open/close all folders
The Main Animals
Otis
Voiced by: Kevin James (movie), Chris Hardwick (series)
Otis is the leader of the barnyard. He is a cow.
- Animal Gender-Bender: He apparently has an udder.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: More pronounced in the series, where he's regularly a goofy idiot but comes up with quality plans when necessary.
- Butt-Monkey: Is prone to a ton of slapstick. Though, he brings it upon himself most of the time.
- Character Catchphrase: "Milk me!"
- Character Exaggeration: The movie has his personality rather different from the series. In the movie, he's fun-loving but still does know how to think up good ideas. However, in the series, Otis is a lot goofier and more incompetent about the "heroism" business.
- Constantly Lactating Cow: A rare male example. In the series, he is shown to produce milk, even though he's never been pregnant.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's quite sarcastic, mostly towards Freddy.
- Genius Ditz: As foolish as he can be, he has a lot of clever ideas on how to fix the mistakes he's made and Mrs. Beady's spying.
- Idiot Hero: He doesn't know a thing about leading, but is a hero nonetheless.
- It's All About Me: His reason for interrupting a broadcast instead of just stealing the tape of them talking?Otis: ‘Cause that don’t put Otis on television.
- Jerkass Ball: Some episodes will involve him into this. "Save the Clams" and the Halloween specials remain a couple of the more prominent examples.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At his worst, he can be quite insensitive and selfish, but he genuinely cares about his teammates.
- Lactating Male: Has been shown to be able to make milk in several episodes.
- In "Aliens!!!", when the animals find out that milk causes the aliens to dissolve, all the cows including Otis attach squirt guns to their udders and start blasting milk at the aliens.
- Implied in "Animal Farmers". After the farmer is injured, the animals have to do the farming themselves and Abby and Bessy do not want to attach the milking machine to their udders. Otis comes in and attaches it to his udder to demonstrate, saying that he's "seen the farmer do it, like, a hundred times".
- In "Brave Udders", Otis has a flashback to his childhood bully, Krauser Krebs, poking his udder and causing him to squirt milk on himself.
- Mr. Exposition: Does this often in the series. When Pig has called him both "Professor Exposition" and "Captain Exposition" on two different occasions.
- Never My Fault: His usual response to screwing up is to say everyone should blame someone other than him later.
- Oblivious to Love: Otis is quite unaware of Abby's very obvious crush on him. He won't admit his feelings for her either.
Pip
Voiced by: Jeff Garcia
Otis' best friend who's a mouse.
- Deadpan Snarker: Self proclaimed, not all that justified.
- Has a Type: In one episode, he admits that he's into women who are bigger than he is.
- Hidden Depths: One episode shows that he can be a way more effective leader than even Otis—the only he couldn't do was come up with a solution to prevent Mrs. Beady from exposing them as talking animals.
- Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: His crush on Bessie, who's a cow.
- The Lancer: In comparison to Otis. Quite often, Otis will be leading the group, while Pip plays the role of next-in-command.
- Only Sane Man: Compared to a lot of the other animals at the barnyard, Pip usually tries offering up simpler solutions to many of their predicaments.
- Unaffected by Spice: In "The Good, the Bad and the Snotty", Snotty Boy feeds the animals pizzas laced with hot sauce. While everyone has the standard reaction, Pip is able to stomach it and calls the others lightweights.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: In the episode where Bessie thinks she's Otis' mom, she believes that she needs somebody else to help her handle her kid. She comes so close to marrying Pip before Otis finds a newspaper article that proves he and Bessie are not related.
Abby
Voiced by: Leigh-Allyn Baker
A female cow at the barn who has a crush on Otis and vice versa, though they never get to admit their feelings for each other.
- Action Girl: For one thing, she's an excellent wrestler.
- Betty and Veronica: "Abby & Veronica" plays with it. Veronica is Abby's old friend that actively charms Otis and the other guys into doing whatever she wants. Veronica doesn't love any of them, but it nonetheless makes Abby jealous and angry, so she tries harder to woo Otis.
- Girly Bruiser: Very dainty and feminine, but don't let that fool you into thinking she can't fight.
- One of the Boys: Most of her friends are boys, which she doesn't mind until her old friend/rival Veronica visits and all the guys fawn all over her.
- Raised by Dudes: She mentioned before that she was the only girl in a family full of brothers.
- The Smurfette Principle: Downplayed. Bessy is a major character, but Abby appears far more often and is more likely to take part in shenanigans with Otis and the others.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Loves masculine hobbies such as wrestling, but also enjoys using stuff like make up every now and then.
Pig
Voiced by: Tino Insana
A pig who lives at the farm and hangs out with the main characters.
- Berserk Button: Never clean his stall. Pip found that out the hard way in "Home Sweet Hole".
- Big Eater: He once ate a lifetime supply of Flaky Tarts (basically Pillsbury toaster strudels) in one afternoon. He then tried to eat the guy in the Flaky Tart costume, having mistaken him for a giant Flaky Tart.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: He often interrupts the show just so that he can answer fan mail.Pig: (reading letter) Dear Pig, aren't you interrupting the story at the most suspenseful part? Why, yes Sally. Yes, I am.
- Breakout Character: A relatively minor side character (the pentagonist) in the movie, but in the series has a majority of cutaway gags and his own intermissions.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Not to Freddy's extent, but he can be quite foolish including believing in leprechauns or unicorns.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: One episode had him say that maybe a leprechaun stole the Farmer's potatoes. He was right!
- Distinguishing Mark: He has a crown-shaped birthmark on his butt, meaning he comes from a royal family of pigs.
- A Dog Named "Dog": He's the only animal named after its species.
- Gluttonous Pig: Is a pig and a Big Eater.
- Hidden Depths: While generally an idiot, he actually seems to know quite a bit about chemistry. In "Four Leaf Otis", he knows about seeding rain clouds with Silver Iodide, in "Pecky Suave" he goes into detail on what Vitamin C is, and in "Too Good to be Glue" he recreates his accidental glue through a science montage.
- Odd Name Out: When it comes to the animal characters, at least—with the possible exception of Peck (who's a rooster), basically all the other animal characters on the show have human names (or at least names that could pass for such). Even in times where the others can use their regular names for their human disguises, he always needs a replacement name.
- Messy Pig: As a pig, he likes both himself and his stall messy. In "Home Sweet Hole", after Otis destroys Pip's mouse hole, Pig lets him stay in his stall since he can sleep through anything (as Pip had previously kept Otis awake with his wild parties), so Pip decides to thank him by cleaning his stall. Pig is horrified when he finds out, as it took him years to get it dirty, and he kicks Pip out.
- Sarcasm-Blind: There's been many instances where he doesn't get when the others mean the opposite of how they feel at the moment.
- Sweet Tooth: He's seen eating cookies, waffles, and pie and loving them.
Freddy
Voiced by: Cam Clarke
A ferret who lives at the barn. Best friends with Peck the rooster, and constantly scolds himself for thinking about eating him or any other chicken on the barn.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Freddy has orange fur, which isn't something you see on real ferrets.
- Art Evolution: He becomes noticeably less hairy than he was in The Movie.
- Break the Cutie: "Meet The Ferrets", "Dummy And Dummier", and "Fowl Play" really push him into
woobie territory. - Butt-Monkey: Probably not to Peck's extent, but he tends to suffer a lot of abuse, too.
- Carnivore Confusion: He eats chickens, the way a real ferret would, but he still manages to be friends with him.
- Crippling Overspecialization: In one episode Freddy was shown to be talented at woodcarving, however the only thing that he knew how to make with the skill is Cups meant to hold Pencils. Even when Otis is in danger and they need to create a Trojan Horse to get him out of trouble and they need Freddy to make it, he simply spends hours carving a gigantic Pencil Cup, and criticizes the others for creating an actual Trojan Horse by complaining where the pencils are supposed to go inside of it.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite his dim-witted nature, he's managed to save his friends from his ventriloquist puppet, Mr. Jinx (which was controlled by ants as revenge for them unknowingly destroying their home).
- Cloudcuckoolander: Has a lot of rather abnormal traits to him.
- Depending on the Writer: He's either actively trying to avoid eating Peck, or actively trying to eat him.
- The Ditz: Is easily the more dim witted of the farm animals next to Pig and, to an extent, Otis.
- Dumb Blonde: Blonde skin + ditzy nature = this trope.
- Frisky Ferret: While he can be a Nervous Wreck and a Sad Clown, and has trouble trying to withhold his desire to eat the chickens on the farm, he's usually a foolish, energetic Cloudcuckoolander.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Played With. While he has a tendency to crave Peck, he's mostly well-meaning in his own way. His golden fur certainly helps him fit this trope.
- Horror Hunger: He must discipline himself not to eat any barn animals, especially not Peck. In the game, two of his missions involve finding other foods for him, and one minigame is a nightmare he has in which demonic versions of him try to raid the henhouse.
- Informed Species: He doesn't really look like a ferret. Instead, he looks more like a skinny hyena.
- Odd Friendship: With Peck, a guy he has tried to eat more than once.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Tries to be, though he's more of a Butt-Monkey.
- Sad Clown: He has his moments. Also, considering the fact that he has all sorts of psychological problems.
- Took a Level in Dumbass: In the series, to the point where even Otis has to ask how dumb he is in "Beady and the Beasts" after sniffing an exploding flower the group just planted.
Peck
Voiced by: Rob Paulsen
A rooster who lives at the barn. He's best friends with Freddy the Ferret.
- The Chew Toy: He gets most of the accidents out of all the animals. He often gets randomly hit by falling meteors. A parody of an On the Next segment was made up exclusively of clips of Peck being injured in different ways.
- Depending on the Writer: Does he know that Freddy wants to eat him or not?
- Odd Friendship: With Freddy, a guy who has tried to eat him more than once.
- Shrinking Violet: Mostly Downplayed and Zig-Zagged. He is the literal opposite of a Cocky Rooster. This is shown when his shyness is better expressed with how he tried talking to a hen he had a crush on.
Bessy
Voiced by: Wanda Sykes
A cow who lives on the farm and criticizes Otis on a regular basis.
- Adaptational Jerkass: She's comparably meaner/ruder/shriller in the series than she was in the movie—she even seemed okay with Otis being sold to a steakhouse!
- Character Exaggeration: In the movie, she was slightly aloof but, nevertheless, sociable, however, the series plays up the aloofness.
- Constantly Lactating Cow: In the series, she produces milk all year around. She once even squirted milk at Snotty Boy when he was playing with her udder!
- Dark and Troubled Past: According to one episode, she had a son who went off to chase balloons at a fair and hasn't seen him since. There's also the fact that, in the Pilot Movie, she and Daisy were the only members of their herd to have survived a flood that happened on their old farm.
- Hidden Depths:
- One episode shows that she's very experienced with ghosts and the supernatural—this includes knowing how to properly perform a seance, knowing which spells ghosts use to possess people and knowing various means to stop ghosts.
- Another episode reveals that she's the personal shopper of "Weird Al" Yankovic.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's best friends with Abby and was also best friends with Daisy in the Pilot Movie, even helping her to deliver her son, Ben. And overall, for as mean/rude/sarcastic as she can be, there are plenty of times that show that Bessy really does care about the other animals at the barnyard (and this includes Otis and Pip, the ones she tends to be the most irritated by).
- Out of Focus: While she is considered part of the main cast, Bessy doesn't appear as frequently as the rest of the (main) animals do. She also doesn't participate in Otis's adventures as frequently as the other animals do.
- Took a Level in Kindness: A downplayed case. While she still makes fun of and gets annoyed by the others intelligence, she does show a protective side and genuinely considers the others friends in the latter half of Season 2.Bessy: I have to apologize for my friends, Al. Their brains are small and confused. But I guess they had my best interests at heart.
Duke
Voiced by: Dom Irrera
The farm's cynical sheepdog—out of all the animals at the barnyard, he's the closest to Farmer Buyer.- I Owe You My Life: "Cow's Best Friend" follows the basic beats, with Duke annoying Otis to no end and not stopping until the score is even. Otis fakes various situations, has to repeatedly save Duke whenever things go wrong, tells the truth, gets saved for real, and is told he owes Duke for the various incidents that endangered his life.
- Leader Wannabe: He often tries taking over Otis's role as the leader when the cow is unable to do anything.
- Only Sane Man: While he does sometimes go along with the antics of Otis and the other animals, Duke (much like Pip and Peck) usually expresses more mundane and cautious courses of action.
- Out of Focus: Just like Bessy, Duke is considered part of the main cast, but he doesn't appear as frequently as the rest of the (main) animals do and doesn't always participate in Otis's adventures.
Humans
The Beadys
Nora Beady
Voiced by: Maria Bamford
A woman who lives close to the farmer. She knows that the animals walk and talk, and is always looking for evidence, causing her husband to believe she's crazy.
- Ascended Extra: Originally more of a joke than anything in the original movie, she appears much more frequently in the show, making much more of an effort to expose the animals. Doubles as From Nobody to Nightmare with how antagonistic she's gotten towards the animals since those days.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: In Beady and the Beasts, it's shown that for as crazy as he thinks she is, Nathan truly does love and care about Nora. It's telling that after she comes back from being kicked out by Nathan's overbearing mother, he doesn't hesitate to stand up and try to hug her.Nathan's Mother: Fine, I know when I'm not wanted.Nathan: You're just less wanted. Bye, ma!
- The Cassandra: When she tries to point out what the animals are doing, she's never believed.
- Depending on the Writer: Her ability to see through the animal's disguises can vary. In some episodes, she can immediately tell it's them (such as recognizing Pip's small size meaning he's really a mouse), while other episodes can have her hire them as babysitters without any suspicions or need to see Otis' fake mustache fall off to recognize him as a cow.
- Enemy Mine: Teamed up with Otis to stop Professor Twineyvines when she feels the latter has gone off the deep end.
- Expy: Of Gladys Kravitz (specifically the Alice Pearce version, at least visually), only she's more over the top.
- Housewife: Even if her husband does think she's lost it.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Episodes such as "Saving Mrs. Beady" will make you feel more sympathy for her than any other episode.
- Last-Name Basis: As revealed in the final scene of the movie, her first name is "Nora".
- Mama Bear: Mess with her nephew, and you'll suffer the consequences.
- Properly Paranoid: Nora correctly deduces that the animals at the barnyard are fully sapient and up to no good. However, she is never able to prove this and the other humans think she's completely insane, which only makes her more determined to catch the animals in the act.
Nathan Beady
Voiced by:Steve Oedekerk
Nora's husband, who's usually sitting in his chair and reading newspapers.- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Yes, he really does love Nora, even if he think she's nuts. He loves her enough to stand up to his mother for her.
- Expy: The Abner Kravitz to his wife's Gladys.
- G-Rated Drug: His drinking sodas could be taken as a stand-in for beer.
- Lazy Husband: Possibly—when we do see him, he doesn't do much besides sit in his chair, drinking soda and watching TV. He's always shown wearing a trucker hat, so for all the times that we don't see him, he could be working offscreen as a trucker.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is "Nathaniel."
- Overly Long Name: His full name is "Nathaniel Randall Beady III"
- Satellite Character: Other than being Mrs. Beady's husband (and Snotty Boy's Uncle), he doesn't have much of a role.
- The Stoic: He refuses to budge whenever his wife keeps bugging him. The Barnyard movie novelization stated that when he heard Nora scream from finding Wild Mike in her hair, all he did was sigh and turn off the TV.
- Strong Family Resemblance: As shown in Beady and the Beasts, Mr. Beady clearly takes after his mother in appearance.
Eugene "Snotty Boy" Beady
Voiced by: Steve Oedekerk
Mr. and Mrs. Beady's nephew who likes to mess with the barn animals.
- Evil Redhead: A Fat Bastard with ginger hair.
- Fat Bastard: He's a Jerkass, who just so happens to be on the pudgier side.
- Fat Idiot: He's not terrifically bright.
- Freudian Excuse: One of the later episodes reveals that he has a cousin named Bernard (known as "Plegmy Boy") who's an even bigger Jerkass than Snotty Boy is (particularly to Snotty Boy himself).
- Jerkass: This is the reason why he's called "Snotty Boy" is because he's obnoxious.
- Knight of Cerebus: Snotty Boy is usually more of an unbearable annoyance than a threat. But then came "Snotty's New Pet", where he captures Pip and tried to feed him to his snake, even after the snake refused. While he ain't no Dag, this might be the only time he came close to ending one of the main characters. The way he treats that poor snake makes it even worse; not only does he abuse him, but the affects said abuse has on the snake are eerily reminiscent of those of real-life abuse victims.Pip: Why do you let him do that stuff to you?
Snake: Nah, I deserved it because I disrespected him. - Harmless Villain: Downplayed, because he can be pretty nasty (look no further than "Snotty's New Pet"); however, for as bad as he can be, Snotty Boy tends to be more of a nuisance than an actual threat to Otis and the rest of the animals at the barnyard.
- Meaningful Name: He's a "snotty boy" for sure.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Eugene, as mentioned in a few episodes.
- Too Dumb to Live: This explains itself throughout the series, but was really cemented in "It's an Udderful Life", when the first thing he does upon seeing a polar bear is insult it. Even when it growls at him, he doesn't stop until it starts chasing him down.
Pizza Twins
Voiced by: Rob Paulsen and Steve Oedekerk
Two guys who work at a pizza restaurant and pop up to say stupid things.
- Adaptational Dumbass: While they already seem pretty stupid in the Pilot Movie, they seem to be even stupider in the TV series (where they're seen much more frequently).
- Character Catch Phrase: "Doodley Doodley Doo Doo!"
- Those Two Guys: They're always together.
The Farmer
Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore
The owner of the farm. He's not a very important character and he's largely unaware of the animals' ability to walk and talk.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": To the point where the animals are surprised to learn what his last name is.
- Hero of Another Story: Several episodes allude to him having a very wide variety of hobbies and interests that he tends to be absent from the barnyard for. We never really get to see them beyond cutaway gags.
- No Name Given: Downplayed. He's (almost) always referred to as "The Farmer", but an early Season 2-episode reveals that his last name is "Buyer" (which leads to a hilarious misunderstanding on the part of Otis and the rest of the animals). We never find out the farmer's full name though.
- Out of Focus: While his role in the overall series is comparably bigger than it was in the Pilot Movie, Farmer Buyer appeared less and less as the show went on. It got to the point of where Otis and the others are the ones essentially running the farm. In some episodes (particularly those in the second season), Farmer Buyer's absence is usually justified as him being off doing other things (like visiting a relative or being at a "camp" of some sort).
- Took a Level in Dumbass: He didn't appear that much in the movie, but he appears more frequently in the TV series, and in the series, he seems to be stupider than he was the movie (most likely due to Miles kicking him so many times).
The Vet
The local Veterinarian who's feared by the animals she treats.
- Conspicuous Gloves: The Vet seems to never take off her pair of latex gloves, to the point that it's implied her name is actually "Dr. Glove" by Pip in "Dead Cow Walking". However, given her hands-on approach to medicine, it's not surprising she feels the need to constantly glove up.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: The procedures the Vet prescribes for her patients are often ungodly cruel (two words: butt leeching).
- Obliviously Evil: The Vet cares deeply for all the animals she treats. Despite this, she often puts them through a great deal of pain.
- You Don't Look Like You: The Vet is given two redesigns in the series: one in "Snotty's New Pet" and another in "Doggleganger". Though it may be implied that these redesigns may just be different characters with similar attire, personalities, and voice actresses, it's not made entirely clear.
Hilly Burford (Channel 8 News)
- Voiced by: John DiMaggio
A local TV reporter who's a bit of an oddball.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Some of the things he says can be a bit weird.
- Crazy-Prepared: Every good newscaster carries a flare and a giant tube of Dam Sealant.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He once fixed a busted dam on his own.
- A Day in the Limelight: Anchor Cow puts him more in the spotlight with Otis having to cover and later find a way to get him back his job.
- Deadline News: One job of reporting on Otis' giant cheese curd had it crush him and land him in the infirmary.
- Expy: He's based on Will Ferrell's SNL interpretation of Harry Caray.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Downplayed in that he's usually the newscaster and the jobs are still related to TV, but he's also had the job of a morning talk show host, game show host, football announcer, and a debate moderator. (Truth in Television, especially in smaller towns.) He also had a stint as a mall Santa.
- Only Sane Man: Surprisingly, he was the only one confused on Bigfoot being elected mayor since no one could understand him.
Bronco Betsy
- Voiced by: Grey Delisle
"You keep riding like that, and you just might win my heart."
A horse riding rodeo performer who The Farmer becomes smitten with.
- Alliterative Name: Title, rather.
- Big Beautiful Woman: She's very heavy, but also, very attractive.
- Hartman Hips: Is quite possibly the most notable case in the show. Emphasized in "Rodeotis" where a rock ricochets from her behind.
Others
Everett
- Voiced by: Lloyd Sherr
A 13-year old dog (thus an elder) who lives on the barnyard. He used to be owned by an adventurer named Nebraska Schwartz.
- Adventurer Archaeologist: He used to journey with an Indiana Jones expy.
- Cool Old Guy: When he shows his fighting ability, he can be. He also has a flying walker.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Has trouble remembering his own name, but can take down anyone who would steal the farm's corn.
- A Day in the Limelight: Two episodes. Half of Treasure Hunt shows him defending the corn, while Everett's treasure reveals his backstory.
- Guile Hero: Even when he was defeated, he still managed to stop the crows knowing all the factors playing in.
- Heroic Dog: Compared to Duke who is Small Name, Big Ego, Everett was a lot more capable of defending the barnyard...when he was awake.
- Name Amnesia: He usually can't remember his name.Everett: Say my name! Say it! No seriously, someone say it. I can't remember.
- Retired Badass: As Nebraska's companion, he's been on several journeys dodging danger and wooing chief's daughters.
- Tragic Keepsake: He has a safe that was owned by his old master before he went missing, though he can't remember the combination or what's inside. It was holding Nebraska, who's been taking a nap inside for years.
The Jersey Cows
- Voiced by: S Scott Bullock (Eddy), John DiMaggio (Bud), Maurice LaMarche (Igg)
A trio of troublemaking cows who also happen to be friends with Otis.
- Adaptational Jerkass: As mischievous as they were in the movie, they were still Otis's friends and had his back when things got tough. Now they're complete jerks in their appearance in the series.
- Big Damn Heroes: Despite their mischievous attitudes, when they heard that Otis was going to fight the Coyotes alone, they actually stole a car and came in clutch in time to save his life.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: Igg is the Big, Eddy is the Thin, and Bud is the Short.
- Demoted to Extra: They have one focus episode, one appearance interacting with Otis, and the rest of their appearances are cameos.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: They are only referred to as The Jersey Cows. Their names being revealed in the credits.
Wild Mike
- Voiced by: Rob Paulsen
A bizarre creature covered almost entirely in hair.
- Ax-Crazy: True to his name, Wild Mike is absolutely insane.
- Cartoon Creature: He rather looks like a three-way cross between Cousin Itt, Animal, and the mascot for Honeycomb cereal (and no one knows what that guy is).It is unknown exactly what kind of animal he is or supposed to be, although some speculate him to be a monkey due to his somewhat humanoid arms and legs.
- Continuity Nod: Bessy's comments about him in "Wild Mike's Dance Party" indicates that the TV series does in fact take place in the same continuity as the original movie.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Wild Mike's Dance Party" is his only appearance in the TV series.
- Demoted to Extra: While he hardly served as anything more than a Joke Character in the movie, he only makes one appearance in an episode of the TV series, aptly titled "Wild Mike's Dance Party".
- The Faceless: Played with, his face is covered in a huge mess of hair, although his eyes can occasionally be seen upon closer inspection.
- Laughing Mad: His main way of communicating, besides unintelligible screaming, is through insane laughter.
- The Unintelligible: He only communicates through psychotic screaming and laughing.
Bigfoot
- Voiced by: Dee Bradley Baker
The mythical cryptid that used to roam the woods before becoming a member of society.
- All Love Is Unrequited: He's got a crush on Abby (at least in "Otis vs. Bigfoot"), but she's got her heart set on Otis.
- Berserk Button: Facing camera flashes really sets him off, causing him to start attacking whatever or whoever is near him. And as a famous star, the paparazzi keeps using it.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: He's the American Bigfoot himself.
- Faking the Dead: After having enough of the paparazzi, he faked his death to hide out on a Mountain Loft on Mt. Avalanche.
- Flight: Apparently. He's completely capable of flying like Superman with no forshadowing. It was mentioned a few times later, but never appeared again.
- Gentle Giant:No fear Bigfoot! Bigfoot no fear! Me no eat you or crush your heeeeaaaad!
- Hidden Depths: He knows how to make origami (out of tree bark), is great at cooking and interior design, and is also very musically talented.
- Landslide Election: He once won an election for mayor this way. Even Otis voted for him and he was running. He lost the position after going crazy at his swearing in from the flash photography.
- Rousing Speech: Gives a really good one when being elected for mayor...not that anybody knows what he's saying.
- Tabloid Melodrama: The paparazzi are constantly bombarding him with flash photography drive him mad. It's enough that the Northern Lights trigger PTSD."Abby": The flashbulbs were driving him crazy, draining him spiritually and never letting him find a moments peace.
- The Unintelligible: Nobody but Abby can understand him. He's more understandable when singing, though.
- Vindicated by History: In-Universe. Was viewed as a monster until he came out with the hit song No Fear Bigfoot.
- You No Take Candle: While he's normally The Unintelligible, he speaks English like this exclusively when singing.No fear Bigfoot
Bigfoot no fear
Me no eat you, no crush your head
Movie-Exclusive Characters
Ben
- Voiced by: Sam Elliott
A cow and Otis's adoptive father, as well as Otis's predecessor as the leader of the barnyard.
- Animal Gender-Bender: Like Otis, he's male but has an udder.
- Arc Words: "A strong man stands up for himself. A stronger man, stands up for others."
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's amiable and pleasant, but don't be fooled into thinking that he's a pushover because of this. The coyotes learned it the hard way.
- The Dreaded: Although he attempts to hide it, Dag is absolutely terrified of Ben, to the point of briefly losing all his smug and abusive attitude when he sees Ben staring at him. It's easy to see why, considering the fact that Ben manages to beat up Dag’s entire pack singlehandedly, despite his advanced age.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: During the fight with the coyotes, he grabs Dag and uses him as an impromptu weapon.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Ultimately dies protecting the hens from the coyotes.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: He has protected the barn for years and raised his adoptive child Otis. He warns the animals of the coyotes and tells them to be careful, especially to Otis whom the former told to cut down on being a goof and to be a strongly responsible protector and successor. Despite that, he still covers Otis's shift and lets him hang out with his friends despite what he feels about it, even if it means that after he lets Dag go after the former scares him and his pack off the farm, Ben still sacrifices himself to save the chickens from the coyotes. Even if he's serious compared to other heroes, he's very compassionate, pacifistic and not a lover of killing as the protector of the barn. He is why Otis has become who he is today.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Although stern, he does show genuine love for Otis and does care for the barnyard animals' safety.
- Killed Off for Real: The first Nickelodeon character to die; more the first one we actually have a death scene for.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He's the aging leader of the farm animals and tries to teach Otis how to take over when he's gone. True to the trope, he kicks the bucket before Otis is truly ready to take over as the leader of the barnyard.
- Nice Guy: All-round friendly and pleasant with others, even Otis, despite the fact that they butt heads often. He makes it exceedingly clear that he cares about Otis' well-being, even though the latter realizes it too late.
- Not Worth Killing: He basically won his fight against the coyotes - albeit at the cost of his own life - but upon seeing what a Dirty Coward Dag is, Ben just lets him run away instead of finishing him off.
- One-Man Army: It takes six coyotes working together to kill him, and he still forces them to retreat before succumbing to his injuries.
- The Patriarch: Fittingly for a middle-aged black cow, he's the tough guy of his family. He protects the other animals from harm.
- Post-Victory Collapse: Succumbs to his injuries and collapses right after driving off Dag and his pack.
- Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "Put the hen down, Dag." Also doubles as his final words.
Daisy
- Voiced by: Courteney Cox
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Neither she nor her son, Ben, are seen or even mentioned in the series. Especially odd since she was Otis' Love Interest in the movie.
- Flat Character: She's a pretty bland love interest. Her being sweet and nice is pretty much her only characteristic. She is mainly used as a device to help Otis become a man. Somewhat subverted as the creators do try to give her a Tragic Backstory but it could be cut out of the movie entirely.
- Nice Girl: She's very friendly and sweet-natured and also takes an immediate liking to Otis.
- Sole Survivor: She and Bessy are the sole survivors of a storm that wiped out their herd (including her son's biological father).
Miles
- Voiced by: Danny Glover
An elderly mule and longtime friend of Ben.
- Cool Old Guy:
- He helps to maintain peace in the barnyard and had nothing but respect for Ben (and Otis).
- Despite his old age, he proves to be a deadly fighter who effortlessly gets rid of a few coyotes in the climax with only a few well placed kicks.
- Nice Guy: He is very kind-hearted, helpful, and wise.
- Parental Substitute: After Ben dies, Miles serves as Otis's fatherly-figure.
Dag
"I smell fear."
- Voiced by: David Koechner
"This one's mine. Cook her while I have the little one for an appetizer. You know, because I'm a meaner."
A cruel and carnivorous coyote, leading a pack that frequently terrorizes the farm.
- Animals Not to Scale: Both he and the other members of his pack are portrayed as being quite a bit bigger than real coyotes, which are fairly small canines. When standing on his hind legs, he even seems taller than every single human character shown in the movie.
- At Least I Admit It: When Maddy calls him a "meaner", he decides to eat her because, as he specifically admits in his own words, "I'm a meaner" and "meaners gotta eat too".
- Ax-Crazy: He's a psychopathic "lady killer" in his own words. Not only does he keep parts of the corpses of his prey to use as trophies, he clearly gets a kick out of killing other animals. It's subtly implied that not even humans are safe from him, as he tells Otis that, if he breaks their deal, he and his pack will slaughter everyone in the farm, the farmer being presumably included.
- Benevolent Boss: Notwithstanding his Lack of Empathy towards them, he is very generous towards his pack in getting them chickens to eat.
- Big Bad: Of the film. He's leader of the coyote pack terrorizing the farm. Naturally, he is also the most cunning and dangerous of them all.
- The Bully: He really loves to push around those who aren't capable of standing up for themselves.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Despite being an important villain in the movie, Dag does not appear or get mentioned in the series. Then again, Otis did warn him to never come back.
- Creepy Souvenir: He likes to collect the feet from the chickens he previously killed and ate and put them in a keychain.
- Cruel Coyotes: He is a purely evil sociopath and a bully who serves as the main threat to our heroes in the film.
- Dirty Coward: Dag loves to terrorize those smaller and weaker than himself, but when faced with a larger animal that can actually fight back, he sics his pack on them to land a sneak attack while they're distracted, then cowers for his life when at their mercy. Ben and Otis learn that the hard way.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Maddy calls him a "meaner"? His response: eat the kid.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Not only is he heavily implied to be a hedonistic mass murderer, his abusive yet seductive at the same time mannerisms around the chickens give some serious vibes of a sadistic sexual predator.
- Establishing Character Moment: The very first thing he does in the movie is sneaking into the chicken coop with his pack and terrorizing the hens with his chain, which is decorated with the feet of his previous victims, all while sadistically chuckling. All of it demonstrates just how murderous and out of his mind he really is, and how the fun and carefree life in the farm will be in serious danger of being destroyed now that he's around.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Mocks Otis' weight by saying "see you a-round".
- Dag: See ya around! Get it? "Round?" You're fat?
- Evil Is Angular: His character design is more pointier than those of Ben and Otis.
- Evil Is Petty: Has no problem eating a baby chick purely for calling him a "meaner". In one scene he also makes fun of Otis' weight.
- Evil Laugh: A snorting chuckle, which he uses to great effect.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: His voice is gravelly and hoarsy.
- Exact Words: Promises Otis that he and his pack would kidnap only a few animals from the Barnyard every night, but didn't say anything about kidnapping seven hens during the day.
- Expy: To Scar. Both are sadistic monsters who lead a pack of other carnivores, kill the protagonist's father, are proven to be quite cowardly, and are told to never return by the protagonist after their final battle.
- He also reminds a little Wile E. Coyote as they're both antagonistical coyotes. The difference however is that Dag, unlike Wile, is more dangerous, evil and definetly far from being symphatetic.
- Faux Affably Evil: Just listen to how Dag talks to the chickens as he is about to take and eat the chickens. One example is his first scene:"Good evening ladies. Sorry to call you so late in the evening but we did have a previous engagement." [pulls out chicken feet keychain to scare the hens with]
- Hate Sink: Dag is utterly detestable in every conceivable way. He's a Serial Killer in a coyote's body, an attempted Child Eater, and a cold-hearted bully to boot. Not to mention he's also a Dirty Coward of the highest order, only targeting hens that can't fight back and then whimpering when he gets grabbed by a cow.
- The Hedonist: Unlike his pack, he goes too far in being a predator by taking a lot of sadistic pleasure in eating his prey.
- Hero Killer: Ben's death is all thanks to him and his pack.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite seeming honorable due to making a deal with Otis on limiting himself and his pack to only a few animals from the Barnyard every night, he proves himself anything but when he circumvents the terms of the deal by kidnapping seven hens during the day.
- Kick the Dog: If killing Ben and mocking Otis about it wasn't bad enough, he also tries to eat Maddy just because she called him a "meaner".
- Knight of Cerebus: A murderous coyote who sucks out every last bit of lightheartedness in the movie whenever he's present. Him and his pack kill Ben, which forces the fun-loving Otis to step up as new leader of the farm animals.
- Lack of Empathy: Shows absolutely no care towards the chickens he tries to eat or even any of the coyotes who get hurt in his battles.
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: Has red-tinted fur and is the leader of his pack.
- Lean and Mean: His ribcage is always in good view despite presumably eating many chickens.
- Manipulative Bastard: It's most notable when he taunts Otis, making him feeling terrible about not helping his father on the night he died, and afterwards proposing Otis a deal: he and his pack would only take a few animals each night, but if Otis tries again to stop them, they will slaughter every single one of them. Also, when he says Otis that he will be seeing him around by the next nights. When he returns to the farm, it's during the day, relying on Otis only counting on him return at night as he had always done.
- Never My Fault: He gaslights Otis by projecting the blame on his own murder of Otis' father Ben in order to break his spirit. Next, he attempts to blame his predatory behavior on "the natural order of things", even though it is clearly his own decision to act as sadistic as possible in eating his prey.
- Not So Stoic: After spending most of his time as a Soft-Spoken Sadist, he howls in pain when Otis smacks him into the air.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: While making his deal with Otis, he tries to justify his eating of animals as "the natural order of things". However, while it is true that predators need to eat prey to survive, the sadistic lengths he goes in eating his victims, from his Creepy Souvenir of severed chicken feet to trying to eat a child for something as petty as calling him a "meaner", show how flimsy such an excuse for his crimes are.
- Oh, Crap!: It's subtle, but he's noticeably startled when Ben makes his entrance to stop him and his pack from eating any chickens. Of course, he quickly maintains his composure afterwards, but this drives the point home that Ben is... well, was a force to be reckoned with.Dag: Ben!...How are ya, Ben? Yeah, we would have said hello, had we seen ya.
- Pragmatic Villainy: While he treats his pack very well and goes as far as to give them chickens to eat, it's only because he's too scrawny to fight solo, given the lack of any visible genuine care towards them.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: He is a Serial Killer who has red fur and a black snout.
- Red Is Violent: He's a cruel and voracious coyote with red fur.
- Sadist: While one could make the argument that he's only killing for food, the fact that he gets enjoyment out of murdering and eating hens, even keeping their severed feet on a keychain, shows that he's ultimately this.
- Scary Teeth: He has very sharp and evil-looking teeth.
- Serial Killer: He has heavy shades of this, evidenced by his keychain of chicken feet; trophies from his previous kills.
- The Sociopath: A smug hedonistic coyote who kills animals for sport in addition to food.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: Spends almost all of his screentime in a soft-spoken manner, even when he brags about his sadistic behavior or orders his pack to kill Otis, unless he's howling in pain from being smacked by a golf club.
- Those Wily Coyotes: He and his pack are vicious and ferocious coyotes who love to kidnap chickens and eat them.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: A goofy animated movie about partying farm animals, with a sadistic coyote who shows signs of being a serial killer. Why not?
- Villain Has a Point: Though he delivers it in a colossal Kick the Dog way, he did make a valid point in saying that Ben would probably still be alive had Otis decided not to flake on his duties of guarding the barnyard on the night when Dag and his pack snuck onto the farm and killed Ben.
- Would Hit a Girl: Apart from wanting to eat the hens, he also grabs one by the neck when the coyotes first come to the chicken coop. He even calls himself "Ladykiller".
- Would Hurt a Child: He was very close to devouring Maddy before Otis intervened.
Etta
- Voiced by: Andie MacDowell
A mother hen.
- Demoted to Extra: She only had two speaking lines in the series, and maybe a few more nonspeaking cameos, but that's it.
- Mama Bear: As shown before, picking on Maddy will be a regrettable action.
Maddy
- Voiced by: Madeline Lovejoy
A young chick who enjoys playing with Otis. She is slightly troublesome for her mother Etta to take care of because she often wanders off from the chicks.
- Badass Adorable: She is as cute as a button and stood up to Dag calling him a "meaner."
- Big Brother Worship: Has this kind of relationship with Otis. It's when Dag kidnaps her and the rest of the hens that he finally decides he's had enough of the coyote.
- Children Are Innocent: Looks up to Otis and hates Dag.
- Nice Girl: She is quite compassionate. She immediately tries to comfort Otis when she sees him mourning for his father.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Has a large head and small body.
