He's the Sheriff

"I'm gonna be a sheriff for a day, This will be good"

"He's the Sheriff" is the 15th episode of the first season of Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart, and the 15th episode overall.

Synopsis
The gang struggles to get rid of the King when he joins them as their new deputy-for-a-day!

Plot
The Sky Pirates are sent flying by the palace, disturbing King Snugglemagne who is trying to enjoy his leisure time. The king orders Quinton to take him outside to investigate, and the lion sees the sheriffs receiving praise and admiration for their heroics. Snugglemagne becomes disheartened that others are receiving more attention than he is, but then devises a plan to change this. He calls Quinton again, and they disappear through a hidden passage.

Outside the town, Mao Mao, Badgerclops and Adorabat are returning home from their mission. The heroes find Snugglemagne sitting on their couch, dressed in a purple cowboy costume. Mao Mao questions the king, who explains that he is going to join the sheriffs before giving them an excessively forceful hug. Snugglemagne calls Quinton, and the group exits the house through a trapdoor underneath the sofa.

They arrive in the middle of town, where Snugglemagne explains that there is a series of hidden passageways throughout the entire kingdom. Badgerclops notices that Cluckins and Farmer Bun are arguing, and Mao Mao leaps into action, sword drawn. The lion king grabs him midair and tells the sheriff that his behavior is inappropriate before forcefully changing the cat's posture into something more welcoming. Mao Mao becomes paralyzed as a result and cannot stop the farmer fight, which ends violently.

King Snugglemagne, satisfied with his "contribution", leaves to find their next adventure. An enraged sheriff calls his deputies together for a team planning hug, and declares that they have to get rid of the king. Adorabat says that they can't fire the lion since he's technically their boss. Badgerclops suggests to make the king's job worse so he simply quits instead. Mao Mao likes this idea and has the group donate their hair, hoping that Snugglemagne loves his royal mane too much to go through with the act. After being shaved completely bald, the trio are shocked to see that the king is actually wearing a wig on top of his actual hair, which the lion donates instead of getting shaved. Enraged, Mao Mao decides to raise the stakes and calls for Quinton, who takes the group through another trapdoor.

On the other side, they arrive to see Pinky stuck in a fence. The cat gives Snugglemagne a tub of butter and tells him to grease up Pinky so they can push him out. Disgusted, the king asks if this is a regular occurrence, and Adorabat sighs that they have to do this daily. Mao Mao thinks that the lion will finally give up, but is proven wrong again: although initially disgusted, Snugglemage becomes delighted when he sees that the butter has made his hands softer than before. Having failed again, the heroes help Snugglemagne finish the job and push Pinky out of the fence. Pinky farts and the horrendous odor causes the heroes to recoil in disgust. The king, however, is unaffected due to his thick amount of royal cologne and shoves Pinky again. The rhinoceros is set free and flies into the trio, who land in the container of butter, slides down the hill, and crashes.

Badgerclops expresses frustration that even Pinky's farts cannot get rid of the king. Mao Mao notices that Penny and Benny are having a picnic in the middle of the road, blissfully unaware of Slim Pigguns approaching in his monster truck. Snugglemagne catches up with the group, but instead of helping, sits down and joins the road picnic. Mao Mao repeatedly tries to get the picnic goers to move, only for Pigguns to run over everyone except the king. Mao Mao finally loses his patience and yells at the king, calling him a spoiled brat for never doing anything by himself and firing the lion. King Snugglemagne breaks down into tears and runs away, leaving Mao Mao to wonder if he went too far.

Suddenly, the Sky Pirates return from a completely unrelated off-screen adventure, gloating how they have once again stolen the Aero-cycle. Boss Hosstrich fires rockingchairs at the trio, trapping them as the villains leave with the stolen bike. Mao Mao and company manage to break free, but the black cat decides that the pirates have gotten too much of a head start to simply chase after them. Mao Mao seeks out the king, hoping to use his secret tunnels to catch up to the pirates, and finds the lion crying in some bushes. Convincing him to help, the group once again disappear into a trapdoor.

Back in town, the pirates have managed to run into a dead end alley. Mao Mao and friends emerge from Snugglemagne's tunnels, trapping the pirates. Orangusnake threatens to smash the aero-cycle, but Badgerclops warns that the Gem Cell inside will explode and kill everyone there. The two groups decide they have reached an impasse before King Snugglemagne challenges the pirates to a "manners duel". Boss Hosstrich accepts, and the two fight for the aero-cycle in an overly dramatic competition to see who can be more polite.

Snugglemagne manages to win, and Boss Hosstrich hands over the bike, much to the anger of the other pirates who proceed to beat the bird up. Snugglemagne and Mao Mao apologize to each other, and Adorabat asks if the king plans on continuing to serve in the sheriff's department. The king states that he will not, because the job is too disgusting for his taste. The Sky Pirates regroup and try to attack Snugglemagne, but are sent down a trapdoor and into the dumps. The King declares that his work is done before posing dramatically, ending the episode.

Characters

 * Adorabat
 * Badgerclops
 * Boss Hosstrich
 * Cluckins
 * Farmer Bun
 * King Snugglemagne
 * Mao Mao
 * Orangusnake
 * Penny
 * Pinky
 * Quinton
 * Ratarang
 * Slim Pigguns

Locations

 * Pure Heart Valley
 * Sheriff Headquarters

Trivia

 * When the episode first aired on television, the theme song's vocals were removed, likely due to an error.
 * When Vic shaved Badgerclops' fur off he has no brown patches just no fur. This is a possible allusion or a reference to Bearclops, Badgerclops' original design before MMHOPH premiered on Cartoon Network.

International premieres

 * March 22, 2020 (Poland)