The Badgers

Lore & Background

In the sprawling, beer-soaked world of Conker, the Badgers occupy a niche of organized animal crime. They are not a single, unified army so much as a collection of brawling badgers who answer to Squire, their sharp-eyed and foul-mouthed leader. Their operations span multiple biomes of the game world, from forest clearings to industrial backdrops, and their members are recognizable by their stocky builds, striped fur, and a general air of menace.

Squire sits at the top of the Badger hierarchy and is the figure Conker must ultimately confront. He is more calculating than the rank-and-file badgers, using his underlings as muscle while he orchestrates the larger criminal plot that drives the game's story. The relationship between Squire and his gang is one of strict command: disobedience is not tolerated, and the badgers operate with a rough, pack-like cohesion.

The Badgers' criminal activities are tied to a larger scheme that puts Conker's home and his livelihood at stake. Whether through intimidation, theft, or outright violence, they have made themselves the dominant criminal force in the regions Conker travels through, and their defeat is the narrative engine of the entire adventure.

In Their Own Story

The rain hammered the corrugated roof of the abandoned warehouse where the Badgers held their evening meeting. Squire stood at the head of the long table, his striped tail lashing against the floorboards, while a dozen badgers hunched over their pints of something that smelled of motor oil and rot. A young badger at the far end spoke up—something about the squirrel, about the one they'd kicked out of the pub. Squire didn't turn around. He just set his glass down with a soft clink and said, in a voice like gravel dragged over stone, "You don't bring his name up in my house. You bring his name up, you're the one I'm throwing out." The badger shut up. The rain kept falling. Somewhere in the distance, a squirrel was getting fired, and the Badgers didn't even know it yet.

Reader's Guide

The Badgers are the main antagonist faction in Conker's Bad Fur Day (2005) and reappear in Conker: Live & Reloaded (2012). They are a gang of anthropomorphic badgers led by Squire, and they function as the primary source of conflict throughout both games.

In gameplay, Badgers appear as standard enemies across multiple levels, wielding melee weapons and occasionally ranged attacks. They are stockier and hit harder than many other enemy types, making them a recurring physical threat. Squire appears as a mid-boss or set-piece encounter, requiring a different approach than the regular badger grunts.

Their role in the story is that of a criminal organization whose activities directly impact Conker. Conker, a squirrel and former pub bouncer, is drawn into conflict with them after losing his job and becoming entangled in their wider scheme. The player's progression through the game is essentially a campaign to dismantle the Badgers' operations area by area, culminating in a confrontation with Squire.

In Conker: Live & Reloaded, the Badgers and Squire return in a largely similar capacity, serving as the narrative antagonists and populating levels with enemy encounters. Their design and role are consistent between the two titles, anchoring them as the series' signature enemy faction.

Did You Know?

• The Badgers appear as antagonists in both the original 2005 release and the 2012 remaster, making them one of the few factions to carry across both versions of the story.
• Squire, the Badgers' leader, is distinguished in gameplay as a tougher encounter than the standard badger enemies, reflecting his position at the top of the gang's hierarchy.
• The Badgers are one of several animal species that populate the Conker world, which features a wide variety of anthropomorphic creatures in a pub-crawl adventure setting.
• In both games, the Badgers are encountered across multiple distinct biomes and level types, indicating their criminal reach spans the entire game world rather than being confined to one location.