Lumpy's Careers

Lumpy is a character in Happy Tree Friends who the creators rely on for something to go wrong, he's their fall-guy, the series' anti-fail-safe, when something needs to go wrong, Lumpy's there to make it happen; and it's no wonder that he has been given many jobs, the most jobs, this is mainly because many of them require skill, concentration, and finesse, which Lumpy does not have. So far, he has been given 39 different jobs and roles, and has been at it 49 times, many with disastrous consequences.

Another reason why Lumpy's careers get a more thorough explanation than, say, The Mole and Handy, who are often seen with him, is because The Mole doesn't know what's going on, so it's just mistake after mistake, Handy doesn't have any hands, so he cannot perform certain action that would stop many deaths and injuries in the show, and these two designs can be fairly repetitive compared to Lumpy. Lumpy makes a mistake or a misjudgement and can try to compensate, and this allows an even greater variety of ways the situation can go from bad to worse, which is a good reason to use him so much.

There are times however, that Lumpy can do a job competently and without incident. It was explained that Lumpy sometimes does this to make him unpredictable. For example, Lumpy did a good job as a doctor in Party Animal and A Sight For Sore Eyes (at least to Russell), was a very good, if vain, surfer in Wipe Out, was able subdue a giant squid using only a mousetrap in Doggone It, and was able to exorcise Cub in Read 'em and Weep.

Race-car Driver
Lumpy played this role in Wheelin' and Dealin', although this was only a small role, Lumpy's incompetence still shows through here. He was wearing a snorkel and goggles instead of proper racer's gear, his car's wheels weer clearly in bad shape, and weren't of decent quality anyway. He also, somehow managed to detonate his car trying to start the engine up, yet he still won the race.

Carny
Lumpy played this role in Pitchin' Impossible; while he wasn't outright terrible at the job, he did make some odd moves, such as giving The Mole some balls to throw in his game, and also didn't stop The Mole after his first throw, despite how obviously wrong the game was going.

Butcher
Lumpy played this role in Meat Me for Lunch, there was nothing here to suggest he was incompetent (unless counting he was using a plunger, but he still was able to get the job done), however, he was slightly unethical, seeing as he sold raccoon (Lifty & Shifty) meat to Petunia, which still had one of their eyes in the meat. The reason why he is considered unethical here, it's not cannibalism, but the Happy Tree Friends are on the same intelligence level as humans, and are usually far less barbaric, so they wouldn't think of killing and eating eachother in most circumstances.

Fisherman
Lumpy played this role in Off the Hook and Sea What I Found, in Off the Hook he wasn't incompetent, it was simply bad timing between him and Russell, in fact, it could be argued that he is a very good fisherman, able to wrestle in a Happy Tree Friend, which is most likely larger than any fish he was hoping for, and also managing to do it through coral reefs and mines.

In Sea What I Found he was with Russell again, but fishing with him, once again, nothing incompetent here, him and Russell even managed to find a treasure map by chance, he also had the correct equipment for the job on both occassions, so it's fairly clear he knows what he's doing with fishing.

Bus Driver
Lumpy played this role in Happy Trails pt. 1 and From A to Zoo, in Happy Trails, he was clearly at least competent when he was driving, but he was too easily distracted by what was going on around him, which was one of the reasons why the bus crashed. In From A to Zoo, he wasn't driving for very long, but it is safe to assume that his driving was at least competent, because he only crashed in this episode because of the baboon that had snuck on board. That being said, there is a general trend that is, when Lumpy plays a bus driver, he is always the reason why the characters die, or are set up to die.

Skating Rink Worker
Lumpy plays this role in Rink Hijinks, where in which he wasn't incompetent exactly, but he was a little inattentive while working, as he didn't notice Flaky flying towards his buffer at all, or did he even take in what was happening until she was starting to shred.

Farmer
Lumpy played this role in Milkin' It, Aw Shucks!, and Peas in a Pod, in Milkin' It, he was shown to be incompetent at protecting his livestock from Lifty and Shifty, because they managed to steal a whole cow (as oppossed to some meat in Meat Me For Lunch), but it was clear he didn't want to lose his livestock, because he got killed trying to stop them. In Aw Shucks he was shown to be a much more competent farmer, at least with agriculture, because he was able to grow a corn cob to a size larger than him, however, he wasn't very skillful at deterring a persistent crow from his farm.

In Peas in a Pod, he had a whole Pod Lumpy workforce at his disposal, however this doesn't show if he is incompetent or any good at farming in this episode, this was purely down to chance that he had found the alien seed and he was definitely opportunistic because he used them to maximise his farm's productivity (and clean his house) with no effort from him at all.

School Play Director
Class Act - As a director in this episode, he was competent as he was able to successfully prepare for the play. It is only because of Nutty's stupidity that things went wrong. Lumpy might have done the right thing in insisting the play go on in spite of Sniffles' and Giggles' injuries, but he was cowardly when he escaped the building after Flaky was skinned in the makeshift chimney.

Magician
I Get a Trick Out of You - In this episode, he clearly knows some magic, unfortunately, he didn't know enough to be really good at it. He knows, for example, to appear in a puff of smoke, to make flowers appear from his hat, and to make blood disappear on a newspaper. He doesn't know enough about sawing someone in half, disappearing in a puff of smoke, etc. And the way he conducted his magic led to Cuddles injuries, and ultimately, his death. Overall, he could be at best described as a amateur magician who clearly needs more practice, and at worst a blubbering incompetent fool who doesn't know what he was doing.

Lumberjack
Out on a Limb

Convenience Store Clerk
Icy You

Grave Digger
Remains to be Seen; Can't Stop Coffin - In Remains to be seen, he was competent and he largely knew what he was doing. He successfully buried the dead Tree Friends without incident. They becoming undead is not Lumpy's fault, and he was able to kill and rebury the zombies (except the Mole), in spite of Zomby Flippy trying to kill him. He did stupid things in this episode, but none relating to his job as Gravedigger.

In Can't Stop Coffin' he is really incompetent and stupid in his job. He buried a casket without a body in it. He did not investigate the source of the smoke, and his awkward driving killed Cub and mutilated Cuddles. The only thing that could be said in his defense is that he is wearing headphones and listening to loud music and therefore he cannot hear Cuddles' screams, but he shouldn't have been wearing those headphones while burying a casket in the first place. He also didn't look at the casket while he was burying it.

Ski Patroller
Ski Patrol

Amusement Park Owner
The Wrong Side of the Tracks

Truck Driver
From Hero to Eternity; Without A Hitch - He was not really incompetent as a truck driver. In Hero to Eternity, he was able to avoid a giant half snowball rolling towards his truck. It was Splendid's incompetence that led to his death. In Without A Hitch, it was Flippy's fault for running in the middle of the road in a dark rainy night in the first place. And it was Flaky's paranoia while driving, that caused the disasters in the episode.

Physician
He had this occupation in Party Animal, and he was surprisingly competent at the job, he successfully healed Flaky, and he knew that peanut's were the reason for her allergic reaction (however, Flaky may have told him this). Although, it must be said that his competence here was most likely due to the fact that it was only a bit part in the episode, and he was needed for the plot to get back to the house.

Sheriff/Police Officer
Don't Yank My Chain - Lumpy in this episode was at his stupid and arrogant worse. He easily got fooled by Shifty and Lifty's clumsy disguises, and refused to listen to Handy. He forgot to lock the cell where he jailed Handy, and the Mole, and he threw away a piece of cloth that could be used to track down the Mole. In addition, he was not only stupid, but power hungry and abusive. It was shown by his treatment of Mole and Handy. He beat up the two innocent motorists, and he shackled them to an iron ball.

Animal Control
Doggone It - He was competent in doing his job, even if he was slow in "connecting the dots" between Whistle's behavior, and whistling sounds. He handily dispatched the giant squid, but had difficulty dealing with Whistle the dog. Overall, if Shifty and Lifty hadn't arrived with their whistle-like dogs, Lumpy would have succeeded in getting Whistle. His assumption that only Whistle would go crazy after hearing whistle like sounds is not stupid, but rather a failure of imagination.

Construction Worker
Concrete Solution - Lumpy was both competent and stupid at the same time in his job as construction worker. The way he handled the nail gun was particularly incompetent, and he should have known that the bag of cement was really a bag of sugar (although to his defense, who would have expected a bag of sugar to be mixed up with bags of cement?).

However, without Handy and Mole's help, he was able to complete the bridge and open it for traffic, which shows that he does know how to construct things. And if Nutty hadn't had accidentally switched the sugar and cement bags, it would have been a successful bridge opening.

Shipmate
Sea What I Found - He clearly has no experience at sea, as he does not know the difference between the waves of the sea, and the waves of a washing machine. And when Russell was under the sea looking for lost treasure, Lumpy shouldn't have been asleep on the watch, and he really shouldn't have stepped on the hose that gives oxygen to Russell.

Plumber
Wishy Washy

Firefighter
Who's to Flame? - There isn't really enough information to deduce whether or not he was stupid or incompetent in his job. It's not really his fault he can't hear Mime in the phone, and presumably, nobody called him to the scene of the fire.

Sanitation Engineer
Every Litter Bit Hurts - Lumpy in this episode is not so much stupid as he was wasteful, selfish, and careless in doing his job. He had no interest in saving the environment.

Genie
As You Wish

Scoutmaster
Take a Hike

Ringmaster
Mime to Five - Lumpy's management of his circus is average, overall. He did not do anything stupid in this job. Rather, it was the combination of Mime's inability to speak, and Toothy's misunderstanding of Lumpy's clear instructions, that caused the disaster. Rather, in this job, he shows he is greedy, selfish, and bossy.

Orthodontist/Surgeon
A Change of Heart (heart); Chew Said a Mouthful; I Nub You - In his job as a surgeon, he showed a mixture of stupidity, and intelligence. He was intelligent enough to successfully implant a heart of a whale on a bear without the bear dying, but was stupid enough to do so because he lost the other normal sized hearts. He shows that he is able to correct and repair Nutty's jaw, and even recommend apple juice to Nutty after he showed that he was hungry. He can also perform eye surgery. The only thing he did wrong is that he didn't notice that the glass eye of Toothy was replaced by a jawbreaker. Rather, it is Nutty's stupidity that caused most of the disasters in the first place.

In I Nub You, Lumpy again showed again he can be stupid and skillful at the same time. He was able to save Handy and Petunia's life even after they were sliced to bits by the pinsetter, and he was able to successfully sew them together. The fact that he sewed them together back to back, however, and the fact that he amputated his own arms in the process, shows his extreme lack of common sense.

Newspaper Editor
See What Develops - Lumpy shows that he has only limited skills in managing people when he selected an obviously unqualified Mole to be the photographer. However, he was successful in developing a piece of flesh, as the others would just throw the flesh away instead of trying to develop it.

Lookout
Idol Curiosity

Optometrist
A Sight For Sore Eyes - Lumpy is a competent optometrist. Despite using dirty gloves, he was able to successfully prescribe contact lens to Russell. His actions regarding the Mole and the seeing eye dog was not particularly stupid because as long as Mole had the dog, nothing wrong happened. Rather, it was a combination of actions that Lumpy had nothing to do with that caused the disasters that happened.

Surfer
Wipe Out! - Contrary to most of his previous roles, he was a very good surfer. He won multiple championships, was able to make complicated surfing moves that impressed and wowed Petunia, Giggles, and Toothy, and if he hadn't been killed, most probably would have won another surfing championship. He only failed because Cro-Marmot changed the sea to ice.

Mailman
Letter Late Than Never

Backup Guitarist
In a Jam- He was not really stupid or incompetent.He played the electric guitar well and contributed to the fame of Happy Tree Band. The only thing that he did wrong was to select Cuddles as replacement for Russell, and it could be argued that he selected him to remember Russell. All the deaths and disasters that happened were mostly Cuddles' fault.

Psychiatrist
Double Whammy (Parts 1 and 2)

Priest/Exorcist
Read 'em and Weep - He was a surprisingly good exorcist as he managed to get the demon out of Cub. It is unclear at the end of the episode if he was possessed, or he merely ate the demon. He didn't act like he was possessed, however.

Toy Store Manager
We're Scrooged! Lumpy shows his greedy, and ruthless side in this episode. He is greedy, bossy, and uncaring of his employees welfare as a manager. He has good business sense as he was able to boost his store's profits, but was undone by his lack of common sense and greed.

Milkman
A Sucker for Love, Pt. Two - It's not really a job as it was only in Nutty's imagination.

Carol Singer
Kringle Carols; Deck the Halls; We Wish You

Teacher
Lumpy plays this role in (arguably) From A to Zoo and Something Fishy, in From A to Zoo, he was shown to be dedicated and caring, however, very incompetent, as we've come to expect of Lumpy, straight off the bat, he let the kids out of his sight, he was unable to save Sniffles and, trying to save Sniffles, got Petunia killed. He also managed to get Toothy killed by not paying attention, he even managed to traumatize Flaky trying to get her away from the yellow chicks. Not only that, he was even unable to understand that there was a baboon in place of Sniffles, the same one that had killed him earlier.

In Something Fishy, it was a lesser role, but with just as disastrous results, at the beginning of the episode, it is fair to assume he at least knows the subject he is teaching, but, later on, because he was rushing, put Russell's Piranha's fishbowl on Russell's head instead of a space helmet, setting up for Russell, The Mime, and Sniffles to be killed.