First appearance: S3E8, The Gauntlet 2 - Floyd of the Pink & Luci v Hurdey & Gurdi · watch it on YouTube
Gurdi is a small red bird who lives in the backpack of the bear champion Hurdey, peering over his partner’s shoulder and occasionally sprouting chicken legs to carry him across the sea. He fought in the Grandmaster’s second Gauntlet, a pirate treasure hunt against Floyd of the Pink and Luci. He dabbed, backflipped, set ships on fire with flaming eggs fired out of his butt, and turned on his own partner over a musical disagreement. He also claimed a win while being eaten by a mimic.
Story
Gurdi arrived at The Dread Fortress tucked in Hurdey’s backpack. The Arbiter introduced him as “Gurdey,” and neither member of the duo could be understood at first. Gurdi solved this by rummaging in the pack for a super-large candy, eating one and wing-feeding another to Hurdey, which granted them “the gift of speech.” Their first understandable threats were a promise to bathe in their rivals’ blood and “lay eggs in their stomach.” In the tavern’s Flippy Cup challenge, Hurdey drank and Gurdi flipped. Gurdi slammed one cup down, landed a wings-out backflip and dabbed. Then Floyd splashed spilled drinks across the table and Gurdi fumbled the final flip. When the treasure maps were handed out, he fake-sneezed a burst of flame at the rivals’ copy. Floyd answered by patting him on the back, saying “Gesundheit,” and freezing him, which Gurdi took for a draft: “Did someone leave a window open?”
Down at the storm-wrecked docks, Gurdi worked as his partner’s personal shield. His golden-glowing wings flared to shake off a spell meant to freeze him in place, and he threw himself in front of the knife-wielding seagulls slashing at Hurdey. Then he dove into the backpack, popped out two chicken-like legs, flipped the pair so the bear rode on top, and sprinted so fast the planks began to smoke. He ran straight across the water carrying Hurdey. He landed on a ship with a triple flip (“Look at me, look at me, I am the captain now”) and earned a 10 out of 10 from the bartender, though the anchor wouldn’t budge for him. The pair stole Floyd and Luci’s ship instead. When The Kraken rose around the boats, Gurdi’s butt popped out of the pack and he fired a barrage of flaming eggs out of it into a tentacle. Later he burst out of the backpack in an eruption of red feathers and torched the rivals’ sails with a single egg.
On the island, Gurdi and Hurdey answered the riddle of the dead with an enthusiastic scat duet on a pair of four-stringed, long-necked instruments, which counted because “scatting is singing.” Then came the final clue: to find the treasure, each team had to burn the heart of an ally. After a thunderclap move called Beak Buster, Gurdi launched an egg out of his cloaca straight up. It curved back and struck Hurdey “straight in the heart,” and Gurdi turned it into a blast of flame. Asked why, Gurdi explained: “That’s because you said you didn’t like my music.” Hurdey took the full blast willingly and died among dancing musical-note sparks.
With his partner gone, only Gurdi could see the two chests that appeared. He noticed the one on the right was faintly breathing and grabbed the other, which turned out to be a mimic too. The breathing one was simply a baby mimic that hadn’t learned to hold its breath. Under them he spotted something gold, and touching it would claim it. Luci reached him first and smashed him with her maul. Hurdey’s last protective ward of golden feathers soaked up most of the first blow, but the second knocked Gurdi straight into the big mimic’s mouth, where he was torn apart. As he died, one wing snapped off, drifted down and touched the gold. The Grandmaster declared that he had “technically” won and that his and Hurdey’s souls would rest. The treasure itself, a golden body pillow, went to Floyd, and Floyd and Luci walked away as the survivors and winners.
Personality and Abilities
Gurdi is a red bird with a showman’s streak. He backflips, dabs, strikes poses on ship decks and treats every success as a performance. He is fiercely loyal to Hurdey for most of a fight, taking blows meant for him and lending him protection, but he is touchy about his music. During the pillow chaos event his pillow was a multicolored down cushion jammed on the tip of his beak like a safety bumper, “because he’s always bumping into things.”
He fights as a monk. He can walk on water, slip out of harm’s way and take his partner with him, and sprout sturdy chicken legs strong enough to carry a full-grown bear. His signature attacks include flaming eggs fired from his cloaca (the Ancient Way of the Egg) and the ground-slamming Beak Buster. Hurdey can pluck his sparkling red and golden feathers to fuel his own magic.
Relationships
- Hurdey: His partner and ride. Gurdi lives in Hurdey’s backpack, shields him, carries him, and finally burns him for the treasure.
- Floyd of the Pink: A rival who froze him with a “Gesundheit” and turned the knife seagulls against him.
- Luci: The satyr who delivered the killing blows.
- Grandmaster Elusia Skypiercer: Ruled that his wing touching the gold meant he had technically won.
Memorable Quotes
- “Look at me, look at me, I am the captain now.” (S3E8, The Gauntlet 2)
- “At ease, my avian allies. We ask for your aid against these egg-eating motherpluckers before they eat your eggs.” (S3E8, The Gauntlet 2)
- “I regret nothing.” (S3E8, The Gauntlet 2)
- “Sticks and stones will break your bones, but bird eggs will bloody burn ya!” (S3E8, The Gauntlet 2)
- “That’s because you said you didn’t like my music.” (S3E8, The Gauntlet 2)
- “No, no, I’m not, because I’m a chicken. And not a coward like some people.” (S3E8, The Gauntlet 2)