Do we ever see Escargon move like a snail? I can’t remember seeing him move, or if we did, I don’t remember seeing his lower body - just his upper half.
inspired by the foot like part of his body on your comm
(in reference to this phenomenon. footy)
those "feet" are canon! they're funny. here they are in the show:
i like to imagine them as similar to the edge of an irl snail's foot, which you can see in this picture of one of my pet snails:
...but that's not a hard and fast rule for me. the way i draw the anatomy of his foot depends on the piece.
interestingly enough, these feet (which i'll call toes from here on out to differentiate them from the foot muscle that is technically the majority of his body) aren't prevalent on his model sheets; they seem to be a trait gained and dramatized as artists continued drawing him throughout the show's run.
now, in terms of how he moves... well, i could just show you. or i could infodump about him and snails all in one.
(sorry i can't readmore this one, fellas; it breaks the post. you're trapped in here with me.)
escargon moves around a whole lot, really! he's quite fast, so it's easy to miss.
episode 9 gives us this shot of him chasing lololo and boy-kirby:
but, hmmm. i don't think it's the only instance of him moving in this classically gastropod-esque manner, with his foot rippling across the ground, but it is probably one of the few. he doesn't move like this very often.
instead, as the show progresses, it becomes much more common that he steps around on his toes. here they are at their vaguest in episode 19:
and 25, hitting us with some very leg-like anatomy:
there are more and technically earlier examples than this; 8, 11, 12, 17... etc.
the above examples are him moving fast, but even when moving slowly -- like in 25 once more, as well as 73 -- it appears that snails primarily drag themselves along using their toes.
it's very very cute. like a dress. <3
but what does all this have to do with irl snails?
it's important to know that irl snails have two gaits: adhesive crawling and loping.
adhesive crawling is when a snail leaves its foot planted entirely on the ground, moving forward via muscle contractions and slippery mucus. with this gait, they leave a continuous trail of said mucus.
loping involves a snail only partially planting themselves on the ground, arching their foot as they move and leaving a discontinuous trail of mucus. they're still propelled forward by contractions, but look almost as if they're dragging themselves forward on "toes"...
certainly less dramatic than the show, but hey. notable enough for me!
the reason snails use each gait is believed to be dependent on the surface they're on -- adhesive for smooth, and loping for rough or absorbant. they used to think snails loped to escape predators, but truthfully, neither gait is much faster than the other. instead, it seems that loping is useful for conserving mucus.
you didn't ask about mucus, but it's pretty important when it comes to snail locomotion. with how escargon moves, i'd say he spends most of his time loping... which makes me think anthro snails in kirby produce a lot less mucus than the average snail.
i can't recall any point wherein escargon is described as physically slimy, or leaving trails. you'd think something like that would be a point of contention when it comes to the cleanliness of the castle (and dedede's fists). he also can't stick to walls on his own or anything, hence...
...him needing to use plungers in his only show-canon attempt at doing so.
"but he's wearing clothes that would impede his ability to stick!" -my wife, who proofread this post and is being contrarian on purpose.
okaaay, but, the times escargon does crawl up walls -- alongside dedede, which means that this ability is not unique to escargon or a result of his species -- he is most definitely using his arms and toes to do so, implying that adhering to the surface is not something he can do.
...besides. if escargon could stick to surfaces naturally, don't you think he would have attempted to do so at least once to get away from his majesty?
it all makes you think (or, it all makes me think, at least)...
in conclusion: i don't think he'd be able to drag his body around without at least a little lubrication, but due to him potentially not producing a lot of mucus (maybe a trait of evolutionary anthropomorphism?), it would make sense that loping is his main gait on account of its mucus conservation.
...then, to finally answer your question: yes! we technically see him move like a snail. but he is a unique fictional interpretation of a snail, so he has some amusing little quirks that i've spent way too much time applying real-world anatomical logic to.
ellievsbear
jbbartram-illu
blakekathryn
dededos
