Companion Cube: Difference between revisions
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* The mascot of the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime, Ash's Pikachu, ''loves'' his...ketchup bottle. No, really. This seems to be taken to an extreme by fans, though, since Pikachu only demonstrated a love for ketchup in one episode, "Showdown at Dark City".
* In ''[[Gravitation]]'', there's Ryuichi's Kumagoro, a stuffed pink rabbit that he treats like a person, and even provides a voice for. There's some speculation, though, as to whether this is real or simply an act put on by Ryuichi.
* ''[[One Piece]]'',
** ''[[One Piece/Characters/Straw Hat Pirates|Luffy]]'''s straw hat is a prime example.
** 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.
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** Don't forget the Kite-Eating Tree!
** Sally used to have conversations with the school building (or at least one wall of it). Eventually, the wall began to produce [[Speech Bubble|thought balloons]] expressing opinions and making observations on life and its philosophical approach to wall-ness. (When the building collapsed, Sally interpreted this as the school "committing suicide.") Occasionally Charlie Brown's pitcher's mound would have thoughts and opinions as well.
* ''[[Funky Winkerbean]]'', in the days before [[Cerebus Syndrome]] took over, would often have various inanimate objects in and around the school (desks, computers, a pair of leaves on a tree, even the school rock) making comments via thought balloons.
* ''[[Garfield]]'''s teddy bear, Pooky.
** In ''[[Pet Force]]'', Pooky's alternate universe incarnation ''was'' extremely intelligent...although still perhaps not quite "alive", as he became "Compooky".
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* In ''[[Farscape]]'', John Crichton's favourite weapon is a Peacekeeper standard issue pulse pistol, he will risk his life to retrieve the weapon he calls Winona: "Winona would never have let me down". Similarly, when D'Argo gets a ship, he names her ''Lo'la'' in memory of his wife and becomes quite fond of her. ''Moya'' is a subversion, as she's an actual living organism.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'', ''The Chase'': companion Steven Taylor goes back into a burning city/building to rescue Hifi, the stuffed panda ("my mascot") which has been his only company for two years of captivity.
** The Doctor himself is very closely attached to his sonic screwdriver. When it was destroyed in a 1982 episode, he remarked "I feel as if I've lost an old friend." The [[The Nth Doctor|Tenth Doctor]] reacts similarly when his sonic screwdriver gets destroyed in the episode "Smith and Jones". Martha is trying to tell him the identity of the [[Beware the Nice Ones|evil old alien woman]] they are looking for, and the Doctor totally ignores her, aghast at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0MIJJLMhSQ the death of his sonic screwdriver.]
*** Immediately subverted when {{spoiler|she gets his attention and he tosses the "dead" -- and therefore useless -- screwdriver carelessly over his shoulder.}}
** Subverted with the TARDIS. Its just an old ship, right? Sure, the Doctor calls it 'dear' and 'sexy', and companions joke that he likes to stroke it, but that's just a laugh, right? Wrong. The TARDIS is alive, and its a she, thank you very much. She even became a human for the episode "The Doctor's Wife". [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc5mf6srrU4&list=FLyNjFQN7h5iQ&index=18 See here.] She even said that he can call her "Sexy".
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** Also, Janet has a mannequin named Jonny 2, which she has dressed exactly like Jonny. This is only featured in one episode, in which she uses it as a source of comfort when she's in labour.
* An unsettling number of grieving pet-lovers on ''American Stuffers'' commence petting and fussing over their preserved pets when they collect them from the taxidermists'. Granted, this trope is the whole point of that side of the business.
* ''[[Parks and Recreation]]'': DJ Roomba, Tom's combination of an mp3 player and a Roomba. At one point it's destroyed when Jerry steps on it causing Tom to expel grief stating that DJ Roomba was like a son to him.
* ''[[Pixelface]]'': In "Out of Sight", a glitch in the system renders Claireparker unable to be detected by the rest of the occupants of the console. Starting to crack up, she begins talking to the rubber duck she picked up in the last session of her game.
* In the first Halloween episode of [[The Office]], Michael jokingly pretends to start taking advice from his fake second head on who should be fired. Dwight starts arguing with the fake head because it is suggesting maybe Dwight should be let go.
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** Perhaps the ultimate version came with Internet wrestling parody ''[http://www.bobwrestling.com Brawlers on a Budget]'', where the You Gotta Be Kidding I Ain't Doing That Are You Out Of Your Fricking Mind title belt ''won itself'' on three separate occasions. On one occasion winning it from ''another'' title belt.
*** Wouldn't that have been a Head Heel Turn?
*** If we're bringing up e-Wrestling in any form, Premier WC deserves a mention. The first tag team champions were a 6'8" powerhouse and his faithful colleague and tag partner, a common wrench known as Wrenchie (who could pull off a mean 630 Phoenix Splash if given the right push).
* Of course, the WWF of the 90's and early 2000's loved this trope, too. Several wrestlers utilized Companion Cubes, such as Mankind (Socko!), Al Snow (Head!), and Perry Saturn (uh... mop with a wig!).
** Steve Austin's watch, which, I guess, was broken because it was always the same time.
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* The RealDoll.
** A man in England took the Hans Bellmer route with his RealDolls and actually gave them fully fleshed-out personalities, occupations, and histories. A photo of one such doll named "Rebecca" by Bay Area photographer Elena Dorfman was featured in an article in the ''[[wikipedia:Real Doll#RealDolls in popular culture|San Francisco Chronicle.]]''
*** Since RealDoll's invention in the early 90's, this obsession has been [[Older Than You Think|more common than you'd think]]. There have been full webrings dedicated to the fictionalized characters the owners have written for their dolls, with extensive bios, journals of their lives, and galleries featuring the dolls in a variety of fashions.
* [http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v355/fujikuro/Smush/ This custom made figure.]
* Furbies - Designed to emulate a plush pet with a personality, they were in fact popular enough to warrant a revival after disappearing from the market. And though they've never threatened to stab anyone (AFAIK) others find them horrifically repulsive, even to the point of reacting to them with violence. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZVUHf8JLzs Like this.]
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*** And upon leaving, you have to enure another of Junpei's [[Incredibly Lame Pun|puns]]:
{{quote|''Junpei'': (So long, mannequin... You may not have been a real man, but I always thought of you as kin...) }}
* The L-Block from ''[[Tetris]]'' won the November 2007 [[
** And the day after its victory, the site's daily poll was a "bonus" battle between the L-Block, the Companion Cube, the Paddle from Pong, and the {{smallcaps|[?<nowiki>]</nowiki>}} block from [[Super Mario Bros.]] {{spoiler|Question Mark Block won.}}
** For the 2008 contest, the Weighted Companion Cube itself is an entrant in the main battle, along with L-Block aiming to retain its title. There was a rally for the Surveillance Camera from Shadow Moses heliport in ''[[Metal Gear]] Solid'', but it didn't get enough nominations.
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** In the world record attempt on the largest number of video game cosplayers in one area, at London Expo 2008, the Box (brought along by a ''[[Metal Gear]]'' cosplay group) was counted by the Guiness team as a character.
*** I think it's because cosplaying cardboard box is quite popular on conventions. Also people tend to bring along Companion Cubes with 'Portal' music inside or they even wear one on head !!
** In the fourth game hiding in the box increases the rate at which Snake's psyche meter refills, implying that he finds it comforting to be in there. The trophy for it in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl'' even notes that Solid and Liquid Snake have "a deep affection for cardboard".
* Boo, the Miniature Giant Space Hamster of ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' fame, served as a biological version of this trope for the brain-addled Minsc. Although it's also entirely possible Minsc was right. It has been [http://archive.gamespy.com/interviews/october00/minsc/ implied] by what may count as [[Word of God]] that Boo was bought from Elminster himself.
** It's also worth noting that canonically, Giant Space Hamsters do exist in the Forgotten Realms Settings at that point.
* The Modron toy in ''[[Planescape: Torment]]''. Initially you just start playing with it, but then you can talk to it, much to Morte's irritation. It gets better from there, to the point where Morte's final irritation is actually worth a voiced line. Also makes your character alignment more Chaotic.
* Some ''[[Angband]]'' players treat slime molds as pets rather than [[Eat the Dog|as food items]].
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* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'': Torg has been known to start referring to things like a glow necklace and a serving tray as if they were persons, though those occasions did not last long. And we musn't forget Bert's crotch. Or perhaps it more that we can't no matter how much we'd like to.
** How could you forget Spuddy Buddy? Aylee would be so upset.
** Zombie Head on a stick might be a subervison, Torg loves it like a pet and others use it as an object, but it is actually alive (just not cable of complex thought or free will unless fed).
* Plant from ''[[Station V3]]'' is a character in his own - he comments on stuff, people know he's there and he has his own thought bubbles. But he's just a potted plant. Besides getting watered, cynically thinking about things (and talking whenever it would creep members of station v3 out), he's just a part of the scenery.
* And let's not forget the mysterious [[Walkyverse]] psuseudocharacter [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|known only as]] the [http://www.walkypedia.com/index.php/Refrigerator_skull refrigerator skull].
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** Patrick enters a rock in the snail race. Somehow, "Rocky" ''wins''.
** SpongeBob's "Bubble Buddy", though he turns out to be animate after all.
*** Don't forget Nickel Buddy "I'll never spend you"!
*** Funny Muffler
*** Jerky Pal
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**** Of course, Patrick is a [[The Ditz|complete idiot]].
* Stump from ''[[The Angry Beavers]]''. Stump is clearly a sentient being. ''He just never shows any signs of life onscreen.''
** And he even manages to communicate occasionally by [[Talking with Signs]]
* ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'' once created his own [[Companion Cube]] sidekick, Little Wooden Boy.
** And unfortunately was forced to burn him in order to escape the belly of a whale.
** There was also Arthur's nemesis Handy, a hand puppet belonging to The Human Ton.
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* There are times in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' when Tucker shares special bonding moments with his PDA, sometimes with the former treating the latter like a lover.
{{quote|'''Tucker:''' If I don't make it, tell my PDA I love her. The cell phone meant nothing to me.}}
** Other technology, too.
{{quote|'''Tucker (Talking to a security camera in a loving voice):''' Hello special new friend. }}
* Ivan Dobsky from ''[[Monkey Dust]]'' has his space hopper which he calls Mr Hoppy. It was implied that Mr Hoppy was the force behind some of Ivan's crimes; having said that, the results when the prison staff took Mr Hoppy from Ivan definitely count as [[Squick]] and probably count as pure terror: {{spoiler|Ivan fashioned a new space hopper out of some dead guards. Needless to say, people weren't laughing at him then}}
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** I'll go against this. Unless you have ever watched the episode "Mega Muriel the Magnificent", then you should now that the Computer is treated as a living computer; since a lightning storm made him a sentient being, and he took over Muriel's body. Muriel and Eustace even acknowledge his existence.
* A ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' short had Beezy making friends with a sandwich. Naturally, [[Big Eater|it doesn't last long]].
* In ''[[Transformers Cybertron]]'', Decepticon loner Lugnutz' only true friend is his trusty rifle, Dutch.
* Rico from ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'' has an amorous relationship with a doll.
* Stan from ''[[American Dad]]'' seems to have a rather intimate relationship with his gun. It "laughs" by shooting.
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== Real Life ==
* The Pet Rock, a 1970s phenomenon, was based around this idea.
** The digital pet craze of [[The Nineties]] could be seen as a variant of this.
** Then there were the Beanie Babies; each of them came with a name and a short biography, and [[Serious Business|people were paying]] ''[[Serious Business|hundreds]]'' [[Serious Business|of dollars]] for some of them.
* As people who have witnessed isolated orphans with stuffed animals (or any object they can personify) or even grown people in some pretty tough circumstances can tell you, the declassified CIA study referred to in the trope namer's entry is pretty much valid.
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** Some point nothing, some people grow so attached to their stuffed toy/inanimate object they would never get rid of it, even including the object in question in their last will.. sometimes even requesting it following them to the grave.
* In a crossover with [[Cargo Ship]], assigning names and personalities to sexual aides is incredibly common. [[Repeatedly Used On This Very Wiki|Even on this very wiki]] the term Battery Operated Companion has been used.
* The [[wikipedia:Inanimate Objects Party|Inanimate Object's Party]], a joke political party at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that has an inflatable whale run for the position of Grand Marshall (read: Student Counsel President) every year.
* Many smokers will name their pipes and paraphernalia, even going so far as calling the first time the piece is used as its "christening."
** Not *tobacco* smokers, mind you.
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