Shaevra: That’s a fun thought experiment, but let’s first untangle the trope itself. An unlikely hero usually rises because of hidden potential, moral resilience, or a circumstance that forces them into the spotlight. A crustacean… well, it’s biologically limited, but narratives love to bend biology for symbolic effect. If you want to test it, pick a clear metric—say, the creature’s ability to save a group from a tide of danger, and then run a controlled scenario with real crabs and an obstacle. Record behavior, timing, and outcome. The real question will be whether you’re measuring the crab’s heroic potential or the story you’re weaving around it. Either way, the experiment could reveal whether the “hero” label can survive the hard constraints of biology. Keep your variables tight, and don’t let the novelty of a crustacean blur the line between science and storytelling.

Shaevra: A cape might make the crab look heroic, but its physics won’t change. You’ll still see the shell, not a cape, flipping the tide. Unless you’re measuring the narrative weight of the cape, the experiment will just be a cute visual trick. Keep the focus on real behavior, not costume design.