Slagar the Cruel

{{#SQuote: |id=4 |text=A taker of slaves, and a thief;
I know not what master he served.
Cruel Slagar has come to grief;
T'was all that he deserved. |speaker=Sir Harry the Muse }}

Chickenhound, later known as Slagar the Cruel, was a nefarious male fox who originated from Mossflower Woods. Under the moniker of Slagar, he enslaved innocent young ones for the kingdom of Malkariss. He was the son of Sela.

Chickenhound

During Cluny the Scourge's war against Redwall Abbey, Sela and Chickenhound were recruited to provide medical aid to Cluny. However, the foxes were double dealers of information, and they tried to sell Cluny's battle plans to the Redwallers. Cluny quickly deciphered their fraud and ordered them both to be executed.

Chickenhound survived the effort and hauled his wounded body to Redwall, where he informed the residents about Cluny's scheme to tunnel into the Abbey grounds. Jess Squirrel and Constance suspected he could not be trusted, but Abbot Mortimer provided care for him anyway. As the Redwallers shored up their structure's exterior defenses, Chickenhound looted Redwall, however he accidentally stumbled across Friar Hugo while doing so. Fleeing the Friar, he encountered Brother Methuselah, who bravely tried to stop him. The fox took no notice and struck the frail old mouse with his bag of spoils harder than he intended, killing him.

Chickenhound absconded into Mossflower and hid under a dead tree while Constance conducted a manhunt for him. Asmodeus Poisonteeth, who was also located underneath the tree, bit him in the face and dragged him to his lair for consumption.

Miraculously, Chickenhound escaped Asmodeus, survived the encounter, and decamped deeper into the Mossflower wilderness for two seasons, slowly treating his wounds with the knowledge of healing taught to him by his deceased mother. However, his experiences at Redwall and with the adder were deeply traumatic and inspired a certain level of delusion.

When he was injured by Cluny's horde, Chickenhound traveled to the Abbey, requested to see the Abbot, and was taken to the Infirmary for medical treatment. While there, he couldn't believe he was permitted to stay, believing the residents to be fools, with the Abbey only waiting to be plundered.

He later claimed to be "captured" and "imprisoned" by Redwallers, stating his acts of theft and vandalism were "payment."

As he recovered, Chickenhound's conviction that his pains were brought upon him by the Redwallers grew, exacerbated by the idea that he was prevented vengeance against Asmodeus by Matthias, who slew the adder. Once recovered, Chickenhound vowed to exact his revenge against all of Redwall. The snake bite permanently disfigured the right side of his face, leaving it bald with the skin hanging in dead black and purple folds, and marbling his right eye. Adopting a silken harlequin-colored hood and mask to cover his deformation, he renamed himself Slagar, and for a time disappeared from the region.

Slagar the Cruel

During his travels, Slagar encountered Malkariss; he promised the polecat leader that he would provide slaves for his underground kingdom in exchange for all of the land above ground. Malkariss agreed, but continually delayed fulfillment of the bargain. As a result, Slagar plotted to overthrow Malkariss and take both the above-ground and below-ground kingdoms for himself once he had exacted his revenge on Matthias.

Over the course of many seasons, Slagar perfected a slave-capturing routine. He would recruit a gang of vermin, force them to kidnap innocents, return to Malkariss, and influence the vermin to betray and kill one another while he reaped the rewards.

Finally, Slagar decided the time was right to settle the score with the Redwallers. With his latest crew of criminals, he returned to the Abbey, capturing several new slaves along the way, including Auma and Jube. They arrived at Redwall just in time for the midsummer feast. Disguised as a group of nomadic circus entertainers, Slagar's gang performed for the Abbey residents while Slagar secretly spiked their drinks with a potent sleeping drug. After the sedative was successfully administered, the fox kidnapped Mattimeo, son of Matthias, and several other Abbey young ones.

Slagar traveled back to Malkariss to deliver the slaves. This time, Malkariss finally kept his promise, giving Slagar his own army of rats and the land above. As Slagar and his new force departed, they encountered Matthias' rescue party, who had tracked him there. Allowing the others to engage in battle, Slagar sneaked away, but as Matthias curiously looked at stone carvings in the kingdom, Slagar came from behind and attacked him with his bolas. Before he could kill the warrior, former slaves chased Slagar off and saved Matthias.

After the woodlanders fought and destroyed the army of Malkariss, they prepared to head home. As they were leaving, a rat named Vitch, who had been a part of Slagar's gang, tried to escape. Slagar seized the chance to kill Vitch with his bolas. This alerted Matthias and Orlando the Axe to his presence, and Slagar was forced to flee. Before either could get to him, however, Slagar accidentally stepped into a hole that used to be a well and fell to his death.

Slagar the Cruel's Legacy

Slagar the Cruel was mentioned by Recorder Rollo as an evildoer who resided in Saint Ninian's Church prior to its immolation. Sawney Rath referred to him as an enemy who had been soundly vanquished by Redwallers.

Slagar's Identities

The various names and titles used by Slagar the Cruel included:

• Chickenhound
• Mousedeath
• Slagar the Fox
• Slagar the Slaver
• The Cruel One
• The Sly One
• The Lord of Double-Dealing
• The Pitiless One
• Lunar Stellaris (as the head of the circus entertainers)
• Lunar Stellaris Fortuna Mandala (alternative name for Lunar Stellaris)
• Stellar Lunaris (alternative name for Lunar Stellaris)
• Lord of Moon and Stars (alternative name for Lunar Stellaris)
• Lord of Mountebanks (other designation for Lunar Stellaris)
• Lord of Light and Dark (other designation for Lunar Stellaris)
• Master of Life and Death (other designation for Lunar Stellaris)
• Lord of Shadows (other designation for Lunar Stellaris)

Nelvana Redwall TV Series

In the Nelvana Redwall TV Series season one episode Treachery, both Chickenhound and Sela gain entry to Redwall Abbey as directed by Cluny the Scourge. Together, they provide the residents with Cluny's fake plans, and when left alone, loot the Abbey for its valuables. When they're discovered by Methuselah, Chickenhound intentionally injures the old mouse by hitting him over the head with a candelabra. While Sela is captured by the Redwallers and given to Cluny's horde, which kills her, Chickenhound flees into Mossflower Woods, where he's attacked by Asmodeus.

In Redwall, only Chickenhound enters the Abbey, which occurs after both foxes betray Cluny. After spending time receiving medical care in the Infirmary, he pillages the Abbey and murders Methuselah with a sack of loot.

In the season two episode The Magician Revealed, Slagar the Cruel tells Mattimeo that Matthias "betrayed his sainted mother" and the Redwall residents imprisoned him in the Infirmary. The decision to return Sela to Cluny's troops in the previous season was made by Basil Stag Hare, not Matthias, however Slagar wouldn't have known this as he was hiding in the Abbey lawns. As Slagar never visited the Infirmary in the TV series, his claims of being there can be taken as a delusion or a narrative oversight.

Watch Tim Curry's best moments voicing Slagar the Cruel below.

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The Lost Legends of Redwall

In The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout Act II, players can find a letter from Chickenhound addressed to Bolo Scrimpaw aboard the Winsome Wraith. The contents of the letter indicate that the fox and stoat are acquaintances and have been corresponding for some time.

Trivia

• Watch Brian Jacques discuss Slagar the Cruel here.
• Slagar the Cruel is the only Redwall villain to physically appear in two books.
• Slagar the Cruel survived two serious attempts on his life - one from Cluny's horde members, and another from Asmodeus.
• Slagar the Cruel is one of very few creatures to withstand an attack from Asmodeus. Almost all other victims were killed and/or consumed.
• Both Slagar the Cruel and Swartt Sixclaw, who lived many generations earlier, claimed the title of "The Pitiless One."
• Kharanjul, who ruled over his own black-robed vermin in the same region many generations later, also shared one of Slagar's titles, "Master of Life and Death."
• Slagar the Cruel has the distinction of being one of few Redwall villains who has no desire to conquer Redwall Abbey, reasoning that if he attempted to do so he would likely fail.
• Despite the name "Chickenhound", neither chickens nor hounds appear in the Redwall series.