Cheesethief
Cheesethief was a very ambitious lower ranking male rat captain in Cluny the Scourge's horde. A sadist, he dreamed of promotion, and was fiercely jealous of any possible rivals. When Scragg found favor with Cluny during the attempt to get into Redwall Abbey by means of a plank on a high elm tree, Cheesethief resolved to eliminate him.
When the plan backfired, Scragg survived the fall from the elm tree. Cheesethief pretended to provide help, but instead suffocated him by stepping on his neck. Cheesethief eventually seemed to impress Cluny with his initiative involving the battering ram the horde used in an attempt to break through the main gate of Redwall. Cheesethief let this success go to his head and became more abusive to the other soldiers in Cluny's horde, taunting Killconey about Scragg's death and mistreating Fangburn.
The ram, in fact, was a diversion to two other strategies to enter the Abbey. Cluny left the horde for a brief time, leaving Cheesethief in charge during his absence, seemingly a promotion to second-in-command (the spot had been open since Redtooth's disappearance). Cheesethief stayed in Cluny's tent, wearing the Scourge's full battle armor. Constance built a huge crossbow in an attempt to assassinate Cluny, but unknowingly used it on Cheesethief, killing him with the monstrous candle snuffer she used as a makeshift arrow.
Cluny used Cheesethief's death as propaganda, stating that Cheesethief was planning to overthrow him and Constance had done him a favor by slaying him.
Nelvana Redwall TV Series
[edit]In the Nelvana Redwall TV Series, Cheesethief is shown to have a strong predilection for cheese and plots to overthrow Cluny so he can take command. When Cluny is informed by his spy, Killconey, of this attempt at mutiny and the Redwallers' crossbow assassination plan, he requests that Cheesethief review some battle plans in his tent. As a result, Cluny tricks Cheesethief into acting as his body double and thwarts both attempts on his life.
The Lost Legends of Redwall
[edit]Cheesethief appears in The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout Act II as a foe of Liam Rivermouse and Sophia Ryemaid. They defeat him by dropping a barrel on his head and flooding Camp Silversands. Later, in The Scout Act III, Bolo Scrimpaw conspires with Cheesethief to have his father, Valo Scrimpaw, kidnapped.
In The Scout: Act II, optional dialogue for Sophia Ryemaid includes the sense that Cheesethief is invulnerable to any efforts the player might make against him. This is a nod to the fact that his canon demise takes place in Redwall.