• Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:

    1. The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
    2. Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration

    Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.

Top 50 Animal Sidekicks

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
5
Votes: 4 Points: 133 Highest vote: 2 (@Johnny Unusual , @Issun )
The Cheat - Homestar Runner
latest
maxresdefault.jpg

I was delighted so many other people voted for The Cheat, I did not expect that! Some sort of animal mashup, The Cheat is the pet/roommate of Strong Bad. He falls into the "makes noises that are unintelligible to the audience but characters can understand" animal sidekick type. He assists Strong Bad in his pranks and of course makes nothing but goofy squeaky noises which are adorable.

The Cheat makes all sort of goofy Flash animations and even made a version of the website menu. Also I feel obliged to link to the The Sneak which is the 1920s parody version and a song with some fantastic lines.

The Cheat's lightswitch rave is one of my favourite bits:

@Lumber Baron
(in Coach Z voice) the Chort
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
4
Votes: 5 Points: 141 Highest vote: 5 (@Kirin , @Issun )
Jiji - Kiki's Delivery Service
Kiki%27s_Delivery_Service_Majo_no_Takkyubin_%28Book_Cover%29.jpg
1000

Jiji is the black cat of Kiki, the title character of original book and the Miyazaki film. Jiji's personality and voice are pretty different between the book, the Japanese version (Rei Sakuma) and the American dubs (Phil Hartman, also Kerrigan Mahan but I don't see that one mentioned as much) and the ending implies a different long-term connection between the two.

But! No matter what Jiji is there to help Kiki. One of the bigger storylines is when Kiki is supposed to deliver a stuffed black cat toy and it gets dropped due to wind. Jiji pretends to be the stuffed toy until Kiki is able to recover it.

Also Yamato Transport, the famous Japanese delivery service with a black cat logo, very much enjoyed some publicity from the film and helped sponsor it.

Also please enjoy this cute little wreath we saw at Ghibli Park in November:

scNTthu.jpg
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
3
Votes: 5 Points: 147 Highest vote: 1 (@Lumber Baron )
Gromit - Wallace and Gromit
Wallace_and_gromit.jpg
gromit_tea.jpg

Gromit the dog is the sidekick of Wallace the inventor... who is a pretty oblivious and wacky inventor. Gromit can read, build things, understands speech but can't speak for himself. But it's also worth pointing out that in their world there is a book called Electronics for Dogs and from looking up things for this list Gromit has an engineering degree from Dogwarts University so this points to him being a smart but typical dog in that world.

Similar to Brain in Inspector Gadget but quieter, Gromit is typically saving the day in the background. Gromit also has a number of nemesis dogs such as Preston and Philip. From a technical perspective he's a triumph of stop-motion animation with fantastic expressions and body language and minimal sound.

Here's hoping the promised new film for 2024 happens/doesn't get too delayed!

@jpfriction
Love a good silent partner that is holding everything together.
 
Last edited:

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
2
Votes: 5 Points: 163 Highest vote: 1 (@Violentvixen , @WildcatJF )
Missile - Ghost Trick
19-capture_228.png
character4_modal.jpg

So! Missile is the reason this list happened. I love Missile, just an incredible sidekick character. After finishing the Ghost Trick remake earlier this year it rekindled my love for him and made me think of a bunch of other great animal sidekicks and here we are.

Missile is a regular dog in the normal world, but ends up having the ability to communicate in the ghost world (while still not recognizing objects a dog wouldn't which is cute). He has utterly delightful lines and animation, and is loyal and courageous and wants nothing more than to make sure the little girl Kamila is safe. Later in the game he introduces some new capabilities as well and they add fun new twists to the puzzles.

Also he gets out of the apartment by beating down the door and I have never stopped loving this bit of animation (this is from the original game, couldn't find a gif from the remake so sorry it's small!):

34-pathcreation.gif


One of the other reasons Missile is fantastic is a huge spoiler so go play the game! Seriously. Play it. It's one of my favourite games of all time.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
The post revealing number one will be after Christmas at this point, sorry!

Also an interesting fact (nothing specifically about the character who won, just voting structure): The winner was not #1 or even #2 on anyone's list, but was on 7 of the 12 lists received.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
1
Votes: 5 Points: 163 Highest vote: 3 (@Violentvixen , @Falselogic )
Dug - Up

1*AasoOjDB-gj6LnoeOuXDFw.png
535815f85f93a.image.jpg

As noted in my hint post, Dug wasn't anyone's #1 but he was on the majority of lists. Dug is just such a perfect archetype of the "boy and his dog". Except the boy is a cranky old man and the dog talks.

Dug is loyal, his emotions are dialed up to 11, he's just the right level of intelligence to be a realistic dog and the body language animation is stellar. Up very much surprised me

Dug's lines have become integrated into the phrasing of so many pet owners and veterinarians I know. Yes "cone of shame" was kind of used before the movie came out, but now that's prettymuch the only thing people call it. Bob Peterson did the voice of Dug and look, I don't know what to tell you, that's the voice most pet owners used for their dogs even before the movie. Good job Bob.

@jpfriction
He was hiding under the porch because he loves you

Squirrel *leaves*
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Thanks to everyone who submitted lists and posted! I had a lot of fun with this one and hope all of you enjoyed meeting some new animal friends.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
Thanks for running this Violentvixen.

It looks like my taste in / requirements for an animal sidekick are rather different from eveyone else's. Here's my list:
  1. Kodo and Podo, The Beastmaster (1982)
  2. Bubo, Clash of the Titans (1981)
  3. Oy, The Dark Tower series
  4. Nall (winged cat form), Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
  5. Blackwing, Order of the Stick
  6. Friender, Casshern Sins
  7. Rufus, Kim Possible (animated)
  8. Xiao Mei, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
  9. Poppy, Samurai Shodown series
  10. Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator (small lizard form), Order of the Stick
  11. Rufferto, Groo the Wanderer comics
  12. Boota (pigmole form), Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann TV show
  13. Rush, Mega Man game series
  14. Speak, The Tick cartoon
  15. Polly, G.I. Joe cartoon (1980s)
  16. Kojak, The Stand (novel and 1994 TV miniseries)
  17. Nightshade, Villains by Necessity (1995 novel)
  18. Ruh, The Beastmaster (1982)
  19. Trigger, The Roy Rogers [TV] Show (and his movies)
  20. Tippy-Toe, Marvel stuff
  21. Angelo, Final Fantasy 8
  22. Faffy, Dave the Barbarian
  23. Mamahaha, Samurai Shodown series
  24. Twinkle the Marvel Horse, Dave the Barbarian
  25. Suchi, Captain Planet and the Planeteers cartoon

And here are my thoughts about a few of my picks:

6 / Friender: Having a friend to the end is nice but what if it's after the end (of the world)? Then you need something more - you need a Friender. Friender is a Doberman Pinscher-like robotic dog that accompanies the main character Casshern in the 2008 anime series Casshern Sins (a reboot of the 1973 series Casshan / Neo-Human Casshern). He sometimes helps Casshern in battle and also calms him down when he occasionally goes berserk.

(Allegedly the version of Friender from 1973 is the inspiration for Rush from the Mega Man series.)

9 / Poppy: The female husky ninja dog that accompanies American ninja Galford in the Samurai Shodown series. Isn't afraid to get into it and joins Galford in battle which includes being used in some of his special moves and a few super / desperation moves. A good girl and a good mother to her puppies.

And she also knows tricks:
trick 1
trick 2

11 / Rufferto: Groo the Wanderer is a wandering barbarian hero who means well but is quite dumb and seems to bring chaos and calamity wherever he goes. But Rufferto doesn't care about any of that and loyally follows Groo all over the world.

19 / Trigger: An icon of American western films of the 40s that easily popped into my mind while thinking of candidates. Did you know that his first film role was as the mount of Maid Marian (as portrayed by Olivia de Havilland) in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)?
 

jpfriction

(He, Him)
Awesome list, thanks VV!

Here’s mine, decent number of hits:

1. is the best dog. 25 is the less best dog.


25. Roadkill the Rat - Comix Zone Every video game needs a rat you can deploy from your inventory
24. Max - How the Grinch Stole Christmas Poor buddy, he's just trying to be a good helper.
23. Brain - Inspector Gadget Penny was not shy about putting that poor dog into danger to bail out her idiot uncle
22. Iago - Aladdin I prefer him as a villain but always fun to have Gilbert Gottfried just yell about stuff.
21. Dogmeat - Fallout series I parked him in my house in Fallout 3 so he wouldn't get hurt, even after they introduced the Puppies! perk, but he's a damn good dog.
20. Owl Knight's Owl - Symphony of the Knight More emotion in that Knight's anguished "No!" than in any of the shit Dracula ever says. Must have been a good Owl.
19. Apu - Aladdin I mean, mostly only when he was an elephant. Heh, he can't open the banana
18. Enkido - Final Fantasy V, etc Stop bringing your dog to this fight, Gilgamesh, it is not going to end well.
17. Agro - Shadow of the Collosus. Messed up game. Very good horse.
16. Dug - UP He was hiding under the porch because he loves you
15. Falkor - Neverending Story I don't remember much from these movies but I definitely remember wanting to ride around on that giant sock puppet
14. Repede - Tales of Vesperia Dog smokes a pipe, not sure what else you need to know.
13. Dog - Secret of Evermore They need a toy of the toaster dog
12. Pua - Moana Fucks right off the second things go sideways. Smart pig.
11. Gromit - Wallace and Gromit Love a good silent partner that is holding everything together.
10. Zero - Nightmare before Christmas Cool ghost dog. I like cool ghost dogs
9. Melog - She-Ra and the princesses of power Catra's weird teleporting space cat. Very cool cat, but more of a vote for Catra I guess, she has a hell of an arc at the end there.
8. Fenrir - God of War Ragnorak Sad dad of war becomes sad dog owner of war but there is actually a happy ending this time. I have a lot of dead wolves on this list.
7. Moss - Pikmin 4 Both dogs in Pikmin are good dogs but Moss wins because she is green.
6. Jake the Dog - Adventure Time 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.
5. Muttley - Wacky Races I don't think he really liked Dick Dastardly all that much.
4. Tippy Toe - The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl I always wanted a pet squirrel and you have to admit she rocks that ribbon.
3. Nighteyes - Robin Hobbs Assassins series. I read these books all out of order so was missing a ton of context and still had a hard time when this old wolf died. Hobb can write a sarcastic animal companion.
2. Great Grey Wolf Sif - Dark Souls Had to put the game down and think about life for a bit after clearing the DLC and then seeing the little bonus cutscene they add before this fight. C'mon From, don't be that way.
1. Hobbes - Calvin and Hobbes. No surprises here. I can think of few pieces of media that shaped young me more than this comic strip, although I was certainly more of a Calvin than his thoughtful, homicidal counterpart.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
  1. Gunter (Adventure Time)
  2. The Cheat (Homestar Runner)
  3. Max (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)
  4. Fizzgig (The Dark Crystal) - Scared me as a kid but still somehow adorable.
  5. Meowth (Pokémon)
  6. Dog (Columbo)
  7. Muttley (Wacky Races)
  8. Pinky (Pinky and the Brain) - I know the spirit of the list was more "animal like compared to humanish owner" but there are few fictional characters more PROUDLY sidekick.
  9. Slimy (Sesame Street) - A very good worm. Perfect pet for a grouch. I accidentally called him Squirmy. I hope it didn't lose him points.
  10. Lockjaw (Marvel Comics)
  11. Matthew the Raven (Sandman) - Matthew is naive of the ways of the Dreaming but he's still willing to stick be honest with Morpheus. Then they made him better by making him Patton Oswalt in the TV show.
  12. Krypto (Superboy and to some extent Superman)
  13. Gromit (Wallace and Gromit)
  14. John (The Vampire Dies in No Time) - This comedy anime manga is really hit and miss but everything about John, Draluc's armadillo (a surprisingly clever reference to the weird appearance of armadillos in the Bela Legosi Dracula movie), is always perfect. *
  15. Brain (Inspector Gadget)
  16. Bad News (I Am The Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali) - Top tier dog name, Muhammad Ali
  17. Jake the Dog (Adventure Time)
  18. Pikachu (Pokémon)
  19. K9 (Doctor Who)
  20. Duck Hunt Dog (Duck Hunt)
  21. Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes)
  22. Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon)
  23. Launchpad McQuack (Ducktales/Darkwing Duck)
  24. Little John (Robin Hood)
  25. Piglet (Winnie the Pooh)

*

Thanks to Violent Vixen for hosting a stellar list.
 
Last edited:

Olli

(he/him)
My list:
1. Cheddar (Brooklyn 99)
2. Cosmo (Guardians of the Galaxy)
3. Lucky the Pizza Dog (Hawkeye)
4. Seymour (Futurama)
5. Dog (Columbo)
6. Backup (Veronica Mars)
7. Stinky and Nunzio (Dharma and Greg)
8. Dug (Up)
9. Ein (Cowboy Bebop)
10. Missile (Ghost Trick)
11. Dog (Mad Max 2)
12. Dogmeat (Fallout)
13. Buddy (Air Bud)
14. Redbeard (Sherlock)
15. Snoopy
16. Ace the Bat-Hound
17. Toto (Wizard of Oz)
18. Lockjaw
19. Eddie Crane (Frasier)
20. Queequeg (The X-Files)
21. Krypto the Super-Dog
22. Hooch (Turner and Hooch)
23. Apollo and Zeus (Magnum P.I.)
24. Digby (Pushing Daisies)
25. KEI-9 (Mass Effect 3)

I went with all dogs because dogs rule.
 

Issun

Chumpy
(He/Him)
Thanks for running this, VV! Lot's of good dogs here!

Mine:

  1. The Dog (Secret of Evermore)
  2. The Cheat (Homestar Runner)
  3. Missile (Ghost Trick)
  4. Mogget (The Old Kingdom)
  5. Jiji (Kiki's Delivery Service)
  6. Tock (The Phantom Tollbooth)
  7. Interceptor (Final Fantasy VI)
  8. Pteri (Pee Wee's Playhouse)
  9. Sebastian (The Little Mermaid)
  10. Ghost (A Song of Ice and Fire)
  11. HeiHei (Moana)
  12. Hootle (Tales of Arise)
  13. The Weasels (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)
  14. Angelo (Final Fantasy VIII)
  15. Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio)
  16. K-9 (Doctor Who)
  17. The Death of Rats (Discworld)
  18. Teto (Nausicaa)
  19. Lockjaw (Ms Marvel)
  20. Sparky the Gay Dog (South Park)
  21. Cringer/Battlecat (He-Man)
 

Purple

(She/Her)
Let's see... what if anything on my list actually made it?

1- Speak from The Tick. It was just so unexpected that they kept him. And then the capybera reveal. And just... looking like that.
2- The catterpuppy from House 2. This thing is just entirely too adorable.

House-II-Caterpuppy-e1548790962616.jpg


3- Jones from Johnny Mneumonic. I know The Matrix is the only Kean Reeves cyberpunk movie from the '90s we're supposed to care about but HACKER DOLPHIN.
4- Blanka from Shadow Hearts Covenant. Just a random wolf, in your party, being Solid Snake and having epic showdowns with wackier wolves.
5- Mao from Shadow Hearts: From the New World. A very large house cat with a drinking problem who knows kung fu and works for Al Capone.
6- Brain from Inspector Gadget. The real hero of this story.
7- Swift Wind from She-Ra. Here's just this talking horse who's kind of a useless jerk, but we're still making him a senator, or something.
8- Mousely from A metric truckload of arbitrary Resident Evil 4 fan art. It's a cute gimmick. Someone mod this in already.
9- Link from Zelda: Twilight Princess. Or should I be listing Midna? One of the two is the brains and the other's a furry weirdo, you sort it out.
10- Sir Didymus and/or his noble steed Ambrosius from Labyrinth. Just... good times.
11- Ace from Batman Beyond. It's just nice that Old Batman has this cool dog around.
12- Slimer from The Real Ghostbusters. His status as an animal is questionable but he opens his mouth and Frank Welker noises happen so I count him.
13- Tracy from the not-real Ghostbusters.
14- Scooby Doo from the same.
15- Madcat from Inspector Gadget. Just, you know, here's a cat. Who's evil.
16- Jonesy from Alien.
17- The mice from Voltron. I don't think they really qualify as separate characters.
18- Jillas from Slayers Try.
19- Nibbler from Futurama.
20- Bronx from Gargoyles.
21- Jabberjaw from same.
22- Hanpan from Wild ARMs.
23- Nall from Lunar.
24- Felicia from Dark Stalkers. I guess the terrible cartoon specifically.
25- Comet from Supergirl.
 

Falselogic

Lapsed Threadcromancer
(they/them)
And they were all good dogs.

My list:

1. Scooby Doo
2. Winnie the Pooh
3. Dug (Up)
4. Hercules (The Sandlot)
5. Pluto (Mickey Mouse)
6. Boo Boo (Yogi Bear)
7. Baloo (Jungle Book)
8. Apu (Aladdin)
9. Toby (Great Mouse Detective)
10. Chewbacca (Star Wars)
11. Toto (The Wizard of Oz)
12. Mushu (Mulan)
13. Pumba (The Lion King)
14. Timon (The Lion King)
15. Jiji (Kiki's Delivery Service)
16. Zero (Nightmare before Christmas)
17. Archimedes (the Sword and the Stone)
18. Scuttle (The Little Mermaid)
19. Lady Cluck (Robin Hood)
20. Pegasus (Hercules)
21. Brian (Family Guy)
22. Chesire Cat (Alice in Wonderland
23. Donkey (Shrek)
24. Jiminy Cricket (Dumbo)
25. Benji (Benji)
 
Top