Otis Jenkins, better known by his stagename Thugnificent: A once-famous rapper, obvious parody of Ludacris and Riley's first idol, Thugnificent hails from the fictional town of "Terrible" Terra-Belle, Georgia - one of the poorest and toughest towns in the country. Following his rise to fame, Thugnificent moves into Woodcrest along with his Lethal Interjection Crew, but is forced to move and take a delivery job as his popularity falls and his crew deserts him.
History
While growing up, Thugnificent witnessed gang violence between his neighbors and knew poverty to the point of nakedness (people having to choose between food or clothes). As he rose to fame with his big hit smash club anthem "Booty Butt Cheeks", his narcissism was unmatched, epitomized by the ubiquitous statues of himself, designed to mirror Ancient Greek gods in their style and pose, that adorned his white-and-gold mansion, as well as by a painting depicting himself standing above Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. He also became aggressive with anyone who challenged his self-image, and his trademark reiteration was to tell people to "eat a dick". Soon after moving into the neighborhood, he took offense to Robert's disgust with him and went to war over a complaint Robert, Tom and Uncle Ruckus issued against him, going so far as to dedicate a song and a music video to Robert - "Eff Granddad" - which later started a wave of youth violence against old folks (particularly against old men who looked like Robert). An uneasy truce was brokered between them in order to disprove any notion that Thugnificent promoted violence against old folk (and stop the old folks picketing to boycott Thugnificent's music).
Despite his less-than-attractive traits, Thugnificent did attempt to be a good neighbor by asking for permission with an official slip to throw the loud party that started their fight (which Riley forged), and had been set to apologize to Robert for his valet's irresponsible parking of cars on Robert's lawn before the complaint was issued. He has since encouraged face-to-face communication within the neighborhood, and is fairly friendly with most other neighborhood citizens.
He later initiated Riley into his entourage, the "Lethal Interjection Crew," consisting of himself, fellow rappers Macktastic and Flonominal, whom he met through his record label, and "other niggas he's known his whole life". Their relationship soon went from Rap star and fan to close friends. It was at this point that Thugnificent's popularity was starting to stagnate and he took extra measures to secure his music career, including going through Riley to arrange for a collaboration with Gangstalicious - that fell apart immediately when Gangstalicious was declared homosexual.
He was also an active supporter of Obama's run for presidency, although he had no idea who Barack Obama was or what his political ambitions were. To further promote himself and his support, he recorded a song with will.i.am called "Dick Riding Obama". In his new "political activist" role, he appeared on a political debate television show hosted by Bill Maher and declared himself a black leader supporting his fellow black Obama "in whatever he asks". He was consequently humiliated for the vulgarity of his rap songs and his lack of political awareness (when asked to name the three branches of the Federal Government, he thought one of them was "the Main Branch").
In Bitches to Rags, it is revealed that Thugnificent has a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. It also reveals that Thugnificent's record sales and popularity have been in sharp decline, mainly because of the arrival of Sgt. Gudda; his album outsold the Lethal Interjection Crew's album - Thugnificent's overuse of the auto-tune in his next album sealed his fate in the music industry. With the Lethal Interjection Crew disbanding, all his friends left, except for Leonard and Riley. Things also get worse when the IRS comes to have him pay his debts to the government. He attempts to pay them by selling crack cocaine on the streets but this fails because a fan recognized him and a crackhead attempted a refund from burnt cocaine. He, alongside Ed the III and Leonard, called in a deal with Steve, a record producer, to sell drugs. However, he wants to revive Thugnificent's career and Thugnificent agrees, but this fails when Ed becomes angry that Steve was uninterested in the drugs and when Steve starts shooting, Thugnificent and Leonard retreats as Ed is wounded but retreats as well. By the end of the episode his home was foreclosed and his belongings auctioned to pay his debts. Relinquishing his stage name, Otis thus began a new career as a UPS delivery man, all the while hoping for a reality show, taped by Leonard, to save him from "real work". He eventually settled into his new job, and his aggression toned down significantly besides moments of overconfidence or stress. He became especially close to the Freeman family, offering Robert a free joint of high quality marijuana to help him with his stress (ascertaining that weed is a superior drug than the pills the companies put out with fewer side effects), and then getting him access to his supplier.
In The Fundraiser, he helped Riley out as a delivery man for the candy bars (and the money distribution) to the kids selling them. Near the end of the episode, he delivers a package of one of the young candy dealers dipped in chocolate, who warns Riley about the World Ultimate Chocolate deal. In The Fried Chicken Flu, Riley insisted that Otis was his friend and wanted asylum in the Freeman house granted to him (and Leonard, in exchange for all the food he brought). Although Robert eventually kicked Otis and Leonard out when he caught Otis sleeping with his at-the-time girlfriend Tina, Otis proved his loyalty to the Freeman family by saving them with his UPS van from the crazed Woodcrest residents during their escape into the next town.
Trivia
- Thugnificent is one of many recurring characters along with Cindy McPhearson, Ed Wuncler III, Gin Rummy, Gangstalicious and A Pimp Named Slickback who has never made an appearance on season 4.
- He and Jazmine both have Afro-puffs.
- In "Bitches to Rags," Thugnificent shaved off his Afro puffs for the rest of the series.