Red J. Bird

NOTE: Not to be confused with the Pokémon character of the same name.

" “ They stole your kids. No. They stole our kids. I mean, who does that? Have you ever stolen any one's children? Huh? Have you? And you know what? I'm a little bit angry. Correction. I'm really angry. And I don't think I'm the only one. Come on, we're birds! We're descended from dinosaurs! We're not supposed to be nice! We're getting our kids back, and I don't need any... calm, detached, happy birds. Not gonna help us. Don't need it. I need some angry flocking birds! ” ― Red • The Angry Birds Movie" Red (full name Red J. Bird according to The Angry Birds Movie 2, and originally George in the earlier concepts for the original game) is the mascot of the Angry Birds franchise. He's the leader of the titular Angry Birds flock, and the most dedicated to the cause of protecting the eggs, as well as the angriest bird of them all. Although his status and over-protective father-like personality may cause one to assume he is an adult, Red is actually one of the younger members of the flock, who stepped up to the role as leader as no one else was better suited for it.

In the films (which take place in a separate continuity as confirmed by Rovio establishing the "Angryverse" in 2022), Red is given a new backstory, where he was an outcast in a community of happy birds, before rising up to the role of a hero and leader when the pigs attacked and raided their village, turning the once happy birds into the iconic Angry Birds.

Red serves as the first and most basic bird in almost every Angry Birds title, meaning that unlike the rest of his flock, Red usually has no special ability. Usually, because there have been occasions where Red has his own ability, such as in the Red's Mighty Feathers episode in the original Angry Birds game, and Angry Birds 2.

Why He's the Leader of the Flock
" “ Red carries the weight of leadership on his shoulders because he is the one who found the three eggs one day: He will do anything to protect them. Red is fearless and unrelenting in his quest to protect the eggs. He sees himself as their main protector and takes full responsibility for their care. He believes the protection of the eggs is paramount. The responsibility has forced Red to grow up very fast. Despite his young age, the rest of the birds see Red as their leader. Without him, life would be chaotic. He is eager to help anyone being harassed by the pigs. The other Angry Birds always turn to Red in times of trouble and listen to what he has to say. Red knows that the birds are strong enough only when they stick together, and that is why he strives to keep the group united. Red respects the individuality of each of the birds in the bunch and lets them do their own thing, especially if it means they will be better equipped to guard the eggs. But responsibility weighs heavily on Red. He doesn't fully trust the others to protect the eggs as well as he does. He often spends sleepless nights worrying about the eggs' safety and regularly checks on the birds on guard duty just to be sure they are doing their job properly. Chuck (aka Yellow Bird) is the only bird Red can confide in and express his concerns to. He wishes that Mighty Eagle would come to help the birds, and he is disappointed in Mighty's continued decision to live in complete isolation. The pigs' incessant attempts to steal the eggs stress out Red. He hates the threat they pose to the eggs. Any threat to the eggs, whether from pig or bird or anything else, makes Red completely lose it. If Red feels that something is putting the eggs in danger in any way, it will feel his wrath immediately. But it is the pigs who truly enrage Red, because they pose the biggest threat toward the eggs. They are the main reason Red had to abandon the carefree days of his youth, and he desperately misses the freedom he once took for granted. He hopes that once the eggs hatch, the pigs will no longer pose a threat to their safety and he can return to his youthful carefree days. ” ― About Red • Angry Birds: Fed up, Feathered, and Furious"


 * 1) AB_Red_Profile_2.png" “ Red’s special skills are his leadership qualities, which at first seems feeble compared to the brute force of Terence or explosive power of Bomb. But wait! Someone has to organize this odd flock of birds! He’s also a bit highly strung and sees small things as a declaration of war – like hearing the sound of the wind and thinking it’s the battle cry of the pig army. So that’s kind of intense! ” ― About Red • Official Angry Birds Website (archived)"As the flock's leader, it is Red's duty to keep his feathery brethren in line, and he does a great job at it. Stern, strict, and a perfectionist, Red will not settle for anything less than the best for the eggs or his flock. Red is also usually the one to come up with plans and strategies to take down the pigs. Despite his extremely serious attitude, Red is also capable of lightening up around the other birds, such as in "Off Duty" and "Slingshot 101". While Red is indeed the de-facto leader of the flock, it's also important that he is also looked up to as a father-figure as well, despite actually being one of the younger members of the flock (likely a teenager considering many official promotional material has paired Red with Stella), and in-turn, Red values the other members of the flock more than allies, comrades, or friends, but as family as well, probably because they pretty much are. Angry Birds Toons and Angry Birds Comics show that the flock eats, sleeps, and lives together, so it's only natural they would all be very close to each other. Though Red may roll his eyes whenever Chuck does something stupid or when Matilda insists him to take it easy, and he may scold the other birds when they fail to meet his standards, Red is only hard on them because he really cares, and he would be the first to fly in whenever one of them is in danger. The birds having a familial bond is surprisingly something that actually existed even before the birds were all given proper names.
 * 2) *Notably, in the 2016 run of Angry Birds Comics, the first story of the first issue ("Angry Bird") is about Red being mysteriously left completely alone, leading him to believe that his flock had died during an incident, or that they had abandoned him. He even storms Pig City on his own in search of them. However, when it is revealed that they were all completely fine and they were simply planning a surprise birthday party for him, Red was so glad to see them that he shed a tear.
 * 3) AB_Red_Profile.png" “ Having found the three eggs on Piggy Island, Red is vastly over-protective of them and typically over-reacts to the slightest threat to their safety, driving him in to a berserk rage. ” ― About Red • Angry Birds: Hatching a Universe"" “ Red also lets his guard down when he’s alone with the eggs and can be seen softly stroking their shells and telling them bedtime stories. It’s another rare moment of sensitivity and it reveals something of a softer side in him. But when the other flock members come a knocking, something clicks inside and instantly he’s back to being his usual serious and alert self. ”  ― About Red • Official Angry Birds Website (archived)"Red acts as an over-protective father to the eggs, and is the most dedicated to defending them from the pigs. Perhaps "over-protective" is an understatement, as even something as harmless as a butterfly or a leaf blown by the wind isn't allowed to be anywhere near the eggs when they're under Red's watchful eye. While the other birds are often seen playing around and having other hobbies, it's pretty rare to catch Red doing anything other than guarding the nest. It's already mentioned above that Red also shows his softer and more gentler side whenever he's alone with the eggs, which is pretty sweet. According to various sources, Red is actually the one who found the eggs in the first place, which would explain why he's more attached to them compared to the other birds, even Matilda, who acts like a mother to the rest of the flock.
 * 4) AB_Red_Profile_3.png" “ Despite his youth, Red is kind of a father figure to the other Angry Birds. Red knows that no one else will take responsibility, so he is forced to do so. When the eggs have hatched, Red will have done his duty and will be able to forget the burden of leadership and embrace the carefree nature of his age. ” ― About Red • Angry Birds: Hatching a Universe"It's already been mentioned a couple times before on this page that Red is actually pretty young, and was forced to grow up thanks to the burdens of his responsibility. Really think about that. Despite the cartoony art style and goofy premise, make no mistake, the Angry Birds series is about war. Many sources prior to The Angry Birds Movie essentially rebooting the franchise has referred to the conflict between the birds and pigs as "The Great Egg War". The book, Angry Birds: Fed up, Feathered, and Furious, reveals that the reason for Terence's silence is because of war trauma, and the Angry Birds Toons episode, "The Porktrait", has implications towards the war lasting for generations, with the birds losing prior to the rule of King Smooth Cheeks (the current King Pig and son of King Mudbeard), explaining why there are so little birds on Piggy Island and why there are only three eggs remaining. With this context, it explains a lot about the way Red acts and makes him a far more sympathetic character. No wonder he's so paranoid on on-edge, when he is one of the few last things standing between the eggs and total extinction! The responsibilities, the expectations, and the pressure of it all has clearly taken a heavy mental toll on Red, to the point of him seeing hallucinations of eggs and pigs in "Off Duty" and "Happy Hippy". It has been said that the other birds have tried their best to help calm him down, yet he remains the angriest bird of the all." “ The whole flock tries to keep Red calm and relaxed by telling him to follow a strict program of herbal tea, soothing bath salts and deep-breathing exercises. But this only takes the edge off his anger, and it really doesn’t take much to remind Red of those little pigs trying to get their dirty trotters on the eggs. Even the sight of something green can enrage him! ”  ― About Red • Official Angry Birds Website (archived)"Although the loss of Red's innocence and carefree nature when thrusted into the position of a leader during war is tragic, it makes his over-the-top dedication and commitment to protecting the eggs and his flock all the more heroic. No matter what, Red shall stand strong and fight for the last hope of his species' survival, and that makes him more than a great character.
 * 5) *Those darker parts of the character and the series are part of what makes them so cool and interesting, but much like the lore in the Kirby series, it's usually tucked away in lesser known sources and rarely explored outside of that, with most people being able to play the games while being completely unaware of this knowledge, so it is entirely up to the fans to make of this information what they will.
 * 6) " “ I'm Red! The mighty defender of the nest! The smasher of pigs! The castle-busting wrecking ball! ” ― Red • Angry Birds Comics #10"Although he is the most basic bird in the original game, in Angry Birds Toons, Red is shown to be incredibly powerful. In "Off Duty", Red is shown to be capable of retrieving the eggs and destroying Pig City all on his own in mere seconds, and in "Slingshot 101", he is able to run all the way from a distant mountain back to the nest in a short time. "The Great Eggscape" is also another good example of why Red is a force to be reckoned with.
 * 7) The movies take the character in different direction, where Red is cranky loner who was born an orphan and spent his entire life as an outcast, before rising up to become a hero to birdkind after being proven right about his suspicion towards the invading pigs. In The Angry Birds Movie 2, Red has a fear of losing that status and going back to being a loser, but eventually manages to overcome that and grows to work with others as a team, even if he isn't the one in charge and getting all the credit. He even manages to get a love interest in Silver and make peace with the pigs. While Classic Red has a soft side that he rarely shows when he's not busy being fussy, stressed out, or completely furious, Movie Red desires to be loved and accepted by the other birds despite his lack of social skills due to his rough upbringing, and tries to hide his insecurities with sarcasm and an aloof attitude, that and his anger issues make him a more relatable character to some people.
 * 8) *As The Angry Birds Movie was one of the first pieces of Angry Birds multi-media in production, it's inconsistencies with the way the "Classic Dimension" was fleshed out in non-game media such as The World of Angry Birds Official Guide and Angry Birds Toons are excusable.
 * 9) " “ Red's signature color was not only an important visual aspect - red being the color typically associated with anger - but also had vital implications with regards to the marketing of Angry Birds the brand. 'Making the main bird red was a key decision,' notes Peter Vesterbacka, 'because it really stands out in a very crowded marketplace. The big question is: how do you stand out against the millions of other products.' Within the offices of Rovio, many employees can be found wearing Red Bird hooded tops with the icon's fierce eyes emblazoned on the chest! They're far from the only ones: the Red Bird has become the focal point of Angry Birds advertising and vast merchandising, providing a potent and highly recognizable face for a worldwide brand. ” ― About Red ' s design • Angry Birds: Hatching a Universe"His design, though simple, is great and has become extremely iconic. It's very impressive how the artists at Rovio manage to make Red so animated and expressive in animated promotional shorts and Angry Birds Toons, despite him having no limbs (which also applies to the other birds and pigs). His anthropomorphized design in the movies is also good, not only because they managed to give him limbs without being too off-putting, but when he is launched out of the slingshot, he can curl up into a ball to resemble the games' design, which is genius.
 * 10) *Notably, Red's cinematic reimagining had several scrapped designs that more closely resemble his classic counterpart. They can be viewed here.
 * 11) The very fact that his personality can be described in this much detail is proof of just how much the people behind the series cared about crafting an interesting series. Remember, this all started from a simple mobile game where you flings birds at pigs like projectiles, they did not have to go out of their way to characterize each and every one of them, but they did. A lesser series would simply have Red be his own species, as the weakest and most common bird, much like the Peashooters from Plants vs. Zombies or the monkeys from Bloons, but instead they went decided to make him his own character.

Angry Qualities

 * 1) After the first movie, the series started to become more focused on Red, Chuck, and Bomb as a trio instead of them all being part of one big flock. The flock wasn't just some crew or a team or a group of friends, but a family, despite all of them being from different species (except for Red and Terence). The idea that they are all that they have, trying their best to survive on an island that belongs to - and is literally named after - the enemy, is infinitely more charming and interesting than it just being Red as the main hero and Chuck and Bomb as his sidekicks, and now that part of Red, and by extension the rest of the birds, is something that has been sorely missing from the series for a long while.
 * 2) "Not sure about the dabbing though."

Trivia

 * Aside from being a natural leader, strategist, and expert marksman, Red's other talents include playing the guitar in his Angry Birds POP! map idle animation, playing the accordion in "Last Tree Standing", and in The Angry Birds Movie, Red built his own house in 5 five years, and also crafted a small figure of his own home. While it is never shown, the book Angry Birds: Fed up, Feathered, and Furious claims that Red also plays chess as a hobby.
 * Much like Sonic the Hedgehog, Red runs the official Twitter account promoting the series, and has made many memorable interactions with the series fans, and even other brand accounts, with his rivalry with Cult of the Lamb, being one notable example.

Videos
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