Baba Looey

Baba Looey is a burro who hails from the city of Acapulco, Mexico. His life has been marked by much hardship—his immediate family was killed by the Morales brothers when he was young, and he would spend two decades in slavery to them. Though he was to be executed for his numerous attempts to kill the brothers, Baba Looey would be rescued by Quick Draw McGraw, who at the time was a bounty hunter after the brothers for continuing the illegal animal trade. Their friendship would result in Baba Looey working alongside him as his partner, deputy, and later deputy marshal. Throughout the years, his family’s case would be reopened, and soon, he’s reunited with the family he never thought he’d see again. As a friend of Quick Draw McGraw, he’s also close friends with Ricochet Rabbit and Droop-a-Long Coyote. 
Originally touted as an important guest star, he and Quick Draw only made two appearances in the original series. He would later receive some more focus in the reboot, Blazin’ Trails Redux, during seasons 3 and 4. He is also one of the main protagonists in Blazin’ Trails: Red Scorpion’s Sting. 
==Personality==
Kind, eternally long suffering, and thoughtful, Baba Looey’s friendly attitude is something that gives even Droop-a-Long pause, given what he’d gone through in life. He adores his friends dearly, and is a firm believer that a true friend should never allow the other to fall in a pit. As such, when he notices something’s amiss, he speaks up regardless of how the other person takes his words. Although most people appreciate his thoughtful attitude, others—such as his closest friend, Quick Draw McGraw—disregard it and tell him to back off until they learn it the hard way. He’s sharper than many take him for, something that he used to his advantage when he was under the Morales family’s control. With his sharp mind comes an equally sharp tongue, and he’s not above making side remarks about others’ intelligence—sometimes in English, other times in Spanish. He’s quick to take it back whenever someone catches him, however; he learned quickly to never insult Ricochet since the buck is also fluent in SpanishBlazin’ Trails: Red Scorpion’s Sting chapter 7: Steelclaw’s Embrace. . While he has his misgivings about his friends’ faults, he would cut off his left arm before even thinking of betraying them. In his words, his friends are the closest thing he has to family, and while they drive him crazy, he loves them with everything he has. Such is his loyalty to his friends that Vincente’s brother, Francesco, even commended him for it when he recaptured him. He possesses a long fuse, but once it lights, it burns away fast. When truly angry, he’s not above considering violence. 
Out of Ricochet’s closest friends, he knows the horrors of the animal trade firsthand, having spent over two decades trapped in it. 
==History==
== Relationships ==
=== The Morales Brothers ===
Baba Looey’s relationship with the Morales brothers—consisting of Vincente and Francesco—was adversarial and tumultuous. 
=== Quick Draw McGraw ===
=== Ricochet Rabbit ===
=== Droop-a-Long Coyote ===
=== Clarissa Trottingham ===
==Trivia==
* Baba Looey has had the least changes to his personality and overall portrayal, a trait that he shares with Huckleberry Hound, Hokey Wolf, Ding-a-Ling and Yogi Bear. His portrayal for Blazin’ Trails is lifted from iheartgod175’s other Western fan fiction series, The Ghost of Huckleberry Hound—namely, its sequel, Have Guitar, Will Travel, where he has more of a role:
** In the cartoon, he’s often presented as having more common sense than Quick Draw (although he too has occasional lapses in judgement) and didn’t shy away from making sly remarks about Quick Draw’s lack of intelligence, but stuck with him anyway. Both series keep this part of his character as the authoress believes that this was her favorite part of his dynamic with Quick Draw.
** His backstory, where he was a pack mule, was lifted from Have Guitar, Will Travel. Blazin’ Trails Redux & Red Scorpion's Sting explains that he was actually sold into slavery at a young age, and as such, doesn’t know his family. Throughout the rest of the series, he tries to track down the remains of his family.
*** Burros were used for pack animals back in the days of the Old West, and their durability meant that they could survive the harshness of the desert. They also have a history of being captured, brutally tortured and slaughtered by ranchers who believed they were a threat to the vegetation. 
*** Baba Looey is one of several characters who were born into a life of slavery.
**His captors, the Morales brothers, were lifted from the story Born For Adversity, which features a story in The Ghost of Huckleberry Hound universe, titled Life on the Line. In that story, Baba Looey was bought by one of the brothers (Vincente), who tortures him and treats him and his captives cruelly, killing indiscriminately and with no remorse. Baba Looey stews on the thought of revenge against Vincente, but doesn't follow through with it due to Vincente being apprehended and brutally beaten by Quick Draw for the torture he put the burro through before being executed. In Blazin' Trails: Red Scorpion's Sting, his opening chapter features him being punished for his latest attempt to kill Vincente (he laced his drink with a poisonous herb, but the cook ended up dying due to Vincente being on to the plan and forcing the cook to drink it instead). Francesco notes that Baba Looey was "getting less creative", insinuating that he has tried to kill them numerous times in the past. Later chapters—and some hints in Blazin’ Trails Redux’s later seasons—reveal that Baba Looey’s hatred for the brothers stems from the fact that they were responsible for his family’s deaths. 
*His backstory and how he became Quick Draw’s assistant is eerily similar to how Olivier Coyote became Ricochet I’s deputy. Unlike Olivier, Baba Looey was willing to commit murder in order to obtain freedom. 
*He is one of the few Hanna-Barbera characters who doesn’t have an official “birthday”. He does in this series, and in one chapter of Red Scorpion’s Sting, Quick Draw and Ricochet throw him a birthday party. 
** Originally, iheartgod175 had Baba Looey’s birthday on May 5th, or Cinco de Mayo. After doing more research on the holiday and other important holidays in Mexican culture, she changed his birthday to September 16th, which is Mexico’s Independence Day and the most important holiday of the year for Mexico. This makes him one of a few characters in the series to have a birthday that falls on a holiday.
** He was the youngest of the Hanna-Barbera cast featured until the inclusion of Ding-a-Ling Wolf, who is 11 years old.
== References ==
Category:Characters
Category:Minor Characters
Category:Guest Stars
Category:Deputies
Category:Hanna-Barbera Characters
Category:Heroes