Here is a list of characters who appear in My Little Goat.
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Mother Goat
- Voiced by: Kaori Yamashita
The loving Struggling Single Mother of the Goat family that lives deep in the forest. She leaves her seven children at home whenever she has to run errands or go food shopping. Before she leaves, she always warns her beloved about the The Big Bad Wolf prowling, and never open the door in her absence.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: While Mother Goat was always worried and upset over her children getting eaten in the original story, this short shows that she's not only extremely paranoid after the events of the story, is mostly depressed over the death of Toruku and extremely emotional during the prologue where she's freeing her children.
- Badass Adorable: Mother Goat still manages to look elegant and beautiful as she's tasering Natsuki's father.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Her children love her, doing their utmost to obey her every instruction, and never make her angry.
- Big Damn Heroes: Mother Goat saves Natsuki and the goat children from his own father by tasering him.
- Cartoony Eyes: Zigzagged; her eyes have visible sclerae like human eyes, but her pupils are rectangular like real goats' pupils.
- Crazy-Prepared: After the events of the original story, she carries a taser in her bag as she's heading off to get some strawberries. At the end of the short, she's seen carrying a bear trap as she leaves the house again.
- Friend to All Children: Like the original story, Mother Goat is a very kind-hearted and caring person. While Natsuki at first doesn't trust her due to living with a pedophilic father and she's taken him to her home, he starts showing signs of truly loving her after she gives him a hug in the beginning of the short. When she later rescues him from his vile father, she fully wins Natsuki's trust.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: She's the only member of the goat family to be fully dressed.
- Furry Female Mane: She's the only member of the goat family that is given hair (or at least goat wool/hair resembling human hair).
- Good Is Not Soft: Mother Goat is a kind considerate soul, but she is a mother who won't hesitate to destroy anyone who threatens her family.
- Good Parents: Like the original story, Mother Goat is very kind-hearted and caring for all of her children. Woe betide anyone who dares molest them.
- Heartbroken Badass: She's clearly heartbroken after realizing Toruku had already been digested by the wolf and couldn't make it in time. She's in denial and decides to treat Natsuki as her firstborn son before accepting by the end of the story. Borders on
The Woobie as by giving Natsuki the coat back, on some fundamental level she cannot accept he's gone. - The Kindnapper: It's an Ambiguous Situation as Mother Goat may or may not have intentionally taken Natsuki away from his abusive father.
- Knight Templar Parent: At the ending, Mother Goat is seen carrying a bear trap to catch and kill any wolves that dare enter the forest. Police helicopters can even be heard unsuccessfully trying to locate Natsuki's father.
- Mama Bear: Be you man or beast, do not ever harm Mother Goat's beloved children. She will straight up end you. Her adaptation takes the original Grimm Fairy Tales character up a notch in that she not only murders the wolf, and kills Natsuki's wicked father, disposing of his body in the river but carries a bear trap in the ending to catch and slay many more wolves, to make the forest safe for her little ones.
- My Beloved Smother: Mother Goat leaves sticky notes around the house instructing the children what not to play with.
- No Name Given: Like in the original fairy tale, her name is not revealed.
- Outliving One's Offspring: A very heartbreaking example. While she managed to rescue six of her children, she isn't able to save Toruku and gets very emotional as she tries to search deeper into the wolf's stomach. She almost breaks down in tears during the process.
- Parents as People: Mother Goat is a doting protective parent, but she cannot be everywhere at once, leaving them vulnerable when she has to go out shopping for her children. She also may or may not be in denial about Toruku's death, which might be why she insists on calling Natsuki "Toruku" even though he's wary of her at first.
- Parental Substitute: For Natsuki, a role she happily fulfills. She even resembles Natsuki's mother that was briefly seen on Natsuki's father's phone.
- Struggling Single Mother: Like in the original story, her husband Father Goat passed away when her children were babies, leaving her to raise them all alone.
- Tranquil Fury: While Mother Goat is never shown angry in the entire film, she is disturbed as she witnesses Natsuki's intruding father preparing to rape his own son, and thrown her children across her house. She lacks any emotion as she disposes of the wicked man's body in the river.
Toruku/Natsuki
- Voiced by: Aimi Fukuhara
One fateful day The Big Bad Wolf managed to break in and devour six of Mother Goat's seven children. She rescues her little goats from a wolf's belly. But her eldest son, Toruku is missing, leaving her distraught. Then one day Mother Goat brings "Toruku" back home telling her kids he was lost in the forest. But how can that be? Wasn't Toruku the first to be eaten alive?
- Animal-Eared Headband: Natsuki is introduced wearing a wool hood with goat ears on it, which makes him resemble Mother Goat's children despite being human. He later gives it to Lecon so it covers up her badly scarred body. By the end of the story, Mother Goat's children are all wearing different animal-eared hoods to show that they're slowly healing from their trauma.
- Cooldown Hug:
- Natsuki is distrustful of Mother Goat, scared of the new home, and tries to leave until she lovingly embraces him. The first real affection he's had in a very long time.
- After Mother Goat saves him from his perverted father, she immediately hugs him as Natsuki is visibly stunned. He quickly hugs Mother Goat back as he starts crying into her chest.
- Cry into Chest: Seconds after Mother Goat saves Natsuki from his father. She drops to her knees to hug and comfort him. Natsuki cries into her chest out of relief, pain, sadness, and fear.
- Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: In his woolly coat except for Lecon, the Goat kids don't distinguish him from Toruku, and he gets the same love by the ending.
- Happily Adopted: Mother Goat dearly loves Natsuki as her own son, naming him Toruku after her deceased first-born, and possibly gifting him with a woolen coat so his siblings would accept him as their elder brother without question. Natsuki, however, is frightened by the strange new house and initially wants nothing to do with the family, at least until he begins empathizing with their anxieties and the goat children stand up for him against his father. Even when she makes animal-themed coats for all her children, she's already given him the goat-woolen one back, evident she wants him to be "her Toruku" and the children's older brother - truly, a mother's love doesn't end, even if the child dies.
- Interspecies Adoption: Mother Goat brings Natsuki, a human boy, to her home, though she insists on calling him "Toruku" after her deceased first-born son. By the end of the short, Natsuki accepts the goats are his true family.
- I Want My Mommy!: Understandably begins screaming for his mother once his own father attempts to sexually assault him.
- Jerkass Realization: Aware he accidentally caused the eldest daughter Lecon to relive her trauma, Natsuki, instead of leaving, comforts her and gives her his wooly coat that she remarked earlier was beautiful.
- Missing Mom: Natsuki's father's phone has a picture of the boy and a woman who is presumably his mother, though it's implied she's deceased leaving him prey to his abusive father.
- Replacement Goldfish: He's a human taking Toruku's place in the Goat family. The Reveal that he's not Toruku means nothing to Mother Goat, he's already 'her Toruku'.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Natsuki in his wooly coat. His tuggable ears even move and bounce when he's surprised.
- Troubled Child: A victim of abuse, he doesn't smile or fully trust the Goat Family until the end when they protect him.
- The Voiceless: Natsuki is the only character who doesn't speak... at least until his father tries to molest him, which makes him call out "Mama!" three times in desperation. He's also heard crying after Mother Goat hugs him after she prevents his father from raping him.
- You Can't Go Home Again: As Mother Goat has unknowingly or knowingly adopted him, he can't ever return to his human home. Not that it was safe there with his father ever since his biological mother passed away.
The Six Goat Children
Mother Goat's children. note
- Voiced by: Kaori Yamashita, Mizuho Misato and Aimi Fukuhara
Despite their Mother's daily warnings, the Goat children were deceived by the The Big Bad Wolf pretending to be her, and foolishly allowed him entry. All but the youngest Goat child were devoured. Mother Goat arrives home later to be confronted by the unthinkable. She and her youngest son soon find the Wolf, cutting open his belly to free her children, who are alive, but not unharmed.
- Affectionate Nickname: The goat kids all call Toruku "Toru-oniichan"; 'oni/ani' means elder brother, and "chan" is a term of endearment used for young children or siblings within Japanese honorific prefixes.
- An Arm and a Leg: Lecon's injuries were so severe she lost part of her left arm (hoof), though it doesn't seem to stop her picking up things.
- Animal Species Accent: The kids tend to baa in their speech, notably Lecon who talks in a shaky tone compared to the other siblings.
- Badass Family: We see a glimpse of what they're gradually becoming, in standing up to a wolf and their fears, even though they're just children.
- Beware the Nice Ones: They're sweet timid little ones, but even they were horrified by what Natsuki's father was doing and angrily stood up to him.
- Cartoony Eyes: Zigzagged with the kids; their eyes have visible sclerae like human eyes do, but their pupils are rectangular like real goats' pupils.
- Combining Mecha: In an effort to fight off Natsuki's dad, the six little kids form one, with the eldest sister making up their head. They are overpowered, but it does buy precious time for Mother Goat to return.
- Creepy Good: Chemical burning has left them horrifically scarred to the point that Natsuki is scared of them and one of them breaks down upon seeing her own reflection, but they're not bad at all.
- Disappeared Dad: There's no sign of Father Goat, leaving the children vulnerable on their own when their mother has to head out. Like the original story, it's implied that her husband passed away at an unknown period.
- Disapproving Look: The youngest goat kid Nono gives this to Natsuki, who wanted to escape and traumatized Lecon by accident.
- The Dividual: Lecon, Nono and Mell speak for themselves, but it's not easy to distinguish some of the cute Goat siblings apart from each other in the animation short, especially as their injuries begin healing in the ending and all wearing animal-themed coats. They are all named in the credits and
Word of God provided the reference
◊. - The Dog Bites Back: Mother Goat's children stand up to the The Big Bad Wolf, but not the same wolf you're thinking of.
- Facial Horror: The poor goat children (save Nono who was undetected) all are scarred from their sojourn in the wolf's belly. Eldest daughter Lecon suffered the worst of this (not counting Toruku who died), as her left eye is damaged along with having a missing left hoof, horn, and most of her wool burned off (Jog escaped with minimum injury). By the short's ending with new animal coats Mother made for them, the children no longer feel ashamed of themselves for being victims of abuse, their injuries healing. Lecon's and Cocoa's damaged left eyes have recovered to merely being lazy eyes, and don't allow what the wolf did to define them.
- Genki Girl: Mother Goat's youngest daughter Mell is the largest child and also the most excitable.
- The Ghost: The eldest son Toruku is frequently mentioned but never seen, as he died before the short's beginning. Natsuki is taking his place in the goat family.
- Hyper-Awareness: Lecon the eldest daughter doesn't miss the smallest detail, from realizing the child Mother calls "Toruku" can't possibly be her elder brother as his woollen coat is pristine, to immediately later noticing Natsuki is a victim of abuse by his arms alone.
- The Leader: Lecon being the surviving eldest child, also making up the head in the kids Combining Mecha.
- Mirror Scare: The eldest daughter, Lecon, gets an absolutely heart-wrenching scare from the sight of her own burned and scarred reflection when Natsuki accidentally flips the mirror over in his escape attempt. At first she screams thinking she's seeing a monster, but she quickly breaks down into slobbering tears realizing the "monster" is her own disfigured body.
- No Name Given: Apart from the eldest son Toruku, none of the other little Goat kids seem to have names in the story, yet the credits reveal all of are named.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The goat kids are quite strong, each being able to overpower Natsuki who tried to leave and formed a Combining Mecha to fight off his predator father.
- Properly Paranoid: Subverted. Lecon was right to suspect Natsuki wasn't her elder brother, but misguided in the belief he was yet another trick of the Wolf.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Mother Goat's children (and Natsuki) are just adorable little fluff ball angels.
- Rule of Symbolism: The animal/bug-themed coats Mother made for the children in the end are a reference to either masking and/or overcoming their trauma so that they no longer feel pain or disgust about themselves. In the former's case it was because eldest daughter Lecon couldn't understand how Natsuki's wool looked so beautiful; in fact, they were abused and she later saw how scarred and bruised-up his body really was.
- Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: Amusingly, in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, Jog keeps the phone belonging Natsuki's father to play with at the ending.
- When She Smiles: Lecon is seen smiling at Natsuki after her mother and her other siblings are comforting him after Mother Goat tasers his father. That moment is very sweet since she was mostly bitter and cynical at Natsuki due to being stuck in the wolf's stomach the longest.
- You Leave Him Alone!: Horrified that Natsuki's abusive father intends to rape him yet again, the goat children baa angrily at him before attacking.
- Youngest Child Wins: Like in the original fairy tale, Nono avoids the wolf's detection by hiding in the grandfather clock. Subverted later, when he's the first to get knocked out by Natsuki's evil pedophile father.
- Your Favorite: Toruku loved strawberries, and so Mother Goat insists on getting Natsuki some.
Natsuki's father
- Voiced by: Tomoki Misato
Even though Mother disposed of the The Big Bad Wolf days ago, the Goat children still live in fear. They all panic when someone is lurking outside thinking he has returned, but this is a human father who has appeared in their home and is looking for his lost son. He's no wolf...is he?
- Abusive Parents: Natsuki's father, of one of the worst kind; he seems relieved to have found Natsuki at first, but it's quickly revealed that he intends to molest Natsuki and it's implied that he's done it before. He even turns into a wolf to symbolize how he's giving in to his darkest urges.
- Determinator: The guy has no shame, tracking down his disappeared son's location in the deepest wood, and attempting to rape him in the very presence of the six goat children.
- Dog Got Sent to a Farm: Whereas in the original story Mother Goat's children all see The Big Bad Wolf's demise And There Was Much Rejoicing from the family, she doesn't show her son Natsuki his wicked father being disposed of, as the abused child has been through enough turmoil as is.
- Faux Affably Evil: At first seems to act like a concerned father looking for his son, only to quickly toss his apparent concern aside and starts trying to molest Natsuki.
- Hate Sink: Abusing your own son, physically and sexually? Yeah, you know the audience is supposed to hate you with every fiber of their being.
- Karmic Death: Both The Big Bad Wolf and Natsuki's depraved father are slain by Mother Goat for preying on her family.
- Never Found the Body: In the ending police helicopters can be heard unsuccessfully trying to locate the remains of him Mother Goat dumped in a river, oblivious to what transpired earlier.
- No Name Given: His name is not revealed, but he calls his biological son by his birthname, confirming they're not Toruku.
- Pædo Hunt: Turns out his love for his little son isn't the good normal paternal love, but a sickening perverted lust.
- Papa Wolf: Subverted. At first impression it appears as though Natsuki's dad loves his son, searching everywhere for him when he disappeared. Unlike Mother Goat, his however is a warped and twisted love, to say the least.
- Parental Incest: The big twist of the short. Natsuki's father's love for his son isn't a parental one, and he attempts to molest Natsuki right in the middle of Mother Goat's house and in front of the goat kids. It's heavily implied that he's done so before, too.
- Rule of Symbolism: The obvious one in the climax, Natsuki's father turning into a wolf as he molests him, is one indicating that the man is just as dangerous and abusive as The Big Bad Wolf the goats previously encountered despite looking meek and normal. This is especially apparent with how he changes from wolf to human and back again whenever the camera cuts away and then back to him.
- Walking Spoiler: It's almost impossible to discuss the role of Natsuki's dad in the story without revealing that he most certainly does not have his son's best interests in mind.
- Would Hurt a Child: He assaults Mother Goat's children in their own home who tried to protect Natsuki from him. Needless to say, Mother Goat arrives back and is not happy.
The Big Bad Wolf
There's a good reason why Mother Goat forbids her children to wander outdoors in her absence. And he's not the only wolf either.
- Asshole Victim: The wolf is portrayed as monstrous for preying upon children, Mother Goat destroys him in the story's beginning for inflicting so much pain on the family and taking the life of her eldest child away.
- Balloon Belly: Has a huge stomach after eating six of the seven goat kids.
- Big Eater: The wolf in the prologue devours six of Mother Goat's seven little kids. The eldest Toruku, tragically doesn't survive.
- Getting Eaten Is Harmless: Horrifyingly and realistically averted, unlike the original story which played the trope straight. Any child eaten serves as an allegory for sexual abuse. While most of the goat kids were saved by their mother, they all have various injuries and trauma from the experience. The acid burns take the course of the animated film to slowly heal from. Toruku, who was eaten first, was already dead and gone by the time rescue came.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Like in the story, the wolf managed to deceive the goat children into thinking their mother was at the door. This makes Lecon Properly Paranoid afterward believing just about everything is a trick of the wolf.
- Posthumous Character: He's only alive for the first 54 seconds of the short.
- Sapient Eat Sapient: Subverted. The wolf is portrayed as nothing more than an animalistic dangerous predator. The same also applies to Natsuki's father who transforms into a wolf, having given into his darkest vilest impulses.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He's only alive for the first 54 seconds of the short, but causes Mother Goat to become extremely paranoid and traumatized five of her children that almost got eaten.
- The Voiceless: Unlike the original story, the wolf only roars, snarls and growls, but never once speaks.
