''Kiroileva siili'' ( Finnish for "the swearing hedgehog") is a

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

written and drawn by Finnish artist Milla Paloniemi originally from

Jalasjärvi Jalasjärvi is a former municipality of Finland. It was merged to the town of Kurikka on 1 January 2016. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Jalasjärvi was (30 June ...

. The strip stars a hedgehog, who is aggressive and prone to

profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

, and the last panel of the strip is usually abundant with swearwords. The strip received attention when it was featured in the ''

Ilta-Sanomat ''Ilta-Sanomat'' () is one of Finland's two prominent tabloid size evening newspaper and the second largest paper in the country. Its counterpart and biggest rival is ''Iltalehti''. According to the National Media Research done in 2019 ''Ilta- ...

'' newspaper in January 2007, which caused the self-published album ''Kiroileva siili'' to rise as the top-selling comic album of the

Academic Bookstore The Academic Bookstore (Finnish: , Swedish: ) is a Finnish chain of bookstores. It has both physical outlets as well as an online presence. Stockmann sold the chain in 2015 to Bonnier Group. Originally founded as an independent chain, it was bou ...

. In February 2007, the publishing company Sammakko published a hardcover collection of ''Kiroileva siili'' strips, which rose to the most-sold book in Finland for the entire spring. At the Kemi comics days in 2007, Milla Paloniemi was awarded the Strippi-Lempi award for her comic ''Kiroileva siili''. In 2008, the strip won its first Comics Finlandia prize.HS: Kiroilevalle siilille ensimmäinen Sarjakuva-Finlandia
20 April 2008,

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

. Accessed on 20 April 2008.

Characters

*The swearing hedgehog: The titular character, who swears practically the entire time. The swearing hedgehog is in love with the girl hedgehog and shows this in his own way. A fox ate his father, when he was a few weeks old. This hedgehog's family is from Ostrobothnia, and the hedgehogs speak in the

South Ostrobothnian dialect South Ostrobothnian dialect ( fi, Etelä-Pohjanmaan murre) is a Western Finnish dialect. It is traditionally spoken in the region of South Ostrobothnia and parts of Coastal Ostrobothnia. The South Ostrobothnian dialect has many features that are ...

. *The girl hedgehog: A resourceful female hedgehog whom the swearing hedgehog is in love with. The girl hedgehog thinks the swearing hedgehog is cute when he's angry. *The city hedgehog: The city hedgehog lives in the city and eats mainly

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

. He doesn't eat worms. The city hedgehog is also constantly smoking. The swearing hedgehog and the city hedgehog met when the swearing hedgehog ended up in the city. *Grandma hedgehog: The swearing hedgehog's grandmother. The grandma hedgehog has only few spikes and no teeth left, but she defends herself with a puukko knife. Only the grandma hedgehog can make the swearing hedgehog silent. She is the absolute boss of the hedgehog family. *Antti: The swearing hedgehog's friend. Antti is an Egyptian long-eared hedgehog and lives as a pet in the same house as the swearing hedgehog. Antti alternates between idolizing and annoying the swearing hedgehog. Antti doesn't understand much of the world and tends to forget things, including forgetting that he is a hedgehog. *The small hedgehog: The small hedgehog is Antti's friend and lives as a pet in the same house. The small hedgehog is an African dwarf hedgehog.

Publications

* ''Kiroileva siili'', web comic, from 2003 on * ''Kiroileva siili'', wall calendar, 2005 * ''Kiroileva siili'', self-published, 2005 (photocopied album sold at the

Helsinki comics festival Helsinki Comics Festival is an annual free cultural event in Helsinki, Finland. It has become the largest comics event in North-Europe. The festival is typically held in early September. The festival has been organized by the Finnish Comics Socie ...

) * ''Kiroileva siili'', self-published, 2006 * ''Kiroileva siili'', Sammakko, 2007

References

External links

Official siteA Finnish comics phenomenon
Fictional hedgehogs Finnish comic strips