Polly

*This article is about Polly, the character from Glory Hounds whose real name is Paul.  You may be looking for Paul from The Smoke Room.*

## Polly

### Aliases

Paul (real name)
Birdbrain (by Ishmael)

## Physical Description

### Fur Color

Red, blue, and yellow feathers

*"One of the founding members of the Saltwater Syndicate. Claims to be Ahab's right hand man, though it's unknown whether the captain feels the same way. He's a stickler for the Syndicate rules, which often puts him at odds with Ishmael. Still, the two have grown to like one another somewhat - not that they'd ever admit that"* -Polly's character profile

**Paul**, better known by his nickname **Polly**, is an antagonist in Glory Hounds. He a member of the Saltwater Syndicate and Ahab's right hand man.

## Appearance

Polly is a small and exceptionally colorful scarlet macaw with primarily red feathers, though he has bands of yellow and blue feathers around the upper parts of his gray talon-like arms and a long, trailing tail of blue and red feathers. He has a white face and upper beak with a black lower beak, and green eyes. Polly has three rounded headfeathers resembling a mohawk. He also wears makeup, including presumably false eyelashes and black mascara that runs when he is overly upset. Polly has long finger talons that he paints blue, red, yellow, and green, and gray talon-like legs.

He wears an open blue pirate jacket with a yellow trim and white buttons embellished with a design of a combined anchor and fishbone on the upper lapel. His jacket is cinched tightly around his waist by a black belt decorated with squiggles of green, yellow, red, and blue fabric. Under his jacket, Polly wears a white corset with a blue trim connected by hanging yellow arcs of thread that obscure what seems to be a black thong decorated with blue and green squiggles. Much of the rest of Polly's outfit is composed of straps, such as a black and blue harness on his chest connected to a golden collar and a gold and red dagger connected to a black strap around his thigh. He also wears a black and gold strap around his head that seems to give definition to his styled headfeathers, frilly white cuffs around his upper arms, and golden bracelets on both of his wrists. Several of his sprites show him holding a coin in his right hand.

## Personality

Polly is smug and prideful, especially when it comes to his high position within the Saltwater Syndicate and his general appearance. He seems to enjoy feeling superior to others and takes pleasure in watching them fail, particularly Ishmael. Polly can also be quite vain, with a dislike toward getting his talons dirty unless he is forced to or sufficiently motivated. He appears to put on a more amicable front when Ahab is present however, referring to him as his "dearest cap'n" and kowtowing to his demands.

Polly is highly emotive and prone to drama, stooping to various petty arguments with Ishmael that frequently devolve into name-calling. He is easily distracted by others, such as his constant fighting with Ishmael or being flustered by Dawn Hound's good looks even while in the midst of a confrontation. He frequently ends his sentences with a coy "~", especially when gloating or poking fun at others.

## Story

### Prior to Glory Hounds

At some point before Glory Hounds, Paul met Ahab and became the first member of the Saltwater Syndicate under the nickname "Polly." Due to his seniority within the group, Polly serves as the second-in-command and presumably has been involved firsthand in many, if not all, of the Syndicate's heists.

### Issue #2

Polly appears at the start of Issue #2, where gloats over Ishmael's failed heist of Mrs. de Bruin's store and gleefully teases him about the impending consequences from the Captain for breaking the Syndicate's code of honor. The conversation quickly devolves into a name-calling fight, which is broken up by the arrival of Ahab himself. Ahab introduces Khameau and tells Polly and Ishmael about the Syndicate's next job, a heist of the Money Talks gown from the Opgedoekt gallery.

In order to steal the gown, Polly and the rest of the available crew go undercover as cleaning staff and infiltrate the gallery, with Polly intently watching Alex as he passes by. Polly later helps Ishmael search for Alex, reminding his companion that they are only to throw him out of the gallery rather than harm him, per Ahab's orders. He is initially dismissive toward Dawn Hound and Dusk Hound upon seeing them (though he is distracted momentarily by Dawn Hound's physique) and refuses to dirty himself fighting them, but is provoked into conflict by Ishmael's teasing. Before either Polly or Ishmael can land a blow however, the pair are defeated and knocked unconscious by Dusk Hound, who uses his grappling hook to launch himself at them. Afterward, they are presumably retrieved by Ahab, who makes a successful retreat back to their hideout at De Zoute Zeeman with the Money Talks gown in tow.

The Syndicate celebrates their success, with Polly grumbling about Ishmael's incompetency. The affair is quickly broken up by the arrival of Dawn and Dusk Hound, and conflict ensues once again. Polly is swiftly taken out by an errant punch from Ishmael when the pair attempt to take on Dawn Hound, with Alex noting that as a bird Polly fares no better underwater than either of them. After Ahab is incapacitated by Dawn Hound, Polly and Ishmael surrender as well. It is unknown what becomes of Polly afterward, though given that Ahab and Ishmael are allowed to go free it is likely that Polly was released to his own devices as well.

## Relationships

### Ahab

Ahab is Polly's "captain" and superior as the head of the Saltwater Syndicate. Polly seems to idolize him and eagerly follows his orders, taking pride in being Ahab's second-in-command and notably sucking up to him whenever possible. He is said to sit on Ahab's shoulder at times, likely as a nod to the trope of pirate captains having pet parrots.

### Ishmael

Polly finds Ishmael irritating and hard to work with and frequently expresses this, leading to the two having a mutual enmity. He takes pleasure in teasing Ishmael about his shortcomings, and the two are known to delve into petty squabbling with one another even while on the job.

## Trivia

* Polly is gay, and identifies as sexually versatile.
* Polly's complex outfit and multicolored feathers require the components of his sprites to be layered in a specific order that changes for each of his expressions.

## Gallery

DefaultDisgustedCockyScreamingAngryCrying
## References

1. ↑ Redd's CuriousCat
2. ↑ Redd's Twitter