Wasp weasel
From Girl Genius
| Wasp weasel | |
 | |
| Creator | Unidentified Wulfenbach minion |
| Purpose | sniffing out revenants |
| First Appearance | Checking out Bang |
Wasp weasels are small constructs developed by someone in the service of Baron Klaus Wulfenbach. Though originally created to hunt slaver wasps, they can also detect the resulting revenants the wasps create. This was not considered useful until recently, as one could easily identify revenants by their shambling zombie-like behavior. However, with the discovery of the sneaky, dangerous ones who have the audacity to look and behave like normal human beings until the Other calls on them, the weasels have become even more useful (at least to the Baron). The first time we see one, Klaus is using it to make sure that Bangladesh DuPree hasn't gone revenant. (She hasn't.)
On this particular occasion, a convenient demonstration becomes available when the weasel discovers that a messenger from Sturmhalten, who's calling on Klaus at the same time, is a revenant (and is taken off to be, um, "treated"). We see from this the basic way the wasp weasel works: it sniffs the interesting person and if he or she is "clean", hums contentedly afterward; while an encounter with a revenant provokes a loud hiss or shriek, raised hackles, and so on. The reaction can be considerably more emphatic, ranging up to full-fledged freakout if a mob of revenants shows up. (Or is the weasel's freakout on this occasion because Agatha has accidentally activated the gadget that contains a "special" slaver wasp? We don't know for sure, but the latter is funnier.)
Physically, the weasels appear similar in coloration and overall aspect to ordinary weasels (Mustelids of genus Mustela, which do hunt primarily by smell and occasionally eat insects), though perhaps larger (30-50cm vs 20-30cm). They appear to have a "cybernetic" (the word is not used) implant to the left hemisphere of the brain, and perhaps most strikingly (once it is noticed) extra pairs of legs (about eight legs total).
