Bond Creatures: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

See also [[Psychic Link]] for similar bonds between humanoids.

 

 

* ''[[Bleach]]'': In the anime series there is a race called Bounts, a vampire variant, each of whom has a Doll, which seems to be a type of elemental familiar. Dolls will turn on and kill a weak master; this suggests that although the individual Bount's elemental affinity is an internal characteristic that determines what Doll they can summon, the Dolls come from the environment and return to the environment when their masters die. Dolls don't take mates or reproduce.

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' sets the mold for spiritual/biological mecha series. While not sentient or even as independent as an animal, mechas in this series are picky about their human partners and may go crazy or refuse to work for the wrong pilot, or even the right pilot in the wrong state of mind. It is mentioned that human minds were either used as a pattern for the Evangelions' AI or were 'eaten' and partially incorporated by the Evangelions in development, and their taste in pilots is an effect of this. This series also shows a strong correspondence between the mecha's body and the pilot's body, with pilots feeling intense pain if the mecha is significantly damaged, for example by ripping off an arm.

* In ''[[Idolmaster: Xenoglossia]]'', mechas are powered by alien entities which seem to be telekinetic and of animal intelligence, but probably not human intelligence since they make no attempts at communication. Some mechas bond with a particular partner and will only work for them, while others aren't as picky.

* In ''[[Dragon Drive]]'', analyzing a teenager's genetic code reveals the dragon they are destined to partner with. These dragons cannot speak and usually go back into storage form when not being used for combat or transport. These dragons thus seem to be a manifestation of their owner's anima or subconscious, not independent creatures. One notable difference between dragons and owners is that dragons usually want to fight when their humans are afraid of overwhelming odds.

** ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' upped the ante by, at least twice, having the human partners [[I'm Having Soul Pains|physically affected when their Digimon partners are injured in battle]].

* Duel Monsters in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', particulary Judai and Winged Kuriboh, as well as Johan and the Gem Beasts.

* ''Ayakashi'' and ''[[Mushi-Uta]]'' both have creatures that grant their partner great power, but with the cost that they will eventually either die or suffer some other horrible consequence.

* The dragonets in ''[[Narutaru]]''. They also count as a [[Deconstruction]] of the trope because the psychic link transfers ''everything'' the other feels -- ''especially'' pain.

** In ''[[Mai-Otome]]'' the Otome bond to those they protect and serve. It takes their master's approval to materialize their robes, but as the Otome take damage, the master also feels the pain, and if the Otome dies, the master follows suit.

* The Rune Gods of ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'' will test their charges to assess the strength of their will. If proven worthy, the Knight will get to summon and wear the Rune God's gigantic armored form into battle, and the Rune God's strength and abilities grow directly in proportion with the Knight's fortitude. The downside is, any injuries the Rune God sustains, the Knight will get too. This is much more notable in the [[Alternate Continuity]] of the [[OAV]].

* Caro and Lutecia of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' possess some sort of link with their [[Summon Magic|summoned creatures]]. This was best seen during their final battle, where {{spoiler|[[Smug Snake|Quattro's]] [[Villain Override]]}} on Lutecia caused her monsters to cry [[Tears of Blood]] and the less intelligent ones to go berserk.

* The Mulian mecha in ''[[RahXephon]]'' function like this, bonding with individuals called "Instrumentalists". It responds to its pilot's moods, and will act autonomously to protect its pilot if the pilot is in distress. {{spoiler|1=the connection for the mulian mecha has added "bonus" of full [[Synchronization]]--so killing the dolem kills the pilot. The connection runs deeper still for the Xephon''s'': when Ayato and Quon fully awaken as Instrumentalists, they cease to be human and fuse entirely with the RahXephon system, effectively ''becoming'' the "machines". It is mentioned, late in the series, that when Ayato is looking at the Xephon or at Ixtli, he is looking at another aspect of himself.}}

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', Samehada ''is'' a "[[BFS|frickin]] [[Everything's Even Worse with Sharks|shark]]" bond sword. The sword chooses its wielder based on their amount of energy and the taste of it, though it can be forced to be loyal to a previous wielder if that wielder has enough power or a strong relationship with it. If an unfit wielder tries to use it, spikes protrude from its handle and it runs back to its true master.

== Literature ==

* [[Timothy Zahn]]'s ''[[Dragonback]]'' books feature the K'da, a [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragonlike]] sentient race with the capability to become a two-dimensional [[Fusion Dance|'tattoo' on the skin of a]] [[The Symbiote|host/symbiote]], with the corollary that if they go for more that six hours without doing so, they turn 2D anyway [[Blessed with Suck|and die]]. Normally their hosts are a race called the Shontine, but when the K'da warrior Draycos bonds with the [[Humans Are Special|human]] Jack Morgan, he becomes healthier, stronger and smarter, and even gains new powers-- {{spoiler|and it turns out that a K'da fused to a human can [[Beyond the Impossible|withstand]] [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|the Death superweapon]]}}.

* David B. Coe's ''The [[Lon Tobyn]] Chronicle'' has an entire order of people who form bonds with otherwise ordinary animals, mostly birds. The birds don't stay with the humans forever though, they die just as ordinary animals would.

* [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' books portray an empathic bond between Flinx and the minidrag Pip. She amplifies his [[Psychic Powers]] whenever she's in his proximity.

** ''Midworld'' showcases a unique plant/human symbiosis in the form of the furcots, intelligent guardians created by the {{spoiler|planet's supermind}} to act as lifelong companions for the [[Lost Colony|humans living there]].

* Gayle Greeno's ''Ghatti's Tale'' series is a modern [[Fantasy]] series in which the telepathic animals are Ghatti,large catlike animals that can only speek mind to mind.

** It is also shown that humans can be "bonded" to other humans, leaving them at the mercy of their master. They can then be observed, controlled or killed at will.

* [[Robin Hobb]]'s ''[[Realm of the Elderlings|Farseer]]'' trilogy has the Wit (aka The Old Blood) which allows certain bloodlines to bond with animals. Not all animals are candidates for bonding, only those also of the Old Blood. The protagonist's bond is with a [[Big Badass Wolf|wolf]] called Nighteyes. The bonding process can go horribly wrong, as the protagonist learns more about when he is able to spend time in a Witted community. (They are discriminated against, and must hide their relationships with their Bond Creatures in all but their own closed communities.)

** The animal partner in the bond can allow the human partner to survive in the animal partner's mind after the human's death. The Witted community considers this a violation of the animal partner's right to live his or her own life (since the human's instincts are expected to be at war with the animal's).

* In P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'' series, the ability to form a psychic bond with an animal is one of the more common of the Shanir abilities, common enough that about a dozen students in Jame's year in the [[Military Academy]] of Tentir have it in various forms. Jame becomes bound early on to an ounce, a medium-sized hunting cat; blind from birth, the cat learns to see through her eyes across the link, and occasionally shares its senses with Jame.

** Bondbirds are large birds of prey that are basically animals, although they may be a bit more intelligent than earthly ones. Bondbirds demonstrate [[Animal Think]], commenting on their humans' lives in terms of nests, mates, hatchlings, prey, and other bird-isms. They were specifically bred for their roles by the Tayledras mages who live in the magic-damaged lands surrounding the Dhorisha plains.

** Early in the series, it's indicated that romantic feelings between a Brain and his/her Brawn is grounds for the partnership being broken up, as a Brawn who becomes ''too'' attracted to his/her Brain partner may become obsessed and attempt to access what is left of their body, which will kill the Brain. They find a way around this later, using androids.

* Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear did a brilliant and weirdly hilarious [[Darker and Edgier]] spin on some of the less charming implications of the Pern series in ''A Companion to Wolves'', which is pretty much Pern WITH VIKINGS and giant sentient wolves replacing dragons.

* [[Andre Norton]] created several of the oldest examples of Bond Creatures in western fiction: ''The Beast Master'', Falconers in the ''[[Witch World]]'' series and more. Probably she was the inspiration for Mercedes Lackey's and Anne McCaffrey's later evolutions of the concept.

** It's described as looking for a glow that fits right with their own. The bond is for life, but while on a planet a 'cat will feel free to go out and seek companionship with its own kind from time to time. 'Cats used to consider this a bonding a bittersweet condition because when the human dies, so does their own will to live. The existence of prolong means humans will eventually learn the pain of the other way around. The other hook is that with exposure to humans, the Treecats have learned sign language and are now able to talk rather than just communicate empathically and non-verbally with their bond humans.

* The ''[[Temeraire]]'' universe subverts the magical psychic soulbond stereotype, in that the bond between dragons and handlers is entirely emotional, rather like a platonic marriage - and like a marriage, they can go horribly wrong, with neglect, abuse, abandonment and heartbreak all inferred over the course of the novels. Still, for the most part dragons and their captains share an intense and mutually beneficial relationship that ends only with the death of either or both of them. The bond is such that British captains (and probably captains of other nations too) rarely marry, as they couldn't share themselves between a dragon ''and'' a spouse; when they want sex (or heirs) they have scandalously casual relationships with other aviators, treating it as matter-of-factly as the dragons do.

** She wanted a horse.

*** Yeah she did.

* The [[Dragaera|Vlad Taltos]] novels play with this trope with Loiosh and Vlad, to the point of being a [[Take That]] at the Pern novels' fire-lizards.

* In the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], banthas (the big woolly, horned beasts of burden in Episode IV) were paired with young Tusken Raiders as companions for life. From the Star Wars wiki:

The banthas of Tatooine were known to form deep bonds with the Tusken Raiders of the planet and often committed suicide if their riders were to die first. Banthas which died naturally were placed in vast graveyards, which held a kind of ceremonial reverence with the banthas. }}

* The daemons in Pullman's ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' trilogy are a variant of this - bonded to their human because they are the physical embodiment of that person's soul, and in the case of children, will change into different animals depending on their partner's emotional state. Interesting in that the daemon's gender is always the opposite of the human's.

* ''[[Special Circumstances|Princess of Wands]]'': The cat revived in the last story of the book becomes this after it's revived by the protagonist, to the point of the husband commenting that the cat's acting like Barbara is creeping him out.

* ''[[The Seventh Tower]]'' has [[Living Shadow|Shadowguards and Spiritshadows]], which the Chosen bind to their wills.

* The novel ''The Wild Boy'' features a future where bear-like aliens have taken humans as a replacement for their bond-creatures, who went extinct. The Lindauzi call humans dogs, and raise them in kennels. The packs of free humans are wolves. Most often, a young Lindauza is given a human bond mate on his or her upright day, the first time he or she walks on two legs. If human and Lindauza are seperated, the Lindauza becomes ill and can die. There's something of an ability for each to sense the other when they're near.

* The novel ''Pegasus'' has this as the result of a spell performed to bind a human to a pegasus, which happens as a young person's right of passage. Most share a type of simple telepathic communication, but only the protagonist's pegasus speaks in actual language.

 

== Live Action TV ==

* The Goa'uld of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' live inside humanoid hosts. They are more [[Puppeteer Parasite|parasitic]] than symbiotic, except for the Tokra who only accept willing hosts and only take control when necessary.

* The Riders in ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'' (and by extension ''[[Kamen Rider Dragon Knight|Dragon Knight]]'') gain their powers by forming a bond with a Mirror Monster, turning it into a Contract Monster and providing them with [[Card Battle Game|cards of power]] they use in combat. Contract Monsters have their own personalities and tend not to like Riders whose personality clashes with theirs or who avoid battle (since [[I'm a Humanitarian|they eat the essence of Mirror Monsters to survive]]). A particularly extreme example is Kamen Rider Ohja, who kills two Riders and forces contracts with their Monsters when they attack him seeking revenge. They openly despise the man and attack him when the opportunity comes up, but because of the contract they're forced to work for him.

** And then there is the metafield that Nexus generates in order to fight monsters in, which is revealed to be {{spoiler|actually a representation of the human host's innards. Any damage that happens to the environment in the field also manifests in the body of the host.}} And you realize that {{spoiler|being an Ultraman is actually a death sentence.}} [[Fridge Horror]] indeed.

* It is heavily implied in ''[[Doctor Who]]'' that TARDISes are bonded to their Time-Lords. The Doctor and the one he stole certainly have a psychic link, to the extent that her translation circuits will stop if he's unconscious. The reaction seems to put them very much on equal footing, as the episode "The Doctor's Wife" implies, with the TARDIS {{spoiler|saying that he's ''her'' Time Lord, who ''she'' stole on purpose.}}

== Tabletop Games ==

* [[GURPS]] has an entire mechanic devoted to these kind of characters (Allies with the summon-able enhancement).

** The Kalashtar from [[Eberron]] are a race of humans descended from a group of humans who bonded with psychic entities called Quori. As the original bond members had children, the single Quori spirit was split along the lines of all descendants of the same sex.

** Similarly, the Shaman class has a bonded spirit companion, which acts as the nexus for a number of their ally-boosting abilities.

* A ''[[Blue Rose]]'' character can have a rhydan (a sentient wolf, cat, horse or dolphin) as a Bond Creature by taking the Rhy-Bonded Feat. Since the rhydan species are themselves playable races, you can also play a rhydan character who has the Rhy-Bonded Feat and a ''human'' Bond Creature.

* The Summoner base class in ''[[Pathfinder]]'' has the ability to summon and form a bond with a special outsider known as an eidolon, which gains power as the summoner gains levels and forms a bond with the summoner, and the two become linked over time, eventually even sharing a shard of the same soul.

** Also present are the various creations and creatures serving as familiars to [[Psychic Powers|psykers]]. These range from the weird (genecrafted two-headed cyborg eagles) to the macabre (Servo-Skulls, the skulls of loyal Imperial servants used after death to house a small anti-grav drive and various arcane technologies) and the downright disturbing (vat-grown mind-wiped babies with implanted anti-grav units and decorative wings serving as Cherubs). And that's before [[Our Demons Are Different|the servants of Chaos]] are even considered.

** Huron Blackheart, the Tyrant of Badab and leader of the traitorous astral claw has his 'Hamadrya' which is an unknown creature that is bonded to him and grants him mental powers.

* This is a (if not THE) major ability of multiple classes in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Warlocks get demon familiars by defeating them at the end of various quest chains; Hunters can tame wild animals; in both cases the pet levels with or slightly behind the character, gaining occasional new abilities. Both have a talent specialisation that focuses on this aspect, empowering both the master and the pet. Hunters have a somewhat more involved relation with their pets, having to care for their happiness (most commonly through feeding, with different animals liking different food), health and even a talent tree for the pet itself (though there are only 3 possible trees and the specific type of animal only determines one ability), while Warlocks can't even name their minions (the name is derived from the warlocks own name) and force them into doing their work, as evident by several of the demons responses, most notably the familiar and the felguard.

** Deathknights and Mages can also have permanent minions under certain conditions (ghoul and water elemental), but they don't have the same connection nor a consistent entity to serve them (ghouls get named randomly but change every time you summon a new one. Elementals get no name at all).

* ''[[Lost Souls MUD]]'' has a number of guilds built around an empathic bonding faculty vaguely inspired by [[His Dark Materials]].

* FM beings {{spoiler|and AM beings}} in ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]''. The fusion is two way in that both parties can ''attempt'' to assume control. The main character's partner usually gives him control except for certain cooperative moves, hosts of villanous aliens either get consumed or try to fight for control (which apparently forms a composite mind), and one villain (in the anime) actually only controlled her host while the latter was asleep to sidestep the issue.

* Pastamancers in ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' can form a bond with certain creatures, provided they have the correct item. Only one bond can be held at a time, though, and forming a new one severs the link to the old one forever.

* In ''[[Pokémon Ranger]]'', a [[Mon]] bonds with your character, lending you strength and help during a battle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Servant Tropes]]

[[Category:Loyal Animal Companion]]

[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]

[[Category:A Slave to the Index]]