Swefred Hayden

## Swefred G. "Freddie" Hayden

A concept picture of Swefred circa 2022

The Skulk

Military:

* Black undershirt
* Navy blue coveralls
* Black boots

Lieutenant Commander **Swefred Gerald Hayden** (Navy ID No. **SW-94-16**) is a main protagonist in the universe that is *Foxtrot: Foxes in Arms*. He is an animatronic swift fox who serves as a physician within the United States Navy's Medical Corps. Besides being a medical officer, Swefred is also quite the cowboy and is considerably proud of his heritage.

## Physical Appearance

Swefred is an animatronic swift fox standing roughly 5 feet 10 inches tall, shorter than Justin but taller than Arthur. His fur is a lighter orange with white on his front torso, peach on his muzzle, and black on the tip of his tail. an almost creamy white inside his ears, while his neck is metallic silver. His eyes are bright green, considerably different from some of the others.

Swefred has three fur tufts on each side of his head, and unlike many others, Swefred doesn't have hair arranged into bangs or the like. For attire, a staple part of Swefred's look is a yellow neckerchief, while his outfits can vary from standard Navy uniforms to that much more standard to a cowboy-like figure. Such things include a brown vest, a black belt with a lasso, and a holster for a revolver. Regarding his Navy uniform, he's recently been shown to wear a black undershirt, navy blue coveralls, and black boots, on top of being seen equipped with a stethoscope.

## History

### Early Life

Swefred was born on August 25, 1996, in the Texan city of Fort Worth to James and Linda Hayden. Raised on a farm outside the city in eastern Texas, Swefred has a pretty good upbringing where his lineage comes from. Throughout his childhood, he proved to be tough and resilient in addition to being friendly, something that could carry into adulthood.

At some point during his younger years, Swefred would move from Texas to the East Coast, where he would meet and form a connection with a red fox named Justin Redding upon getting out and about. They, in turn, would also create a relationship with Arian Torres, a Canadian-American grey fox, at some point, and later on down the road, they'd also form a close relationship with a pair of arctic foxes, the Snow brothers Arthur and Sewell. This relationship paved the way for what would become the Skulk. From a young age, Swefred would always help Justin and Arthur and many of their peers if they had injured themselves or came down with something. This part of his character would help influence where he'd go in the future, even if a path was down the military road.

Throughout those years, Swefred proved himself to be athletic and built a reputation as someone who would offer assistance if they needed it, especially regarding injuries. And while being a bit rowdy when he was younger, Swefred also showed an adventurous spirit about him, as he and his friends did many things around. Upon their graduation from high school and during an official meet-up, Swefred grew interested in a more extraordinary adventure after Justin suggested joining the military. Soon after, Swefred signed up for the US Navy, joining a boot camp shortly after.

### U.S. Navy Service

Following their initial training at the Navy boot camp, Swefred would move onto his selected profession; he'd decided to become a physician and use his medical knowledge to help others on the high seas. Perhaps this wouldn't fit a cowboy-like guy from Texas, but it was what he wanted to do. Within a few years, Swefred graduated the medical school.

For the first part of his career, Swefred was on shore duty acting as a medical officer on a naval base. He'd mostly be in charge of the basic medical needs of the staff on base while also getting some work done aboard various naval ships while in port. He found it rather dull at first, but he did get his chance sooner than later.

#### Baptism of Fire

This particular day saw Swefred face his greatest challenge yet and truly open his eyes to the Navy’s ugly side of life. Once he was a Lieutenant Commander, Swefred had been assigned as the chief medical officer aboard the recently recommissioned battleship USS *Missouri* (BB-63), with Arthur in command. This was more akin to what Swefred wished for. However, as the battleship got involved in a conflict for the first time in nearly 30 years, he might have bitten more than he could chew. When the Urocyan war broke out, *Missouri* was involved in one of the opening engagements.

During one of these engagements, the *Missouri's* aft turret took a direct hit and exploded. The resulting blast damaged the turret and, most probably, killed many sailors aboard and wounded many more. Along with the damage control parties, hospital corpsmen went out to the turret to look for survivors within the turret; Swefred was among them. Though he had been trained to deal with all sorts of injuries, what he'd find inside the mangled turret would haunt him to near no end. Swefred, though feeling very disturbed and sick, checked over every single body he came across, but they were all dead. Swefred helped a member of the damage control team turn a valve to start flooding the chamber. Then, as they were leaving, Swefred almost got trapped after tripping over one of the bodies. He only just made it out before the compartment wholly flooded.

It was a humbling experience for Swefred, showing him just how deadly life on a warship can be. Nonetheless, he performed his duty to the best of his ability, and it got him recognition among the rest of the crew.

While he has been trained to save lives as a medical officer, Swefred isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and join the fight with the rest. The cowboy in him is ever-present as he never shies away from an adventure, especially when those closest to him need assistance; so is that Texan toughness. His medical training comes in handy whenever someone falls ill or receives an injury of varying degrees. Swefred is even certified to perform surgery in extreme cases.

## Personality

Swefred is a very friendly fox when you get to know him. Though he is very proud of his Texan heritage and seldom shuts up about the Wild West’s stories, he does appreciate the friends and family he has. Many describe him as a stereotypical cowboy, a glamorous or heroic figure who works hard but happy with a sense of freedom. While cowboys aren’t actually like this, Swefred is the walking incarnation of cowboys’ well-known stereotype from the Wild West.

He is also very loyal to not only his country but to his friends as well. Through the times when they were all together, Swefred made absolutely sure Justin, Arthur, and Sewell are all "fine and dandy" and wanted to be there for them. Swefred is also extroverted, something he shares with Justin and Sewell, though not as energetic as the latter. He won't turn down a chance for adventure, though, given his profession, he will make sure he's prepared for situations that may arise when on the plains or the seas. If anyone wanted a cowboy-like figure as a friend, Swefred would be a pretty good match for that friend.

## Abilities

Swefred has fast reflexes and large amounts of stamina, though his reflexes are not as fast as Arthur, and he doesn’t have the same stamina as Justin. Thanks to the boot camp training, Swefred does know how to put up a good fight, and if necessary, will do what he can to push through and come out on top. Being a corpsman in the Navy, Swefred is displayed to have knowledge in the medical field, allowing him to offer aid to wounds if needed. He also knows how to treat illnesses and is even certified to perform surgeries and even did once before.

Swefred is very fast as he can run at around 40 miles an hour, twice as fast as a human and about the same natural swift foxes. He is also quite proficient in using firearms like the revolver/six-shooter, something pretty peculiar for a fox who's supposed to be a medic.

## Relationships

### Friends and Allies

* Justin Redding (best friend)
* Arthur Snow
* Sewell Snow
* Tom Redding
* Scarlett Wilde
* Vienna North
* Jess Silver
* Jesse Silver
* Crew members of USS *Missouri*
	+ Hunter Hargreaves

### Enemies

* Emperor Arian Torres
* Prime Minister Kenny Hunter
* Flynn Sykes

## Honors and Awards

* Bronze Star Medal
* Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal
* Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal
* Navy E Ribbon
* Navy Good Conduct Medal
* National Defense Service Medal
* Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal
* Sea Service Ribbon

## Trivia

* This animatronic swift fox has a pretty interesting given name. The name "Swefred" is a male name of English origin which means "A swift, fast man." This can be linked with the fact that he's based on a swift fox (Vulpes velox).
* Swefred is the only one of the main fox characters that doesn't have bangs; he doesn't appear to have hair at all (excluding his fur). This was a conscious design choice that could best distinguish him from the others, though some thought has been given to create concept art in which he has hair/bangs.
* Swefred is only to be described to be in line with a stereotypical cowboy in terms of personality. He may have cowboy traits, that doesn't mean he's an exact incarnate of the stereotype.
* Hayden, the last name Swefred had, was the surname of a real US Navy Hospital Corpsman. David E. Hayden served in the First World War and is actually a recipient of the Medal of Honor; the highest award military personnel can receive.
* Swefred is the only American in the main group to have an accent that's distinct; he speaks with a Southern accent.
* When he resigns from the Navy, Swefred has talked of becoming an actual cowboy for real. In actuality, Texas does maintain the use of cowboys on ranches to help reel in cattle that's gone astray.
* Swefred's revolver is more often than not seeing itself being stolen on multiple occasions.
* Some aspects of Swefred could be seen similar of the character Sandy Cheeks from the *Spongebob Squarepants* cartoon show. Most notably is that they're both Texan, and proud of it. While the similarities are evident, Swefred wasn't actually based off of Sandy too much.
* Swefred has once been depicted as a sleepwalker. Though yet to be verified, this is likely non-canon to how he is in the series.
* Swefred and Arthur were born the same year, and is only older than him by a few months.