[jekylljuice]

Hmm, Duchess may have a trunk, but that hardly makes her an elephant, IMO (there is an elephant-inspired IF, however, and that's Clumsy). If anything, I'd say that the creature she most closely resembles, facially speaking, is a tapir, but then I wouldn't really consider her to be one of the predominantly animal-inspired friends. Her character design is more frequently likened to the figures who featured in the works of Pablo Picaso. As for the mystery surrounding Duchess's genesis, well, it's something that a lot of us have pondered, though whether it'll ever actually be brought up within the show is another question.

Also, while I certainly do agree that Crackers, with those huge ears of his, resembles a papillon dog, his appearance isn't 100% canine (a la Chuey and his siblings). He does walk - or rather skip - upright, after all, and he has little grasping hands, not paws.