Botasky
Botasky is a rabbit and a ZSI special operative in We Can Fix Pawbert. He was a member of Cat Shit One, a ZSI rabbit special operations team that conducted covert intelligence gathering in hostile territories. Botasky and his partners Perkins and White are killed during a mission in Vladifrostok in S05E01, their deaths establishing the emerging threat that drives the season's conflict.
"It's over, Perky. We did everything we could..." --- Botasky's dying words to Perkins (S05E01)
Background
Botasky was recruited by ZSI fifteen years before the events of Season 5, partnering with Perkins from the beginning of their careers. The two became an inseparable team, working together in the shadows to protect Zootopia from threats most mammals never knew existed.
Like his partner, Botasky's value as an operative came partly from being underestimated. Rabbits were ideal infiltrators---small, unassuming, "just prey," nothing to worry about. But fifteen years of training and fieldwork had made Botasky a formidable combatant, capable of taking down mammals many times his size with controlled precision.
Series History
Season 5
S05E01 "Golden Age"
The episode opens with Botasky and Perkins fleeing through a Vladifrostok facility after their mission has catastrophically failed. Their sniper, White, has been killed by an RPG while covering their extraction, and Botasky's first instinct is to go back for him. Perkins has to grab his shoulders and tell him that White is gone---there is nothing they can do.
Botasky's breathing is ragged throughout their escape, fear and exhaustion and adrenaline bleeding through despite his training. But the professionalism holds: he covers angles, returns fire in controlled bursts, and fights alongside Perkins with the choreography of mammals who have worked together for decades.
At a corridor junction, the team encounters multiple hostiles. While Perkins covers the forward position, Botasky peels off to handle threats from behind. He takes down a dhole and finishes a wounded gray wolf, but the wolf manages one final shot before dying. The round catches Botasky in the abdomen---a through-and-through that hits something vital.
Botasky goes down. Perkins reaches him immediately, but the wound is catastrophic. Blood seeps between Botasky's fingers as he clutches his abdomen, pooling beneath him on the concrete. His face crumples for a moment before training takes over, and he tells Perkins the truth: it's over. They did everything they could.
His final words---"It's been an honor"---are interrupted as he slips away. Perkins stays with him, holding his paw, refusing to leave even as more hostiles approach.
Legacy
Botasky's death, along with Perkins' and White's, leaves ZSI completely unaware of the Vladifrostok threat. The intelligence they gathered never reaches Zootopia, and their sacrifice buys nothing except the knowledge that something terrible is coming.
In the episode's tag, Luther learns that three operatives from the Vladifrostok station are MIA, presumed KIA. ZSI does not know what they found or what killed them. The threat that took Botasky's life will not be understood until much later in the season.
Key Relationships
Perkins
Botasky and Perkins were partners for fifteen years, recruited together from Bunnyburrow and inseparable ever since. Perkins called him "Bota" as a nickname. Their final moments were spent together---Perkins holding Botasky's paw as he died, Botasky knowing his partner was there at the end.
White
White was Cat Shit One's sniper, and Botasky's immediate response to his death reveals the depth of their bond. When White was killed by an RPG, Botasky wanted to go back for him despite the impossibility of rescue. His grief had to be overridden by tactical necessity.
Key Quotes
| Quote | Context |
|---|---|
| "Perky, we need to go back for White!" | After White is killed (S05E01) |
| "We're surrounded, Perkins. What do we do?" | As hostiles close in (S05E01) |
| "It's over, Perky. We did everything we could..." | Dying words to Perkins (S05E01) |
| "It's been an honor..." | Final words, incomplete (S05E01) |
Trivia
- "Charlie Sierra One" is a reference to the manga/anime Cat Shit One (also known as Apocalypse Meow), which features rabbit soldiers conducting military operations.
- Botasky was nicknamed "Bota" by Perkins.
- Unlike Perkins, who maintained tactical composure throughout their escape, Botasky allowed more emotion to show---grief over White, fear as they became surrounded, and ultimately acceptance in his final moments.
- His wound---a through-and-through that hit something vital---was described as creating "a dark mirror of the fluorescent lights above" as his blood pooled on the concrete.
- Botasky is one of the few ZSI operatives shown operating entirely outside Zootopia's borders.