🂱 ~ husk [hh]

Name

Husk

Cause + Time of Death

Loan sharks (Headcanon) + 1970s

Gender + Pronouns

Cisgender Male + He/Him

Sexuality

Pansexual

Information

Husk is a sinner demon, a grumpy gambler and magician who is one of the main characters in Hazbin Hotel. A former Overlord of Hell who lost his soul to Alastor in a bet. Now, he and Niffty have been summoned by him to help work at the Hazbin Hotel, with Husk being its front desk clerk and bartender.

Apperance

He has a darker shade of taupe encircling his ankles, mimicking spats. His tail is taupe and long, ending with a large spray of "plume-like" fur or feathers, which are dark pink with black and white stripes. He has yellow-orange hearts underneath the paws on his hands. His wings are large and red, with dark taupe on the undersides. The undersides of his wings are decorated with black stripes which feature red and white roulette wheel dot markings. His outside of his wings are decorated with more black stripes, which wrap around the joints and run around a row of white roulette wheel dots. Husk is an anthropomorphic avian cat demon. His look is evocative of a magician, paired with a casino referencing playing-card theme. The sclera of his eyes are black, with yellow irises and slitted pupils. He has long, red eyebrows with black vertical stripes near the tips, and a small black heart above each eyebrow. His fur is taupe-colored, overlayed with white on his face, torso, feet, and upper arms. The insides of his ears are white with a red tip at the point and red heart in the center. A black tuff of fluff protrudes from each, creating the appearance of small hearts. Husk wears black pants with black suspenders over his shoulders and a red bowtie. He also wears a black top hat that has a red hat band and a golden button-like decoration. When he was an Overlord, Husk also wore jacket matching his pant with orange cuffs, white shirt, and a orange bowtie.

Personality

He is surprisingly empathetic and willing to give a non-judgemental listening ear to those who need it, he shows a sweeter and more protective side to those he forms a more substantial connection to. Still a "husk" of his former self, he claims to have "lost the ability to love" long ago, though whether literally or metaphorically is yet unclear. Husk is a grumpy, drunk, lazy, and somewhat apathetic old sinner whose interests in Hell now lie mostly in gambling, parlor tricks, and prolific drinking. He can be gruff, standoffish and sarcastic, with a propensity to swear. Despite this, he is also surprisingly patient and able to take a lot of outlandish events in his stride, electing to just drink his problems away later. He is very observant, having the ability to read people and understand their problems well (even when they don't themselves), which makes him quick to notice when someone isn't being genuine with him, something he doesn't enjoy. He values authenticity and seems to understand himself and his own issues well too, openly accepting that his reliance on alcohol and gambling hasn't helped him feel better.

Abilities

Flight - Thanks to his large pair of avian wings, Husk is capable of flight. Though, it has been stated that he doesn't fly often, both because he is lazy and because he is not fond of his demon form in general. Molecular Acceleration – Husk has the power to take the potential energy stored in an object and convert it to kinetic energy, thus "charging" the item with explosive results. Husk throws "charging" cards at enemies and they explode.

Skillset

Gambling/Sleight-of-Hand - It's unclear whether Husk has any elevated skill when it comes to the actual playing of gambling related games, such as Poker, as he's noted to frequently cheat using his sleight-of-hand talents. Husk is shown to have skill in controlling the game, however, and has the ability to take an entire pot out from under a group of other players. Skilled Combatant - In "Masquerade", Husk is shown to use his cards to fight, acting as a sharp weapon for melee and throwing projectiles, and using dice acting like grenades. Multilingualism - Aside from English, Husk can speak the following languages fluently: Italian, Russian, German, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Japanese. Musical Talent - Husk can play the saxophone to a professional standard. He can also possibly play the piano

Trivia

Husk's name means "a dried-up, and subsequently worthless exterior of something", which is descriptive of his character, as he's shown to be merely what is left over of the man he once was. When a fan informed Vivziepop that husk means "remember" in Danish, Vivziepop replied that it "kind of fits him, when you get to know his story". Husk was stated to be from Las Vegas when he was alive. Husk grew up in a casino and really likes "cheesy old magic shows" with unironic enthusiasm. As a child, he would watch the magic shows that took place in the casino. His love for magic is something he's retained, with it being described by Vivziepop as "the one thing that melts his crusty heart". Husk can play the saxophone and would play for lounge bars in Vegas a lot while living. Vivziepop describes Husk as a magician. His love of magic and possible past career is also reflected in his design, the patterns of his fur being evocative of an old-fashioned magician's outfit, complete with tuxedo and spats, accessorized with a banded top-hat. He has been depicted in Vivziepop's development illustrations performing card tricks with his demon powers, as well as being accompanied by a magic wand motif. Vivziepop describes Husk as the most befitting of the title "has been", in the literal definition of the phrase, more so than any of the other characters from the main cast. The episode "Masquerade", may partially reference this, as Husk reveals via flashback how he lost his status and power after selling his soul to Alastor.

Trivia

Husk doesn't really like the form he has taken in Hell and does not embrace it, although he has accepted it. He especially dislikes his more cat-like mannerisms, like purring, which he has no control over. He doesn't utilize his powers of flight as much as he could due to his unwillingness to truly step into his Hell-form. According to Faustisse, Husk traveled a lot during his living life. Faustisse confirmed Husk's orientation to be pansexual and also elaborated on the manner with which he expresses it, implying him to be gender-blind. They jokingly referred to his attitude as "any hole is a goal", adding that "If you just hid every person's upper body, all butt cheeks are up for game". This seems to be in reference to Husk's general openness to possibility as he is not shown to be promiscuous on the show. In the episode "Welcome to Heaven", Husk comments that the name of the sex club they visit being "CONSENT" is a good one, which, following on from the episode "Masquerade", makes it clear that Husk understands and values boundaries. Vivziepop agrees with Mick Lauer's assessment of Husk as insecure in certain ways, adding that he would need "a lot of validation". During a development stream for the pilot, Vivziepop mentioned that Husk's love-heart motif was in part a reference to the fact he is something of a softy on the inside, and "kinda sweet" deep down. Vivziepop stated that Husk is a cuddler and "a very fluffy, cuddly animal", but, that it's not something that just anyone gets to see, and that ultimately the only person who would get to experience that about him would be a significant other.

Trivia

According to Faustisse, Husk is great with children. According to Dave Capdevielle, Husk is "very deeply emotionally troubled", which is why he drinks a lot. VivziePop describes Husk as "definitely one of the most jaded characters on the show". Husk is a surprisingly patient character. Contrary to what could be assumed of him, it takes a lot to push him to the point of explosiveness and he can endure a lot. Vivziepop described him as "the (proverbial) straight man" of the group in the sense that he is constantly having to deal with the other characters' drama, as they are often bickering with each other, where Husk will just take himself away to drink.

Trivia

Vivziepop described Alastor as having a fairly uncharitable view of a lot of his male acquaintances, and that he would acknowledge them as an unflattering collection of their most basic traits. She said Alastor sees Husk as "sad", "lonely", "alcohol", and "gambling". When discussing the characters' cooking abilities, Vivziepop said that Husk just eats "shitty bar food". Husk is described as the "protective, grumpy, drunk, angry uncle of the group", who loves gambling and cigars. He is a gambling addict and an alcoholic, who is described as actively fighting his gambling addiction in Hell. Husk utilizes his love of sleight-of-hand magic to frequently cheat at gambling. This is demonstrated in the pilot episode when Alastor teleports Husk to the hotel and he is shown holding both duplicate and non-existent cards when announcing his "full house" win. While Husk has yet to show any unique demonic powers, Vivziepop confirmed that Husk indeed has powers of his own; when asked who would win in a fight, Husk or Angel, Vivziepop was unsure, saying it would be an intense battle if they were both really trying to win, with Angel being faster, more agile and more accurate, but Husk having more power. Faustisse does not think that Husk is physically strong in a bodily sense. Although, Husk initially appears very distanced from those around him and no longer interested in meaningful relationships beyond his usual bottle of booze, he is shown to be forming a connection to the residents at the Hotel. Particularly with Angel Dust, and the two can often be seen with each other at the Hotel after resolving their tension in the episode "Masquerade". Vivziepop has described Husk as Angel's "best friend" during her later development streams for the pilot. She also implied that Husk may begin to take responsibility for the younger and more delinquent members of the hotel in the future.

Creator Notes

- Husk is probably my second favorite character in the series! Please be nice to him, he deserves it. - Despite what people say about the age gap, I am a Huskerdust shipper through and through. They are both over a hundred years old, and they're already ramping up to canon.