Friendly is a red fox who was born in White Deer Park. He is the son of Fox and Vixen. He is seen in both the books and the TV series. In the books Friendly has a kind and understanding nature, living up to the name given to him by Tawny Owl. However, in the TV series he takes on Bold's confrontational attitude towards the relationship between Charmer and Ranger as Bold leaves the park earlier than he does in the books. Friendly mates with Russet and they have several cubs including Pace. In the the third season of the TV series, Friendly appears briefly in Out and About, before disappearing for the rest of the series.
Books
Fox's Feud
Friendly is born during the spring along with Bold, Charmer and Dreamer. He is the last of the four cubs to be named, eventually gaining his name due to his friendliness towards the other Farthing Wood animals. When Bold goes missing Friendly accompanies his father into Scarface's territory to search for him, but Fox offers himself to Scarface and his family to allow Friendly to go free.
When Bold is asked to give the message to kill Scarface to Adder, Friendly insists on joining him. They find Adder, but they do not make it clear to him that he needs to kill Scarface and Adder kills another fox instead. When Fox finds out they lied by reporting the mission as a success, he scolds Friendly for going along with the lie but he allows his son to make up for the mistake by trusting him with sentry duty.
Friendly is wary of Ranger.
Friendly is the first to discover that Charmer is seeing Ranger, but he decides to keep it to himself as he likes to see the best in everyone and does not believe that the rest of his family would be so understanding. After the death of Scarface, Bold informs Friendly that he is going to explore outside the park and, although he is very concerned about his brother's safety, Friendly agrees not to tell anybody else about it. He later accompanies Charmer and Ranger into Scarface's former territory and introduces himself to a vixen called Russet, who is one of Ranger's cousins.
The Fox Cub Bold
Friendly only appears near the end of this book, when he joins Fox, Vixen and Charmer in meeting Whisper after her arrival at the park. When Whisper tells them that Bold is dying, they leave the park to find him and are informed of his whereabouts by Robber. Friendly is present with the rest of his family when Bold finally passes away.
The Siege of White Deer Park
When The Beast enters the park and Fox decides to be cautious, Friendly comes up with a plan to confront the creature and fight it off. He gathers together five other foxes and they set off on the Beast's trail. They enter an area of woodland and notice something stir in the undergrowth, and Friendly pursues it but is unable to stay on the trail. He is undeterred and they search again the following night, but after the death of Husky, Friendly realises it was a foolish plan. When the Beast makes the pledge to Tawny Owl, Friendly tells his father that they should go after the trail again. Fox tells him that it's too dangerous and that he should wait a while, and Friendly concedes, hoping that it does not result in harm for his young cubs.
In the Path of the Storm
Friendly appears at the meeting of elders to discuss the problem with Trey and is also one of the animals present when Badger is recovering from being poisoned in the disused set. Friendly is the first animal to speak to Leveret after his encounter with Trey and also comes up with the idea that the Farthing Wood animals should travel to the pond to drink in order to show Trey that he cannot stop them from drinking there.
Battle for the Park
Friendly forms part of the rescue party which heads to the second reserve to try and find a way to release Weasel and Plucky and is also part of the hunting parties that try to drive the rats out of the Farthing Wood animals' corner of the reserve. Later he helps Fox to transport rat carcasses to The Warden's lodge and takes part in the final battle against the rats to finally drive them out of the reserve.
Physical Appearance Edit
Like his brother and sisters, Friendly is a light shade of orange, and has fairly "plain" features compared to the other foxes. Around his eyes are rounded cream patches, and his cheek patches (which are rounded) do not connect with the cream-coloured fur on his underbelly (which ends in a round-curve like his Mother's and sister Dreamer's). Like his siblings his tail ends in a cream tip.
Appearances
Books
- Fox's Feud
- The Fox Cub Bold
- The Siege of White Deer Park
- In the Path of the Storm
- Battle for the Park
TV Series