He decides to help Dory find her family as long as she gives her tag in return.

To do so, all he needs is a tag, which Dory has. Hank first appears in the film in Dory's tank room in the Marine Life Institute, planning to escape into Quarantine so he can live a life of solitude in Cleveland. In spite of his pragmatic behavior in planning to live at a permanent aquarium at Cleveland, Hank learned to adapt living in the ocean, learning that he can experience more life at the ocean than living in an aquarium as shown at the end of the film. Later, as shown on one of the digital signages at the Opean Ocean area, Hank has three hearts, just like octopuses in real life have. As an octopus, Hank unleashes ink whenever exaggerated, as shown during the part where several children attempt to touch Dory and Hank at the touch pool exhibit at the Kid Zone area, just like what octopuses do in real life when threatened by predators. In spite of his temper towards Dory about her delaying tactics in a plan to find her parents before the truck leaves the Marine Life Institute to arrive at Cleveland, he still shows care towards her. As a master of disguise, Hank uses the ability of camouflage, which octopuses use in real life to confuse their predators. Hank is described as a seven-tentacled octopus (dubbed 'septopus'), due to him losing his tentacle at one point. Hank is after one thing - a ticket on a transport truck to a cozy Cleveland facility where he’ll be able to enjoy a peaceful life of solitude. But make no mistake: he’s not looking for a friend. An accomplished escape artist with camouflaging capabilities to boot, Hank is the first to greet Dory when she finds herself in the Marine Life Institute. But Hank is just as competent as his eight-armed peers. Actually, he’s a ‘septopus:’ he lost a tentacle - along with his sense of humor - somewhere along the way.

Background Official Description Hank is an octopus.

Octopus in findy dory