Companion Cube: Difference between revisions

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Dolls and teddy bears are especially common examples, probably because they're humanoid, friendly looking, and meant to be bonded with. Typically the owner will treat it as their [[The Confidant|Confidant]]. [[Security Blanket|Security Blankets]] are also common in this regard.

* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': Several times the characters talk to or about Mazinger-Z and [[FemBot]] Aphrodite A like if they were sentient beings. Sayaka actually had a [[Heroic BSOD]] when {{spoiler|Aphrodite A was destroyed. She even hallucinated Aphrodite was calling her.}} And then you have Minerva-X, an actual sentient [[FemBot]] and [[Humongous Mecha]] could act, think and feel on her own and was programmed to be Mazinger-Z's [[Battle Couple]], and considered Mazinger was meant to be HER [[Companion Cube]] (as Sayaka protested only Aphrodite was allowed to be Mazinger's partner).

** In the earlier parts of the Golden Age Arc, we see Guts as a child being taught how to use a sword. He uses a two handed blade which is considerably oversized for a kid. We later see him hugging that sword like a teddy bear while he's going to sleep. Considering that he was raised in a mercenary band, blamed for the death of the only mother figure he ever had, and the abuse he suffered from the guy he considered a father figure, it's not too far fetched to believe that for Guts the sword ''was'' his only friend at that time.<br /><br />Guts is often visibly shown having trouble sleeping without a sword and claims he can't relax without it on hand. Considering the dangers he faces this concern is probably for more practical reasons, but who's to say whether the possible emotional and practical reasons can't complement each other?

** The sword Wado seems to fill this role for Zoro. It used to belong to his childhood friend Kuina--she died very young, so he carries it for both of them.

* Otto, the automatic pilot -- who happens to be an inflatable doll -- in ''[[Airplane!]]!'' However, Otto seems to be capable of some independent action.

* ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (film)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'': Sweeney Todd and his razors, as demonstrated in the song "My Friends" -- just about the only Companion Cube trait they don't have is individual names.

* The very first ''[[Winnie the Pooh|Winnie-the-Pooh]]'' story makes it quite evident that Edward Bear (aka Pooh) and all of his friends are actually Christopher Robin's stuffed animals. (Entirely justified since A.A. Milne invented the stories for his son, who had a teddy bear named Winnie, who was -- incidentally -- named after a real (female) bear at the zoo.)

* ''Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls'' by Jane Lindskold has an interesting twist -- inanimate objects constantly talk telepathically to the autistic main character, Sarah. And no, she's not imagining it: they sometimes tell her useful things, like the combinations to locks and safes, or the location of hidden items.

** And then there was Lucy the Moose, a 600lb rubber moose that they crashed cars into (To test the myth that speeding up before hitting a large animal will reduce the damage done to the car and driver. {{spoiler|Busted}}).

* ''[[Firefly]]'s'' Jayne Cobb treats his very favorite gun, [[I Call It Vera|Vera]], as if its a real person -- so much so that he's willing to ''trade'' it for Mal's [[Accidental Marriage|Accidental Wife]].

** Oliver was endangered again in the first episode of Season 12, in which the presenters did challenges in transport trucks (obUK/Commonwealth: "lorries"). One of the last ones was a hill start -- starting the trucks (with their cargo in tow) on a hill without rolling backward. To inspire each other to do well, their most prized items were placed behind them. Richard's was...Oliver (with a smashing new "OLI V3R" [[Vanity License Plate]]). Hammond forfeited the challenge rather than risk his precious car.

* ''[[Mr. Bean]]'''s Teddy, and to some extent his car. Much of the humour comes from the inconsistent way in how he treats them -- one minute gently lowering Teddy into his own miniature bed, the next absent-mindedly ripping his head off so he'll fit in the drawer. Then when his car gets run over by a tank, he kneels down in front of the wreckage as sad music plays -- only to retrieve the lock and seem perfectly happy with this.

* Similar to the above, "[[The Colbert Report|No... no, Sweetness... these people]] ''[[Creepy Monotone|understand]].''" Made worse because Sweetness is not a stuffed penguin -- she's a '''gun'''.

** Both the ''Enterprise'' and the ''Millennium Falcon'' are known to have computers capable of interacting with people but of course, none of them are sophisticated enough for you to hold a conversation with. When it comes to ''[[Star Trek]]'' ships, though, [[Fridge Logic]] or even [[Fridge Brilliance]] applies: we know from holodecks, and fully sentient mechanical characters such as Data and [[Spell My Name with a "The"|the Doctor]], that a computer with much more personality is not hard to create in the [[Trek Verse]]. If, in a world where any AI-run hologram left running long enough becomes a real person, the best the ship's operating system can do is "* Beep!* Unable to comply. [[Applied Phlebotinum]] [[Holding Back the Phlebotinum|conveniently offline]]," it's by design -- possibly to keep it out of the [[Uncanny Valley]].

* In ''[[Deadwood]]'', Al Swearengen receives an Indian man's head in a box, which he doesn't want. He first makes use of the box as a prop in a ploy, describing his plan to the head beforehand. Subsequently, he takes to delivering [[Surrogate Soliloquy|Surrogate Soliloquys]] to the head, and addresses it as "Chief." As time goes on, he treats it more and more like a friend and confidant, and at one point brings it out onto the balcony and opens the box so it can "watch" the events on the street. Eventually Al's [[The Dragon|dragon]] Dan Dority confronts him about the issue, and Al has to assure him that he's not going crazy.

* In the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Dramatic Dream Team (DDT), several inanimate objects have held the promotion's "Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship" (a joke title defended any time at any place during any match against anyone or anything, in a parody of WWE's retired Hardcore Title and its infamous "24/7 Rule"). Several of these inanimate "performers" include Kitty-Chan (a [[Hello Kitty]] plushie), a wooden baseball bat, and -- most memorably -- Ladder. All of these "wrestlers" were treated by ''actual'' wrestlers and DDT performers/crew as if they were any other human competitor.

** Note that the [[WWE]]'s Hardcore Title received this treatment at least once itself -- one of the most prominent members of the Hardcore division was Al Snow, a [[Cloudcuckoolander]] who carried around a mannequin head and treated it as if it was alive, and, in Al's mind at least, Head once held the Hardcore Title after she [[Face Heel Turn|turned]] on Al.

* Paul Hindemith's opera ''Cardillac'' is about a goldsmith who treats his creations like his own children: he sings to them, swears to protect them -- and murders his customers to regain them. Indeed, he treasures his handiwork more than his life-and-blood daughter: his dying glance falls not on his heartbroken daughter, but on the beautiful gold chain hanging on her neck.

* The 2007 [[You Mean "Xmas"|Crimbo season]] of ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' had the Bulky Buddy Box as a prize for fighting the Crimborg Elves -- a reference to the Weighted Companion Cube.

* This shows up in ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' [[Fanfic|fanfiction]] with the Devil Arms, but since those bear the sentient souls of the defeated demon in question, it's something of a [[Justified Trope]]. More straightforwardly, in an early scene of the fourth game, Nero and Kyrie talk about Nero's "Red Queen" sword as if discussing a female.

* ''[[Bionic Commando]] 2009''. Man... Okay, so, pretty much, {{spoiler|his arm is his wife.}} Good lord, what else is there to say? {{spoiler|Near the end of the game, it is revealed that Spencer's missing wife was killed and her brain was integrated into his one companion for the whole game, his bionic arm.}} He is in severe denial after this reveal, probably because he sees it as ridiculous as it is. The twist was severely criticized by multiple reviewers, and thus is a perfect example of handling a [[Companion Cube]] poorly.

* The eponymous Moo from ''[[The Wisdom Of Moo]]'' is a cow hand puppet which character Emm speaks through. The human characters understand what's going on... but the toys treat Moo as if he's his own character, even when Emm is clearly visible -- or even actively brought to their attention.

* ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'' once created his own [[Companion Cube]] sidekick, Little Wooden Boy.

** Andres Segovia at times ended up with rumors of a woman in his life after booking transit tickets for his guitar -- by name.