Big-Hearted Bigfoot

Not so abominable.

Bigfoot: We go everywhere together, I even come to school,

Moon: All those nonbelievers now think I'm really cool.

— The Great North

Depending on how supernatural their preexisting lore is, most portrayals of cryptids or other creatures of folklore usually portray them as wild animals at best, malevolent beings at worst. Lake monsters are generally imagined as crocodilian ambush hunters, dragging unwary victims into murky, black depths. The Chupacabras are vampyric apex predators, laying waste to livestock and any human farmers that get between them and viable prey. Other cryptids have equally monstrous portrayals, both in their traditional lore and in fiction.

The one exception to this trend, for some reason, is Bigfoot/Sasquatch, who is very frequently portrayed as being the Token Good Teammate of the cryptid ensemble. Bigfoot might befriend lost and injured people in the woods and guide them to civilization, fight against the evil poachers destroying their land, or even actively converse with humans. If a story features multiple cryptids or monsters, Bigfoot has a tendency to be portrayed as one of the least hostile of them.

In many cases, such a Bigfoot is usually the last of their kind, making them even more of a sympathetic figure. Part of this may be due to the resemblance of Bigfoot to a bipedal gorilla; as gorillas have received a great PR boost in recent decades with more research into their societies, it stands to reason that a Gentle Giant Bigfoot might seem more true-to-life than a dangerous, homicidal one.

Still, this isn't to say benevolent Bigfoot are always helpless. If the story features an actual antagonist, expect the big ape to help save the day by putting that power and brawn to use saving their protagonist friends and stopping the villain in a Big Damn Heroes finale.

Note that this depiction less commonly extends to the Yeti/Abominable Snowman, who is still often portrayed as a fierce, dangerous creature of the frozen wastes and the Unpleasant Animal Counterpart to Bigfoot; exceptions are still quite common though, especially in recent years.

A Sub-Trope of Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti and Silly Simian.

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Examples:

Advertising

• Arguably, the Bigfoot in the Jack Link's "Messin' with Sasquatch" ads could count, as he is initially perfectly willing to interact with others in a friendly and gentle fashion. It's only when cruel pranks are played on him that he turns mean. And that just goes to show that you shouldn't Bully a Sasquatch.

Comic Books

• Played with in Tintin Tintin In Tibet , where at the end, it's revealed that Tintin's friend Chang (for whom he has been searching) was rescued by a yeti after the former's plane crashed in Tibet. But although the yeti is shown to be compassionate and nurses Chang back to health, he's still only an intelligent animal (like an actual ape) and fails to grasp that Chang can't survive in the frigid mountains and needs to return to civilization, thus he becomes possessive of the young boy and carries him further into the mountains King Kong-style after the rescue party arrives, forcing Tintin and Haddock to have to rescue Chang at the climax.
• In Wynonna Earp: The Yeti Wars, the bad guys have evil flesh eating yeti guarding their base, so the Black Badges recruit a group of heroic bigfoots to aid them in their assault.

Fan Works

• The Amalgam'verse has a version of King Kong very heavily based on the Monsterverse version. Effectively a kaiju sized Sasquatch, he's the protector of the Iwi people and later becomes the Mentor Archetype to Godzilla Junior.

Films — Animation

• Abominable is about a young yeti lost in Shanghai, who befriends a girl named Yi who helps return them to their home in Mount Everest. The yeti, who is nicknamed Everest, is playful and possesses magical powers over nature.
• Abominable Christmas: The three main characters are a yeti father and his two children, Abbey and Adam. The dad is definitely a Papa Wolf to Abbey and Adam, the latter of whom are quite friendly.
• Missing Link: The film is all about a friendly Sasquatch, the Last of His Kind, who befriends an intrepid explorer in order to visit his distant cousins, the Yetis, in Shangri-la. As it turns out, his cousins aren't so friendly. By contrast, Nessie - who appears in the Action Prologue - is portrayed as an unfriendly Prehistoric Monster.
• Monsters, Inc.: The Abominable Snowman is portrayed as a monster who got exiled from Monstropolis and thrown into the human world, hiding in the Himalayas. He's very friendly with his fellow monsters Sulley and Mike, bringing them to his cave to avoid a snowstorm and offering them some snow cones. He also makes mention of Bigfoot, who is his best friend and fellow exile.
  Abominable Snowman: Abominable! Can you believe that? Do I look abominable to you? Why can't they call me the Adorable Snowman, or the Agreeable Snowman, for crying out loud? I'm a nice guy.
• Although the Abominable Snowman (later renamed Bumble) is an antagonist in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), he returns as a supporting protagonist in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys.
• Smallfoot: The main characters are a tribe of yetis who live in complete isolation from the human world, to the point that they consider humans a myth (the titular "smallfoot"). Although the yetis are friendly, the humans cannot understand them and consider them dangerous, which is why they were driven away to the mountains. In the end, the two species make contact and become friends.
• The Son of Bigfoot has the title character's father, who was a scientist experiencing the effects of an experimental hair-growth serum, which also gave him the ability to run really fast and talk to animals.

Films — Live-Action

• Downplayed in The Abominable Snowman. This movie's yetis aren't exactly friendly, but the movie still presents them in a basically benevolent light, implying they may even be a Superior Species to humanity, whose failings - and self-destructive tendencies - make their shyness seem pretty reasonable. Encountering a yeti is presented as almost a religious experience.
• In contrast to The Legend of Boggy Creek presenting a menacing swamp beast, the sequels take this route.
  • Return to Boggy Creek has the menacing "Big Bay-Ty" as a feared creature haunting the bottomlands off Boggy Creek. The trio of children are initially terrified of the creature, as rumor has it the beast killed their father. They later discover this wasn't the case and their father's death was from snake bite and the creature tried to save him. Big Bay-Ty later comes to their rescue after they are caught in the swamp during a hurricane, carrying their boat to safety.
  • Boggy Creek 2: And the Legend Continues goes the Monster Is a Mommy route, with the Sasquatch-like Fouke Monster only menacing some people because a man has captured her child and she was whipped into a frenzy. Once the two monsters are reunited, the man sees the error of his ways and accepts that the creature is a part of nature and should be left alone.
• Harry and the Hendersons: Harry may well be the Trope Codifier, a gentle and strong Bigfoot who learns to protect the Henderson family, refuses to kill any animal other than fish, and is far more intelligent than expected.
• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has a trio of heroic yetis living in Shangri-la, working alongside the good guys, where they rescued Zi Yuan after she was mortally wounded by the Emperor centuries ago and brought her to the pool of immortality to heal her. Later on, the same yetis assist the heroes in defending Shangri-la from the Emperor and his minions.
• Letters from the Big Man: The titular "Big Man" is either an entirely peaceful animal or a benevolent spirit of the forest, who befriends an artist. The filmmakers specifically made the movie to reflect the many reports of peaceful bigfoots in contrary to the overabundance of horror films.
• Dawn of the Beast (2021) has a very menacing looking Sasquatch attack a man in the opening before dragging him off, later doing to the same to one of the main cast. The Reveal shows it was just incapacitating them to get them out of there, as the Wendigo it was protecting them from was close. The same Sasquatch is implied to be a Guardian Entity trying to keep the wendigo contained.
• The Monsterverse version of Kong. Instead of a scaled-up gorilla, this version is fully bipedal, has a more brownish coloration, uses tools and weapons, and sports facial hair; making him much more of a kaiju sized sasquatch.
  • In his debut film, Kong: Skull Island, a teenage Kong does attack the helicopter squadron; but only after they repeatedly bomb his island and endanger its wildlife and people. Without being provoked, he and his late parents function as the benevolent protectors of the Iwi people and native wildlife. Despite the prior provocation, he still goes out of his way to protect the survivors from the malicious Skull Crawlers.
  • In Godzilla vs. Kong, an older and more experienced Kong is the more heroic side of the Good vs. Good conflict. He functions as the protector and guide to the Hollow Earth expedition and as the guardian of the Cute Mute Iwi girl, Jia. Despite his species' ancestral rivalry with Godzilla's kind and the King of the Monsters having beaten him down prior when Kong unwittingly interfered with his quest to stop Mechagodzilla, Kong still complies with Jia's plea to help Godzilla defeat the mecha; complete with a Big Damn Heroes moment!
• Monstrous (2020) also manages this trope within a horror film. A cabin owned by main heroine Silva's lover, Alex, is besieged by a very menacing looking Sasquatch that's only kept at bay by a sonic barrier. It even kidnaps Silva's friend while he was in-route to the cabin, and yanks Silva through a window. The Reveal however is that Alex is a serial killer. The Sasquatch was aware of this and was trying to protect Silva and her friends. And as soon as the sonic barrier keeping it away was down, it comes rushing in to kill Alex to save Silva, whom he carries to her friends, before peacefully departing into the woods.
• Star Wars: The Wookiees are essentially this Recycled In Space. A species of arboreal humanoids averaging over two meters tall and covered in shaggy fur, they're normally Gentle Giants with the demeanor of a Big Friendly Dog... unless you piss them off, at which juncture their Proud Warrior Race tendencies come to light: they have a reputation for tearing people's arms out of their sockets.
• As part of JB's Mushroom Samba in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, he envisions himself as the son of the Sasquatch (played by John C. Reilly). Sasquatch is portrayed as a doting and protective father, and carries JB on his back as he flies through the air.

Literature

• The Berenstain Bears: Bigpaw is the bear equivalent of Bigfoot. Despite being said to be a monster who will "gobble up Bear Country county by county", Brother and Sister discover he's a Gentle Giant after he saves them from a fall, and they convince everyone else that he means no harm.
• Invoked before being viciously subverted in Devolution. Vincent, Bobbi, Reinhardt, and Carmen all believe they may be able to live peacefully with the sasquatch group, with Vincent even being so convinced of their innate goodness that he decides to communicate with them via knocking. Park ranger Josephine notes that there's no evidence this would have helped and may have even been interpreted as a sign of aggression. As a result, the sasquatch tear Vincent apart and use him as bait ultimately killing the entire group, except possibly Palomino and Kate.
• The Dresden Files:
  • The Forest People (as they prefer to be called), despite their tremendous physical prowess and great mystical powers, as a rule are a peaceful and empathic race who simply prefer to live isolationist nomadic life style in appreciation of the forests and nature. If forced into confrontation their primary response is to make a big display of power in the hopes of scaring their opponents away, and will resort to violence as a last option. Harry's ally and friend River Shoulders is one of the series most peaceful, wise and empathetic beings, as well as also being the former Mentor of Senior Council Member Joseph Listens-To-Wind.
  • However, there are exceptions, specifically known as the "Genoskwa", members who chose "the war path" and show a savage hatred for others, especially humans. Recurring antagonist Blood on his Soul is a particularly fanatical follower of this philosophy and an utterly monstrous sadist. The most infamous Genoskwa of all, however, was the Grendel, described by River Shoulders as so "consumed with hatred" that he managed to walk across the frozen wastelands to find a new land of unprepared humans to slaughter. The Forest People still consider him a great source of shame even a thousand years after his demise.
  • Utterly inverted by the Grendelkin, a monstrous subspecies of Forest People hybrids created by the Grendel raping countless human women. Each member strives to carry on the Grendel's monstrous habits of slaughter and rape (they reproduce by kidnapping and raping human virgins, the child bursting out its mother on birth killing her) as well as eating humans, to the point that the Einherjar and the Valkyries consider it one of their missions to rid the world of these monsters (with many Einherjar getting their status by dying in battle against them when they were human).
• InCryptid: Bigfoots and Sasquatches are a pair of closely-related cryptid species. With extra-large shoes and enough hair-removal products they can both pass themselves off as humans and find it funny to trick bigfoot hunters into chasing the other group.
• Little Critter: The equivalent, Bigpaw, is the subject to many of Little Critter's fears when he goes camping with his father in Just Me and My Dad. Though father and son come to the conclusion there's no such thing as Bigpaw and Little Critter has nothing to be afraid of, the real Bigpaw silently moves past their tent after dark. But contrary to the tales about him, the big fella is just another harmless animal of the wilderness who just enjoys a bag of chips they brought before leaving them to a good night's sleep.
• Mr. Men: Near the end of Adventure With Monsters, Mr. Jelly comes across a Bigfoot who ends up getting scared by Mr. Jelly being inside his boot. This is what clues Mr. Jelly onto the fact that the monsters are actually friendly and wanted to have tea with the Mr. Men and Little Misses.
• In Princess Between Worlds Annie meets a yeti named Mara who mistakes her for a yeti child. She takes good care of Annie until Annie reveals herself to be human, and then returns her to where they first met. She exchanges gifts with Annie before leaving Annie to go back to the other yetis. When Annie later tells the story to the local king and queen, who she is visiting, they refuse to believe her, claiming that yetis are violent and stupid.

Live-Action TV

• Dispatches From Elsewhere: Averted with "Elegant Squatch," a Sasquatch who gives out clues in the Elsewhere game. He's kind of a putz once you get to know him and is warm for Simone's form.
• Grimm: Played With with the Wildermann, large hairy hominid-like Wesen who are the inverse inspiration for the legends of Bigfoot (as well as all other similar creatures in world mythology and folklore including the yeti and the Woodwose from European folklore). Despite their incredible physical prowess (being stronger than even Blutbaden) overall the majority of them are friendly, peaceful, artistic individuals who deeply enjoy nature (many of the supporters of transcendentalism where secretly Wildermann, famous examples including several poets such as Walt Whitman). However, they're animalistic nature also comes with a terrifying temper and impulse control issues. This leads to many Wildermann who can't find a balance to struggle with their dual nature (more so than most wesen) and attempt to supress it. In "Big Feet" therapist Konstantin Binkerhoff believed he had created a serum that would successfully do so which he took and shared with several members of the Portland Wildermann community only for him to discover to late that once it wore off it had the immediate opposite effect, bringing all the beast to forefront.
• Lost Tapes: Bigfoot is one of the few cryptids in the show to be actively helpful, killing the Evil Poacher who has been poaching bears and terrorizing a park ranger.

Mythology

• Depending on what one lumps in as a "Bigfoot", various types of wild-folk or animalistic people featured in numerous mythologies count. It is important to note that not every First Nation culture has a version of such a being and the exact details can vary wildly. ^note (First Nation myths across North America run the spectrum of how their particular version of the archetypal Sasquatch acts. Some are purely animalistic and not good or evil, others are treated like a different type of people and can similarly vary, and others can be actively monstrous and malevolent with others being the opposite)
  • Lakota and Dakota people's tales of a being called Chiye-Tanka or "Giant Elder Brother". Chiye-Tanka is regarded as a wise and divine being, who is more attuned to the laws of nature and will of the creator than mankind. He sometimes appears before man to both offer them wisdom and watch over them from both the wilds and realms beyond. When taking on a physical form humanity can see, Chiye-Tanka fits the image of a tall, powerful, hairy humanoid.
  • The Cheyenne people had tales of Maxemista or "Giant Beast/Monster". These were a beastly folk who were of greater size than people, and didn't wear clothes as they were covered in fur; though they did sometimes use tools. Despite their great physical might, they were shy and docile beings who mostly kept to themselves but would sometimes aid humanity. One clan was named after them. Sadly, they are regarded as extremely rare or all gone now.

Sports

• The mascot for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was a friendly, huggable Sasquatch named Quatchi with dreams of becoming a hockey star. He and his buddies (Miga the bear/orca hybrid, Sumi the thunderbird, and Mukmuk the marmot) were made by the design team behind The Octonauts, and were designed to represent the animals and mythical creatures of The Other Rainforest. He was widely beloved for his cute design, and a lot of toys in his likeness were sold.

Tabletop Games

• Shadowrun: The Sasquatch are a race of gentle, peaceful and curious forest creatures. They are intelligent and have their own language. They can't speak metahuman languages, but some who wish to interact with metahumanity have learned sign language.
• Call of Cthulhu supplement Trail of Tsathogghua, adventure "The Curse of Tsathogghua". The sasquatch in the adventure will only try to harm humans who threaten or try to attack them, and are otherwise friendly. If the Player Characters act properly, they can achieve a non-violent resolution to the situation that will allow the sasquatch to live in peace.

Video Games

• The Gigantopithecus species from ARK: Survival Evolved is blatantly a sasquatch. While it will attack if harmed or intruded upon, they are perfectly content to leave players be. They can also be passively tamed by feeding them sweet berries or their favorite food, becoming a formidable defender and helpful ally that can do tasks ranging from collecting resources or fighting alongside the player.
• Sasquatch the... er, sasquatch from Darkstalkers is a heroic sasquatch warrior on the side of good, and the most noble warrior of his tribe, who is on a quest to defend his fellow sasquatches from the forces of evil.
• In Kingdom Rush, the Sasquatch is a map-specific unit that can be freed from the ice and will help Linirea's troops fight against Vez'nan's evil forces. He can even be used to combat Yetis, which are evil and serve as Giant Mooks.
• In Primal Rage the leader of the heroic Virtuous Beasts is the yeti-like ape Blizzard, who is a wise and kind ruler of his dominion. Blizzard's ending is the best outcome for the surviving humanity, with the giant yeti ruling from his mountain home and descending when threats appear. Expanded media and books show people living in Blizzard's domain lead a simple but fulfilling life similar to Feudal Japan in terms of technology.
• One of Spyro's allies introduced in Spyro: Year of the Dragon is a Yeti named Bentley, who is a charming and eloquent Gentle Giant. Just don't tick him off, or else he will make good use of his giant ice club, as Moneybags found out the hard way. Also introduced in the game is Bentley's younger brother Bartholomew, a small and cute Yeti.

Web Comics

• The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob! has a hidden tribe of Bigfeet (not "Bigfoots"), most of whom seem decent once you get to know them, and who are actually pretty civilized. Notable is the fact that big scary-looking guy Rocko Sasquatch discovered he is a Bigfoot, abandoned as a baby for being bald. Rocko is a sweetheart, though you certainly never want to make him mad at you.

Web Original

• SCP Foundation: SCP-1000 is none other than Bigfoot, whose civilization ruled the world during the Pleistocene and reached an extremely advanced state using Organic Technology, up until humanity, allegedly with the help of a trickster god, genocided almost all of them, turned the mental capacities of the survivors to mere animals, and wiped out their own memories of Bigfoot's existence. Increasingly, the few surviving modern-day Bigfoots, being kept by the foundation, are starting to regain their mental faculties and are attempting to communicate, with translations indicating that they forgive humanity for their crimes and just want to be let back into the world, although they indicate that their forgiveness is only temporary, and is primarily based on the alternate choice, which is being captive forever with their new mental faculties.

Western Animation

• Animal Mechanicals: Sasquatch is a robotic version. True to his name, he's a robotic sasquatch, and he's very loyal and helpful, if a bit slow on the uptake.
• Back at the Barnyard: Bigfoot is depicted as an artistic Gentle Giant who enjoys singing, making origami from tree bark, playing the ukelele, and interior decorating. He's also a huge romantic and briefly dated Abby, much to Otis's envy. He was also a judge on a singing competition show and was even briefly elected mayor. And he has superstrength and the ability to fly!
• CatDog: In "The Great Parent Mystery", CatDog's adopted mother resembles a sasquatch, and she was shown to have raised CatDog with love and affection.
• Dexter's Laboratory: In "Sassy Come Home", Dee Dee befriends a friendly sasquatch, who she names Sassy. He's perfectly happy to play with Dee Dee.
• DuckTales (2017): In the B-plot of the episode, “The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck!”, The boys adopt a friendly Bigfoot-like creature which Huey names “Tender Feet.” While Huey and Dewey love him, Louie is a bit suspicious about him. It turns out to be a subversion. “Tender Feet” is just an ordinary Funny Animal who was acting non-sapient to trick the boys into letting stay at the McDuck Manor. Louie Out-Gambits him by shaving parts of his hair. This makes Huey and Dewey think that staying in the manor isn’t good for Tender Feet’s health, so they release him “back into the wild.”
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: In "Mondo Coco", one of Coco's many adventures around the world involves getting trapped under an avalanche and saved by a Yeti monster (though it's not clear what happened to the people who were stuck as well). The monster is very friendly and playful with Coco, whom she misses when she has to go.
• Futurama: Fry imagines Bigfoot to be this. In reality, he seems to just be an unassuming wild animal.
• The Great North episode "Keep Beef-lievin' Adventure" is about Moon starting to doubt the existence of Bigfoot. Moon has a dream about Bigfoot being his best friend who even comes to school rather than seeing him as a monster.
• Regular Show: Skips is an immortal yeti and a member of the show's main cast. He's a generally nice (if stoic) character, as long as he isn't pushed too far.
• Timon & Pumbaa: The episode "Bigfoot, Little Brain" involves the titular duo finding the legendary Bigfoot and eating the cloud of bugs around him. While saddened about losing his bug friends, he quickly forgives and befriends Timon and Pumbaa.
• Gustav, title character of The Unstoppable Yellow Yeti, is a friendly, fun-loving, and sensitive yellow-furred abominable snowman whose the best friend of kid protagonists Osmo and Rita.
• In The Venture Bros., a sasquatch simply referred to as "Sasquatch" first appears in the season one episode Home Insecurity before reappearing briefly in that season's holiday special and in an episode from season 4. While he is capable of being fearsome, he is also shown to be gentle to those who deserve it and a surprisingly tender and attentive lover to former astronaut Steve Summers.
• We Bare Bears: the Bears' friend Charlie is a wandering Sasquatch who initially seems like a loudmouth freeloader with no sense of personal space. He's actually a kindhearted Friend to All Living Things, who often overcomes his fear of humans to protect them from harm.

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