Non-Human Sidekick: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

Odder than even an [[Odd Couple]], one of these guys isn't human! They might be an ordinary animal who's just a bit smarter than average, some form of [[Talking Animal]], a [[Robot Buddy]], a space alien, or even stranger, a normally inanimate object gifted with sentience or even locomotion (and sometimes [[Companion Cube|not even that]]). Particularly useful when it comes to going for help, stealing keys when the [[Big Bad]] has you locked up, or throwing the OFF switch on the [[Conveyor Belt O' Doom]] once he leaves the room.

 

 

This primarily applies if the sidekick is distinctly different from its buddy. Pinky from ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'' is decidedly nonhuman, and the Brain's sidekick, but since the Brain is a mouse himself there's no real difference.

 

Compare and contrast with [[Amusing Alien]] and [[Token Non-Human]].

{{examples}}

== [[Advertising]] ==

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|Happy]], [[Cats Are Superior|Charle]], and [[Panthera Awesome|Pantherlily]] are the sidekicks to [[Idiot Hero|Natsu]], [[Badass Adorable|Wendy]], and [[Crazy Awesome|Gajeel]] respectively from the manga/anime [[Fairy Tail]].

* Bokomon and Neemon from ''[[Digimon Frontier]]''

* The Battle Spiders from the ''[[Spider Riders]]'' anime of course.

** Mepple and Mipple from ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure]]''.

*** ALL the non-human characters in the [[Pretty Cure]] series.

** The talking cats Luna and Artemis from ''[[Sailor Moon]]''.

** Access Time and Finn Fish in ''[[Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne]]''. {{spoiler|Later subverted with Finn's [[Face Heel Turn]].}}

** The titular beings in ''[[Shugo Chara]]''.

** Go, the robot-dog in ''[[Miracle Shojo Limit Chan]]''.

** The trio of kappa in ''[[Persia the Magic Fairy]]''.

** Mogu and Pigu, the stuffed dinosaurs in ''[[Magical Stage Fancy Lala]]''.

** Shiina from ''[[Vampire Princess Miyu]]''. He's also a [[Ridiculously Cute Critter]] resembling a small pink rabbit... except when he shows the hideous, swollen eye he normally kept hidden behind one of his ears. Yeah, it's that kind of show.

* Elner in ''[[Galaxy Fraulein Yuna]]''. Debatably, also Yuna's three android doubles (who eventually can appear human).

** Not to mention all of the various devices and familiars

* Kir from ''[[King of Bandit Jing]]''.

* Both [[Funny Animal|Mu]][[Talking Animal|ta]] and [[Living Statue|Baron]] from ''[[The Cat Returns]]''. However {{spoiler|later in the film, this trope gets subverted when Haru herself starts to turn into a cat}}.

* Mylene's highly-emotive Furball Guvava in [[Macross 7]]

* Jonathan the baby seal from ''[[Kaleido Star]]''.

* Lili the Fata (music fairy) in ''La Corda d'Oro''.

* Simon has Boota, his loyal little pig-mole, in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''.

** While Lordgenome has [[Four-Star Badass|General]] [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Guame]] [[The Dragon|The Immovable]]; who first filled almost exactly the same role and later evolved (literally) into a more direct sidekick role.

** Pikachu could easily be considered to be Ash's sidekick.

* ''[[Speed Racer]]'': Chim-Chim, Spritle's chimpanzee pal.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Avenger, the improbably intelligent golden eagle from ''Birdman''.

* Rufferto in ''[[Groo the Wanderer]]''

* The hero [[Squirrel Girl]] also has had two animal sidekicks, squirrels Monkey Joe and Tippy Toe

* The second Major Mapleleaf gained his powers from his sidekick, a horse named Thunder.

* ''[[Spirou and Fantasio|Spirou]]'' has a pet squirrel with excactly the same role as Tintins Snowy. And the [[Marsupilami]] in earlier books.

** Don't forget Ace, the Bat-Hound.

* Lockheed, Kitty Pryde's pet miniature dragon, from the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]].

** The [[X-Men]] had a stranger version with the character Maggot, who was accompanied by Eany and Meany, a pair of [[Extreme Omnivore|matter eating slugs]]....which were his ''mutated intestines.''

* Kevin from [[Sin City]] had an unnamed pet wolf.

* Often used in the [[Anthology Comic]] [[The Beano]] most well known with the pairing of [[Dennis the Menace UK|Dennis the Menace]] and Gnasher. But is also used with other characters such as Calamity James and his pet Alexander Lemming.

 

 

* ''[[Star Wars]]'': Han Solo and Chewbacca. R2-D2 and C-3PO also work for the group as a whole.

* ''[[A Boy and His Dog]]'' features the titular boy and dog duo, which shares a telepathic bond.

* Possibly subverted in ''[[Ladyhawke]]'', a story of two cursed lovers, a man who is a wolf by night and a woman who is a hawk by day.

* Dog in ''[[Mad Max]] 2: The Road Warrior''

* The monkey in ''[[Mad Max 3]]: Beyond Thunderdome'' - does help him out in two occasions

 

** Alanna and Faithful, a black cat who is quite possibly a God avatar. Has [[Purple Eyes]].

** Aly takes this to the next level, as she {{spoiler|ends up [[Interspecies Romance|marrying a crow who could turn into a man]], Nawat}}.

** Bekah Cooper has a cat <s>hinted to be</s> pretty blatantly the same cat that Alanna possesses - though Bekah lived a number of generations before Alanna.

** Additionally, [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] of the same series has the Death of Rats, a dark-robed rat skeleton that preforms the function of death for small rodents, and his horse Binky.

** It may be stretching the definition, but Tiffany Aching's loyal Nac Mac Feegles may also count.

* Loiosh, the snarky dragonet familiar of the title character in the ''[[Taltos]]'' novels.

** The Scarecrow definitely qualifies, as an inanimate object brought to life. Cowardly Lion is also a legit example, being a sentient feline in the original. He is later joined by the Hungry Tiger, who in a rather startling bit of kiddy-fantasy ''noir'' openly longs to 'eat fat babies', but can't because he has a conscience.

** And it seems that every mundane animal (except Toto) that makes the trip to Oz ends up talking, such as Billina the hen, Jim the horse, Eureka the kitten, and the Wizard's piglets.

*** In ''Tik-Tok of Oz'' Dorothy finally realizes this; Toto then reveals that he can talk, he just doesn't much feel like it and prefers their dynamic with him remaining non-verbal.

* Jame, the protagonist of P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'', is always accompanied by Jorin, an ounce (small hunting cat), to which she is [[Bond Creature|psychically bound]]. Jorin, blind from birth, uses Jame's eyes to see, while Jame sometimes gets sensory impressions from Jorin's senses of smell and hearing. Jorin also warns Jame when he becomes aware of danger, though Jame sometimes ignores them to her detriment.

* Mogget and the Disreputable Dog in Garth Nix's [[The Old Kingdom]] series.

* Jordan and Ixil from [[Timothy Zahn]]'s ''[[The Icarus Hunt]]''.

* This page has been around how long, and no one has mentioned [[Humanx Commonwealth|Pip and Flinx]] yet?

* Horus and Jack from Matthew Reilly's ''Seven Ancient Wonders'', Horus being a Perigrine Falcon.

* Kazairl in the [[Shadowleague]] books.

* In ''[[Star Wars]]: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance'', pirate Jet Nebula has a faithful droid called Clunker as companion, who can't talk (or even beep R2-style) but can use a military sign language for communication.

* Curdle the milk carton in ''[[Un Lun Dun]]''.

* The cat Bastet in several of the early [[Amelia Peabody]] novels, even though these are mysteries, not fantasies. She is amazingly, though not quite supernaturally, intelligent and loyal. When she eventually dies at an advanced age, other cats show up — sometimes her descendants, sometimes just adopted strays — to continue the tradition, though only her daughter comes close to her calibre. By the way, the stories mostly take place in Egypt and the cat Bastet is _always_ referred to as "the cat Bastet," _never_ just "Bastet," as if even the very unsuperstitious Emersons wanted to be careful that she not be mistaken for any other Bastet.

* In the ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' series, the Companions (essentially avatars of the gods or souls of previous Heralds in horse form), Firecats (former Sons of the Sun reincarnated in cat form), and the Hawkbrother's bondbirds can function as sidekicks. Some Shin'a'in may consider their battlesteeds to be this.

 

** Also Dr. Theophilus, although given that he's a sentient AI charged with helping run the affairs of humanity one could argue an inversion in this case.

* The Bear from ''[[BJ And The Bear]]''

* Horse Comet in ''[[The Adventures of Brisco County Jr]]''

* [[The Spock|Spock]]. Possibly a [[Trope Codifier]].

 

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* The nameless dog in ''Duck Hunt'', who catches the ducks you shoot, not returning it to you (it probably ate it). And when you can't shoot any ducks, he'll laugh at you, as if mocking your 'stupidity'. Nevertheless, it remains one of the earliest, and still [[The Scrappy|most hated]] video game character ever.

** No wonder there's versions of the game where you can shoot the dog ...

* Wang Koh-San's pelican, Heoh-Heoh from ''[[Art of Fighting]] 3''

* Safiya's familiar the winged golem Kaji from the ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' expansion ''Mask of the Betrayer.''

* Dogmeat, in the ''[[Fallout]]'' series.

** Later, ED-E and Rex. Also, (technically) Fawkes, RL-3, Lily, Raul, and Charon. And maybe Jericho, judging by his comment about "growing a fourth arm."

* Dragon Quest 8 has one of these in the form of Munchie. He solves puzzles on his own and can even assist you in battle with the right items. Not bad for a mouse.

* [[Samurai Shodown]] introduced Mamaha (Nakururu's falcon) and Poppy (Galford's dog). Later games added occasional others (Paku Paku, Cham Cham's monkey, for one). And then the last one let you play AS Poppy.

* The dog of Fable 2. So much so it became a back of the box feature.

** Felynes are town support NPCs at best in ''Tri'', unlike the other games. Your ally this time around is instead a Shakalaka, a little humanoid that is never seen without a mask. This one answers to Cha-cha. For those of you who miss your Felynes, there's a False Felyne mask you can get for Cha-cha... if you don't mind a less-than-friendly [[Stuff Blowing Up|fireworks display]].

* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' has Marche with Montblanc, Ritz with Shara, Mewt with Babus, and possibly, Doned with Nono and Cid with Ezel.

* Your Creature in [[Black and White]]

* In [[World of Warcraft]] your characters can gain up to 150 different Non-Combat or Companion pets, most of which are miniature animals that follow your character around - cats, snakes, frogs and the like. Some are machines, tame miniature monsters, or meta-game characters such as a mini-Diablo. There are rewards for collecting as many as you can. As a reverse of the trope, one non-combat pet awarded for participation in a tournament is called the Argent Squire/Argent Gruntling - which is a human or orc (depending on your faction) who will carry a flag for you and, with an expensive upgrade, act as a store, bank or mailbox.

** Also, the Hunter Class is basically built around this trope.

*** And Warlock.

* Beneath a Steel Sky: Foster and Joey, the talking, sentient robot.

** I always name him [[The Silmarillion|Huan]], but that's just me.

* Archimedes in [[Suika]] plays this role for Ojou. {{spoiler|That is, until he moves on to Chitose and sacrifices his life so she doesn't die during surgery.}}

* In ''[[Knights Of The Old Republic 2]]'', Bao-Dur is always accompanied by a small flying orb with built-in laser. You yourself have the option of three robotic sidekicks, plus several alien ones.

* In ''[[La Pucelle Tactics]]'', your entire party lineup aside from plot-essential humans consist of monsters you've recruited in the field.

 

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* George, the huge-eyed larval bit of monster kibble who can only emit the noise 'Meep,' is Evi's sidekick in ''[[A Moment of Peace]]''. And eventually {{spoiler|the much more bashful Hulking Shyster joins him in this role.}}

** And there are the dingbots.

* Molly the Peanut Butter Monster in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]].'' Or, for that matter, her pet, [[Ugly Cute|Snookums the Tentacle Bunny.]]

** Now there's also Toni {{spoiler|the werewolf}} and Veser {{spoiler|the half-selkie}}.

* Boo and Sushi from ''[[Springiette]]''

* ''[[Wicked Awesome Adventure]]'' supplies each of the playable characters with one or more live teddyanimals that function as upgradeable sidekicks.

** JET also carries around a [[Puss in Boots|real mouse]].

* Mia from ''[[Unintentionally Pretentious]]'' has [http://www.unintentionallypretentious.com/index.asp?c=34 Aibo], her robotic [http://www.unintentionallypretentious.com/index.asp?c=101 guide dog] and [http://www.unintentionallypretentious.com/index.asp?c=121 guardian], making it also her [[Angry Guard Dog]], but with a manual [[Berserk Button]].

** And occasionally as [http://www.unintentionallypretentious.com/index.asp?c=59 a household appliance].

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[Shrek]]'' and Donkey.

* Rufus, Ron's naked mole rat from ''[[Kim Possible]]''.

* Slimer on ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]''.

* Most (if not all) of [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney's]] human heroes and heroines have a pantheon of these (besides a sub-array of generic Adorable Woodland Critters), notably:

** Sebastian the crab, Flounder the fish and Scuttle the seagull in ''[[The Little Mermaid]]''. Not to mention Max the dog, though he inexplicably can't speak like the aforementioned three can.

** Mushu the guardian dragon (essentially the exact same Eddie Murphy character as Shrek's Donkey) and Cri-Kee the lucky cricket in ''[[Mulan]]''. Also, in non-speaking roles, Khan the horse and Little Brother the dog.

** Gurgi in ''[[The Black Cauldron]]''.

** Phil and Pegasus in ''Hercules''.

** In an example of Disney taking it too far, Meeko the raccoon in [[Pocahontas]] had his own sidekick, the hummingbird, Flit.

** Morph in ''[[Treasure Planet]]''. Dr. Delbert Doppler and B.E.N. fit the bill as well.

** [[Pinocchio]]'s conscience Jiminy Cricket is considered by many to be not only the first Non Human Disney sidekick in a long line of many, but also the first wise cracking sidekick who used (what was at the time) modern humor and colloquialisms. To boot, he was also voiced by a radio star who many households at the time would've been able to distinguish: Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards. In this movie there's also Figaro and Cleo.

** Double subversion in ''Ratatouille'', in that, not only is the non human sidekick the protagonist, but he has his own small human sidekick (or psychotic delusion - you decide).

*** Remy generally considers the ghost of Gusteau to be a figment of his imagination; the ghost agrees. Truth be told, one might argue that Linguini is Remy's non-rodent sidekick.

** The singing frogs, Carl the robot, and Tiny the [[Tyrannosaurus Rex]] from ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]''.

** Maximus the horse and Pascal the chameleon from ''[[Tangled]]''.

** And then, there's also the sidekicks of the bad guys. Examples include:

*** Percy the pug to [[Pocahontas|Governor Ratcliffe.]]

*** Hayabusa the falcon to [[Mulan|Shan Yu.]]

*** Anchor the hammerhead and Chum the mako to [[Finding Nemo|Bruce the great white.]]

*** Chick Hick's pit crew and DJ (blue tuner), Wingo (green tuner), and Snot Rod (orange drag racer) to Boost (purple tuner) from ''[[Cars]]''.

**** Also, the ninja race cars to Kabuto (obnoxious Japanese racing car) from [[Pixar Shorts|''Tokyo Mater''.]]

**** And the Lemons and Professor Z to {{spoiler|Miles Axlerod}} from the sequel.

*** DOR-15 to [[Meet the Robinsons|Michael "Bowler Hat Guy" Yagoobian.]]

* Faffy and, to a lesser extent, Twinkle the Marvel Horse in ''[[Dave the Barbarian]]''.

* Radarr, the blue-monkey creature from ''[[Storm Hawks]]'', plays the role of co-pilot and constant companion to Aerrow, the leader of the heroic Storm Hawks.

* Capt. HuggyFace in ''[[Word Girl]]''.

* Every DTV [[Barbie]] movie seem to have one.

* Bandit from ''[[Jonny Quest]]''.

* Custard in the 2002 ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]]'' series.

** Also, there was one episode where Dr. Pinch got put on someone else's arm (Was one of the guys, can't remember which) and still had the same personality and voice.

* In two of the Superfriends cartoon series from the 70's, there were non-human sidekicks belonging to the "junior" superheroes. First, there was Wonderdog, sidekick to Wendy and Marvin in the original cartoon series. Then there was Gleek the monkey, sidekick to Zan and Jayna, the wonder twins.

* The Secret Saturdays - Zak has three - Komodo the komodo dragon, Fisk the gorilla-cat, and Zon the pteradactyl.

* Liz from the ''[[Magic School Bus]]''.

* Altivo the warhorse from ''[[The Road to El Dorado]]''.

* The eponymous [[Scooby-Doo]].

** Also, The Fat Dog on a Skateboard for [[Tony Jay|the villain.]]

** Also, one episode in the webseries, she had replaced grudge with another in-human sidekick, named Rubella.

* [[Invader Zim]] (who isn't human, but if [[Doctor Who|the Doctor]] can be listed here, he can too) has his [[Robot Buddy]] GIR, and gains another - just before the series was cancelled - in Minimoose.

* Blue Falcon had Dynomutt.

* [[Futurama]]: Fry has Bender; Zapp has Kif; Farnsworth has Zoidberg.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Foil]]

[[Category:Otherness Tropes]]

[[Category:Pet and Animal Companion Tropes]]

[[Category:Sidekick]]