Perkins
Perkins 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. Perkins and his partners Botasky and White are killed during a mission in Vladifrostok in S05E01, their deaths establishing the emerging threat that drives the season's conflict.
"Charlie Sierra One, transmitting in the blind, the target is Zootopia, the target is Zootopia!" --- Perkins, desperately trying to relay intelligence (S05E01)
Background
Perkins was recruited by ZSI fifteen years before the events of Season 5, approached by a nondescript officer at a bar in Bunnyburrow who asked if he wanted to do something that mattered. He and Botasky partnered from the beginning, becoming a two-mammal team that worked in the shadows, keeping Zootopia safe from threats most mammals never knew existed.
As rabbits, Perkins and his team were ideal infiltrators---small, unassuming, and easy to underestimate. They operated in facilities designed for mammals three times their size, using their agility and professional training to compensate for the disadvantage. Perkins was described as practiced and efficient, his reloading muscle memory doing the work while his eyes scanned for threats.
Series History
Season 5
S05E01 "Golden Age"
The episode opens with Perkins and Botasky fleeing through a Vladifrostok facility after their mission has gone sideways. Their sniper, White, has been killed by an RPG while covering their extraction from a maintenance catwalk. The two rabbits have downed a polar bear and are attempting to exfiltrate with critical intelligence about a threat to Zootopia.
The intel is trapped on a device the size of Perkins' palm, unable to transmit due to radio jamming. Perkins attempts repeatedly to broadcast their findings, calling out the callsign "Angel One" and "Charlie Sierra One," but receives only static. The words "the target is Zootopia" never reach ZSI.
At a corridor junction, the team encounters multiple hostiles. Despite their exceptional combat skills---two rabbits taking down a tiger, leopard, dhole, and gray wolf in quick succession---Botasky is shot through the abdomen. Perkins stays with his dying partner, holding his paw as Botasky's life fades.
When a red fox and brown bear round the corner, Perkins grabs Botasky's weapon and fires with both paws, screaming as he pulls both triggers. He kills both hostiles but is shot in the chest by the brown bear as he falls. Perkins lands beside Botasky, reaches out to find his partner's paw, and whispers his final words: "It's been an honor, Bota."
Mikhail Icener---the polar bear who would become the season's primary antagonist---executes Perkins with a single shot. The corsac accompanying Icener cancels the intelligence transfer, and everything Perkins died trying to transmit is lost.
Legacy
Perkins' death, along with Botasky's and White's, leaves ZSI blind to the Vladifrostok threat. In the episode's tag, Luther receives a phone call informing him that the Vladifrostok station went dark eighteen hours earlier and that three operatives---Perkins, Botasky, and White---are MIA, presumed KIA. Their intel never reached Zootopia, and ZSI has no idea what they found or what is coming.
The image of the three operatives' sacrifice hangs over the season as a reminder of what is at stake. They discovered the threat to Zootopia and died trying to warn their home.
Key Relationships
Botasky
Perkins and Botasky were partners for fifteen years, having worked together since their recruitment from Bunnyburrow. Their bond was forged through countless operations in hostile territory. In their final moments, Perkins reached for Botasky's paw and held it as he died, their partnership ending exactly as it began: together.
White
White was Cat Shit One's sniper, providing overwatch from elevated positions during operations. He was killed by an RPG while covering Perkins and Botasky's extraction, his loss forcing them to flee without cover. Perkins carried the weight of leaving White's body behind, knowing there was nothing else they could do.
Key Quotes
| Quote | Context |
|---|---|
| "Charlie Sierra One, transmitting in the blind, the target is Zootopia, the target is Zootopia!" | Desperately trying to relay intelligence (S05E01) |
| "He's gone. He's gone. There's nothing we can do." | To Botasky, about White (S05E01) |
| "It's been an honor, Bota." | Final words to his dying partner (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.
- Perkins was nicknamed "Perky" by Botasky.
- The Charlie Sierra One team celebrated when Judy Hopps became Zootopia's first bunny cop, gathering around a small television in a safehouse in Pawris. They saw her success as recognition that rabbits were "not just passive carrot farmers from Bunnyburrow anymore."
- Perkins is one of the few ZSI operatives shown operating entirely outside Zootopia's borders.
- His final act---grabbing both his weapon and Botasky's to fight with both paws---demonstrates the combat training that made rabbit operatives effective despite their size disadvantage.