella says she named him that because there's a veil over his life - they know nothing about him. Later, it's revealed that her other reason for the name is that it anagrams to "vile" and "evil":

{{quote| ''Give him a name and leave him awhile, Veil may live to be evil and vile. Though I hope my prediction will fail, and evil so vile will not live in Veil.''}}

* [[Monster Sob Story]]: Brian Jacques seems to like this trope.

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: Many of the novels are well-known for jumping from a death-laden battle scene to flat-out humor. ''Mossflower'' has Martin encoutering a massive crab with giant pincers, and shortly after it begins to attack him, Gonff [[Hilarity Ensues|shoves a stick between its claws and dances with it, joking about it the whole time.]].

* [[Mouse World]]: ''Redwall'' (the novel) seemed to take place in one of these, what with bits like an entire army of rats hitching a ride on a horse-drawn cart and mentions of piglets, town dogs, and ''Portugal'' (Part of Cluny's introduction including speculation that he was a "Portuguese rat.") By the second novel, however, all aspects of humanity had been removed.

** There is a vague hint of humanity or a higher life form of some sort in ''High Rhulain'', where Riggu Felis speaks of his ancestors (the Wildcats) liberating the Feral Cats from some unnamed group that had domesticated them.

* [[Multiple Demographic Appeal]]: Children like the books because the plots and characters are quite clear-cut; this becomes a liability with adult readers, most of whom like the books rather because of Jacques's clever use of language.

* [[Multiple Head Case]]: The adder triplets.

* [[Murder Ballad]]: [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|"Slaughter of the Crew of the Rusty Chain."]]

* [[Murder By Mistake]]: It happens a lot...

* [[Mutual Kill]]: There is quite a large amount of these in the series, between both hero-and-villain, and villain-and-villain. Some notable ones are {{spoiler|Urthstripe and Ferahgo, Romsca and Lask Frildur, Sagitar and Rasconza (this makes two occasions in one book), and Argulor and Bane}}.

* [[Myopic Architecture]]: The main gate of Redwall Abbey is large and thick, impervious to even the most dedicated of sieges. Basically, not one invading vermin horde has ever gotten through it. The tiny wicker side-gate, on the other hand, has been breached by countless invading hordes over the seasons, probably accounting for every successful invasion of the abbey. This is presumably intentional, since it would be easy to station three well-armed, armoured guards there during a siege to hack up any single file intruders who tried to get in. Unfortunately, being peaceful monk and villagers, the Redwall inhabitants never think of that.

* [[Naked People Are Funny]]: When Badrang's in need of a piece of rope, he cuts a random minion's belt, causing said minion's kilt to drop off and everybeast to start laughing at him.

** And in a slightly different version of this, there is a [[Real Life]] Abbey in France called "Cluny Abbey". When Brian Jacques heard about that, he said he thought it "quite spooky".

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Cluny the Scourge. Slagar the Cruel. Emperor Ublaz "Mad Eyes". The list goes on and on.

* [[Narrator All Along]]: In several books.

* [[Never Trust a Trailer|Never Trust A Book Cover]]: Plenty of covers. But the by far most blatant ones, were made by a German cover artist. The [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060105021050/redwall/images/2/27/GermanRedwall.jpg Redwall] one, for instance shows all animals nude. And further shows all Redwallers, including Constance and Basil, cowering behind in fear, while Matthias seems to be the only one brave enough to stand up against Cluny. The one for [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060106055125/redwall/images/f/f9/GermanMossflower2.jpg Mossflower], however, is [[It Got Worse|worse]]. It shows nude Martin and his cronies ''riding'' the Salamandastron hares like on horses (apart from the fact that there are only [[Rule of Three|two]] hares present). And... wait a minute... who is that third mouse?! What do you mean, it's [[I Am Not Weasel|supposed to be a shrew]]?! And why are the other two mice ''blue?'' Artist, are you blind? Or illiterate? Or high? Or everything at the same time? Anyway, it apparently took the publishers three of such covers, before they finally fired that cover artist. For his cover for [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060105021558/redwall/images/d/d5/GermanMattimeo.jpg Mattimeo], he finally managed to draw a creature with clothes on, but apparently still does not know the difference between a [[Too Dumb to Live|''combat axe'' and a ''spike club'']]. Especially, when the axebearer is explicitly called Orlando the ''[[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|Axe]]''! And Mattimeo was ''not'' a baby at that time anymore. And lastly, none of the scenes portrayed on these covers happened (or at least happened ''that way'') in the books (with which I am referring to the actual [[Never Trust a Trailer|trope]]).

* [[Noodle Implements]]: Spriggat, Samkim, and Arula threaten to do something involving "three squashed frogs and those maggoty apples", among other things, to get a captured rat to talk.

** In ''The Legend Of Luke'', a late summer song about fruit harvesting has a reference to sweetness being lost "like a faithless lover's kiss." It's one of the most overtly risque moments in the series, which says a lot.

* [[No One Could Survive That]]: Stated outright by Log-a-Log when [[The Brute|Gulo the Savage]] went over the waterfall in ''Rakkety Tam''. In the first book, [[Big Bad|Cluny the Scourge]] took a tumble from the very top of the Abbey wall, suffering cracked ribs, a smashed claw and countless other brutal injuries; Abbot Mortimer started to invoke this, but Constance told him Cluny would be back.

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: King Bull Sparra really is pretty unhinged, but he [[Manipulative Bastard|pretends to be more so than he actually is]]. Matthias, in turn, fakes [[Cloudcuckoolander]] status to avoid Bull Sparra seeing him as a threat.

* [[Officer and A Gentleman]]: The Long Patrol hares.

* [[Oh Crap]]: Cluny just before being crushed by the Joseph Bell.

* [[Pendulum War]]: Almost every military engagement in the series that isn't a [[Curb Stomp Battle]]. Let's say, that whenever there is a big battle in the end, vermin usually have an upper hand at the beginning, until heroes manage to close the gap in numbers/invent a better plan. However, smaller skirmishes against named heroes usually are curb stomps in said heroes favor (even if villains manage to bury one or two of them under their own dead). [[Conservation of Ninjitsu]]?

* [[Only Known By Their Nickname]]: Was a fan assumption about the vermin until ''Loamhedge'', when it was made explicit. [[Even Evil Has Standards|Evidently even vermin aren't sadistic enough to inflict names like "Stinky" on their offspring at birth.]]

* [[Only Smart People May Pass]]: Every. Single. Book.

* [[Overly Long Name]]: Jodd's full name. According to him, [[You Do NOT Want to Know]] what it is. Captain Tramun Josiah Cuttlefish Clogg also counts.

** As does Laird Bosie Mc Scutta of Bowlaynee (''Doomwyte'') and now, Subaltern Meliton Gubthorpe Digglethwaite (''The Sable Quean'').

* [[Prophecies Rhyme All the Time]]: It's true, they ''all'' do.

* [[Prophecy Twist]]: Most famously in ''The Bellmaker''.

** Most of Cluny's minions.

* [[Psychopathic Manchild]]: The Gawtrybe are an entire tribe of [[Chaotic Neutral]] squirrels, who do whatever seems like the most fun at the time. Also, Prince Bladd has hints of this, though [[Vague Age]] means he may in fact be fairly young.

* [[Rodents of Unusual Size]]: Damug Warfang is a "Greatrat", twice the size of a normal rat.

** Also, some [[Fanon]] suggests that-- to solve issues with scale and such-- most of the animals are human-sized or thereabouts and objects are scaled to in a similar manner, with badgers and such things being around ten feet tall. This doesn't apply to the first book, due to [[Canon Displacement]].

* [[Rule of Cool]]: Salamandastron is a ''hollowed out volcano fortress'' ruled by ''berserker and often seer badgers'' all of whom [[Took a Level In Badass]] with a standing army of posh hares whose job primarily consists of stopping Pirates and Mook Hordes from ''taking over the world!'' and they have a catchphrase: ''Eulaliaaaa!''

* [[Running Gag]]: Tutty from ''Outcast'' sure does love to threaten to cut somebeast's tail off.

* [[Sacrificial Lamb]] / [[Sacrificial Lion]]: Given the whole [[Anyone Can Die]] thing, these are to be expected.

* [[Screaming Warrior]]: Again, ''EULALIAAAAA!''

** "MOSSFLOWERRRRRRRRRR!"

** Bascially there's at least one in every book. And that's being generous.

* [[Scary Scorpions]]: Skrabblag, Gabool's giant (in proportion to the characters) black scorpion that acts as a pet/executioner.

* [[Sdrawkcab Name]]: Ballaw poses as "''Tibbar'' the magic ''rabbit''".

** Urgan Nagru made his name like this on purpose, so that his enemies would know he could come at them from all directions.

** Gruven. He makes all the vermin listed above look as tough as Cluny. Even Ublaz had the balls to at least get into a short sword fight with Martin.

** Tugga Bruster. Despite being one of the burliest shrews in the series (and, y'know, being a ''[[Always Lawful Good|shrew]]'') he's just a cowardly and despicable as the vermin. He can't even insult someone right.

* [[Sole Survivor]]: {{spoiler|Tramun Clogg}} is the last one left alive in Marshank. He always wanted to rule it, but true to poetic justice, {{spoiler|it's destroyed and he's utterly insane, talking to corpses and likely to soon die of exposure}}.

** Subverted in ''Salamandastron'' when Klitch survives the final battle and is in the middle of escaping, when {{spoiler|he comes across some of the poisoned stores, thoughtlessly drinks some of it, and ends up dying anyway.}}

* [[Supreme Chef]]: Most Redwallers, small woodland families, Beau (although that may just be in comparison to [[Lethal Chef|the rest of the crew]]), and the hares of Salamandastron.

* [[Surprise Creepy]]: Cute fluffy animals! That stab each other messily!

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the very first book: [[Big Bad|Cluny]] [[Bad Boss|The Scourge]] ponders the fact that his underlings generally are dumb as bricks and decides that their inability to think for themselves (and resulting obedience) outweighs their incompetence.

** In the animated series Badrang ''screams'' this, verbatim, from the wall of his fortress after another failure. His minions are indeed phenomenally stupid; the dumbest in the whole show.

** And many [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] have names like "Verminname the somethingevilsounding," "Verminname Combinationofonesyllableevilsoundingwords," "Verminname Punbasedonactualtraithad" and "Two-syllables one-syllable".

* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: Do '''''NOT''''' fuck with badgers, especially Lonna Bowstripe. {{spoiler|He uses Raga Bol's body as a shield, and he's promptly impaled by a few spears. Afterwards, Lonna uses Raga's carcass as a flail to kill the other Searats. And then he chunks his grotesque body at a tree.}}

** Cluny the Scourge is partly named for his whip-like tail.

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Sneezewort and Lousewort. Technically [[Those Two Bad Guys]], but they are so [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|ineffectual as villains, they can't pull it off.]]

* [[Tunnel King]]: The moles

* [[Two Faced]]: Slagar the Cruel of ''Mattimeo'', under his mask.

 

== Tropes:U-Z ==

* [[Underdogs Never Lose]]: The good guys just about ''never'' have the numbers advantage and always win anyway because [[Right Makes Might]].

* [[Unfamiliar Ceiling]]: This happens to the main character at least once a book.

* [[The Unfavorite]]: Veil, to the Abbeydwellers.

* [[Unfortunate Names]]: "Stiffener Medick"? Probably unintentional on the author's part, but one wonders how that got past the publisher. "Felch" might be even worse.

** Used again in ''Doomwyte'' with the Gonflins, a literal tribe of [[Lovable Rogue|thieves and robbers]].

* [[Weapons Kitchen Sink]]: One of the major examples in child's fiction. Let's see, finely crafted light fencing rapiers? Pattern-welded meteoric iron broadswords? Giant axes? ''Tree trunks!?'' Just ''running at your enemy with teeth and claws!?!?!''

** It is implied that Plumpen was forgiven for letting Cluny in (probably something to do with his family being threatened and whatnot.) And it would be difficult for 4 sparrows to repopulate the whole thing without some level of [[Kissing Cousins|Inbreeding.]]

*** The family of dormice including Plumpen are outright stated to be helping Foremole in the postscript of ''Redwall'', so either forgiven, given a minor punishment, or the Abbeydwellers never found out. The sparrows had also taken up residence in part of the Abbey yet only a handful of characters could speak their language, so they might have simply gone isolationist.

** What happened to Tazzin and Scummy? Were they killed by Triss, Sagax, and their army of Redwallers, or did they escape to safety?

* [[Whip It Good]]: Cluny uses his own tail as a whip in ''Redwall'' and attaches a poisoned barb to the tip so he can use it as a lethal weapon. Not to mention the numerous slavedrivers who wield whips, notably Bullflay, [[Meaningful Name|whose name even seems to reflect his weapon of choice]].

* [[Wicked Cultured]]: Emperor Ublaz (''Pearls of Lutra''), Vilu Daskar (''The Legend of Luke''), Queen Vilaya (''The Sable Quean'')

* [[Wicked Weasel]]: Weasels are [[Always Chaotic Evil]], so...

* [[Wiki Rule]]: [http://redwall.wikia.com The Redwall Wiki]

* [[World of Badass|World Of Badass]] [[Badass Adorable|Adorable]]

* [[Write Who You Know]]: [[Word of God]] is that Jacques based Gonff the Mousethief on his younger self, and Constance the badger was based on his grandmother.

** If that's true, Jacques must have had an ''impressively'' [[Badass]] [[Never Mess With Granny|grandmother...]]

* [[You Don't Want to Catch This]]: Keyla helps Martin and some other slaves escape from Marshank this way in ''Martin the Warrior''.

* [[You Fight Like a Cow]]: Hares have a tendency to snark at their opponents when duelling. Also, the fight between Dippler and Fenno:

[[Category:Nelvana]]

[[Category:Redwall]]