| NOTE: This article is only about the version of Mr. Wolf from the 2022 animated film adaptation, as the original book version was not voted Near Pure Good. Thus, only movie Wolf's info and actions should be put here. |
| “ | Gutless? I'm gutless? I'm sorry, have we met? I'm the villain of every story! Guilty until proven innocent! Even if by some miracle we did change, who's gonna believe us? Huh? | „ |
| ~ Mr. Wolf expressing his hidden insecurities to Diane Foxington on how society judges him for being a scary wolf. |
| “ | You ever wonder what it'd be like? The world loving us instead of being scared of us, you ever-you ever think about that? | „ |
| ~ Wolf expressing his conflict over whether or not to turn good to Mr. Snake. |
| “ | Hey you! That's right, come 'ere, little closer. I said closer! Now that we've had some time to get aquainted, uh- not so scary now, are we? Webs, hit it! | „ |
| ~ The reformed Wolf's last line in the film as he addresses the audience one final time. |
Mr. Wolf is the main protagonist of DreamWorks' 2022 animated film The Bad Guys, an adaptation of Aaron Blabey's book series of the same name.
A suave pickpocket wolf, he is the strategic leader of the titular Bad Guys, a gang of "evil" animals that went along with society's stereotypes of them and devoted themselves to a life of crime. Wolf has done many successful capers with the aid of his four loyal teammates: the safecracker Mr. Snake (who is also his best friend), the hacker Ms. Tarantula, the master of disguise Mr. Shark and the thug Mr. Piranha.
After attempting to steal the famed Golden Dolphin but being ultimately foiled and arrested, Wolf will come up with a scheme for him and his friends to feign redemption so as to be pardoned and go back to their life of crime, but the experience of what true good feels like, advice from the philanthropist Professor Marmalade and encouragement from Governor Diane Foxington (who will become Wolf's love interest in the film) will gradually convince Wolf to reform for real, which will put him at odds with his colleagues, especially the cynical Snake.
He is voiced by Sam Rockwell.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Good?[]
- He felt forced into a life of crime by society fearing him because of the Big Bad Wolf stereotype and admits from the very beginning he wished he could be anything more than just a villain, but learned to simply enjoy the life he was given.
- Even as a villain, he was always affable and easy-going, even paying and tipping restaurants when, as a wanted criminal, he could have simply dined and dashed, showing that, even as a thief, he never stooped to hurting small businesses.
- Most of his crimes, while still bad, were mere theft and all of his other villainy (such as how much he endangers people on the road) is mostly Fridge Horror.
- In spite of being the de facto leader of the Bad Guys, Wolf's relationship with them is that of a friend rather than a boss. As they have been his only friends throughout his life, Wolf is very caring towards them, even if he often expresses that through snark, and he is very loyal towards them, being willing to lay his life on the line for their sake.
- He organizes a birthday party for his best friend Snake mid-heist and tries to get the cynical reptile to enjoy himself.
- While being chase by Chief Misty Luggings, Wolf warned her of the bus that was coming up, this saving her from being killed.
- The first signs of his hidden heart of gold show when he feels a tingle of good vibes after an old lady he accidentally saves (actually Professor Marmalade in disguise) gratefully calls him a "good boy" and when listening to Marmalade's speech on how good it feels to do good and be loved.
- After some encouragement from Diane, Wolf truly does start considering turning good and has an adorable scene where he saves a kitten stuck on a tree in Marmalade's garden. Instead of simply getting the cat down the tree (which he could've down when the cat almost falls from the tree and Wolf catches him), Wolf uses soft, kind words, empathy and some scratching behind the cat's ear to gain his trust and safely gets him down.
- Wolf later pretty much adopts the cat as a pet, saving him from the tree once again before leaving Marmalade's compound with the Meteorite (actually a lamp) during the climax (and, by doing so, unwittingly saves the cat's life as Snake would've later blown up the Meteorite and the compound), gives him his own pair of small sunglasses and leaves the cat in Diane's care before being taken away to prison in the end.
- As he dances with Diane at the Gala, the two start to strengthen their bond, even to the point of implied romance, and Wolf even gives her back the ring he had stolen from her earlier.
- Thanks to the Bad Guys' performance, the charity gala raises 1 billion dollars.
- When all that would be left for Wolf's second attempt at stealing the Golden Dolphin to succeed would be Wolf pressing a button to turn off the lights, Wolf doesn't go through with it, as he doesn't want to lose the trust and love he has been receiving after his feigned redemption, especially Diane's. In that moment, Wolf finally redeems himself for real.
- When the Bad Guys are incriminated by Marmalade for the theft of the Love Meteorite, Wolf, as a last attempt at redeeming himself, marks his hideout's coordinates on a map and hands it to Diane so he can give back all of his stolen loot. This will help Diane trust him even after Marmalade frames him, leading to her freeing the Bad Guys from prison.
- In prison, he tells his fellow Bad Guys all what he has been feeling as of late with full honesty.
- He has a major Heating Up moment when he lashes out at his gang, calling them burdens and he even violently fights Snake. However, in Wolf's defense, he was understandably stressed out over his whole life coming apart and Snake verbally attacking him only made things worse. Wolf quickly recovers from this and is very remorseful over having hurt his friends with his words.
- After the Bad Guys have a falling out with him, as they feel betrayed by Wolf for redeeming himself, Wolf visits the hideout, which has been completely emptied by the police, and leaves a single Push Pop popsicle in the Bad Guys' fridge. Wolf knew that there was some good deep within Snake and, as he predicted, when push come to shove, Snake shares the Push Pop with Shark to cheer him up, being generous for the first time in his life. This inspires the Bad Guys to turn good, with Webs, Shark and Piranha going to help Diane and Wolf stop Marmalade while Snake feigns defection from the Bad Guys to "partner up" with the Professor and manipulate him into defeat.
- He vents out how uncertain he is on what he's doing to Diane after his falling out with his friends.
- After escaping jail, he immediately sets off with Diane to stop Marmalade from using the Meteroite to mind-control guinea pigs into stealing the charity money for him.
- With help from Diane and the reformed Shark, Piranha and Webs, Wolf foils Snake's heist and redirects the hijacked money vans so all the funds go back to the hospitals, schools, etc. they were meant for. Thus, especially in the case of the hospital, Wolf helps in saving lives.
- He throws away the chance to return the "Meteorite" and be pardoned for the sake of getting Snake back from Marmalade, braving hordes of mind-controlled guinea pigs to do so, even though he still thinks Snake has betrayed the gang, showing just how loyal Wolf is to his friends.
- When Marmalade kicks Snake off his plane and onto the crater below, Wolf leaps over the crater with his car to save him, sacrificing his beloved vehicle for his best friend.
- Mid-fall, Wolf apologizes for having kept his want for redemption hidden from Snake and the others and tells his friend he loves him. Wolf and Snake then embrace as they reconcile.
- While every other Bad Guy tears up as they prepare to die in the fall together, Wolf nonchalantly pulls out his hidden grappling hook and saves all his friends, while also destroying Marmalade's mind-control helmet and damaging his helicopter.
- When Diane almost reveals her secret identity as the Crimson Paw and destroys her career so as to defend the Bad Guys, Wolf doesn't allow her to do so and turns himself in to protect her, the rest of the gang following in tow.
- When Luggings is too stunned by Wolf turning himself in to cuff him, he softly encourages her to achieve her lifelong goal of catching him, redeeming himself from all the times he has teased her in the past while escaping from her.
- In prison, Wolf and the rest are so well-behaved that they befriend the guards and, in spite of their countless thievery, are released just a year later for good behavior.
- At the end of the movie, the freed Wolf and the gang, Diane and the cat all ride off in the distance with sunglasses on, ready to start their new lives as good guys.
- Wolf is initially petty towards Diane, wanting to steal the Golden Dolphin in part to spite her as after she insulted him and his friends on live TV and he having nothing but contempt for her at first as a snobby little miss perfect. However, as Wolf and Diane discover they are not so different from one another and even develop some very good chemistry, the two come to care greatly for one another, Diane even helping Wolf choose good. In the end, Wolf even sacrifices his freedom so that Diane doesn't lose her position, showing just how far he has come in liking her.
- Wolf starts off as an attention-seeker, pulling off flashy heists and having an overall studly attitude so as to be as infamous a criminal as possible. initially, his main reason for turning good, is to get all public love good guys get. However, by the end he's willing to be publicly seen as a villain and even incarcerated to protect Diane and do what's right, going from an attention-seeking villain to a good guy willing to be an unsung hero.
- By the end, he has completely redeemed himself from his villainy and had also helped all his friends turn good too.
What Prevents Him From Being Pure Good?[]
- Even after redeeming himself, he never really sheds his cocky, smug and snarky attitude.
- Although he had all the right to be angry, he briefly became an outright lethal berserker when Marmalade revealed his manipulations. Wolf attacks him and it's clear that he wanted to outright kill him (possibly via mauling) and was only stopped by the cuffs restraining him. This is alleviated by him quickly coming back to his senses and realizing how monstrous he looks, but it's still too violent to be dismissed as Heating Up. It also doesn't help his case that this is exactly what Marmalade wanted, as he opens the door on the back of the prison truck and pretends to be attacked by Wolf in an attempt to garner sympathy. While one could argue that his reaction was natural being a wolf, he had no need to act like this, and a PG hero wouldn't do it either way.
Trivia[]
- Mr. Wolf, his ally Diane Foxington, Sasha Waybright, Giorno Giovanna and Bruno Bucciarati, Meta Knight, Nathalie Sancoeur, the T-800, The Animator, Charles Peizer and Stanley Ipkiss are the only Near Pure Goods to be Magnificent Baddies.
- He, Diane Foxington and Megamind are the three Dreamworks protagonists to be Near Pure Good redeemed villains.
- There is a possibility that his status could be affected in the sequel. The trailers indicate he will be forced back into crime, but this is unlikely to permanently corrupt him, in the trailer for The Bad Guys 2, Mr. Wolf says there doing bad again since they have to do the final job, he could maybe move to Pure Good.
External Links[]
- Mr. Wolf on the Heroes Wiki
- Mr. Wolf on the Villains Wiki
- Mr. Wolf on the Guile Heroes Wiki
- Mr. Wolf on the The Bad Guys Wiki
- Mr. Wolf on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
- Mr. Wolf on the DreamWorks Animation Wiki
- Mr. Wolf on the Standard Evil Wiki
[]
 Near Pure Goods
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Animated Features Live-Action Features Animated Television See Also | ||