43 Facts About Cotton Hill

Cotton Lyndal Hill is a fictional character in the Fox animated series King of the Hill voiced by Toby Huss.

Cotton Hill was a World War II veteran who had his shins "blowed off by a Japanman's machine gun" in combat and later had his feet attached to his knees as a result.

Cotton Hill dies in the 12th season of King of the Hill at age 80 after suffering severe burns from slipping on a flat top grill.

Cotton Hill was zealously proud of his military service record and his status as a war hero, although he tended to exaggerate his exploits.

Cotton Hill consistently reminded everyone within earshot about how he lost his shins during World War II:.

Cotton Hill refers to the Japanese as "Tojos," deriving from war-time Japanese Prime Minister and General Hideki Tojo.

Cotton Hill left Japan wearing the rank of Private in his own flashback while reminiscing to Hank how he had met Michiko.

Cotton Hill was referred to as a colonel repeatedly during the series, reflecting his rank in the Texas State Guard after the war.

Cotton Hill has a number of war trophies that can be seen in various episodes, including a Prussian Pickelhaube which he sometimes used to cut Hank's hair in an even bowl cut during Hank's youth, and a Nazi canoe which he claimed was "Hitler's canoe", though given his propensity to exaggerate his war stories, the actual origin of the canoe is uncertain.

Cotton Hill has a tendency to exaggerate his service in the war.

Cotton Hill has expressed dislike for veterans of the Vietnam War, as he blames them to some degree for losing it - though he eventually accords them a measure of respect for trying their best.

However, documentation obtained by Peggy in Cotton Hill's Plot did back his claim of fighting in the Sardinia campaign, which was mainly an air force campaign rather a battle on the ground.

Solomon Islands: Cotton Hill was ordered to retake an airfield on the Solomon Islands.

Cotton Hill's unit was pinned down by a Japanese machine gun nest high up in a hill, so he sneaked into a fifty-five gallon barrel of sake.

Cotton Hill held his breath until the Japanese got good and drunk, and then he jumped out and spit it all out into his Zippo.

Normandy: Cotton Hill said that he climbed the cliffs of Normandy with a fifty-pound ice cream maker on his back.

Saipan: Cotton Hill said that he led a platoon of men through the jungles of Sai Pan.

Guam: In 1944, in Guam, Cotton Hill crawled through a minefield to retrieve General MacArthur's corn cob pipe.

Iwo Jima: Cotton Hill spent two weeks under a pile of bodies on Iwo Jima.

Munich: Cotton Hill claimed to have fought in Munich on April 30,1945, and probably longer, but later realized he didn't.

Okinawa: On May 2,1945, on Okinawa, Cotton Hill invented a bayonet technique that is still used by the army today.

Camp: Cotton Hill was captured at an unknown time by the Japanese, and put in a bamboo rat cage.

Cotton Hill had to eat rats, but let the last one live so he could eat its droppings.

Cotton Hill called it "Jungle Rice", and said it "tasted fine".

Miscellaneous: Cotton Hill severed the windpipe of a German corporal with a two-foot strand of dental floss he kept in his boot.

Cotton Hill was to have been buried at the Texas State Cemetery, a grave which he earned in recognition of his military service, as explained by the episode "Cotton's Plot", although he ended up being cremated instead.

Cotton Hill left Hank a rude message on his tape recorder telling Hank that he wanted all the embarrassing requests completed by him.

The last request Cotton left was to have his cremated remains flushed down a bar toilet that General George S Patton once used; such practice was a tradition in Cotton's platoon, and all of Cotton's deceased war buddies were flushed down the toilet.

Hank and his friends respectively honored the request and flushed Cotton Hill's remains down the toilet, resulting in the toilet getting clogged and the bar owner mailing Hank a $300 plumbing bill to pay for the damage.

Cotton Hill is a consistently misogynistic, chauvinistic, violent, abusive, and intolerant character.

On rare occasions, Cotton Hill shows a vulnerable side that he normally keeps hidden: he realizes that he was a terrible father and person, hates himself for growing old and becoming disabled, and readily admits that he would die to protect his grandson, Bobby.

Cotton Hill appears to not be bigoted towards black people or Jews, as he is shown interacting with both groups and acting more well-mannered than he usually is.

Cotton Hill admits to Hank that he always wanted to win in battle but accepted defeat when his men did their best.

Hank was initially wary of this, because he feared that Cotton Hill was simply taking advantage of Peggy's brief disability in order to humiliate her.

Whatever the reason is, Cotton Hill never sought forgiveness for how he treated Hank, Peggy, Tilly, and many others throughout the series.

Cotton Hill eventually traveled back to Japan to reconcile with his long-lost lover, and soon learned of his illegitimate son.

When Cotton saw that Hank and Junichiro had mended fences and even become friends, and Junichiro said that he was not ashamed to be a Hill any more, Cotton ditched his plan and accepted the Emperor's kind words.

Cotton Hill claimed he divorced from Hank's mother, Tilly, because he "outgrew" her after she lost her large rear end, though it had been stated earlier in the show - such as in the season 1 episode "Shins of a Father" - that Tilly divorced him after years of verbal abuse.

Cotton Hill's second wife was a hospital volunteer, Deirdre "Didi" Hill.

Cotton Hill became depressed by the fact that he and Hank did not have a good relationship, once going homicidally insane when Hank said that he hates him.

In spite of all this Cotton Hill never hesitated to refer to Hank as "My Boy," and on several occasions tried to help him.

Cotton Hill had an antagonistic relationship with Peggy, whom he addressed as "Hank's wife" among other epithets.

Cotton Hill often tries to pass on his misogynistic views to Bobby, even going so far as to try to buy him a hooker once, although Hank and Peggy are always able to reverse the damage.