Mushmouse

**Mushmouse** is a sand-furred mouse who lives in the Missouri Ozark mountain country. Like most of the people who live in the Ozarks, or the self-proclaimed “hillbilly hills”, he is a frontiersman, although he spends most of his time remaining in his mousehole. He is mostly known, however, for being Punkin' Puss' rival and nemesis, and their feud is legendary around the hills, even among mountain folk standards. Nowadays, most of Mushmouse’s time is spent either avoiding Punkin’ Puss or actively taking part in their feud.

He is friends with Ricochet Rabbit and Droop-a-Long Coyote.

## Personality

Unlike Punkin’ Puss, who he nicknames an “ornery critter”, Mushmouse is the easy-going one of the pair and overall is much friendlier than Punkin’ Puss, often helping out other creatures when they’re in trouble, although sometimes he does involve them in his feud if he thinks they’ll give him a greater advantage over Punkin’ Puss. For the most part, he likes to be left to his own devices and enjoy food (cheese is a particular favorite of his). He’s a bit of a prankster, and depending on his mood, he can pull jokes that range from harmless to rather mean-spirited. He also hates his small size, wishing that he was taller so he could defeat enemies like Punkin’ Puss. A self-described peace loving mouse, he likes to avoid conflict whenever possible and tries to talk his way out of things instead of immediately fighting; one thing he has in common with Punkin’ is that he’s quick to choose flight over fight if things get bad enough.

Mushmouse may be a “peace-loving mouse”, but he’s certainly not a pushover when it comes to defending himself. When riled up or fed up with fighting, he will take revenge on those who have wronged him. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in creativity; he’s very shrewd and comes up with various ways to get people back, resulting in a fiendish mind that can put Punkin’ to shame, hence why he’s often known as a “sneaky scrawny varmint”. Several times, he’s driven his opponents to surrender because of his plans. He would’ve ended his feud with Punkin’ a long time ago if he never got overconfident and celebrated in front of him or slipped up at the wrong time, which is how he almost always loses. He doesn’t really like cats, but will make exceptions for nice ones, and isn’t a fan of modern technology due to having been tortured with it in the past.

Regarding his relationship with Punkin’ Puss, Mushmouse tends to distance himself from the cat, although he hopes that one day they can co-exist peacefully. As mentioned above, he doesn’t like being locked in an endless feud, and it’s shown that often he’s the one who tries to end it (although how he tries to end it really depends on his mood). Rare moments where Punkin’ Puss shows concern for him often sets Mushmouse back, but often he’s quick to take advantage of it to make him pay for all the times he beat him up for no reason.

## History

His feud with Punkin’ Puss started when he made himself at home in the cat’s cabin and told him that if he wanted him out, he’d have to fight him to do it.

## Trivia

* Mushmouse is one of the few Hanna-Barbera characters who doesn't have a "birthday". For the sake of the series, he has one.
* Mushmouse's portrayal in this series is derived from his portrayal in both Providence-carrier's RPs featuring Punkin' and Mushmouse, and the Temporary Truce universe.
* Mushmouse gets along well with both Ricochet and Droop-a-Long.
* The story of how Punkin' Puss and Mushmouse started their epic feud is briefly explained in a future story called "Feud For Thought", a planned sequel to Providence-carrier's story “Temporary Truce” (which was her second fic focusing on Punkin' Puss and Mushmouse).
* Since they all originated on *The Magilla Gorilla Show*, Mushmouse is often associated with Ricochet, Droop-a-Long, Mr. Peebles, Magilla and Punkin’ Puss. As such, he's also friends with Ricochet and Droop-a-Long in this universe, although not really with Punkin' Puss.
* The episode “Cat Nipped” had Mushmouse help a city lion who got lost on his way to the circus, and he made a similar remark around these lines.
* The episode “Shot at and Missed” had Mushmouse move in with a rich city cat who used modern machines to do their feud, and Mushmouse found it crueler than Punkin’s methods, to the point where he was happy to have Punkin’ Puss back when the latter came to reclaim him.
* In some episodes, Mushmouse tries to convince Punkin’ Puss to stop their feud. In other episodes, Mushmouse can be just as cruel as Punkin’, often trying to beat him up or coming up with elaborate revenge plans.