Fiver (Watership Down)

Fiver (Lapine: Hrair-roo, sometimes Hrairoo) is a fictional character: a buck rabbit who is one of the central characters in Richard Adams' novel "Watership Down". He was born in a warren at Sandleford, and is the younger brother of Hazel. Fiver's Lapine name, literally "little thousand" comes from the fact that he was the smallest rabbit of at least five in his litter. We are told that rabbits cannot count beyond four, so all numbers greater than this are "hrair", or "thousand", although in this case Adams renders it into English as "five". Fiver is timid and physically weak, but has a form of sixth sense which gives him the ability to foresee certain events, although these visions are often rather vague and clouded.

Near the beginning of the book, Fiver becomes terrified by a vision of "the field ... covered with blood", and persuades Hazel that it is necessary to leave the warren at once. The two brothers visit the Chief Rabbit but cannot convince him of the danger, so Hazel organises a secret escape party. Bigwig in particular is skeptical of Fiver's gifts at first, but after his near death in the snare at Cowslip's warren he changes his views and becomes far more willing to listen to what Fiver has to say.

Fiver is credited with saving Hazel's life by finding his near-unconscious brother after the latter is shot at Nuthanger Farm; this forms the "Bright Eyes" sequence in the feature film. In the story's climax, the assault on the Watership warren by the General Woundwort's force, Fiver again falls into a trance, and his vision inspires Hazel to set up the release of the Nuthanger Farm dog which eventually defeats the Efrafans. Some time later Bigwig, who is badly wounded when fighting Woundwort during the struggle, remarks that Fiver has paid a higher price than even himself for the victory. However, he at least has also found a mate, the formerly-Efrafan doe Vilthuril, whom he loves deeply and who understands his personal burdens.

Some of Fiver's most critical dreams are self-interpreted by a character within the dream who appears to be a man with a gun.

In the TV series, Fiver's fur is similar in colour to Hazel's. Hazel's fur is more a bright red, while Fiver's is a little darker, making his fur colour look reddish-brown. He is also shorter then his brother and Hazel is slightily slimmer then his younger brother. Fiver also has grey eyes. His design is similar to that of Blackberry's from the original 1978 film. Fiver's visions often appear at random with no warning, however when he receives them, his whole body starts to shake and he will speak in rhyme, until the vision is over.

References

*cite|author=Richard Adams|title=Watership Down|date=1972|publisher=Rex Collings