Team Pet: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{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
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-Moe|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
If the Team Pet is an otherworldly being, it may end up as an [[Amusing Alien]]. It may also be a [[Pet Monstrosity]].
[[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 a Well]].
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* ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple]]'' has Shigure's pet mouse Tochumaru. It happens to be a competent martial artist.
* Shiina in the ''[[Vampire Princess Miyu]]'' TV series is both Miyu's talking pet of sorts and a Shinma with a ''very'' powerful eyesight.
* Ein the Welsh corgi from ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]''. He mostly serves as a vehicle for [[Animal Reaction Shot
* Arthur the cat is probably this for the student council in ''[[Code Geass]]''. He's used mostly for [[Running Gag
* [[Catgirl|Blair the cat]] from ''[[Soul Eater]]'', who has the distinctly unique honor of being the
{{quote|'''Soul:''' Anyone want the sexy kitty? She's free.}}
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' gives us Chamo, the talking [[Weasel Mascot|ermine]]. He's also a bit of a mentor, though.
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** To be fair, Deadpool has never been au fait on the distinction between "friendship" and "Stockholm Syndrome". See Weasel, Blind Al, etc.
* X-Men have Lockheed, when Kitty Pryde is on the team, most of the time.
** Subverted in that Lockheed is anything ''but''
*** He can also speak {{spoiler|and has actually been spying on the X-Men, albeit benevolently, for quite some time}}.
**** Hardly a subversion. Whoever said that a Team Pet has to be harmless? Lockheed is certainly goofy, though, at least in appearance (and for this Troper, quite intensely irritating, to the point of being [[The Scrappy]] as much as a Team Pet. Of course, that's frequently a damn fine line).
* [[Great Lakes Avengers]] have [[Squirrel Girl]] as their Team Pet, being the youngest, goofiest and least experienced member who [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|has a tail and talks to squirrels]]. But if you want to get technical, it's really Squirrel Girl's sidekick <s>Monkey Joe</s> Tippy-Toe, who's a full member of the group, despite being a squirrel. Yes, that kind of [http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel squirrel].
* ''[[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
** Katten Jansson and Husmusen are also usually [[Those Two Guys]] when they do not star in the story.
* 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 [[
** Batman gets a Great Dane puppy in The [[New 52]] version of Batman and Robin named [[Titus Andronicus (theatre)|Titus]]
* Glomulus the Cleaner Slug for the [[Green Lantern|Orange Lantern Corps]].
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* Classic ''[[Doctor Who]]'' had K-9.
* In ''[[Primeval]]'' we get Rex, a Coelurosauravus from the Permian anomaly. He doesn't serve much purpose, except to hang out and look cute, possibly to counter all of the [[Nightmare Fuel]].
* ''[[Imagination Movers]]'' has Warehouse Mouse, a
* ''[[Human Target]]'' has Carmine the Rottweiler.
* ''[[Torchwood]]'' has Myfanwy the pterodactyl.
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* Sazh's Chocobo chick in ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]''.
* [[Swiss Army Weapon]] Jack in ''[[Gears of War]]''.
* Meemai in the first ''[[Baten Kaitos]]'' game isn't a party
* 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.
** In ''[[Megatokyo]]'', a hamster is named Boo in honour of Minsc's pet.
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** OTOH, Oghren seems to dislike him (becomes more obvious when he's drunk). Alistair, of all people, also has a knack for pissing off Dog. Getting too close to his food, teasing him about eating human flesh, etc. At one point, the Grey Warden can remind him that Dog is a ''warhound'' and not a puppy to be teased. The "dialogue" Alistair has with Dog also doesn't seem terribly friendly either.
*** Oghren's just annoyed that Dog doesn't agree that his wearing a saddle and serving as Oghren's personal cavalry mount is a good idea.
** The ''entire'' Mabari breed are the
* Nall and Ruby of the ''[[Lunar]]'' series.
* Ricky [[Everything's Better with Monkeys|the monkey]] from ''[[Dubloon]]''.
* In ''[[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]]'', where Ness's dog King and a [[Everything's Better with 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
** ''[[Dragon Quest VIII]]'' has Munchie, [[The Hero]]'s rat pet that is very smart. It can be used to clear curtain puzzles in a dungeon. {{spoiler|It turns out very latter that Munchie is [[The Hero]]'s ancestor in disguise.}}
* Pochi, the family's pet monster from ''[[Legacy of the Wizard]]''.
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== Western Animation ==
* Snarf from ''[[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]]'' 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
* Momo in ''[[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 the 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.
** In the [[Sequel Series]], The Legend of Korra, the two team pets tradition continues with Pabu, the fire ferret (red panda/ferret hybrid) and Korra's polarbear-dog, Naga.
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* Lily and Sparkles from ''[[Barbie and the Diamond Castle]]''.
* It would really be a disservice to call [[Godzilla]] a team pet in ''[[Godzilla: The Series]]''; the crew prefer "[[The Big Guy]]". They have [[Robot Buddy|N.I.G.E.L]] for that.
* Slimer in ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' and ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]''. Also in ''[[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
* [[Scooby-Doo (animation)|Scooby Doo]] could very well have been the [[Trope Maker]].
* Rufus the naked mole rat in ''[[Kim Possible]]''.
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