Dag

"Shh, shush, shush, shush. Good evening, ladies. Sorry to call in so late in the evening, but we did have a previous engagement. (laughs maliciously as he shows them a keychain of chicken legs from his previous victims) Now, we're gonna take six of you; anyone makes a sound, we don't mind the extra company. Boys, take your pick."

- Dag sadistically threatening the hens as he attempts to steal them for food; his first lines in the film.

Dag is a red coyote and the main antagonist of Nickelodeon's 16th feature film Barnyard. He is Otis' arch-nemesis and the coyotes' leader and boss.

He was voiced by David Koechner, who later played Chet in Piranha 3DD.

Role
Dag is the evil leader of a band of coyotes who pray on farm animals, most notably the animals of the Barnyard. He and his gang have had previous encounters with the Barnyard animals, most likely attempts on the hens but were stopped by the Barnyard's leader Ben, who Dag greatly feared.

Dag and five of his gang break into the henhouse and nearly steals a few of the hens, only to be stopped by Otis' foster father, Ben. Dag was instantly scared the moment he saw Ben but quickly changed his attitude to hide his fear. Dag pointed out how he and his coyotes out numbered Ben but Ben was unfazed and challenged the coyotes. While Ben initially had the upper hand in the beginning, Dag snuck up behind him and bit Ben's neck. Dag snuck behind Ben while he was distracted with the other coyotes, and bit his leg, giving him rabies. Ben collapsed and the other coyotes pounced on him. Dag attempted to sneak off with some hens, but Ben grabbed his leg, used him to beat up the other coyotes, and came out victorious. Ben also spared Dag, who cowardly ran off. Despite saving the hens, Ben was heavily injured from his fight and collapsed in front of the henhouse. When Otis found him he held his father in his arms to comfort him, but Ben succumbed from his injuries after his fight, dying in his sons arms.

Later, Otis tries to take vengeance on Dag, but he loses his burst of courage as soon as the coyote noticed him. Dag sadistically shames Otis by telling him that things would have been different if he was there for Ben. He then makes a "deal" with Otis, telling him that he will only steal a few animals each night, but if Otis tried to do anything about it, Dag and his pack would slaughter every animal in sight, possibly including the farmer. In the morning, Otis decides to leave the barnyard, realizing that he has no chance.

However, the next morning, Otis was informed that the coyotes took all of the hens and his chick friend, Maddy, making Otis realize that Dag double-crossed him, since he was not expecting him and the coyotes until tonight. Otis then went off to the junkyard to rescue the chickens.

Otis arrives at the junkyard just in time to prevent Dag from devouring Maddy, but Dag's goons easily overpower him. Dag snuck around Otis and bit his leg, just as he had done to Ben, and the rest of the pack pounced on him. Fag mockes Otis, and joins the rest of the pack as they prepare to eat the hens. Fortunately, Miles the mule, Pip the mouse, Freddie the ferret, Peck the rooster, Pig the pig, and the Jersey Cows arrive to help Otis and Dag's goons were easily defeated.

Eventually, Dag tries a sneak attack on Otis similarly to how he overpowered Ben, but Otis was warned by Peck, who successfully did a loud crow. Otis caught Dag by the throat, hit his head against a bus window and threatened to punch him, like his father did; but instead, Otis warns the evil coyote to never come back and he agrees. Otis then whacks Dag with a golf club, sending him flying far, far out into the distance while howling in pain.

Though he most likely survived, it is unknown what happened to Dag afterwards. He and the other coyotes possibly still live in the junkyard presumably found new hunting grounds.

Personality
Dag is an outright merciless, sadistic, hedonistic, sociopathic and arrogant coyote. However, unlike many villains, whereas they are motivated by greed or power, he and his coyotes only want food. Yet, it is important to note that while they steal hens on a regular basis, Dag remains notably thin, so much that anyone can see his ribcage. This could either be a medical condition or he only kills for fun.

He is also a seemingly egotistical and manipulative individual, as Dag enjoys to torment his victims, which was shown at the hen house where he revealed to them he keeps the severed legs of his meals and threatens one of them. This also passes onto at the junkyard where he came close to devouring Maddy simply because she called him a "meaner". Otis was his archenemy and in turn Dag took great delight in saying that he should have helped his deceased father, Ben.

Throughout the film, Dag proves that he is not above underhanded and exploitative tactics to win a fight. This was shown when he attacked both Ben and Otis in their legs when they were distracted by his coyotes. This also shows at the junkyard when he was planning to attack Otis from above the top of a bus. Dag is also known to be very insulting and argumentative, describing both the cows as "fat".

If his back is against a wall, Dag can also be a very fearful coward whenever Ben and Otis threatened to punch him and he quivered, which made both cows spare him.

Appearance
Dag is a scrawny red coyote with sharp fangs and claws. He has a slight scar on his left eye and two notches on his left ear. He is extremely skinny with his ribcages still visible.

Quotes
"Ben. How are ya Ben? Yeah we would of said hello had we seen ya. (Ben: Put the Hen down Dag.) Sure Ben, whatever you say. We're just doing a courtin' that's all. You know how much we like the hens. You know me, Lady killer. You have us at a bit of a disadvantaged here Ben. There's six of us and only one ol fat you."

- Dag to Ben

"It's nice that you ladies could join us this evening! Thank you for being so patient! We prefer dining at night! (Howls, followed by several members of his pack)"

- Dag mocking and psychologically abusing the hens.

"You're a wonderful species! I love chicken! My favorite part is tha skin!"

- Dag preparing to eat the hens.

"(Maddy: You're a big meanie!) What? (Maddy: You're a meaner!) "Meaner Meaner" Meaners gotta eat too! Argh! (Etta: Leave her alone!) Hurgh! This one's mine! Cook her while I have the little one for an appetizer! Ya know? Because I'm a meaner!"

- Dag teasing Maddy.

"That should do! THAT should do! Well, look at the hero! You thought you could come into MY den! Now, why don't you lay there and watch while we eat your friends?"

- Dag mocking the nearly dead Otis.

"Oh y'all gonna stop us? Hmmmm? That's what's gonna happen? Y'all gonna stop us? Hen?! How y'all gonna do that? Huh? HURGHUHUHUHUHU!"

- Dag being extremely vituperative and unpleasant to the hens once again.

"I smell fear!"

- Dag knowing that the other animals are afraid of him.

"See ya round! Get it? Round? Cuz you're fat?"

- Dag fat shaming Otis.

"Haha, what's this? (Otis: A strong man, stands up for himself, a stronger man, stands up for others!) Huhuhu, this should be fun!"

- Dag mocking Otis.

Trivia

 * At one point in the film, Dag claims his favorite part of the chicken to be the skin.
 * When the coyote pack invades the chicken coop to steal hens, Dag reveals that he keeps the devoured hen's feet to use as key chains and shows this to the hen's to frighten them.
 * Although "Dag" is a Scandinavian name, Slavic names (including Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Poland) kind of fit him better.
 * Dag does not appear in any episode of Back at the Barnyard, but he was seen in several games.
 * His alias "Lady Killer" is also a reference to the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy.