| “I can’t imagine why two such high-ranking wolves, wolves from the Carreg Gaer, would stop to look at my humble work.” |
| — Heep to Mhairie and Dearlea; Page 207 in Shadow Wolf |
| Heep MacDuncan | |
|---|---|
 Heep is a yellow male dire wolf without a tail, and a crooked hip. | |
|
General Info |
Species: Dire Wolf Gender: Male |
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Family |
Caila - Former Mate Abban - Son |
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Description |
Fur: Yellow Eyes: Yellow Deformity: No tail/Crooked hip |
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Clan/Pack |
Clan: MacDuncan Clan Pack: River Pack |
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Appearances |
Lone Wolf, Shadow Wolf, Spirit Wolf, Star Wolf |
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Current and Previous Status |
Current: deceased, possibly in the Dim World Past: Malcadh, gnaw wolf, Outclanner |
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Abilities |
Nicking in tooth |
|
Deformity |
No tail/New Tail |
Heep MacDuncan
Heep MacDuncan was a male Dire Wolf. He was once a senior gnaw wolf from the River Pack of the MacDuncan clan. At the end of Shadow Wolf, he fled the clan and became an outclanner. In Spirit Wolf, he was shown as an "alpha" of some outclanners, and was teaching them some sense of a civilized order. He lost his life to Old Tooth, a narwhal in Star Wolf.
Description[]
Heep is yellow-beige male dire wolf without a tail. It is mentioned in Lone Wolf that his hip is also crooked. He has yellow eyes that barely have a trace of the luminous green of the true wolves of the Beyond. Heep may be a vyrrwolf due to his eye colour; however, it is unconfirmed. He has a black nose and a nick in one tooth, resulting in disorderly, sloppy gnawing skills.
Heep receives a white-tipped tail when the earthquake strikes during the Great Mending.
Family[]
Caila/Aliac - Mate
Abban - Birth Son
History[]
Lone Wolf[]
Heep is first seen at a byrrgis, observed by Faolan. Heep, his name being unknown at the time, is nipped and bitten at for trying to get food.
Heep was also mentioned towards the end of Lone Wolf, and was ordered by Duncan MacDuncan to bring his bone with the story of the survived pup, Faolan, who has jumped over the fire trap that was set up to kill him, as the clan wolves believed he had the the Foaming-Mouth disease. Heep delivered it between the chieftain and Faolan, even though the carving was not finished. Faolan disapproved of the carving Heep had made, for it was very sloppy and unfinished.
Shadow Wolf[]
Heep first appears in one of the first chapters, as a sweeper in the byrrgis. Heep appears throughout the story competing in the gaddergnaw. Once, when he and the other gnaw wolves were gnawing in a circle, Edme compares the wolf definition of scrape to the cougar definition, Heep bites her on her ear, causing it to bleed and the other gnaw wolves to stand up to Heep by showing dominance to him. Later, near the end, Heep tried to blame Faolan for killing a malcadh pup. They then find out he was the culprit, and he runs into the Outermost, where he currently is living. He once attempted to destroy Thunderheart's paw bone that Faolan buried near the Salt Lagoons.
Spirit Wolf[]
Heep appears in Spirit Wolf, when he is now a father, he has one pup named Abban. His mate's name is Aliac, who is Caila. When he feels the earthquake, his tail is mended. Heep is overflowed with joy and vanity. At the end of the book, his rout is hunting Faolan when Aliac rebels, remembers who she is, and runs away with Abban to search for her two adopted daughters, Mhairie and Dearlea. Also in the end of the book Heep was following Faolan to the new place that Faolan calls The Distant Blue.
Star Wolf[]
Heep is at the start of the ice bridge and discovers that Caila (known to him as Aliac) and Faolan have gone on to The Distant Blue, then remembers his past. In chapter seven it is confirmed that he is on the ice bridge by Zanouche and Eelon. In chapter ten he is seen making plans to kill Faolan and Calia. In chapter thirteen one of the narwhales has clawmarks that Abban said that Heep had made. Then Zanouche says that Heep and his rout are very close. In chapter eighteen Heep and Bevan capture Abban which leads to a battle where his tail is torn from his rump by his own former mate, Calia. Then, as the ice bridge collapses and Faolan and his friends get to safety, Heep plunges down into the ocean, where Old Tooth impales him with his tusk. As Faolan, his friends, and the narwals go on toward The Distant Blue, sharks and other kinds of fish tear Heep's floating corpse to shreds.
Personality[]
Heep is described by most wolves as excessively humble, even for a gnaw wolf. However, his humility is a mere front designed to conceal his vain and cruel heart. Heep detests being a gnaw wolf and even strongly dislikes the other gnaw wolves, believing himself to be better. When he is seen in Shadow Wolf, he is obsessed with his lack of a tail and unable to look past his destiny to be the lowest-ranking wolf, and goes to great lengths to join the Watch, even cheating and framing Faolan, whom he develops a bitter rivalry with.
Heep is bitter and vengeful, taking joy in Faolan's failure during his first byrrgis, killing a malcadh who was too weak to survive her birth defects and become a gnaw wolf, and cheating Faolan out of his chance at the gaddergnaw. Heep's dislike of Faolan partially stems from fear, because of Faolan jumping for the sun and his beautiful carving causing the other wolves to regard him as an ill omen. Their rivalry only intensifies when the gaddergnaw arrives and Faolan's extraordinary talents make him a favorite. When wronged, Heep will go to great lengths to get revenge, such as when he is exposed as the murderer of the malcadh. Heep blindly pins the blame entirely on Faolan, whom he had tried to frame, and attempts to destroy the thing most precious to him, Thunderheart's paw bone. Another example is at the beginning of Star Wolf. Heep swears revenge on both Faolan and Caila, the latter because she ran away with Abban, and tracks the brigade relentlessly.
Heep's vanity reaches new heights when his tail is restored in Spirit Wolf. He constantly waves it about, forces Caila to groom it for hours on end, and often checks to make sure it is still there. These excessive displays do not go unnoticed by the outclanners. When Caila rips it off, Heep is infuriated and kills Banja, who happens to be nearest, in a vengeful rage.
Gallery[]
Death[]
Heep was impaled by Old Tooth, a narwhal, in Star Wolf. Afterwards, Faolan's byrrgis clambered on top of the narwhal's as sharks and other fish fed on Heep's body.
Trivia[]
- On the cover of Shadow Wolf, Heep is thought to be the wolf displayed in the background behind Faolan. This would be logical, since Heep is against Faolan throughout the story. However, some fans believe that on the back of the book in the bottom right corner there is a tail, but it could also be Heep's hind leg, which is more likely.
- As stated by K.L. in the Authors Note for Shadow Wolf, Heep is based off the fictional Uriah Heep, created by Charles Dickens in his masterpiece David Copperfield. She also notes that Uriah Heep is, "one of the most obnoxious characters in fiction."
- Revealed by Lasky herself, Heep may be a vyrrwolf.
- It is stated that Heep has yellow eyes, the color of hagsfiends' and vyrrwolves' eyes, rather than the green eyes of other wolves.
- He was mentioned in Lone Wolf to have a crooked hip as well as no tail, but this was not mentioned again in later books.
- In the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, it is stated that when the ember is retrieved only Watch wolves would be mended. However, in Spirit Wolf, Heep regains his tail.