Great-Granddaddy Ricochet

**Buster Rabbit,** better known as **Ricochet Rabbit I**, was a white-furred buck who served as sheriff in numerous towns, most notably in his hometown, Bucktooth Creek. Though born into a well-off family of doctors, Buster would reject the family profession and follow his life’s calling to be a sheriff. Possessing a rare gene that blessed him with speed and a unique “ricocheting” ability, he was given the nickname Ricochet, a nickname that he took a shine to. His numerous escapades led to him receiving many nicknames from outlaws, including his personal favorite, “Terror of the Rio Grande”. He is credited with having started the "family business of sheriffin'" as his son, his grandson and several of his descendants became sheriffs or marshals in Texas and other states. To this day, he is regarded as the most popular and powerful sheriff who ever lived, a feat that many have tried and failed to surpass.

Though a posthumous character within the main storylines of both the original and *Redux*, much of his life and exploits is chronicled by several characters and legends throughout the series, although some of his life is greatly exaggerated. He receives greater focus within the supplemental materials of the series, namely in the miniseries, *Blazin’ Trails: Terror of the Rio Grande*, in which he is the main character.

## Personality

Great-Granddaddy Ricochet is described by Ricochet and most of his family members as having been a spitfire, being energetic and loud up until the day of his death. He had a passion for justice and law and order, and was known for supporting vigilantes, which didn’t earn him much favor with the sheriffs in his day. In his eyes, when the law failed the people, they had every right to take it into their own hands, albeit with some restriction. He was tough on crime, regardless of the severity, and his tireless pursuits of criminals led to him being known as “The Terror of Rio Grande” amongst the most ruthless outlaw circles, and even the Newcomb crime family, who heads Red Scorpion, regard him as a man worthy of their respect, as during his life time, he killed two of their leaders, a feat that was deemed impossible. However, he believed in handing down fair, manageable punishments for the outlaws he captured, and preferred to not spill blood if he could help it. He was known to be especially merciful to people who turned to crime due to hard times/war, and if he saw the good in them, he would work to get them a shorter sentence. He did have his own biases on criminals, however, and was known to hate former lawmen/marshals who turned their backs on the law, as well as corrupted lawmen who abused their power, believing it to be a disgrace. He was strict on his deputies, but even stricter on himself, not tolerating failure in the slightest.

Despite being one to do things decently and in order, Great-Granddaddy Ricochet was known to be incredibly stubborn and rebellious, especially when he has his heart set on something. He was so determined to become a sheriff, he deliberately failed his doctor's exam and risked excommunication with his father for his dream career. His first born son would note that he contributed to the “family stubbornness”. In his younger years, he called this “a steady flame”, and though he would lose some supporters and friends for it, he refused to change his positions or apologize to anybody for stating his values. Normally, he was coolheaded under pressure, and would even joke whenever faced with the barrel of a gun, but when finally pushed to his limit, he was an untamable force of nature. He was known to take swift revenge on those who wronged him or his family, and it was said that anybody who drew his ire got a lifelong enemy and a bullseye on their back. He was also a huge adrenaline junkie, and would sometimes throw himself into dangerous situations just to get a thrill, or do dangerous stunts during chases on a whim simply because he wanted to. He would suffer numerous injuries due to both this and many shootouts with outlaws, but would make miraculous recoveries from his stunts, which earned him the name, “Ricochet the Indestructible”.

Though appearing to be a wild card and a bit of a blowhard, Great-Granddaddy Ricochet possessed a big heart and even bigger faith. Staunchly religious, he was known to be especially cranky with outlaws if they committed crimes on Sundays, as he made sure to never miss a service. He recognized that while he wasn’t perfect, he certainly wasn’t going to judge or discriminate anyone for their lifestyles or who they were as a person, as he could be faced with that same attitude. Anybody faced with unjust judgment was one of the few things that would actively set him off, and anybody who was sexist or racist in front of him was in for a curse filled rant that could make a sailor cry. He loved his wife Reece dearly, and defended her reputation to anybody who dared speak bad about her—in those days, former prostitutes/madams were frowned upon heavily and deemed beyond saving—and doted heavily on his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.

Unlike most rabbits of his day, who held many bigoted views on predators and even humans, Ricochet strove to bring peace and unity amongst his community rather that scorn and division. His father taught him to judge based on character rather than who/what they were, an attitude that the elder Ricochet tried to instill in his sons. He hired deputies of various nationalities, species and tribes; he had several Native men who served with him at the Association, and deputized numerous predators. In his own words, “it don’t matter whether he’s white as me, or pink an’ polka-dotted, or a tall coyote; if I sense somethin’ good in him, he’s hired”. The people he hired greatly appreciated his attitude and friendship, a feeling that was mutual. He referred to his confidants as his brothers. He even had a relationship with a predator, and would have married her had he not been driven out of town by numerous angry rabbits.

Similar to his great-grandson Ricochet, the elder Ricochet had one good friend throughout his life, and said friend also happened to be a predator. Olivier Coyote, a coyote who spent nearly all his life as a slave, would be both his longest serving deputy and his oldest friend. The two met when Ricochet stumbled upon the coyote being beaten to within an inch of his life by would-be purchasers. Once the elder Ricochet ended the chaos and arrested the purchasers, he took the wounded coyote back to town, and nursed him back to health by himself due to none of the doctors wanting to treat Olivier. In the days where friendships between rabbits and coyotes were outright banned and encouraged to be mocked, the elder Ricochet treated the coyote as an equal, and outright referred to him as his brother in all but blood. Olivier served as Ricochet’s senior deputy from 1791 to 1815, when he was killed at the hands of Red Scorpion, a situation that would haunt the elder Ricochet for ages. Though he avenged his best friend by killing their leader on the field, he regarded Olivier’s death (and his forced separation from the Coyote family) as the greatest mistake of his career, a sentiment that he held up until his dying day.

## History

### Early Life

Buster Rabbit was born in 1760 in Bucktooth Creek, Texas, and came from a mostly well-off family. His father, Elias, was the town doctor. From a young age, young Buster was singled out due to his incredible athletic ability and speed, as well as the ability to bounce off of stationary objects, due to possessing a rare gene. As such, people both young and old gave him the nickname Ricochet; though his father disliked the name, young Buster loved it, so much so that when he became an adult, he legally had his name changed to Ricochet as he liked it better than his real name.
He was very sociable at a young age, and one of the people he befriended was the sheriff, Obadiah Jones, who had served the town for nearly forty years and was well-loved by the community. The man inspired him to be a sheriff, and when he was fifteen, became the town's youngest deputy. Despite his father's protests and insistence that he become a doctor, Buster would have none of it. He was so set on becoming the next sheriff that he deliberately failed his doctor's exam so he could continue to serve as a deputy. The incident would drive a wedge between him and his father for several years, and during that time, he left Bucktooth Creek to serve as deputy in other towns.

## Relationships

### Elias Rabbit

Ricochet’s relationship with his father Elias was strained at best, and tempestuous at its worst. His father’s by-the-book, taciturn nature heavily clashed with Buster’s carefree, sociable one, and several times, especially when Ricochet entered his teenage years, they couldn’t go a day without fighting. They eventually stopped speaking for several years when Buster revealed that he deliberately failed his doctor’s exam so he could continue serving as a deputy, although when Buster—now renamed Ricochet—took up the mantle as sheriff in Bucktooth Creek, they were on somewhat civil terms, though their opposing views brought them into conflict yet again, particularly where his species blindness was concerned. The two would eventually become estranged when Ricochet romanced Reece, then a madam, and married her despite his father’s objections.

### Olivier Coyote

Ricochet’s close friendship with Olivier Coyote was one of his strongest. The two met when Ricochet stumbled upon the coyote being beaten to within an inch of his life by would-be purchasers in a town where animal trades were outlawed. Ricochet, unable to witness such injustice, intervened and beat three of the purchasers single-handedly, with the fourth one fleeing in the chaos that ensued. After arresting them and throwing them in jail, he took Olivier, then near death, to Sand Point, then known as a renowned town for the best doctors around. Despite his fame having reached the land, prejudices against coyotes were at an all time high there, and none of the doctors wanted to treat Olivier. Undeterred, Ricochet used his medical skills to nurse the wounded coyote back to health by himself; at one point, he even slapped him back to life claiming that he “didn’t fight this hard jus’ to watch you die so easily”. Having been abused by rabbits for much of his life, Olivier had a mild distrust of Ricochet at first, not believing that a rabbit would genuinely want to save him. However, he would come to respect the sheriff when the fourth purchaser who escaped came back to complete the job, having been promised a reward if he brought Olivier in alive. Ricochet fought with him, but was incapacitated when the man broke his foot to keep him from using his speed. He would be saved by Olivier, who snuck up behind him and shot the purchaser point blank in the face, claiming that nobody would make him a slave again. Any slave who killed their master or a purchaser were immediately executed, unless they were deemed a necessary asset to their community. Ricochet I pleaded his case before a judge, showing off his injury and noting that if it weren’t for Olivier’s actions, he would be dead. The judge, though not a fan of coyotes in his own right, reluctantly agreed, and Olivier was hired on as Ricochet I’s deputy due to this law. Olivier thanked Ricochet I for saving him, but warned him that if he were cut from the same cloth as the rabbits he’d dealt with, he’d willingly choose the noose. Ricochet I, unafraid of death at this point, told him that if he were to ever turn over that he’d hold him to that promise, which made Olivier realize that he was a rabbit of his word.

In the days where any relationship between rabbits and coyotes were illegal, Ricochet I and Olivier Coyote would become the first prey and predator team that not only worked well together with no ulterior motives, but also had a strong close friendship. The elder Ricochet treated the coyote as an equal, and outright referred to him as his brother in all but blood, something that initially embarrassed Olivier, but he would eventually return the sentiment. Olivier’s middle of the road personality bounced off Ricochet’s energetic one well, to the point where Ricochet’s wife Reece joked that he had more chemistry with Olivier than with her. He would be the coyote’s closest confidant, particularly in regards to the night terrors that Olivier suffered due to his PTSD, and supported Olivier’s mission in ending the illegal animal trades that were happening in the settlements. Though he would hire several deputies alongside Olivier, he made it clear among his subordinates that Olivier would always be his senior deputy, and that they were to respect his authority. Due to their refusal to cooperate, he eventually fired all of them, leaving the coyote as his sole partner—something that neither of them seemed to mind. Ricochet would also be responsible for helping Olivier court and eventually marry his wife, Janice.

Their friendship only ended when Olivier was murdered by Red Scorpion’s Abraham Newcomb, on the field. In the middle of an arrest, Abraham incapacitated the coyote with a bite, and then snapped his neck after constricting him with his tail—all in front of Ricochet I and Olivier’s pregnant wife, Janice, who went hysterical with grief and rage, and attempted to kill him with a shovel, but was prevented by Ricochet, who noted the rattlesnake was going to kill her as well. He took off, leaving the coyote’s body in his wake. Ricochet was unable to deal with his grief and shock at the time, for Janice went into labor due to the stress and grief. Shortly afterwards, Ricochet went after Red Scorpion with only one thought in mind: revenge. It was said that one could feel his wrath from three towns over, and any outlaw who wronged him during that time were swiftly dealt with without mercy. Ricochet I caught up with Abraham and brutally dealt with the rattlesnake—though he did shoot him in the field (as Abraham had killed a young woman hours before), he would take a hatchet and cut him to pieces. No judge dared stop him, knowing of the evils Abraham had committed and knowing that a vengeful Ricochet was one they didn’t want to deal with.

Shortly after the case was closed, the new sheriff of the town Olivier lived in, who was irrevocably racist, forced Olivier’s widow to keep quiet about her husband’s murder, with specific instructions to "keep esteemed fellers like him (Ricochet) outta you curs' mouths". When Ricochet I attempted to stand up for her, the sheriff would force him out with a similar warning, threatening to harm his wife and children if he did, a move that made him a lifelong enemy of Ricochet’s. In his own rebellious fashion, Ricochet I didn’t abide by the sheriff’s rule, by not only spreading his species blindness to other members of his family, but also telling his children and grandchildren of both his and Olivier’s adventures, and the harshness of the West they grew up in. Likewise, Janice would tell her son Leroy about her husband and the “renowned sheriff” he served under, which was how Olivier always described Ricochet. In her private journals that Droop-a-Long discovered years later, she mentioned Ricochet outright and mentioned how grateful she was for everything he did after the horrible murder that robbed them of Olivier.

Thought he avenged his oldest friend, Ricochet would regard Olivier’s death as the greatest failure of his career, and it gave him grief until the day of his death. During and after the case, he was consumed with grief and sorrow, and was practically inconsolable—his son, Ricochet II noted that he stayed in bed for a solid week after Olivier’s funeral, something that he only did two other times in his life (when his granddaughter Fara died, and when his wife Reece died). His grief made him unable to speak about Olivier without sobbing uncontrollably, so he always made sure to never mention him by name, instead referring to him as “the best deputy a man could ask for”, something he always called Olivier when he was alive.

### Sebastian Lièvre

Near the end of his life, Ricochet I would form a brief intense but friendly rivalry with Sebastian Lièvre, then the world’s most powerful hero-for-hire. Having secured a bounty and seeking relief for his boredom, Sebastian decided to challenge the most popular celebrity in Carrottop Canyon to a duel. As Ricochet I was in his eighties, his son, Ricochet II, decided to be his partner for it. Though Sebastian defeated Rico, Ricochet I handed Sebastian his first sound defeat, showing that despite his age, he was still able to keep up with the finest swordsman in the land. Though the duel was initially meant to test their mettle, all three would develop mutual respect for each other. Ricochet I recognized that Sebastian’s reputation was well-deserved, noting that he’d never seen ‘such fine swordsmanship”; Rico, who’d never been defeated so quickly, was amazed by the swordsman’s skill; and Sebastian was impressed and amazed by the older buck’s skills and his son’s ingenuity. The jack planned on having another match with them, saying he would have a few tricks up his sleeve the next time, and Ricochet I told him that he’d come after him if he didn’t uphold his word.

Sadly, this duel never happened due to Sebastian’s murder almost six months later; when Ricochet read the news, he was distraught, and subsequently never spoke of the jack by name, although when reciting stories to his grandchildren, he did hail Sebastian as a “marvelous duelist”. Years later, Ricochet would pass away, and his son Rico months later. However, the intense yet friendly rivalry they initially formed would be continued in spirit by his great-grandson Ricochet, and Sebastian’s protégé, Touché Turtle, who would discover their own connection years later.

## Trivia

* Great-Granddaddy Ricochet is a one-shot character who originated from the *Ricochet Rabbit and Droop-a-Long* episode *Mostly Ghostly*. Similar to Ricochet's cousin, Ricochet Chavez, he was included in the series to give a little more info on Ricochet's family. As he is deceased throughout the main timeline, much of his life is detailed through either stories told by his family members or through people who knew of him during his life, though his life is often filled with both fact and fiction. He does appear a few times in *The Life and Times of Ricochet Rabbit*, however, as he’s alive throughout Ricochet’s childhood. He also has a small miniseries dedicated to him, titled *Blazin’ Trails: Terror of the Rio Grande*, which takes place during the Blazin’ Trails Redux universe.
	+ He is the only one-shot Hanna-Barbera character to have a separate story dedicated to him.
* Great-Granddaddy Ricochet is one of Iheartgod175’s favorite one-shot characters. In a drawing that she did of him, she states that “old rabbits being badass are my favorites”.
* According to his grandson, much of Ricochet I’s family members died young, and the chances of their survival lowered when any of the members went into dangerous fields such as combat or dueling, which was one reason their great-great-grandfather didn’t want him to become sheriff. Ricochet I defied all odds, however, by not only surviving all his stunts and several shootouts with outlaws, but also living to meet and be involved in his great-grandchildren’s lives. It is hinted that he actually ended up outliving his father.
* His romance with Reece was heavily inspired by the romance between Matt Dillon and Kitty Russell of *Gunsmoke* fame. Unlike that romance, which was heavily implied but unfortunately never went anywhere, Ricochet I and Reece would get their happy ending.
* His relationship with his father, Elias, is nearly identical to the relationship that his great-grandson Ricochet would have with his father.
* In the *Blazin' Trails* series, he is mentioned in *Night Owls. Blazin’ Trails Redux’*s *The Ghost of Gopher Gulch*, which is a remake (of sorts) of *Mostly Ghostly,* delves more into his character and lifts some elements from the *Terror of the Rio Grande* miniseries*.*
* In an ironic twist, he doesn't have the "trademark family temper" that the family is known for. That was a trait passed down from his wife, Reece, whom he initially fell in love with because of her fiery red fur and equally fiery temper. He did, however, possess the “family bullheadedness” that is prevalent in many of his descendants.
* Personality-wise, he shared much in common with Ricochet, hence why he was one of his favorite great-grandchildren to be around. He was responsible for naming his great-grandson, who was born on his birthday. Traces of his personality would also be prevalent in Roxanne, which led to Ricochet claiming that if Ricochet I were still alive, not only would he have spoiled her rotten, but also would have insisted that she be named Ricochet.
* Due to growing up in an area with a lot of Natives, as well as numerous species and humans, Ricochet was “species blind”, and not only had good friendships with virtually anybody of a different breed or species, but he also pursued several romantic relationships with them. Before he met and married Reese, he had one serious relationship with a fox, and was prevented from officially eloping with her when he was forced out of the town he was sheriff in by rabbits and foxes alike. This “species blindness” was something that was passed down to his family: his son, who married a Native rabbit and later a Mexican, and later his great-grandson Ricochet, who had a few liaisons with numerous species, including a predator that he ended up having children with.