The Adventures of Tintin following the adventures of a strong protagonist. Tintin's iconic representation enhances this aspect, with Scott McCloud noting that it "allows readers to mask themselves in a character and safely enter a sensually stimulating world." Snowy ("Milou" in Hergé's original version), a white Wire Fox Terrier dog, is Tintin's loyal, four-legged companion. The bond between Snowy and Tintin is very deep, as they have saved each other from perilous situations many times. Snowy frequently "speaks" to the reader through his thoughts (often displaying a dry sense of humour), which are not heard by the human characters in the story. Snowy has
Tintin (character) uncomplicated as the story line". Hergé never explained why he chose Tintin as the character's name. He had previously made use of alliteration with the name of his previous character, Totor. Michael Farr speculated that Hergé had adopted it from Rabier's "Tintin le lutin", although Hergé insisted that he did not learn of this book until 1970. Farr commented that "Tintin" was probably the character's surname, as other characters, such as his landlady, occasionally refer to him as Mr. Tintin (as printed on his doorbell). Conversely, Assouline asserted that it could not be his surname, because he lacked a family.