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Animals
Babe
A kind and friendly young pig with an unusual ability to herd sheep.
- Adopt the Food: Babe is a pig who's being raised for Christmas dinner until he proves his worth as a "sheep-pig" instead, scaring off sheep-rustlers and proving he can herd sheep just as well as Farmer Hoggett's aging sheepdogs.
- All-Loving Hero: He never has a bad word for anyone. Even after being treated horribly by Rex, the worst thing Babe said about him is that he doesn't understand why he is always so angry. In the sequel, he saves a bull terrier from drowning moments after trying to kill Babe. He takes in some stray and homeless dogs into the hotel and divides the jar of jelly beans for everyone.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He exemplifies this when he sees the wild dogs fatally attacking Maa and proceeds to kick their asses.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Babe's mother referred to all her babies as "babe," and so this is the name the animals he's more friendly with use for him. The rest all refer to him as "pig" (or "young'un" in Maa's case), and the humans never really gave him an official name and so simply call him "pig" as well.
- Friend to All Living Things: He makes friends with creatures of multiple species on the farm and in the city.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Has a small but noticeable patch of blond hair atop his head, and is the sweetest little piglet you'll ever see.
- Happily Adopted: Courtesy of Fly.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In the sequel, he's remorseful for accidentally causing Arthur's injuries.
- Nice Guy: Almost infallibly polite and friendly.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Following the birth of Bob and Zootie the Chimpanzee's twins, he leads all the animals in the hotel in song, which not only helps guide Ferdinand to the hotel, but also alerts the neighbors of their presence and drives them to call animal control.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: Babe never grows up, despite the fact that at least a couple of months pass in the movie and pigs grow rapidly.
- Raised by Wolves: A variant: Babe is raised by a mother sheepdog, who does teach a somewhat awkward set of manners to the young pig. Somewhat appropriately, the sheep frequently refer to the dogs as "wolves".
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Becomes this for his foster parents as a "sheep-pig," including eventually Rex.
Fly
- Voiced by: Miriam Margolyes
A female Border Collie and Rex's mate, she is a lot kinder and more compassionate than her husband. She becomes Babe's adoptive mother after her puppies are sold.
- Brutal Honesty: Fly did not sugar-coat the fact from Babe that humans do eat pigs, and the likely fate of his family — but balanced it by vigorously refuting the idea that Babe had no purpose.
- Fantastic Racism: She really doesn't think very highly of sheep, as she thinks they're stupid.
- Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: At the beginning of the story, she outright declares that "The bosses only eat stupid animals", yet more than one animal she calls stupid turns out to be quite intelligent. She does not know this only because she never bothered to verify her beliefs.
- Noble Bigot: Despite thinking poorly of certain animals (especially sheep) as simple and stupid, she is a loving adoptive mother to Babe and does swallow her pride long enough to ask the sheep for help when Babe is thought to have killed Maa.
- Parental Substitute: Fly keeps an eye after Babe and mothers him like he was one of hers. After Fly's pups are sold, Babe comforts her with just this.Babe: Fly? May I call you Mom?
- Troubled Sympathetic Bigot: She's kind and caring towards Babe (sympathetic), but has a low opinion of sheep (bigot) because they were the animals that caused Rex's tragic accident (troubled).
Rex
- Voiced by: Hugo Weaving
A male Border Collie who used to be a great sheepdog, but an accident involving him and his herd caused him to lose his hearing, rendering him unable to do what he could do best. He has since become bitter, cynical and hateful, but eventually gets better, becoming a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and being a more kind and friendly adoptive father to Babe.
- Abusive Dad: He initially was the emotional type towards Babe, but then later on grew out of it.
- Angry Guard Dog: Lampshaded by Babe, after Fly tells him about Rex's Dark and Troubled Past.Babe: Is that why he's so…you know…angry?
- Canon Foreigner: In the book, Fly is the farm's only sheepdog.
- Domestic Abuse: He attacked Fly for supporting Babe, prompting Farmer Hoggett to step in to break it up only for Rex to bite him in a blind rage reflex.
- Fallen Hero: Used to be great sheepdog, but became a mean-spirited Angry Guard Dog later on.
- Freudian Excuse: He was once a prize-winning sheep herding dog, but because of the incident during the storm he lost most of his hearing and is nowhere near the champion he once was.
- Green-Eyed Monster: The reason he initially dislikes Babe, as he lost most of his hearing and hence his ability to be a sheepdog, while Babe — a pig — comes along and is able to do what he can no longer do.
- Handicapped Badass: You find out later in the film that during a terrible storm, he and Fly tried to herd the sheep to safer ground, but they wouldn't move, and Rex stayed behind, and nearly drowned. He survived, but the incident caused him to go almost completely deaf.
- Heel–Face Turn: He eventually warms up to Babe after his Heroic BSoD.
- Hypocrite: Saying that a duck (an animal bred to be eaten and nothing else) needs to "accept what he is and be thankful for it" sounds incredibly hypocritical considering he's a sheepdog and at one point was the most useful animal on the farm.
- I Have No Son!: He initially refuses to accept Babe as his son following the puppies' adoption unlike Fly and was emotionally abusive at first towards him. He later finally accepted him.
- Jerkass Realization: It seems the the passage of time following getting punished for biting his master seems to gave him a chance to reflect on his actions and come to the realization that he was out of line himself and wants to improve.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: After Character Development; he ultimately crosses the county twice to give Babe the trump card he needs at the sheepdog trials.
- Offended by an Inferior's Success: At the beginning, he's not happy that Babe, a piglet, is able to accomplish more than he ever did in his duties as a sheepdog.
- Took a Level in Kindness: At the end he becomes more gentle and good-hearted expecially towards Babe.
- Tsundere: When Babe falls ill after running away, Rex waits until everyone is gone to give him comfort and lick his nose. But when Arthur returns to the room Rex immediately leaves.
Ferdinand
- Voiced by: Danny MannDubbed by: Vincent Violette (European French)
A duck who befriends Babe. He's paranoid that he'll be eaten on Christmas. In the sequel, he flies to Metropolis to be with Babe.
- Canon Foreigner: He wasn't a character from the original book The Sheep-Pig.
- Conspiracy Theorist: His views on Christmas.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's sarcastic, paranoid and kind of full of himself, and is happy to take advantage of Babe for his own benefit, but he's still likable, and the sequel reveals how much he really cares about Babe.
- Plucky Comic Relief: In fact, he's not in the original book and was invented for the movie specifically to fill the funny role.
- Properly Paranoid: He may be an eccentric and annoying coward but he has reason to fear being eaten for Christmas dinner.
- Quacking Up: A Running Gag in the movie is that he's often crowing like a rooster in the morning so that he can be indispensable so the humans won't eat him.
Duchess
- Voiced by: Russi Taylor
The mean-spirited cat who lives in the farmhouse.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: After a fake apology, she cruelly reveals to Babe that humans eat pigs just like they eat ducks, but with a gentle, soft-spoken voice.Duchess: Believe me, sooner or later, every pig gets eaten. That's the way the world works. Oh... I haven't upset you, have I?
- The Bully: Towards Babe, when she scratches him and then reveals to him that humans eat pigs.
- Canon Foreigner: Together with Rex, she adds more conflict to the story than there is in the original book.
- Cats Are Mean: She's a cat and acts mean to Babe, though the book and movie both make the point that this is not the case for all cats.
- Jerkass: Biggest example in the film, bar none. She scratches Babe's snout out of spite, and mocks him over the fact his mother was likely eaten.
- Karma Houdini: Despite being soaked in paint (earlier in the film) and being tossed out of the house and into rainy weather (after she spitefully scratched Babe), her true colors come into view when she reveals to Babe that humans eat pigs. Afterwards she never appears again in the film.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Boy is it satisfying when she gets kicked out of the farmhouse. Out into the pouring rain, no less.
- Pet the Dog: As unpleasant as she is towards Babe, she does seem genuinely fond of Esme and takes her "job" as her devoted lap cat seriously. She's notably the only animal in the farm who refers to Esme as her boss and not just as "the boss' wife", implying that her true loyalty is only to her.
- Spoiled Brat: While not a human, she is very spoiled and is quite hostile to anything she doesn't like.
- Sugary Malice: She speaks deeply hurtful words with a honeyed tone, see Bitch in Sheep's Clothing above.
- Villains Never Lie: Despite her spitefulness, everything she says to Babe is technically true.
Maa
- Voiced by: Miriam Flynn (English), Micheline Dax (European French)
An old and kindly Border Leicester sheep, and the matriarch of her flock.
- Cool Aunt: In a sense, she becomes Babe's second surrogate mother figure next to Fly (her name even sounds like "Ma"), or a surrogate grandmother figure or aunt figure. When she dies, Babe screams her name in grief as though he was crying for his mom.
- Cool Old Lady: The wisest of the sheep and one of Babe's greatest advocates on the farm.
- Fantastic Racism: Has a very despondent view of the sheepdogs, who she often refers to as "wolves", seeing them as killers and incapable of mercy.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Is suffering from a bad cough as a result of her age; However, it is ultimately not her cough that proves her undoing, but a pack of wild dogs.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Shares one with Babe.
- Posthumous Character: After her death, the other sheep invoke her name when discussing giving Babe the password, explicitly stating that Maa would have wanted him to be taught this secret that is normally shared only among sheep.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Is highly protective of her herd and quickly embraces Babe's big heart. Even when he tries to fulfill the role of a sheepdog, the very thing Maa detests most, she has full faith in him and his ability to lead.
- Sacrificial Lamb: A literal and especially tragic example of this; she is brutally mauled by wild dogs just as Babe comes to the herd's rescue. Babe saves the rest of the herd but can only comfort Maa in her last moments.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Through sheer kindness she helps Babe find his place on the farm, and it could be argued her untimely death finally forces her herd and the sheepdogs to confront each other on more civil terms; when Farmer Hoggett thinks Babe has killed Maa, it is through the sheep that Fly learns the truth and is able to save him.
The Mice
A group of singing mice.
- Deadpan Snarker: At times this slips outright into Comedic Sociopathy; they giggle merrily at nearly every dark turn of the plot.
- Greek Chorus: Usually in a darkly sarcastic way that belies their cheery singing.
Humans
Arthur Hoggett
- Played by: James Cromwell
He is the owner of Hoggett farm and the husband of Esme. Seeing Babe’s talent in herding chickens, he decides to train him to herd sheep, eventually entering him in the Grand Challenge Sheepdog Trials. A month later, he tries to fix the well but is injured and spends most of the film recovering.
- A Boy and His X: Specifically An Old Man and His Pig; Hoggett had never kept pigs before or since, but he soon forms an attachment to Babe, going to great lengths to help him regain his spirit after Babe becomes ill.
- Chubby Mama, Skinny Papa: He and his wife.
- Demoted to Extra: He goes from one of the main characters in the first film to a minor character in the sequel.
- Friend to All Living Things: A downplayed example. Arthur takes good care of the animals on his farm, including properly feeding and medicating them, and keeps Rex as a sheepdog even after he loses his hearing, but he also expects the working animals to pull their weight in return. He also has no qualms about tossing Duchess out of the house when she attacks Babe, and isn't squeamish when there's duck-slaughtering to be done.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Farmer Hoggett is a very understated, genteel example. He cobbles together an automatic opening/closing device for the farm's gate, and develops other gadgets around the farm as well. It's his uncanny ability to see purpose in things nobody else does that ends up saving Babe's life.
- Happily Married: To Esme. They may not be very similar to each other in terms of personality, but they're still shown to be a loving and dedicated couple.
- Meaningful Name: A hogget is a young sheep, and Hoggett is a sheep farmer.
- The Quiet One: In contrast to his wife, he really doesn't talk that much.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The quiet and stoic Savvy Guy to his wife's cheery and talkative Energetic Girl.
- The Stoic: He utters fewer words in his life than any spoken by the whole crowd at the Grand Challenge Sheepdog Trials and shows no outward emotion when he is being ridiculed by the crowd for entering a pig or cheered when he wins.
Esme Hoggett
- Played by: Magda Szubanski
She is Farmer Hoggett's wife. At first, she is worried about her husband when he starts training Babe for the Grand Challenge Sheepdog Trials, but she is immediately happy for him when Babe wins. A month after Babe’s victory, Farmer Hoggett becomes injured and Hoggett Farm is in danger of being taken by the bank. So Mrs. Hoggett takes Babe to make an appearance at a fair (the appearance fee will be used to save the farm), but she and Babe miss their connecting flight and get stuck in a city.
- Acrofatic: She's quite plump, but the sequel shows that she can be much quicker than she looks when forced to.
- Ascended Extra: She goes from supporting character in the first film to one of the main characters in the sequel.
- Butt-Monkey: In the sequel, she goes through one humiliating event after the other in the city, but she never gives up trying to endure the trip with her husband's pig safe and sound.
- Country Mouse: The sequel shows that she really isn't cut out for life in a big city.
- Chubby Mama, Skinny Papa: With her husband.
- Competition Freak: A mild example, but it's definitely there. Esme takes great pride in her large collection of trophies and blue ribbons from local fairs, where her jams, jellies, and other cooking creations are renowned. Farmer Hoggett exploits this trope to save Babe from becoming Christmas dinner by hinting that he looks like a potential first-prize winner; Esme can't resist the idea of adding even more championships to her collection and suggests duck for the main course instead.
- Determinator: In the sequel, she is absolutely determined in getting back Babe after he goes missing.Esme: You can bind me in chains, but the minute I'm set free, I shall march straight back into those streets and continue to search for my Arthur's pig!
- Happily Married: While her personality is quite different from Arthur's and she doesn't always understand his ideas, she's still a very dedicated and loving wife. In the sequel, she's the one nursing him back to health after his accident and seems to be quite pained to have to leave him when she's forced to embark on a long trip to raise enough money to save the farm. She even brings along a photo of him with her.
- Hopeless with Tech:
- She doesn't seem to understand at all the fax machine that her relatives give her for Christmas, and never seems to actually use it, in contrast with Arthur, who eventually figures it out. The most advanced technology she seems to use during the first movie is an old alarm clock, and even that is implied to be a very recent purchase that she made reluctantly.
- The sequel also shows that she is very unfamiliar with airports, planes and their equipment, which leads to an awkward situation in the middle of her flight when she accidentally inflates her life vest while trying to figure it out.
- Ironic Name: Her name means "esteemed", but the way she's treated by most people in Metropolis is as far removed from respectful as possible.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: While she seems fond of animals in general, she clearly has a lot of love for her cat, Duchess, and absolutely spoiled her. Too bad that said cat doesn't exactly take after her owner...
- Mama Bear: She becomes fiercely protective of Babe in the sequel, and doesn't stop until he's once again safe by her side.
- Motor Mouth: In contrast to her quiet husband, she's always chattering. The sequel even shows a courtroom stenographer sweating bullets desperately trying to keep up with her rambling.
- Only Sane Man: Inverted. She is much more clumsy than Arthur is, and not as bright or imaginative as him, which contributes to the endless trouble she goes through in the sequel. One gets the feeling that, had her husband been the one to go to Metropolis with Babe, the trip wouldn't have gone nearly as bad as it did.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The cheery and talkative Energetic Girl to Mr. Hoggett's quiet and stoic Savvy Guy.
- Supreme Chef: One of her friends mentions that her cooking won several prizes in the local rural fairs.
