In Tenniel's illustration, the Jabberwock is a large winged chimera with the body of a dragon, a whiskered, fish-like head, insectile antennae and a pair of talon-like hands on both its arms and its wings, which may also serve as forelegs when it walked on the ground. Several versions depict the Jabberwock wearing a buttoned vest. Apparently a ferocious maneater in life, Jabberwocky warns the unnamed hero to beware "The jaws that bite" and "the claws that catch," It presumably lived within a dark forest until it was slain by an unnamed hero wielding a vorpal blade.