Snowy (character)

Snowy
A severely inebriated Snowy (Milou), by Hergé
Publication information
Publisher	Casterman (Belgium)
First appearance	Le Petit Vingtième (Tintin in the Land of the Soviets) (10 January 1929)
Created by	Hergé
In-story information
Supporting character of	Tintin

Snowy (French: Milou) is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé. He is a white Wire Fox Terrier and Tintin's four-legged companion who travels everywhere with him. The bond between Snowy and Tintin is very deep and they have saved each other from perilous situations many times.

Character history

With a few exceptions, Snowy never speaks (although he is regularly seen thinking in human words), since he is "only a dog". However, he always manages to communicate well with Tintin, particularly in the early stories. Snowy often adds to the story in notable ways. For instance, Snowy is the only character in Flight 714 to remember that he was abducted by aliens. Snowy has rescued Tintin (often by gnawing through restraints, or seeking help), or rescued him from a tight spot by biting or distracting a villain, many times throughout the series.

Like Captain Haddock, Snowy is fond of Loch Lomond brand Scotch whisky, and his occasional bouts of drinking tend to get him into trouble, as does his acute arachnophobia. Snowy is also fond of bones, to the point of being easily tempted, even when the last thing he should think about is the bone; for example, he once lost a message from Tintin because of a bone.

The character of Snowy evolved through the course of the Tintin series, and was most dramatically affected by the introduction of Captain Haddock in The Crab with the Golden Claws. Before Haddock's appearance, Snowy was the source of dry and cynical side-commentary, which balanced out Tintin's constantly positive, optimistic perspective. When Haddock entered the series, the Captain took over the role of the cynic, and Snowy gradually shifted into a more light-hearted role, serving to create comic relief by chasing the Marlinspike cat (they become friends in the end of The Calculus Affair), drinking the Captain's whisky, etc. Milou was named after Hergé's first girlfriend Malou (a contraction of the name Marie-Louise), although the character is referred to as male throughout the books.

The 1939 Portuguese edition of Tintin in the Congo, renamed as Tintin em Angola, was locally colored and had a yellow female Snowy, renamed Rom-Rom.

Other appearances

Among the anthropomorphic cast of Bryan Talbot's graphic novel Grandville, there is a white Wire Fox Terrier named "Snowy Milou". In a drug induced delerium, he describes the dreams he has had, with close parallels to the various adventures of the Tintin books.

See also

• List of The Adventures of Tintin characters

References