Wild West Armadillo

No one dared to ask his business
No one dared to make him tell
The stranger there among them had a tough and sturdy shell
(Tough and sturdy shell)

Although they are not often seen in fiction, armadillos are often associated with The Wild West when they do appear, and are occasionally given stereotypical traits of cowboys or depicted wearing cowboy attire.

This is likely because the most widespread armadillo species — the nine-banded-armadillo — is common in the southern United States, including the state of Texas. Additionally, the association with cowboys in particular may come from the fact that armadillos' leathery shells both easily lend themselves to said depictions and give them a reputation as hardy animals.

Subtrope of National Animal Stereotypes, for America (and the state of Texas in particular) and Mexico. For another stereotype of armadillos, see Shy Shelled Animal. For another animal emblematic of the West, see Western Rattlers.

---

Examples:

Advertising

• The mascot of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, Andy the Armadillo, wears a cowboy outfit.

Anime & Manga

• One Piece features Madilloman, a minor member of the Beasts Pirates who is capable of manifesting armadillo features and dresses himself like a gunslinger.
• Armadillomon from Digimon Adventure 02 is given a Texan accent in the English dub, courtesy of the late Robert Axelrod.

Comic Books

• The comic book Armadillo Justice deals with a trio of alien anthropomorphic armadillos who get stranded on Earth and now defend it from hostile ant invaders. At least one of them is dressed in a stereotypical cowboy outfit, while the other two wear more modern clothing.
• In Paul Dini's Mutant, Texas series, we have Rollalong Diller, a mutant armadillo who acts as Sheriff Ida Red's deputy. He keeps an ant farm outside of the titular town.
• Sonic the Comic has Blockhead Bill, an elderly armadillo who talks like Yosemite Sam.
• The Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! villain Armordillo is an enhanced armadillo from the state of "Taxes", who talks like every stereotype of Texans.

Film — Animation

• In Rango, an ode to Spaghetti Westerns, an armadillo wearing a sombrero is among the first characters the titular protagonist meets early on.

Music Videos

• The music video to The Clash's 1982 hit song "Rock the Casbah" was filmed in Austin, Texas, and includes an armadillo walking on the side of the road, between the band members, and following a Muslim and a Hasidic Jew into the city and to the Clash concert.

Theme Parks

• Walt Disney World: Invoked. The defunct Pleasure Island area had a building called the "Neon Armadillo Music Saloon," It was a Western-themed saloon for country bands to perform at. The building's neon sign featured a moving image of a jumping armadillo.

Video Games

• The NES platformer Armadillo stars an armadillo in a cowboy hat and bandana named Billy the Shell.
• Armadillo Alley: Cowboy Bowling, apparently made by the creators of the infamous Elf Bowling PC game, being more or less the same thing anyway. Just swap the following: Santa Claus -> Unnamed Sheriff, elf pins -> outlaw pins and bowling balls -> actual armadillos.
• Bounty of One: The Armarauders and their Sheriff are Funny Animal armadillos in a Weird West themed game. Naturally, they attack by rolling at you and bouncing off the sides of the screen.
• The Dillon's Rolling Western series takes place in a setting largely inspired by The Wild West, and its protagonist Dillon is an anthropomorphic armadillo who wears typical cowboy clothing such as a hat, a belt, and boots.
• Horn of the Abyss, a Game Mod for Heroes of Might and Magic III, has armadillos as tier 3 creatures of a Cattle Punk-themed new town Factory, alongside such units as Gunslingers with Quick Draw ability.
• Played with in Mega Man X, where the boss Armored Armadillo is portrayed as a samurai.
• In the Red Dead Redemption series, they're so thick that a town is named after them.
• Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time: Toothpick is an armadillo working for the Big Bad, sent to terrorize the old Western town of Cotton Mouth Bluff. While there, Toothpick fits right in with the setting, toting guns and wearing a cowboy hat and a vest with a star badge, among other cowboy garb.
• In Sonic Mania, in Act 1 of Sonic and Tails' Mirage Saloon Zone, the Armadilloid enemies consist of tiny robotic armadillos piloting bigger ones, allowing them to shoot at Sonic and Tails, much like the Turtloid enemies in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Knuckles' Act 1, as well as Act 2 of the same stage feature the return of Roller, a robotic armadillo previously seen in Sonic the Hedgehog who defends itself with a roll attack.

Webcomics

• The Furry Comic Tina of the South stars one of these. A rare female example too.

Western Animation

• Downplayed in the Bubsy pilot. Arnold the armadillo has nightmares about being hit by a truck on a road somewhere in the west (it's sandy, with cacti along the road.) Later, a news anchor mentions that "last year, over 10,000 armadillos were run over by trucks in the state of Texas alone."
• My Gym Partner's a Monkey: Played For Laughs and averted with Henry Armadillo, who despite his Texan accent is actually from Greenland.
• In The Penguins of Madagascar, an armadillo with a Texan accent named the Amarillo Kid is an occasional antagonist to the penguins.

---