What An Idiot / Happy Tree Friends

This is not an appropriate third option in a Life-or-Limb Decision.

Happy Tree Friends has many idiotic moments, often tied with Too Dumb to Live due to its type of humour. Of course, not all of them involve Lumpy. As a testament to the massive amounts of idiocy on display, the HTF Wiki has compiled a list of acts of stupidity, sorted by character (and even a gallery that sorts them by type ^note for example, cases where the character is oblivious to another's injury, when they mistake things/characters for other things/characters, etc.), which may or may not encompass all of the incidents on this page.

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• In "Breaking Wind", a fart-induced gas cloud fills the air. One of the unfortunate victims, Petunia, whips out a match.
  You'd Expect: Petunia to be very aware that gas and fire don't mix, put her match away, and cover her nose with something.
  Instead: Petunia goes ahead and lights her match, thus setting the earth aflame and killing basically millions.
• In "Read em and Weep", Cub is possessed by a demon. The demon is later removed and Cub is approached by Pop.
  You'd Expect: Pop to share a heartfelt moment with Cub now that he is back to his normal, innocent self.
  Instead: Out of fear, Pop smashes his own son to death with a shovel.
• Even Sniffles isn't immune. Like in "Blast from the Past", where he spills a glass of milk.
  You'd Expect: Sniffles to just clean up the mess and pour himself another glass.
  Instead: He goes through the trouble of building a time machine just to stop himself from dropping the glass, thus leading to numerous time anomalies and horrible deaths. And the first episode.
• "The Chokes on You" provides an excellent depiction of Lumpy's stupidity when he craves a donut.
  You'd Expect: Lumpy to take some time to chew the donut.
  Or: Since the donut is supposed to go to a customer, for Lumpy to serve that and eat a different one.
  Instead: He swallows the donut whole, chokes on it and pierces a hole in his throat for air. If that weren't dumb enough, he repeats the mistake when a second donut gets stuck in his throat-hole.
  Even Worse: Flaky swallows a donut made from Lumpy's flesh and chokes on that as well.
• The ending of "Wishy Washy", where Petunia gets her fur covered in grime after Lumpy fails to fix her plumbing.
  You'd Expect: Petunia to go to someone else's house and shower.
  Instead: She uses a potato peeler to skin herself, creating one of the most gruesome scenes in the series.
  In All Fairness: Petunia had lost her stability upon seeing Lumpy's corpse.
• There are several in "Concrete Solution".
  • First off, Nutty brings home a bag of cement thinking it was a bag of sugar. And Lumpy, oblivious to the accidental mix-up, takes the sugar for a bridge that is supposed to be made with concrete.
    You'd Expect: Nutty and Lumpy to reread what's on their bags and see through their errors.
    Instead: Nutty pours the cement into a bowl, eats it, and has it harden in his stomach. And Lumpy creates a sugar bridge which later melts in the rain.
  • Later, Sniffles carries Nutty to the hospital via ambulance.
    You'd Expect: That Nutty's gurney be strapped down before the trip.
    Instead: Sniffles doesn't notice this until later, then tries to strap the gurney down while driving.
    Result: Sniffles crashes into Cuddles' car and his head gets lodged into the wheel, launching Nutty out the window.
  • Afterwards, Nutty clings to the edge of the bridge for dear life.
    You'd Then Expect: That Nutty would try to climb back onto the bridge and seek help.
    Instead: Nutty eats through the bridge which gradually begins to split in half. Soon after, Nutty himself is torn in half.
• "All Work and No Play" depicts Lammy, Sniffles and Nutty entering a playground that is clearly still under construction by Lumpy.
  You'd Expect: That they just wait until the playground has been fully completed. Or least for Nutty and Sniffles to see the obvious hazards of the swingset and slide they would play on.
  Instead: The threesome go ahead and play; leading to Lammy having her head sliced open, Nutty getting impaled to large nails, and Sniffles' torso being grated like cheese. Lumpy ends up killing them.
• In "Party Animal", several characters plan a birthday party for Flippy.
  You'd Expect: Being aware of Flippy's condition, anything except how they plan it in the episode.
  Which Is: Throwing him a surprise party in Flaky's house.
  Likewise: Everybody would have denied Flaky inviting them to Flippy's birthday.
  • When Sniffles sees Fliqpy during his killing spree within that episode.''
    You'd Expect: Sniffles to run for the door or climb out a window (both of which were easily accessible for him).
    Instead: He tries to hide in a barrel full of water located right next to the aforementioned window.
    Result: He narrowly avoids being drowned and stabbed by the various knives Fliqpy pierces into the barrel, only to be grinded to pieces when Fliqpy pushes the barrel down a hill.
• Pretty much any episode where Sniffles tries to eat the Ant Family.
  You'd Expect: Sniffles to go after different ants, realizing the danger these ones pose to him.
  Instead: He keeps pursuing the exact same ants every time and enduring progressively more sadistic deaths at their hands.
• How Lumpy keeps getting jobs that he'll inevitably screw up.
  You'd Expect: With his stupidity, that no one would hire him.
  Instead: He gets various jobs throughout the series and, while occasionally pulling them off, kills others from being Lethally Stupid.
  • Similarly, despite The Mole’s blindness, he’ll jobs that he, like Lumpy, will inevitably screw up.
    You'd Expect: That people should not hire him, as well, and to give the jobs to someone else.
    Instead: He gets a few jobs that no blind person should get: this causes them to get killed, as well as himself on a few occasions.
• In "Mime to Five", Mime gets a job as a lifeguard. During his shift, Sniffles is drowning.
  You'd Expect: Mime to jump into the water and pull Sniffles ashore.
  Instead: His mime tendencies kick in and he pretends to do CPR on an imaginary body. Then Sniffles' apparent corpse washes up and causes Petunia to faint.
• In "Who's to Flame?", Petunia makes breakfast for Giggles and Mime when she accidentally catches fire from the stove. Giggles tries to save her but she too catches fire.
  You'd expect: For Mime to get a bucket or something to fill with water from the sink and help put the flames out. Better yet, he could use an 'imaginary' bucket or an 'imaginary' hose to save the girls since the things he imagines can become real.
  Instead: He grabs the phone but forgets the last number to 911 (and since Mime is mute, this nevertheless wouldn't have done any good). With Giggles and Petunia still panicking in flames, he rushes outside to get help but with the same results. Eventually the whole town explodes.
  • Petunia's at fault for causing the fire in the first place. While she was making breakfast she gets a phone call.
    You'd Expect: Petunia to keep her attention to the stove while talking on the phone, or at least turn it off.
    Instead: She drops what she's doing without turning the stove off, and leans her tail on the heat source when she's on the phone. Apparently she never learned proper fire safety if this episode and Breaking Wind is anything to go by.
• In "Don't Yank My Chain," Handy ends up getting arrested and chained to The Mole. Long story short, they end up at a logging plant and a saw cuts open Mole's head.
  You'd expect: Handy would at least attempt to cut off Mole's leg, or even the chain, or possibly even see if anyone is at the plant at all.
  Or: Handy could have just used the hammer on his belt and break the weakest link on the chain.
  Instead: He runs away and tries to cut the chain on a railroad track with a train, but it doesn't work and instead, he dies violently.
• In another example within "Don't Yank My Chain", Handy and The Mole go to the gas station to fill up an almost-empty gas tank, only for Lifty and Shifty to steal their car while the former two were distracted.
  You'd Expect: Lifty and Shifty could’ve stolen a different car that wasn't at a gas station.
  Or: Lifty and Shifty could’ve waited until Handy and The Mole were finished filling up the tank before stealing their car.
  Instead: The Raccoon duo proceed to steal the car just as it arrives at the gas station; thus, the empty tank backfires on them.
• In "Put Your Back Into It", Disco Bear's spine bursts out of his body.
  You'd Expect: Disco Bear to go to the hospital or have someone call an ambulance.
  Instead: He uses a first-aid kit to fix his severe injury, thus spending the rest of the episode in terrible pain.
  Even Worse: Disco Bear wasted too much time and eventually gets killed by Russell's hook.
• In "Easy For You to Sleigh", Shifty steals a candle holder in a bear trap, by quickly swapping the item with a sandbag.
  You'd Expect: Shifty to leave the sandbag and take what he's got. Then again, Lifty and Shifty shouldn't have broken into Flippy's house in the first place.
  Instead: He tries to take his sandbag back and gets his arm cut off. Not only that, but their holiday greed leads them to their gruesome deaths from Flippy.
• "Bottled Up Inside" is full of this. For example, Russell trying to get into his car and drive with the glass bottle stuck in his chest.
  You'd Expect: Russell to turn around so he could fit inside. And adjust his seat so he can drive properly. Or just call an ambulance.
  Instead: He pushes the bottle further into his chest so he can fit through the door. Then he is unable to turn the driving wheel simply because the bottle was in the way.
  But he's not alone: Pop is oblivious to everything that happens around him (ala The Mole).
  You'd Expect him to: Not pick up the coin in the middle of the road while pushing Cub in a stroller (or at least notice his son's demise and that half the stroller has been obliterated). And he should have also noticed Russell's corpse in the water dispenser.
• While it may not come at first glance, some moments in "I've Got You Under My Skin" could count. After Sniffles and Lumpy discover Giggles buried in the snow with half her brain smashed...
  You'd Expect: Them to bring her to the hospital rather than to Sniffles' house.
  Or: Considering Sniffles' intelligence, he could have either invented a medicine to cure her fever or used some other medical knowledge to help her.
  Instead: He attempts to use a shrinking submarine to navigate through Giggles' body and get rid of her germs. Of course, disaster escalates quickly.
  And worse: He thinks a first-aid kit will help after losing his lower torso and getting his organs pulled out.
  Also: Giggles looks at Lumpy as Sniffles' machine starts growing.
  You'd Expect: Her to duck or get out the way.
  Instead: Giggles stays there and gets killed.
  One more point: We see that Sniffles' submarine came with a timer, which slowly ticks back from microscopic to the default larger size. Why didn't he just keep resetting the timer to stay small for as long as he needed? In fact, why did he add a timer in the first place?
• In "As You Wish", genie Lumpy actually does quick thinking and poofs up a hot-air balloon for Lifty and Shifty as they fall off a cliff.
  You'd Expect: Lifty and Shifty to wait until making another wish.
  Instead: As they continue to ride the hot-air balloon, they wish for a big bag of money. So Lumpy turns the balloon into one, causing the two raccoons to fall to their deaths.
  Before that: Nutty wishes for a "scrumptious lollipop", getting a huge all-day sucker as a result.
  You'd Expect: That Nutty would take his time consuming the lollipop to savour the moment.
  Instead: He tries to swallow it whole, thus slowly and painfully choking to death.
• In "Pet Peeve", Sniffles inspects the underside of his car after his science-made pet melts through the floor.
  You'd Expect: That Sniffles actually stopped his car before checking.
  Instead: He does this while still driving, leading to his pet to fly off into the wind and eventually, his own death.
• In the Easter Smoochie, one of the treats Toothy can get is an Easter egg that turns out to be rotten; it's a sickly green color and (according to the stink lines and Toothy's reaction) smells bad.
  You'd Expect: Toothy to get rid of it.
  Instead: He shrugs and eats it anyway, and ends up violently puking.
• In "From A to Zoo", Sniffles wants a picture with him and the baboon, so he gives the camera to Lumpy.
  You'd Expect: Lumpy to just take the picture.
  Instead: Lumpy tells Sniffles to step back and get too close to the baboon, then takes a picture and lets the baboon kill Sniffles.
• Also in "From A to Zoo", Cuddles and Toothy come across the rhino habitat when looking for animals to pester with a stick.
  You'd Expect: Them to find a less dangerous animal to poke, or at least one that's in a more secure cage than a wooden fence.
  Instead: The rhino ends up in their cross-hairs, which bodes poorly considering the nature of this show.
  Fortunately: The rhino's tough skin prevents it from being bothered by Cuddles' stick, even after he ties a blade to it.
  You'd THEN Expect: Cuddles and Toothy to get bored and annoy some other animal, since it'd probably work better with them.
  Instead: He somehow finds a branding iron, ties it to his stick, and brands the rhino with it. This ends up pissing it off, causing it to jab Toothy in the face with its horn, killing him.
• In "Chew Said a Mouthful", Nutty wants to eat a jawbreaker he got at a candy store.
  You'd Expect: Him to smash it with a hammer, breaking it into tiny pieces.
  Or: Just licking the jawbreaker.
  Instead: He tried to bite it, which ended up breaking his jaw.
• In "Out On A Limb", Lumpy gets his leg stuck under a tree, and is forced to free the limb by severing it with a spoon, as seen on the page picture.
  You'd Expect: Him to chop off the trapped leg, or to try digging himself out with the spoon.
  Instead: Lumpy ends up cutting off his other leg, and still has to free the trapped one. Not only that, but the spoon is useless after cutting off the first leg, leaving him to cut off the other with a paper clip.
• In "Wrath of Con," after Splendid destroys a whole convention center, he and Sniffles manage to come out unharmed, lifting a chunk of the floor. After Sniffles sees the former in a very beautifully drawn manner, he decides to get Splendid's autograph.
  You'd Expect: Splendid to toss the floor to the side before signing the autograph.
  Alternatively: Splendid would choose to either hold the chunk of floor in one hand and a pencil/pen on the other or decide to let Sniffles do something like have a picture taken with him instead.
  Instead: He almost comes towards Sniffles to sign it while not realizing that the floor he lifted is still above him.
  Result: Sniffles ends up getting crushed by the chunk of floor.
• In Water You Wading For, Cuddles wants to swim in a lake, but Flaky warns him not to go in, thanks to a sign that clearly states that swimming isn't allowed.
  You'd Expect: For Cuddles to recognize the obvious warnings and find a safer place to swim.
  Instead: He ignores Flaky and the sign and jumps in.
  Result: Cuddles ends up being mauled by various aquatic animals, and eventually crushed to death by an orca.
• In Home is Where the Hurt Is, Handy tries to build Giggles a new house. After the first house falls apart, Handy decides to get a few extra hands on board.
  You'd Expect: For Handy to get help from people that are as professionally skilled at building as him, like Sniffles for example.
  Instead: Handy gets The Mole, Petunia, Cuddles, Lumpy, Mime, and even Giggles herself to help him build the house.
  It Gets Worse: Lumpy folds the blueprints into the shape of an origami crane.
  You'd Expect: For someone to notice that the blueprints are folded and straighten them out.
  Instead: Handy and his crew build the entire house in the shape of an origami crane and don't even notice.
  Result: The scrambled blueprints essentially turn the house into a labyrinth of Malevolent Bizarrchitecture. No one lives to the end of the episode.
  • From the same episode, when Petunia begins screwing two pipes together, a tiny splotch of bacteria lands on her chest. Because of this one small stain, she begins panicking due to her OCD kicking in.
    You'd Expect: For Petunia to ask someone like Handy to do her task.
    Instead: She has LUMPY screw the pipes for her, and Lumpy accidentally screws the water and electrical pipes together. Later, when Petunia tries to take a shower to clean herself, she is electrocuted to death.
• In "Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow", Lumpy causes Flippy to flip out into Fliqpy with his loud noise. Angry, Fliqpy attempts to kill Lumpy and arrives at the trailer's door with an axe.
  You'd Expect: Fliqpy to use said axe onto the door and break in so he can kill Lumpy. This would be quick and easy for him as his other attempts fail in the episode.
  Instead: Fliqpy just rings the doorbell and waits for Lumpy to answer. He doesn't answer and Fliqpy just gives up afterward (while he is unaware of Lumpy being deaf, it could not have stopped him from trying to break it). His two other attempts to kill him fail (Fliqpy tries throwing a giant log suspended in mid-air but it doesn't kill him and he attempts to kill him with his helicopter but turns back into Flippy before he gets the chance to) making it the only episode where Fliqpy doesn't kill anyone.
• In "Hello Dolly", Petunia finds a cursed idol and decides to use it as a doll. When she passes by Disco Bear, the idol's curse affects Disco Bear's headphones, causing them to become super loud.
  You'd Expect: That Disco Bear would take off the headphones immediately.
  Instead: He merely holds his hands to his head in discomfort, and his neglect to actually take off the headphones leads to his head exploding.
• In "Double Whammy", Flippy goes to a carnival and repeatedly flips out due to the activities triggering his PTSD.
  You'd Expect: That Flippy would just go home after killing the people on the plane ride. He is clearly too dangerous to be at the carnival, and he doesn't want to pose a risk to the others.
  Or: That the carnival managers would kick him out. As far as they know, he is too unpredictable and psychopathic, so the best thing to do is to keep him away from there.
  Instead: Flippy only goes home near the end of the first part, having already killed 6 people in 3 separate incidents.
• In the music video "Carpal Tunnel Of Love", Fall Out Boy enter the cafe as tree friends. Not long after, they witness Lumpy unwittingly break down a wall and kill The Mole while escaping in a tow truck. Said truck threatens to pull the building.
  You'd Expect: Fall Out Boy to make their way out through the door or the hole in the wall. Or, at the very least, run, which is what Cuddles and Giggles did.
  Instead: They just stand still during the chaos Lumpy is causing.
  Result: Fall Out Boy gets crushed by the dragged building, with only their rolling heads remaining.

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