About Redwall
Brian Jacques
Redwall is a 22-book saga composed of fantasy fiction novels, accessories, and audio books which involve personified animals set in a medieval-esque time period; the first publishing occurred in 1986. The central building in the novels is Redwall Abbey, a commune for peaceful creatures who are often found defending themselves from villains who wish to destroy their ways of kindness. From 1999 until 2002, it was aired as an animated television series.
If you are new to Redwall, it is highly recommended to read the books in Publication Order.
- Author: Brian Jacques
- Adapters: Stuart Moore (Redwall: The Graphic Novel), Evelyn Swensson (The Legend of Redwall Abbey)
- Illustrators & Cover Artists: Chris Baker, John Barber, Blacksheep UK, Bret Blevins, Ed Boelaarts, Tom Canty, Gary Chalk, Pete Chiappinelli, Allan Curless, Christopher Denise, David Elliot, Richard Ewing, Douglas Hall, Michaela Helms, Troy Howell, Anton Lomaev, Pete Lyon, Philippe Munch, Hans Parlevliet, Sergei Rozhin, Sean Rubin, Peter Standley, Dmitriy Timokhin, Herman Tulp, Jonathan Walker, Andrew Warrington, David Wyatt, Russian Illustrators
- In-house Illustrator: Ferahgo (He drew the Felldoh, Barkstripe, Brome, and Romsca fan art)
- Publishers: Penguin Putnam (US), Random House (UK), Puffin (UK), Thienemann (German), Mondadori (Italy), Kluitman (Netherlands), Azbuka (Russia), Montena/Mondibérica (Spain), Otava (Finland), BonnierCarlsen (Sweden)
Types of Characters
For further details and information, please see the Species page.
Good Creatures
The following consists of creatures generally considered as protagonists or "good guys":
Neutral/Variable Creatures
The following consists of creatures that either don't take the side of good or evil or may vary between both:
Bad Creatures
The following consists of creatures generally considered as antagonists or "bad guys":
One Hit Wonders
These creatures have only appeared or been mentioned in one Redwall novel:
- Beavers - Redwall
- Beetles - Mossflower
- Dogs - Redwall
- Dolphins - The Legend of Luke
- Falcons - Salamandastron
- Greatrats - The Long Patrol
- Hamsters - Triss
- Horses - Redwall
- Jerbilrats - Loamhedge
- Marlfoxes - Marlfox
- Plesiosaur- High Rhulain
- Monitor Lizards - Pearls of Lutra
- Pigs - Redwall
- Polecats - Mattimeo
- Pure Ferrets - Triss
- Sea Monster - Salamandastron
- Sables - The Sable Quean
- Scorpions - Mariel of Redwall
- Shrikes - The Bellmaker
- Stags - Redwall
- Tortoises - Rakkety Tam
- Wearats (not to be confused with the wearet species) - The Rogue Crew
- Whales - Pearls of Lutra
- Wolves - The Bellmaker
- Wolverines - Rakkety Tam
Themes
In the Redwall books there is often a set of recurring themes.
The main theme is the battle of Good vs. Evil. Every book contains an epic battle between a hero and a monstrous villain, with the side of good winning each time. In rare cases, there have been grey characters, crossing this good/evil divide, however Jacques maintains that good characters are good and bad characters are bad.
In two of the novels (Taggerung and Outcast of Redwall), an important character is a "crossover", specifically, a traditionally good beast brought up among bad creatures (Deyna), or the opposite (Veil Sixclaw), and this complexity creates a new theme, or a twist on the old theme of good vs. evil.
Another major theme is that of an underdog rising up to a great challenge that will develop his or her character into maturation.
Inconsistencies & Coincidences
Throughout the books, there are a few inconsistencies, as well as name coincidences
- Gabool the Wild has a gun on the back cover of the original U.S. paperback edition of Mariel of Redwall, when guns do not exist in the world of Redwall.
- In Pearls of Lutra there is a character named Trimp, there is also a Trimp in The Legend of Luke.
- In Mossflower there is a mole named Urthclaw, there is also an Urthclaw (badger) in Salamandastron.
- In some editions of Redwall, Killconey is constantly changing from a male to a female.
- There is a rat named Bladetail in both The Bellmaker and Pearls of Lutra.
- Diggum is male in The Long Patrol, while in Pearls of Lutra the mole is female.
- Sunflash the Mace's name was known by his mother, Bella of Brockhall, even though the hawk Skarlath gave it to him.
- In Mariel of Redwall there is a character named Petunia, there is also a Petunia mentioned in High Rhulain.
- There is hare named Shorebuck in both Mariel of Redwall and Salamandastron.
- In Salamandastron there is a hare named Catkin, there is also a Catkin (otter) in The Legend of Luke.
- There is a Bungo mole in Martin the Warrior and The Great Redwall Feast.
- In Mossflower Martin the Warrior mentions the name of Felldoh, though at the end of Martin the Warrior he promises not to mention anyone he knew from the time he spent in the North during his later travels.
- In Redwall, Martin the Warrior's sword is named "Ratdeath", by Abbot Mortimer. This name is not referred to in any other book.
Other Information
- Check out the Book Cover Gallery for the largest online gallery of Redwall book covers, from all over the world!
- See the Events category to read about some epic events and battles in the saga!
- Navigate to the Family Trees page to see completed Redwall family histories!
- See the Redwall Online Community page to read about the history of Redwall's presence on the internet.
Friends of the Redwall Wiki
The following are external links to those Redwall websites and others who have linked the Redwall Wiki.
- The Official Redwall Website
- The Redwall Experience
- Dibbuns Against Bedtime
- Redwall Russia
- The Long Patrol
- Terrouge
- Redwall: Warlords
- Snowfur's Redwall Encyclopedia
- Incredibooks
- Spirit of Redwall RPG Forum
- Literature Wiki
- Warriors Wiki
- Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Wiki
- The Deptford Mice Wiki
- Redwall Roleplaying Wiki
