Rachel Bighead (née Ralph Bighead) is a supporting character of Rocko's Modern Life. She is Ed and Bev Bighead's daughter, known for creating The Fatheads.
In Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling, it's revealed that Rachel is a transgender woman, who works in an ice cream truck.
Personality
Rachel tends to be more stoic than her parents and speaks in a much calmer, lower voice, reminiscent of a monotone. Prior to transitioning, she was very easy to anger and disillusioned with the cartoon business, although unlike her parents, her anger was more pent up. After transitioning, she has become more calm and comfortable in her own skin, and capable of responding to distress more maturely.
Background
Pre-transition Rachel in the 1990s.
She was disowned by Ed for not wanting to work for Conglom-O like her father, so she went to Hollo-Wood to become a cartoonist, which had always been her dream. However, she and Ed finally reunited and ended their feud after Rachel attends her parents' wedding anniversary after being informed of the event by Rocko (whom she eventually bases the beaver character of Rolo on).
She rose to fame after creating a cartoon show called The Fatheads (about a married couple, based loosely on her parents). However after several years of her show becoming an hit, she wants to move on from the show. Afterwards, thinking she's out of the cartoon business, her bosses tell her before letting Rachel go, that she must create a new show. In an attempt to get out of her contract, Rachel hired Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt to create an intentionally horrible cartoon called Wacky Delly to have it immediately cancelled (instead, the show becomes a runaway hit, much to her dismay).
After several attempts of creating bad episodes, such as showing a tub of mayo for ten whole minutes, to thunderous applause, Rachel becomes discouraged that she won't ever get out of her contract, and so she finally gets involved in the series and uses Wacky Delly as a platform for deep artistic showcases a la Disney's Fantasia. Shortly after, Wacky Delly is cancelled, and her wish to leave the studio unintentionally comes true. In the end, she finally creates her masterpiece, the world's largest still-life portrait (that being a fruit bowl in the middle of the desert), only to find out that it is not as popular as Wacky Delly originally was.
In Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling, it’s revealed that Rachel is now a transgender woman and has finally found happiness selling Fatheads popsicles in the desert, and got convinced by Rocko to make a Fatheads special, which she manages to create with a balance between the deeper artistic elements of her Wacky Delly episodes and the lowbrow humor staple of Fatheads and Delly, introducing a baby Fathead based on herself and portraying a demented but heartfelt family dynamic. Initially, Ed was overwhelmed by Rachel's transition and denied that she was a woman, since he was dealing with other changes at the moment. When Ed saw how the new Fatheads special was influenced by happy memories they had together, he realized that Rachel is still the same person on the inside and reconciled with her. Rocko, Heffer, Filburt, and Bev were immediately accepting of Rachel's identity, with Bev even offering to give Rachel old clothes she's grown out of, however Rocko did not initially enjoy the changes she made to the Fatheads, but eventually came to accept her vision.
Behind the scenes
Voice
Rachel is voiced by Joe Murray, the show's creator, both before and after Rachel's transition. Doug Lawrence and Martin Olson convinced Murray to voice Rachel, a cartoonist character through which Murray satirized himself.
Trivia
- Rachel could possibly be based on Murray himself, who is usually calm and quiet, like Rachel. The joke is that unlike Rachel, Murray would never scream.
- Unlike her parents, she has purple hair and a much smaller head.
- Her famous quote "NEVER!" can be heard on Heffer's television in "Mama's Boy".
- To avoid controversy and not make a big spectacle about Rachel's transition arc, the cast and crew teamed up with GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
- Rachel's arc was also based on the discovery of some toads being hermaphrodites.