Rufus (Kim Possible)
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Rufus is a fictional character in the Disney animated television series Kim Possible. He is a Naked Mole Rat, and pet of Ron Stoppable.
[edit] About Rufus
Ron and Rufus are inseparable, and Rufus can always be found riding in Ron's pocket. Rufus has similar interests and personality traits as Ron (such as a love of Bueno Nacho and video games), he often mimics Ron's actions, emotions, and facial expressions. Despite being a rodent, Rufus is actually very competent and level-headed, and often comes to the rescue of Kim and Ron when they're in a pinch. He has very good technical skills, and Ron often refers to him to fix broken appliances. He also has extremely strong teeth, and can even chew through some metals. He's even an accomplished martial artist, and has Monkey Kung Fu powers, like Ron; in fact, he can control them even better than him.
Rufus is the only animal on the show to display characteristics of anthropomorphism and sapience. Much like Scooby-Doo, Rufus is marginally capable of human speech (able to utter a couple of words), but mostly talks in high-pitched rodent jabber. Only Ron and, from time to time, Kim actually seem to understand him when he speaks (apparently, Ron has the ability to communicate with animals, but is somewhat impaired by the fact he's afraid of most of them).
Rufus is often used as a deus ex machina when the characters are in trouble, an ability referred to as the "Rufus Factor" by Dr. Director.
Rufus is Ron's pet because when Ron was 12, his parents told him he could finally have a pet--but no fur, because of his Dad's allergies to animal dander. Ron purchased his rodent friend at Smarty Mart (of course, actual mole rats are blind subterranean creatures and unlikely to be available in a commercial pet store.) Ron chose to name him Rufus after an imaginary friend he had in pre-K. Ron is also fiercely dedicated to Rufus' health and well-being. In the short, "Adventures in Rufus-sitting", it was revealed that Rufus has a recreation area that's the size of a whole room. There's also Ron's patented "Care of Rufus Guide", which has over 430 rules and regulations.
Rufus appears to have greater intelligence and temperature tolerance, and perhaps a longer lifespan, than real-world naked mole rats. He has also been shown as feeling pain, a trait which naked mole rats lack (he may simply be imitating Ron's reactions). He has also shown on many occasions to have an abnormally large appetite, eating more than most full grown humans, which could go a long way towards explaining why Ron is always strapped for cash.
Rufus even has his own song: "The Naked Mole Rap" (though most of the vocals are by Ron). However, there is another song that means even more to him, "Rock-a-bye Rufus". Essentially, it's a variation of the song "Rock-a-bye Baby" with the word "baby" replaced with "Rufus". But it has the power to instantly soothe Rufus and put him to sleep whenever he hears it.
Rufus has a few links to otherwise unconnected Disney characters. He shares the same name as Penny's tabbycat in The Rescuers, and Timon, the meerkat in The Lion King, was originally to be of the same species as him. In a Lilo & Stitch episode, Rufus, he was mistaken by Jumba Jookiba for experiment 607. In a "A Sitch in Time," despite being with the time-lost Kim and Ron, Rufus had a sizable number of progeny, strongly implying that he has already procreated or a lesser thought of idea being that he was cloned, explaining the future Rufus's worship of him. Although, given the eusocial nature of molerat society, it may not be so surprising after all.
Rufus is voiced by Nancy Cartwright.
