Theory's and Speculations

## Theories in the show

### Truffels

* Cuddles' first death from his smoochie gave the implication to some fans that he had a carrot allergy.
	+ However, in 2015, Kenn Navarro confirmed that Cuddles died from choking and in fact loves carrots.

### Gaby

* First, she's dating Cuddles...

* Her broken leg in *Helping Helps* is unexplained.
* Her lack of a tail raises questions. Some speculate she lost it as a result of an accident.
	+ It was later confirmed that she does have a tail, it's just so small, it's invisible.
* Throughout the series, Giggles is shown to date various male characters. It is unknown why Giggles keeps on doing this. Her dating several male characters have since caused fans to call her a whore/slut. As Cuddles is Giggles' most prominent love interest, people have conceived it as her cheating on him.

### Toothy

* In *Mime and Mime Again*, he is in the hospital in a body cast, though it is unknown how he got injured. His tail is also missing (probably cut off during the accident).
* Toothy and Handy interesting have differencing buck-teeth despite the characters having the same clear species. Perhaps Toothy's is to display a more child-like appearance.
* In *The Carpal Tunnel of Love*, Toothy is allergic to bee stings (he is stung in the eye and it becomes swollen). However in *Aw, Shucks!*, he gets stung by a swarm of bees and did not have an allergic reaction. Perhaps those were wasps instead? Though the nest did look like a beehive, not a wasp nest.
* It is unknown how Toothy got the evil book in *Read 'em and Weep* or if he knew it was evil. He may have got the book the same way he did with The Cursed Idol.

### Lunder

* It is unknown how Lumpy gets his jobs, considering his low intelligence. However, in many cases, he was the boss, the one in charge, the one in authority, so the others may not have a choice in having him for the job. Besides, he gets many jobs right as shown in the List of Lumpy's occupations, so they might decide to remember the times he was competent.
* It is unknown how he got his left (or right) antler upside down. It is possible that this happened to him because of an accident, or because he was born that way already.
* In *Snow Place to Go*, it is unknown where he went when he walked away (It's possible he froze to death).
	+ Although it is possible he may have found a way back to civilization as it was shown that the can opener he was holding on too that required an electrical outlet started working again in the end.

### Petunia

* Many have speculated whether or not she survived in the episode, *House Warming*.
	+ It wasn't until 2015 that Kenn Navarro confirmed that she survived because she was able to give an OK sign.
* She may have a crush on Mime as well as Handy.
* In *Blind Date*, she is shown in a car she really doesn't want to be in with Disco Bear. It is unknown how she found herself in this situation, though she may have been on a blind date. It is also debated as to whether she used her natural skunk spray or pepper spray to ward off Disco Bear.

### Handy

* The unknown reason that Handy lost his arms is one of the most common speculations in the series. Also, it is unknown how other characters regenerate their body parts while Handy's arms remain amputated. This is like Russell's injuries, which also don't regenerate.
	+ Many have figured it to be a construction accident given his character but this has not been proven or disproved.
* Like Cro-Marmot, he is able to perform hand related activities while off-screen or if it's hard to see.

### Nutty

* It is unknown why he is seen at a butcher shop in *A Change of Heart* when he is normally seen at a candy store. It's probable that Nutty is trying to get rid of his addiction as he realized it's taking control of his life. It's possible that he was just on a diet or the fact that they had to reuse his character model for budgeting reasons.
* Nutty has a small brain in *Easy Comb, Easy Go*. Later in *Swelter Skelter*, his brain is larger. However, it could have been a chunk of Nutty's brain rather than the entirety of it.
* It is possible he has gained some control over his sugar intake, as he is noticeably less jittery in recent appearances like *Random Acts of Silence*, *All Work and No Play* and *Camp Pokeneyeout*.
	+ Also in *Camp Pokeneyeout*, although Nutty was doing something sugar-related, he seems to have a surprising amount of self-control by patiently roasting the marshmallow, instead of eating the whole bag the second he saw it.
	+ This theory was broken in *Going Out With a Bang* where we see Nutty back to his old nutty self; Jittering uncontrollably, stealing, confusing objects for candy, and getting other characters killed as a result for his strive for candy.

### Sniffles

* Sniffles keeps trying to eat the same group of ants, even after all the torture they put him through.
* It is unknown what happened to Prehistoric Sniffles. Perhaps he died along with the dinosaurs, became frozen like Cro-Marmot, or was killed by ants.
* Rumors have speculated that Sniffles ate the father ant, hence the Ant Family's sadistic hatred against him. In Sniffles' defense, this ant could have died from war or natural causes.
* The events of *Blast from the Past* suggest to some that Sniffles is responsible for the reincarnation of the series' universe.
	+ On a similar note, *Dream Job* may support the theory that the deaths (possibly the series itself) takes place inside the characters' heads.

### Pop & Cub

* On August 22, 2015, Kenn Navarro confirmed that Pop and Cub have a deceased wife/mother. However, it is unconfirmed if the grave they visited in *Can't Stop Coffin* was her grave. It is also unknown how exactly she died.
* It is unknown why no one has ever tried to take Cub away from Pop even though he is clearly incapable of taking care of him and in the real world, someone would have called social services.

### Floky

* Her unseen death in *Happy Trails Pt. 2: Jumping the Shark* remains a mystery. There are many theories about how she was killed, or whether she was killed or not. It is likely Flippy could have been her killer or helped to get her killed.
	+ It was stated by Kenn Navarro that they intended to make Flaky's unseen death a mystery.
* Her gender was previously a big debate among fans until it was confirmed in 2012 that she was indeed female.

### The Mole

* The cause of The Mole's blindness is unknown. It is most likely he was born that way, as moles naturally have a limited sense of vision.
* It is unknown how The Mole gets hired for his jobs, considering his blindness.
* The Mole's face (apart from his nose and mole) has never been revealed. However, in *Pet Peeve*, when his face is crushed by a piece of glass, his skull is visible, and it was discovered that he has buck teeth, like most of the characters.
* Despite being blind, The Mole should be able to hear people and what is happening around him. This brings up the possibility that he has hearing problems as well.
* It is unknown why he doesn't talk. Possibly because he is mute, or because of his own disability.
* There are a few suspicions that The Mole kills or harms people intentionally, which is implied at the end of *In a Jam* (though this may have been a result of stupidity or blindness). This theory is very unlikely, however, as 1) he himself has died from his own blindness, and 2) he is supposedly inspired off a creator's blind daughter.

### Disco

* In *Easy Comb, Easy Go*, Disco Bear was still able to see The Mole cutting his hair even after slicing off his own eyes with a straight razor. However, earlier in the same episode, when Mole cut off all his hair, he seemed just as blind as his hairdresser until it was too late.

* He may have had a previous music career during the disco era, explaining his financial success. A record is seen with his silhouette on it, which indicates he was involved with its creation.
* As it has been stated that he has lived during the 1970s, this would make him a legal adult. Giggles and Petunia, his frequent targets, are sometimes portrayed as children. The reason they aren't attracted to him could be related to age.

### Russell

* Similar to Handy, he has unexplained amputated legs, a missing eye (as confirmed in *Off the Hook*), and a hook. As with Handy, he did not regenerate his lost body parts like most characters do.
* In the episode *Snow Place to Go*, Russell wasn't captaining the ship even though he clearly has more experience at sea than Lumpy. He also didn't captain the ship in *Idol Curiosity*, but instead was mopping the deck. Though his outfit implies that he was not a captain.
* It is unknown why Russell has shoes seen in *Sea What I Found* even though his legs are amputated.
	+ This could be done ironically, like The Mole's painting supplies and telescope or the occurrence of gloves in Handy's life.

### Sneaky & Trouble

* How the two are often able to steal large amounts of items is unclear; a possible lack of security where they steal could be the answer.
* Some have said that their urge to steal may just not be out of greed, but possibly because they are poor and could not afford necessities like food (as is implied in episodes such as *Meat Me for Lunch* and *Buns of Steel*).
	+ However, it was confirmed in 2015 that they are indeed kleptomaniacs.

### Mime

* He may not actually be mute since he is able to make noises (choking sounds, horn honking noises, etc.), implying that he can talk but just chooses not to.
	+ However, it is unknown how Mime does not scream at all even when is in extreme pain. One of the most notable cases is *Double Whammy Part I*.
* He may have a crush on Petunia.
* It is possible that the furniture in his house is real, but only he can move it/see it, as it is invisible and cannot be touched by others. As seen in *Easy For You to Sleigh*, he was shocked when his safe was "stolen".
	+ There is more evidence for this in *I Heart U*, where Mime makes imaginary objects and they turn out to be real. Thus, it is possible that everything he creates is real.

### Condor

* Flippy's whole carnage in *By The Seat Of Your Pants* is completely inconsistent. Lumpy spent only three seconds underwater, yet Flippy managed to kill the audience, along with an elephant and a car driver. That would be a death too quick even for Flippy to return to his place.
	+ Considering the blood on the ground near the vehicle's tires, it can be said that a car crash happened along with Flippy's carnage (but the fact of Flippy causing it is very unlikely). That would imply that the truck driver, who is responsible for the deaths of Toothy, Nutty, and Truffles, could have been either Nutty or Truffles as they weren't there at first. So it's likely that while Flippy killed Sniffles, Giggles, and Flaky (despite her distance from him) and injured Handy, a car crash occurred at the same time where a car was sent flying and threw Nutty in the water, beheaded Truffles, and ran over Toothy.
		- If this is the case, the driver might have been distracted by what was going on.
		- On a lesser note, where did the elephant come from?
	+ In *Flippin' Burgers*, he killed 8+ people before the fries he threw even hit the ground. So it is quite possible that Flippy attacked Toothy, Nutty, Truffles, and the Generic Tree Friend driving the car as well as Flaky, Sniffles, Giggles, and Handy (though Handy survived), and then got back in his place. He could have unseen speed, like the way Handy has an unseen ability to do hand-related things. However, the fries are seen going in the air in slow motion, so that could be why they took so long to touch the ground.
* Flippy may be a cannibal/lunatic, as he is shown several times eating the blood and body parts of other characters.
	+ Though he has never eaten other bears, mainly other characters such as Cuddles (rabbit), Mime (deer) and Shifty (raccoon).
* It is quite possible that Flippy was Flaky's killer in *Happy Trails Pt. 2: Jumping the Shark* due to his repetitive behavior of flipping out and killing those around him. However, he does not kill Handy and co. If he wasn't, this is his only intentional kill as his normal self.
	+ If Flippy indeed killed Flaky alone, his flipped-out self might have influenced his actions. This is supported by the scene after Flaky's death when Flippy buries her, he has his evil self's voice, sharp teeth, and circular eyes, rather than normal Pac-Man pupils. However, his pupils and irises are black. Then again, it is possible that Flippy may have partially flipped out, which gives him an appearance of both his evil and normal self.
	+ Pop was originally in the episode, but replaced with Flippy because the creators thought it was too out of character for Pop to kill Flaky. However, like Pop, it isn't in Lumpy, Sniffles, or Handy's characters to generally kill intentionally either. The fact that they focused on Flippy might indicate that he was the killer.
* Some have guessed that the reason Flippy was able to sleep through the robbery in *Easy For You to Sleigh* is that he was hibernating. However, this is not consistent with any of the other characters (even the other bears). Furthermore, though this is the only time we see him in winter, he was also shown to sleep just as heavily in *Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow*, which appeared to take place during the summer or maybe spring, though that may be because he was having a nightmare about his evil self confronting him. People who have nightmares sleep heavier than usual.

### Rain

* He seems to have been created as a tribute to Superman.
* His origins are unknown, though it seems more of an alien origin than an earthly one.
* Splendid is shown to be selfish, despite being a superhero. He is shown to care only about his bread in *Better Off Bread*, intentionally murders The Mole and boils an entire lake, killing thousands of fish just to stop Lifty and Shifty in *Gems the Breaks*, he stops The Mole just because of a picture he took of Splendid changing into his superhero costume in *See What Develops*, and in *Breaking Wind*, he tries to save and read a book, not caring when his friends start to die.

### Lammy & Mr. Pickles

* It is speculated by most people that Mr. Pickles is a mere figment of Lammy's imagination, though it is unknown how he can change locations. Also, in *Royal Flush*, Mr. Pickles was able to kill Flaky without Lammy being involved, which further fuels the possibility that he *is* a living thing.
	+ However, it is possible that Flaky's death was a complete accident.
* It is debated by some that Lammy and Mr. Pickles could be French due to their appearances. Her voice actor is French, so this furthers the argument.
	+ The fact that Lammy communicates by bleating instead of normal HTF gibberish could also mean that she is foreign (as to speaking another language).

* As shown in *A Bit of a Pickle*, Lammy has a crack in her skull; it's unknown how it got there.
* Whether he's alive or Lammy just believes he is. It is unknown why Lammy would always take Mr. Pickles with her wherever she goes when he kills all her friends and she gets blamed.

### Kite

* Truffles has not been technically introduced (aside from cameos), so the majority of his character is unclear. All known thus far is that he is meant to have a spoiled brat personality.
* As of now, it is unknown what Mondo will do with Truffles. It is possible he may be introduced as a character in a starring or featuring role of a future episode.
	+ It was confirmed in 2016 that there are no big plans for Truffles and that he would remain a cameo so as to "honor the spirit of the contest".
* Many of his cameos and appearances are unexplained and with in-universe context, are very mysterious. A lot of fans say he's a stalker but some of his cameos would make no sense logically, if just that's the actual explanation (such as Truffles appearing in one of Flippy's flashbacks in *In Over Your Hedge*.

### Miscellaneous

* It is unknown how characters resurrect after death (apart from the fact that they are in a cartoon). But however they have been shown to restrict on screen. Some hints may be provided in *Blast from the Past* and *Better Off Bread*, when Sniffles and Splendid respectively reversed time to fix flaws. It is possible that their time warps are responsible, as the merry-go-round scene from *Spin Fun Knowin' Ya* is seen in the former.
* Why do cemeteries exist in a universe where characters can resurrect after death? However, some HTF characters have been implied to suffer permanent deaths, so that is probably why.
	+ Similarly, why do hospitals exist if all the injuries no matter how severe heal themselves without needing help?
	+ However, they can die of old age, diseases, or other natural causes.
* The age group of most characters (with exceptions for Pop, Lumpy, Mole, Splendid, Cro-Marmot, Flippy, and Disco Bear) seems to change in various episodes. Many characters have been portrayed as kids, teenagers, or adults in different episodes. In the case of Cub, he often seems to switch between infant, toddler, and preschooler.
	+ According to a tweet by Kenn Navarro, the ages of the characters depend on the episode.
* The Giant Squid appearing inside a house in *Doggone It* raises questions.
* Characters' homes change throughout the series, especially Lumpy's home where in some episodes he is seen living in a trailer, but on other episodes he lives in an entirely different home.
* It is currently unknown whether or not humans do/did exist in the HTF world. However, there is proof that they might had.
	+ Kenn denied the existence of humans in the HTF universe.
* In *By The Seat Of Your Pants*, nobody seemed the least bit shocked that Lumpy's lower torso was missing skin.
* It is unknown how the tree house in *House Warming* caught fire. Something another character who was unseen did it, or it could have been caused by a serious heat wave.
* Most of the characters use technology from the 1950s to 1960s (most notably the TVs and telephones) and Flippy is believed to have fought in WWII and/or the Vietnam War, but more advanced technology is rarely shown (like Russell's smartphone in *YouTube Copyright School*) and then there is Disco Bear's whole character. This makes what time period the show is meant to take place in very confusing.
	+ It is possible that the show does not take place in a specific time period at all.
* Every main character except Handy, Lumpy, Lammy, Cro-Marmot, and Mr. Pickles have hands that instantaneously change from looking like they're wearing mittens to having four (sometimes five, but that is considered a goof) fingers. It is unknown why this happens.
* Some characters are the same animal, like Toothy, Handy, Pop, Cub, Disco Bear, and Flippy. It is possible they are different species/subspecies of that animal considering the design differences.

## References

1. ↑ http://happytreefriends.wikia.com/wiki/File:KennTweetCuddlesCarrotAllergic.jpg
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/ChainKnuckle/status/660486974197751808
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/ChainKnuckle/status/627613799839719424
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/ChainKnuckle/status/635121111647170560
5. ↑ http://happytreefriends.wikia.com/wiki/File:Flaky's\_conformation.png
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/ChainKnuckle/status/624418174390251520
7. ↑ http://happytreefriends.wikia.com/wiki/File:Trufflesanswer.png
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/ChainKnuckle/status/795281455152672768
9. ↑ http://happytreefriends.wikia.com/wiki/File:Navarro\_on\_htf\_humans.png