Flaky

Flaky is one of the main characters of Happy Tree Friends, and is one of the series' fan-favorite.

Flaky is a red porcupine whose quills are full of white flake-like dandruff, thus her name. She's one of the most popular characters in the series and she has the identifiable personality of a very cautious and timid character, which is understandable considering that Happy Tree Friends live in constant danger of being brutally killed. Flaky is often seen as a coward and very shy in many cases. However, some of Flaky's actions in both the internet episodes and the TV series go against this, as she has been brave and on several occasions saved her own life. Flaky is actually one of the kindest characters on the show, doing things like saving a baby bird in Take a Hike. She's often seen around Lumpy, Sniffles, and Cuddles. Additionally, when hanging around with Cuddles, Flaky is often forcefully dragged into situations that lead to one or both of their demises, despite her warning Cuddles about possible dangers that could occur. This is seen in Water You Wading For, Let It Slide, and The Wrong Side of the Tracks.

Flaky seems to be somewhat mentally unstable, as seen in the episode Snow Place to Go. Near the end of the episode, she begins to go insane and treats a garden gnome as her companion, singing "Rock-A-Bye Baby" to her after being trapped in the Arctic with no food or civilization. This is also seen in Without a Hitch, where she suffers from fear-induced hallucinations over the course of the episode, culminating in her stabbing Flippy in the eye in imagined self-defense when Flippy pulls out a knife. The episode Party Animal reveals that she's allergic to peanuts, as they give her a purple rash, big lips, and make her bloat up like a pufferfish. She's also prone to vomiting, usually triggered by her fear of heights and/or flying, as seen in Wingin' It. The fact that she's a porcupine often causes trouble - her quills often impale other characters and destroy objects unintentionally. Fliqpy once even used her as a weapon to kill Cuddles with in Keepin' it Reel. They also sometimes lead to her being skinned, specifically in Class Act and Let It Slide, when she falls down a tight space, causing her quills to get caught on the way down, ripping her skin and fur off. When she comes out the other end, her muscles are exposed.

Her excessive dandruff has sometimes been exploited by other characters. In the Second Serving DVD, it was given its own breakfast cereal called Flaky Flakes, which resemble Cornflakes with red and white pieces mixed in. Her dandruff is also used to create a snowing effect for a play in Class Act. A running gag in the series is that whenever she runs, shakes, or is struck by something, her dandruff falls out. A small portion of Flaky's kills were done after she had been killed. In the episode Rink Hijinks, when Disco Bear carelessly pushes her, she falls onto Lumpy's floor buffer, causing her quills to fly out of control and pierce Disco Bear to death, along with indirectly being responsible for Lumpy getting stuck in the crane machine. In Party Animal, after she gets popped like a pufferfish by The Mole, her quills pin him to the wall. In Let It Slide, she causes all of the bolts in a slide to fall out, causing Cuddles to get sliced in half when he slides down. In Ski Ya, Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya!, she indirectly gets Disco Bear killed by a nail in a piece of wood and (debatably) kills Giggles and Petunia with an avalanche she caused. So far the only characters she has killed without her being killed first are Mime, Lifty, Shifty, Handy, Cuddles, and Flippy.

Flaky is infamously known for her early gender debate. Several fans assume that Flaky is male due to the lack of a distinguishing feminine appearance; female characters tend to have long eyelashes, whereas Flaky has none. Girls don't necessarily have eyelashes. Series creator Rhode Montijo once stated that he initially created Flaky as a male, however, most of the creators at Mondo Media regard Flaky as a female character, while others simply don't know. Flaky's true gender has caused much confusion; even the Happy Tree Friends website is ambiguous about this. In the DVD commentaries, in fact, they regularly refer to Flaky as a "her", such as the commentary for And the Kitchen Sink. Some even see the quills that distinguish Flaky as a porcupine as long hair, especially due to the dandruff and the way they respond to hair-growth formula in Easy Comb, Easy Go. Flaky also carries a flower suitcase in Wingin' It, and the episode description refers to Flaky as "her". Some voice actors of the show are ambiguous about Flaky's gender, while others think she/he is female.

In Something Fishy, Flaky is seen trying to decide whether to enter the Girls' or the Boys' bathroom. So she or he may be gender-confused as well, which has further contributed to the ambiguity many fans feel about Flaky. However, it should be noted that in the example to the right, Flaky ultimately ends up going into the Boy's room. This is backed up by the fact that there was no blood on the floor where both Giggles and Petunia were killed in the toilets. As well as that, Flaky would have heard the screams and fled. As well as that, in Royal Flush, Lammy, Giggles and Petunia are somewhat surprised to see Flaky. Initially confused, they hesitate, then let Flaky in, further indicating that Flaky could be male. It has been previously stated that Rhode Montijo originally designed Flaky as male, hence the lack of eyelashes. However, the reason that the gender debate started was that Flaky's voice actor, Nica Lorber, is a female voice actress, who claims that Flaky is in fact female. On the official website, however, Flaky's gender was originally listed as "Female",[3] but was later changed to "Unknown",[4] meaning that the viewer gets to choose the gender. Disco Bear is seen presumably flirting with Flaky in Ski Ya, Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya!, although this is debatable, as it's more subtle than his usual forms of flirty behaviour. And, in See What Develops, he shakes Flaky's hand and winks. However, this could have been Disco Bear simply grooving like he usually does.

In Behind the Screams, Michael Lipman stated that Flaky is a "metrosexual" Happy Tree Friend, and her or his gender can go either way. In fact, just two years after Flaky was confirmed as female, Kenn Navarro explained how the gender dispute started, stating that Flaky has no gender and could be a male or female in the process. He stated that, when they asked around the studio to find out what gender everybody thought Flaky was, the answer was split, so they "left the issue unanswered".

the adorable and timid little red porcupine