The Top 5 best animals from RPGs
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The Top 5 best animals from RPGs

In this article I will be taking a look at five of the best animals and animal-like characters from RPGs. Whether you’re a cat lover or just want a superior steed to make your escape on, there’s an animal for you in RPGs. Will your favourite make the top 5 list?

How much is that doggy in the window?

Being an adventurer can be a lonely business. Even worse, you might be stuck with an annoying companion who just won’t shut up. Why not have the best of both worlds – a loyal companion who won’t spout the same irritating catchphrase every minute or two? Here’s a look at some of the best animals featured in RPGs, starting with Boo from Baldur’s Gate.

“Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. No animal shall wear clothes. No animal shall sleep in a bed.” – Animal Farm

5) Boo, Baldur’s Gate series

Creeping onto this list virtually unseen is Boo, who depending on who you ask is either a miniature giant space hamster or just a normal hamster. Although not a party member himself, this beloved companion of party member Minsc is the ranger’s best friend and the centre of most of the funniest quotes in the game uttered by Minsc, such as “Go for the eyes, Boo. GO FOR THE EYES! RrraaaAAGHGHH!”

There have been many prominent dogs and cats in RPGs but there aren’t many notable hamsters. Boo’s uniqueness helped him to earn a spot on the list.

boo animals baldur's gate hamster
“Ahh, we are all heroes, you and me and Boo, hamsters and rangers everywhere, rejoice!”

4) Prinny, Disgaea series

From hamsters to penguins – or prinnies, to be more precise. Prinnies have appeared in every Disgaea game and they also starred in their own spin-off game; “Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?”. These pouch-wearing penguins are actually the reincarnation of sinful humans.

Prinnies are usually one of the first recruitable monsters in the SRPG games. There have been some special recruitable character Prinnies. For instance, Kurtis was a villain in the original Disgaea. Despite seeing the error of his ways towards the end of the game, he was made a prinny in Disgaea 2 to atone for his sins. He’s recruitable post-game in Disgaea 4.

They have a nasty habit of exploding if you throw them. You can even explode a chain of prinnies to wreak havoc on multiple enemy units. “Not cool, dood!”

prinny animal
Prinnies are typically mistreated by the Overlords in Disgaea games…and by almost every other character too, now that I think about it.

3) Dogmeat, Fallout series

A dog named Dogmeat has so far appeared in Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. In Fallout 3, he is a German Shepherd. This super loyal and affectionate companion makes the Wasteland seem that little bit less dreary. His original owner had recently been killed by raiders. Super loyal to the end, Dogmeat tracks his previous owner’s killers down.

In Fallout 3, Dogmeat unfortunately could die quite easily. So long as you have the Broken Steel add-on installed, at level 22 you can get the Puppies! perk. If Dogmeat dies, a puppy appears at the main door of Vault 101. Which is nice but there’s only one Dogmeat. I reloaded the game countless times to keep him alive throughout my adventure. Dogmeat couldn’t die in Fallout 4, which made life a lot simpler.

dog fallout 4
Dogmeat is so brave that he’ll happily charge a Super Mutant with his tail wagging. Good doggy.

2) Mog, Final Fantasy VI

Moogles have appeared in most Final Fantasy titles and the Kingdom Hearts games. These lovable creatures first appeared in Final Fantasy III.  Sometimes they appear as toys or decorative items (such as Lulu’s Moogle necklace or the Moogle plush in Final Fantasy XV). Other times they are your postmen. Occasionally they are even powerful Summons.

It is their role as playable characters that I thought I’d highlight here though. A moogle was first a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. Mog and his fellow moogles help Locke defend an unconscious Terra from the Narshe guards in the mines. As well as being the first moogle to join the party, he is also the first moogle to talk in a Final Fantasy game. Mog is a missable character in Final Fantasy VI. When he is captured by Lone Wolf, he breaks free but unluckily throws himself and Lone Wolf to the cliff’s edge in the process. You have a choice of saving Lone Wolf or saving Mog. If you save Lone Wolf, you’re given a Gold Hairpin. If you save Mog, he joins your party. Make the right choice.

Moogles named Mog also appeared in other Final Fantasy titles, such as Mobius & Record Keeper. Another notable playable moogle is Montblanc, who joins your party in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. He also reappears in Final Fantasy XII, as the leader of Clan Centurio. Unfortunately he wasn’t playable that time but he does give Vaan some Hunts.

mog animal moogle final fantasy
Here’s Mog from Mobius Final Fantasy. In Final Fantasy VI, Mog is a missable playable character.

1) Repede, Tales of Vesperia

Dogmeat may be loyal and the dog in Fable may be helpful for sniffing out treasure but can either of those mangy mutts carry a pipe in their mouth, steal items from enemies and wield daggers? No, I didn’t think so. Step up to the plate, Repede. This cool canine companion constantly carries a pipe in his mouth. The pipe was a memento of his previous owner, Niren Fedrock, who died during the events of the movie, Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike. As well as being one of the fastest characters in combat, he’s the only one capable of stealing items using the Thievery arte. That’s one talented dog! Tales of Vesperia is one of my favourite entries in the Tales series. It’s backwards compatible on the Xbox One and well worth purchasing.

repede tales of vesperia
You won’t impress anybody by sticking a pipe in your mouth. Unless you’re a dog, in which case, well done you!

Honourable mentions:

It was so difficult to only pick five animals/animal-like beings from RPGs. Other ones which I was tempted to pick were Red 13 from Final Fantasy VII, Shadowmere from Skyrim, Barbas from Skyrim, Dog from Dragon Age Origins and Dog from Fable 2.

What is your favourite animal from RPGs? Please comment below & let us know!

You may also be interested in the Fallout 4 VR article or you could check out the Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Celebrates 1 million sales with Free Theme article.

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9 responses to “The Top 5 best animals from RPGs”


  1. >

    It is a Zelda softish clone with the main character losing human speech but learning how to speak with animals and monsters instead. The animals can be equipped and give skills both for combat and puzzle solving. I don’t think puzzles were as hard as some of the Zelda series or Alundra for Playstation, but were quite entertaining. I think the game was named Ragnacenty in the US, but couldn’t remember the name when posting that message yesterday. A wee gem on the Genesis RPG shortish library.

  2. Barbas was a pretty cool one, Rakuyo. Like many, instead of completing his quest, I kept him with me as a permanent invincible companion. It was nice stringing along extra companions like him with the promise of helping them out eventually.

  3. Thanks for your suggestions, Bonadue80. I’ve never played Soleil. Does it still hold up okay today? If so, I’ll add it to my “to do” list.

  4. Again, I’m strained because of how many characters I have to deselect because of the genre.

    I’d include Dog from Dragon Age: Origins,could include Barbas from Skyrim, and I could include Fuse-Ushi from Nioh, and various once treasured Pokémon.

  5. All the companions from Soleil (Megadrive/Genesis) and the Dog from Secret of Evermore (SNES). Oh, and Agro Shadow of the Colossus (PS2/3/4).

  6. Yes, both Moogles and Prinnies could be considered a race instead of straight animals. In the introduction I did say the article would include animal-like creatures. I was trying to avoid them all being dogs & thought they were interesting inclusions. If you wanted more of a pure animal race rather than animal-like, I personally may pick Shadowmere from Skyrim and a chocobo from the Final Fantasy series. I was thinking “Morgana” from Persona 5 but if animal-like was out as well, I guess that might exclude her too since she’s not exactly a normal cat.

    Zelda 2 was the closest to being an RPG of the Zelda series but I thought if I had included Zelda or Okami, there’d be people disagreeing about their status as RPGs, so I skipped those.

    You’re right, I could have included Bloodborne baddies. In my list I was personally more focused on friendly creatures than ones trying to bite your head off but equally it’d be fine for you to do a list that included enemies instead. There’s a lot of animal enemies in RPGs to consider if you do open it up to enemies too. Limiting it to friendlies just made it a touch simpler for me to pick five. Which five would you select? Would they all be enemies?

  7. >

    Well it’s pretty close to an RPG for an adventure game, as I recall the first Zelda games were too.
    And I think Moogles are closer to a race than an animal species. They’re pretty much like fairies.
    Seems you also could have included Sif, or a large variety of Bloodborne baddies.
    It’s harder than I thought, because a lot of animal characters belong to the adventure/platform genre.

  8. Hi Rakuyo. Thanks for the suggestion. I thought about Shiranui from Okami. I wasn’t sure though whether it could be included, as it’s more of an action adventure game with RPG elements than an RPG, similar to the Zelda games.

    Another one who I didn’t include who may deserve a spot on the list is Morgana from Persona 5. There were so many to choose from. Perhaps I should have gone with a top 10 list instead.

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