Happy Tree Friends began as an internet Flash cartoon series in 1999, created by Kenn Navarro, Rhode Montijo and Aubrey Ankrum for Mondo Media. Toothy, the purple beaver with large front teeth, became one of its most accident prone characters, known for shrill screams before gory mishaps. Clips of his yells were later ripped and shared on soundboards and in meme edits, where the htf scream became shorthand for cartoon panic far outside the original show and is still reused in reaction compilations today.