Oousagi
The Great Rabbit is a devastating creature in Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-. Created by Daphne, the Witch of Gluttony, it stands alongside the White Whale and the Black Serpent as one of the Three Great Mabeasts that have terrorized the world for four centuries. Originally named for its overwhelming numbers rather than its body size, it poses an existential threat to all living beings. It serves as a major antagonistic force during the Sanctuary arc, confronting Natsuki Subaru and his allies with its horrifying predatory behavior.
Overview
The Great Rabbit is a devastating creature in Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-. Created by Daphne, the Witch of Gluttony, it stands alongside the White Whale and the Black Serpent as one of the Three Great Mabeasts that have terrorized the world for four centuries. Originally named for its overwhelming numbers rather than its body size, it poses an existential threat to all living beings. It serves as a major antagonistic force during the Sanctuary arc, confronting Natsuki Subaru and his allies with its horrifying predatory behavior.
Appearance
Despite its terrifying reputation, the creature physically resembles a small, fluffy white rabbit with rounded contours, long ears, and red eyes. It is surprisingly tiny, easily fitting within a person's palm or fist. Its most distinctive physical marker is a single small horn protruding from the center of its forehead, and its small mouth is lined with extremely sharp front teeth capable of easily severing flesh and bone.
Personality
The swarm lacks individual personality or rational intellect, acting entirely as a single collective consciousness driven by an unquenchable, maddening hunger. It exhibits no self-preservation instincts or emotional complexity. Driven purely by an insatiable desire to consume, it attacks any living target without hesitation or regard for its own safety, resorting to severe cannibalism within its own ranks when no outside prey is available.
Abilities
While an individual rabbit possesses little physical strength, the threat lies in its swarm size of around 100,000 bodies and its terrifying ability to infinitely replicate. If even a single rabbit survives, the population rapidly restores itself to its maximum limit. It tracks prey by sensing surrounding mana. Due to this relentless multiplication and swarm mentality, eradicating it requires completely obliterating or isolating the entire population simultaneously.
Background
Created by the Witch of Gluttony to end world hunger, the creature instead became a roaming disaster. In the main story, it is drawn to the Sanctuary due to the heavy magical snow caused by Roswaal L. Mathers, resulting in brutal encounters that deeply traumatize Natsuki Subaru across multiple timelines. Ultimately, Subaru collaborates with Beatrice and Emilia, using the high-tier Yin magic Al Shamak to seal the entire swarm into a completely isolated alternate dimension, effectively eliminating its threat from the world.
Relationships
The creature was created by Daphne, the Witch of Gluttony, who imparted her own eternal hunger into its design; it instinctively obeys whoever holds her Witch Factor. For Natsuki Subaru, it represents one of the most horrifying and traumatic encounters of his lives. Roswaal L. Mathers intentionally manipulated events to draw the swarm to the Sanctuary, while Beatrice and Emilia worked alongside Subaru to achieve its final banishment.
Trivia
The concept was inspired by the author's reaction to Jurassic Park, finding the idea of being swarmed and slowly consumed by numerous small creatures far more terrifying than being attacked by a single large predator. Following his traumatic encounters with the swarm, Natsuki Subaru develops a severe phobia of small animals and rabbit-shaped objects. Early concept sketches featured a small bandage covering its forehead horn.