Gary is the pet snail of SpongeBob SquarePants, the long-running Nickelodeon cartoon that first aired in 1999. Although Gary is a snail, he behaves like a house cat and communicates mainly through meows, a running joke that has stayed with the character across the series. Short clips of his meows circulate widely in memes, reaction videos and edits because the sound is instantly recognisable even without the picture. Its appeal is simple: a familiar cartoon pet sound that can stand in for confusion, hunger, affection or mild protest.