Clarabelle Cow

**Clarabelle Cow** is a main character in *Justice*and *Contact*, having been upgraded from recurring status in *Rewritten*.

In terms of the series narrative, Clarabelle is the telephone operator and cattlelog salesperson of Toontown. She is also the last cow in Toontown, which is a dominant factor in her actions in the second and third seasons.

## Appearances

### *Rewritten*

Clarabelle Cow made her first appearance in "The Last Laff" while in her human form in Fantasyland. She was gossiping with her friend, Vidalia VaVoom, and the shopkeeper of the Emporium when the Esmeralda fortune teller machine levitated and delivered a message asking if anyone had seen the opening of a portal to a Toon world. Clarabelle paid it no heed and went on gossiping with Vidalia. In "Remembrance," while attending Vidalia VaVoom's lavish party in Fantasyland, Clarabelle attempted to aid Professor Pete in his search for the Mystery Man. Without a name though, she was unable to help. She followed up with Pete in "Doomsday" by telling him that she found out from Vidalia that a man matching Pete's Mystery Man's description was seen in the Quarter of Fantasyland and that might be where he lived. Pete became uninterested in this information when Clarabelle mentioned a "toon world," part of the message she heard from Esmeralda. Pete ran off in the direction of the Emporium, eager to hear this message. In Toontown, before the evacuation, Clarabelle made house calls to ensure everyone knew the plan to leave Toontown. In "Irenic," she returned with the rest of the Toons to Toontown. In "Snatched," after Detective Lima was kidnapped and taken inside Sellbot Headquarters, Clarabelle and Vidalia told everyone in town, earning the ire of Eileen Irenic and Constance Miller. Clarabelle appeared briefly in "Darkness on the Edge of Town" when she sold a vase to Eileen Irenic, having discounted it 90%.

### *Justice*

Clarabelle returned in "Aftershock" when she and Vidalia VaVoom made telephone calls to advertise the coordinated strike on Cog headquarters during the blackout. During the coordinated strike on the Cogs, Clarabelle had tea with Vidalia, as seen in "Out in the Darkness." She tried to convince her friend not to join the Toon Resistance. Clarabelle also revealed a much-harbored source of depression: she is the last cow in Toontown. After Vidalia made it onto the Mayoral ballot, Clarabelle voted for her in "Voice to the Chorus." Unfortunately, Vidalia lost to Constance Miller. Upset at the loss, she latched onto the scandal generated against Constance Miller in "Trouble" to spread malice about the Mayor-elect. She launched a town-wide smear campaign through the phones, though these actions were condemned by Vidalia. Clarabelle witnessed the Cogs putting up the Edict in "Edicts of War," but returned to bed.

In "A Tale of Two Mice," the leaders of Toontown uncovered an enormous security breach; the Cogs had placed bugs in all of the Toons of the World vases that had been sold at low cost by Clarabelle through her Cattlelog. When Clarabelle was informed of the breach, she fled into a Cog building.

Clarabelle's backstory was explored in "The Last Cow." Born to Ub Cow and Elvia Cow, Clarabelle always knew from a young age that she was the last cow in Toontown. She knew that she would outlive her parents and truly be the last, but she was too young to understand the ramification that she would not be able to reproduce naturally. She found out in a school seminar, and was traumatized. She wanted nothing more in life than to bear children, and being bereft of that dream left her despondent. She founded the Cattlelog to fill the void, but the hope for children never wavered. When The Chairman of the Cogs visited her and promised her a baby cow in exchange for betraying Toontown, she eagerly accepted the offer. She carried on in deceipt of the Toons for many months, unbeknownst to others. She had hidden inside her Toons of the World vases little bugs that enabled the Cogs to spy on the Toons. Clarabelle escaped with the Cogs and evaded Toon capture. The Toons filed a legal suit against her, but the Cogs overturned the request due to the "moot" nature of the Toon government. They instead allowed Clarabelle to be tried by Cog Nation with a public defender as the prosecution. This launched the Trial of the Century.

The jury for Clarabelle's trial was selected in "Castle on the Cliff." Clarabelle was shown to be extremely guilty about the whole ordeal, and tried to tell the Chairman that she wished to withdraw her case. However, the Chairman counteroffered with a prominent place on an upcoming diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Bovo to establish trade relations. This restored Clarabelle's confidence in the Cogs and she agreed to keep her plea of not guilty. She returned to court with an upbeat attitude in "Brawl of the Bossbots" and did not waver as she was lambasted by her closest friends, including Vidalia.

In "By a Preponderance," after the jury deliberated for six hours, a majority vote of 7-5 convicted Clarabelle of her treachery and she was sentenced to prison under the custody of the Toons. The composure she held during the trial evaporated and she was dragged kicking and screaming from the courtroom by the Toon Patrol. She was imprisoned beneath Toon Headquarters in one of the cells that had been unoccupied by a Tog. Alice Carver castigated her in "Hearts Ablaze" for her actions, remarking how both of them are uanble to bear children but Alice made the conscious choice to help Toontown.

### *Contact*

Clarabelle returned in "They Came From the North." Having only occupied her jail cell for several hours, she was shocked to see the six Cartonians be incarcerated. Her nosiness ultimately made the Toon Patrol relocate her to a different location. Her new jail cell became an unused vault in the Bank of Toontown, which Clarabelle resented. In "Equinox," Clarabelle recounted how she saw the six Cartonians arrive at the jail in Toon HQ. She resolved to escape her imprisonment and travel north to Bovo, reasoning that if crocodiles still existed in Eusuchia, then cows must exist in Bovo. Clarabelle was moved out of her temporary holding cell in the bank back to Toontown Central in "Welcome to Toontown." She was a few cells down from Blair Fawkes, and demanded information about the Kingdom of Bovo. Her gossipping earned ire from her new cellmate, and Blair asked to be transferred to another prison in "Truth Will Out," though this request was denied. In "Revenge of the Lawbots," the Cogs broke her out of jail, and took Blair with them.

Clarabelle was taken to Lawbot Headquarters in "This Too Shall Pass" and was officially declared as their new Creator. She planned to aid the Cogs to victory on the Toontown peninsula and northward to the Vulpus Cliffs, after which time she would briefly leave for Bovo until a husband could be secured and then she would return to rule over Cog Nation. She insisted on following the District Attorney and his Cogs into battle against the Toons so that she could kill Eileen Irenic.

Clarabelle accompanied the District Attorney to Toontown Central in "Split the Heavens" but ordered him to land in the abandoned Speedway to avoid falling into the din of battle. The District Attorney recognized Alice Carver and attemped to re-kidnap her. Clarabelle separated from the rest of the Cogs after the District Attorney died, and went to Toon Hall, where Eileen Irenic had climbed to the roof. Clarabelle followed her, and savagely attacked her with a dagger from Lawbot Headquarters. Castigating the former Mayor for ruining her life and depriving her of her last opportunity to have children of her own, Clarabelle stabbed Eileen several times. Declaring herself as the Queen of Cog Nation, Clarabelle came close to ending Eileen's life, if not for the last-minute intervention of Blair Fawkes, who pushed Clarabelle off the roof. Clarabelle died upon impact.

## Character

### Namesake

Clarabelle's name is taken verbatim from her Toontown counterpart, who in turn derives her name from the real Disney character.

## Trivia

* During development for the series, producers reached out to the audience for ideas or suggestions. One commented "Give Clarabelle a tragic past."
	+ One season later, Clarabelle was revealed to be the only cow left in Toontown.
* Clarabelle's fall from grace, culminating in her attempt to murder and her own subsequent death, was one of the author's favorite story arcs that was carefully woven from the first season.
* Since Flippy Flopper survived his death scene in "Hell Bound," Clarabelle is the first main character to truly die. She was followed by Flippy in the same episode.