Giant badgers were larger, tougher kin to the common Badger, standing waist-high with thick brown fur, short powerful legs, and claws capable of tearing through packed earth and timber alike. Their broad, pointed faces carried a mouth full of sharp teeth, and their build made them formidable diggers even by badger standards, capable of hollowing tunnels some five feet across through anything short of solid rock. They tended toward solitude, though small groups of up to five were occasionally found sharing a burrow system in undisturbed wilderness.
Fiercely territorial, giant badgers attacked with relentless claws and teeth when their ground was threatened, and injury in battle only drove them into a berserk fury that ended solely with the death of one combatant or the retreat of the danger. This ferocity, paired with their trainability, made them prized among certain Mortalborn as mounts and companions; Gnomes in particular were known to raise and ride giant badgers as elite cavalry, valuing both their tenacity and their usefulness underground. Rangers sometimes bonded with them as loyal animal companions.
Taming a giant badger demanded patience and a steady supply of berries, and a trained animal commanded a considerable price among those who dealt in exotic mounts, with ongoing upkeep to match its considerable appetite. Even domesticated specimens retained much of their wild temper, and handlers who mistreated them or encroached carelessly on their space often learned why the creature's territorial instincts were never fully bred out.