# Old Saber-Tooth — Before Adam character guide

> Old Saber-Tooth in Before Adam by Jack London.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** old Saber - Tooth, Saber - Tooth, Broken - Tooth

**First appearance:** 0002-i

## Snapshot

A massive saber-toothed predator whose assaults on the bluff turn the Folk's terror into a game of stones, laughter, and bruised pride.

## Who they are

Old Saber-Tooth is the horde's reigning nightmare, a beast who pursues the Folk up the bluff and nearly forces his way into their caves. When the tribe pelts him from above, he becomes a spectacle — roaring, sliding, taking a stone on the nose — and their fear curdles into derisive laughter that stings him worse than the missiles. His baffled retreat marks the Folk's first taste of collective triumph, a rehearsal for the cooperation they cannot yet name.

## Relationships

### [The Folk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters/the_folk)

_rivalry_

Old Saber-Tooth is a predatory threat to The Folk, representing the constant danger of wild animals.

### [The Swift One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters/the_swift_one)

_rivalry_

Old Saber-Tooth is a lethal predator that The Swift One must evade or fight for survival.

## In the story

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/iv)

Referenced as a possible cause of the narrator's father's death.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/vi)

The tiger that attacks the horde's caves and is driven off by stones and mockery.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/viii)

Tiger baited by the narrator and Lop-Ear; also known as Saber-Tooth.

### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/chapters/xvi)

Attacks the group, killing Big-Face; inadvertently saves the narrator and Swift One from Red-Eye.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters/old_saber_tooth
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/before_adam_se/characters