Top 50 Animal Sidekicks

[Issun]

The movie was my first experience with this story, actually, and it is wonderful. The songs, the animation, it's one of the great book to film adaptations, and it's free on YouTube!

I did read the book eventually and it was excellent, but I was specifically voting for Chuck Jones/Larry Thor interpretation, because inevitably that's what I saw and heard when I read the book.

Case in point:

Honestly, this film was probably largely responsible for my love of RPG style storytelling.

 

[Violentvixen]

The movie was my first experience with this story, actually, and it is wonderful. The songs, the animation, it's one of the great book to film adaptations, and it's free on YouTube!

I did read the book eventually and it was excellent, but I was specifically voting for Chuck Jones/Larry Thor interpretation, because inevitably that's what I saw and heard when I read the book.

Case in point:

Honestly, this film was probably largely responsible for my love of RPG style storytelling.

Okay that looks really fun and the animation and background are neat! The trailer was a little hard to follow but this scene looks awesome. I love Chuck Jones so will have to check this out for sure.

 

[Kirin]

Yeah, the movie is also my exposure to Phantom Tollbooth, and while I don’t think I’ve seen it since I was young I have very fond memories of it! Not sure without checking my list whether I voted for Tock, but I should have.

 

[Violentvixen]

We are halfway through and celebrate with the last three-way tie of the list.

23 (tie)
Votes: 2 Points: 57 Highest vote: 7 (@Kirin )
Appa (Avatar the Last Airbender)

Appa the sky bison is a fixture of the Avatar series as a friend, a means of transport and an ally. He and Aang have a very strong bond and Appa is capable of understanding what is said to him. He flies and can fight by using his airbending powers and frequently shows up to save everyone in the nick of time.

A bit of history of his design is that he's inspired by the catbus from Totoro and that he was initially going to be a smaller more dog-like creature.

23 (tie)
Votes: 2 Points: 57 Highest vote: 1 (@Falselogic )
Scooby Doo

Scooby practically has a media empire. The show Scooby Doo Where Are You!* first aired in 1969 and lasted until 1978. Then there were almost 20 other TV series, over 40 movies and all sorts of merchandise and other appearances.

Scooby Doo is a Great Dane who solves mysteries with his owner, Shaggy and their friends. Scooby is always terrified of what's happening and usually believes the threats/lies/tricks of the episode's villain, and often while trying to flee or hide thwarts them and uncovers the truth. His "ruh-roh" goofy speech pattern is endearing and he'll do anything (including being very brave) for a Scooby Snack.

*It will always bother me that this is a ! not a ?

23 (tie)
Votes: 2 Points: 57 Highest vote: 1 (@Purple )
Speak

Speak is the Tick's pet adopted during a trip to Mexico. In their first meeting The Tick believes the dog is speaking to him and this becomes his namesake. However, this is quickly revealed to entirely be a hallucination. And it was part of a plot to marry Arthur off. And the dog is a capybara and needs medical attention. Speak is brought back and stays in Arthur's apartment for the rest of the show and despite The Tick's best efforts is basically just confused as to what the heck is happening.

Purple:

It was just so unexpected that they kept him. And then the capybara reveal. And just... looking like that.

 

[Torzelbaum]

I had Speak at #14 on my list. Speak is really only a sidekick in The Tick's mind but that's close enough for me.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Speak was on my longer list but in the end he didn't quite make it. He's a good... thing.

From back when people didn't know what capybaras looked like.

 

[Purple]

I mean, the eyes are off, but he IS very sick.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

BTW, if you want to host a list like this, submit your topic here.

 

[Violentvixen]

22
Votes: 2 Points: 58 Highest vote: 1 (@Issun )
Dog - Secret of Evermore

In the game Secret of Evermore a boy and his dog are sent through a portal, and it's totally the dog's fault. He chases a cat, then chews on some wires and bam, they're in a new world.

The player can switch between the boy and the dog for the rest of the game with the dog attacking and biting enemies. The dog also has a useful Sniff skill which helps the player locate the needed ingredients for the various alchemy formulas. The dog also never gets over chasing cats and continues to do it throughout the rest of the game.

The game takes place in a number of different regions of Evermore and when you switch areas the dog's form switches as well. In the first three areas this manifests as a wolf or different dog breeds but in the final area he becomes a robot dog who can shoot lasers. And as @jpfriction noted:

They need a toy of the toaster dog

https://twitter.com/x/status/1131599402370568193

 

[Issun]

The first one to come to mind when making my list. A great dog and a big part of what makes Evermore so distinctive.

 

[Violentvixen]

20 (tie)
Votes: 3 Points: 61 Highest vote: 12 (@Kirin
K-9 (Doctor Who)

So coming right off the Secret of Evermore dog I think I'm seeing some design inspiration here...

The fourth doctor and Leela in Doctor Who received the first K-9 as a gift. This K-9 accompanied them on adventures but eventually stayed with Leela. Multiple other versions have appeared since then but they all share the same design. K-9 has vast knowledge, is intelligent (but not necessarily street smarts) and can shoot lasers! Some versions have additional capabilities such as flight.

There were also a few K-9 focused spin-off shows with varying degrees of success. But overall K-9 is a loyal companion and resource for the Doctor or other characters.

Also K-9 plays chess and is excited for walks

20 (tie)
Votes: 2 Points: 61 Highest vote: 5 (@Olli
Dog (Columbo)

Oh man, I had a Basset Hound growing up and the show Columbo is not at all exaggerating how lazy these dogs are.

Dog typically stays in the car while Columbo investigates but almost invariably makes too much noise, much to Columbo's annoyance. He also got kicked out of obedience school for "demoralising the other students" which is delightful. Dog very much enjoys ice cream and gets entirely too many treats on this show but how could anyone resist giving him treats?

I also like that Dog is cited as being the most recurring guest character on the show. Pretty great. I'm seeing some notes that McGruff the Crime Dog was modeled after a combination of Columbo and Dog. I can't seem to confirm that but I like the idea.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Oh, two good ones. I get why someone might be down on K-9. He's kind of representative of the sea change in the series when they started caving a bit to pressure to be less scary. The first half of the Tom Baker run characterized by the eccentric time traveler tackling surprisingly horrific foes inspired by classic monsters and some cosmic terror mixed in. But at a certain point, it toned down the horror when the show runner, despite success among the fans, was shoed off into another show and K-9 soon made his first appearance.

But the following era is still filled with fun stuff. The City of Death is an all time classic episode (which writer Douglas Adams recycled wholesale for the plot of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) and K-9 is still a pretty charming companion. Keep in mind, I also don't have an issue with the ewoks for similar reasons; they are fun characters when you are a kid and you can bring the affection to your grown up self.

Dog is a newer one for me. He's barely a sidekick, appearing in a handful of episodes but he also accidentally leads Columbo into some helpful situations sometimes and... he's just a great lazy dog that Columbo and his wife can't even bother to name. Also, Dog returns when the show came back in the late 80s/early 90s... JUST HOW OLD IS DOG?!

 

[Violentvixen]

19
Votes: 3 Points: 62 Highest vote: 10 (@Purple )
Ace the Bat Hound

Like Krypto the Super Dog earlier, Ace has had many forms depending on which series you're reading/watching. The majority of the time Ace the Bat Hound belongs to Batman, but he is also Barbara Gordon's. Ace always has a "guard dog" look to him, but his breed varies by media although German Shepherd is his breed in his first appearance in 1955 and seems to be the most common. His powers and behaviour also vary, he can be a typical dog or capable of using all sort of gadgets and talking, just depends on the tone of the show. He's always smart, loyal and willing to help though.

I will also note that Purple specifically voted for the Batman Beyond version, but I merged all the votes:

It's just nice that Old Batman has this cool dog around.

 

[Violentvixen]

I am about to be out of the country for two weeks, and am in my first layover right now. Updates will be at the mercy of hotel internet/my schedule/jet lag, etc. I hope to make a couple posts during the trip but the pace will definitely be slower for a bit.

 

[Violentvixen]

I am back, despite Delta's best efforts to strand me in Japan (which wouldn't be that bad but still). Anyway this should pick back up soon but right now I've been awake for 30 hours and would misread something so going to wait until I'm a bit recovered.

 

[Violentvixen]

18
Votes: 2 Points: 63 Highest vote: 2 (@Violentvixen )
Koromaru

Koromaru is a Shiba Inu with red eyes who holds a knife in his mouth and summons a Persona to fight with you. He's awesome. While technically a normal dog, the fact that he can summon a Persona is kind of a big deal, and throughout the game Aegis translates for him which gives him a more robust personality. He also very clearly understands human speech to a level above a normal dog.

In Persona 3 Portable they added the ability to take him for a walk which results in potential interactions with other characters in the game, and I think he can find items too. And if you choose the female main character you also get a social link path with him, he'll be your Strength Arcana link.

Personally, as soon as he showed up I tended to kick Junpei out of my party. Koro-chan is way better!

 

[Violentvixen]

16 (tie)
Votes: 2 Points: 65 Highest vote: 1 (@Beta Metroid
Yoshi

Yoshi! Introduced in Super Mario World as a mount for Mario, Yoshi now has his own franchise (several franchises really) and is essentially guaranteed to show up in all Mario-related media at this point. Yoshi is a species/type of creature and typically different coloured Yoshis have different powers/resistances, but the basic green Yoshi is the most represented.

Personally, I love how the music gets an extra instrument when you're riding him in Super Mario World. It's a really fun touch.

Also I want to take this opportunity to share the Axe Murderer level of Yoshi's Crafted World, which is still one of the most tonaly jarring levels I've ever experienced in a game:

 

[Kirin]

Jesus, I'd never seen that level before, that's certainly a thing.

 

[Violentvixen]

Oops, I misread something, 16/17 is a tie!

16 (tie)
Votes: 2 Points: 65 Highest vote: 2 (@WildcatJF )
Meowth

Team Rocket's sidekick in the Pokémon anime is the only Pokémon who can have full conversations. He's quite the character and consistently appears throughout the series, mainly to try to steal Ash's Pikachu but often has other goals and sidequests.

He loves sparkly objects, translates other Pokémon's speech and has a lot of knowledge of how to build various items/weapons. So he's quite useful even if he is technically a bad guy.

Outside of the anime this specific Meowth appears in all sorts of Pokémon spinoff media, usually as part of Team Rocket but occasionally alone. And of course there is the Meowth species as a whole.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Moewth is a top tier villain sidekick,

 

[Violentvixen]

15
Votes: 3 Points: 66 Highest vote: 7 (@WildcatJF )
Teto​

Early in the story of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Nausicaä befriends a fox-squirrel that was rescued by Lord Yupa. The creature is initially terrified and even bites her, but then calms down and nurses the wound and becomes loyal to her.

I have not read the manga, but it sounds like Teto is much more involved in the story and events in that versus the movie, but he is constantly by her side and often snuggling up next to her when she is recovering or waking up. He's also very protective of her after they have bonded, and snarls at strangers.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Which Pokémon is that?

 

[Kirin]

Eevee, though of course Teto came first.

Teto's in the category of "literal animal friend, no magic powers or talkin' or nothin'", but he's the best. I have a really nice plush of him at home.

 

[Violentvixen]

14
Votes: 3 Points: 67 Highest vote: 3 (@Johnny Unusual )
Max (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

Max is the Grinch's poor sad dog who is loyal enough to go through with a rather bonkers plan to ruin Christmas just because his master wants to. But of course this little mutt steals the show and is often one of the first things people talk about when you bring up the movie/book.

The antler on his head, and ultimately only the tiny piece of antler on his head, is just iconic. Also just a masterpiece of Chuck Jones animation, I remember Max being expressive but while going through stills for this realized just how much variety and art there is in his movements and design for each scene.

@jpfriction noted:

Poor buddy, he's just trying to be a good helper.

 

[Kirin]

Chuck Jones got so much mileage out of Max; I wouldn't be surprised if he's the most-used character for the many wordless scenes used to pad out a book that can be read in five minutes into full TV special length. And they're all great.

 

[Torzelbaum]

That's a good boy that I had completely forgotten about.

Also, I think the following is true about him:
1 Max > 9 reindeer

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Max is such a good boy and he's the secret sauce of the whole special. I feel that without someone to bounce off of, I don't think the Grinch story would have landed and this pure innocent being eager to please is perfect. When he's feeding the dog he's been growling at the whole special a slice of roast beast, you are like "oh, OK, he's definitely a good dude now." I think it also helps that the few times that the Grinch becomes frightened also puts them on the same page and are more like a team than mean master and poor pooch.

Max in his hula hoop form being pulled off by the Grinch lives forever in my head.

That said, How the Grinch Stole Christmas ISN'T the only appearance by Max... Lesser known is the weird Halloween special Halloween is Grinch Night. Assuming you consider it the same continuity, this would seem to take place before and the Grinch is even more sinister and has access to supernatural horrors, which he plans to unleash on an unsuspecting world for cruel laughs. He's even meaner to Max, who is more of a sad sack who gets a real bringdown song about being a slave to the Grinch. It's a very different portrayal for both characters and frankly, it doesn't serve either well. I think it's because the original has a clearer message and throughline and though I think the crew of Halloween is Grinch Night is trying hard, it's a far more muddled piece of story-telling with kind of a message of "the bad times don't last forever." Which isn't bad but without Chuck Jones, Boris Karloff and Thurl Ravenscroft and a much more streamlined story, meeting the expectations of the original is much harder. It's a weird special.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Oh, I made two mistakes. One is that Thurl IS in Halloween is Grinch Night.

The other is Max has a THIRD appearance! In The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat. The Grinch is the villain but he's framed as someone who is being manipulated by his image in the mirror Gollum/Smeagol-style and he just tries to ruin the cats day. Max is in an inbetween space from the other specials; more sympathetic to the Grinch than in Grinch night and helps him stay redeemed in the last scene but there's still kind of a sadsack quality. Seriously, without Chuck Jones, despite some interesting visuals, Max just isn't as great a doggo.

BTW, since we are talking about Christmas, please contribute to my "Top 50 Holiday Musics" list. There's, like, two Grinch songs that would fit well on that list!

 

[Violentvixen]

Lesser known is the weird Halloween special Halloween is Grinch Night

That is bizarre and I feel like I have an incredibly vague memory of seeing this before. Neat find.

Seriously, without Chuck Jones, despite some interesting visuals, Max just isn't as great a doggo.

Absolutely agree.

 

[Violentvixen]

The last tie of the list!

12 (tie)
Votes: 3 Points: 69 Highest vote: 6 (@jpfriction )
Jake the Dog

The stretchiest companion! Jake is a shapeshifting dog and he and Finn were raised together. Jake shapeshifts to pick locks, fight and really just do whatever he feels like doing at that moment. He's got a bit of greediness and laziness to him but is still a heartwarming companion to his adopted brother.

He's also oddly good at skateboarding and cooking as @jpfriction noted:

Less of a sidekick and more of a brother/equal but hard to not to include him based on the catchiness of bacon pancakes alone.

12 (tie)
Votes: 4 Points: 69 Highest vote: 11 (@Falselogic )
Toto (Wizard of Oz)

A classic. Toto kicks the events of The Wizard of Oz by biting Miss Gulch then escaping and prompting Dorothy to run away. While Toto doesn't have magical powers (although in later books he talks) he still keep the plot moving at several points, including by removing the curtain from the Wizard.

Toto is played by Terry, a female Cairn Terrier who was of course best known for this and possibly renamed to Toto but I'm seeing some conflicting info on that. She acted in 13 films over her career.

And of course "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!" is an iconic line.