The ever cautious homebody turned brave adventurer. When spring arrives, he leaves his cozy underground home and never looks back. Mole is young, and he comes of age and finds himself when he meets up with Rat and agrees to stay with Rat on the river. At first, Mole is jealous and impulsive: for instance, the first time Rat takes Mole on a boat, Mole tries to take the oars and row despite not knowing how. And later, Mole becomes frustrated that Rat won’t take him into the Wild Wood and so decides to go there alone. But when Mole makes these mistakes and has to suffer the consequences, he promptly learns his lesson and accepts Rat’s attempts to mentor him. Through this, Mole becomes increasingly polite and loyal to Rat. He loves life on the river, and only feels homesick when he and Rat return to his cluttered and neglected burrow. By the time Mole meets Toad, Mole is still interested in adventure and exploration, but he’s far more mature about it than Toad is. Mole and Rat only join Toad on the caravan excursion because Mole wants to go, so Rat agrees they should both go to make him happy. Then, as Toad becomes obsessed with cars, Mole helps assist Badger and Rat as they spearhead an intervention to try to get Toad give up his addiction. When the friends retake Toad Hall, Mole is assigned supporting tasks—and gets lots of praise for thinking outside the box.