"I double dog dare you to talk about Grifter being dog-coded," said absolutely no one to me, ever, but here I am anyway.
Well let's start with the obvious, and mention the times where Cole directly or indirectly gets associated with canine terminology.
A line of dialogue that usually gets thrown at Cole is when female warriors-- usually Coda-- confront him is something along the lines of "Well if it isn't Zealot's pet puppy-dog," like so;
WildC.A.T.s Trilogy #3 [FIG 1], WildC.A.T.s Special #1 [FIG 2], and Grifter (1996) #9 [FIG 3], respectively
The Coda aren't strangers to calling men "dog" and actually do it often towards other men that aren't Grifter, but Grifter is the only man to ever be referred to as a "puppy-dog" or a "pet" or "Zealot's". The interesting part is that we never have dialogue or narration of Cole or Zealot ever acknowledging it. There's no agreement or disagreement to the insult, and Cole always understands that when they say "puppy-dog" that they're referring to him.
It is an insult, because the Coda are actively attempting to dehumanize him by affiliating him with dog-affiliated language. He's not a human, he's less-than; a dog. To add matters worse, they don't take him seriously. Instead of saying something like "attack dog" or "guard dog" or other similar labels, they use "puppy dog." He's cute, and non-threatening (despite him being able to consistantly defeat multiple warriors by himself). The additive of "Zealot's pet" further strikes a blow to the importance of Grifter and Zealot's relationship. He's just a pet. Something she can train and care for, but also something she will eventually outlive, and perhaps 'replace'.
Course, this isn't the only way canines are used to describe Grifter. In Team 7: Objective Hell, Marc Slayton compares the entire team (which includes Cole) to wolves because they stick together, like a wolf pack;
Team 7: Objective Hell #2
He actively compares the rest of the world to dogs (domesticated), but the point of Slayton's dialogue is the "we run in a pack" bit. Canines are usually always pack animals because they're inherently social creatures. Cole is inherently social, and consistantly struggles when he's alone. It's a common occurance for him to seek out the company of others, despite trying to claim that he's a "lone wolf";
(Aside: Don't ask me how "You're a con man. A grifter" is a rebuttal to "I'm a lone wolf" because the only explanation I got is that you can't con people if you're not around people)
But it gets interesting, because Cole actively uses canine and dog-affiliated terminology on himself;
What he does say is true; Cole's an expert tracker and we see him demonstrating this skill numerous times--
(Sources: WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams Annual [hunts down a Daemonite], WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams #28 [hunts down Hightower], WildC.A.T.s Covert Action Teams #50 [hunts down the woman who killed Max], Point Blank [hunts down TAO], et cetera)
--He's also extremely resiliant, and despite him having a so-called streak for quitting, he never gives up when his friends are depending on him.
The specific part I want to hang on here is his choice of words, "That's just the way I was trained." Dogs are breed for their roles, and their behavior is determined by genetics, temperament, and training. He was raised and trained to be the way he is today (I'll unpack his childhood in later posts).
He would later continue with the "dog breed" metaphor;
The choice of the word "breed" as a noun over "species" or something similar. When Cole says "last of our kind" he likely refers to him and John Lynch being part of the last few members of Team 7. After all, the survivors of the Team have dwindled considerably at the time of this issue's publication in 2002.
So Cole Cash is explicitly affiliated with canine (specifically dog) terminology. This is just one pebble on the Grifter = dog mountain. Future essays on this topic and WildStorm in general to follow. I'm insane.
