Famous rats in books, films and history

Rats have a bad name in some old stories, but the famous rats people actually love are clever, loyal, cheeky and kind. Here they are, real ones first, then the stars of books, films and television, with who made them and why they won hearts.

Who are the most famous real rats?

Magawa, the hero rat

Magawa was an African giant pouched rat, a much bigger animal than a pet rat, trained by the Tanzanian charity APOPO to sniff out landmines in Cambodia. PDSA awarded him its Gold Medal, "making him the first rat to receive a PDSA award". At the time he had found 39 landmines and 28 other unexploded items. By the time he retired in 2021 the total was 71 landmines and 38 other items, RTE reports. He died in 2022. We tell his whole story in Magawa the hero rat.

Ronin, the record breaker

Ronin, another of APOPO's African giant pouched rats, took Magawa's crown. On 4 April 2025 he was awarded the Guinness World Records title for the most landmines detected by a rat, RTE reported, after finding 109 landmines and 15 other explosive items in Preah Vihear province, northern Cambodia, since August 2021. He was five years old. NPR describes how he works: wearing a little red harness, walking between two handlers, and scratching the ground when he smells explosives. One of his team called him "very diligent".

Sammy, Beatrix Potter's pet rat

Beatrix Potter kept a tame white rat called Sammy. The V&A holds her sketches of him, labelled in her hand as studies of a tame white rat "Sammy" from life. She dedicated The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, or, The Roly-Poly Pudding, published by Frederick Warne in 1908, to his memory, calling him an "affectionate little friend", though she also teased that he was a "most accomplished thief". Anyone who keeps rats will know exactly what she meant. Read more in Beatrix Potter's real pets.

The first champion show rat

This one has no name, but it made history. On 24 October 1901, the Aylesbury Fanciers' show held a class for rats, thanks to Mary Douglas, later called the "mother of the rat fancy". Fifteen rats were shown, and the winner was her own black and white rat, of the kind now called a hooded, the National Fancy Rat Society records. It was the start of rat showing in Britain. Our page on the history of fancy rats picks up the story.

The rats of Karni Mata

In one temple in India, rats are not just tolerated but honoured. We tell that story on its own page: Karni Mata, the temple where rats are honoured.

Who are the most famous rats in books?

Ratty, The Wind in the Willows (who is a water vole)

Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, first published in 1908, opens with Mole leaving his spring-cleaning to go on the river with the Water Rat. Ratty is the book's kind, boat-loving heart, and he finds Mole when he gets lost in the Wild Wood and helps win back Toad Hall for his friend Toad.

But Ratty is not a rat. The British Wildlife Centre says it plainly: Ratty "was not a rat at all, but a water vole". Water voles are about the size of a brown rat but have a blunt snout, small ears hidden in their fur and bright orange front teeth. Sadly, they are now among the most endangered mammals in the UK.

Templeton, Charlotte's Web

Templeton is the barn rat in E. B. White's Charlotte's Web, published in 1952 with pictures by Garth Williams. Books for Keeps describes him as looking out for himself, open to a bribe and a bit grumpy. Yet when it matters, he helps: he fetches Charlotte's egg sac so Wilbur the pig can carry it home, for a price. Readers have loved his greedy, grumbling charm for more than seventy years.

Samuel Whiskers, Beatrix Potter

Sammy's storybook namesake is Samuel Whiskers, the rat in Potter's 1908 tale of the same name. He is more mischief-maker than hero, but he exists because Potter loved a real rat enough to put him in a book, which makes him one of the most important rats in children's literature.

Who are the most famous rats on screen?

Remy, Ratatouille

Remy is the star of Pixar's Ratatouille, released on 29 June 2007 and directed by Brad Bird, with Remy voiced by Patton Oswalt. He is a rat who dreams of becoming a chef, despite his family's doubts, and ends up cooking in Paris with a young kitchen worker called Linguini. D23, Disney's official fan club, notes that the film earned five Academy Award nominations and won Best Animated Feature. Remy is a rat with a fine nose and big ambitions, and he did a great deal for rats' image.

Roland Rat, TV-am

Roland Rat burst onto British breakfast television on TV-am in April 1983, brought to life by the puppeteer David Claridge. Curious British Telly says TV-am's children's editor Anne Wood wanted something to entertain children over the Easter holidays, and Roland, a rat who lived in a shed on the studio roof, was the answer. He is widely said to have "saved" TV-am, and Curious British Telly reports that viewing figures rose from about 100,000 to 1.8 million while he was on air. In 1985 he moved to the BBC. A rat who rescued a television station is quite a legacy.

The zodiac rat

The rat also leads the Chinese zodiac. In the Great Race story, the V&A says, the rat "comes first by hopping on the ox's back, then jumping ahead at the last moment". It is a perfect rat story: small, clever and first over the line. Read the full tale in the Year of the Rat and the Great Race.

Famous rats at a glance

What do famous rats tell us about pet rats?

The giant pouched rats that find landmines are much bigger animals than pet rats, PDSA notes, but they share that famous rat brain. If these stories have made you curious, start with rats as pets: what to know before you get them and our rat facts. To put those famous brains to work at home, try our guide to training pet rats, and for everything else, our pet rat care guide.