Question: When the Princess Nuala asks Abe what he's wearing early in the film, Abe answers "It's a breathing apparatus". But he only dons the mechanism twice in the film, and rarely wears it outside where the microbes in the air can kill him! Why even wear it?
CCARNI
8th Aug 2008
Chosen answer: Why not wear it? It's clearly something that's useful to him, even if it's apparently not particularly essential. It may simply just make him more comfortable, like a human wearing a scarf in cold weather - allowing him to breathe the water that he prefers rather than air. There's never any mention that Abe can only survive for a limited time out of the water; equally, there's no suggestion that he's particularly vulnerable to atmospheric microbes. It's part of his equipment that he uses when he wishes to, that's all.
Tailkinker ★