What is Dust anyway?

A fox? A cat? A wolf? Just... Dust?

So... one of the weirder gaming questions to nag at me, is in regards to Dust: An Elysian Tail, and its been on my mind again. Its a weird irrelevant question, but one still opened by the art style and lack of dialogue towards answering it: What is Dust? As in, in a world full of rodent critters, lizard monster things, and other weird elemental and more totally monstrous fantasy beings, what exactly is Dust? Its not just my own question, its one I've found three forum topics on. Many people claim he's a wolf, fox, or cat, with some even pointing to rodents but... no, just no. He ain't a rabbit, plain and simple. I'll also dismiss wolf, because while some may think that's just as valid as a fox considering similar structure, I'm just going to suggest a wolf would be bigger in structure. I know it doesn't totally match up since this is a world where mice and rabbits are of the same size, but still I just tend to expect a wolf to show a trace more of muscle, bulk, or something of that nature. Besides Dust just uses a lot of finesse, magic, and has that sense of grace regarding his characteristics and fighting, which I think fits a fox or cat more than a wolf. Up until today where I'm checking them, I hung onto a little opinion I'll bring up. However before I go forward...

SPOILERS ARE WITHIN REGARDING THE GAME IN QUESTION!

So before I do this, I'll give you links to all 3 of the best forum topics regarding this little question, so you can figure out where you stand with the community. Got it? Good. I'll also assume you've played the game, otherwise you might be a bit confused.

Okay so, originally I assumed that Ginger and her family were cats. They just sort of seem like cats. Now Cassius on the other hand, came off as more of a fox with his silhouette close-up. So when the plot revelation comes up regarding Dust being a magical combination of the two souls, I felt it was safe to assume the theory that he was a hybrid. With a small-ish snout, and a long bushy tail, I sat on that conclusion for a long while thinking he was a fox and cat hybrid. However two bigger realizations occurred to me to make me change my mind on that, and as much as I hate to land on the thing that sounds most obviously biased, I've got to recently change my opinion to that of a fox. That's because...

1) While Ginger still looks kinda like a cat, looking back at the cut-scnese kind of shows she has a bushy tail as well, and same with her brother. I only just now saw a glimpse at the brother's bushy tail as I was doing the check for this theory once again today.

2) The snout/face thing is almost worth throwing out the window. Not only is Dust's face length inconsistent (longer in the header image, than most of the gameplay), but the entire game is kinda like that. I mean look at any of the mousier characters, and seriously ask yourself if a mouse ever has a face that flat either. If you've ever seen one, you'll know the answer. Fact is, much like the wild characters where people can be casually purple, green, and teal, so to can the faces be flatter, rounder, or more human in this art style.

...case made.

I mean don't get me wrong, there's still a nagging suspicion that Ginger is a cat with just a bushy tail (heck maybe they even outright say it and I've just forgotten. I'm not the only one with this strong assumption), then there's also the fact that Reed seems more fox-like than Dust right alongside each other, but still... it now feels like Dust really could be a fox. Especially once doing this article, and seeing how inconsistent the whole snout argument is among pictures, cut-scenes, gameplay, etc. Its not a big factor, and yet he has the same pointy ears and bushy tail, and looks like a fox in quite a few moments where-as he never totally strikes a cat-like vibe 100% as far as I'm concerned. To quote the comment that really shook my matter on this:

"he is a fox.

And before you say 'his face isnt long enough', look at the rest of the character styles. They all have more human aspect-faces than animal aspect faces.

It's alot easier to tell when he takes off his hat 3/4 of the way through the game."

Even though I lack his assured-ness, I definitely agree with the guy. Its a strange but cool character art style, I mean we're talking about a teal Don Bluth meets anime animal character after-all. Its a fun mystery to have, and an even better game to play.