“ | Then I shot him, and stabbed him, and stole all his gold, and tried on his face, while his body turned cold. | „ |
~ A lyric from one of Silicon Red's folk songs. |
Silicon Red is a minor antagonist in Futurama, only appearing in the episode "Forty Percent Leadbelly". He is a renowned criminal, who did time in the galaxy penitentiary. However, he is mostly known for being the greatest folk singer in the universe.
He was voiced by Phil LaMarr.
Biography[]
In "Forty Percent Leadbelly", Silicon Red was released from prison after a long sentence. When he got out, he was given back all his possessions, which included his wallet, guitar, and murder weapon. Bender spotted him there and was excited to see him, as he idolized him as both a folk singer and a criminal. Bender chased after him to get his autograph, leaving Fry behind with the embalmed body of Dr. Brutalov, which later thawed out and attacked him.
Bender went to see Silicon Red, while the latter was in the middle of coming up with a new folk song, inspired by the crimes he caused that led to his arrest. In the song, Silicon Red detailed how he shot and stabbed a man to death and then proceeded to steal his gold. Also implied by the song, it's suggested that to add insult to injury, Silicon Red had also worn his victim's face like a mask. Bender entered and applauded Silicon Red's musical ability and struck up a conversation with him. Bender asked if he could take his guitar, (which Red referred to as "Old Salmonella"). Silicon Red told Bender that he would never allow anyone to take his guitar and joked that he should kill him just for asking. Red detailed how he "met" Old Salmonella when he was in an old Mississippi chain gang. Silicon Red and Old Salmonella had been through thirty odd convictions together. Bender tried to snatch the guitar from him and Red pointed a gun at him. Bender said that he was just going to duplicate the guitar and took a photo of it. Red laughed at Bender and said that there was no possible way Bender would be able to copy his guitar, not even with all the fancy new technology of the 3000's. However, Silicon Red was sorely wrong about this, as this is exactly what Bender did next, making a 3-D copy of Old Salmonella and using her for himself.
At T.G.I. Folky's, Silicon Red got ready to perform a song before Bender came up and immediately cut his performance short to do his own song, which he called "The Ballad of Me (Ramblin' Rodriquez)". Sadly, Bender was booed offstage and Red told him that his song lacked sincerity, given that he never actually experienced the fictional story told in his song. Red told him to get off the stage and leave. He also reminded Bender to not get himself sent to prison, as that was his schtick.
At the end of the episode, a 3D printer copy of Bender was killed by Big Caboose and Silicon Red sang at his funeral, with an original song that detailed his story, only for the real Bender to bust in, singing his song that explained how Big Caboose killed his copy instead of himself. Surprised, Silicon Red finally admitted to the greatness of Bender and agreed to do a duet with him. The duo went to The Wong Hotel/Casino and did a rap song about the events of their story together.
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