General Brutus is an antagonist in the Silverwing book and TV series. He is the general of the owls.
He was voiced by Richard Newman, who also played Emperor Raj in The Jungle King by Golden Films.
Silverwing[]
In the original novel, Brutus makes only one appearance. When Shade Silverwing breaks the law and sees the sun, Brutus arrives with his owl army, armed with torches. He demands that the bats hand Shade over, but they refuse. In response, Brutus orders the owls to burn down Tree Haven, and the bats are powerless to stop them. After, the owls leave.
TV Series[]
Unlike in the book, Brutus is a major character and one of the main antagonists, along with Goth and Throbb. He first appears as in the book, burning down Tree Haven because Shade saw the sun, but appears many more times unlike in the book.
Later on, when Goth kills a pigeon, pigeons capture Shade and Marina and Brutus appears. He immediately assumes the Silverwings did it as revenge and demands they tell him where his colony is. They say they got lost, which is true, but he dismisses this as lying and orders that all Silverwings be captured and orders the pigeons to torture Shade and Marina.
Goth later kills an owl, prompting Brutus to pass out the law that all bats be killed until the lawbreakers be captured. It is then revealed he has a son named Orestes, who thinks diplomacy is the answer instead of war. Later on, Shade and Marina are captured, but Orestes frees them. When he Brutus finds out, he thinks the Silverwings kidnapped him and then punishes the guard supposed to watch the bats. Orestes later shows up again though.
Brutus is told that the rats have captured the bats and will give them to him in exchange for ruling the land, replacing the wolves. However, Shade convinces Remus, the king of the rats alongside his brother Romulus, that Brutus will allow only Romulus to rule, being older. So Remus plans to ambush Brutus and kill him so the rats will rule the land and the skies. When Brutus arrives, Romulus is convinced by Shade that the owls will kill the rats if they attack, but Remus won't listen. Romulus sets the bats free, and the rats attack Brutus. However, the owls immediately gain the upper hand, snatching the rats in their talons. Remus and Romulus fight, and Remus falls to his death.
Orestes continues to help the bats until one of elders of Shade's colony Bathsheba Silverwing, betrays them and tells Brutus where they are. Brutus takes Shade, Marina, and the head elder Frieda prisoner and scolds his son for betraying him when Goth and Throbb, along with the wolves led by Luger arrive and start to kill the owls while the wolves eat the the ones that crash to the ground. Brutus tries to attack Goth, but Goth immediately attacks and nearly kills him. However, with the help of the bats and the bears, Goth falls into a waterfall and presumably drowns while Throbb and the wolves flee. Brutus passes out a law that the bats are now allowed to fly during the night and day, having gained new respect for both the bats and his son.
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