Redwall Online Community

The Redwall Online Community (ROC) is an internet fandom inclusive of websites, media, forums, chat rooms, and social media groups relating to the books of Brian Jacques' Redwall series. As with other online communities, the Redwall Online Community is composed of a significant group of people who interact in ways which form microsocieties composed of political movements rooted in morality related to various aspects of literature and anthropomorphism.

The ROC is constructed in a manner analogous to the geographic distribution of large and small settlements. It is composed of a few large sites and multiple smaller ones. Often members of the ROC will be involved in multiple forums on the various sites, sometimes using an identical (or similar) screenname everywhere they go within the community to identify themselves. Participants were known as ROCers.

Redwall Online Community History

The Redwall Online Community was formed by young Redwall fans in the mid-1990s as the internet became more accessible in homes around the world. This period is seen as the glory days: fan websites stayed true to Redwall, ROCers were ever-present, and sites were updated on a consistent basis. Clubs such as the Redwall MUCK, Long Patrol Club, Dark Mouse's Cove, Sampetra (INSU), and Camp Willow had member rosters approaching 1,000; in many instances fan-managed websites had several thousand participants. The center of the community revolved around these popular clubs inspiring many off-shoot clubs and groups.

As of 2026, the largest Redwall fan websites that continue to maintain regular activity are the Redwall Wiki and Russian Redwall Community, in addition to some social media pages.

Around the year 2000, the steady flow of ROCers decreased, and the larger, more popular sites shutdown one by one. Others were abandoned altogether. This continued for approximately a decade. After Brian Jacques passed in 2011, the online fandom decreased even further.

Many see this as having occurred because the Redwall fan base of the 1990s and early 2000s had grown up; people who were once engrossed with the series when they were younger moved on, aged into adulthood, and involved themselves in other pursuits. Many of the older ROCers who managed websites decided that they did not have the time or interest to dedicate to an online presence any longer. Additionally, many sites consisted of forums, where members discussed random "general" topics, not necessarily relating to Redwall. Furthermore, a lot of sites became fantasy-related, and not as exclusive to Redwall as they were when they started.

Another issue in the steady decline of the Redwall Online Community population may be the general lack of exposure Redwall has to new readers. A dwindling readership makes for a dwindling online interest. Penguin's 2010 repackaging of the series aimed to increase the audience for Redwall, however since Brian Jacques' death, marketing of the series has lessened, and there have been no new U.S. editions released since.

The rise of social media in the 2010s can be credited as taking over the part of the internet where people connect for shared fandoms, instead of individual websites. With many fan websites abandoned, social media groups and forums for casual and former readers found engagement.

Timeline

Please see the ROC Timeline article for further details.

Sociopolitical aspects of the ROC

Mass roleplay is a phenomenon in which players act as anthropomorphized animals usually native to the British Isles within a 'game world' based on the world of Redwall. It is a bonding experience in the ROC, used more to hone writing talent than to escape from the real world.

One form of mass roleplay which rose in popularity over the years following 2001 was the Survivor Roleplay. In such organized roleplays, a number of contestants were selected from writing samples and character drafts, then pitted against each other in an audience-decided contest of authorship and skill with language. Eight varieties of Redwall Survivor emerged, and they were:

Redwall Online Community Survivor
Questors Bold
RedVenture
Operation: Storm
The Emperor's Decree
Midnight Mossflower
Redscape
Redwall: Revolutions

Another form of mass roleplay is Location Play. This is defined as exclusive inter-character roleplay centered around a single location.

The ideological composition of the ROC is different from that of any country in that there are two themes uniting every member to some degree and the rest fall by the wayside: Literacy is the first defining trait, and is evidenced by the mass appreciation of literary works - obviously the Redwall books. Fandom is the second trait, and consists of each member's individual appreciation of the Redwall series. Both of these factors are of course varied between each individual, but they are present to some degree in all ROCers.

The age composition of the ROC also reflects the distribution of fans across the globe: people between the ages of 10 and 60 have been or currently are active in the Redwall Online Community.

Ideological Movements

The Redwall Online Community is not without political intrigue. There were several large groups of members who share a particular opinion on one of the two main aspects of the ROC.

Loyalists are those who believe that Brian Jacques was correct to focus on writing his Redwall novels, and find his material continuously enthralling and stimulating to read. They are a representation of those who side with Redwall and that style of literature.

Dissenters are those who believe that though the Redwall series was magnificent at its prime, it should have been left alone and the author should have moved on. They are a representation of those who side with the concept of expanding literature for its own sake.

Prominent Sites

The following consists of prominent websites in the Redwall Online Community. Either currently, or some time in the past, these websites provided much to Redwall fans. Click for further reading.

Prominent Figures

The following people in some way made a large impact on the Redwall Online Community.

External Links

Redwall Online Community Facebook Group