u/Traditional-Habit-72

On the show's wiki it says that it's a starfish.

But the fact that it has a beak, like a cephalopod, and seems to have a bilateral body underwater that can, to some extent, launch itself into the air like a fish, It doesn't seem to me that Harriet is really a starfish.

I mean, flamingo do give a certain charm to Scarlemagne's army. But I just think it's a weird choice to take an harmless bird that spends its time filtering water and turn it into an aggressive, predatory mount.

In that case, why didn’t they choose something like the marabou stork ? It’s a carnivorous wading bird, trainable in real life, and has a striking appearance—just imagine it with two heads and the size of a horse ! It’s a perfect choice, both artistically and within the universe, as a mount for Scarlemagne, and nothing in the story would need to change for it to work.

But that’s just my opinion: what bird do you think could have replaced the flamingos mutes ?

Edit: I think I didn't express myself clearly. It’s not so much the choice of Scarlemagne within the show's universe that I’m questioning, but rather the choice of screenwriter.

Since Kipo is leaving Netflix soon, I thought it was time to spotlight the Mutes who didn’t appear in the show (I’m not taking into account those that were mentioned but not shown, like the Mega-Chicken, or designed for future projects, like the Deer People for the Wolf Movie).

Let’s start with the four most well-known: the Budgie Wrestler, the Tailor Silkworm, the Cheesemaker Hippo, and the Lizard ... Guy ? I’m not really sure what his exact theme is.

Then there are the Gorilla, De Brazza, and Hamadryas Baboons, who never appeared on screen but whose absence doesn’t automatically mean they don’t exist in the show’s universe (because animating different models would’ve been more expensive).

The screenwriters have talked about many mutes ideas in various Reddit posts, such as: a Praying Mantis which is Dave’s girlfriend (who that eats his head off), the “Pancake Man” an octopus chef who was a prototype for Cappuccino, the Tesla Slug (they're more an explanation of how electronic devices can continue to work normally two hundred years after the apocalypse than something that actually impacts the storyline), the Mega Electric Eel and a Mega Possum (I don't know if he really meant a possum or an opossum, since these two animals are often confused).

There are also some fish in a concept art by u/julienrossire_art on Instagram, although their nature as mutes is up for debate.

Finally, there are other mutes mentioned in Twitter posts or present in concept art, but I can’t find them anymore. But here’s what I remember: in a Twitter post, Rad Scherist talked about an alternate ending where Mulholland comes back at the end (after the 5 years) with some kind of Surfer Ducks to ask Kipo for help in Paris, which would be occupied by Steampunk Crabs. I also saw a concept art on Instagram where Wolf is wearing a dolphin skin instead of the usual wolf skin. If anyone can find and confirm these two pieces of information (and maybe share other concept art that I couldn’t find), I’d really appreciate it.