Name: Craby
Debut: Kirby's Return to Dream Land
Yeah, baby! It's Craby! Craby has a funny name. Does it rhyme with "baby"? Or is it supposed to be like "crabby"? I don't know. There is no official voiceover of the Japanese-derived name for this minor enemy. Maybe it's even pronounced with a new, secret, third way to pronounce the A sound! Exciting creature for linguists!
Craby is an exciting creature for ME because it's a weird little ambiguous invertebrate. Its name implies crab, but its claws are bulbous and four-lobed, and its body is a blob. It looks a lot more like a Pibby! And it's time for you to Learn.
I've long thought of Craby as a delightful abstraction. One similar to Walf, from the very same game! I thought of them as friends. Two sea creatures that aren't really like any one animal. A delightful duo! But a dear friend- in fact, Mod Sockop of this very blog- has long asserted that Craby is barnacle-like. As a barnacle fan myself... I just could not see it. Until!
I was thinking of the Buoy Barnacle! As I do! This is a stalked barnacle whose cement glands, unusually, produce a buoyant, foamy substance! They'll cover some floating debris with this stuff, and then live their lives floating the open sea! It's an utterly fascinating species in an already utterly fascinating group! And is it just me who sees the resemblance here?
Craby's claws can be interpreted as stylized stalked barnacles, much more easily than as crab claws, if you ask me! And... mobile, stalked barnacles, attached to a blob-like surface? Craby's body is like a living barnacle secretion! The most magical cement glands of all birthed this beautiful beast!
The crabbiest thing about Craby is that it's an adaptation of Kany, a much earlier enemy! This one is very much simply a crab. Not that I find crabs boring- heavens no!- but this is much more basic and boring than the lovely little lump we know today. Both crustaceans move back and forth, with the ability to extend one claw diagonally upward as an attack. A crab could not stretch like that... but could a goose barnacle's fleshy stalk...? (please don't pull on any barnacles. Be nice to them)
Even if Craby was NOT intended to be read as a living barnacle secretion, I think it's wonderful! If it isn't that, then... I have no idea what it is! And that's splendid. Sometimes a creature is just a creature. Look at a real barnacle. You think that's based on anything? No way! Totally original creation! My utmost praise to whoever designed "barnacle"!
