The Boondocks Wiki
Register

Uncle Ruckus is the central antagonist of the animated TV series The Boondocks. He is voiced by Gary Anthony Williams.

His role in the series varies depending on the storyline of the episode he's featured in. He can either be one of the main antagonists, major anti-hero, or neutral. He is a black man who firmly doesn't like black people -- the world's biggest "Uncle Tom". An overweight, horrid, detestable homely man with one oversized glass-eye, he enjoys disassociating himself from other African Americans as much as possible, and is outspoken in his support of what Huey calls the "white supremacist power structure."

He holds extremely racist views towards all black people, and everyone else who isn't white. Uncle Ruckus's name is a reference to Uncle Remus or Uncle Tom. He is the darkest-skinned character on the show. His name is also a reference to Amos Rucker, an African-American United Confederate Veterans member, who allegedly wanted to stay a slave after the United States Civil War. A "ruckus" is also the act of making a noisy disturbance, something which Uncle Ruckus is almost always sure to do. His #1 song he wrote is called "Don't Trust Them New N***as Over There".

His hatred of black people comes from his black adopted (in reality biological) hopelessly deluded and damaged mother who taught him white history and told Ruckus a skewed, bigoted and lopsided history of achievements of black people such as claiming that George Washington Carver was the person responsible for the most peanut allergy deaths. This hatred was further reinforced by the fact that he was horribly abused by his father as a child.

Personality[]

Uncle Ruckus (no relation) is repellent in appearance, behavior, and attitude. He has an intense hatred of anything pertaining to black people, and goes out of his way to free himself from this identity. Ruckus claims God says the path to forgiveness for being black is to rebuke your own race. Ruckus champions the small traces of Native American, French, or Irish ancestry he claims to have (all of which are completely non existent), and wishes that all black people were still enslaved.

He spouts white supremacist rhetoric and calls Michael Jackson (who suffered from the pigmentation disorder vitiligo) a "lucky bastard", as he no longer looks black. Uncle Ruckus claims that he is a Caucasian man who has revitiligo, to explain his own skin tone. In 1957, age about 18, he served on a jury in Mississippi (though he remembers it to be Tennessee), convicting a blind black man of murder.("The Trial of R. Kelly") During the Civil Rights Movement in 1959, when he was about 20, he protested against Martin Luther King's marches, and would occasionally throw bricks at him, but usually missed ("Return of the King"). Perhaps Ruckus' most famous quote was “I’d shot you myself, but I realized the white men got better aim". In 1961, he was part of the violent opposition to the Freedom Rides. ("Freedom Ride or Die")

During his first encounter with the Freemans, Ruckus sings Don't Trust Them New N***as Over There at a garden party, though he socializes freely with the Freemans thereafter. In fact, Robert Freeman and Thomas Dubois are probably the only people on the show who could be considered friendly to Uncle Ruckus. Ruckus believes firmly in racially insensitive assaults, hurling invectives of prejudice and hatred to all things black. Uncle Ruckus is also strongly against Black Pop Culture and anything made famous by black people. This can be seen in The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show, when after he's found out that he's Black/African American, he and Robert Freeman go to Foot Locker, Ruckus proceeds to downgrade "Lebron James, Allen Iverson" And demanded that he got a shoe named after a white person. One hint that strongly implies the reason, other than racism, that he hates Black Pop Culture and Black Celebrities is due to his mother, Bunny Ruckus, teaching him white history in The Color Ruckus. In this same episode she teaches her son that George Washington Carver was responsible for the most peanut related deaths.

On being asked if he supported the use of the word "n***a," Ruckus says: "No I don't think we should use the word and I'll tell you know why! Because n***as have gotten used to it! That's why. Hell, they like it now! Just like when you grow a crop and you spit the soil of its fertile nutrients and GOODNESS, and then you can't grow anythin'. You gotta rotate your racist slurs. Now I know it's hard, 'cause n***as just roll out their tongue, the way sweat rolls off a n***a's forehead. But we cannot let THAT be a crutch. Especially when there are so many other fine substitutes: spade, porch monkey! JIGGABOO! I say the next time you wanna call a darkie a 'n***a', call the coon a' jungle bunny' instead!"

Ruckus adores white society and culture, the reason why he lives in Woodcrest neighborhood, Baltimore, Maryland. Ruckus claims to like the smell of white people, saying they smell like "lemon juice and Pledge furniture cleaner" ("The Trial of R. Kelly").

Despite Woodcrest's newly found acceptance of different ethnicities, the neighborhood apparently has no quarrel with Uncle Ruckus' racist beliefs. Ruckus can be seen employed in a variety of places performing a number of blue-collar jobs. He at one point joined the police force after turning down a 7-figure settlement after being wrongfully shot at 118 times, claiming that the officers "were simply doing their job." (Even after he becomes an officer, they still beat him on the pretext that "He has a gun.") As an officer, he promised to make every black man's life as miserable as he possibly could ("The Block Is Hot").

Ruckus is slavishly loyal to white people, especially Ed Wuncler, willing to do any demeaning job practically for free.

Ruckus also hates Chinese people, calling them “yellow n****s.” (“The Red Ball”)

Ruckus became an evangelist after dreaming of going to "White Heaven," preaching that black people must hate their blackness and love the white man to receive entrance into heaven ("The Passion of Reverend Ruckus"). The beginning of this episode is also one of the few moments throughout the series that Uncle Ruckus admits, or even suggests, that he is or might be black. The episode starts with Ruckus knocking on Robert's front door with the news that he's been diagnosed with cancer. He proceeds to attempt to describe the specific type of cancer he's been diagnosed with, in Latin, which is one made up for the show, but fails to do so stating "... or some other big word my small Negro brain and big lips can't pronounce."

Uncle Ruckus has had a vast variety of jobs over the two seasons of the show, and is ubiquitous in nearly every working establishment on the show. In the banned episode "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show", he claimed to work 32 jobs over the course of the week and wakes at 4:45 a.m. every morning for work. Later in “The Color Ruckus,” he claims to have 47 jobs. Despite holding that many jobs, Ruckus continues to live a less than modest life, as shown by his not abused, yet not maintained, home and truck.

In the first episode, "The Garden Party", Ruckus appears to have an alcohol problem as he's seen drinking from a hidden flask several times throughout the episode, but appears to have this under control for the rest of the series. Although over 70 years old and obese, Ruckus is an advanced practitioner of martial arts and has shown himself to be Huey's equal on multiple occasions. He has mastered nunchaku and is capable of incredible acrobatics along with his martial skills. Recently he has begun to run for Mayor of Woodcrest.

The true measure of his horrible personality was seen in full in Freedomland. As he took sadistic and inhuman delight in his horrific treatment of the "slaves" under Ed Wuncler Jr’s control. Whipping them, humiliating them, beating them (despite a significant number of the slaves being white themselves). Ruckus even wholeheartedly loved the idea of Ed chopping off Huey's foot with an axe.

Relationships[]

Robert Freeman[]

Robert Freeman is the closest thing to a friend that Uncle Ruckus has, though Robert rebukes Ruckus' racist notions. For example, a friendly match of checkers between them ended bitterly after Ruckus made supremacist remarks. Ruckus was supportive of Robert during his training for a rematch with Col. Stinkmeaner and was the only one besides Riley who praised him when he won the fight (killing Stinkmeaner) in "Granddad's Fight". Despite all this, Uncle Ruckus claims their friendship is a pretense ("The Trial of R. Kelly") and that he still sees him as a "n***a." Also, in "The Real", Uncle Ruckus was one of the "homeless people" that Robert was "housing", the other being Jazmine Dubois. He has also been seen doing many odd jobs for Robert, normally which consist of him fixing or repairing something for him. He considers Robert to be "the smartest monkey."

Huey Freeman[]

Rileyandunclerucus

Huey Freeman vs. Uncle Ruckus.

Uncle Ruckus vs

Huey Freeman fights against Uncle Ruckus.

Huey is Ruckus's archenemy and vice-versa. Uncle Ruckus said that he despised Huey ever since he came into the Woodcrest community during the episode "...Or Die Trying". For Huey's part, he seems to ignore Uncle Ruckus' racist rantings, knowing that debating with the man will do little good. However, when Ruckus challenged him to a martial arts showdown (with the nunchaku he forgot in the theatre bathroom), Huey faced him in hand-to-hand combat. The victor of the first fight was unknown although it can be implied that Ruckus won since Huey was seen afterwards being interrogated by Ruckus though Jasmine was there too meaning Huey could've forfeit the fight. In the final scene of this episode the victor of the second fight is unknown. It should be noted that both fights appear to be references to Fist of the North Star. After the events of that episode, Huey began to reciprocate Uncle Ruckus's hatred towards him, becoming more snarkier and insulting towards him. An example is best show in Stinkmeaner Strikes Back when Uncle Ruckus comes to help exorcise Stinkmeaner out of Tom, which prompted Huey to remark "so this is the plan: Uncle Ruckus". The third season premiere confirms their rivalry when Herner Werzog refers to Ruckus as Huey's arch-enemy, with Huey seeming to agree with this sentiment. However, despite this, Uncle Ruckus has no problem working with Huey for the greater good, best shown in the It's Goin' Down where they team up to stop the terrorist attack in Woodcrest.

Tom Dubois[]

He believes that Sarah taught him how to read ("Tom, Sarah and Usher"). He also thinks Tom is "a lucky son-of-a-bitch" ("The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show") for being with Sarah. He doesn't think much of Jazmine due to her half-black status, calling her a "mulatto" in a pejorative manner and a "little half and half." In a moment of relative kindness, he refers to her as a "nice little mixed-breed girl." In a rare moment he managed to single-handedly restore her faith in Christmas and in Santa Claus, effectively ending her crying and cheering her up ("A Huey Freeman Christmas"). He also notes that he holds her in somewhat higher regard than Riley, due to her white mother. In “Pretty Boy Flizzy,” Ruckus tackles a beaten up Pretty Boy Flizzy after a beating from Tom and proceeds to make a citizen’s arrest on Flizzy, probably because he’s black.

Ruckus Family[]

Uncle Ruckus is the oldest of three sons. He has a good relationship with his "adopted" (or which is really his biological) family apart from his father and grandmother (since he discovered that most of his hatred towards blacks came from Mister and Nelly after they died). He loves his mother Bunny Ruckus and has a good brotherly relationship with his two younger brothers, Darrel and Darryl. ("The Color Ruckus"). His father, Mister Ruckus was very abusive towards him and even kicked him out of the house when he was little (when he was 12 in 1953). Mister gave Ruckus many injuries and emotional trauma, coupled with Bunny's white supremacist method of raising him, leading Ruckus to take his upbringing a step further and hate black people with a vengeance. Ultimately becoming a far worse man than Mister. His grandmother, Nelly Ruckus was perhaps even worse than Mister as her presence made him miserable, even on her last day on earth (which she spent most of her life waiting for). At the funeral, Ruckus stood up to Mister saying that he did nothing but complain about the horrible things Nelly did to him growing up and then Ruckus explained how he ended up doing the exact same thing to him, his mother and his brothers and he made everyone miserable for taking his issues out on them and became no better than Nelly, and Uncle delivered the final blow by saying "Well get it out of your system and sit down, and shut the fuck up!". Mister was about to hit Ruckus until the injuries Mister got from so many years of physical abuse from the white man have finally taken it's toll on him and he fell into his mothers open grave died instantly of a broken neck. No one mourned his death and Nelly got her wish that she wanted since the day Mister was born, that her son would die and Ruckus and his brothers were finally free of him and Bunny was free to marry her white lover who she's been have an affair with behind Mister's back when he was still alive. Later, after the sun went down, Darryl took his mother and her soon to be husband back home, while Darrel went back home to his wife. This left Uncle Ruckus thinking back on his own life as he went back to his shack, while he still has his ignorant beliefs that white people are superior to black people, he decided it was time to stop hating black people as his hatred for them came from his hatred for Mister and while he still believes he was adopted, he thinks that his "Adopted" family were okay "for a bunch of n***as".

It was mentioned that Ruckus had a Great-Uncle Ruckus Sr., whom he was named after.

Trivia[]

  • Uncle Ruckus has claimed to have 32 jobs over the course of a week. He says it is pretty interesting that he has 32 jobs, since "most blacks" could not even find "one" (The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show). He later states that he has 47 jobs to his grandmother Nelly Ruckus (The Color Ruckus).
  • Starting in the second season, his leitmotif is a tuba sound alike version of Jabba the Hutt's theme heard from the Star Wars movies . It draws a parallel between Jabba and the equally repellent Ruckus. It can be heard here
  • He used to work for Ed Wuncler, Sr. in the first ever Boondocks episode ("The Garden Party"). Ruckus was presumably fired after he sang a song about black people while being drunk.
  • Ruckus once served as an exorcist, but it was unclear whether he was affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church or not while he served in that position. ("Stinkmeaner Strikes Back")
  • Ebony Brown is the only black woman Ruckus ever loved, since she tolerated his views on black people. He even tried to take her hand in marriage in the Freeman household.
  • Uncle Ruckus's favorite singer is Jimmy Rebel.
  • Ruckus calls President Obama "Baboon Bama".
  • Uncle Ruckus constantly claims to have the "Re-vitiligo ", the opposite of what Michael Jackson had.
  • Uncle Ruckus is "102% of 100% black" with a "2%" margin of error at the first attempt of genetic testing, but then retested as about 51% Caucasian. The retesting was faked by BET to shake Ruckus from his depression (which was bad for The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show's ratings) and stop him from killing himself.
  • The irony is that while Ruckus mocks the Freemans for being black and boasting about being of white descent, the Freemans actually have one known white ancestor while Ruckus' biological family is all black.
  • Uncle Ruckus basically hates all colored people, any other race that is not white. He also stated he hates anti-Christians, communists, and Muslims (It's a Black President, Huey Freeman). He also hates Chinese people, referring to them as "yellow n***as." (From The Red Ball).
  • It was revealed in The Color Ruckus, that Ruckus was literally named after his father's uncle, making "Uncle" his first name instead of a title. This also brings the possibility that the Uncle Ruckus we know is actually Uncle Ruckus II.
  • Ruckus hates the LGBT community saying he doesn't even respect gay white people, which is seen in the final season and episode.
  • He is an advocate for people with disabilities.
  • It's a running gag for Ruckus to "press four charges" every time he gets beat up by another black man.
  • Besides the Freeman family, Uncle Ruckus appears in the most episodes out of all characters in the series. But he did not appear in the following episodes: Guess Hoe's Coming to Dinner, A Date with the Health Inspector, Let's Nab Oprah, Wingmen, Shinin', The Fundraiser, Pause, and Mr. Medicinal.
  • In The Color Ruckus, Ruckus claims he was born on the 4th of July to a white family, who promptly abandoned him in a black neighborhood after he was diagnosed with "revitiligo". This story was later dis-proven by his father, making Ruckus something of an unreliable narrator.
  • He is willing to turn down large amounts of money for the sake of his beliefs. In "The Block Is Hot", he refuses a settlement from the Woodcrest Police Department and insists that the cops who shot at him were "simply doing their job". In "The Red Ball", he refuses a bribe from the coach of the Chinese kickball team as the referee.
  • He might be based off of right-wing radio host Jesse Lee Peterson.

Quotes[]

  • “Hey, you quit playing with the white man’s water boy! And you, turn off that goddamn jungle noise!” (The Block is Hot)
  • “Shoot, no Vietnamese ever call me ‘n***a’. I call him a n***a eight times before I have breakfast! Now what he gonna do? Hold on I’ll make it nine! N***a!” (Granddad’s Fight)
  • “Ah, I see, I see. Just ‘cause your skin is light, bright and two shades from being white, you think you too good to butter your own popcorn! Well you wrong, Lando Calrissian!” (…Or Die Trying)
  • “Okay first of all ain’t nobody talking whileI’m talking, so shut the fuck up! My name is Uncle Ruckus, and I will be n***a sitting you until your grandfather returns!” (Home Alone)
  • “Colored folk talkin’ ‘bout ‘save me!’ Wasn’t nothin’ wrong with slavery! ‘Least we got good food back then. Uh huh. Uh huh. White man sure could be your fr- o- oh. Can you say that again? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of me shitting myself.” (The Story of Gangstalicious)
  • ”Come on Robert pick up the phone! Pick up the phone I know you out here in hiding! I seen you on the news getting your black ass whooped by that blind old monkey. That’s why you shouidn’t let n****s go shopping. Call me back. Don’t you walk away from this answering machine!”(Granddad’s Fight)

Gallery[]