Team Tennyson discovers that a small village’s goats are being terrorized by the legendary Chupacabra, but when Ben realizes it’s actually Dr. Animo, he must thwart the dastardly doctor.
Plot[]
In a jungle, Team Tennyson drive in the Rustbucket on a steep cliff. Gwen questions why they didn't take the Omni-Copter, but Max justifies using the Rustbucket for the view of the countryside. He then spots a sea of goats in the middle of the road and slams down on the brakes, stricken with fear. Gwen and Ben leave the Rustbucket to find out why all the goats are crowding the road, and asks a pair of shepherds. One of them explains that their goats are "dry", and can't be moved because something stole their essence. They suspect it is the Chupacabra, a scaly creature that eats goats. a fearful Max asks Gwen if they can leave, when suddenly, he is met by a baby goat. Gwen questions how he is afraid of the baby goat, and places him in Max's arms, scaring Max. One of the shepherds introduces him to Fofinho, the goat who is "most ripe with rich goat essence".
The shepherds are suddenly shocked by the appearance of Four Arms, who begins wrangling the goats. They label him as the Chupacabra, as he runs off. They pursue him, before he times out and reverts back to Ben. They thank him for chasing the Chupacabra off, still believing Four Arms to be the culprit. Ben takes the credit, drawing the attention of the villagers. Gwen tries to get him to walk it back, but Ben adds onto the story. He explains how he was fighting an eleven-foot striped creature, much to Gwen's ire. He finishes his story, and the village celebrates his promise to save them from the Chupacabra. Nearby, a suspicious figure watches from the woods.
At sunset, Max nervously navigates his way through the sea of goats. Gwen asks how exactly goats are scary, and Max flashes back to his childhood, where a goat screamed at him. The young Max screams back, and the goat twists its head around. In the present, Max is left stuttering to himself. Gwen and Ben leave him be, and Gwen asks him what he's going to do when the villagers find out his story is a lie. Ben says he doubts they would actually believe the story, but he is quickly proven wrong upon meeting up with the shepherds again. They announce that they'll be holding the year's festival in honor of Ben, the great Chupacabra hunter. Just then, a goat runs to the shepherds and screams out. One of the shepherds determines that a suspicious figure is attacking the other goats outside the village. She asks Ben for help defeat the Chupacabra.
Ben, the shepherds, a crowd of villagers, and their goats all walk towards the outskirts of the village. Ben tries to explain himself, but they say they will hear him out after he defeats the monster. They spot the monster grabbing Fofinho, surprising Ben. The villagers command him to defeat the monster, so Ben taunts the monster. The monster turns around, revealing it to be Dr. Animo, now in a gorilla body with amphibious legs. He explains to Ben that he had being travelling since their last encounter, collecting genetic material of the world's most fearsome animals, to create the most perfect body biologically possible. The last piece he needs is that of a goat, which he demonstrates by "raisining" the a nearby goat. Ben transforms into Rath, only to be mistaken by the villagers for the Chupacabra. To keep Rath busy while he aquires goat essence, he sends Fofinho to fight him, transforming him into a monster using the collected goat essence. However, the villagers take it well, seeing it as a sign that he is the best goat and that he had transformed to fight Rath, who they believe is evil. They cheer as it headbutts Rath, and they collectively throw him back in to fight it. Meanwhile, Animo continues to drain the goats of their essence.
Gwen and Max make their way through the crowd, only to find Rath fighting Fofinho. Max screams in terror, and Gwen urges Rath to tell the villagers the truth. Rath retorts by saying they'll be mad that he lied, but Gwen reminds him that they are already mad at him for being the Chupacabra. As he is thrown to the ground, Rath reverts back to Ben. A hungry Fofinho looms over him, while Max is paralyzed by fear. Seeing Ben in danger, he snaps out of it, and runs to Ben's aide. He stands up to Fofinho, the sight of Max making the monstrous goat jump for joy. Gwen determines that Fofinho really just likes Max, beign just as sweet as Fofinho. Ben reveals to them that it is Fofinho, shocking them. He catches them up on Animo's scheme. Ben points it out to the villagers, redirecting their anger towards Animo. Max sends Fofinho back to fight Animo, but he merely re-absorbs the goat essence, reverting Fofinho to his original form. Max catches Fofinho before he hits the ground.
With enough goat essence stored, Animo activates his machine, giving him goat features on his body. He chases after Ben, and Ben asks why the villagers aren't helping, considering he messed with their goats. They explain he messed with the goats, which Ben retorts by pointing out how different he and Animo's situations are. The villagers realize Ben has a point. As he is about to deliver the finishing blow to Ben, one of the goats headbutts Animo, and the villagers attack him, buying Ben some time. The Omnitrix time back in, and Ben transforms into Shock Rock. They quickly take down Animo, and Fofinho reverses his device, returning the essence to the goats. The goats chase Animo away from the village, while the shepherds thank Shock Rock for his help, titled him "the least-evil of the goat-menacing monsters". Gwen points out how Max was able to get over his fear of goats. He notes how there's nothing scary about Fofinho, only for the goat to scream in his face, startling everyone.
Ben: It's story time! I was trapped between a hot lasagna, and a hundred-foot drop. And he's looming over me, ten - no, eleven feet high, with claws the size of bananas! It charged, foaming and bashing, it was so close, I could see the stripes! Gwen: That's not even what chupacabras look like. Ben: Oh, you mean the ones that don't exist? You're saying they look different in real life?
Ben: Why does everyone keep acting like goats are scary? Is this an old people thing?
Gwen: I'm glad you could get over your fears too, Grandpa. Max: Yeah, (chuckles) I mean, I have no idea why I let myself get so worked up. There's nothing scary about this little guy! Fofinho: (screams)
Animo's new mutated form resembles the futureversions of his Classic counterpart, except he has fish body parts and the upper ape-like part is not albino.
The terms "goat essence" and "raisining the goats" stemmed from the crew's need to describe what Dr. Animo was doing to the goats, without implying the goats were dying, that their blood was being drained, or using the word "suck". Though initially placeholders, the terminology was ultimately used in the actual episode.[KT 2]
"Dehydrate" was suggested as a term that could be used, but it was found to be out-of-character for Ben to use that word.[KT 2]
At one point in production, Kelly tried to implement a line where Rath referred to Fofinho as "cabroni", a portmanteau of "cabrón" (Spanish slang for a male goat), and "jabroni" (wrestling slang for someone whose primary purpose is to lose a fight). However, this line was rejected, as the term "jabroni" was misunderstood to be a slur.[KT 3][KT 4]
The word "cabrón" can have inappropriate connotations when not used to refer to male goats. Despite this, the word was not the reason why "cabroni" was flagged.[KT 3]