Gruven Zann
Species: Stoat Place of Origin: Juskarath clan Gender: Male Weapon: Sword Death: Beheaded by Ruggan Bor
Books Appears: Taggerung

Gruven Zann was inept in almost every way. A poor leader, bungler, and fighter, the only thing Gruven the stoat had going for him were his incredible skills at lying and his ambition to be the Taggerung, which without the constant nagging of his mother Antigra, he wouldn't even have, and his slight strength. He once battled Tagg at the Juskarath camp, and was bitterly defeated and could have been killed. Also, to be noted is the fact that his tracking skills were horrible. Antigra originally named him Zann, which meant "Mighty One", but Sawney Rath made her change it to Gruven, his father's name, because Zann was part of the Taggerung's title by right.

After Antigra killed Sawney Rath, Gruven was given his chance. Leading (in the loosest sense of the word) a group of trackers, Gruven set out to find and kill Tagg, giving him the right to call himself Taggerung, as the law was whoever killed the Taggerung became the new Taggerung. On his trek, Gruven was constantly shown up by his band, who regarded him as a whiner and a pretender, specifically Eefera and Vallug Bowbeast. After the two in question deserted to find Tagg on their own, Gruven decided to go after them instead, not really wanting to run into Tagg anyway.

When he finally did track down the two, he was the one who was captured by them, once again displaying his own inability to be a Taggerung. After Tagg rushed out of Redwall Abbey to confront the vermin, Gruven escaped with the last remaining of his troops. Gruven was the faster runner, however, and found some swamplands, and lured the crew member, named Rawback, into them. Gruven then escaped back to his camp, only to find it had been taken over by a fox known as Ruggan Bor.

Gruven concocted a series of lies to try and convince the new commander and chief that he had killed the Taggerung, leading Bor to the decision to march to the Abbey to ask the Redwallers if Gruven had truly done what he said. Upon arriving at the Abbey one morning, asked the group on top of the wall if they had seen the deed done. Tagg, now named Deyna, had had his tattoos and other Juskarath relating ornaments removed, and decided to tell the golden fox that Gruven had indeed killed the Taggerung. Nimbalo the Slayer agreed loudly with Deyna. Gruven was thrilled out of his mind at his luck, and in his ecstasy failed to realize his danger. Since Gruven had been proven the Taggerung, whoever killed him would be the new Taggerung, and Ruggan Bor did just that, by beheading the unlucky stoat on the spot with his huge sabre and kicking his head into the ditch.