- "Batten down the hatches when this sea otter pirate comes aboard. He’s got a great right hook!"
- ―Russell's description on Mondo Media's website.[1]
- "Row, row your boat down a running river!"
- ―The description alliteration in the intros in late season 3-season 4.
Russell (Originally Russell the Pirate) is one of the main characters of Happy Tree Friends, and one of the playable characters in the False Alarm video game, while also the third boss in Deadeye Derby.
Character Bio[]
Russell is an anthropomorphic aquamarine sea otter pirate, who owns typical pirate accessories, such as a Jolly Roger hat, a striped red and white shirt, a hook, an eye-patch, and two wooden peg-legs. He enjoys fishing, sailing, and eating seafood, especially mussels, which was why he was named Russell. He also likes kite-flying and even runs his own fast-food restaurant (Mime to Five). His hook started off on his left hand, but was later moved to the right hand for the rest of the series. Russell's initial design depicted him with a five o'clock shadow; in his early appearances he appeared with it, however, the creators eventually scrapped it. He never regained his five o'clock shadow since Get Whale Soon.
Typically, his vocabulary consists only of "Yar!", though in the episode Get Whale Soon, he also says things like 'Aha!' and 'Huh?'. In A Sight for Sore Eyes, he can be heard apologizing to The Mole after accidentally bumping into him.
A flipped out Russell.
Sometimes, when put in a scary or violent situation, Russell will go insane and start laughing in a crazy manner as his pupil will turn small and will look quite "shocked" or stressed, much like Flippy when he turns evil, as seen in Get Whale Soon and Snow Place to Go. However, instead of killing people, he just slashes stuff with his hook, though whether or not he kills people in that state may be debatable simply because no one was around for him to kill in those episodes. Russell is rarely seen with the other characters, instead spending most of his time navigating and doing water-related activities. He does however appear in a few episodes with Lumpy, and lately, he seems to appear with the others more often as well, indicating he is becoming more and more social during the course of the series.
In the episode Sea What I Found, when Russell woke up and went to his closet to change his peg-legs, it can be seen that his legs are partially amputated when he simply hops from his old pegs to his new set of pegs. He is the first character to wear shorts. He is also the third character without visible ears, as seen in his internet shorts introduction when he took his hat off for a few seconds, and in Something Fishy. Russell wears a stripy undershirt when he goes to sleep. He lives in a big pirate ship-shaped tree-house and sleeps on a hammock.
Since he only has one eye and his vision is becoming blurry, he is advised to wear a contact lens, as seen in A Sight for Sore Eyes.
Russell’s appearances tend to be rare in the Internet shorts, as he appeared in 2 Season 1 shorts, 3 Season 2 shorts, 3 Season 3 shorts, and 1 Season 4 short. But, in the TV series, he appears more often (he appeared in 17 episodes to be exact).
He appears to be friends with Lumpy in Sea What I Found. He has also been seen with Nutty and Handy in Ipso Fatso, Disco Bear in The Wrong Side of the Tracks, and Sniffles in Double Whammy Part I. Furthermore, in Can't Stop Coffin he was seen playing baseball with Cuddles, Toothy and Cro-Marmot.
Russell suffers plenty of ocean-related deaths. Here, Russell's facial skin is ripped off by an anglerfish.
During the internet series, he died in almost every episode he appeared in. So far, the only internet episodes he survived in were Can't Stop Coffin, By The Seat Of Your Pants, and Put Your Back Into It. However, in the TV Series, Russell survives far more often. In the TV series, he survived A Sight for Sore Eyes, The Wrong Side of the Tracks, Chew Said a Mouthful, See What Develops, Easy Comb, Easy Go, and Double Whammy Part I . He also survived YouTube Copyright School. His deaths usually involve sea animals, explosions, and getting impaled.
Russell's Episodes[]
Starring Roles[]Season 1Season 2TV SeriesSeason 3Shorts |
Featuring Roles[]Season 2TV Series
Season 3Season 4 |
Appearance Roles[]Season 2TV Series
Season 3Season 4ShortsBreaks[]ShortsLove Bites Roles[]Shorts |
Role Count By Season[]
| Season | Number of Starring Roles | Number Of Featuring Roles | Number Of Appearing Roles | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| TV Series | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Love Bites Roles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| HTF Break Roles | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Other episodes | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 10 | 11 | 12 | 33 |
Occupations and Careers[]
Russell as a sanitation engineer.
- For more information, see List of Occupations
- Pirate - Almost every regular episode he has starred, featured, or appeared in
- Fisherman - Whose Line Is It Anyway?; Sea What I Found; Put Your Back Into It
- Treasure Hunter - Sea What I Found
- Sanitation Engineer - Who's to Flame?
- Fast-Food Restaurant Owner - Mime to Five
- Ship Deck Swabber - Idol Curiosity
- Carnival Booth Operator - Aw, Shucks!; Double Whammy
- Bass Guitarist - In a Jam
- Fish Market Trucker - Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow
- Student/School Play Actor - Something Fishy
- Swimmer - By The Seat Of Your Pants
Fates[]
Deaths[]
Seen on Computer and TV[]
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Is impaled through the mouth by a swordfish.
- Off the Hook: Hits a sea mine and explodes.
Inevitable explosion in 3...2...1...
- Get Whale Soon: Impales his head on a ship's mast.
Ouch - right in his one remaining eye...
- Class Act: Dies in an explosion.
- Remains to be Seen:
- Dies in a truck crash.
- Is then run over with a lawn mower by Lumpy.
- From Hero to Eternity: Sinks into a whirlpool and is burned by lava.
- Ipso Fatso: Is sliced to pieces by flying glass shards.
- Sea What I Found: Suffers decompression sickness, causing his muscles to expand through his skin.
- Who's to Flame?: Gets impaled by sharp and pointy objects.
- Snow Place to Go: Is eaten by an orca.
If you think this is crazy, just wait until you see the orca slurp up his guts like a strand of spaghetti.
- Mime to Five: Is mauled by killer ducks.
- Idol Curiosity: Drowns when a boat he's connected to sinks.
- Aw, Shucks!: Crushed by a huge piece of popcorn (Death not seen).
- In a Jam: Is electrocuted by an electric guitar and disintegrates to dust.
- Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow: Dies in a truck explosion.
- Sea of Love: Either drowns or is eaten by an anglerfish. (Death not seen).
- Wrath of Con: Gets his head pierced by the tip of a pen flicked by Splendid.
- Something Fishy: Gets his head eaten by his piranha.
Russell's fish never heard of the old saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you.
- Happy New Year: Is crushed by Lumpy's van.
- Bottled Up Inside: Is forced through a carboy.
- You're Kraken Me Up: Is forced through a hole in his boat and likely drowns in the ocean.
Debatable Deaths[]
- Concrete Solution: Dies when a bridge collapses.
- Breaking Wind: Is killed either by Splendid's gas or by Petunia setting the world on fire.
Additional[]
- Overkill DVD box set: Is killed in the explosion from Flippy's bomb. (Debatable and death not seen)
- Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm gameplay: Deaths and various injuries 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 burned.
- Mayhem 2008 Wallpaper: Possibly killed by a chainsaw. (Debatable and not seen)
- Happy New Year 2008 Calendar: Gets a hook through his mouth and his eye.
- Fall Harvest Wallpaper: Splatters on the ground. (Death not seen)
- Unnamed Wallpaper: Is killed when Flippy's dynamite explodes. (Death not seen)
- HTF Hot-Topic T-Shirt: Is burned by Flippy.
- I'm Hooked on You 2011 Calendar: Is hooked through the eye.
- Deadeye Derby: Is eaten by a giant squid.
- In the Brake the Cycle storyboard, Russell was going to be the character who was burnt alive by Toothy's bike, but he was replaced with Lumpy.
Seen in Arcade Games[]
- Fire Escape: Falls to his death.
- Petunia Balance: Drowns in bloody water.
- Dumb Ways to Die: Dies of oil poisoning when his oil tanker crashes and leaks in the North Pole.
- On Thin Ice: Is eaten by a giant squid if the game is lost.
Injuries[]
Seen on Computer and TV[]
- Prior to the series: Lost his right eye, both of his legs, and his right hand. (Permanent)
- Whose Line is it Anyway:
- Chokes on a blow-fish.
- Has his arms ripped off.
- Has his upper lip cut by his fishing line.
- Off the Hook:
- Crushed by an anchor.
- Has his eyelid caught by a fishing hook.
- Gets zapped by an eel.
- Gets dragged through jagged coral.
- Sea What I Found: Is beaten by sea animals.
- Chew Said a Mouthful: Is splashed by a bucket of hot water, painfully burning him.
Russell flopping like a fish.
- Idol Curiosity:
- Gets his peg legs stuck in boards.
- Gets hit by an anchor, pulling his intestines out.
- Gets pulled through a ring of fire.
- A Sight for Sore Eyes:
- Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow: Is pinned under a truck.
- Sea of Love: Has the skin on his face ripped off by an anglerfish.
- Bottled Up Inside:
- Is impaled in the chest by a bottle.
- Bleeds profusely when he pulls the bottle out.
- Pushes the bottle deeper into his chest to get into his car.
- You're Kraken Me Up: Gets patches of skin ripped off by the suction cups on a squid's tentacles.
Number of Kills[]
| Character | Number of Times Killed | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Toothy | 1 | Snow Place to Go |
| Lumpy | 1 | Get Whale Soon |
| Giggles | 1 | You're Kraken Me Up (Along with The Giant Squid) |
| Nutty | 1 | A Sight for Sore Eyes (Along with Sniffles) |
| Sniffles | 1 | Something Fishy (along with his piranha and Lumpy) |
| Cub | 1 | Bottled Up Inside (along with Pop) |
| The Mole | 1 | Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow (Along with Lumpy) |
| Disco Bear | 1 | Put Your Back Into It (Along with a dog) |
| Mime | 1 | Something Fishy (Along with his piranha and Lumpy) |
| Other | 1 | 1 Swordfish in Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Debatable) |
Russell kills Toothy.
Additional[]
Games[]
- Deadeye Derby: Kills Cuddles, Toothy, Petunia, Handy, Nutty, Disco Bear, Giggles and Splendid by flinging rocks at them with a slingshot.
- On Thin Ice: Kills the giant squid and has its body sliced like sushi.
Episodes Survived by Season[]
| Season/Total | Number of Appearances | Deaths | Survived | Survival Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| TV Series | 17 | 11 | 6 | 35.29% |
| 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 40% |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50% |
| Love Bites | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| HTF Break | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Other Episodes | 2 | 0 | 2 | 100% |
| Total | 33 | 22 | 11 | 33.33% |
Survival Rate[]
- Internet series: 25%
- Breaks and Love Bites: 0%
- TV series: 35.29%
- Total Rate: 33.33%
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