Burl Ruxpin started
off in the storyline as the Hermit of Leekee Lake, a mysterious
creature known only from a folk song. When Teddy is captured by MAVO in
Episode #33- Captured- and is forced to walk the plank off of the MAVO
airship, he's rescued by the Hermit, who nurses hiim back to health and
then dissapears.
A few episodes later,
Teddy decides to return to Leekee Lake to try to find the mysterious
hermit, and once again the Hermit saves Teddy's life. Teddy then
explains to the hermit that he is an Illiop too. The Hermit can't
remember much of anything, and has lived a solitary life at Leekee Lake
for some time. The Hermit isn't too sure about being around
other Grundo residents at first- and Grubby and Gimmick suspect that
the Hermit is a figment of Teddy's imagination.
Eventually, the
Hermit goes along with the trio and becomes part of the family...
although nobody would have guessed he was already part of the
family. Gimmick discovers the mystery of the Black Box- that
it erases and restores memory- and Burl's memory is restored, leading
to the group's final journey (at least in the TV series) back to
Rillonia to tell Teddy's mother that they have found his long lost
father.
Never a key
character, Burl Ruxpin/The Hermit did create a lot of interesting plot
developments for the series. Quiet, unassuming and bashful, Burl holds
a lot of the same pure qualities of his son, without the energy and
inspiration. He meets his wife for the first time in 16 years and they
pick up where they left off, happy to once again be a family.
