NOTE: This proposal only concerns Otis in the original 2006 "Barnyard" movie. His version from the animated series "Back At The Barnyard" is not being proposed here. You will get the reason and explanation in the "Mitigating factors" section. And don't even bother looking for information about the movie's video games here. I didn't even know they existed...
"Remember me? I'm Ben's kid." An example of character growth! The "title" that his arch-enemy used to mock him and reach his guilt, he now uses with pride for being the son of the one who taught him everything he needed to know, making it clear that he defeated his enemy, just like his father.
This is a character that I was really confused about because he didn't have a moral qualification yet, since he's the protagonist of the movie and even his father already has a classification, being Pure Good. Seeing this, I looked at his page, and realized that he was rejected from the Pure Good Wiki. A user even proposed him here, but it was left undetermined because of the "Back at Barnyard" series, which is very likely not canon material. So I decided that Otis needed a decent proposal. From the looks of it, when I proposed Meg, without knowing that she had already been proposed, it seems that it is not necessary to ask for an admin's proposal to re-propose if the last proposal was undetermined, but correct me if I'm wrong. Bear with me…
What's the work?
Barnyard is an underrated animated movie made by Nickelodeon in 2006, when their products went beyond SpongeBob and The Loud House. The film is set in a barn where the animals have a field day when the farmer is away. The main plot, however, is about a bull named Otis who has to learn to be more mature, like his father Ben, after the latter's cruel death at the hands of vile coyotes.
Who's the candidate?
Otis is the protagonist. He is a playful and carefree ox who loves to have fun and party with his friends. However, as I said above, after the death of his father, Ben, Otis has to take his place as leader of the barn and become a responsible man. (In this case, a responsible ox.)
Oh, yes. He is voiced by Kevin James.
What Have Him Done?/What Makes Him So Close Of Being Pure Good?
He starts out as an uncommitted guy who just wants to have fun, ignoring his father's warnings to be more responsible, especially considering that Ben wants Otis to succeed him as leader, and by extension, Otis will have to protect the animals from the coyotes. In Ben's words, as long as he's alive, anyone won't hurt any animals on that side of the fence (I’m Brazilian, so I don’t know how the quote is in English), and so he wants Otis to grow up.
So that night, when the two meet for night watch, Ben has a heart-to-heart with Otis about how valuable he is to him and lets him leave for the barn party, saying he'll cover for his son, but reminding him to be the strongest of them all, because the strongest man stands up for others. While Otis is having fun in the barn, Etta, the leader of the chickens, runs to him in despair, warning him about Ben. Worried, Otis goes to his father, who has been mauled to death by coyotes. Horrified and shocked, Otis watches his own adoptive father die in his arms.
After Ben's funeral, Otis becomes depressed. He even gets a little lift from Maddie, the chick, but is shocked to find the barn in total disarray. He tries to put things in order, like his father used to do, but his friends appeal to his party-loving side and he ends up giving in... until they are caught by the farmer, who sees that his animals walk, talk, party and behave like humans. Miles, the mule, knocks him out with a kick so he won't remember anything. Otis convinces Freddie not to kill the poor guy, and together with his friends, they set up a scenario convincing enough to make the farmer believe that it was that thing that knocked him out, thus keeping the secret of the animals (a joke about the Brazilian name of the film. LOL!).
That night, along with the Jersey Cows, they go to Snotty Boy (yes, he looks like a kid Tighteen) to teach him a lesson about how cows feel about being pushed and knocked down for no reason. They run away in a very memorable chase scene, but Otis feels a little bad when he hears the three say that Ben would never get himself into a situation like that. Otis then has a cute conversation with Daisy, his crush, but later, he sees a rabbit being hunted by the pack of coyotes. Deciding to save the big-eared one, he follows the pack to stop them, but Dag is not intimidated by him as he was by Ben. They easily subdue Otis and Dag decides to make a "deal" with him: They would only take a few animals each night, and Otis would pretend he didn't see it, but if he tried to "play the hero", the coyotes would kill EVERYBODY (presumably including the farmer as well). Mocking the poor guy, the coyotes then leave him there, depressed.
Depressed because he thinks he can't protect anyone, Otis tries to leave the barn and leave Duke, the dog, in charge, but not before talking to his father on his grave, telling him how he was a good father, but Otis could never be like him. Hooooooooooooowever, the animals run to him in despair to warn him that the coyotes showed up in the middle of the morning and took absolutely all the chickens. Otis is shocked and angry, realizing that he has been double-tricked by Dag, until Miles tells him that the coyotes are strong and rhetorically asks him what a stronger man would do. Remembering Ben's teachings, Otis decides not to leave his friends and goes alone to the coyote den to save the chickens.
He arrives just in time to stop Dag from devouring Maddie out of spite and faces them all, but ends up being subdued. Otis refuses to give up and repeats his father's motto: "A strong man stands up for himself. A stronger man, stands up for others."
Otis' friends and the Jersey Cows arrive to fight, stopping the coyote and giving Otis support, who manages to do much better than before. Dag, cowardly, tries to attack him mortally from behind, but luckily for our protagonist, Peck, the rooster, learns to crow and uses it to alert Otis, who grabs Dag by the neck and is about to beat him, but deciding not to stoop to the coyote's level of cruelty, he simply orders him to never come back to kill the barnyard animals again... and sends him away with a punch in the butt. Yeah, he didn't hold a grudge... he sent it away!
After the group returns to the barn, they witness the birth of Daisy's son, who is named Lil' Ben. Otis then takes his father's oath that as long as he is alive, no animal on that side of the fence will be harmed, with the animals cheering him on.
Mitigating factors
This is what made Otis be rejected from Pure Good and what made his first NPG Proposal receive a “Undetermined” result. It turns out that even though Otis' arc is literally about subverting his corrupting qualities, the animated series undid that development and made him even more immature.
But, just like the Hercules series, as I pointed out in my Meg proposal, I very much doubt that Back at the Barnyard is canon with the film.
There are many contradictions and plot holes: Daisy, even though she was Otis' love interest in the first film, simply disappears and is replaced by a random cow, Lil Ben also doesn't appear, Miles doesn't appear, despite his relevance in the original film, Ben and the coyotes are never referenced at any point, and Otis' development itself being undone ends up being a huge plot hole in this series. Even Dag's page on the Pure Evil Wiki points out that the series can't be used as an argument against his moral classification, considering how dubious it is whether the series is canon. So if this can't change Dag's Pure Evil status, I think it's only fair that the same goes for Otis.
Other than that, like I said, there's not much to comment on. His arc is literally about subverting irresponsibility, and while at one point he wanted to leave the barn, the narrative doesn't present this as corrupting, as he was devastated by the feeling that he couldn't protect anyone. And yet, he was quick to subvert this when he discovered that the coyotes had tricked him, going to defeat them to save his friends personally. He even decides not to kill Dag, even though he had every justifiable reason to do so, and instead simply sends him away. In a slapstick way? Yes, but let's face it, Dag deserved it.
Admirable Standards
This was never a problem for Otis, even when he was rejected from Pure Good. The only worthy competition Otis has is his own father, Ben, who raised him, protected the barn for a long time, and sacrificed himself to defend the animals from the coyotes, and maybe Miles; who kind of served as Otis' conscience. The other characters are either too idiotic to be PG or NPG, or if they're not, they're too average in their heroism, like Etta.
He definitely stands out. He marched for miles (seriously, watch the movie and you will see how far he walked) to save the chickens from the coyotes, refused to give up even after being defeated, and, to his credit: unlike his father, he defeated the coyotes for good, as we can see from the climax, especially with Dag being thrown off. He also came up with a plan to make sure the farmer didn't find out about the animals' wisdom, which was pretty cool.
What Prevents Him From Being Pure Good?
Silly and funny, still mischievous.
Despite having matured almost completely, he still has some mischievous moments that he doesn't subvert, such as him trolling the mailman by making faces behind him; or, along with the Jersey Cows, pushing Snotty Boy out of bed and laughing in his face (even though he deserved it).
Final veredit
I say yes to this milkman Guilherme Briggs! (Only Brazilians will understand. LOL!) Anyway, I hope my arguments are convincing. If you're going to vote, just do what you always do, be detailed and, advice, don't sound too aggressive (believe me, I learned this the hard way on IH Wiki).