- "No, I'm Hawkbit. Do you remember me, Hazel? We were in the same burrow during the snow last winter. Dandelion told me you were going to leave the warren tonight. If you are, I'll come with you."
Hawkbit is a rabbit that came from Sandleford Warren to Watership Down along with the other Watership rabbits. He is also good friends with Acorn, Speedwell and Buckthorn in the novel, and Dandelion.
Personality[]
Hawkbit, for the most part, is a completely average rabbit. He isn't exceptionally smart, brave or talented. He was a very serious rabbit who always talked sarcastically towards things. He also has a bit of a skeptical, pessimistic and cynical outlook. For example, he questioned Hazel's leadership. However, he follows orders and helps the group as best as he can.
In the miniseries, he is shown to be obsessed and in a feud with Dandelion over who will become Strawberry's mate.
Books[]
Watership Down[]
Hawkbit is described in the beginning as a "rather slow, stupid rabbit" who previously spent five days underground with Hazel who remarks it was "distinctly tedious" being with him.
Hawkbit joins Hazel's company in the escape from Sandleford. Together with Speedwell and Acorn, he begins complaining and insisting on returning to the warren, but is brow-beaten into submission by Bigwig. Later, Hawkbit apologizes to Hazel and from thence forth is a loyal and dependable follower. His solo foray leads him to discover the existing scrape runs on Watership Down, thus saving his comrades from spending their first night there in the open.
Tales from Watership Down[]
Hawkbit is barely mentioned in the book. It is said he had to listen to Bigwig venting about his opinion of Hyzenthlay having poor leadership. Later, when Stonecrop comes to Watership Down, Hawkbit is concerned over Stonecrop smelling like humans. Hawkbit says "great jumping horseflies" and Hazel yells at Hawkbit to shut up.
TV series[]
Hawkbit in the TV series.
In the TV series, Hawkbit is a sardonic and dry wit rabbit who always has a sarcastic comment for every situation, but is a dependable member of the warren and very loyal whenever help is needed. An outstanding example of the effect Hazel has upon those rabbits who would otherwise have been totally disregarded in the warren hierarchy. He has a kind of love/hate relationship with Fiver. He later becomes a good friend of the more cerebral Dandelion and during the last season settles down with Clover.
Season 1[]
To be written.
Season 2[]
In The Homecoming, Hawkbit is seen digging the boulder. When Blackberry tells them to dig to defeat Efrafa, Hawkbit sarcastically replied, saying "That's the best argument I heard against digging yet." and Bigwig tells him to keep digging. When Hawkbit says he thinks it moved, Clover tells him to stop being such a dither and Hawkbit sarcastically replied again.
Season 3[]
In The Last Battle, Hawkbit joins the battle. When Hazel starts the attack, Hawkbit asks if Dandelion's ready before running towards Efrafa.
In The Wanderers, Hawkbit, Strawberry and Dandelion fool around during Owsla training, making Bigwig punish them to go on night patrol. The three go to complain to Hazel, who just says he's staying out of it. Later, Hawkbit, Dandelion and Strawberry go trap Bigwig in his burrow, with him yelling that they can enjoy life as they still have it. Once Bigwig gets out, Hawkbit and the others go on night patrol.
In The Magic, when Captain Broom points out the moles that are following him, Hawkbit replies sarcastically, asking how he never noticed with Broom yelling at him. Later, Hawkbit tries to hang out with Clover just for her to tease him for his moles. Getting tired of the moles after Clover had teased him for them, Hawkbit decides to trick Dandelion into saving him so the Moles can follow him instead.
After a battle, Hawkbit goes to ask Clover what she's doing after the war, she replies whatever he's doing and calls him handsome. During a battle at night, Hawkbit trips a Darkhaven warrior, telling them to mind their step.
Miniseries[]
Hawkbit in the miniseries.
Hawkbit is very similar to his TV series counterpart, but isn't as dry-witted. He still makes sarcastic remarks. Similarly to his book counterpart, he doesn't trust Hazel's leadership at first, although it takes more than brow-beating to shut him up. He is the comic relief of the rabbits, having many comedic moments.
The Journey[]
Hawkbit is seen observing the Sandleford rabbits with Dandelion, and he wonders how many does will be out in the evening, leading Dandelion to say that does are all Hawkbit thinks about. Later that evening, Fiver comes up to the two of them, and tells them to meet him and Hazel under the bridge at Frith-down, although they are confused by this.
Blackberry and Bluebell, who have both decided to meet Hazel and Fiver, go and retrieve Hawkbit and Dandelion, bringing them along. Upon seeing who is there, Hawkbit laments on how there's no does, making Hazel openly wonder where Dewdrop is, but Fiver, immediately realizing who Hazel is waiting for, replies that she's not coming. Hazel reluctantly decides to forget about her, and move on with who they have, but suddenly, Captain Holly arrives with another Owsla officer, and attempts to arrest all six of them. However, Bigwig arrives and scares both of them off.
Along the journey away from the warren, Hawkbit questions Hazel's leadership, believing that no one is leader. Right at that moment, Holly comes back with the entire Owsla, and gives chase. The chase lasts throughout the entire wood, but then Blackberry spots a trash can lid in the river. Everyone jumps on, except Bigwig and Dandelion, who swim and push it to the other side. With that, they escape the Owsla.
Throughout the next part of the journey, Hawkbit has absolutely no faith in Hazel's common sense, and believes that he mindlessly follows Fiver's visions. Blackberry assures him that Hazel is no fool, and that he, more than anyone, knows that they need to take Fiver with a pinch of salt. Soon, the rabbits reach a ruined church, where they try to rest. However, a murder of crows live there. Hazel attempts to negotiate with them, but this leads to them attacking. During the fight, one of the crows bites Hawkbit in the leg. Soon, Dandelion decides to lead them out of the church. When one of them picks him up, Hawkbit shows great concern for him, before he is dropped.
After escaping the church, Bigwig starts digging a scrape to live in. Hawkbit, along with everyone else, bar Hazel and Fiver, go to help him. The next morning, a rabbit named Cowslip comes across them, and offers them a home in his warren. Hawkbit is elated at the opportunity, but quickly gets annoyed when Fiver feels that they should have nothing to do with Cowslip, or his warren. When everyone asks Hazel what he thinks, Hawkbit immediately says that Hazel will think the same as Fiver, but to his surprise, Hazel decides to go to Cowslip's warren.
At the warren, Hawkbit gets his own burrow, which he comments happily about. Later on, at feeding time, Hawkbit tries a carrot for the first time, and finds it absolutely delicious, and talks with it sticking out of his mouth. After this, he accepts Hazel as the leader, although Bigwig ridicules him for it. Hawkbit's paradise-like view of the warren is shattered when Bigwig gets caught in a snare, and Cowslip tries to stop the rabbits from saving him. Blackberry shoves him out of the way, and they go save him. However, he loses consciousness, leading them to believe that they were too late, and Bigwig has strangled to death. At this point, Hawkbit reveals to Hazel what Cowslip had done. Bigwig, who turns out to still be alive, overhears this, and wants to kill Cowslip, but Fiver stops him. Strawberry, a doe from the warren, arrives on the scene, and wants to join the rabbits, but Hawkbit advises her to go back to her "friends" in her own warren. Strawberry replies by saying that she has no friends, because no one in the warren likes to make friends, just in case they end up getting snared. Hazel sympathizes with her, and allows her to join. The eight of them go to the down that Fiver had a feeling about, and it turns out to be their ideal home.
The Raid[]
Hawkbit and Dandelion both gain romantic feelings for Strawberry, and begin fighting over her. It starts with Hawkbit telling her that Dandelion has the white blindness, which infuriates Dandelion. Later that night, the fight goes from verbal to physical. Dandelion likely would've defeated Hawkbit, due to the strength he shoes (tossing Hawkbit off himself with his feet), but Bigwig and Strawberry break them up.
Hawkbit and Dandelion trying to dig a tunnel for their warren.
Later on, Hazel, Fiver, and Bigwig go to Nuthanger Farm to free the hutch rabbits there, while Holly, Blackberry, and Bluebell go to Efrafa after being told about it by Kehaar, leaving Hawkbit, Dandelion, Strawberry, and Kehaar by themselves. The three rabbits decide to dig the warren out. Hawkbit and Dandelion successfully dig a tunnel, and Hawkbit questions why do does think they're so good at digging. Then, in humorous irony, Strawberry digs through into their tunnel. Hawkbit breathlessly questions how she dug two tunnels in the time that it took them to dig just one, but when he sees the main burrow she dug, he and Dandelion are amazed, and remarks that she's given them a home. Strawberry nicknames it the Honeycomb.
Fiver and Bigwig arrive with two of the hutch does, Clover and Haystack, but Hazel doesn't, as he's been shot. Hawkbit panics, as without a chief rabbit, the warren will be finished. Soon, the rabbits begin bickering. Clover sneaks out to search for Hazel, but Bigwig sees this, and goes after her.
The Escape[]
Clover finds Hazel, but gets captured by Efrafan guards, so Bigwig goes to infiltrate the warren. Hawkbit and the others wait outside the warren for Kehaar, who is supposed to meet them there to help them escape. However, the seagull doesn't show up. Hawkbit is angered by this, and claims that they should never have trusted him. After this, they head for the bridge. Fiver sees a vision of himself in a hrududu, and realizes it means safety, somehow. He, Dandelion, Blackberry, Bluebell, and Hawkbit cross the bridge to the town. Fiver comes across the exact hrududu from his vision, but as he approaches it, he realizes something is wrong. Right at that moment, the cars are cleared to move. Dandelion jumps in and attempts to save Fiver, but both end up caught in the middle of the street. Hawkbit once again shows great concern for Dandelion. They manage to weave through the cars, and make it back to the rabbits. Hawkbit tells Fiver to keep his next vision to himself.
Fiver convinces Hazel to move back under the Iron Road, and then to the south, in order to avoid Efrafa. However, Bigwig, who has gotten the does out of Efrafa, intercepts them at the Iron Road. They end up cornered by the Efrafans.
The Siege[]
Kehaar swoops in and attacks, causing enough confusion for the rabbits to get away.
Back at Watership Down, Hawkbit and Dandelion confess their mutual love for Strawberry, and ask if she can come to a decision on which one she likes. However, a last line that Hawkbit throws in causes her to run away. Dandelion then berates him for this, as he didn't say it when they rehearsed it.
Bluebell, Dandelion, Hawkbit, and Thethuthinnang hearing the Efrafans digging from above.
Haystack smells the Efrafans, who have tracked them to the warren. Hazel assigns Hawkbit and Dandelion to guard duty at the wood run together, where Hawkbit goes on about how he will die, and Dandelion will start a family with Strawberry, and she'll name one of their kits Hawkbit, to remember him by. Dandelion replies by saying that he will kill him himself if he doesn't shut up. Later on, after Holly is killed by Efrafans, Hawkbit, along with everyone else trapped in the Honeycomb, mourns for him. The Efrafans abandon the tunnels, and start digging from above. Fiver, through one of his visions, gets the idea to lead the dog from Nuthanger Farm to the warren. Hazel takes him and Blackavar with him. The plan is a success, and the dog attacks the Efrafans, killing Captain Orchis, and possibly General Woundwort.
Hawkbit survives the battle, and several years later, he still lives in the warren. Strawberry didn't choose him or Dandelion, and instead went for Bigwig. The two of them look at the family in disappointment, but their attention is drawn away by another doe walking by. Both of them then go after her.
Trivia[]
- Despite Hawkbit not appearing in the film, Silver shares numerous similarities with the book counterpart of Hawkbit, essentially serving as the film counterpart of Hawkbit under the name of Silver.
Gallery[]
TV series[]
Seasons 1-2[]
.png "Hawkbit in Lost (Episode).png (148 KB)")
Season 3[]
Miniseries[]
Storyboards[]
