Ein

On the surface Ein is nothing more than a stout Pembroke Welsh Corgi, short-legged and unremarkable. That very plainness is what lets his true nature slip past nearly everyone he meets.

Beneath the calm exterior runs an augmented mind capable of feats no dog should manage. He can take a car's wheel, pick up a ringing phone, follow a game of shogi, sit through television, trade signals with other animals, and even break into a computer database using thought alone. Because he still only barks, one yip for yes and two for no, most of that brilliance goes unnoticed, and only Edward truly reads him, coming to treat the corgi as her own pet and closest animal companion. Patient and good-natured, he warmed to Spike almost at once despite Spike's general dislike of animals.

Ein began as a laboratory experiment before Abdul Hakim stole him to sell, stuffing him into a briefcase during his escape. The case changed hands when a second thief grabbed it blindly and hauled it to the Animal Treasure shop to cash in, where Spike, out hunting Hakim, happened to be present as the dog was uncovered. In the scramble that followed, Ein slipped free, latched onto Spike as someone he instantly trusted, and helped run Hakim down; once the thief was caught, the corgi simply stayed aboard as part of the crew despite Spike's aversion to pets. Over the sessions that followed he quietly proved his worth. He sensed the Fridge Monster stalking the ship long before the others believed him, gulped a hallucinogenic mushroom on Io while riding along on Ed's chase for Domino Walker, and, during the Scratch case, commandeered a Brain Dream headset to out-hack a human and pinpoint Rosny Spanngen. In the crew's film-length adventure he fingered Vincent Volaju as the culprit well ahead of anyone else and even slid a clever shogi move into a match Jet was losing. When Ed finally left the Bebop to follow her father, Ein sensed the parting and trotted after her, choosing the girl who understood him over the ship.