# Mother Wolf — The Jungle Book character guide

> Mother Wolf in The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Wolf

**First appearance:** 0002-mowgli-s-brothers

## Snapshot

The she-wolf who finds a naked man-cub at her cave mouth and claims him as her own before Shere Khan can, defying the tiger without a flicker of fear.

## Who they are

Mother Wolf rules her den with a mother's ferocity, and when the lame tiger Shere Khan comes whining for the child, she answers him with bared teeth and a threat she fully means. Her tenderness toward the bold, hairless cub sits beside a ruthless readiness to fight anything that threatens her litter. She sets the story's central question in motion: whether the jungle can make room for a creature that was never meant to belong there.

## Relationships

### [Shere Khan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_book_se/characters/shere_khan)

_rivalry_

Mother Wolf fiercely opposes Shere Khan, defying his claim on Mowgli and protecting the man-cub as her own cub.

### [Mowgli](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_book_se/characters/mowgli)

_family_

Mother Wolf adopts Mowgli as her own cub, nursing him and defending him with fierce maternal love.

### [Shere Khan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_book_se/characters/shere_khan)

_rivalry_

Mother Wolf fiercely opposes Shere Khan, defying his claim on Mowgli and protecting the man-cub as her own cub.

### [Mowgli](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_book_se/characters/mowgli)

_family_

Mother Wolf adopts Mowgli as her own cub, nursing him and defending him with fierce maternal love.

### [Shere Khan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_book_se/characters/shere_khan)

_rivalry_

Mother Wolf fiercely opposes Shere Khan, defying his claim on Mowgli and protecting the man-cub as her own cub.

## In the story

### [Kaa's Hunting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_book_se/chapters/kaa-s-hunting)

Mowgli is placed by her side in the home-cave after the rescue.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_book_se/characters/mother_wolf
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_book_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_jungle_book_se/characters