| General Treister | |
|---|---|
| The Venture Bros. character | |
 ]]General Timothy Treister | |
| First appearance |
The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part I) |
| Last appearance |
All This and Gargantua-2 |
| Voiced by |
Toby Huss |
| Information | |
| Full name | Timothy Treister |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Head of the O.S.I. (formerly) |
| Family | Unnamed son |
| Notable Characteristics |
Boisterous and theatrical demeanor Prostate cancer Hulk |
| Prior alliances |
Mr. Cardholder and Mr. Doe (former O.S.I. agents rooted out as traitors) O.S.I. |
| Enemies |
Guild of Calamitous Intent Monstroso (deceased) Mr. Cardholder and Mr. Doe S.P.H.I.N.X. |
General Timothy Treister is a member of the executive leadership of O.S.I. on The Venture Bros.
Personality
A career military man, General Treister is 77 years old, and has had, by his own recollection, eight heart attacks, and predicts that one of his agents, Brock Samson, will be the cause of the ninth. (This is later proven true.) The pacemaker device in his chest is a result of his multiple heart attacks, but "who's counting?"
Aggressive, dramatic, rambunctious and cantankerous, Treister is a very hands-on commanding officer, preferring to wrestle with others as a form of negotiation rather than resort to verbal diplomacy. Despite his old age and pacemaker, he is still in his physical prime, and is constantly on the lookout for any excuse to enter a brawl. He rarely holds a conversation without it devolving into a rapid torrent of insults and demeaning metaphors, all of which is heavily accented by his proud southern drawl.
Regardless of his attitude, Treister is one of the top military minds of the series. He is revered and respected by all those who work under him, and he in turn considers every member of the O.S.I. practically family whom he'd take a bullet for without hesitation. His years of service have kept the organization afloat through numerous espionage campaigns, wars and internal sabotoge. However, like Hunter Gathers, he was deeply troubled and irritated by the beaucratic red tape that often prevented him from running O.S.I. as he felt was neccessary, which ultimately lead to him choosing Hunter as his replacement.
Character History
Treister had been in command of the O.S.I. long before the time of Jonas Venture. At some point in his career, he had a pacemaker installed into his chest, though it remained functionally external. After the start of the Pyramid Wars of 1987, Treister's left eye was either damaged or lost through unknown circumstances, after which he took to wearing a silver eyepatch.
Treister is first mentioned in Mid-Life Chrysalis, after Brock Samson fails his O.S.I. agent's license renewal test. The proctor tears up the failed test, revealing "My father is General Treister. You saved his life. The man spoke of you as a god--and you did not disappoint." Brock replies that he had once served as a baby-sitter for the junior Treister.
His most notable accomplishment was to organize a strike force, which came to Samson's rescue, in the Season 3 finale The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part II). However, due to the machinations of Molotov Cocktease, Samson assumed Treister and the O.S.I. were in fact trying to kill him, which the General tried his best to explain was not the case. A confrontation with Samson at the end of an epic battle between the forces of The Monarch and O.S.I. results in Samson's resignation as a special agent of O.S.I.
In the season 4 finale Operation: P.R.O.M. Treister is revealed to have prostate cancer and his resulting radiation treatment was causing him to turn into a hulk when stressed. This is later revealed to be a fabrication by Mr. Cardholder and Mr. Doe, who are revealed to be Guild moles trying to take control of O.S.I. after killing Monstroso. However, Treister was aware of the deception, having placed a decoy of the villain and an undercover agent in S.P.H.I.N.X. to catch them in the act. He announces his retirement leaving command of the O.S.I. to Hunter Gathers, after which he shoots himself out of orbit via ICBM with a small piece of paper taped to his chest saying "fix it" in the hope that alien technology will be able to cure him. He was assumed to be dead or in suspended animation.
In All This and Gargantua-2, Treister's frozen body drifted towards the newly built space station Gargantua 2 where he was discovered by Doctors Jonas Venture Jr. and Billy Whalen who, after studying and doing experiments on him found he had no pulse, had been horribly irradiated during his time in space, and considered pulling the plug. However, in the midst of the act Treister's pulse started racing and he awoke and introduced himself. He was overjoyed at having his "pee-pee" cancer cured and mistook the doctors as little green Martians. Thinking that he was being hysterical, they tried to sedate him; but only for him to think they were going to probe him and promptly escape with the group pursuing him. Later on, when the force fields around the space station were sabotaged by the Investors, the Ventures decided to find a way to stop the ship from being destroyed by incoming asteroids. Treister, having calmed down, offered to help them out. When Jonas Jr. and he were trying to get to the station's bridge he found out that the diminutive Venture had cancer. Fed up with cancer, Treister began to grow angry and transformed into an actual Hulk, due to the radiation exposure he experienced while floating in space.
With his new powers he aided Jonas Jr. in getting to the bridge and fended off incoming asteroids attacking Rusty and Dean Venture. He later saved the Ventures by ripping off the bridge when the station suffered a meltdown, this allowed Rusty and Dean to be rescued by Brock's group. He was last seen riding on the station as it was piloted by Jonas Jr. into deep space while joyfully exclaiming "Shove it, cancer!!!" before the station exploded, leaving his fate unknown.
Episode Appearances
Season 1
- Mid-Life Chrysalis (mentioned only)
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
- Venture Libre (flashback)
Season 6
Season 7
- Arrears in Science (flashback)
Trivia
- General Treister refers to his condition as "pee-pee cancer."
- He is a fan of the rebooted Battlestar Galactica series, which aired from 2004 - 2009.
- He has unusual taste in codenames.
- Despite Treister's insistance his pacemaker will continue to function long after he has died, the device seems to fail constantly, though is quickly restarted by Treister hitting it several times.
- His appearance and demeanor combines at least three character from Marvel Comics: General Thunderbolt Ross (mustache and gruff attitude), Colonel Nick Fury (eyepatch and uniform), and Iron Man (his artificial heart).
- His southern voice and mannerisms are largely inspired by Colonel Cotton Hill from King of the Hill, whom Toby Huss also voiced for many years.
- In Season 6, he becomes an actual "Hulk" following exposure to gamma rays during his frozen journey through space. Like his inspiration, General Thunderbolt Ross, Treister becomes a Red Hulk.
- From a flashback from Arrears in Science, it's shown that Treister still had both of his eyes at the start of the Pyramid Wars of 1987. To date, it is unknown what caused Treister to lose his eye.