Watership Down

Watership Down is a small rarelit fandom, based on the children's novel about a group of anthropomorphised rabbits by Richard Adams, as well as its adaptations. Adams also completed a book of short stories, Tales from Watership Down (1996). It includes a dictionary of his invented language. 
The story involves a group of rabbits who leave their home warren at the urgings of Fiver, a small rabbit who foretells terrible disaster. With Fiver's brother Hazel leading them, they journey across the English landscape and survive many dangers before coming to Watership Down and starting a new warren. They then realise they've neglected to include any female rabbits. With the help of a seagull, Kehaar, they find Efrafa which is ruled by the dictator General Woundwort and when diplomacy fails, they use trickery to achieve their ends and rescue a number of does. When Woundwort launches an attack on Watership in retaliation, Hazel embarks on a desperate plan to save the warren, while his friend Bigwig battles the General. 
===Characters===
====Sandleford Warren====
*Hazel
*Bigwig
*Fiver
*Blackberry
*Pipkin
*Dandelion
*Silver
*Buckthorn
*Hawkbit, Speedwell and Acorn
*Holly
*Bluebell
==== Cowslip's Warren====
*Cowslip
*Strawberry
*Silverweed
====Nuthanger Farm====
*Clover
*Boxwood
*Haystack
*Laurel
*Lucy, the farmer's daughter
*Tab, the Cat
*The Dog
====Efrafa ====
*General Woundwort
*Campion
*Hyzenthlay
*Thethuthinnang
*Vilthuril
*Vervain
*Blackavar
*Avens
*Groundsel
====Others====
*Kehaar
*El-ahrairah
*Prince Rainbow
*Rabscuttle
*Black Rabbit of Inlé
==Adaptations==
=== Film Adaptation===
An animated film of the novel was released in 1978 and was relatively faithful to the novel. Its theme song 'Bright Eyes' by Art Garfunkel was a number one hit in the UK. The film adaptation generally seems to be considered to be the best adaptation out of those that have happened so far as it follows the book's plot relatively faithfully. This includes some graphic - and very disturbing - scenes of the destruction of the Sandleford Warren, Bigwing in the snare at Cowslip's warren and Bigwing's fight with General Woundwort, to the point the movie is considered traumatising for a particular generation"A piercing screen: How Watership Down terrified an entire generation," by Ed Power, The Independent, October 20, 2018..
===BBC Miniseries===
A television series ran for three seasons in 1999-2001, with many changes from book canon to make it fluffier, including gender-switching Blackberry and making Pipkin a young, adventurous rabbit instead of a small, timid adult. While part of the first season followed the book, the latter half of season 1 and seasons 2 and 3 were entirely new content.
=== Netflix Series===
The Netflix CGI animated series was released in 2018, with James McAvoy providing the voice of Hazel. While the first half of the movie followed the book, there were a number of changes from the Nuthanger Farm raid onwards, including making Clover more of a central character and having her captured by Efrafans and wooed by Woundwort. The infiltration of Efrafa becomes a mission to rescue Clover (as well as freeing the does).
==Fandom==
Watership Down is a much loved novel & film. It has generated a small amount of fanfiction. Stories at Yuletide & its New Year Resolutions challenge tend to be bookverse and of very high quality. Stories at fanfiction.net date back to 2000, and are often based in the television series. With the release of the new Netflix series, interest in the fandom increased again. 
Most stories are gen or non-explicit het. Popular themes include the story of the does, and further tales in the rabbit mythology involving the trickster El-ahrairah & the Black Rabbit of Inle, an incarnation of Death. There are also a number of stories involving inserting an OC (usually female) into the original story.
There's also a little fanart. Luzula and blackglass have recorded a couple of podfics.
There were dozens of Watership Down RPGs on Yahoo! Groups. Many centered original characters in original warrens.
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
*Hombathlay by Jane Mailander -- fusion with The Professionals, from the zine Second Variation on the Theme of B and D (1999)
*Blackavar's Gift by Loganberry (2002-2003)
*Strong Yet Weak by KaptainSarcasm -- one of the first crop of Yuletide stories (2005)
*Bright Moon, Who Goes Farther Still by Hossgal (2007)
*The Story of Marli-Hrair and the Black Rabbit of Inle by Edonohana (2009)
*Captain Holly's Last Command by Edonohana (2009)
*The Story of Hrayatha and the Rabbit Who Left No Tracks by Luzula (2010)
*El-ahrairah and the Velveteen Rabbit by Isabeau. Crossover with Velveteen Rabbit (2013)
*Mixed Blessings by Astrokath. Dark futurefic (2014)
*El-ahrairah and the Litter of Kittens by Luzula (2014)
===Fanart===
* Watership Down at at DeviantArt
* All the world will be your enemy, and when ever they catch you, they will kill you... by Rat Creature -- fanart fusion with Stargate Atlantis (2006)
===Vids===
* "Battlefield" by Lady Kimba (2019)
* "We're Both The Same" by btloov (2019)
* "Sweet Dreams" by DJzapper128 (2020)
* "Tunnelvision" (General Woundwort) by KayFrost (2022)
===Podfic ===
* Bright Moon, Who Goes Further Still by Hossgal - podfic by Luzula (2011)
* El-ahrairah and the Starstone by akamine_chan - podfic by Luzula (2013)
* The Mercy of Frith by Iorata - podfic by blackglass (2021)
* The Story of Hrayatha and the Rabbit Who Left No Tracks by Luzula - podfic by blackglass (2021)
==Recs and Comments ==
=== Recs===
*Espresso Recommendations: Watership Down
*fancake's recommendations
*TVTropes Fanfic Recs
*QuoteTV Fanfic Recs
===Comments===
==Archives, Communities & Resources==
*Watership Down@AO3 -- 237 stories including Yuletide from 2009
*Watership Down@ff.net -- 164 stories
*Watership Down@Yuletide archive -- 10 stories from Yuletides 2005-2008
*Wattpad Watership Down Fanfic
*Fiver's Honeycomb (2011-2021) - fan community
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Books & Literature
Category:Animated Film 
Category:Fandoms by Source Text 
Category:Watership Down