Gonff the Mousethief

Gonff the Mousethief was a protagonist in the books Mossflower and Luke the Warrior. Gonff was very sneaky, mischievous and a good tactician. Gonff was a survivor of the Invasion of Mossflower back about twenty years before the events take place. 
== Background ==
A wildcat lord named Verdauga and his children, Tsarmina and Gingivere, and his massive army of rats, ferrets, weasels and stoats came from the Northlands and ambushed Mossflower. Seeing a nation of untrained fighters, Verdauga quickly suppressed all rebellion, and he was victorious in his campaign. However, he was no longer cruel when he conquered, he said woodlanders could live free, with no tax, as long as they were loyal to him. Verdauga put down several rebellions in the following years.
Gonff's parents were in the rebellion, and they were killed. Gonff liked Gingivere, because of his judicial nature, and wanted him as ruler if Verdauga made a choice. Gonff was fair, and was only a thief to support the squirrel family that he befriended. Gonff was strategic, and he thought of an escape even if the Council of Resistance in Mossflower didn't take him out.
== Role ==
== Mossflower ==
As predicted, the Corim group didn't want Gonff free because they thought all thieves were bad. However, their leader told them that if it weren't for Gonff they'd have starved to death long ago, and so they made a plan to free the Mousethief. Gonff got a note through the prison window from the group. By this time he had met Martin, a young mouse who had also been imprisoned for defying Verdauga's daughter Tsarmina. Martin was taken to Gonff and he liked the plan to escape. So Martin and Gonff got out through Gonff using lockpicks, and Martin asked Gingivere, who had been imprisoned and framed by his sister for killing their father, if he could help him for standing up to him. Gonff was impatient, and said that he would return to help Gingivere. They walked straight into Tsarmina, and after a flight and fight around the castle, Gonff got Martin into the woodlands and they escaped to the Corim.
The Corim leader, Bella, a badger, wanted to know of her son, Boar, so Gonff and Martin and Dinny the Foremole decided to go to the Salamandastron mountain, home of the badgers, and see if he was there. They found him, defending the mountain from sea rats. Sadly returning to Mossflower without Boar; as the brave badger lord had sacrificed himself to slay his mortal enemy Ripfang the pirate; Gonff led the attack on Kotir fortress with the rebels. The moles sank Kotir. Martin faced Tsarmina and killed her. With the war over, Gonff stopped being a thief.
== The Legend of Luke ==
Many years later, Gonff was one of the members of Redwall who went to the Northlands to find out more about Martin's legendary past and to find his friend's homeland. On the way, Gonff performed many heroic actions, such as rescuing a baby squirrel, Chugga, from the feral Flitchaye weasels. Another of Gonff's brave deeds was befriending Krarr, a predatory bird; and convincing him that he was indeed a royal prince - not just a made-up title to impress others. With Krarr as an ally; they recaptured Chugga who had been taken by crows. Gonff liked mischevious types such as himself; and he befriended Queen Garroway of the otters; who lived and defended her dwellings from the Flitchaye. Gonff admired the wild Dunespike hedgehog tribe; who lived on the sand dunes. 
Finally, at the fabled Tall Rocks; on the Northland coast; Gonff learned the truth about Martin's father and how heroic blood ran in Maritn's veins. He and Martin freed the land from many a vermin rogue horde on his return to Mossflower. Gonff and Martin returned with their friends Folgrim the otter and his brother; who lived at Redwall with a regenerated and now-happy Martin until their old age and deaths.
== Personality ==
Gonff liked Gingivere because of his fair nature; and he valued fairness in others. Prepared to give others a second chance; even vermin - he never judged others too harshly; unless they threatened those he sought to protect. He was indebted with those who provided him aid, as he valued his friends who had sheltered him as an orphan cub. Gonff was a very fatherly figure and his jokes prevented him and others from going round the bend when things got tough. Indeed, his comic relief nature stands as an antidote to the more serious themes the novel portrays.Category:Animals
Category:Fighters
Category:Male
Category:Criminals
Category:Mischievous
Category:Tricksters
Category:Heroes from the Past
Category:Thieves