Red Guy
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The Red Guy is a fictional character who appears in Cartoon Network's animated series, Cow and Chicken, and its spin-off/original I Am Weasel. The former series ran from 1997 to 1999 and the latter from 1999 to 2001. He was voiced by Charlie Adler. The Red Guy appears in various guises in the series.
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[edit] In Cow & Chicken
He usually serves as a device to harass Cow & Chicken and their friends Flem & Earl. The Red Guy also convinces Cow & Chicken to do wrongful acts and then revels in the outcome.
In the pilot episode, No Smoking, The Red Guy was unnamed, but he presumably was intended to be Satan (he lived in a fiery hell-like dwelling underground and introduced himself by saying "Hello, it is me...the devil!). He had a pet/henchman who is a three-headed dog (a parody of Cerberus), each head is a different breed of dogs and the rest of his body resembles an overweight Shake (from the World Premier Toon Shake & Flick). The Red Guy was also called The Devil in the pilot. Possibly to avoid critical backlash, his character was given a name when Cow and Chicken began to officially air, and most, if not all, references to Satan were dropped.
[edit] Supercow
In many episodes of Cow and Chicken, the Red Guy becomes a villian and often gets trounced by Cow's superhero alter ego, Supercow (usually when he's busy picking on Chicken). This has led the Red Guy to pursue the knowledge of Supercow's true identity on several occasions (the reason being so that he can "die happy"). He came close in one episode when he posed as a laundromat owner that specialized in superhero costumes, where he hoped Supercow would inadvertently reveal herself as Cow when she came to pick up her costume, but Chicken picked up the costume instead. In one episode of I Am Weasel, the Red Guy encountered Supercow and quipped "Supercow! I didn't expect you to find me hiding out in an I Am Weasel cartoon!"
[edit] In I Am Weasel
In I Am Weasel, the Red Guy serves as an antagonist to Weasel and Baboon, but occasionally, he teams up with Baboon. In some episodes, such as "The Drinking Fountain of Youth", he is not the antagonist, but he is still the driving force behind the story (in that episode, Weasel and Baboon were on a quest to find him). The Red Guy adds to the antagonism by always referring to Weasel as some other animal, such as hamster, gerbil, squirrel, ferret, beaver or mongoose- but never Weasel. This appears to be out of ignorance rather than spite.
In an episode of I Am Weasel, the Red Guy became the star of the show and was named 'I. B. Red Guy' (as in "I be Red Guy"). This was consistent with the names of the two stars, I. M. Weasel and I. R. Baboon (as in "I am Weasel" and "I are Baboon"), in that it simultaneously sounded like a name and a personal introduction. In other episodes of I Am Weasel, The Red Guy is occasionally given a name which doesn't refer to his rear end or lack of pants. These are character or story specific, such as 'Maid Marian' (the Robin Hood influenced "I Are Robin Hood") or 'Fairy Godfather' (the Cinderella influenced "The Fairy Godfather"). Another example is in an episode in which he plays the role of a psychiatrist, where he goes by the name of 'Dr. Sigmund Fraud'.
[edit] Disguises and names
He can be seen disguised as a cop, FBI agent, teacher, military officer, tabloid reporter, prison warden, and a movie director, just to name a few. He has dressed as a female character on numerous occasions as well. His disguises usually include names that attribute to his rear end, or to the fact that he rarely wears pants. These names include Red Hiney, Mr. Lackopants, Dr. Nopants, Lance Sackless, Seymour Butts (Seymour Butts is a commonly used joke-name), Mrs. Bare-Derriere, Officer Pantsoffsky, Baron von Neinlederhosen (literally meaning in German "no, leather trousers" -- a more natural German rendering would have been "Keinlederhosen" or "Ohnelederhosen"), Red Buttler, Tulula Bottoms, Red Clearbottom, But Seriously, Uncle Breezybum, Rear Admiral Floyd, Captain Buttspirate, Emperor Gluteus Maximus, Major Wedgie, Queen Cleopantsless, Ben Panced, Geraldo Rearviewa, Principal Derriere ("derrière" is French for Behind), Dr. High Knee (pronounced as "hiney"), Professor Hineybottom, Butts Galore, Walter Jeans B. Gone, Officer O'Fannyhee, Larry Lackapants, and even I.B. Horny. The King and Queen of cheese is one honorable exception to this rule.
[edit] Identity
On a few separate occasions, including the opening theme song to Cow and Chicken, there is shown more than one Red Guy at a time. One such occasion was when the Red Guy was a reporter, he had been convincing Chicken to report false stories about people he loves (Reporting that there are rats in the school ham sandwiches, etc.). Cow helped Chicken get even with Red by luring him into their parents room where he was arrested. Upon arriving in prison, he is greeted by an identical version of himself in different clothes. The new Red identifies himself as the warden, while the warden is cackling away, the reporter does not know what to do (the warden had previously appeared in "Field Trip to Folsom Prison". On a similar note, he appeared as the "Molting Fairy" in the episode "The Molting Fairy", but returned near the end while accompanied by the scab fairy, an identical version of himself, only in a rather gold-like yellow color. The Red Guy does actually state that the Scab Fairy is his brother, so it is entirely possible that there is a family of Red Guys out there.
[edit] Behaviour
[edit] Movement
The Red Guy very seldom uses his small legs. Most often he will use his buttocks to move rather than his legs (whenever Cow and Chicken appear while he does this, they usually mimic it, following the instructions of "walk this way"). Other times he will simply roll around like a log, or crawl along the ground on his stomach like a slug. Sometimes, when another character is talking, he will abruptly slide into film frame on his stomach or back, in order to interrupt the character or answer their question. Sometimes, he is seen using two peg legs, which are in fact tied to his knees (his lower legs more often than not being taped to his rear)
[edit] Speech
When The Red Guy formally introduces himself, he usually begins with a grand "He-llooooooooooooo!" before stating his name and occupation. When he talks, he switches erratically between two volumes- very quiet and very loud- with hardly any middle ground. It is not uncommon for him to begin a sentence in conversational volume before shouting the last few words in the character's face. He also has the tendency to refer to his audience as "ladies" or "girls," regardless if he's addressing males. On a few occasions, he's been known to refer to both Cow and Chicken as "men."
[edit] Mannerisms
Despite being a male character, the Red Guy is extremely effeminate. A lot of his mannerisms portray him as a gay stereotype, though this is never explicitly dealt with. In an I Am Weasel episode entitled "I Am Viking", the Red Guy is the King and Queen of the same kingdom, which implies that he is either bisexual or a cross-dresser. In some episodes where he is dressed as a female character, he fights for Weasel's affection, even though both characters are male. When he plays a female role, it is sometimes made obvious that he is a man dressed up as a woman, not an actual woman (ie. his wig falls off). In "Cow and Chicken", the Red Guy is slightly less effeminate than he appears in "I Am Weasel". He seems angrier and more ruthless in his schemes, whereas his "I Am Weasel" counterpart is whinier and weaker.
It should be noted that this may be just another case of the surreal, and at times, bizarre humour of the Cow & Chicken and I M Weasel cartoons, and that the mannerisms and portrayal of the Red Guy may just be another vehicle for the absurdity of the show, and should be regarded as such rather than a portrayal of any kind of sub-culture or sexual orientation.
