Team Pet: Difference between revisions

[[File:appaandmomocropped_3122appaandmomocropped 3122.jpg|link=Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|frame|[[Avatar: The Last Airbender|The]] [[Fan Nickname|Gaang]] has one BIG team pet and one <small>little</small> one.]]

{{quote|''"The rabbit is cuddly! Kids like little cuddly sidekicks! I mean, the rabbit... it's a time-tested... okay, the rabbit bites."''|[[The Incredibles|Mr. Incredible]], defending an In-Universe fictional [[Team Pet]].}}

The default mascot of the party and usually the most outlandish of the bunch. Can be a robot, magic animal, or in a more realistic setting, a [[Tagalong Kid|little]] [[Token Mini-MoeLoli|girl]] much younger than everyone else. Often a [[Small Annoying Creature]].

Most of the time, the Team Pet is comic relief. For obvious reasons their mere presence can [[Narm|ruin a dramatic scene]] most of the time. More seriously, their motivations for fighting may seem kinda vague, especially when they are [[Optional Party Member|Optional Party Members]]s. You wish more of them were. This doesn't stop some of them being a member of the [[Five-Man Band]].

If the Team Pet is an otherworldly being, it may end up as an [[Amusing Alien]]. It may also be a [[Pet Monstrosity]].

[[Team Pet|'''Team Pets]]''' do have their other uses, however. We hear lots of stories of dogs pulling people from burning buildings or otherwise saving their lives, for example. Also, the Team Pet can go get help if its master (or someone else on the team) [[Timmy in Aa Well|gets in trouble]]. And a Team Pet can act as an adorable scene partner for a heartfelt [[Surrogate Soliloquy]]. It can be a [[Sealed Evil in Aa Teddy Bear]] if it is [[Not So Harmless]] once it's [[Restraining Bolt]] is loosened.

[[Gratuitous Animal Sidekick]] is a special category of this, often used in an [[Animated Adaptation]] of a live-action show. See also [[Intellectual Animal]], [[Nearly-Normal Animal]], [[Talking Animal]], and [[Timmy in Aa Well]].

* Iggy the Boston Terrier from ''[[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|JojoJoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''. Played straight for the first few seconds of his introduction as he jumps on Polnareff and chews his hair, then subverted when he's shown to be just as strong as the rest of the human members of the group.

* In early episodes of ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'', Pikachu, when not in battle, was usually found doing something goofy while the human characters were dealing with the situation. This was later dropped with both his and Ash's maturity.

** As the series went on, other Pokémon took the role of Team Pet from Pikachu, usually the weakest Pokémon of the female member of the party. Thus, Pikachu was succeeded by [[The Scrappy|Togepi,]] [[The Ditz|Torchic]], [[Everything's Better Withwith Monkeys|Aipom]], [[Everything's Better Withwith Penguins|Piplup]], and [[Cute Bruiser|Happiny]].

* Menchi/Mince is Excel and Hyatt's Team Pet (and [[Eat the Dog|emergency food supply]]) in ''[[Excel Saga (Mangamanga)|Excel Saga]]''. She knows this, and always fears for her life when her rescuer/master gets those "hungry eyes".

* Sadaharu from ''[[Gintama (Manga)|Gintama]]''. He is used for poop gags a lot. Also, the yorozuya combined their... powers... to become Sei-chan, the short-lived mascot of the Shinsengumi.

* Timcanpy from ''[[D .Gray Man-man]]''.

* Pandaikon from ''[[Nerima Daikon Brothers (Anime)|Nerima Daikon Brothers]]''.

* Karen in [[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]. Unlike many other examples, she's not primarily comic relief. Any humor value is derived from the fact a large crocodile is being carried around in someone's backpack. {{spoiler|She's also the key part of the link between Jim and Judai, leading Jim to end up sacrificing himself in an attempt to free Judai from Haou. Fittingly, Karen goes down with him.}}

* ''[[Kenichi: theThe Mightiest Disciple]]'' has Shigure's pet mouse Tochumaru. It happens to be a competent martial artist.

* Ein the Welsh corgi from ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]''. He mostly serves as a vehicle for [[Animal Reaction Shot|Animal Reaction Shots]]s, though he does get one notable chance to help the team out near the end of the series.

* Arthur the cat is probably this for the student council in ''[[Code Geass]]''. He's used mostly for [[Running Gag|Running Gags]]s (his tendency to bite Suzaku at every opportunity, his tendency to incite mad chases through the school by stealing important items), but he actually does arguably save Suzaku's life near the end of the first season, when he distracts Black Knight Tamaki, who has Suzaku at gunpoint, by attacking his face.

* [[Catgirl|Blair the cat]] from ''[[Soul Eater]]'', who has the distinctly unique honor of being the [[Team Pet]], a [[Were Cat]], a [[Catgirl]], ''and'' [[Ms. Fanservice]] all at the same time.

{{quote| '''Soul:''' Anyone want the sexy kitty? She's free.}}

* Shuko, the 1121st owl mascot in ''[[So Ra No woWo To]]''

* ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula (Anime)|Future GPX Cyber Formula]]'' has V-8 (Asuka's pet dog) to the Sugo Asurada team.

* Ryo-Ohki from [[Tenchi Muyo!]] certainly belongs here, when she's not a [[Cool Starship]].

* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikersStrikerS]]'' has Friedrich, Caro's baby dragon who could take a more adult form during battle.

* Kyubey from ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Anime)|Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''. {{spoiler|When he's not being the [[Big Bad]].}}

* Printemps, Jeudi's pet cockatoo in ''[[Honoo no Alpen Rose (Manga)|Honoo no Alpen Rose]]''.

* [[Darker Thanthan Black]] had Mao, a Contractor who had the ability to switch bodies. He lost his human body during an explosion and previously resided in the body of a black cat in the first season before regaining consciousness in the second season and found himself occupying Suou's pet momonga, a flying squirrel. Unlike most Team Pets, Mao (when he was in his cat form) was a useful part of the Syndicate through espionage and diversions. However, when he switches his consciousness to a squirrel, his ability to provide assistance is severely hampered by his small size, demonstrated when an enemy contractor (and a [[Psycho for Hire]]) incapacitated him by grabbing his tail and taping him to his car.

* ''[[Kuroko no Basuke (Manga)|Kuroko no Basuke]]'' has Tetsuya #2, a dog. It was adopted by the Seirin High Basketball Club, and named after the main character, Kuroko Tetsuya, for their identical eyes, [[The Stoic|and expression, or lack thereof]].

** Subverted in that Lockheed is anything ''but'' harmless -- whenharmless—when roused to fighting fury, he's single-handedly routed Brood hunter packs and utterly annihilated an entire squad of alien Sidri hunters. Both have given respectable fights to experienced X-Men.

* ''[[Bamse]]'' has Katten Jansson and Husmusen, a cat-and-mouse duo that really belong to the main character's grandmother, but often sneak along on adventures. Some [[Furry Confusion]] is involved here, as the cast of the comic are [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]]s, but Katten Jansson and Husmusen (as well as other pets and wild animals) are portrayed more like [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]]s who only talk among themselves.

* Back in the [[Silver Age]], [[Superman]] and [[Batman]] both got a [[Gratuitous Animal Sidekick]], Krypto the Superdog and Ace the Bat-Hound respectively... who ended part of the "Legion of Super-Pets". Both were [[Retcon|retconnedretcon]]ned out eventually for the obvious reasons, but Krypto has later returned, and so has Ace - in the 90s run as a seeing eye dog Batman inherits from a blind Native American medicine man, and in ''[[Batman Beyond]]''. Krypto's actually a subversion of sorts as he has all the powers of Superman but little of the human restraint, making him a very dangerous combatant who can fight Superman's foes on even ground.

** Batman gets a Great Dane puppy in The [[DCNew Nu52]] version of Batman and Robin named [[Titus Andronicus (Theatretheatre)|Titus]]

** For the good guys, Hedwig the owl (and to a lesser extent Hermione's cat Crookshanks) are more ordinary examples.

* ''[[The Beastmaster (Film)|The Beastmaster]]'' has a tiger and an eagle at his command, but he also has his iconic ferrets, Kodo and Podo.

* In ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'', River and Kaylee double for this spot. Although Kaylee is also the [[Wrench Wench]] and [[Mr. Fixit]]. In the [[Serenity (Film)|Big Damn Movie]], River [[Took a Level Inin Badass|Takes About Six Levels In Badass]] to the point where even Jayne can't keep up with her.

* ''[[Imagination Movers]]'' has Warehouse Mouse, a [[Team Pet]] that gets actual plot within the show.

* ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' has Myfanwy the pterodactyl.

* [[Snot (Music)|Snot]] had Dobbs, who appeared on the band's only completed studio album, ''Get Some''. Sadly, Dobbs, along with his owner, Lynn Strait, the vocalist for the band, died in a car crash in 1998.

* [[Sublime (Music)|Sublime]] had Louie Dog, the beloved Dalmatian of the late Bradley Nowell, who frequently joined the band on stage.

* ChuChu in ''[[Xenogears (Video Game)|Xenogears]]''. There's a scene late in the game where your party gets captured by {{spoiler|Krelian}} and used as bait to draw Elly out. The [[Big Bad]] has the party's [[Humongous Mecha|Gears]] [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|crucified in a field]], which is meant to be somber and reflect on their possible fate. But if you have ChuChu in your party, that giant plush toy will be up there with the crucified giant robots, turning "Chu-Chu died for your sins!" into a [[Memetic Mutation|meme]] among Xenogears fans.

* MOMO in ''[[Xenosaga (Video Game)|Xenosaga]]''.

* Mog, and to a lesser extent Relm, in ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'' (although the team has an actual pet in Interceptor, Shadow's canine partner).

* Cait Sith in ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]'' (Fits more than one stereotype, as the character is actually a robot cat [[The Mole|working for the bad guys]].)

* Sazh's Chocobo chick in ''[[Final Fantasy XIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII]]''.

* Meemai in the first ''[[Baten Kaitos]]'' game isn't a party member -- shemember—she's a little seal-like creature that rides in the neck of Xelha's shirt. And is used in several of her super moves.

* Boo in both the ''~[[Baldur's Gate~]]'' games was something of a pet if Minsc was in your group, though he was little more than an annoyance to many players as he took up a valuable quick item slot.

* Team Pets are common in the ''[[Tales Series(series)]]'': Quickie, Meredy's pet, in ''[[Tales of Eternia (Video Game)|Tales of Eternia]]''; Noishe, Lloyd's Arshis companion, and Corrine, Sheena's manmade Summon Spirit, in ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]''; Zapie, Claire's pet, in ''[[Tales of Rebirth (Video Game)|Tales of Rebirth]]''; Giet, Moses's pet Galf, in ''[[Tales of Legendia (Video Game)|Tales of Legendia]]'' (the Oresoren may also count somewhat); and Mieu, <s>Luke's stress ball</s> a young cheagle, in ''[[Tales of the Abyss (Video Game)|Tales of the Abyss]]''.

* Repede in ''[[Tales of Vesperia (Video Game)|Tales of Vesperia]]'' is... a dog. That fights with a knife, but still a dog. Gameplay-wise he's a [[Fragile Speedster]].

* In ''[[Chrono Cross (Video Game)|Chrono Cross]]'', the first recruitable character in the game is the Team Pet Poshul, a pink, [[Tastes Like Diabetes|unnervingly cutesy]] talking dog. (Sample dialog: "Me will use my Pretty-Miracle-Power-X! Me will do it, Thergiepoo!")

* [[Hachiko|Koromaru]] from ''[[Persona 3 (Video Game)|Persona 3]]'': a highly intelligent dog who can summon the spirit of Cerberus to strike your foes with fire and darkness. And invoke hilariousness when he refuses to eat Yukari's cooking.

* Cupil from ''[[Skies of Arcadia (Video Game)|Skies of Arcadia]]'' fills this role, but doubles as Fina's weapon. To a lesser extent, the "Jester" Pow, who's Vyse's <s>dog</s> [[Call a Rabbit Aa Smeerp|huskra]].

* ''[[Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al -Revis]]'' gives us Muppy, a '''slug-like alien''' floating in a pot-shaped UFO. [[Only Sane Man|No one except Nikki]] can see that he was actually an ''alien invader''. [[The Smart Guy]]/[[The Rival]] thinks he's ''handicapped'', and the principal who admitted him to the school? ''Transfer student'' from "Waii'ha". Everyone else? [[Hilarity Ensues|Hoo-boy...]]

* Similarly to R2-D2 in the movie example, T3-M4 from ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' is essentially a very useful team pet.

** The ''entire'' Mabari breed are the [[Team Pet]] of Ferelden. ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' reveals that other nations refer to Fereldans as "''The Dog-Lords''".

* Ricky [[Everything's Better Withwith Monkeys|the monkey]] from ''[[Dubloon]]''.

* In ''[[Mother 3 (Video Game)|Mother 3]]'', one of the party members is the main character's dog, [[Loyal Animal Companion|Boney]], who is also the only character besides main character Lucas to appear in every chapter.

** Used to a lesser extent in ''[[Earthbound (Video Game)|EarthboundEarthBound]]'', where Ness's dog King and a [[Everything's Better Withwith Monkeys|gum-chewing monkey]] both join your party for parts of the game.

* ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'''s [[Dub Name Change|Borongo/Saber]] is a sabrecat served as [[The Hero]] and Bianca's [[Team Pet]]. Though in the later of the game, Borongo has no more importance to the plot, and you can develop your own army of monster [[Team Pet]].

* Parodied in ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120104020018/http://thosedestined.pensandtales.com/ Those Destined]'', where the Team Pet is also the party thief. Another adventurers party was less lucky, and their Team Pet is a [[Small Annoying Creature]].

* Davan's hairless, amorphous cat Choo-Choo Bear in ''[[Something *Positive]]'', odd for an otherwise (usually) non-fantastic [[Life Embellished]] [[Web Comic]]. Sometimes seen seeping out of box, popping out of a toaster or acting as Davan's scarf or somesuch.

* ''[[Adventurers (Webcomic)|Adventurers!]]'' has Chookie, some sort of [[SMURFINGsmurfing]] pink thing. Karn has a... [https://web.archive.org/web/20090910072225/http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0140.html violent reaction] during their first encounter, but he's shown to be part of the party later anyway.

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'', Mr. Scruffy the cat becomes the Team Pet once adopted by Belkar. It could be argued that Blackwing, Vaarsuvius' raven [[Familiar]], occupied the role before, but he's more of an [[Intellectual Animal]], and now a full character in his own right.

* ''[[Fontes Rants (Webcomic)|Fontes' Rants]]'': Tanooki.

* Tennyo's stuffed cabbit, which is animated anytime Generator wants. [[It Makes Sense in Context]]. While cute and silly and usually played for laughs, the cabbit can alert Generator instanteously, and in "Christmas Crisis" demonstrated that it can be ''horrifically'' effective.

* Snarf from ''[[Thundercats (Animation)|Thundercats]]'' is pretty well the epitome of this trope. Utterly useless in a fight except against the weakest of minions, and tends to serve as weak comedy relief. Subverted only slightly in that Snarf is actually the nanny for Lion-O before he wakes up all growed-up on Third Earth.

** In ''[[Thundercats 2011 (Western Animation)|Thundercats 2011]]'' Snarf is much more explicitly a ''pet'': Though possessing [[Amplified Animal Aptitude]], Snarf cannot speak, and instead serves as an [[Empathy Pet]] and [[The Confidant]] for Lion-O's many [[Surrogate Soliloquy|Surrogate Soliloquys]]s. Also an [[Evil-Detecting Dog]]...not that [[Kid Hero]] Lion-O pays enough attention when Snarf tries to serve in that capacity.

* Momo in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' is a flying [[Mix-and-Match Critters|bat-like lemur]]. In contrast, Appa is a 10-ton flying bison who has been subject to serious [[A Day in Thethe Limelight|personalized stories]] and has a strong century-long bond with the titular character, making him more of a life-long companion than a Team Pet. Momo's presence or absence is a firm indicator to how light-hearted and whimsical or serious and edgy the current story is. To compound to it all, his character was originally designed to be a little robot named "MOMO 3" (when [[What Could Have Been|the original draft set the series in a futuristic environment]]) and Co-creator Byan Konietzko has admitted that he based him on his childhood cat Buddy.

* Radarr is just another element of the [[Cliché Storm]] that is ''[[Storm Hawks (Animation)|Storm Hawks]]''. Pun unintended.

* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] in ''[[Transformers]]'', where the main characters are robots, and the team pet is usually a human.

** In ''[[Transformers Animated (Animation)|Transformers Animated]]'', Sari is a debatable example for her first two seasons, {{spoiler|then gets upgraded to [[Sixth Ranger]] after her [[Robotic Reveal]]}}.

** In ''[[Transformers Super God Masterforce]]'', Cab's parrot and armadillo are definite examples.

* Faffy from ''[[Dave the Barbarian (Animation)|Dave the Barbarian]]'' is a spoof of these type of creatures.

** To a lesser extent, Twinkle The Marvel Horse.

* Elvis from ''[[Butch Cassidy and Thethe Sundance Kids]]'', whose major plot purpose is to cause Mr. Socrates to sneeze.

* Uni the baby unicorn from the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Animationanimation)|Dungeons & Dragons]]'' cartoon.

* Lily and Sparkles from ''[[Barbie and Thethe Diamond Castle]]''.

* It would really be a disservice to call [[Godzilla]] a team pet in ''[[Godzilla: theThe Series]]''; the crew prefer "[[The Big Guy]]". They have [[Robot Buddy|N.I.G.E.L]] for that.

* Slimer in ''[[The Real Ghostbusters (Animation)|The Real Ghostbusters]]'' and ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters (Animation)|Extreme Ghostbusters]]''. Also in ''[[Ghostbusters the Video Game (Video Game)|Ghostbusters the Video Game]]'', but since it's based purely on the film continuity, ''there'' he's an incorrigible mischievous glutton who has to be kept in a terrarium so he won't wreak comedic and comparatively harmless havoc -- onehavoc—one of the first major tasks in the game is to recapture him after he escapes.

* [[Scooby -Doo (Animationanimation)|Scooby Doo]] could very well have been the [[Trope Maker]].

* Rufus the naked mole rat in ''[[Kim Possible (Animation)|Kim Possible]]''.

* Kiwi, Odd's pet dog in ''[[Code Lyoko (Animation)|Code Lyoko]]'', fits the role, although he's not very often involved in the [[Five-Man Band]]'s adventures.

* Az the Tofu, a [[Ridiculously Cute Critter]] from '' [[Wakfu (Animation)|Wakfu]]''.

* Chuchu, the family dog on ''[[The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan (Animation)|The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan]]''.

* Kuma in ''[[Pole Position (Animationanimation)|Pole Position]]''.

* Tally-Hawk is the ''[[Silverhawks (Animation)|Silverhawks]]''' mascot.

* Bandit in ANY incarnation of ''[[Jonny Quest (Animation)|Jonny Quest]]''.

* In ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'' Nibbler is the Team Pet, even if he is an [[Amusing Alien]] and [[Intellectual Animal]].

* Sebastian is Alexandra's smartass cat on ''[[Josie and Thethe Pussy PussycatsCats]]'', but he'll usually pitch in to help the others when needed.

* Elmo, Augie's bulldog on ''[[The Funky Phantom (Animation)|The Funky Phantom]]'', is usually engaged in a battle of wits with Mudsy's cat Boo.

* Braveheart, the misnamed St. Bernard on ''[[Inch High, Private Eye (Animation)|Inch High Private Eye]].''

* ''[[Clue Club (Animation)|Clue Club]]'' team pets Woofer (a vainglorious bloodhound) and Wimper (a basset).

* Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II in ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]''. The former is generally more useful.

* ''[[The Secret Saturdays (Animation)|The Secret Saturdays]]'': Zak has three Team Pets, all of them cryptids, including a 7-foot tall "gorilla-cat" named Fisk, a komodo dragon (named, you guessed it, Komodo), and a pterosaur named Zon. Unlike most team pets, Zak treats them like their part of his family, including Fisk, whom he likens to an adopted brother

* Bronx in ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'' is the pet of the gargoyle team, and their equivalent of a [[All Animals Are Dogs|dog]].

* ''[[Young Justice (Animationanimation)|Young Justice]]'' has both Sphere the supercycle and Wolf the um, [[Big Badass Wolf]]. They both help in missions.

[[Category:TeamFive-Man PetBand]]