Never trust a wolf.
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
is a short animated Horror Thriller film by the YouTube animator Yea An.The short animation focuses on an unnamed wolf who goes online, disguised as a sheep, and goes under the name of Maria. Soon, he begins a conversation with a teenage girl named Lena, inviting her over to their home to play a new video game he had bought. Little did Lena know, however, that this was all just a lie.
As the short animation's plot relies on a massive Wham Shot at the end of the film and has a clear allegory thanks to the title of the film, all spoilers will be unmarked. It is highly recommended that you watch the short animation first, then come back here to read.
The animation contains examples of:
- Antagonist Title: The antagonist in the short film is quite literally a Wolf wearing a sheep's mask.
- Big Bad: The titular Wolf is a predator who spends the short luring the sheep Lena to his lair so he can kill her, as he has killed four other sheep before.
- Consummate Liar: Nothing the Wolf says to Lena about himself is true as he's just trying to make himself look trusty and reliable. This is chillingly not uncommon among online catfishers.
- Creepy Souvenir: The Wolf keeps four sheep heads on a wall, showing off that he almost certainly has lured his prey before.
- Downer Ending: The short film ends with Lena agreeing to come see the Wolf the following Saturday, and if the Wham Shot implies anything, it is more likely than not that the Wolf has found new prey.
- Faux Affably Evil: The Wolf is always friendly and gentle when chatting with Lena to the point that the latter falls for it thinking she's found a new friend. Needles to say this was just an act and the Wolf was actually manipulating her.
- Genuine Human Hide: Well, more like "Genuine Sheep Hide" in this case. The Wolf uses the heads of his victims as a mask to gain the trust of other potential victims, who will more likely than not also become masks for him.
- Grayscale of Evil: The Wolf has dark gray fur and he wears a white sheep mask who's actually an empty head of a previous victim.
- Hate Sink: The Wolf couldn't get any sympathy or else since he's a manipulative Serial Killer which only pretends to be nice and jovial when he's actually looking for preys to kill for his apparent perverse pleasure.
- Lean and Mean: The Wolf is a rather thin and lanky Serial Killer.
- Manipulative Bastard: The Wolf gains the trust of Lena by engaging in a friendly conversation with her, lying about details about himself like his age and name to appeal more to her, and eventually, gains her trust by claiming to have bought a new game that she wanted, and would offer to have her play it with him. Little did she know however that the Wolf was just making this offer to gain her trust, not that he actually meant any of what he said.
- No Name Given: Despite his alias of "Maria", the Wolf, in reality, has no actual confirmed name. Even the creator of the short states this in the comments of the video.Yea An: Don't trust the wolf. Name, age, we know nothing about the wolf.
- Pop-Up Texting: The entire exchange between Lena and the Wolf is through text and it is shown onscreen.
- Savage Wolves: The Wolf is a Serial Killer online predator in canine form.
- Shout-Out: The Wolf using a sheep's disguise seems to be an obvious homage to The Three Little Pigs.
- Serial Killer: The Wolf. He appears to have killed at least four sheep in the past, and now is about to gain another victim by going after Lena.
- Wham Shot: The final shot of the short film where the Wolf puts his mask back on the wall next to three other masks, seemingly indicating that the Wolf has killed four sheep in the past and used their heads as masks. Really just sells how much trouble Lena is now in.
- A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Both quite literally and figuratively. The titular Wolf literally wears the mask of a sheep and goes under the name of “Maria” to appear friendly to his prey. In reality, however, he is nothing more than just a serial killer who keeps the heads of his previous victims.
