Jeremiah Tolbert

Writer | Photographer | Web Designer

Animal Sidekicks and Good Story Video Games?

by Jeremiah Tolbert on Nov 10, 2008

I’m look­ing for help to com­pile a cou­ple of lists.  First, mem­o­rable ani­mal side­kicks in fan­tasy lit­er­a­ture, and sec­ond, video games that tell a great story as well as being at least a decent game.  Here’s what I have so far:

Animals (real ani­mals, no talk­ing peo­ple in the shape of animals)

1.  Toto from Wizard of Oz

2. The dire wolves in George RR Martin’s series

3. The fire­lizards in Pern books

4. The evil mon­key in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Video Games

1. Planescape Torment

2. Fallout

3. Half LIfe 2

4. Bioshock

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3 Responses »

  1. Daniel Ausema
    November 10, 2008 • 3:52 pm

    I’ve only read one of her books, but in Robin Hobbs’ two series about Fitz he has a wolf familiar/sidekick. If that jumped out at me so quickly, I’m sure he’s even more mem­o­rable for the many fans her books have.

    The other that comes to mind is in Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos books. Again I’ve only read a few of them, but in what I read at least, Vlad has a dragon-like famil­iar Loiosh who is quite entertaining.

    Reply
  2. John Joseph Adams
    November 10, 2008 • 9:15 pm

    Video Games:

    Grand Theft Auto IV (though maybe you’re look­ing for genre games only?)

    I haven’t played it yet, but what about Mass Effect?

    You might con­sider another side topic for video games regard­ing world­build­ing. If you were ask­ing about that, I’d men­tion HALO (which doesn’t quite make the great story list, I don’t think).

    Sidekicks:

    Blood, from “A Boy and His Dog” — does he count, even though he’s tele­pathic? Or are you look­ing only for fan­tasy, not SF?

    Reply
  3. Sarah Olivieri
    November 11, 2008 • 7:20 pm

    Animals that come to mind from a quick scan of my own shelves:
    1. Oy from the Dark Tower series
    2. Hedwig from Harry Potter
    3. Drizzt’s pan­ther (can’t remem­ber her name) from the old Forgotten Realms books
    4. I’d put R2D2 on this list, but I’m not sure of your crit­era. He’s got lim­ited com­mu­ni­ca­tion abil­ity and sub-human intel­li­gence but he often seems wiser than those around him…?

    Video games with plots I’ve enjoyed (don’t judge me!):
    1. Marathon
    2. Knights of the Old Republic (cheesy, yes. what did I say about judg­ing me?)
    3. I’d put all 3 Halo games on here.
    4. Final Fantasy IX (I’m a sucker for the cheese.)
    5. I enjoy the rich lore of World of Warcraft, but I wouldn’t say there’s a “plot” per se. Is great world­build­ing enough to make your list?

    Reply

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