Gary the Snail

Gary the Snail" Wilson, Jr. is SpongeBob's pet House Snail who is voiced by Tom Kenny. Gary can only speak in a "meow" noise, while sea worms in the show commonly bark which indicates that snails are the ocean equivalent of cats and worms are dogs. In the show, there is only one cat: Mr. Whiskers. In some episodes Gary has been known to say something other than "meow" but this is rare. Gary is the seventh main character of the show.

In Opposite Day, Gary attempted to do the opposite of his stereotypes by barking like a dog.

In Secret Box, Gary responded to SpongeBob's question with "Mee-no". SpongeBob didn't think much of it and replied "Aaw, what do you know? You're A Snail!" SpongeBob didn't recognize it as special meaning this isn't the first time Gary spoke. In The Movie, The Citizens of Bikini Bottom were chanting "All Hail Plankton", while Gary chanted monotonously "Meow Plankton".

In many episodes, it has been indicated that Gary is very intelligent, the biggest hint of which was in Sleepy Time where Gary spoke in his dream (that SpongeBob was intervening) and sounded very old and wise. He had an extensive library which is a possible metaphor for intelligence. Typically, because he is smart, he is not very athletic and constant exercise and physical work makes him tired and wheeze meaning he is a possible asthmatic. He is a domesticated house pet with similar mannerisms to a cat but also is said to be royal blood as seen in Rule of Dumb. Curiously in Rule of Dumb, it proves that Gary and Patrick are cousins, as their Fathers were brothers.

It is suggested that SpongeBob had Gary when he lived with his parents as a young boy. As seen in Gary Takes a Bath, Gary can levitate and teleport, possibly meaning that psychic powers run in the Star family, as Patrick also has psychic abilities. Gary didn't appear again after the episode: Help Wanted until the episodes, Plankton! and Boating School. Gary has been to many places including the large Bass Vegas.

Gary had a very minor role in the episode, Atlantis Squarepantis, but all of his family and relatives who were partying with him are shown. Gary was seen blowing on a happy birthday paper flute and was wearing a party hat. Gary is also a very good musician, although he wasn't part of Squidward's band in the episode, Band Geeks. In The Paper, he played Squidward's Clarinet very well, and Squidward was confused by this. In the deleted scene of 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 is usually left home all alone very numerously, and it seems that he's always okay. However, in Have You Seen This Snail he couldn't. Sometimes, he is very lonely. In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, he was left alone for probably a whole week, after the morning when Plankton was being arrested, but in Have You Seen This Snail?, he suffered hunger for 10 days and 1 night. In the episode Clams, he was left out for 3 days, and ate the sofa.

Gary hates taking a bath as seen in Gary Takes a Bath and Pet Sitter Pet. In the second one, Patrick wants to wash gary. SpongeBob used many methods like Free Dollar, Boomerang Pet Doll, etc.

Role in the series
Gary didn't appear very often in the series until SpongeBob brought him to the Temple. Of course, Lord Shen didn't take it to well, and after going on a wild adventure, and almost becoming a French snail delight, the Lodgers decided to give Gary his own living area so he wouldn't be such a problem for Lord Shen.