For the elil in general, go to Weasels
The Weasel
The Weasel is a sinister predator and the secondary antagonist to the Watership Down rabbits, who appeared only in the first season of the television series of Watership Down.
History[]
In the second episode, Home on the Down, when Hazel and his rabbit companions first arrived on Watership Down, they were unaware that a weasel was lurking around the hills nearby, hunting for prey. He found Pipkin alone in the open, who was looking for worms for Kehaar, and the weasel would've kill the young buck if Bigwig and Hawkbit hadn't appeared and driven the carnivore off, having been warned by the mouse, Hannah, of the weasel lurking around.
The weasel later discovered where the rabbits were living atop Watership Down when they were undergoing a game of bobstones, and plotted to attack them that very night. The attempt failed when Kehaar woke up and noticed the carnivore approaching, screeching out and alerting the rabbits of the weasel's presence. Knowing that he was outnumbered by the bucks, the weasel fled back into the hills, vowing to get the rabbits 'one by one'. True to his word, the weasel returned the following night for a second attempt to hunt the rabbits. He was lured into a rock tunnel within the warren by Hannah as part of Hazel's plan to get rid of the weasel. Once inside, the carnivore was locked within the tunnel and forced to go to the far side of Watership Down, hopefully to never to return to cause trouble for the rabbits.
However, in the ninth episode, The Vision, the weasel returned to Watership Down to seek revenge upon the rabbits who live there for sealing him underground the previous spring. Fortunately, by the time he attacked the warren, the weasel was driven off after falling into a pit, getting stabbed in the underbelly by the quills of two hedgehogs, and finally chased away by Bigwig and his Owsla, who had prepared themselves for the carnivore's arrival thanks to Fiver's vision of the approaching elil. The weasel, however, was still persistent on having his revenge, vowing that he would wait out in the hills until the rabbits came out sooner or later. While hunting desperately for food, the weasel found Fiver alone in the hills, who was sad and upset about seemingly bringing bad things to Watership Down because of his visions. The weasel cornered the young buck in a hole, only for Bigwig, Blackavar, Dandelion and Captain Holly to arrive just in time to deal with the vicious carnivore once and for all.
Later, in the eleventh episode, Lost, Fiver guessed that the weasel had ended up in the underground caverns when the rabbits locked him in the rock tunnel.
Fate[]
It is unknown what happened to the weasel after Bigwig and his Owsla jumped in to save Fiver. Since the scene was rushed, it is most likely that the sinister carnivore was driven away from Watership Down for good after the rabbits came, for the future safety of their warren.
Trivia[]
- Despite being depicted as a slender bodied carnivore, the Weasel resembles an otter due to the art style of the first season of the Watership Down animated series. Though he is depicted more as a short tailed weasel.
- Another weasel that resembles the recurring one is shown in a flashback of Woundwort's past in the TV series adaption. It is possible that the Weasel who has been causing trouble on Watership Down, is the same one who killed Woundwort's mother, Laurel, in front of Woundwort's very eyes.
- The weasel's real name was not heard of.
- He was voiced by Matt Wilkinson.
| Non-rabbit characters |
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Cross-media Bob (dog) • Cemetery Owl • Crows • Fox • Hawks • Kehaar (seagull) • Lendri (weasel) • Tab (cat) • Yona (hedgehog)Humans Doctor • Lucy • Mr. Cane • Mrs. Cane Folklore Lord Frith • Prince Rainbow Books only Introduced in Watership DownDoctor (human) • Hawock (pheasant) • King Darzin (beaver) • Rowsby Woof (dog) Introduced in Tales from Watership Down Flairgold (glanbrin) • King of Tomorrow (deer) • King of Yesterday (bison) • Old Brock (badger) • Shindyke (glanbrin) • Zhuron (illip) Bark (badger) • Calohki (puffin) • Duster (dog) • Frost (lamb) • Gluk (gull) • Hannah (mouse) • Hyacinth (pig) • Katerina (gull) • Owls • Puffins • Ruffle (moorhen) • Skree (hawk) • Slate (turtle) • Tabitha (cat) • Tassel (squirrel) • Weasel |