gladys the hippo lady is a large, sunglasses-wearing, stretch pants sporting hippopotamus with whom rocko would often collide in season 1 episodes and get in her way. she would utter her catchphrase, "how dare you!" at this juncture, which is always in a deep, manly voice, in total contrast to her unnerving high-pitched voice. in the season 4 episode, "dumbbells", she drags rocko on a "ding-dong ditch" frenzy after catching rocko, heffer, and filburt trying to pull the prank on her and finds it hilarious. in her first episode on the beach, she was briefly very apologetic to rocko when she asked him to help her apply sunscreen.