# best/worst video game sidekicks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688 "2005-05-06T13:48:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/41 "2005-11-22T00:51:48Z")
Best: I can’t think of his name, but the first tribal-guy sidekick from Fallout II. Gotta admire a guy who rushes an entrenched position full of guys with automatic weapons, and kicks their ass with a sledge hammer. Worst-best: The wingmen from Red Baron. They were too freakin good I never got any kills, because even when I was shooting the hell out of a guy, they would swoop in put a .50 cal though his head, and steal the credit. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/42 "2005-11-22T01:09:59Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > Natalia from Goldeneye in the Russian prison is rather useless, but in the levels after she receives the crash shooting courses she’s all sorts of badass. I was going to post Natalia. This was the first time I’d ever had to look after a NPC, ever. I would run ahead, kicking ass, only to look behind with Natalia nowhere to be seen. Godamn it woman! Keep up! Sadly, nearly ten years later, some of Natalia’s bad habits still exist in her descendants. ---
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/43 "2005-11-22T01:16:52Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Best: I can’t think of his name, but the first tribal-guy sidekick from Fallout II. Gotta admire a guy who rushes an entrenched position full of guys with automatic weapons, and kicks their ass with a sledge hammer. Sulik. Who would also open up with a 30 round burst of 10 mm JHP directly into your spine if you ever made the foolish tactical mistake of giving firearms to your NPCs. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/44 "2005-11-22T01:22:18Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > Maniac, in the Wing Commander games. Your other wingmen were average/useless, but at least they stayed out of your way for the most part. Maniac, on the other hand, was deliberately programmed to be a screw-up. > > It was actually easier to shoot him down yourself and continue that arc of missions without a wingman, than to try to complete them with him on your wing. In Wing Commander 3 and 4, he was actually a pretty good pilot, not to mention the foil for pretty much all of Christopher Blair’s jokes (Christopher Blair, of course, was played by That Guy From Star Wars™ 😛 ) That said, I’m trying to remember which Wing Commander game manual that suggested that Maniac be used like a hand grenade. Throw him at a bunch of Kilrathi, then wade in to clean up after him. 😃 > [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > Tails from Sonic 2 for the Sega Genesis. I was so goddamned happy when I found out how to make him go the hell away. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/45 "2005-11-22T01:25:25Z")
Ack, forgot to add the second part of my reply: Tails is all sorts of useful once you realise that a second player can take control of him during the single player game. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/46 "2005-11-22T01:32:18Z")
The CIA agent in _Hitman 2_. Let me get this straight. In _Hitman_, this white guy can escape from the basement of the heavily guarded house of a Chinese triad lord while dressed in nothing but stars&stripes underwear, simply by running. In _Hitman 2_, he needs to be walked out of a military base by me. Fine. So I’ll lead him to our escape point, blow a hole in the wall with a couple of pounds of TNT, and we’ll leave through the sewers. The explosion alerts pretty much every foe we have. So, maybe, just maybe, he could break into a jog? I mean, unless he enjoys being filled with bullets while I run ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/47 "2005-11-22T01:35:41Z")
I’ll add any of your main characters from X-Men: Legends as bad. They walk off cliffs. Even if they can fly, they’ll just walk off a cliff. Then you have to pay to bring them back so they can walk off a cliff again. Some super heroes. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/48 "2005-11-22T01:57:38Z")
I’d have to go with the best being HK 47 from Knights of The Old Republic & Knights Of The Old Republic 2. Sure, he’s evil and exibits a blatant disregard for human life, but he’s damned good with a blaster. As for the worst: I’d say it’s any friendly AI in Halo of Halo 2. Especially when they try to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/49 "2005-11-22T02:08:41Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Ok, Glottis is second-best…HK-47 is the best, or at least the coolest. Oh man, Glottis was awesome! ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/50 "2005-11-22T03:02:40Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > In Wing Commander 3 and 4, he was actually a pretty good pilot, not to mention the foil for pretty much all of Christopher Blair’s jokes (Christopher Blair, of course, was played by That Guy From Star Wars™ 😛 ) I’ll give you that, plus it was cool to see Biff playing him… 🙂 When I posted that, back however many months ago this thread started, I was mainly thinking of the first Wing Commander game, where you can shoot him down in cold blood, yet still say a few good words about him at his funeral. And, in WC4, if I recall correctly, his boasting inspired one of the new recruits to almost get himself killed. Finding an escape pod under fire…now THAT was an annoying mission. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/51 "2005-11-22T03:48:18Z")
Your sidekick from Rise of the Kasai was either the best or worst, depending on how the AI was acting at any given moment. When it was good, it was _good_, but when it was bad… ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/52 "2005-11-22T04:00:57Z")
How can I be the first to mention… E.T. The game was all about keeping your sidekick from killing himself. ---
**Author:** ![Tixenfleaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Tixenfleaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tixenfleaz)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/53 "2005-11-22T04:54:31Z")
Okay, maybe not the best, but I loved Dogmeat from _Fallout._ That little pooch was plenty useful during the first few hours of the game. He was like a bloodthirsty Old Yeller, and it really bothered me that I couldn’t keep him alive for very long. Sorry about that, little buddy. ---
**Author:** ![Iacob\_Matthew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Iacob\_Matthew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iacob_Matthew)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/54 "2005-11-22T06:20:37Z")
> [@ArrMatey!](#): > > In Arcanum, best sidekick was the dog. You need to save his life from a greedy master in a town before the sun goes down (hard to do unless you know exactly where to look for him), but once he’s yours… He kicks all -kinds- of butt in melee combat (heck, he bites robots for damage. Very impressive) > Worst? Same game, Virgil. (I think that was his name)- first NPC you meet. Great storyline, good healer… Unless you’ve decided to follow tech instead of magic. Then he’ll consistantly try to heal you and fail in combat, never realizing he should be doing something… ANYTHING… Vaguely more useful. > (Besides, the tech healer was more cute, and would actually resurrect you if you died, assuming she had a ressurect kit) More or less what I came in here to say- Worthless Mutt masters melee & does not count as a follower. And he gets more hits per round than he knows what to do with. For my diplomat character, I had an army of twelve following me at the end (since the void characters don’t count towards the total either), and when I decided to kill my whole team (just for kicks, after finishing it once), he did everything while I just ended up hiding. And he can take the final boss on his own at level 40. Virgil, you just want to be useful- he gets decent picklocks, and he did ressurect me after I walked onto the supreme god’s altar accidentally. But, he doesn’t specialize in jack, picklocks & heal magic balance out so they’re worthless if you’re not a mage yourself, and he never gets good melee. And you feel obligated to haul him around because he has the interesting plot. ---
**Author:** ![Iacob\_Matthew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Iacob\_Matthew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iacob_Matthew)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/55 "2005-11-22T06:28:05Z")
> [@Iacob\_Matthew](#): > > picklocks & heal magic balance out so they’re worthless if you’re not a mage yourself And this makes no sense if you’ve never played- Picklocks is a “tech” skill, Heal magic is a “magic” skill. There’s an aptitude tree for how well you use tech/magic, based on how specialized you are. If you have both, then your spells all fail, and your tech skills just don’t work. Furthermore, if you have a high tech aptitude, then magic fails against you (including healing), and they do 5HP when they work. So, by having both, unless you yourself have high magical aptitude, he can’t heal you. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/56 "2005-11-22T07:37:01Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > I’ll give you that, plus it was cool to see Biff playing him… 🙂 > > When I posted that, back however many months ago this thread started, I was mainly thinking of the first Wing Commander game, where you can shoot him down in cold blood, yet still say a few good words about him at his funeral. > > And, in WC4, if I recall correctly, his boasting inspired one of the new recruits to almost get himself killed. Finding an escape pod under fire…now THAT was an annoying mission. Well, I never said he was a smart sidekick or a good teacher, just that he was a good sidekick (for Blair, the protagonist). The fact that he pissed absolutley everyone else off was more of a character quirk than anything else, and of course it was up to you (and, to a somewhat lesser degree, if you let him, Colonel Dekker) to straighten Maniac out. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/57 "2005-12-28T23:31:55Z")
> [@Tixenfleaz](#): > > Okay, maybe not the best, but I loved Dogmeat from _Fallout._ > > That little pooch was plenty useful during the first few hours of the game. He was like a bloodthirsty Old Yeller, and it really bothered me that I couldn’t keep him alive for very long. Sorry about that, little buddy. Yes **Dogmeat!!!** I spent _hours_ and a metric shedload of stimpacks keeping Dogmeat alive through the dam forcefield level cos I just couldnt stand it the way he lay down and curled up when he dies. Managed to keep him alive to the end and was very disappointed he wasn’t in the final movie, walking out into the wastelands with me ☹ Did you know you can meet Dogmeat again in Fallout 2 at the cafe of broken dreams (random emcounter)? If you take your clothes off to reveal your vault dweller costume he runs up to you! and you get the text “You see Dogmeat. Dogmeat! Dogmeat! Dogmeat!” I was so happy 🙂 Note - one of the random things the patrons of the cafe say is “I wish Dogmeat had been in the final movie of Fallout 1”. Great games. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688/58 "2005-12-29T00:42:55Z")
> [@Murcielago](#): > > I also liked the two partners in _Armed and Dangerous_, a good action game with a lot of humorous moments. Too bad it seems almost no one played it. Tea Time anyone Yeah they are fun to watch , but right now I am stuck on saving some little girls village from a zepplin attack, cant get past it. for those who have not played it , its hilarous. Shoving the old guy up the ass of a rhino is worth the price of the game alone. Declan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-video-game-sidekicks/302688.md?page=2)