Lupe

**Lupe** is a character in *Ferdinand*. She is a ”calming goat" whose job is to calm the bulls at Casa del Toro.

Her dream is to find a fighting bull whom she can coach to greatness and thus prove that there’s more to her than meets the eye. Later, her dream changes when she chooses to leave the Casa with Ferdinand in order to move to Juan's farm where he lives and earn his owner, Nina's love in return.

Lupe is voiced by Kate McKinnon.

## Development

Lupe was designed to be "unrefined" and "lack grace and elegance" and thus, studied young goats to capture her movements.. In addition, Lupe's "classic sassy half-lidded look" was said to be inspired by her McKinnon.

## Appearance

A small and elderly goat, Lupe has short orange fur and a pale brown stomach. On her head are short locks of dark brown fur. She has a prominent underbite with two teeth jutting out from her lower jaw, a flat nose, large eyes and gray segmented horns. Sporting long lashes, they surround large yellow eyes with brown pupils. She also has a small tuft of fur for a tail. There is a piece of green rope tied snugly around her neck, much like a collar.

## Biography

### Meeting Ferdinand

When a "new bull" named Ferdinand is brought to Casa del Toro at night and "goes out of control" (getting his horns stuck in the truck hole while panicking when he finds out he's been brought back to the same place he ran away from when he was a calf two years ago) in the truck after accidentally destroying a village due to a misunderstanding (a bumblebee incident), Lupe, serving as the resident's "calming goat", is harshly brought inside the truck by one of Moreno's men to "calm him down." Lupe introduces herself to Ferdinand and tries in vain to calm him down but to no avail until Ferdinand breaks himself free and out of the truck and accidentally lands on her.

After Ferdinand helps her up and apologizes for nearly squashing her, Lupe is shocked to see how big Ferdinand is but then goes into sheer excitement when Ferdinand asks for her help; misinterpreting it as help to make a fighter out of him rather than to escape since she admits she's not "the world's best calming goat" and reveals that she actually wants to be a coach instead. Ferdinand tries in vain to dissuade Lupe but due to the rumor about him "destroying a whole village" and "eating a baby," she refuses to listen; thinking he's just being modest.

### Inside the pen

Then, Lupe brings Ferdinand inside the pen to introduce him to the rest of the bulls living there. When Lupe intends to introduce him to the others, she is surprised to find out that Ferdinand actually knows most of them since the time they were calves before he ran away; starting with Bones and then Guapo. However, two new bulls have been brought since Ferdinand's escape two years ago. Lupe proceeds to introduce Ferdinand first to Angus and then Maquina. Then, Ferdinand comes face-to-face with another bull he knew from his youth, namely, his rival, Valiente.

After Valiente threatens to beat Ferdinand to a pulp inside the ring, Lupe realizes that he really hates Ferdinand even when Ferdinand admits that everyone hates him. Knowing the feeling, Lupe sympathizes with him when she admits that everyone hates her as well. Then, she proceeds to bring him to his stable (the same one he had when he was a calf before he ran away) while showing him that she "lives in a bucket" and adding to the place a flower toy that sings the Macarena everytime someone claps as a feminine touch and a gift from her to Ferdinand. Before going to sleep, Lupe bids Ferdinand good-night and warns him about the bed bugs.

### Meeting the hedgehogs

While Lupe and Ferdinand are sleeping despite her snoring, three hedgehog siblings named Una, Dos, and Cuatro sneak in to steal some food and the flower toy. Ferdinand catches them in the act; mistaking them for bugs, and when he asks them if they're trying to steal his stuff, they try to reassure him otherwise. But when Ferdinand starts to feel terrible for thinking they're thieves, Lupe suddenly wakes up while unintentionally and momentarily knocking Ferdinand out with her bucket and warns him not to fall for any of their tricks. Once Lupe starts calling them "filthy weasels", this upsets Una as she and Dos try to correct her. Then, when she proceeds to accuse them as "beady-eyed, little thieves", Una justly states that they're actually "survivors", pricks Lupe on her muzzle with one of her quills, and orders her brothers to assume ball formation.

Thinking Ferdinand is going to "eat" them, the hedgehogs try to defend themselves by throwing their quills at both Ferdinand and Lupe but when Ferdinand stops Lupe from messing with them and reassures them that he's not "eating" anyone, the hedgehogs cease the attack; making Una the first to realize that Ferdinand is quite different from the other bulls around here. After making much friendlier acquaintances and amends with one another, Ferdinand allows the hedgehogs to take the food since he's not hungry but Lupe still refuses to allow them to take the flower toy. Then, Ferdinand gives them a boost at the window and they bid each other farewell.

Later, Ferdinand tries to escape while Lupe continues sleeping in her bucket and talking in her sleep, only to find out that there is no other way out and to be chastised by horses: Hans, Klaus, and Greta.

### El Primero's Arrival

In the morning, Lupe wakes up and fails to eat an empty sardine can from the humans' garbage until she overhears the ranch hands announcing and preparing everything for the arrival of a famous bullfighter named El Primero. Excited, Lupe proceeds to wake up and inform the bulls about El Primero's arrival, only to get accidentally kicked in the muzzle against the wall by Ferdinand in the end after accidentally stepping on his tail while waking him up and informing him the news.

When Ferdinand asks who El Primero is, Lupe states that he is the greatest bullfighter in all of Spain as the rest of the bulls approach to witness his arrival. Once El Primero arrives at Casa del Toro, she gets overexcited; revealing she is the quite the fan. When they learn that El Primero has come to select a bull for his final fight, Lupe sees this as a chance to train and make a fighter out of Ferdinand as his coach; much to his dismay and the other bulls' chagrin.

### The Trial for El Primero

As Ferdinand reluctantly makes his way towards the ring with all the other bulls for a trial for El Primero, Lupe tries in vain to give him a few coaching tips on how to win and get selected by El Primero, to which Ferdinand disagrees with; given his pacifism. While the bulls except Ferdinand try to impress El Primero with their training and fighting skills, Lupe continues encouraging Ferdinand to fight; much to his constant reluctance.

After an unintentional embarrassement caused by Ferdinand due to tending to Guapo, who fainted during the trial; thanks to Valiente, none of the bulls get selected by El Primero but he promises Moreno to give them two more days to prove themselves before his final fight. Then, Ferdinand gets reprimanded by the others, namely, Valiente. When Lupe stands up for Ferdinand, he finally convinces her that he is not a fighter or a killing machine; much to her dismay and everyone else's confusion.

Then, Guapo is taken to the chop house due to his fainting that lead to his failure during the trial; much to everyone except Valiente's horror.

### Training and dancing

The next day, while all the other bulls except Ferdinand are training hard, Lupe approaches Ferdinand and continues "coaching" him while instructing him to behave more like the others rather than being himself but Ferdinand is too busy paying attention to a Bunny standing in Angus' way of hitting a barrel again. Lupe watches Ferdinand trying in vain to stop Angus from hitting the Bunny due to Angus' long, thick locks giving him bad eyesight.

After a somewhat successful but embarrassing rescue, Lupe points out to Ferdinand that apologizing to the Bunny is not "helping his reputation" but taking out another bull is an "energy they could use." After Ferdinand helps Angus out with his sight problem, Lupe is referred to as "the world's most ugliest dog" by Angus and then watches him finally hit the barrel successfully.

Later, after a bonding moment between Angus and Ferdinand, Lupe intervenes so as to speak to Ferdinand. As they walk further away, she admits that she has tears in her eyes and that Ferdinand's deed was a good one until she suddenly reprimands and scolds at him; telling him to "stop helping the competition" while sarcastically asking him if he's gonna "give Valiente a hoof massage now." When Ferdinand once again states the truth to her about himself, she admits that she understands his reluctance. To prove her point, she states that fights are much more than just about "smashing heads" but about "rhythm, footwork, and grace" while telling him to think of the fight like some sort of "dance."

However, the moment she spits castanets to demonstrate what she means, the horses intervene and continue mocking Ferdinand while stating that horses are far better dancers than bulls. Lupe stands up to the horses for Ferdinand until he suddenly has the courage to stand up to them as well when he proves to be quite a good tap dancer; much to Lupe and the hedgehogs' joy and surprise when they are seen cheering for him. After the horses demonstrate their own dancing skills, Angus intervenes and asks Lupe to get his pipes. Lupe spits out an instrument that makes a bagpipes sound and starts playing, thus, making Angus dance as well. When the horses insist on proving their theory correct, Bones decides to join in and a dance-off is on with Lupe partially dancing to the music; thanks to the hedgehogs and a radio they stole the other night from the horses. Then, Maquina joins in and the bulls finally win. Lupe can be seen mocking the horses after they lose the dance fight.

Nevertheless, their victory and cheering is cut short when Valiente reminds them what their "true objective and fate" is in store for them if they continue not acting like bulls. When the other bulls except Ferdinand reluctantly decide to get back to training, Lupe regrettably continues coaching Ferdinand. Ferdinand asks her to escape with him tonight but Lupe refuses; stating that this is a "dog-eat-dog, bull-fight-bull, everybody-hate-goat-world." But the moment Ferdinand mentions what his home is like, his owner, Nina's name, and how much she is going to love her, Lupe is intrigued and interested. When Ferdinand asks her if she'll join him, Lupe appears to be reluctant when she replies: "Do you really think I'm just gonna throw away my three day dream of training a champion bull?"; much to Ferdinand's sorrow until she finally answers: "Of course I am! It was a stupid dream. I have new dream. Busting out of this stink hole with my best friend!"; much to his joy. But because the place they live in is locked up tight, she believes it is impossible to get out until Ferdinand remembers how the hedgehogs managed to get out of the horses' pen and steal their radio the night he was brought here, thus, realizing that it is possible to escape with their help.

### Escape from Casa del Toro

At night, after Ferdinand asks for the hedgehogs' help and bribes them with the flower toy when Dos asks what's in it for them, Lupe is confused about re-gifting her gift to the "gerbils";much to Dos' annoyance. Though reluctant at first, they agree to help when Cuatro is the first and only one to accept the gift in exchange for their help. Using one of her quills, Una unlocks the door that leads straight to Moreno's garage and into his house. Though this means trouble, the hedgehogs point out it's the only way to get out, so, Ferdinand and Lupe agree to go along with it. Despite difficulties like Ferdinand taking Una's statement of "doing exactly what they do" by rolling like a ball literally and both Ferdinand and Lupe accidentally starting up El Primero's car radio after sneaking in through the small garage window, the hedgehogs are able to provide a distraction good enough to fool two of Moreno's employees by dancing until Dos bites one of them on the finger after mistaking them for squirrels.

Later, after resolving Ferdinand's balance problem, Lupe and Ferdinand discover a room full of swords, trophies, and worst of all, horns belonging to past bulls that actually thought they could win a fight against matadors including Ferdinand's father, Raf, which explains why Ferdinand ran away from the Casa the first time when he was a calf; fearing he would suffer the same fate as his father did. Realizing the truth, Lupe sympathizes with him and regrets her former dream as they proceed to the now-opened door. Nevertheless, this revelation makes Ferdinand decide to reveal the truth to the rest of the bulls just when Lupe and the hedgehogs are close to freedom so as not to allow them to suffer the same fate as well.

Ferdinand and Lupe head back to the stables to wake up and inform everybody the truth. At first, they are skeptical and refuse to leave until the hedgehogs arrive with a pair of bull horns trophy to further intensify Ferdinand's evidence about the bulls' fates in the arena; stating that whether they get selected by the matador or not, they will all die either way. Nevertheless, Valiente, being the stubbornest of all bulls, refuses to believe his story and challenges him to a fight, which results in Valiente losing his right horn and being sent to the chop house and worst of all, Ferdinand getting selected by El Primero, who witnessed the whole thing; much to everyone's shock.

When Ferdinand still refuses to leave unless everyone including Valiente comes with him, everyone else including Lupe agree with joy. After the hedgehogs distract the horses and while Lupe and the rest hold the door, Ferdinand goes to the chop house to rescue both Valiente and, much to everyone's surprise, Guapo. After a daring yet complicated rescue, the hedgehogs take command of the truck transporting the bulls and Lupe and drive further away from Casa del Toro after the humans have been alerted. During that time, Lupe manages to subdue one of Moreno's men before taking off. On the way, they stop the truck to avoid hitting the Bunny, which Ferdinand brings on board as well, and then, continue to drive on with Moreno and his men in pursuit in his car.

During the chase, when Una asks them which way, Lupe says right towards Seville but the hedgehogs accidentally turn left. Lupe and the hedgehogs temporarily argue about the directions until they including Ferdinand notice a low bridge on their way and duck to avoid collision while screaming, which somehow destroys the top of the cart carrying the bulls and the Bunny now perching on Maquina's head; making it a close shave for them.

When Moreno and his men get closer and one of them tries to grab a hold of the truck, Lupe scares him and Dos traps him by closing the window on his hands. Then, Una asks Lupe to take the wheel; much to her worry since she can't drive, while she goes out to subdue their pursuers momentarily, which ends with Una being rescued by Valiente and the humans crashing into a haystack pile in a field as Ferdinand and the company drive further away towards Madrid.

### Escaping to the train station in Madrid

The gang are stuck in a heavy traffic jam in Madrid until they notice Moreno and his men having caught up to them and decide to go on hoof to the train station that will take them to Ferdinand's home where he grew up in Seville with the hedgehogs riding on Ferdinand while the Bunny rides on Maquina. During the chase, Lupe is seen swiping a whistle from a cop on traffic duty to so as to warn people to move out of the way and not get run over by the bulls. Later, Lupe can be seen enjoying some churros with her friends while riding a bus to the train station. At the station, after the hedgehogs watch on the board for which track to take, Lupe and the bulls follow them. Unfortunately, they are spotted by Moreno and his men and their passage is somewhat blocked. The train heading for Seville is leaving so, Lupe and the bulls hurry to catch up with it. While the bulls push a cart to connect it to the train, the hedgehogs climb aboard to help with the connection and Lupe gets the train switch. When Ferdinand sacrifices himself to save his friends, Lupe stays behind as well while the others are saddened as they watch him get captured by Moreno and his men to be taken to the arena in El Primero's final fight while riding further away.

### The fight in the ring

After being transported to the arena, as the crowd is waiting, inside the pen, Lupe tries to boost up Ferdinand's confidence by stating that in order to survive and win, he is going to have to fight just this one time. When it is time, Lupe is left alone inside the pen as Ferdinand exits to enter the ring. Later, Lupe can be seen coming out and climbing on top of a wall to witness the fight.

At first, she appears shocked and worried for Ferdinand when she notices the cuadrillas pushing him to fight by any means necessary but after Ferdinand unintentionally snatches El Primero's cape, Lupe and the crowd seem rather impressed and amused when the bullfight turns into a "bullfighter-fight" and then a "rodeo" until Ferdinand accidentally tosses El Primero out of the ring. Then, when El Primero angrily emerges back in with banderillas and proceeds to kill him, Lupe and the crowd are even more impressed as they watch Ferdinand avoid every attempt by El Primero to kill him.

However, Lupe and the crowd are stunned and shocked when they see Ferdinand about to retaliate after El Primero accidentally scratches him on his right shoulder. Nevertheless, when Ferdinand sees a carnation underneath his hoof, he realizes he is becoming the fighter he was determined not to be. Then, as El Primero draws his sword in order to finish him off; much to everyone's shock, Lupe and the crowd, touched by his gentle nature and kindness, begin to cheer for Ferdinand, thus, convincing El Primero to spare him.

### Living on Juan's farm

Later, Lupe watches Ferdinand get reunited with Nina, who embraces him as the crowd throws carnations to the ring to praise him. The other bulls including the Bunny and the hedgehogs arrive, thinking they are too late to save Ferdinand, but instead witness Ferdinand making history as the first bull to ever make it out of a bullfight alive by being himself. Impressed, Lupe and the others sit to praise him for his efforts. Then, they are taken with Ferdinand back to his home on Nina and her father, Juan's farm, where Ferdinand was raised and grew up all his life, by Moreno. Lupe is among the first to be welcomed on the farm and loved by Nina; much to her joy. After that, Ferdinand, Lupe, and the other bulls watch the sunset over Ronda from a field of flowers on top of a hill next to Ferdinand's favorite tree.

## Personality

Lupe is neurotic, occasionally brash and sometimes loud. She is a calming goat, but she sometimes has to calm herself. And she is also known as loquacious, upbeat, positive, eccentric, loyal, understanding, perky, wise-cracking, and erudite, and mostly she likes to eat stuff such as tin cans and flowers.

## Relationships

### Ferdinand

After they first met, Lupe excitedly takes Ferdinad as her student to train him into becoming a fighter, although the latter insists many times he isn't a fighter. After spending some time together, though, the two got along and became close friends. Even though Ferdinand didn't want to fight, Lupe gave him advice and was touched when he helped Angus with his seeing problem. When the two slept together on Ferdinand's first night at Casa del Toro, Ferdinand made sure he didn't hurt Lupe, however he did apologize to her after accidentally smashing her into a wall the next morning.

When the other bulls were fighting each other during the trial for El Primero, Ferdinand tells her that he is alright because he is not used to violence but Lupe told him to hit something or the other bulls will hit him. After Ferdinand helped Angus with his seeing problem, Lupe also yelled at him to stop helping others. After the bulls won a dance battle against the horses, Ferdinand offers Lupe to come with him back to his home. Lupe refuses, saying their is no other place to go for a goat. When Ferdinand tells Lupe that Nina would love her, she asks him what love is. As Ferdinand looks at her, Lupe sarcastically says she isn't giving up her dream of being a trainer.

However she decides to go with him back home and calls Ferdinand her best bud. She then warns that security is tight at night and that there is no way out. But Ferdinand while smiling tells her that isn't true, and they talk to the three hedgehogs for help escaping.

She is with Ferdinand when he unsuccessfully tries to roll towards the house (due to taking the hedgehogs orders to do what they do literally) and she is shocked upon finding out what really happens to the other bulls. When Ferdinand is chosen to fight in the ring against El Primero after unintentionally beating Valiente in a fight, Lupe is annoyed when Ferdinand decides to not leave as planned, unless everybody comes with him. However she and everyone else does help distract the horses while he goes to save Valiente, who was sent to the chop house.

When everyone tries to use the train to escape at the train station, Lupe is shocked upon seeing Ferdinand risk his life to get captured, and as a result, she stays back with him.

Before he goes into the ring, Lupe tells Ferdinand that he has no choice but to fight. However she begs him to do it so he doesn't get killed. Lupe watches Ferdinand's fight and is happy that his life was spared thanks to the audience telling El Primero not kill him. When she and the other bulls move into Ferdinand's home, Lupe is happy upon seeing that Nina loves her.

### Angus

Like with the bulls of Casa del Toro at first, Lupe wasn't on good terms with Angus. However, they had a better relationship than she has with the other bulls, as challenging the horses for a dance battle, Angus asks Lupe to get his pipes (bagpipes).

It's likely they are friends now that they're living in Nina's farm.

### Nina

When Ferdinand first mentions Nina, Lupe immeditally gets interest about her and love.

When the two finally met, Nina gets smitten with Lupe and calls her "adorable" while hugging her. This made Lupe really happy, as Nina is the first human who showed love towards her, so Lupe loves Nina as well.

## Trivia

* Lupe's name is a pun on the word "loopy", which describes someone as acting awkward and dizzy.
* She is voiced by Kate McKinnon who voiced "Stella" in The Angry Birds Movie.
* Unlike most female goats, Lupe has no udder.
* Lupe loses some of her teeth after getting accidentally kicked against a wall by Ferdinand due to accidentally stepping on his tail while waking him up and informing him about El Primero's arrival, but in the next scene, she doesn't appear to have any missing teeth.
* Lupe is seen blowing a whistle sometimes. In some posters, she is shown wearing a whistle on the string tied around her neck.
	+ Whether she actually has her own whistle or not seems to change, as in one scene, she is shown regurgitating a whistle and blowing it to wake up the other bulls before being knocked out by Maquina, while in another scene she takes a whistle from a cop and blows it, and when the crowd is cheering for Ferdinand later she is once again shown regurgitating a whistle.
* Lupe carries a lot of stuff around in her stomach, since goats eat just about anything. Whenever a certain item is needed, she can regurgitate it instantly. This is very similar to Rico from Dreamworks’ Penguins of Madagascar.
* Lupe's screaming throughout the movie (such as when Ferdinand tells her that he needs her help) is a reference to an infamous YouTube video which shows real life goats making human-like screaming sounds.
* Ferdinand mentions in a theatre short that Lupe was raised in a barn.

## References

1. ↑ *"It was challenging to capture some of the unrefined movements that are found in goats. We wanted Lupe's actions to have lack of grace & elegance so we studied young goats a lot." #AskAnArtist*. (December 7, 2017). *Twitter*.
2. ↑ *"The design process happened before the voice was cast, so there weren't many design changes but we did a lot of Kate-inspired expressions including Lupe's classic sassy half-lidded look." #AskAnArtist*. (December 7, 2017). *Twitter*