Moss, also referred to as Corporal Moss (later as Captain Moss and eventually Moss-rah), is an Efrafan rabbit. He is a character unique to the television series, and appears in all seasons in a minor role. He may be based on Groundsel, since he becomes the leader of a warren of former Efrafans.
Personality[]
Moss is shown to be strict, with a strong sense of honor, but is also caring and respectful towards others. He is initially shown to be loyal towards Woundwort and his cause, and becomes a Captain in his Owsla. However, he eventually betrays Woundwort and frees all of the slaves, showing that Moss knows what is right and what is wrong, and when to stand up to wrongdoers.
He greatly respects Captain Campion, and speaks to him on a friendly note. He shows deep regret that he has to arrest Campion in The Stand, but follows Woundwort's orders through, sounding the alarm and calling in the Owsla when Campion resists. Even when ordered not to refer to Campion as "sir" after he loses his position, Moss does so anyway, showing he has deep respect for Campion.
He shows regret and sympathy for a captured Pipkin in Prisoner of Efrafa, saying that even if he is ordered to do so, he will be upset if he has to kill Pipkin. He remarks that all the officers are the same, being "as cold as snow," showing he has little regard for what he sees as unnecessary cruelty.
Biography[]
Season 1[]
His first appearance is in the episode Friend and Enemy. While on Wide Patrol, Moss gets caught in a net, attracting a hawk that nearly kills Campion. Later in the same episode, he reappears along with Vervain, out looking for flayrah on Woundwort's orders. While Vervain is reluctant to stay for long, Moss says that Captain Campion would've insisted on a thorough patrol, to which Vervain replies that Campion is not there, so it doesn't matter what he would have done. When Campion reappears alive, Moss is glad to see that Campion is not dead after all.
In Kidnapped, Moss is seen on a Wide Patrol led by Vervain. He advises Vervain to try following Kehaar back to the outsiders' warren, but Vervain points out that they've tried that already. Then another of the Owsla, a buck named Larch, collapses from exhaustion. When Moss reports this, Vervain decides to leave Larch behind. Later, the patrol sees Campion meeting with Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, Primrose, and Pipkin, and unsuccessfully attempt to capture them. Moss is present when Vervain reports these events to Woundwort, and he is part of the false ambush Woundwort organizes in an attempt to trick the outsiders. At the end of the episode, Vervain, Moss, and another unnamed Efrafan capture Pipkin.
Season 2[]
In Prisoner of Efrafa, he is seen guarding Pipkin with another Owsla member. Moss remarks that he'd rather not kill Pipkin, but Campion reminds him he must follow his orders. Moss is patrolling with Vervain when Vervain notices Campion acting suspiciously and begins to watch him closely. At the end of the episode, Moss is present at the prisoner exchange, and falls into a hole dug by the outsiders as a trap.
Moss appears in The Stand as a part of Vervain's patrol, searching for two Efrafans who have run away. When the runners are found, he brings them back to Efrafa, where Woundwort has them put on a digging squad and halves their rations. Later, when Campion deserts his post to warn Hazel of Woundwort's attack on Redstone, Moss is ordered to arrest him upon his return. When he attempts to do so, Campion resists arrest and Moss sounds the alarm, though Campion ultimately escapes until he is later arrested by Vervain.
Moss is seen guarding Campion throughout The Great Game. He takes Campion to be interrogated by Vervain, though he tries to protest Vervain's harsh treatment of Campion. He continues to address Campion as "sir" despite Vervain reminding him that Campion is no longer an officer and ordering him to stop. Later, Vervain tries to show Woundwort and Campion a "magical" way to capture the outsiders (in reality a series of tricks by Hannah to discredit Vervain), and Moss is present as Campion's guard. Ultimately, Hannah's trick works and Woundwort deems Vervain insane, ordering Moss to arrest him. Moss, showing a vindictive side, taunts Vervain as he does so, and at the end of the episode is seen overseeing Vervain and preventing him from escaping.
Moss places Campion under arrest.
In the season 2 finale, The Homecoming, he and two other Owsla are seen leading a group of slaves, including Vervain, back to Efrafa. Vervain escapes from Moss's watch and finds the cave that leads to Hazel's warren. Upon Vervain's return, Moss is ordered by Captain Campion to keep him in his quarters. Campion tells Moss that he wants to check Vervain's story before telling the General, but really intends to warn the Watership Rabbits. Vervain gets past Moss and tells Woundwort of the tunnel, despite Moss trying to convince Woundwort that Vervain is insane.
When Woundwort is ready to lead his army to Watership Down, Moss informs a returning Campion that Efrafa is going to war. He is seen fighting with Hazel in the cave and is present when Campion is crushed under a falling boulder while saving Woundwort.
Season 3[]
Moss and Heather prepare to leave the down.
Moss survives the cave collapsing, and once outside, informs General Woundwort that more than half of the army was killed. He is promoted to Captain Moss. In Efrafa, he witnesses Woundwort's growing madness and arranges a resistance with Heather to overthrow Woundwort. He claims that he can no longer follow a mad chief and wants to free the slaves in memory of Campion. The same night, when Hazel and all the other animals attack, he brings his plan into effect. He is seen fighting some members of the Efrafan Owsla.
After Woundwort is supposedly killed in an earthquake, he and the other Efrafan refugees go to Watership Down. He breaks up several fights on the Down between quarreling Watership and Efrafan rabbits. After almost fighting with Bigwig himself over a dispute, Bigwig leaves on solitary patrol, returning with another Efrafan Owsla member that was attacked by a weasel. After hearing what happened, Moss sits alone to think, before being visited by Heather. Together, they come to a decision that all Efrafan rabbits should leave and start a new warren far away from Efrafa. Heather nominates Moss as the new leader of the Efrafans, and the other rabbits agree. Clover hints that Heather becomes his mate.
Changes between seasons[]
Moss's character design was changed in season 3. In the first two seasons, he has a light green mask-like design around his eyes, which stretches down his nose and mouth. His underbelly fur and inside of his ears are the light green as well. In season 3, he retains the shadows around his eyes, these being a beige-green color. His underbelly fur, muzzle, mouth and inside ear fur are a tinted green color. In both designs, his eyes are light green.
Gallery[]
