Bud and Lou

Bud and Lou
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman: The Animated Series[1] "The Man Who Killed Batman (February 1, 1993)[1]"
First comic appearance	Harley Quinn #4 (March 2001)[1]
Created by	Paul Dini Bruce Timm
In-story information
Species	Spotted hyena
Place of origin	Gotham City
Partnerships	Harley Quinn

Bud and Lou are a pair of spotted hyenas that appear in American comic books published by DC Comics, originally created for Batman: The Animated Series. Their names are references to the comedy duo Abbott and Costello.

Fictional biography

Bud and Lou are spotted hyenas who are the pets of Harley Quinn. Initially owned by The Joker, they bonded to Harley because she was usually the one who fed them. When Harley Quinn wanted to go solo and formed her gang, their first mission was to free Bud and Lou from the Gotham City Zoo.^[2]

At some point, white collar criminals stole Bud and Lou from Harley Quinn so that they can auction them off as exotic pets. Upon locating the place of the auction, Harley Quinn reclaimed her hyenas and had Poison Ivy wreck the place.^[3]

In The New 52 reboot of DC's continuity, Bud and Lou are still featured as Harley Quinn's pets. In the "Death of the Family" storyline, in an attempt to drive Harley mad, Joker gives them rabies and sics them on her, forcing Harley to (apparently) kill them in self-defense.^[4] In Harley Quinn's solo series, it is revealed that Bud and Lou survived the ordeal and recovered at a zoo, where they sired puppies with several of the zoo's female hyenas.^[5]

Other versions

• Bud and Lou appear in Scooby-Doo! Team-Up #42. While Harley Quinn "teams-up" with Mystery Incorporated, the Joker arrives with the hyenas, to steal back a package from Harley that she assumed to be her Christmas present. Oddly enough, Harley calls them by the names of Scooby and Scrappy, much to the real Scooby's bewilderment.
• The DCAU versions of Bud and Lou also make an appearance in the intercompany comic crossover Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, where they have been turned into huge humanoid mutants after the Joker has taken over the Foot Clan and its mutagen resources.^[6]
  Additionally, two hyena mutants named Jester Jim and Jester Joe, apparently inspired by Bud and Lou, appear in the Summer Shorts special "Teenage Mecha Ninja Turtles" of the 2012 TMNT TV series.

In other media

Television

• Bud and Lou appear in Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, which they were created for. They first appear in "The Man Who Killed Batman", but were not named until the episode "Joker's Millions". Before this, Harley Quinn simply refers to them as her "babies".
• Two unnamed hyenas similar to Bud and Lou appear in The Batman episode "The Laughing Cat". This version of the duo were given to Joker by hunter Kilgore Steed. Catwoman was able to get control over them since hyenas are related to cats.
• Bud and Lou appear in Krypto the Superdog, voiced by Peter Kelamis and Lee Tockar respectively. They are enemies of Ace the Bat-Hound, and are depicted with red fur. They are also very similar in appearance, being distinguished by differing physical attributes: Bud has a purple collar, black left front paw, and protruding fang, while Lou has a green collar, black right front paw and left back paw, and no fang. Additionally, the two possess a variety of gadgets, including joy-buzzer collars and a bubble shooter that induces uncontrollable laughter, similar to Joker venom.
• Bud and Lou appear in the Justice League Action episode "Garden of Evil". They are kept in the Gotham Zoo, with Harley attempting to free them but being stopped by Vixen.
• Two female hyenas based on Bud and Lou, named Ethel and Lucy, appear in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "#BeastsInShow". Harley Quinn stole them from the Metropolis Zoo, and subsequently they got loose and made it to the Metropolis Annual Dog Show, ultimately being defeated and kicked out by Krypto and Ace the Bat-Hound.
• Bud and Lou appear in season 2 of Harley Quinn as Harley's pets.
• Lou appears in the Teen Titans Go! episode "Jam" as Harley's pet. In addition to providing emotional support for the Gotham City Sirens' roller derby team, he also helps the villains drive their getaway car in the end.

Film

• In the 2019 animated film Batman: Hush, three of Harley Quinn's pet hyenas appear. They are named Larry, Moe and Shemp, a reference to the comedy team The Three Stooges.
• In the film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Harley Quinn "purchases" a pet hyena, who she names Bruce after Bruce Wayne.

Video games

• Bud and Lou both also appear in Batman: Arkham City. Penguin has them killed and stuffed at his base in The Cyrus Pinkney Institute for Natural History. They were on display as exhibits.
• Bud and Lou both appear in Injustice 2. They have been trained by Harley Quinn and appear as one of Harley Quinn's character powers as well as her Supermove. They also occasionally appear in her battle intros. In one she threatens to make Red Hood their new chew toy, causing Red Hood to ask "Where's the Bat-Hound when I need him", referencing Ace the Bat-Hound's antagonist relationship with the hyenas in some media. In another she threatens to "make a mess of [Black Manta's] costume", causing Black Manta to respond with "I'll feed you to your hyenas", referencing her as the hyenas' master.

References