Bandersnatch facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bandersnatch
Alice And The Wonderland character
Peter Newell's illustration of the Jubjub bird (left) and the Bandersnatch (right).
First appearance	Through the Looking Glass
Created by	Lewis Carroll
Portrayed by	Peter Newell

A Bandersnatch is a made-up creature from Lewis Carroll's famous books, Through the Looking-Glass (1871) and The Hunting of the Snark (1874). In these stories, the Bandersnatch is known for being very fierce and incredibly fast. It's also described as having a long neck and jaws that snap quickly.

In Through the Looking-Glass, it seems that Bandersnatches live in the world found behind a looking-glass. In The Hunting of the Snark, a group of adventurers finds one after crossing an ocean. This creature has appeared in many movies, TV shows, and other stories inspired by Carroll's works.

What is a Bandersnatch?

Lewis Carroll first mentioned the Bandersnatch in his poem "Jabberwocky", which is part of Through the Looking-Glass. In the poem, a character warns his son to "shun / The frumious Bandersnatch". The word "frumious" means a mix of fuming (angry) and furious (very angry). This tells us the creature has a very bad temper! Later in the book, the White King says his wife, the White Queen, runs so fast that "You might as well try to catch a Bandersnatch!" This shows how incredibly quick they are.

In "The Hunting of the Snark", a group of adventurers is looking for a creature called the Snark. One of them, the Banker, runs ahead and meets a Bandersnatch. The creature quickly grabs the Banker with its snapping jaws. The Banker tries to escape by offering money, but the Bandersnatch just stretches its neck and grabs him again. The Banker hops and skips to get away until he faints. When the others arrive, the Bandersnatch runs away. This story shows the Bandersnatch is not only fast but also has a long, flexible neck and powerful jaws.

Bandersnatches in other stories and media

The Bandersnatch has appeared in many different forms of entertainment, from books to video games.

Books and comics

• In Anna Matlack Richards's book A New Alice in the Old Wonderland (1895), a poem called Bandersnatchy describes the creature more. It says you need a special sword or pistol to fight it because you never know what it might do. This Bandersnatch is described as having very long legs, a long tail, and can even fly. It might even be able to hide by looking like a tree!
• The famous author C. S. Lewis (who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia) once said that no one could influence J. R. R. Tolkien (who wrote The Lord of the Rings), comparing it to trying to influence a Bandersnatch.
• In Larry Niven's "Known Space" science fiction stories, there's a creature that looks like a giant slug. When it was discovered, it was named the "Frumious bandersnatch" because of its strange appearance.
• In the comic Calamity Jack (2010), a giant boar has a pet Bandersnatch named Lewis. This creature looks like a huge toad with a massive mouth and two smaller mouths where its eyes should be. It can also spit acid!
• In the webcomic Digger, a Bandersnatch appears as a two-headed animal that can talk.
• The online comic Skin Deep shows the Bandersnatch as a harmless creature, which is different from its original fierce description.

TV and movies

• In the anime series Pandora Hearts (2006), a character named Lily has a large black dog as her magical companion, and its name is Bandersnatch.
• In the TV show Young Justice, the hero Adam Strange uses lines from the "Jabberwocky" poem, including the warning about the "frumious Bandersnatch," to distract enemies.
• The 2010 film Alice in Wonderland features the Bandersnatch as a large white beast. It looks like a mix of a bulldog, snow leopard, and bear, with long fur, black spots, and many rows of sharp teeth. In the movie, it's controlled by the Red Queen until Alice helps it. Then, it joins the good side!
• In the TV show Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, the Bandersnatch is shown as a monstrous wild boar. It's used by villains to track Alice.
• In the anime series Date A Live season 2, the robotic enemies created by Deus Ex Machina are called the Bandersnatch.
• The interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) is a standalone movie where viewers can choose what happens next in the story. It's named after the creature.

Music

• A psychedelic rock band from San Francisco named themselves Frumious Bandersnatch after Carroll's creature.
• The rock band Forgive Durden released a song in 2006 called "Beware the Jubjub Bird and Shun the frumious Bandersnatch!"

Games

• The name Bandersnatch is used many times in the popular Final Fantasy video game series. It often refers to wolf-like or lion-like enemies that are not too hard to beat. However, in Final Fantasy IX, it's a strange, demonic poodle-like enemy, and in Final Fantasy XV, it's a huge, powerful, dinosaur-like monster with jagged spines and two massive vertical jaws.
• In the online role-playing games Mabinogi (2004) and LaTale (2006), the Bandersnatch appears as a monster. In Mabinogi, it's an ice monster that's hard to defeat without fire spells.
• Bandersnatches are powerful enemies in the game Kingdom Rush: Origins. They are large, blue and purple monsters that can roll into a ball and move extremely fast.
• In the Shadowrun universe, Bandersnatches are humanoid creatures that can bend light around their bodies, making them almost invisible. They are very hard to spot, even with special heat detectors.
• Bandersnatch is also an enemy in the game Resident Evil – Code: Veronica. This version has a long, extendable arm, which might be a nod to the original creature's "long reach."
• In the online game Kingdom of Loathing, you can get a "Frumious Bandersnatch" as a familiar (a pet that helps you).
• In the Tera universe, "Bandersnatch" is the name of the final boss in a dungeon called Wonderholme.
• In the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, the Bandersnatch is one of a group of monsters called The Tane, which were created by magical fey lords as living weapons.

Images for kids

• 

  The Bandersnatch from Anna Matlack Richards' A New Alice in the Old Wonderland