Gary the Snail

“	Meow.	”
	— Gary's most common line

Template:Character/Gary the Snail Gerald "Gary" Wilson Jr. is a snail owned by SpongeBob. He is Patrick's 1st cousin, and the sixth or seventh main character of the show, with the fifth most appearances in the series.

He is a domesticated house pet with similar mannerisms to a cat, but has royal blood, as seen in the episode "Rule of Dumb." In Rule of Dumb" the royal family tree proves that Gary and Patrick are cousins, as their fathers were brothers. His mannerism and affinity for the finer things in life in previous episodes foreshadows his royal blood, with the only exception being his dislike for baths.

Gary is known for his characteristic "meow"— in contrast to the barking of the sea worms, suggesting that snails (like Gary) are equivalent to our cats and that worms are equivalent to our dogs. It has been known for Gary to say things other than "meow," but this is unusual. In "Your Shoe's Untied," "Frozen Face-Off," "Squid Defense," and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, he is shown to be able to roar. He screeches like a cat in "The Thing," "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?," "Grooming Gary," and "Balloons." From Season 4 onwards, Gary has made cat sound effects when he is startled or angry, to further reinforce the connection between snails and cats. In "Opposite Day," Gary reverses this stereotype, barking like a dog.

In many episodes, it has been indicated that Gary has great intelligence (at least for a snail). In "The Secret Box," Gary responded to SpongeBob's question with "Meow-no." SpongeBob did not think much of it and replied, "Aww, what do you know? You're a snail!" SpongeBob did not recognize it as special, perhaps meaning that it was not the first time that Gary spoke. In "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," the Bikini Bottomites were chanting "all hail Plankton," while Gary chanted monotonously "meow, Plankton." In "Jellyfish Hunter," it is revealed that he pays the electric bill. He may even be more intelligent than all the main characters (excluding Plankton), which is hinted to in "Sleepy Time," where Gary spoke in his dream (that SpongeBob was rudely interrupting) and sounded very old and wise. In the episode "Tutor Sauce," Gary is shown to be a good driver, as he is able to drive through the most dangerous road in Bikini Bottom, with no issue whatsoever (except the cops stopping the boat). He had an extensive library, which is a possible metaphor for intelligence. This is not true in early episodes, where Gary acted no more mature than a real animal. But this could perhaps be a plot device initially seeking to mollify the viewer with the basic description and behavioral traits of a simple house cat only later going on to disclose a wealth of rich cultural and intellectual traits.

It is suggested that SpongeBob had Gary when he lived with his parents as a really young boy. The episode "Treats!" reveals that Gary was adopted. As seen in "Gary Takes a Bath," Gary can levitate and teleport, possibly meaning that psychic powers run in the Star family, as Patrick has psychic abilities. Gary did not appear again after "Help Wanted" until the episodes "Plankton!" and "Naughty Nautical Neighbors." Gary has been to many places including the large Bass Vegas.

Gary had a minor role in the episode "Atlantis SquarePantis." Gary appears wearing a party hat and blowing on a paper horn. Gary is also a very good musician, although he was not part of Squidward's band in the episode "Band Geeks." In "The Paper," he played Squidward's clarinet very well, and Squidward gets confused. In "Procrastination," Gary played the trumpet. In "Something Smells" Gary played the violin to make SpongeBob cry while chopping onions because SpongeBob told him to.

Gary has the strange ability to become a floor buffer, as shown in "Sentimental Sponge."

Gary hates taking baths, as seen in "Gary Takes a Bath," "Pet Sitter Pat," and "Shellback Shenanigans." In "Pet Sitter Pat," Patrick wants to wash Gary and later used a hose to do so. In "Gary Takes a Bath," SpongeBob used many methods like Free Dollar, Boomerang Pet Ball, subliminal messages, etc.

Gary Focused Episodes

Gary has had several episodes that center around him or relate to him. Here is a list of those episodes:

• "I Was a Teenage Gary": Gary is the main character in the beginning and middle of this episode. In the end, it is mainly focused on Sponge Snail.
• "Dumped": Gary runs away from home to be with Patrick Star in order to get the cookie out of his pocket.
• "Gary Takes a Bath": Gary tries to escape SpongeBob's plans to get him to take a bath.
• "The Great Snail Race": SpongeBob becomes a strict coach and is obsessed in winning the race trophy with Gary's poor body.
• "Have You Seen This Snail?": Gary runs away from home after not being fed and Granny takes him in. He later finds out she wants to feed him to death! So he returns to SpongeBob.
• "Once Bitten": Squidward's anti-snail defense log affects Gary and he bites Bikini Bottomites including SpongeBob making them think that they are zombies.
• "Fungus Among Us": Although Gary is not the main protagonist; he was the first one to make the solution by eating away the Ick.
• "Grooming Gary": SpongeBob gives Gary a makeover and takes him to the Bikini Bottom Pet Show but Gary does not like it, neither does the other competitors.
• "Pet or Pests":
• "Shell Shocked": Gary's shell has broken and SpongeBob needs to find him a new one.
• "A Pal for Gary": SpongeBob bought a pet to keep Gary busy while he is at work.
• "Gary in Love": Gary falls in love with a snail called Mary.
• "The Cent of Money": Mr. Krabs uses Gary to suck up coins.
• "Pet Sitter Pat": Patrick has to babysit Gary.
• "Treats!": Gary becomes addicted to a new snail treat called Snail Bites.
• "Gary's New Toy": Gary is obsessed with a red ball and nearly loses SpongeBob's love and affection because of the ball.
• "Pineapple Invasion": Gary must stop Plankton from stealing the secret formula from SpongeBob's home.

This list is incomplete, but you can help Encyclopedia SpongeBobia by expanding it.

Rivalry with Squidward Tentacles

• In "I Was a Teenage Gary," the ignorant Squidward lied to SpongeBob that he would feed Gary, who nearly died of hunger and thirst.
• In "Can You Spare a Dime?," Gary calls Squidward a free loader as Squidward calls him other bad names.
• In "The Great Snail Race," he forcefully raced against Squidward's snail Snellie.
• In "Once Bitten," Squidward made many Anti-Snail wooden logs. A log somehow got inside Gary's foot and he got a splinter. Gary went out of control because the splinter or log was uncontrollably painful, and Squidward was the first to get bit.
• "The Thing" reveals that Gary attacked Squidward and nearly killed Squidward too. When Squidward turned into the thing, Gary nearly killed Squidward again.
• In "Patty Caper," when SpongeBob blames Gary for supposedly stealing the secret ingredient to the Krabby Patty, Gary describes another suspect—Squidward, and, based on the picture Patrick had drawn of him, Gary must think Squidward is very ugly. However, it is possible that Patrick is just not a good sketch artist.
• In "Little Yellow Book," he bites Squidward's tentacle because he was saying the horrible words to SpongeBob, his owner.

Trivia

• The episode "All that Glitters" shows that Gary has a large diamond under his shell. However, episodes afterward do not show the diamond under his shell.
• The episodes "Your Shoe's Untied" and "Earworm" shows Gary having a record player under his shell.

Gary on his family tree.

• In "Karate Island," when SpongeBob is waxing Gary's shell, he finds his favorite novelty T-shirt that says, "I love Krabby Patties" in a pile of junk inside his shell.
• Gary is the only main character who has never been arrested, though this because he's only a pet.
• His favorite food is Snail-Po, which SpongeBob once tasted, and later Snail Bites.
• In addition, "Your Shoe's Untied" and "SpongeBob's Last Stand" reveals that Gary has feet.
• Gary can say the words "Plankton," "Yeah!," "Meow" and "No!"
• In the first teaser trailer for "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie", Gary was shown enjoying taking a bath with SpongeBob playing with his water toys although he hates taking baths.
• It's revealed in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water that Gary hates Mayo.
• Also to illustrate Gary's antagonism towards Squidward, in "I Was a Teenage Gary," when SpongeBob answers the door, to Squidward, holding Gary, Gary hisses at him.
  • Despite his disliking for Squidward, there have been several peaceful moments between the two, such as Giant Squidward and Nature Pants.
• Gary has arms as seen in "Have You Seen This Snail?," "The Gift of Gum," and "Grooming Gary."
• In the Croatian dub, his name is Slavko.
• According to "Gary Takes a Bath," "Rock-a-Bye Bivalve," and "Pet Sitter Pat," Gary can read because in "Rock-a-Bye Bivalve," he is seen reading the newspaper, and in "Gary Takes a Bath," he is seen reading a book called "Snail Jokes." He was also reading a book called "Snail Tails" to Patrick at the end of "Pet Sitter Pat," although due to Gary's lack of English, Patrick could not understand him, as explained when he said "'Snail Tails'? I thought it was called 'Meow Meow Meow.'"
• Gary has many things hidden under his shell: a house, SpongeBob's Krabby Patty T-shirt, a record player, a diamond, and many other pieces of junk.
• In "A Pal for Gary," SpongeBob calls him "Gerald," meaning that Gary is likely a nickname.
• In the first episode, "Help Wanted," Gary's pupils are small red dots and his meow is much squeakier.
• In "The Way of the Sponge," when SpongeBob leaves Gary's meow sounds like he's saying farewell.
• In "Plankton's Pet," SpongeBob reveals he adopted Gary at an animal shelter. "Treats!" supports this, but "Have You Seen This Snail?" contradicts the continuity.
• His full name is Gary B. Snail. It's unknown what the "B" may stand for.
• He seems smarter than most of the main characters, including SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward and Mr. Krabs.
• In the online game Snail Bob 2, you can see a picture of Gary saying "Cousin Gary" implying that Gary and Snail Bob are related.
• According to a variety of episodes, Gary may be compared to a cat. His usual way of speech is by saying "meow." In "A Pal for Gary," in the part where the Nudibranch Seller shows a portrait of a cat near a Nudibranch and later on shows Puffy Fluffy violently reacting to Gary may be a hint to the fact that Gary has a resemblance to a cat. As first seen in "Dumped," Gary purrs like a cat.
• Gary is Patrick's cousin.
• It was revealed in the season 8 episode, "Treats," that Gary's full name is "Gary Wilson, Jr."

Quotes

• "Meow Plankton" (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie)
• "Meow… No." ("The Secret Box")
• "Meow" (regal-like) ("Rule of Dumb")
• In "The Thing," "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob," "Grooming Gary," and "Balloons," Gary screeches like a cat.
• "Ruff" ("Opposite Day")

References

Template:Star Family