- "My back! It's my old injury!"
- —Mister's final words before his death
Mister Ruckus is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Nelly Ruckus) of the 2005 Adult Swim animated TV series The Boondocks.
He is Uncle Ruckus' extremely abusive father. He was voiced by Don "D.C." Curry.
History[]
Mister in his prime.
When Ruckus was a child, Mister worked several jobs including as a waiter and a training dummy for the police, each job involved him being racially humiliated and physically abused by white men, causing him to grow a seething hatred towards the white race. Of his family, only his two younger boys Darryl and Darrel actually witnessed and understood what Mister went through daily at the hands of white men, while both their mother Bunny and older brother Uncle too deluded to see anything bad come from white people. Regarding his eldest son, Uncle Ruckus as the cause of his misery, Mister often singled him out for physical abuse, causing him many injuries and emotional trauma which eventually lead Uncle Ruckus to hate black people. When he's alone, he breaks down crying after all the humiliation the white men gave him.
Perhaps the one person Mister hated more than his son Uncle, was his mother Nelly, who had been "dying" (or waiting to die) since the day he was born and often verbally abused him. When Ruckus was young (when he was 13-14 years old in 1953, as Ruckus says he hasn't seen his family in 53 years), Nelly showed up at the Ruckus family doorstep with the announcement that she was dying, and proceeded to insult and verbally abuse Mister for his lack of accomplishment. Driven into a rage, Mister kicked Ruckus out of their house, causing Ruckus to live on the streets in poverty since then.
Many years later, Mister reunited with Uncle, when news of his mother's impending death came. He was not happy with Uncle Ruckus' lack of accomplishment (living in a shack on the outskirts despite working so many jobs) and pointed out that lifestyle did not make Ruckus white, but a "Mexican". He then revealed that Bunny's claim that Ruckus is adopted and suffers from re-vitiligo was false, much to her denial. He was angry that all his life he worked and suffered under the hands of white people, only to come home to a wife who worshiped the white man and a son who thought he was a white man and revealed that he never wanted children in the first place and Uncle being born ruined his plans for what he really wanted in life to be happy, and after his brothers were born more stress came along for him and had to work those jobs to feed the kids he never wanted. He then condemned Bunny for brainwashing the kids and got angrier because his two other sons, despite their successful careers bringing their family out of poverty, now openly fraternized with white people (one even marrying a white woman). He soon turned his anger back Uncle by saying he was the worst, claiming he was nothing but a hypocritical black man who couldn't see he was no better than the rest of them. This brought Uncle to tears and he ran out.
His one moment of happiness came when Nelly finally passed away on Robert's recliner, so happy he started drinking again and did not stop, even at her funeral.
During Nelly's eulogy, Mister laughed how he got the last laugh over his mother and complimented Uncle for the burial though continued to mock Uncle Ruckus for turning out exactly like him - accomplishing absolutely nothing with his life - except Uncle Ruckus wasn't under Jim Crow Law and had no reason to not be successful. Darryl and Darrell tried to stop him but sickened by his father, Uncle Ruckus finally stood up to Mister, telling him that he hated his mother for how she treated him but he became no better than her. Mister was silent when Uncle told him he was tired of how he treated him, his mother and brothers like garbage like Nelly did and told him "So get it out of your system then sit down and shut the fuck up!" This left the Ruckus and Freeman families stunned, as Mister became angry and ask his son what he said to him. As a scared Uncle asked what part, Mister was about to hit Uncle but the injuries Mister received from so many years of physical abuse (from white people), finally took its toll on him. He fell backward into his mother's empty grave (the casket not yet lowered in) and broke his neck, killing him. And his death fulfilled Nelly's dying wish and freed his family from his tyranny forever. ("The Color Ruckus")
Personality[]
Mister was very violently abusive, especially towards Uncle Ruckus when he was a child. Saying things such as "N***a Did you just break that vase?!", "N***a did I just catch you having fun?!" and "N***a did I just catch you wanting to be shit?!". After being abused over the years from his mother and the white people lead him to lose his sanity, his dignity, his pride and his humanity.
His cruelty caused his family to fear and hate him. But when he is alone, he would cry to himself for the harshness he endured from the white people, he hated how his wife worshiped white people when they were a target for racism as the KKK was on their lawn and burnt a cross on it.
While Uncle accused Mister of hating him because he is adopted and is "white", at dinner Mister revealed that he hated Uncle because he never wanted children in the first place and him being born, and soon after his brothers, ruined his chances of ever being happy as he had to get those jobs that had white people abuse him just so he can support a family he never wanted to create. He hated Uncle even more when Bunny started telling him he was white and was making him love white people when she was trying to protect Uncle from the horrible truth, that he was never wanted by his father.
Trivia[]
- His appearance was the main inspiration for Samuel L. Jackson's character, Stephan for Quentin Tarintino's 2012 film, Django Unchained.
- Technically Nelly's wish wasn't fulfilled because when she meant that she wanted her son to reach the grave first probably meant she wanted her son to die before she did, but Nelly died before Mister did.
- He is the reason why Uncle Ruckus hates all black people.
- Perhaps, the one and only person who Mister Ruckus hated more than his son, Uncle Ruckus, was his mother, Nelly Ruckus.
- Nelly was abusive towards Mister when he was a child, as she claimed she had been "dying" (Or waiting to die) since the day he was born. So in turn, it caused Mister to be abusive towards his eldest son, Uncle Ruckus.