Toot Pi

About
Toot Pi, widely known as Myine Yazar (King of Jungle) Toot Pi is a fictional comic character created by renowned comic book writer Swe Min (Danubyu) in 1986. Toot Pi is a wildlife hunter who lives in a small village called Kyone Dine which is situated near Bago mountain range (also known as Pegu Range) where he hunts for a living.

Biography
Toot Pi is a native Kyone Dine villager, who was born to De Pi, a retired-soldier-turned-hunter and Mya Hnit (also known as  Bae Hton ). His paternal grandparents are Pauk Pi and Ma Hnin (Ms. Snow). His mother, Mya Hnit was an orphan adopted by Ma Hnin, who arranged for their marriage. He finished primary education at Kyone Dine primary school.

He sometimes went for hunting with his father since he was a teenager. He pursued solo hunting career at eighteen after his father had been killed by a one-eyed wild elephant.

Toot Pi is almost always accompanied by his protégé, Bike Kalay, who is the only younger brother of Thay Hmyin to whom he married before he became a hunter. They have no offspring.

Toot Pi is in close friendship with Ba Si, governor of Kyone Dine Village and Kyi Naing, a primary school teacher at Kyone Dine school. Although he is admired and respected by most elder people in the village as an honored gentleman and he also tends to have good relationship with young and middle-aged men, too, such as Saw Tin Maung.

Toot Pi hardly visit Yangon to meet his friend, Pe Thet Khine in earlier canons. Due to his naivety at that time, he faced several difficulties and got his family and himself into trouble. Later, he was invited to even further places and abroad, too.

Appearance
Toot Pi is a middle-aged man, nearly 47 years old. His head is always bald but it is later revealed that he keeps his head shaved rather than it is associated with any kind of birth defects or epithelial diseases. Toot Pi has prominently high eyebrows and a relatively big nose whilst his chin is indistinguishable from his neck. Toot Pi is not muscular and does even have a tummy although he is a former boxer.

Toot Pi wears a loose plain white T-shirt and traditional gingham longyi which is always hitched up. It is a nod to traditional hunters in ancient times. He also wears a round hat which is ridiculously small for his head. He wears black rain boots regardless of weather or place.

Toot Pi would wear traditional suits only for attending ceremonies.

Personality
Despite being a hunter, Toot Pi shows true empathy toward animals on multiple occasions throughout his hunting career, absolutely sparring pregnant mothers and young offspring who cannot survive without protective parents in the wild. At one time, he was exiled from his own village for returning two captive tiger cubs to their injured mother. He also keep pets in his home and shows great affection to them. Notable ones include Kauk Ya (dog) and Shwe Ge (parrot).

Toot Pi shows chivalrous, heroic demeanor to the weak; often providing help to whoever needs his assistance even in the midst of crisis, risking his own life for others. Although he is kind and socially flexible, his self-righteous attitude sometimes makes him a stubborn person and he would retaliate when provoked.

However, most of the time he can be cocky in a humorous way especially when he is praised for his fame and hunting skill. People often use this to persuade him to involve in life-and-death adventures. The catchphrase usually used is countrywide acclaimed hunter, sir Toot'. '

Despite his true sincerity, Toot Pi seldom admits his faults during hunting when Bike Kalay points out his mistakes, and usually tries to give diverting reasons, such as blaming luck, to cover them. He usually utters his catchphrase  'Bad luck, today!'

His true weakness is his dominant wife, Thay Hmyin who is always commanding and scolds him when he fails to bring back a prey.

Skilled Hunter
Toot Pi is a veteran hunter, starting hunting since he was a teenager. He possesses extensive knowledge of animals and their habitats in Bago range. His shooting skill is exceptional in a way that he misses the target if the latter stands still, resulting in signature mockery 'no dodge, no hit' by his own protégé Bike Kalay and his targets as well.

Distinguished Boxer
Toot Pi was an excellent former traditional bare-knuckled boxer who won many regional championships in his younger life. He learnt boxing from a cousin of his father, Mahuyar Sein Gyi, who was himself a professional bare-knuckled boxer. Toot Pi's professional record is 57-1. He lost only one match when he jumped out of the ring and ran away as he was chased down by opponent's pet dog.

Amateur Dancer
Toot Pi once learnt traditional dancing from a professional dancer from Myaing Thar. He performed a duet with Thay Hmyin as a lead actor in late-night village show.

Double-barreled Shotgun
Toot Pi inherited a double-barreled shotgun which his father  bought from wife of the former village head, the late Thar Aung, an archenemy of his paternal grandfather, Pauk Pi.

Ammunition Belt
Toot Pi wears a shotgun shell belt across his shoulder when he goes for hunting.

Trivia

 * Toot Pi was born on November 8, 1947. (This is retrospectively calculated and based on the facts that Toot Pi was a Saturday-born and nearly two months old on January 4, 1948,  'Independence Day' ). Toot Pi would be 72 years old by 2019 if he aged. Toot Pi is a Scorpio.
 * Toot Pi's educational status details were not mentioned in original canons (written by Swe Min). He completed basic education at village primary school and was also familiar with monastic education system.
 * He is found to be a good writer and sends his autobiographical adventures to Swe Min (Danubyu) for publication. He is a devoted fan of renowned Myanmar thriller authors, Shwe Oo Daung, Dagon Shwe Hmyar and Ku Tha.
 * Toot Pi was impersonated two times; once by a robber and another time by a thief. It took Thay Hmyin to identify him by checking his three birthmark moles. (See  'The Imposters' )
 * Ironically, Toot Pi and Bike Kalay once passed as robbers and kidnapped a man in attempt to reconcile a broken relationship between a young Kyone Dine native and his father-in-law, whose feud was based on the grudge between two villages; Kyone Dine and Htone Htine. (See  'Toot's Guile' )
 * Toot Pi has been abroad multiple times. (See ' African Predators' ; ' Vengeful Yeti' )
 * Toot Pi once had alleged secret affair with a girl from Myaing Thar. He was tricked into fatherhood for her pregnancy, claiming she was molested by him under heavy intoxication. Surprisingly, despite her persuasive approach, Toot Pi indeed refrained from having intimate relationship with her even after he was convinced to support her as her husband. Ironically, her name is Mya Hnit, the same as his mother . It is unknown whether his uncommon interest in her was subconsciously based on this fact or not. (See  'Though We Landed on Money Tree' )
 * Toot Pi once had near-death experience. (See  'Memoirs of My Grandpa, Pauk Pi' ).
 *  'Bad luck today!'  becomes his signature catchphrase which is widely used by fans throughout the country to express unlucky events and misfortunes. However, he is not a true unlucky person as he has faced many life-and-death situations throughout his career, which he overcame by just luck. Winning national lottery for two successive times (100,000 MMK and 50,000 MMK respectively) further proves this fact. (See  'Aung Bar Lay' )
 * Many characters in the franchise uses  'So weird'  as a catchphrase on multiple occasions, too.
 * Some critics alleged Toot Pi to be reminiscent of Warner Bros.'s Elmer Fudd. However, apart from bald head and a shotgun, there is no evident correlation between Elmer Fudd and Toot Pi in terms of character background; genre and story writing. Furthermore, Swe Min revealed that Toot Pi was loosely adapted from traditional cartoon character, 'Hunter Phoe Htaw' created by cartoonist Maung Maung, as in using double-barreled shotgun; having a pupil. In addition, Swe Min was a loyal fan of Sir Rider Haggard's Allan Quatermain, whom he frequently portrayed as an idol in earlier canons.