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Cujo is the titular main antagonist of the 1981 horror novel, Cujo, and its 1983 film adaptation. He is a friendly, good-natured, lovable, and playful Saint Bernard, right up until he goes berserk because of a bite infection from a rabid bat. 

Background[]

Personality[]

For the first part of the film, Cujo is friendly and playful, as shown when he greets the Trentons as they visit the Cambers to get their car fixed. However, his demeanor changes when his rabies infection takes effect; he turns into a mindless and aggressive monster who would've killed even the people he loved if he hadn't been stopped. 

Physical Appearance[]

Cujo is a gold and white Saint Bernard with brown eyes. When he first meets the Trentons, Donna, amazed by his size, becomes a little protective of her son, Tad, indicating that she presumably gets like that when it comes to big dogs.

Appearances[]

Novel[]

Film[]

At the start of the film, Cujo chases a rabbit through the field and into a hole, which turns out to be a cave inhabited by bats, one of which happens to be rabid and bites him on the nose. 

When the Trentons drop by the Cambers' place for car repairs, Cujo walks up, and Brett introduces him to the Trentons, reassuring them that he's completely harmless. Donna Trenton notices the bite Cujo recieved, but doesn't think much of it.

As time goes by, Cujo begins to show rabies symptoms, when he is bothered by Joe noisily working on a car, and when he and his neighbor Gary Pervier are loudly joking around, as well as when he spends his time under the porch.

One foggy morning, Cujo goes missing, prompting Brett to search for him; he encounters him in the woods, where it becomes apparent that Cujo is starting to go mad from the infection when he acts strangely and growls at Brett, but still has some of his senses, as he refrains from attacking Brett and merely walks off into the fog. 

Soon after, Cujo comes out of the woods, having succumbed to the infection, and walks up to Gary as he is taking out some trash. Cujo attacks Gary, who manages to throw him off, then locks himself in his house. However, Cujo breaks in and proceeds to kill Gary. Moments later, Joe calls out for Cujo, fills his food bowl, then goes looking for Gary. He is horrified upon finding Gary's corpse in the house. Realizing he may possibly be in danger, Joe backs away into the kitchen and tries to call for help. At that moment, Cujo enters the kitchen and mauls Joe to death. 

When the Trentons’ car begins malfunctioning again, Donna and her son Tad return to the Camber’s place to get it fixed, unaware that Joe is not there and has been murdered, when they are suddenly attacked by Cujo. Fortunately, Donna is able to close the window and door to keep him from getting in the car. They are forced to spend the night in their car when its alternator dies, and the next two days are brutal, as the sun makes the car interior very hot. To make matters worse, Cujo is lying in wait, attempting to attack them every time they try to get out of the car. 

Meanwhile, Vic, attempting to patch things up with his wife, finds that she's not at home. He thinks Steve Kemp, whom Donna had an affair with, kidnapped them, but the police have reason to believe they're at the Cambers' house. The sheriff, George Bannerman, goes there, and Cujo attacks him shortly after arriving, ultimately cornering him on a catwalk in the barn, where he knocks him down and kills him before he has a chance to draw his gun.

The heat and lack of water causes Tad to become dehydrated and overheated. Donna slips out of the car and races for the house to get him some water, when Cujo appears from under the front steps; after a brief stare-down, she scrambles for a nearby baseball bat and fights Cujo off with it until it breaks, then stabs him in the stomach with the jagged handle when he tackles her, seemingly killing him; she contemplates shooting him with the sheriff's gun, but decides saving Tad is more important. While Donna is desperately trying to revive Tad inside the house by giving him water and performing CPR, Cujo recovers and bursts through the window just after she manages to revive her son. Thinking quickly, Donna grabs the gun and shoots Cujo, killing him and putting him out of his misery. 

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In the 2006 Christmas film, Unaccompanied Minors, released 23 years later, the airport guards call a caged dog that they are teasing "Cujo".
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