Species You Wish Had Done More

[LT Sandpaw]

Anything that fly's and has an intelligent brain would be a dangerous enemy or an excellent friend. Bats with their Echolocation only more so. The occasional Hunting hawk proves this point on their deadly capability.

[Bella]

Dolphins could have a bigger role similar to the ones in Legend of Luke along with Sea Otters

[The Skarzs]

Dolphins? I don't ever remember dolphins in the stories. . .

[Jetthebinturong]

In LoL they pull the raft after Beau mistakes them for sharks

[The Skarzs]

Oh, right; thanks!

[JangoCoolguy]

Dolphins could have a bigger role similar to the ones in Legend of Luke along with Sea Otters

I don't know...

Seals can play the same role, but better with the bonus of being more dexterous and able to go on land. Sea lions more so. Kinda wish we'd seen a couple of more of those alongside some seals.

[Hickory]

The sea lion from LOL was fun becauuse he had understandable English.

(honestly, Bosie was harder to understand)

[The Skarzs]

Heh.

Dolphins really wouldn't be anything better than a one-scene sort of thing, because it's not like they can do much other than squeak and look graceful. . . in the water. Seals might have been a bit more noticeable, but once again, I feel their role as just a supporting, once-in-a-while role is reasonably placed due to their confinement to the shore-areas, as well them being to funny-looking I can't think of them any other way than as comic relief.

[LT Sandpaw]

Yay solid aquatic animals really would take much more then temporary role, It would have been cool to see whales more often though, they would have to be massive and could easily be and island for most Redwallers.

[Blaggut]

Birds. Not enough birds.

y no mice ride birdies?

And teh beevirs.

And turtils. Turtils = need 2 hav.

[JangoCoolguy]

And teh beevirs.

And turtils. Turtils = need 2 hav.

The issue there is that those aren't native to the UK and Jacques wanted to  mainly focus on native species.

Beavers went extinct over there in the 16th Century--Redwall's initial setting--so Jacques had to avoid it in future tales (which he didn't even intend to happen to start with). Heck, there were other species who the did the same job just as well, mainly otters and moles.
The worst part is that the Beaver didn't leave an impression. Heck, he was cut from the TV Show and the Graphic Novel and it had no effect on the story at all. Poor dope >_<

Though there is a turtle/tortoise in Rakkety Tam, Rockbottom. He didn't talk, but still had some personality. Though he was treated more like a living plot device than a character.
It would've been interesting if some sentient turtles had appeared at some point. They would've come with their own armor!

[Stonestripe]

The way that almost all birds seemed to become completely good is one of the strangest alignment changes in the series.

In the first book, Redwall, we have (besides the Sparra) Captain Snow. While he's a "good guy" in as much as that he's friends with several other protagonists, this alignment is a little shaky, given his propensity to eat mice and shrews. Mossflower famously features Argulor, as well as an unnamed owl at Bat Mountpit. While some (including myself) have made the case that Argulor wasn't exactly a villain, he isn't a protagonist either. At this point in the series, birds of prey seem to be aligned towards evil (or at least antagonistic).

...and then, from Mattimeo onwards, this radically changes. Sir Harry the Muse and Stryk Redkite both appear as invaluable allies for the protagonists. Mariel also features a good owl who saves the main characters' hides. Salamandastron and Martin the Warrior feature birds of prey that are aggressive and dangerous, but at the end of the books, they're all solid good guys. The Bellmaker also has an ally bird, although he leaves before the end of the book. Outcast, Skarlath... then Gerul and other good owls through Marlfox. I'm not going to continue; the point is pretty well made that birds of prey were all good.

So it's established this is a thing. The question is, why? It can't be their natural alignment; all of these rely on mice as a staple food. My best guess is that it has to do with the way they're viewed by the population at large. Most people think of birds of prey as noble animals. So, they are. Simple as that -- even though it seems to contradict their actual existence, where they continually feed on what the series has established are the good guys.

I think I preferred birds of prey as how they were portrayed in the first two books -- aggressive, a little mysterious, and extremely dangerous. It gave a little balance to the books, knowing that there was a creature around that could devour any of the main characters, and it required them to keep their wits about them. It doesn't help that some of the birds were used as deus ex machinas -- blatantly so in Mariel, where the heroes blunder into a trap and are only saved because an owl happened to be around.

On a side note, I liked your portrayal of an owl as a villain in your fanfiction about the bat, and hope that story is completed at some point.

I think he split the birds into 2 good/evil categories. Ravens, Vultures, Rooks, and some other Carrion birds were portrayed as the "evil" then the Birds of prey, Sparra, owls (captain snow was bad but was held to his word), and those were good because they are portrayed as Noble. There is one or two instances of other birds being used too like in Pearls of Lutra there was the thief that took on of the pearls. Birds are almost their own side story.

[Izeroth]

 The role of birds isn't exactly clear in the stories. Some birds, like sparrows and hawks, are fully capable of thought and speech, while others, like wood pigeons, are apparently not sentient.

[Feles]

snakes, but not adders, cause normal snakes are cool too

[Skyblade]

Sharks

Actually, seeing more of the marine beasts in general would have been cool.