Officer Higgins
Officer Higgins is a hippo and a ZPD officer assigned to Precinct 1 in We Can Fix Pawbert. He is frequently partnered with Bloats, another hippo officer, and the two are known for their formidable combined presence in tactical operations.
Background
Higgins serves as a patrol officer at Precinct 1. His partnership with Bloats makes them an imposing pair — when they move together, their combined mass makes them nearly unstoppable in breach and close-quarters scenarios.
Series History
Zootopia
Higgins first appears at the Precinct 1 bullpen on Judy Hopps's first day, announcing Chief Bogo's entrance. He is assigned to a Tundratown case alongside Snarlov and Trunkaby. He later arrives at the Natural History Museum with the ZPD to arrest Bellwether. When Clawhauser returns to his front desk position, Higgins and Krumpanski welcome him back with boxes of donuts. During Nick Wilde's first day on the force, Higgins is assigned to an undercover mission and is seen putting on a disguise consisting of only a fake mustache.
Zootopia 2
Higgins and Bloats join in the chase of Antony Snootley at the start of the film, getting covered in spikes during the chaos. After Bogo assigns Judy and Nick to Partners in Crisis therapy, Higgins laughs at the two rookies in the lobby. He later arrives at the Zootennial Gala to rescue Bogo, helping lift him onto a gurney and turning to block a news camera from filming the treatment. Higgins pursues Judy, Nick, and Gary through Marsh Market, where he and Bloats gain on them before Nibbles Maplestick intervenes. In Sahara Square, Higgins accidentally bumps into Captain Hoggbottom as she hesitates to fire a lethal dart at Judy, causing her to pull the trigger — Flash Slothmore arrives just in time to block the shot. When the ZPD raids the weather wall control room, Gary fights off Higgins and the other officers before the truth about the Lynxley framing is revealed. Higgins helps arrest the Lynxley family and later watches Judy and Nick receive their awards.
Season 3
S03E06 "Dead or Alive"
Higgins is at his desk in the Precinct 1 bullpen on the night of the prison breach when Lionheart's hijacked broadcast fills every monitor in the room. He is the first officer on his feet, shouting at Clawhauser to cut the feed and get the lion off their screens — and the answer is that they cannot, because Lionheart is inside the emergency alert backbone and the department is locked out of its own system.
S03E08 "A Wanted Mammal"
Higgins assists in identifying and apprehending paid agitators during the City Hall plaza operation against Lionheart's manufactured crowd. He recognizes a pangolin with a bullhorn from a previous protest-for-hire operation, leading to the agitator's immediate surrender.
Season 4
S04E19 "Operational Surprise"
Higgins and Bloats are called in for mandatory weekend compliance training at Precinct 1. The two occupy the back row of the conference room — Higgins appears to be asleep with his eyes open while the marmot trainer drones through bureaucratic protocols.
Season 5
S05E21 "Final Position"
During the final assault on Icener's position, Higgins and Bloats serve on the eastern assault team alongside Fru Fru's polar bears and other ZPD officers. They operate as living battering rams, hitting the first barricade together and disintegrating it completely. When an arctic fox operative tries to reposition in the wreckage, Higgins swats him aside without breaking stride.
W-Series
What If
The What-If episodes are alternate timelines and do not affect the main continuity.
In "What If... the Weakest Lynx Chose Differently?", Higgins is one of four officers who reach the weather wall control room after Pawbert stops. He and Bloats come through the door at a run with their weapons up, having spent half a day chasing Judy and Nick across the city at the Lynxley family's direction, and what they find is a rabbit and a lynx sitting on the floor with a pit viper coiled between them for warmth. Higgins is the first to raise his weapon and the last to lower it. He starts to object about the snake, and Judy cuts him off and sends him for blankets instead. He holsters, secures the stairwell for the medics, and lends her his radio when she calls Captain Hoggbottom to hand over Lynxley Manor.
Key Relationships
Officer Bloats
Higgins and Bloats are constant partners, frequently operating as a coordinated pair. Their mutual understanding during tactical operations makes them highly effective — they check each other's vest straps before operations and move in sync during breaches.