Topic: Ok but is Toriel actually a goat

I've been thinking about this one for a while. Toriel and other boss monster characters from Undertale like Asgore and Asriel usually get tagged as goats or caprine creatures. But do they really look like goats? They have two horns and long, floppy ears, which some goats have... but they also have paws and fangs. Their heads aren't particularly goat-shaped either. They usually have wider heads shorter and smaller snouts while actual goats tend to have relatively slim heads with taller and longer snouts.

I'm curious how other people feel about it. Personally when I search for caprine creatures Toriel and related characters aren't really the thing I have in mind. There is a tag for Toriel's species (boss_monster_(undertale)) but it is often combined with the caprine and goat tags, which I feel limits its utility.

My ideal situation would be on-model boss monster characters recieve the boss_monster_(undertale) tag alone and only recieve the caprine or goat tag if they actually have goat-like features beyond the official depiction (e.g. hooves instead of paws, no fangs, more goat-like head shape). Let me know what you think of it.

Trying to apply real world species logic to furry characters is a path that leads to madness

Also species are practically 97% TWYK

eightoflakes said:
My ideal situation would be on-model boss monster characters recieve the boss_monster_(undertale) tag alone and only recieve the caprine or goat tag if they actually have goat-like features beyond the official depiction (e.g. hooves instead of paws, no fangs, more goat-like head shape). Let me know what you think of it.

I just want to point out, I don't think there even is such thing as an "on-model boss monster" in Undertale, just like there isn't such thing as an on-model for monsters in general.

She's sure one of the GOATs

Let people tag what they see. Most people agree that the Dreemurs look like cartoony depictions of goats, and artists draw them with this in mind. Their resemblance to goats is even referenced in-game. The pigs from the Angry Birds games look nothing like real pigs, but we all agree that they look like cartoon pigs. As for the paws, they're obviously not purely goat anthros, but if you saw a human with a goat head, you'd still tag it as a goat.
In terms of canon, according to Toby during the 10th anniversary stream, when talking to Gerson in the epilogue, "the game clarifies that they're not goats". We also don't know if all boss monsters look like that.

Tagging aside, yes. Sort of. It's in the steam trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hojv0m3TqA

At 1:00

Closest thing to an official confirmation

iseekstowin said:
Let people tag what they see.

See, this is interesting, because I've always interpreted "tag what you see" as "tag what is visible", but you're using it here to mean "tag what you assume." Like a blind man touching an elephant's leg and thinking it's a tree trunk.

The purpose of the policy is to ensure that people searching for any given term shouldn't find anything that doesn't seem to fit. I don't know which interpretation serves that purpose better.

Fair question but, the answer is yes - the character is a goat.

They usually have wider heads shorter and smaller snouts while actual goats tend to have relatively slim heads with taller and longer snouts.

...I mean, Mickey Mouse doesn't look like a mouse. Garfield doesn't look like a house cat. Let's not lose touch with the fundamentals of cartooning / abstraction.

iseekstowin said:
Let people tag what they see. Most people agree that the Dreemurs look like cartoony depictions of goats, and artists draw them with this in mind. Their resemblance to goats is even referenced in-game. The pigs from the Angry Birds games look nothing like real pigs, but we all agree that they look like cartoon pigs. As for the paws, they're obviously not purely goat anthros, but if you saw a human with a goat head, you'd still tag it as a goat.
In terms of canon, according to Toby during the 10th anniversary stream, when talking to Gerson in the epilogue, "the game clarifies that they're not goats". We also don't know if all boss monsters look like that.

On this link page of the wiki:

https://undertale.wiki/w/10th_Anniversary_Stream

At 4 hours and 50 mins, seems to suggust that the whole event thing is up to the fans, meaning, it can't really be seen as a true canon to the lore of the game or series if that makes sense. This is in regards to the boss monster family being or not beung goats.

Personally, I think they are in a way. Game references this early in it's lifespan before last year's stream and it's been a fanon type of favorite if I ain't mistaken since 2015 onwards. They aren't fully goat anthros, but they are in a handful of ways,and honestly, I like that about Toby. Letting everyone decide instead of being one truth is why I really enjoy Undertale and Deltarune.

As a person with a boss monster sona myself, I typically tag it as goat because in my own experience with other furries that is the overwhelmingly most popular perception of them. To the point that a lot of people don't even know they're officially called "boss monsters" and/or genuinely think they're goats.

If you wanna get specific, Toby has said that they're inspired by the mimiga from Cave Story, thus the rabbit-like features (paws, ears, etc.) but in this case, keeping them classified as goats is probably best for keeping them easy to search for in my opinion. You could even make an argument that they could implicate goat. If you don't wanna see boss monsters specifically you can always add -boss_monster_(undertale) to your search.