Rufus

This article is about Rufus, the original continuity character. You may be looking for or his movie continuity counterpart.

Rufus

Full Name:	Rufus
Alias(es):	No Known Aliases
Gender:	Male
Age:	Unknown
Build:	Rodent-like, slightly rotund
Hair:	Black whiskers
Eyes:	Black
Skin:	Pink
Hometown:	Middleton

Professional Info
Profession(s):
	Hero Pet
Affiliation(s):
	Team Possible
Relationships
Relative(s):
	Rufus 3000 (descendant; current status unknown) Other hyper-evolved naked mole-rats (descendants; current status unknown)
Friend(s):
	Ron Stoppable (owner) Kim Possible Wade
Love Interest(s):
	Débutante (initially unwanted)
Pet(s):
	No Known Pets
Nemesis:
	Commodore Puddles Shaun's iguana
Behind the Scenes
First Appearance:
	"Tick-Tick-Tick"
Voiced by:
	Nancy Cartwright

Rufus is a naked mole-rat, the pet friend, and soul brother of Ron Stoppable. He lives almost full-time in Ron's pocket, and accompanies him nearly everywhere. Rufus is exceptionally intelligent for an animal, but average by human standards, and is capable of limited speech.

Appearance

Rufus was a small, pink naked mole-rat. He has black eyes. He is generally portrayed as light and very agile, which proved useful time and again.

Personality

Rufus was typically happy and fun-loving. He had a very strong like bond with Ron, and shared most of his likes and dislikes, most notably a love of Bueno Nacho food and a strong dislike of monkeys. Because people often reacted to his hairless body with either confusion or disgust, Rufus was fairly sensitive about comments on it.

According to item 297 in Ron's Care of Rufus Guide, "It is essential for mole rats to get at least 20 hours of sleep a day." While Rufus did indeed spend a great deal of time asleep in Ron's pocket, in sharp contrast, he tended to be extremely active when awake. He was especially active during missions, where he would often run alongside Ron, offer him advice or warnings of approaching danger, and even defend him from certain threats. Like Ron, Rufus also enjoyed using the various gadgets provided to them on missions.

As could be expected, Rufus shared several of Ron's less attractive qualities. In particular, Rufus typically consumed massive amounts or multiple courses of food, often even faster than Ron, and would whine or complain if anyone attempted to prevent him from feasting. As a result, he and Ron tended to overeat, usually together, for a variety of reasons: to keep food from spoiling, to prove a point, or simply because the food was there and they could. Just as Ron sometimes proved insensitive or simply ill-informed about issues that concerned Kim and other females, Rufus appeared to be equally inconsiderate at times, though in his case this was usually due to him either being focused on his own desires, or being puzzled by human behavior in certain situations.

Biography

Backstory

Rufus as a weened pup

Ron bought Rufus from the pet department at Smarty Mart the day before Team Possible's very first mission. Rufus happened to meet Ron's pet requirements exactly, as Ron needed a hairless animal that would not aggravate his father's allergies to animal fur. Though Ron was offered a cage, he chose instead to keep Rufus in his pocket, and named him after the imaginary friend he had in pre-K.

Abilities

Rufus during the 'Naked Mole Rap'

Rufus displayed a surprisingly wide variety of skills. Shortly after Ron bought him, Rufus proved capable of opening an electronic gate by fiddling with its inner workings. His electronic and mechanical know-how (he was capable of programming a VCR and clearing a paper jam inside a printer) repeatedly came in handy in various ways: making Rufus a video game legend, operating some of Wade's handheld gadgets and even freeing Kim and Ron from various deathtraps. Rufus has also used his powerful teeth to cut through rope, grass, earth, concrete and some metals.

Rufus possessed an arguably human level of intelligence. He was able to legibly write Ron's name, and it was implied that he could write much more than that. Rufus articulated a fairly large number of random words in clear English on occasion, though in most cases this could simply be attributed to making him more easily understood for the sake of the audience. However, Rufus has managed brief but ultimately successful "conversations" with Kim and Monique, and Ron always seemed to understand him with no trouble. Furthermore, Rufus has proven proficient at beatboxing on demand, so his speech capability could not be ruled out entirely.

Many of Rufus's unexplained abilities may have resulted from various incidents throughout Team Possible's adventures. Rufus was exposed to Mystical Monkey Power at the same time as Ron, and displayed a degree of control over it, as well as an aptitude for ninja training, that Ron lacked for some time. Due to his encounter with the top-secret Project Phoebus, Rufus was struck by a beam that contained the brainwave patterns of several geniuses, which in turn made him an unparalleled genius. According to the project's creator, the effects were supposed to be temporary, though during that period Wade admitted that Rufus was, at the time, more of a genius than he ever would be. Rufus was also briefly fused together with Mr. Barkin by DNAmy, which resulted in naked mole-man.

Paraphernalia

Clothing

Though Rufus did not typically wear clothes, he would occasionally appear in various outfits, especially for the purposes of either protecting himself against the weather, or making a bold fashion statement.

Relationships

He is the pet and friend of Ron Stoppable, and the ally and friend of Kim Possible and in general is friendly with everyone he meets.

Friends

Ron Stoppable

Main article: Ron Stoppable

Rufus shared several things in common with his owner Ron: the same taste in foods, and an overall laid-back, casual attitude. Unlike Ron, Rufus would abandon this attitude at crucial times, and often used quicker and better judgment than his owner. Still, Rufus stuck by Ron in virtually every situation, even if this was only because he happened to be asleep in Ron's pocket at the time. He also communicated with Ron through a series of squeaks and hisses that Ron alone seemed to understand. Rufus generally got along well with anyone that Ron did.

Kim Possible

Main article: Kim Possible

As a pup, Rufus was not the idea of most people's definition of a cute baby animal, with bulging eyes, the odd visible vein under his skin, and some tendency to drool. Kim's first impression of him was that he was "gross, but handy", and she was reluctant to touch him at all. Over time, she came to appreciate him more, both as a friend and a valuable member of Team Possible, and didn't mind Rufus sitting on her shoulder from time to time. During the occasions when Ron was unavailable for some reason, Rufus would usually turn to Kim first for comfort and companionship. Even when Ron was present, Rufus would still occasionally dive into the safety of Kim's pocket when frightened.

Dr. Drakken

Main article: Dr. Drakken

Due to his role in Kim and Ron's missions, Rufus often came up against Dr. Drakken as an enemy. However, when Drakken was turned good by the Attitudinator, he and Rufus befriended each other for a time with Drakken even expressing sorrow that he would lose Rufus as a friend when he turned evil again, a sentiment that Rufus agreed with.

Family

Hyper-Evolved Mole-Rats

Rufus was the recognized ancestor of Rufus 3000 and all other hyper-evolved naked mole-rats. They all addressed him as "Rufus Prime" and considered him their undisputed leader.

Love Interest

Débutante

Camille Leon's hairless cat Débutante had a very obvious case of love at first sight when she met Rufus. It seemed to be largely one-sided, as Rufus repeatedly reacted with fear and escape attempts when around her.

Enemies

Rufus and Ron shared an overwhelming fear of Ron's seven year-old cousin Shaun. In particular, Shaun bullied Ron and tried to feed Rufus to his pet iguana.

Alternate Versions

• Young Rufus from Sitch in Time

Quotes

• "Cheese!"
• "Yay!"
• "Sorry!"
• "Oh No!"
• "Yikes"
• "Yes"
• "Oh Man!"
• all of them

Trivia

• Obviously because he is one of the four members of Team Possible, Rufus appears in every episode of the series.
• In the Lilo & Stitch crossover episode, Rufus was mistaken by Jumba Jookiba for experiment 607, A.K.A. Launch.
  • Rufus of course could not be 607, as Ron was about 12 years old when he bought Rufus, while the experiments had only arrived to Earth about a year prior to the episode.
• In "A Sitch in Time," despite being with the time-lost Kim and Ron, Rufus encountered 3000 of his "hyper-evolved descendants", strongly implying that he has already procreated, or a lesser thought-of idea being that he was cloned, explaining the future mole-rat's worship of him. They refer to him as Rufus Prime. Although, given the eusocial nature of mole rat society, it may not be so surprising after all.
• According to the show's creators, Rufus' name is a pun on the name of the naked mole rat's natural enemy, the Rufous beaked snake.
• In the real world, naked mole-rats cannot be kept as pets. They must live in large colonies, and they have fairly strict temperature and humidity requirements and they cannot be exposed to daylight.
• Rufus has four KP episodes with his name in the title, all of which are all about him. All of them are also half-length episodes.
• Rufus is the only member of Team Possible not to have any known relatives.
• Drakken does not refer to Rufus as to what he truly is until the end credits sequence of "Larry's Birthday", instead refering to him as a "Pink Weasel Thing".
• Oddly enough, Motor Ed and Mego, one of Shego's four brothers, were the only people who called him a "Bald Rat", rather than a "Naked Mole-Rat".
• Wikipedia-wise, a naked mole-rat can also be refered to as either a "Sand Puppy" or a "Desert mole-rat", or both.
• In reality, naked mole-rats have four buck teeth, with two on the top, and two on the bottom on the inside their mouths. But in the show, Rufus was seen entirely with only two buck teeth, and both were only on the top of the inside of his mouth.
• Rufus is shown to like it when Kim and Ron act lovingly toward each other.
• In the episode Overdue when he and Ron go to Drakken’s lair to find Kim’s overdue library book, Drakken calls Rufus “The Weasle Thing” instead of a naked mole rat.

Behind the Scenes

Voiced By

Rufus is voiced by Nancy Cartwright in all four seasons, who is also famous for voicing Bart Simpson in the animated sitcom The Simpsons and Chuckie Finster in 2 seasons of Rugrats and Rugrats: All Grown Up!.

Age

Rufus is 2 as of Season 1; 4 as of Season 4 (estimated, based on his appearance as a newborn in A Sitch in Time).

Episode Appearances

Season 1

Production Number	US Broadcast Number	Episode
101	6	Bueno Nacho
102	4	Tick-Tick-Tick
103	13	Monkey Fist Strikes
104	9	Attack of the Killer Bebes
105	3	The New Ron
106	8	Mind Games
107	10	Royal Pain
108	17	The Twin Factor
109	18	Animal Attraction
110	15	All the News
111	2	Sink or Swim
112	7	Number One
113	1	Crush
114	19	Monkey Ninjas in Space
115	21	Low Budget
116	5	Downhill
117	11	Coach Possible
118	12	Pain King vs. Cleopatra
119	16	Kimitation Nation
120	20	Ron the Man
121	14	October 31st

Season 2

Production Number	US Broadcast Number	Episode
201	25	The Ron Factor
202	44	Partners
203	23	Grudge Match
204	30	Virtu-Ron
205	24	Two to Tutor
206	22	Naked Genius
207a	27a	Rufus in Show
207b	27b	Adventures in Rufus-Sitting
208	48	Motor Ed
209	31	The Fearless Ferret
210	29	The Golden Years
211	28	Job Unfair
212	38	Queen Bebe
213	26	Car Trouble
214	41	Go Team Go
215	37	A Very Possible Christmas
216	47	Mother's Day
217a	33a	Rufus vs. Commodore Puddles
217b	33b	Day of the Snowmen
218	34	A Sitch in Time: Present
219	35	A Sitch in Time: Past
220	36	A Sitch in Time: Future
221	39	Hidden Talent
222	40	Return to Wannaweep
223	43	Blush
224	42	The Full Monkey
225	32	Exchange
226	45	Oh Boyz
227	50	Triple S
228	49	Ron Millionaire
229	56	Showdown at the Crooked D
230	51	Rewriting History
231a	46a	Sick Day
231b	46b	The Truth Hurts

Season 3

Production Number	US Broadcast Number	Episode
301	52	Steal Wheels
302	53	Emotion Sickness
303	54	Bonding
304	55	Bad Boy
305	63	So the Drama, Part 1
306	64	So the Drama, Part 2
307	65	So the Drama, Part 3
308	57	Dimension Twist
309a	58a	Overdue
309b	58b	Roachie
310	62	And the Mole Rat Will Be CGI
311	59	Rappin' Drakken
312	61	Gorilla Fist
313	60	Team Impossible

Season 4

Production Number	US Broadcast Number	Episode
401	66	Ill Suited
402	70	Car Alarm
403	68	Trading Faces
404	67	The Big Job
405	71	Mad Dogs and Aliens
406	75	Fashion Victim
407	72	Grande Size Me
408	73	Clothes Minded
409	69	The Cupid Effect
410	74	Big Bother
411	76	Odds Man In
412	79	Mathter and Fervent
413	77	Stop Team Go
414a	84a	Chasing Rufus
414b	84b	Nursery Crimes
415	78	Cap'n Drakken
416	80	The Mentor of Our Discontent
417	81	Oh No! Yono!
418	82	Clean Slate
419	83	Homecoming Upset
420	85	Larry's Birthday
421	86	Graduation, Part 1
422	87	Graduation, Part 2

Appearances in Other Media

• Shows
  • Rufus was a guest star on the Lilo & Stitch episode "Rufus".
• Video Games
  • Kim Possible: Revenge of Monkey Fist
  • Kim Possible 2: Drakken's Demise
  • Kim Possible 3: Team Possible
  • Kim Possible: Global Gemini
  • Kim Possible: Kimmunicator
  • Kim Possible: What's the Switch?
• Disney Parks
  • Rufus has appeared at Disney's Hollywood Studios park as walk around character on the Streets of America.