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Team Pet (view source)

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{{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 -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|Optional Party Members]]. 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]].
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[[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 A 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 A 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 A Well]].
 
[[Tagalong Kid]] is the human equivalent to this, [[Robot Buddy]] the artificial version.
 
{{examples|Examples}}
 
== Anime & Manga ==
* Iggy the Boston Terrier from ''[[Jo JosJo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jojo'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.
* Kon the mod-soul in ''[[Bleach]]'', who insists on being taken seriously, since he has the duty of possessing Ichigo's body when he's in shinigami form. He seldom is, since he normally inhabits the body of a plush lion.
* In early episodes of ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|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]], [[EverythingsEverything's Better With Monkeys|Aipom]], [[EverythingsEverything's Better With 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 (Manga)|Excel Saga]]''. She knows this, and always fears for her life when her rescuer/master gets those "hungry eyes".
* Kameo in ''[[Gun X Sword]]'' is Wendy's pet pink turtle, and can usually be found at the end of a chain around Wendy's neck. How it was attached to his shell is never revealed. Van doesn't like him very much.
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** The ''entire'' Mabari breed are the [[Team Pet]] of Ferelden. ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' reveals that other nations refer to Fereldans as "''The Dog-Lords''".
* Nall and Ruby of the ''[[Lunar]]'' series.
* Ricky [[EverythingsEverything's Better With 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)|Earthbound]]'', where Ness's dog King and a [[EverythingsEverything'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 [[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]].
** ''[[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.}}
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== Western Animation ==
* 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]]. 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 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.
* Radarr is just another element of the [[ClicheCliché 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.
** Spike and Daniel are the most blatant examples. Apparently, this trope is genetic.
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* [[Scooby Doo (Animation)|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]]''.
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