The Were-Rabbit is the titular overarching antagonist of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and the titular main antagonist of its video game adaption.
Role in the Film[]
Most of the plot revolves around the Were-Rabbit's destructive behavior and attempts to neutralize it. At first, he is presumed to be the antagonist of the film but is soon found out to be the protagonist.
History[]
After his accident with the Mind-O-Matic connecting with the BunVac 6000, Wallace ends up losing his intelligence and gained rabbit-like instincts. This did help with his vegetable diet against his dislike of them. However, during nighttime, he would transform into a destructive vegetarian monster before reverting at daytime with no memories of his previous experiences.
First Night[]
During his first night as the Were-Rabbit, Were-Rabbit wandered into the town's church and intimidated Reverend Clement Hedges, though he was only interested in munching his vegetables. He then ravaged the town's gardens while looking for more food. After his first change and when the sun rose, Wallace returns to normal. Gromit did not sense anything wrong with him.
Second Night[]
During the second night, Wallace and Gromit attempted to lure the rabbit away with a giant "Lady Were-Rabbit" marionette as an act of love. But after accidentally knocking the marionette off at a low bridge, Wallace went back to fetch it. He transforms again before he could do so.
Gromit managed to attach a lasso to the Were-Rabbit. The monster burrowed again and began to scoop up vegetables from underground while launching dirt at the vehicle, though Gromit managed to accelerate the windshield wipers to remove them. Gromit lost track after a greenhouse fell through and severed the lasso. He was unable to escape from the tunnel until daylight, which led him back to 62 West Wallaby Street.
Wallace was convinced that Hutch (who has grown, though still relative to Gromit in size) was the culprit. However, after discovering half-eaten vegetables at the house, Gromit (much to his terror) was convinced that Wallace is the perpetrator.
Third Night[]
While Gromit is attempting to bring Wallace back to their home in hopes of protecting him, they encounter a barricade and Wallace attempts to fruitlessly move the tree. Victor arrives later and argues with Wallace about "conning an innocent woman out of her fortune". When Victor attempted hurt Wallace, he instead transforms. The monster rips off his clothing, leaving only a bow tie. He scares off both Victor and Philip, though Gromit simply began pursuit again.
Fourth Morning[]
After his third change, Wallace shifted back into his human form yet the rabbit ears are still present. After rebuffing Gromit's theory, the dog showed Wallace Hutch's intelligence which finally convinces Wallace. He tries to repair the Mind Manipulation-O-Matic, though fails and Hutch begins to take over. Shocked, Wallace knew he cannot answer the door because of his Were-Rabbit ears, but Hutch attempted to do so, and Wallace went after him. Seeing it was Lady Tottington, they removed Hutch from the vicinity and concealed him, while Wallace puts on a woolly hat to hide his rabbit ears.
Last Night[]
While Lady Tottington attempted to inform Wallace about that he had given her no option but to let Victor shoot the Were-Rabbit, it horrified Wallace and Gromit, as it effectively equates to him murdering Wallace. Wallace begins to transform again and was forced to evict her from his property to prevent harming her.
After she left, Victor and Philip arrived to murder Wallace. Gromit tried to get him out of the house but he fully transformed and began to eat vegetables. Gromit used the Lady Were-Rabbit marionette to lure Wallace away, which allowed him to escape. Victor missed and instead shot Gromit's marionette, after which he discovers that he has been duped the whole time. He traps Gromit in a cage, though he quickly frees himself with the help of Wallace's alarms and Hutch and heads off to save Wallace.
After arriving at the Giant Vegetable Competition, Wallace attempted to eat the vegetables while Victor attempted to kill him. Gromit and Hutch arrived, with the former using a giant marrow to lure Wallace away. Victor, after having his last shot wasted by a villager, steals a musket and attempts to take the golden carrot as ammunition, causing Lady Tottington to fight him. Overhearing this, Wallace regained his senses and in a fit of rage, went back to save her. After kicking Victor away, he grabbed Lady Tottington and attempted to bring her to safety, but the townsfolk instead attempted to murder him again with pitchforks and torches. Wallace leaped into the air and onto Tottington Hall's roof, and ripped away the pipes when Victor attempted to reach him, forcing Victor on a detour. Wallace brought Tottington to her greenhouse garden and revealed himself to her.
Victor disables Tottington and chases Wallace away to the rooftop, where he was cornered on a flagpole. Gromit, however, managed to intercept the carrot with his aircraft, much to Victor's anger while Wallace jumps around rapidly in joy. The plane's engine fails, and Wallace leaps off to protect Gromit, with the impact leaving him unconscious, though Gromit survives.
Lady Tottington managed to free herself and knocked Victor off her property into the same cheese tent Gromit was in with a giant carrot. Gromit throws Victor in the marionette costume and kicks him out. The villagers and Philip then chase Victor away. Wallace returns to his human state, seemingly deceased, to the sorrow of Tottington, Gromit, and the Rabbit Swarm, though Gromit manages to revive him with a slice of stinking bishop cheese. He regains his formerly lost abilities and loses his rabbit attributes, much to his joy.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Strength: Despite his huge size, the Were-Rabbit possesses enormous strength as he is able to lift up heavy trees, uproot vegetables, rip open greenhouses and leap off buildings. He is incredibly fast, being capable of outrunning even a road vehicle during a ground pursuit. It also enables him to easily burrow underground and escape threats.
- Senses: The Were-Rabbit has an acute sense of smell and excellent hearing as he can easily detect food and sound from a distance.
Weaknesses[]
- Gold: The Vicar claimed that the Were-Rabbit can be killed by bullets made of pure gold.
- Speech: Like Gromit, the Were-Rabbit is incapable of speech and communicates otherwise.
- Appetite: The Were-Rabbit is constantly driven by his hunger of vegetables, putting him at risk to many threats.
Trivia[]
- The Were-Rabbit is a parody of movie monsters such as The Wolf Man, An American Werewolf in London, The Howling, The Fly, King Kong, Frankenstein, and Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde.
- Like some were-creatures, when the Were-Rabbit shape-shifts back into Wallace, he will be left confused and have no memory of what he had done the previous nights.
- The transformation from Wallace into the Were-Rabbit was Nick Park's favorite animation scene.
- Wallace being unaware of the Were Rabbit events when he wakes up shares a similar element with The Mask (1994). Stanley is unaware of the events until it occurs to him, but it did much quicker unlike Wallace who took quite some time to realize it was him.
- Wallace being unaware of the Were Rabbit events when he wakes up also shares a similar element with The Incredible Hulk (1978-1982). David Blacks out when he transforms into the Hulk and has no memory of what happened once he transforms back to David, though unlike Wallace, David actually know’s he’s the Hulk.
- The creature's Latin name is "Carrotus apetitus giganticus" as revealed in The Observer's Book of Monsters, by Claude Savagely.