Husk

"I was an Overlord once, y'know? Yeah. And, uh, it was nice to have that power. But, when you're dealing with souls, while also being a gambler, the stakes are pretty high. And losing a few hands can be more than a little dangerous. So, when you're down on your luck, you'll turn to anything to keep you afloat. Even making deals yourself. So, I know what it's like to... regret the choice you made, and...know when you can't take it back."

- Husk, to Angel Dust about his own past

Husk is a sinner demon, a grumpy gambler and magician who is one of the main characters in Hazbin Hotel.

He was once an Overlord in Hell until he lost his soul to Alastor. Now he has been summoned by Alastor to work at the Hazbin Hotel as its front desk clerk and bartender.

Appearance
Husk is a slim demon who takes the form of anthropomorphic winged-cat, with both the looks that are evocative to magician and a casino referencing playing-card theme.

His rather thick fur is a dark shadow-gray color with his face, torso, feet and upper arms overlayed with white. He also sport fur-tufts on the sides of his face, and the insides of his ears are white, with his chest having two black spots, resembling a shirt, and his ears having red ends and small red hearts on the center. On top of each of his ears are small, heart-shaped tufts that are colored in a darker shade than his fur.

His eyebrows are colored red and are rather long and thick, with vertical black stripes near the tips and a small black heart above each eyebrow. Under his eyebrows are his eyes which have golden-yellow irises, black sclera and slit pupils, which are, at the same time, above his small heart-shaped black muzzle and mouth which features sharp, light yellow teeth inside.

His long tail ends with a large spray of plum-like feathers, which are colored in a bright red with two black stripes on each side, and white striped-tips. The color scheme of the feathers matches his large avian-like wings located on his back, which are red in color 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. The 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 appears to wear minimal clothing - consisting of a black top hat with a red band and a button-like golden decoration, an accessorized red bowtie around his neck, black fingerless gloves with small golden heart designs worn on his forearms, and a set of black suspenders on his shoulders which holds up his black pants by golden buttons.

Pilot
In the pilot, Husk's appearance has some noticeable difference - the fur-tufts on his face were scruffier, the insides of his ears sport two pastel-red stripes, his arms had small tufts with the heart designs on his hands, and his irises and teeth are a much warmer shade of golden-yellow.

In addition, his ankles are encircled by a darker shade than his fur with two white spots on them, mimicking cuffs on a set of pants.

Personality
Husk is a grumpy, lazy, and apathetic old sinner who is generally uninterested in most things that fall outside of his very narrow interests; namely gambling, parlor tricks, and prolific drinking.

He can be gruff, sarcastic, and even vulgar at times, with a propensity to swear. Despite this, he is said to also be surprisingly patient and able to take outlandish events in his stride, electing to drink his problems away later.

He resists having to do work for free and balks at the idea of being forced into doing "charity work" at Alastor's request for the Hazbin Hotel, however he also seems easily bribed with "cheap booze".

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. He is also said to be something of a softy deep down, and even quite sweet. He is very accepting of Angel when he let go of his fake persona.

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

 * 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.
 * Husk Cheats.jpegGambling/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.

Gallery

 * Husk/Gallery

Concept & Creation
Husk was originally designed by Vivziepop's younger sister, Maritza, also known as "Razz", who conceived the character as a winged cat-like humanoid, then gifted him as a character to her. Vivziepop developed Husk with the intention of him joining her demon gang and being a close friend for Angel within the planned "Angels and Demons" arc of her then-running webcomic, Zoophobia. Vivziepop eventually realized that the collection of misfit demons she had designed to appear within the comic had the potential for their own self-contained story, and shifted them, including Husk, over to the first draft of what would eventually become Hazbin Hotel.

Vivziepop first redesigned Husk in August 2014, where she began to lean much harder visually into his magician theming, changing his fur from pure white to a mid-grey and white tuxedo pattern.

In 2015, Husk received one of his final redesigns, which streamlined him into a more animation-friendly character with better posture, a more cohesive color-scheme, and a simplification on his patterning. This design would only see relatively minor tweaks before heading into the pilot.

Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty was an influence on how VivziePop originally envisioned the tone of Husk's voice, although Vivziepop noted that, aside from being "grumpy old people", it was funny how little else Rick and Husk had in common. Using a sample of Rick's voice as an example of what she was looking for did not play out favorably for subsequent auditions however, as many that were sent in were mere impressions of Rick rather than a unique voice of their own.

Vivziepop met Mick Lauer prior to his eventual casting as Husk's voice actor. After Vivziepop's Die Young music video became successful on YouTube, she was contacted by Lauer, who brought her into his fold of Newgrounds artist friends, inviting her to feature on the MAGFest 2016: Animation Panel with him.

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".
 * This is later revealed to be the case in the episode "Masquerade", as he reveals how he lost his status and power after selling his soul to Alastor.
 * Husk's ability to throw exploding cards is similar to Gambit from Marvel Comics.
 * Husk was stated to be from 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 had to play for lounge bars in Vegas a lot while living.
 * Husk’s Magic.jpegepop describes Husk as a magician.
 * She also describes him 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.
 * 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 says that, at the time of recording, she hasn't ironed out all the characters' nationalities, but she thinks that Husk is probably of Russian heritage, or at least part Russian.
 * According to Faustisse, Husk traveled a lot during his living life.
 * 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.
 * 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 and referring to his attitude towards attraction as "Any hole is a goal", adding that "If you just hid every person's upper body, all butt cheeks are up for game".
 * Faustisse also described Husk as being very physically unattractive when he was alive and stated that it contributed to his lack of pickiness or preference when it came to sexual partners.
 * According to Vivziepop, Husk's casino lifestyle, alongside his voice actor, Mick Lauer's, fluency in Mandarin, was an influence on his multilingualism.
 * 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.
 * Husk insecure.jpegepop 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.
 * Husk is apparently "surprisingly patient". 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 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.
 * 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 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.
 * 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".
 * 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.
 * She has previously drawn illustrations of Husk wielding a yellow electricity-type power from the hearts on his paws when manipulating cards during Husk's development.
 * Faustisse does not think that Husk is physically strong in a bodily sense.
 * Although, Husk appears very distanced from those around him and no longer interested in meaningful relationships beyond his usual bottle of booze, Vivziepop has continued to describe 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.
 * The number '75' in Husk's now archived Voxtagram account username, @bar_cat75, may be a reference to either his age when he died, or the year he died.
 * On December 20, 2022, a recipe for Husk's Holiday Grog drink was given out to people who signed up for the official website's newsletter.

Development

 * Husk made his first animated appearance in Vivziepop's animatic short, Daddy Issues, where he watches with amusement from the audience as Angel roasts his father and brother on stage.
 * On a development stream for the pilot Vivziepop talked about it being a potential long-running joke that, while the other characters are all always arguing, Husk can constantly be found lying on the couch completely dispassionately watching or reading porn as if it were regular TV or a magazine. It's unclear if this still remains a plan for the show.
 * On April Fool's Day 2018, VivziePop's channel released a short comedic fake trailer for the Hazbin Hotel pilot, in which Husk drunkenly rambles about how bad modern trailers are. Within the ad-libbed dialogue, Husk makes a joke about having fought in Vietnam (world boxing tour).
 * Despite the obvious comedic tone of the fake trailer, the idea of Husk fighting in Vietnam, or just being a war veteran in general, became so widespread within the fanbase that it prompted Faustisse to clarify with VivziePop that she had not, in fact, made this part of his canon backstory, to which VivziePop replied, "No. I have no idea what that is. I've never heard of it".
 * Vivziepop joked that Husk is one of the easier characters for her to write as he doesn't really care much about anything anymore and is almost always grumpy, causing him to have similar deadpan reactions to everything.