Common Physical Traits

This is a list of all physical traits that the main cast of Happy Tree Friends, and some other characters, mainly follow.

Buckteeth
A majority of the characters in Happy Tree Friends have buckteeth. These are seen most prominently when characters have their mouths closed, though the buckteeth are still visible when they talk, scream, etc. The buckteeth usually cannot be seen when characters grit their teeth or scream with contorted facial expressions. Similarly, when characters grin widely, such the trademark grins of Lifty and Shifty, the buckteeth can become hidden amongst their other teeth.

The buckteeth themselves have gone through a transformation as the series progressed. They were originally the general shape of a trapezium, with very sharp corners and a flat tip. Later in the TV series, the corners became more rounded, the tips of the teeth became slightly curved, and the teeth became more widened, but the general trapezium shape still remains.

Toothy has buckteeth that are larger than those of the other characters, with a huge gap between them that some attribute to diastema. Toothy's name is derived from his larger-than-normal buckteeth, though there have been instances when his buckteeth have been normal. In some episodes, like Treasure Those Idol Moments and Class Act, Toothy's buckteeth change back and forth between normal and large and gapped several times. In other episodes, such as Eye Candy, Toothy has normal buckteeth throughout the duration of the episode. This problem was said to be caused by laziness on the part of the animators, though this was fixed when Fatkat took over the animation for the television series.

In Operation: Tiger Bomb, the only character to have buckteeth is Mouse Ka-Boom, which is odd considering that Flippy has buckteeth in the normal series. This could indicate that the animation of Ka-Pow! simply does not utilize the bucktooth drawing format and that the characters from Ka-Pow! would have buckteeth if they were animated in the typical Happy Tree Friends way. This is supported by the body design of Flippy being vastly different from normal Happy Tree Friends animation as well. However, assuming that this is an animation style that does typically not show buckteeth, Mouse Ka-Boom may have them because he is a mouse, which generally have large front teeth.

Flippy usually has buckteeth in the normal series. However, when he flips out, his teeth change. They became crooked in the first and most of the second season of the internet shorts (crooked teeth are still used fairly often with other Happy Tree Friends when they are scared). In the episode Remains to be Seen and further on, Flippy's teeth become sharp when he flips out. Due to his turtleneck, The Mole's mouth is not visible, but he is proven to have buckteeth as shown in Pet Peeve.

Noses
The heart-shaped noses are clearly based on the similar facial concept of the Care Bears and the Care Bear Cousins. With the exception of Lumpy, Mr. Pickels, and Sniffles, all of the main characters have the same heart-shaped noses. The Tiger General and his soldiers have blue noses, however, these noses are closer to a "v" shape than a heart. Sneaky from W.A.R. Journal does not have a visible nose because of his reptilian design. Truffles, being a pig, has a pig snout.

On several occasions, nostrils are visible on characters who have heart-shaped noses. Some examples of this are in Reindeer Kringle, Sweet Ride, Flippin' Burgers, Double Whammy, and Don't Yank My Chain.

A character's skull also has a heart-shaped hole where the nose would be. It used to be an upside-down heart, but was later changed to right-side up. Lumpy has his two nostril holes on his skull, and a Generic Tree Ninja was shown to have two half-triangles, not completely dissimilar from a human skull.

Sniffles has a trunk-like snout instead of a typical nose. However, his snout was originally longer before being shortened at the tail end of Season 2. During the fourth season of the internet series, it would change from being curved to straight in shape.

Mr. Pickels is shown to completely lack a nose.

Pac-Man Eyes
Most of the characters have eyes with pupils the shape of an ovular Pac-Man. Fliqpy, Lifty, Shifty, Lumpy, and Nutty are the only main characters who do not have Pac-Man eyes (though Lifty and Shifty had them in early episodes). It is unknown whether Cro-Marmot and The Mole have the same eyes as the others, as The Mole wears shaded glasses and Cro-Marmot's fringe is covering his eyes. Cub and Mr. Pickels have small, black, dotted eyes (which still form the Pac-Man shape). The Rat and The Dark Shadow Lord do not have Pac-Man eyes. When Flippy flips out, his eyes go from Pac-Man-shaped to irises and his pupils become completely round. Similarly, pupils often dilate or constrict depending on a character's mood.

Sometimes when a character is injured, killed, or panics, the eyelids or the areas next to the eyes may become little darkened (with examples including Cuddles in episode Water You Wading For and Petunia in Hello Dolly), or otherwise have small stripes below the eyes.

Notable exceptions to the Pac-Man eyes/pupils are:
 * Lumpy: Googly eyes
 * Nutty: One googly eye, one colored, lazy eye
 * Flippy: Yellow/green eyes, or once blue, when flipped out
 * The Dark Shadow Lord: Glowing, red eyes
 * The Rat: Red pupils and irises
 * Lifty & Shifty: Beady pupils

Mitten Hands
Mitten hands are hands that are mitten-shaped in appearance (a thumb, and the other fingers seemingly fused together, making the hand resemble a mitten). Lumpy, Handy, Lammy, and Mr. Pickels are the only main characters not to have mitten hands. Russell has one mitten hand and one hook. It is unknown whether or not Handy had mitten-like hands before they were amputated, but it is very likely that he did.

Characters' mitten hands often change to hands with fingers whenever characters grip something, gesture at something, experience extreme pain, etc. Though Flippy and Splendid have mitten hands in Happy Tree Friends, they do not in the Ka-Pow! series.

Split Lips and Triangular Frowns
Most of the characters have a line connecting their nose to their mouth. When a character frowns, the frown is triangular or carrot-shaped (^), with one half going off from that line. The only characters who lack this kind of trait are Lumpy, Sniffles, and Mr. Pickels. It is unknown if The Mole and Cro-Marmot can make a triangular frown, as the former has the top of his turtleneck covering his mouth while the latter is frozen.

Spaced Ears
Most characters have round ears at a certain angle on their head, roughly at right angles or 100 degrees from each other. The Mole has ears on top of his head instead of the sides. Lumpy, Russell, Flaky, and Handy (with the exception of two episodes) have no ears. Sniffles, Mime, Lifty, and Shifty have pointed ears and Cuddles has very long ears. In some cases, the characters have ear-holes that are another shade of their fur color.

Clothing/Apparel
Most characters wear shirts, pants, hats, footwear, or some form of apparel. This is a trait of every main character with the exception of Toothy, Flaky, and Lifty (examples listed below). The same goes for many secondary and minor characters.

Some characters seem to wear clothes which are not visible due to being the color of their skin or fur. The most notable case is Lumpy, who appears shirtless in You're Bakin' Me Crazy and Let It Slide; the former depicts him ironing his blue shirt (see below). In I've Got You Under My Skin, he is shown taking things out of his pockets, indicating that he wears pants. Other characters (such as Cuddles in In a Jam, Lifty and Shifty in Sea What I Found, and Nutty in Icy You) have also been seen with pockets. Considering his pocket protector, it is possible to assume that Sniffles wears a shirt.

Abdominal Markings
Most of all the HTF characters have an oval-shaped abdominal marking that is lighter than the character's real color. The only characters who do not have an oval marking are Lumpy, Sniffles, Cub, Disco Bear, Russell, and Cro-Marmot. It is unknown if The Mole, Pop, Lammy, Truffles, and Mime have one due to the fact that they wear shirts concealing the majority of each of their torsos (although Pop is not likely to have one considering that Cub does not). Splendid's abdominal marking used to be straight at the bottom in the internet series, but it became curved in the TV series.

Face Markings
Face markings are differently shaped markings on certain HTF characters' faces. The only seven characters who have a face marking are the Tiger Soldiers, Cuddles, Giggles, Petunia, Nutty, Mime, Lifty, and Shifty. Cuddles and Mime have rosy-red cheeks (although Mime could be wearing makeup). Giggles and Nutty both have diamond-shaped markings on their foreheads, while Petunia has an arrow-shaped marking on her forehead, which is connected to a triangle-shaped marking on the back of her head. In all three cases, the color of these markings are lighter than the fur on the rest of their bodies. Lifty and Shifty, on the other hand, have darker mask-shaped markings around their eyes. This marking, along with being found on raccoons in real life, goes along with their kleptomania (urge to steal). Tiger Solders have a sky-blue, big, vertical line marking between their eyes.

Hair
While many characters have fur, some also have hair on their heads. Disco Bear's afro and Cro-Marmot's bangs of brown hair are the most noteworthy examples. Cub also grows hair in Snip Snip Hooray! and Easy Comb, Easy Go. Cuddles and Lammy have cotton-like hairs at the top of their heads, which are identical to their cotton-like tails. Flaky has quills which double as spiky hair, covered in dandruff. Truffles has a curly hair on top of his head.

Petunia has long blonde hair in Dunce Upon a Time, as a reference to Rapunzel. Toothy has two strands of hair on his head in Spin Fun Knowin' Ya, but these are not seen in future episodes.

Facial hair is also common in some characters. Lifty, Shifty, Truffles, FatKat, the Tiger General, and the Tiger Soldiers have whisker-like tufts of hair growing from their cheeks. Russell has whiskers, though he also used to have a facial stubble in early episodes. Mr. Pickels has a curly mustache. Lumpy has a mustache and a beard in Double Whammy Part I and just a mustache in Pitchin' Impossible.

There are also hair products in the HTF universe, such as shampoo, barbers' materials, hair growth formulas (Easy Comb, Easy Go), and wigs (such as the one Lumpy wears in Wipe Out!).

Boot-Shaped Feet
20 characters have feet shaped like a boot. Russell, Char Sui, Truffles, Mr. Pickels, and The Ants all lack boot-shaped feet. Russell has two peg legs instead of boot-shaped feet, though it is very likely that he had boot-shaped feet like the others before he lost them. Lumpy, despite his different appearance, has boot-shaped feet. However, in Every Litter Bit Hurts, his feet are hooves like those of actual moose, while in Wipe Out!, his feet are more human-like and even have toes.

Tails
Some Happy Tree Friends have tails, some have none, and all are different.

Panda Mom, Giggles' Mom, The Demon, Giggles, Pop, Cub, Flaky, The Mole, Cro-Marmot, Disco Bear, Lumpy, and Flippy all lack tails. The Tiger General, the Tiger Soldiers, Char Sui, Mouse Ka-Boom, and Sneaky are all wearing pants, so it is possible that their tails are just hidden.

Cuddles and Lammy have cotton tails matching their hair. Toothy and Handy have broad flat tails. Russell's flat tail is noticeably smaller and probably furry. Sniffles, Prehistoric Sniffles, and The Rat have long pointed tails. Petunia, Nutty, Lifty, Shifty, and Splendid all have large bushy tails (the early version of Giggles also had a tail of this type). Mime has a small tail which disappeared in the TV series, but returned in mid-Internet Season 3.

The Pig Child and Truffles have curly, pig-like tails. Buddhist Monkey has a long monkey tail. FatKat and Mittens have thin, furry tails. The Ants have abdomens. Whistle has a dog tail.

Body Shape and Anatomy
Most characters in HTF have a similar body shape (small, plump body with a large, oval head). Lumpy is much taller and skinnier than the other characters and has a smaller, narrower, elongated head. Giggles' Mom is also taller, but she is less lanky than Lumpy and has an oval head. In Ka-Pow!, this is changed, and everyone is more unique.

Additionally, many characters have similar anatomical features. Once again, Lumpy demonstrates a unique skeletal structure. The skeletons of other characters are basically identical. However, their anatomical designs may vary from death to death. One example is Petunia - she has no bone in her tail in Stayin' Alive, but she does in later episodes. In Spare Me, Idol Curiosity, and Peas in a Pod, Sniffles is shown to have no bone in his snout, instead having a skull typical of other characters. Only in Tongue in Cheek does his skull extend into his snout. Previously, flesh was shown in some characters' bushy tails (which are normally thin and composed mostly of fur in reality). This was fixed in Buns of Steal, where fur now takes the majority of a character's bushy tail.