Rabbit of Caerbannog - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog is a fictional beast in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...

. It is the antagonist in a major setpiece

Setpiece

In film production, a setpiece is a scene or sequence of scenes the execution of which requires serious logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term setpiece is often used more broadly to describe any important dramatic or comedic highpoint in a film or story, particularly...

battle, and makes a similar appearance in Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...

, a musical inspired by the movie. The iconic status of this skit was important in establishing the viability of the musical.

Story

In the film, King Arthur

King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...

's Knights of the Round Table are led to the Cave of Caerbannog by Tim the Enchanter

Tim the Enchanter

Tim the Enchanter is a fictional character from Monty Python's 1975 movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail played by John Cleese. In the play Spamalot based on the movie, the part was originally played by Hank Azaria. Tim is a strange reclusive wizard or conjurer who wears ram horns on his...

, and find that they must face down both the Rabbit and the Black Beast. The Cave of Caerbannog ("caer bannog" being Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

for "turreted castle") is the home of the Legendary Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh. This is guarded by a monster which is initially unknown. King Arthur and his knights are led to the cave by Tim the Enchanter

Tim the Enchanter

, and find that they must face down its guardian beast. Tim verbally paints a picture of a terrible monster with "nasty, big, pointy teeth!" so terrifying that Sir Robin soils his armour. When the guardian appears to be an innocuous white rabbit

Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...

, surrounded by the bones of the fallen, Arthur and his knights no longer take it seriously. Ignoring Tim's warnings ("a vicious streak a mile wide!"), King Arthur orders Bors

Bors

Bors circa 540s-580s, is the name of two knights in the Arthurian legend, one the father and one the son. Bors the Elder is the King of Gaunnes or Gaul during the early period of King Arthur's reign, and is the brother of King Ban of Benoic. Gaunnes is the Fredemundian dynastic kingdom of Neustria...

to chop its head off. Bors confidently approaches it, sword drawn, and is immediately decapitated

Decapitation

Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...

by the rabbit biting clean through his neck, to the sound of a can opener

Can opener

A can opener is a device used to open metal cans. Although preservation of food using tin cans had been practiced since at least 1772 in the Netherlands, the first can openers were patented only in 1855 in England and in 1858 in the United States. Those openers were basically variations of a...

. Despite their initial shock, Sir Robin soiling his armor (again), and Tim's loud scoffing, the knights attack in force, but are driven into flight as the rabbit leaps and attacks, killing Gawain

Gawain

Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...

and Ector

Sir Ector

Sir Ector is the father of Sir Kay and the foster father of King Arthur in the Arthurian legend. Sometimes a king instead of merely a lord, he has an estate in the country as well as properties in London. In The Once and Future King T. H...

with ease. The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch

Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch

The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch is a fictional weapon from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It bears a striking resemblance to the Sovereign's Orb of the United Kingdom, and seems to draw some inspiration from the Holy Spear of Antioch...

is then used to kill the beast and allow the quest to proceed.

The lost cave

The rabbit scene

Scene (film)

In TV and movies, a scene is generally thought of as the action in a single location and continuous time. Due to the ability to edit recorded visual works, it is typically much shorter than a stage play scene....

was shot outside the Tomnadashan Mine cave

Cave

A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...

overlooking the Perthshire

Perthshire

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

village of Killin

Killin

Killin is a village situated at the western head of Loch Tay in Stirling , Scotland....

. For the 25th anniversary DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

, Michael Palin

Michael Palin

Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....

and Terry Jones

Terry Jones

Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....

returned to be interviewed in front of the cave but they could not remember the location

Filming location

A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...

. They wandered up and down the hills for hours and, in desperation, asked the locals, saying that they couldn't miss it as it had a killer rabbit in it. This prompt was insufficient and so the couple performed a comic turn in front of the nearby loch

Loch

Loch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...

to general amusement: "It was priceless stuff, and some of the looks they were getting were unbelievable."

Casting

The rabbit was portrayed in the movie by a real rabbit and also a prop

Theatrical property

A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...

. The woman who owned the real rabbit was unhappy with the amount of fake blood

Theatrical blood

Theatrical blood or stage blood is anything used as a substitute for blood in a theatrical or cinematic performance. For example, in the special effects industry, when a director needs to simulate an actor being shot or cut, a wide variety of chemicals and natural products can be used...

in which it had been doused by the Python crew.

Antecedents

The tale of the rabbit has a parallel in the early story of the Roman de Renart in which a foe takes hubristic pride in his defeat of a ferocious hare

Hare

Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...

Si li crachait en mi le vis

Et escopi par grant vertu

The idea for the rabbit in the movie was taken from the facade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

of the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

of Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...

. This illustrates the weakness of cowardice

Cowardice

Cowardice is the perceived failure to demonstrate sufficient mental robustness and courage in the face of a challenge. Under many military codes of justice, cowardice in the face of combat is a crime punishable by death...

by showing a knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

fleeing from a rabbit.

Metaphorical power

The rabbit is now used as a metaphor for something ostensibly harmless which is, in fact, deadly. Such hidden but real risks may even arise from similarly cuddly animals. The humour of the skit comes from this inversion of the usual framework by which safety and danger is judged.

Four years after the release of the movie, Killer Rabbit was the term used widely by the press to describe the swamp rabbit

Swamp Rabbit

The Swamp Rabbit is a large cottontail rabbit found in the swamps and wetlands of the Southern United States.- Appearance :...

that "attacked

Jimmy Carter rabbit incident

The Jimmy Carter rabbit incident, dubbed the "killer rabbit" attack by the media, involved a Swamp Rabbit that caught press imagination after swimming toward then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter's fishing boat on April 20, 1979.-Background:...

" the then US-President Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

while he was fishing on a farm pond. This reference to the Monty Python sketch symbolized the failings of a president who, to many, was seen as incapable, inept, and weak.

Although not so named in the film, the animal is often referred to by fans as the Vorpal Rabbit (or Vorpal Bunny), a reference to the Vorpal Sword from Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...

's nonsense poem

Nonsense verse

Nonsense verse is a form of light, often rhythmical verse, usually for children, depicting peculiar characters in amusing and fantastical situations. It is whimsical and humorous in tone and tends to employ fanciful phrases and meaningless made-up words. Nonsense verse is closely related to...

"Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky

"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense verse poem written by Lewis Carroll in his 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...

". Like the sword, the Vorpal Rabbit kills with a single attack.

The Vorpal Bunny was a term first used in the Monty Python scenario in an edition of Steve Jackson's Space Gamer in the early Eighties. The reason it was vorpal was because it cut characters' heads off when rolling a critical success, the same as a vorpal blade in the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

game system.

Attributions

The Rabbit of Caerbannog inspired numerous imitations, tributes and references in a variety of media.

A case of "life imitating art", that was associated with the "killer rabbit" in the movie was an apparent real-life, ill-tempered domestic rabbit in the New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

area that had been nicknamed "Harvey the Attack Rabbit", who had bitten six people before being donated to the ASPCA of Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

by the summer of 1977.

An extra in the movie, Iain Banks

Iain Banks

Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...

, became a critically successful novelist who referenced the rabbit in his first novel, The Wasp Factory
The Wasp Factory
The Wasp Factory was the first novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. It was published in 1984.-Overview:It is written from a first person perspective, told by sixteen-year-old eunuch Frank Cauldhame, describing his childhood and all that remains of it...

, which built upon the primal myths of modern culture.
The computer games AdventureQuest
AdventureQuest
AdventureQuest is an online flash based single-player RPG developed by Artix Entertainment in 2002. As of June 14, 2010, aq.battleon.com, the game's hosting website, and www.battleon.com, the game's homepage, have an Alexa rating of 3,041...

, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is a single player / multi-player computer role-playing game developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra Entertainment. It was released in North America and Europe in August 2001 for Microsoft Windows...

, Asheron's Call
Asheron's Call
Asheron's Call is a fantasy MMORPG for Microsoft Windows-based PCs developed and published by Turbine Entertainment. It was published by Microsoft until 2004. Asheron's Call is set on the continent of Dereth and its surrounding islands on the fictional planet of Auberean...

, Braid
Braid (video game)
Braid is a platform and puzzle video game developed by independent software developer Jonathan Blow. The game was released on August 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. A Microsoft Windows version was released on April 10, 2009. Hothead Games ported and released the game to Mac OS...

, Catacomb 3D
Catacomb 3D
Catacomb 3-D is the third in the Catacomb series of video games , and the first of these games to feature 3D computer graphics...

, Divinity 2: Ego Draconis, Eternal Lands
Eternal Lands
Eternal Lands is a free, multiplayer, online role-playing game created by Radu Privantu in 2002. A pre-alpha version was made public on February 13, 2003. The game client is written in C using OpenGL and SDL.- Gameplay :...

, Eureka!
Eureka! (computer game)
Eureka! is a video game for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum computers, developed by Ian Livingstone and published by Domark in 1984.Eureka! is a text adventure set in European history. It consists of five parts, each of which has to be loaded and played separately...

, Fallout 2
Fallout 2
Fallout 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1998. The game's story takes place in 2241, 80 years after the events of Fallout...

, Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI
, also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a MMORPG developed and published by Square as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was released in Japan on Sony's PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers in November 2002...

, Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XII
is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2006, it is the twelfth title in the Final Fantasy series and the last in the series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation platform...

, Guild Wars: Eye of the North
Guild Wars: Eye of the North
Guild Wars: Eye of the North is an expansion pack to the Action RPG Guild Wars made by the Seattle-based ArenaNet studio, a subsidiary of NCSoft. It was released worldwide on August 31, 2007. Unlike other games in the Guild Wars sequence, Eye of the North requires players to own one of the earlier...

, Kingdom of Loathing
Kingdom of Loathing
Kingdom of Loathing is a browser-based, multiplayer role-playing game designed and operated by Asymmetric Publications, including creator Zack "Jick" Johnson and writer Josh "Mr. Skullhead" Nite. The game was released in 2003...

, The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood
The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood
The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood is the second retail expansion pack for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar and was released on December 1, 2009 in North America and December 3, 2009 in Europe. Unlike the first expansion this edition was only available via a...

, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is an action/beat-em-up video game based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games. Shaolin Monks was developed by Midway LA and published by Midway for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox...

, Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness is an adventure game/role-playing video game hybrid. It is the fourth installment of the Quest for Glory computer game series by Sierra Entertainment.- Release :...

, RuneScape
RuneScape
RuneScape is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in January 2001 by Andrew and Paul Gower, and developed and published by Jagex Games Studio. It is a graphical browser game implemented on the client-side in Java, and incorporates 3D rendering...

, Sacred, Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior, often known by its initials SW, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and released on May 13, 1997 by GT Interactive. Shadow Warrior was developed using Ken Silverman's Build engine and improved on 3D Realms' previous Build engine game, Duke Nukem 3D...

, Ultima Online
Ultima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...

, Wizard's Crown
Wizard's Crown
Wizard's Crown is a 1985 top-down computer role-playing game published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. . It was released for the Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, IBM PC, Apple II and Commodore 64. Its sequel, The Eternal Dagger, was released in 1987....

and Wizardry
Wizardry
Wizardry is a series of computer role-playing games, developed by Sir-Tech, which were highly influential in the development of modern console and computer role playing games. The original Wizardry was a significant influence to early console RPGs, such as Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. ...

all feature or make reference to the rabbit, as does Blazing Dragons
Blazing Dragons
Blazing Dragons is the title of a popular British cartoon series, the brainchild of Monty Python's Terry Jones. A coinciding graphic adventure video game was released for the original PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996 by Crystal Dynamics...

, notable for being the brainchild of former Python, Terry Jones

Terry Jones

. In the game The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang, known in Japan as , is an action role-playing video game which was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , developed by Bullet Proof Software and Red Company, and published by Naxat Soft. It was published by Bullet-Proof Software in North America...

, the titular character faces creatures called "Python Bunnies", resembling the puppet version of killer rabbit, in a later stage. In Mortal Kombat III the character Kitana has an Animality, an animal-based finishing move, that allows her to change into a cute white rabbit before leaping onto the victim and causing horrific bloodshed. Similarly in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is an action/beat-em-up video game based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games. Shaolin Monks was developed by Midway LA and published by Midway for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox...

, the character Kung Lao has a Fatality

Fatality

Fatality may refer to:* Death* Fatalism* A fatal error, in computing* Fatality , a finishing move in the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games* Fatality , a character published by DC Comics...

, a finishing move designed to kill the opponent, in which he pulls a rabbit out of his hat and tosses it to the dazed opponent. The opponent then pets the rabbit before it bites at his or her neck, killing him or her. Seconds later, the rabbit pops up from underneath the head, popping it off.

The card game Munchkin
Munchkin (card game)
Munchkin is a card game by Steve Jackson Games, written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by John Kovalic, that has a humorous take on role-playing games, based on the concept of munchkins ....

features a card that appears to be a weak monster, the "Perfectly Ordinary Bunny Rabbit". When engaged in combat, however, a die is rolled, and on a result of "6" it turns out to be "that rabbit from that movie". If a player is forced to flee, the rabbit slays that player, even if it was a perfectly normal rabbit. The monster art depicts Bun-bun, of the webcomic Sluggy Freelance
Sluggy Freelance
Sluggy Freelance is a popular, long-running daily webcomic written and drawn by Pete Abrams. The comic has over 100,000 daily readers and premiered on August 25, 1997...

, a rather deadly psychopathic rabbit as a main character from early episodes on.

A version of the rabbit is featured as an obstacle in the Grailquest
Grailquest
GrailQuest is a series of gamebooks by J. H. Brennan. The books are illustrated by John Higgins.The series is set in King Arthur's realm of Avalon, and follows the adventures of a young hero named Pip...

series of interactive fiction

Interactive fiction

Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...

books, notably in book 6 (Realm of Chaos). The player character must defeat the rabbit to progress through to the final sections of the story. A successful strike against the player character by the rabbit in combat immediately severs the character's head and ends the story.

The 1980 Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

scenario Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is a 1980 adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game written by Gary Gygax. While Dungeons & Dragons is typically a fantasy game, the adventure includes elements of science fiction, and thus belongs to the science fantasy genre...

showcases mutant monsters which take the form of rabbits; these originally appeared in the 1975 Gamma World
Gamma World
Gamma World is a science fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by James M. Ward and Gary Jaquet, and first published by TSR in 1978. It borrowed heavily from James M. Ward's earlier product, Metamorphosis Alpha.-Setting:...

game.

The song Chosen Ones from Megadeth's

Megadeth

Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...

1985 debut album Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!

Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!

Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! is the debut album by the American heavy metal band Megadeth, released in June 1985 through Combat and Relativity Records. During the beginning of 1985, the band was given $8,000 by Combat Records to record and produce their debut album, but this...

is heavily inspired by the Killer Rabbit, especially drawing on Tim the Enchanter's

Tim the Enchanter

first warning about the rabbit. The song opens with the lines: "You doubt your strength or courage, don't come to join with me. For death surely waits you, with sharp and pointy teeth." These lines are a slightly rewritten part from the warning.
The song's lyrics also contain references to King Arthur

King Arthur

as God's chosen one and the Holy Hand Grenade

Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch

.

The fantasy television series Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001....

features an episode titled "In Sickness and in Hell", in which Gabrielle

Gabrielle (Xena)

Gabrielle is a fictional character played by Renée O'Connor in Xena: Warrior Princess. She is referred to by fans as the Battling Bard of Potidaea. Her trademark weapons are the Amazon fighting staff and later, the sais...

has to fight for her life when attacked by a vicious, fanged rabbit.

The animated series The League of Super Evil
The League of Super Evil
League of Super Evil is an animated television series co-created by Philippe Ivanusic-Vallee, Davila LeBlanc, Peter Ricq, developed by Asaph Fipke, and produced by Nerd Corps Entertainment in conjunction with YTV. It premiered on YTV Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 10:30am ET...

features a seemingly innocent little bunny named "Wiggles" that, when confronted, bares a mouthful of giant fangs, and attacks and swallows whole one of the show's main characters.

AppleShare

AppleShare

AppleShare was a product from Apple Computer which implemented various network services. Its main purpose was acting as a file server, using the AFP protocol...

3.0 was given the codename Killer Rabbit in reference to this character.

The French TV show Kaamelott
Kaamelott
Kaamelott is a French television series running originally 2005–2009. It combines medieval fantasy and comedy to present a new "realistic epic" version of the Arthurian legend....

depicts Sir Bors

Bors

as a weak, cowardly and incompetent knight; the character is afraid to spend a night in the forest because of the ferocious wild life which lives within the woods, especially rabbits.

The Arenanet

ArenaNet

ArenaNet is a computer game developer and part of NCsoft Corporation, founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain and located in Bellevue, Washington...

game Guild Wars

Guild Wars

Guild Wars is an episodic series of online 3D fantasy role-playing games developed by ArenaNet and published by NCsoft. Although often defined as an MMORPG the developers define it as a CORPG due to significant differences from the MMORPG genre. It provides two main modes of gameplay—a cooperative...

contains a NPC White Rabbit Assassin ally, summoned from a Mysterious Summoning Stone.

The collectible card game

Collectible card game

thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...

Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...

features two cards called "Kezzerdrix" and "Vizzerdrix" which are giant killer rabbits.

In the "Operation: Wingman" episode of the animated series Generator Rex

Generator Rex

Generator Rex is an American animated television series for Cartoon Network and is created by "Man of Action" . John Fang of Cartoon Network Studios serves as supervising director. It is inspired by the comic M. Rex, published by Image Comics in 1999...

the enemy for the episode is a giant killer bunny that looks harmless enough when it is first encountered but then shows it's true appearance and causes problems for Rex.

In the episode of Pink Panther and Pals

Pink Panther and Pals

Pink Panther and Pals was an animated television series based on the classic DePatie-Freleng Panther shorts from the 1960s, produced for Cartoon Network by Rubicon Studios in association with MGM Television. The show premiered on Cartoon Network on March 7, 2010 at 7:30am, presented in both HD and...

, Pink Panther, his horse and including the Yeti

Yeti

The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...

got scared by a Rabbit when he shows up in the cave and roars at them.

A potential reference to the killer rabbit occurs in Christopher Paolini

Christopher Paolini

Christopher Paolini is an American author. He is best known as the author of the Inheritance Cycle, which consists of the books Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance...

's novel Inheritance , in which the herbalist and witch Angela recounts the story of the dreaded 'Rabbit of Knoth':
“—but he was too slow, and the raging, red-eyed rabbit ripped out Hord’s throat, killing him instantly.
Then the hare fled into the forest, and out of recorded history. However”—and here Angela leaned
forward and lowered her voice—“if you travel through those parts, as I have … sometimes, even to this
day, you will come across a freshly killed deer or Feldûnost that looks as if it has beennibbled at, like a
turnip. And all around it, you’ll see the prints of an unusually large rabbit."

Merchandise

The rabbit has been reproduced in the form of merchandise associated with the movie or musical. Such items include plush toys, slippers and staplers

Staplers

Staplers is a suburb of Newport, Isle of Wight, England, on the east side of the River Medina.It houses the Crown Offices which discharge the principal functions of national government on the Isle of Wight such as the Department for Work and Pensions...

. The plush killer rabbit was rated the second geekiest plush toy of all time by Matt Blum of the GeekDad blog on Wired.com, coming second to the plush Cthulhu

Cthulhu

Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...

Popularity

The rabbit was declared the top movie bunny by David Cheal in The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

. It also ranked high in an Easter 2008 poll to establish Britain's best movie rabbit, coming third to Roger Rabbit and Frank from Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko is a 2001 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Noah Wyle, Jena Malone, and Mary McDonnell...

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Story

The lost cave

Casting

Antecedents

Metaphorical power

Attributions

Merchandise

Popularity

See also