Snowy

Snowy (Indonesian), Milou (French, Arabic, Finnish, Greek, Iranian, Swedish), Bobbie (Dutch), Spokie (Afrikaans), Struppi (German), Milu (Basque, Catalan, Spanish, Italian, Portugese), Terry (Danish, Norwegian), Tobbi (Icelandic), Milo (Japanese), Snowi (Malay)

Debut: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets

Snowy is so strongly associated with Tintin that for many years the series of exploits of the intrepid reporter were entitled The Adventures of Tintin and Snowy.

The role of the little white fox terrier is especially central to the early books, when Snowy is still the sole companion of the cartoon hero. The dog engages in a real conversation with his master, playing the part of confidant and sometimes contradicting him. The deep attachment between Snowy and Tintin exists despite certain marked differences in character and an inclination to be independent. Snowy is much more down to earth than his master; unlike Tintin, he does not have an unbendable sense of duty. His taste for adventure is also more muted: he yearns for peace and quiet and is suspicious of Tintin's ideas. Occasionally timorous, Snowy makes up for this quickly with amazing feats of ingenuity and courage to pull Tintin out of the tightest corners. One loses count of the number of times the terrier saves his master.

However, Snowy's canine greed does on one occasion cause him to hesitate between a juicy bone lying on the road and the saving of King Ottokar's Sceptre. Moreover, the fox terrier's weakness for whisky causes problems: the moment the Loch Lomond blend starts flowing, from leaking barrels or bottles, nothing else seems to count for Snowy. In fact, with these characteristics, Snowy strongly resembles Captain Haddock, whom he anticipates in many respects. The fox terrier and the Captain are characters of the same type: each balances Tintin perfectly whenever he is too good and righteous. And it is precisely the many points that they have in common which explains the relative decline in Snowy's importance following the arrival of the Captain. Haddock plays a similar role to the fox terrier but with much greater force and verve, providing a counterpoint to any haughtiness on Tintin's part.

It is therefore only in the early books - during this heroic period which preceded the Captain - that Snowy is really given full scope. Not that he was later forsaken, but he was to some extent eclipsed by the highly colourful newcomer. When Snowy is reduced to chasing an anonymous cat down the stairs of Marlinspike Hall, one thinks that he must really feel some nostalgia for the good old days.