Flaky



Flaky is one of the main characters in the Happy Tree Friends series.

Character Bio
A red porcupine whose quills are full of white flakes like dandruff, thus the name. Flaky is one of the most popular characters in the series and has the identifiable personality of being a very cautious and timid character. She is also afraid of chicks as seen in From A to Zoo, and as evidenced in Snow Place to Go, she may also have necrophobia (fear of death).

Flaky has often been viewed as a coward. However Flaky's actions in both the internet shorts and the TV series go against this as she has been brave and on several occasions saved her own life. Additionally, when hanging around with Cuddles, Flaky is often forcefully dragged into situations that lead to one or both of their demises, despite her warning Cuddles about possible dangers that could occur as seen in Water You Wading For, Let it Slide, The Wrong Side of the Tracks and Wingin' It. Her deaths tend to involve either getting skinned, burned, or eaten.

Flaky is a helpful character, as evidenced by a couple of the TV episodes. All these factors suggest that Flaky is not only overly cautious (as opposed to being a coward), but also one of the more kind characters of the series; for example, daring to organize a surprise birthday party for Flippy, a character who is well-known for being mentally unstable. However, as seen in the episode Snow Place to Go she is somewhat unstable herself - near the end of the episode, she begins to go insane and makes a companion with a garden gnome, singing "Rock-A-Bye Baby" to it after being trapped in the Arctic with no food or civilization.

In Party Animal, it is revealed that she is allergic to peanuts, as she gets a purple rash, big lips, and bloats like a balloon. She also has a fear of flying, and is prone to vomiting. The fact she is a porcupine often causes trouble - her quills often impale other characters and destroy objects unintentionally. Because of her quills, Flippy even once used her as a weapon with which he killed Cuddles in Keepin' it Reel. Also, she is sometimes skinned, as in Class Act and Let it Slide, when she falls down a tight space, her quills stick-out when going down. When she comes out of the other end, her muscles are exposed.

The excessive dandruff has sometimes been exploited by other characters. In the Second Serving DVD, she was given her own breakfast cereal called Flaky Flakes, which resemble cornflakes with red and white pieces mixed in. Her dandruff is also used to create a snowing effect for a play in Class Act. A running gag in the series is whenever she runs, shakes, or is struck by something, her dandruff would always fall out.

Flaky's first and third kills were done after she herself has been killed. In the episode, Rink Hijinks, when Disco Bear pushes her, she falls onto Lumpy's floor buffer, causing her quills to fly out of control and pierce Disco Bear to death. In Party Animal, after she got popped like a balloon by The Mole, her quills pinned him to the wall. Her second kill is from Let it Slide, because Lumpy accidentally turned off the water, she loses her quills all over the water slide, separates the water slide, and later on, when Cuddles slides down, he is sliced in two by the separated slide; due to this, it is assumed Flaky caused Cuddles' death. As well as being friends with Cuddles, Flaky is also shown to be good friends with Flippy as they are shown doing activities together such as playing hide & seek, going camping, and going to the movies. In Party Animal, she even organized a surprise birthday party for him. However, her friendship with Flippy has led to her death several times because of Flippy's flip-outs. Interestingly, in Party Animal, Flippy did not kill Flaky even though she instigated the flip-out (although she looked very different, puffed up, and Flippy didn't kill Mole either). Because Flaky is so close to Flippy some fans believe that she may have a crush on him. In the episode Without A Hitch, however, she appeared to be paranoid of Flippy throughout the entire episode, experiencing 'dreams' of Flippy flipped out and brutally killing her. This may, however, have been due to the nature of their encounter (e.g., a dark, stormy night on a desolate road).

She has survived in, Water You Wading For, Out of Sight, Out of Mime, I Get a Trick Out of You (not seen but heard), Stealing the Spotlight, (debatably) From A to Zoo, The Wrong Side of the Tracks, Ipso Fatso, A Change of Heart, Double Whammy Part 1, Easy Comb, Easy Go, Happy Trails pt. 1 (but not part 2), (debatably) Chew Said a Mouthful, and Something Fishy.

Gender Dispute
Many debates have been raised as to the true gender of Flaky. Several fans assume that Flaky is male due to her lack of a distinguishing feminine appearance; female characters tend to have long eyelashes, whereas Flaky has none. Series creator Rhode Montijo once stated that he initially created Flaky as a male, however, Mondo Media claims Flaky is a female character. Her gender has caused much confusion; even the Happy Tree Friends website is ambiguous to her true gender, but most of the creators refer to Flaky as a female. This is most obvious in the DVD commentaries where they regularly refer to Flaky as a "her", such as the commentary for And the Kitchen Sink. Among the traits that Flaky exhibits to strengthen the argument of her character being female are her interactions with Disco Bear, her feminine sounding screams and speech, and the way she makes bashful feminine movements when afraid or nervous. Some even see her quills as her having long hair, especially due to her dandruff and the way they respond to hair growth formula in Easy Comb, Easy Go. In Something Fishy, Flaky is seen trying to decide whether to enter the girls or the boy's bathroom, further playing on her gender confusion. On the official website, Flaky's gender was originally listed as "Female". It has recently been changed to list "?". (See her description)

Famous Deaths

 * Rink Hijinks
 * Let it Slide
 * Ski Ya, Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya!
 * Party Animal

Starring Roles

 * Water You Wading For?
 * Treasure Those Idol Moments
 * Boo Do You Think You Are?
 * Hide and Seek
 * This Is Your Knife
 * Happy Trails Pt. 2: Jumping the Shark
 * Rink Hijinks
 * Let It Slide
 * Ski Ya, Wouldn’t Wanna Be Ya!
 * From A to Zoo
 * Flaky's Baseball Smoochie
 * Party Animal
 * Wingin' It
 * Without a Hitch

Featuring Roles

 * Happy Trails
 * Out of Sight, Out of Mime
 * Class Act
 * Keepin' It Reel
 * I Get a Trick Out of You (Unseen, but her shriek was heard)
 * Stealing the Spotlight
 * Ski Patrol
 * The Wrong Side of the Tracks
 * Take a Hike
 * Snow Place to Go
 * Dunce Upon a Time
 * Mime to Five
 * Chew Said a Mouthful
 * See What Develops
 * Idol Curiosity
 * Aw, Shucks!
 * Wipe Out!
 * Something Fishy

Appearance Roles

 * From Hero to Eternity
 * And The Kitchen Sink
 * Ipso Fatso
 * Concrete Solution
 * Who's to Flame?
 * A Change Of Heart
 * Easy Comb, Easy Go
 * Double Whammy pt.1
 * Wrath of Con

Occupations and Careers

 * 1) Soccer Goalie - A Change of Heart
 * 2) Trapize Artist - Mime to Five
 * 3) Grocer - See What Develops
 * 4) Explorer - Idol Curiosity
 * 5) Water Dunk Game Victim - Aw, Shucks!
 * 6) Student Driver - Easy Comb, Easy Go
 * 7) Student - Something Fishy

Seen on Computer and on TV

 * 1) Treasure Those Idol Moments: Hit by Lumpy with a car while hanging from a jungle gym. (Idol-induced).
 * 2) Hide and Seek: Strangled and hung from a wire by Flippy.
 * 3) Boo Do You Think You Are?: Melted by lava, leaving her as a mere skeleton, save for the upper part of her head.
 * 4) This Is Your Knife: Thrown into a campfire by Flippy while hiding in her sleeping bag.
 * 5) Happy Trails Part 2: Jumping the Shark: Murdered by Flippy, Lumpy, Handy, and Sniffles for puncturing their escape raft.
 * 6) Rink Hijinks: Shredded by Lumpy's floor waxer after being accidentally pushed by Disco Bear.
 * 7) Class Act: Dies in an explosion.
 * 8) Keepin' it Reel: Strangled and decapitated by Flippy who proceeds to use her as a weapon.
 * 9) Let it Slide: Sinks and drowns after sliding down, and getting skinned by, a dehydrated slide.
 * 10) Stealing the Spotlight: Possibly dies from Lumpy's Christmas lights. (debatable)
 * 11) Ski Ya, Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya!: Sliced into cubes after flying through a chain-link fence.
 * 12) From A to Zoo: Possibly dies when a baboon causes the bus she's riding in to crash. (debatable)
 * 13) Flaky's Baseball Smoochie Catch: Gets hit in the eye by a baseball so hard that it pops out in a geyser of blood.
 * 14) Flaky's Baseball Smoochie Bat: Struck by lightning while holding a metal bat. Her charred upper body is then turned to dust when it is hit by a wayward baseball.
 * 15) Flaky's Baseball Smoochie Gum: Suffocates after blowing and popping a chewing gum bubble that covers her entire face.
 * 16) Ski Patrol: Flies into, and is wedged in, a cliffside and gets crushed to pieces by a snowboard.
 * 17) From Hero to Eternity: Sucked into a whirlpool and burned by lava.
 * 18) And the Kitchen Sink: Gets hit by chunk of wall while trying to cross the street.
 * 19) Party Animal: Has an allergic reaction to peanuts causing her to bloat like a balloon. Popped like a balloon by The Mole.
 * 20) Concrete Solution: Possibly dies when bridge collapses.
 * 21) Who's to Flame?: Impaled through head by a klaxon.
 * 22) Take a Hike: A mother eagle turns her body into a nest.
 * 23) Snow Place to Go: Eaten by an orca.
 * 24) Dunce Upon a Time: Electrocuted and impaled by a fork while hiding behind a piece of toast in toaster.
 * 25) Mime to Five: Cut vertically in half by Cuddles' intestines.
 * 26) Chew Said a Mouthful: Jaw broken by umbrella (debatable).
 * 27) See What Develops: Drowns in a store.
 * 28) Idol Curiosity: Devoured by flesh-eating flowers.
 * Aw, Shucks!: Head knocked off by a huge piece of popcorn.
 * 1) Wipe Out!: Head bashed by a coconut and eaten by seagulls.
 * 2) Wingin' It: Killed by Godzilla at the end of the episode (Kenn Navarro confirmed this)
 * 3) Wrath of Con: Crushed in the building.
 * 4) Without A Hitch: Blown apart by her airbag deploying.

Additional

 * 1) Overkill DVD box set: Possibly killed in by Flippy's bomb. (Death not shown)
 * 2) False Alarm Cover: Her quills were on fire as she fell off of building. (Debatable and not shown.)
 * 3) Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm gameplay: Deaths and injuries various, depending on the environment of the level, such as getting sliced by blades and saws, getting crushed and flattened like paper or cardboard, getting electrocuted, or getting lit on fire.
 * 4) Spring Training March 2006 Calendar: Dies when she hits one of Flippy's Grenades with a baseball bat. (Death not seen)
 * 5) Fall Harvest Wallpaper: Falls and splatters on the ground. (Death not seen)
 * 6) Un-named Wallpaper: Killed when Flippy's Dynamite explodes. (Death not seen)

Seen in comics

 * 1) Making a Good Bleed: Killed in a car explosion.

Seen on Computer and on TV

 * 1) Class Act: Is skinned when she falls down a chimney.
 * 2) Ski Ya, Wouldn't Wanna be Ya (before death): Steps on a nail sticking out of a plank with both feet.
 * 3) The Wrong Side of The Tracks: Vomits while stuck in an upside-down roller coaster cart
 * 4) Wingin' It: Vomits twice-once before she enters the airport, and again when she is on the plane.
 * 5) Party Animal (before death): Suffers an allergic reaction to peanuts (twice), causing her to develop a rash and swell up.
 * 6) Ipso Fatso: Hit in the head by one of Lumpy's detached arms.
 * 7) Something Fishy: The skin on both of her hands are bitten off by Russell's killer fish.
 * 8) Without a Hitch (before death): Receives lacerations and is impaled by glass from her car windshield.

Number of Kills

 * Cuddles – 2 ("Let It Slide", "Keepin' it Reel")
 * Giggles – 1 ("Ski Ya, Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya!")
 * Toothy – 0
 * Lumpy – 0
 * Petunia – 1 ("Ski Ya, Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya!")
 * Handy – 1 ("Easy Comb, Easy Go")
 * Nutty – 0
 * Sniffles – 0
 * Pop – 0
 * Cub - 0
 * The Mole – 1 ("Party Animal")
 * Disco Bear – 2 ("Rink Hijinks", "Ski Ya, Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya!")
 * Russell – 0
 * Lifty – 1 ("Happy Trails Pt. 2: Jumping the Shark")
 * Shifty – 1 ("Happy Trails Pt. 2: Jumping the Shark")
 * Mime – 1 ("Wingin' It")
 * Cro-Marmot – 0
 * Flippy – 0
 * Splendid – 0
 * Generic Tree Friends – 0
 * Others – 3 (3 chicks "From A to Zoo")

Trivia

 * In the "Collect Them All" section, it reveals that she was banned from balloon shops due to her quills.
 * Even though Flaky is afraid of birds, in Take a Hike, she actually tried to help a little baby bird that fell off the nest. She ends up getting killed by the parent of the chick and using her carcass as a new nest.
 * Flaky, Lumpy, Handy, and Russell are the only characters without visible ears.
 * Flaky likes corn dogs, as seen episodes The Wrong Side of the Tracks and Double Whammy Part 1.
 * Besides Petunia, Handy, Mime and Cro-Marmot (debatable), she is one of the only characters who hasn't killed Lumpy.
 * Flaky suffers motion sickness, as seen in the episodes, The Wrong Side of the Tracks and Wingin' It. It makes her the first character to vomit.
 * Flaky is considered to be a "tomboy" because she is always friendly towards male characters and her Smoochie is baseball-themed. Despite Flaky being a tomboy, she likes a flower pattern on anything, even on her surfboard and suitcase.
 * Flaky's quills are considered to be her long hair, as they grew with hair tonic from Easy Comb, Easy Go. She sometimes ends up killing others with her quills.
 * On Flaky's Myspace page, she is listed as a Gemini.
 * Flaky is the first character to kill others after she has died.
 * She is Nutty, Cuddles, and Disco Bear's most frequent victim. She was also the first victim of Cuddles, Sniffles, and Handy (debatably).
 * She appeared in the first five TV-Shorts.
 * Flaky is one of the playable characters in Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm.
 * She's one of the only three female characters. The others are Giggles and Petunia.
 * When looking at the storyboard for Flippin' Burgers on the "Second Serving" DVD, Flaky is drawn in place of Petunia working at the grill, where she is killed by Flippy in a gruesome manner.
 * Flaky is one of the only two red characters. The other is Splendont.
 * Because Flaky is always scared of things, she has panophobia/pantophobia (fear of everything).