History Main / PowerupMount

[[caption-width-right:350:Saddle up, pard'ners! [[note]]Clockwise, from top left: [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Yoshi]], [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Rick]], [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Expresso the Ostrich]] and [[VideoGame/MegamanClassic Rush]].[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Saddle up, pard'ners! [[note]]Clockwise, from top left: [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Yoshi]], [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Rick]], [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Expresso the Ostrich]], [[VideoGame/MegamanClassic Rush]].[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Saddle up, pard'ners! [[note]]Clockwise, from top left: [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Yoshi]], [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Rick]], [[VideoGame/MegamanClassic Rush]], [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Expresso the Ostrich]].[[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Creator/{{Nintendo}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theyoshi.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Saddle up, pard'ners! [[note]]Clockwise, from top left: [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld Yoshi]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendaryStarfy the seahorse]], [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 Rick]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Moosh]], [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1 Enguarde the Swordfish]].[[/note]]]]

* ''VideoGame/WarioLandII'' and ''[[VideoGame/WarioLand3 3]]'' both feature a large owl with which Wario can hitch a ride, usually through aerial mazes of spikes or other obstacles. The owl itself does not appear to be an entirely willing participant, however; it's usually found sleeping (unless encountered during the night in ''3''), only taking to the air when rudely awakened by Wario.

* ''Franchise/{{Rayman}}'':
** ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' gets to ride a mosquito a couple of times in his self-titled game. First you have to [[DefeatMeansFriendship defeat it]], then you get to use it all throughout a few levels.
** ''VideoGame/{{Rayman 2}}'' has the Walking Shells, essentially missiles with legs that chase after the player on sight and can be ridden to advance through the level.

* The ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot'' games produced by Naughty Dog have one such animal per game, with two levels in each game dedicated entirely to riding them through their respective obstacle courses (an unnamed wild boar in ''VideoGame/{{Crash Bandicoot|1996}}'', Polar the polar bear in ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack'', and Pura the tiger, along with a baby T-Rex in ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot3Warped'').

* Sabrecats in the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series, like [[Franchise/FinalFantasy chocobos]], have served simultaneously as enemy, party member, and transportation.

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** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' let Link choose among a boxing kangaroo named [[RuleOfThree Ricky]], a blue flying bear named Moosh and a friendly swimming Dodongo named Dimitri as steeds for him. The choice is permanent, so Link cannot use all three.

* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' of all series got in on this in ''Rising Sun'', the protagonist mounting an ''elephant'' with a saddle-mounted machine gun. It sounds like it should have been awesome, but sadly it ended up being a rather frustrating RailShooter section; the elephant saunters along at barely the player's walking pace, blithely unconcerned by the amount of lead flying around from several directions at once, and you have no cover whatsoever.

[[caption-width-right:350:Saddle up, pard'ners! [[note]]Clockwise, from top left: [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld Yoshi]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendaryStarfy the seahorse]], [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Rick]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Moosh]], [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1 Enguarde the Swordfish]].[[/note]]]]

* Any ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' able to learn Surf or Fly falls into this.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' add to the list of rideable Pokémon via the Poké Ride mechanic--Tauros, Stoutland, Mudsdale, Machamp, Lapras, Sharpedo, and Charizard. These ride Pokémon completely replace HMs and various other tools that were staples in previous games: Tauros replaces both the Bike and Rock Smash, Stoutland works as the Itemfinder, Mudsdale can traverse rocky terrain, Machamp replaces the Strength HM. Lapras and Sharpedo both replace Surf, but you can fish from Lapras's back while Sharpedo is faster and can break boulders. Charizard replaces the Fly HM.

* [[Videogame/GodOfWar God of War II and III]] have this. In II, you can mount on a Pegasus twice during the game, starting a [[SuddenGameplayChange segment of the game made only for it]]. In III, you can ride Cyclops, Cerberus and Harpies, which are "normal" enemies, but that can destroy other enemies when commanded by you. After the ride ends, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Kratos kills them.]]
* [[Videogame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Castlevania: Lords of Shadow]] has four kinds of mounts available: Swamp Troll, Giant Spider, Warg, and Pan (Using a horse form), the former three being enemies that are encountered many times during the story, but that can only be mounted after getting the Spiked Chain upgrade, and Pan, who is ridable only in the second mission of the game. When mounting enemies, they are invincible, and can (and must) be used to completely thrash other enemies and help Gabriel cross certain obstacles that he couldn't cross on his own, and like the above example, after using them, Gabriel [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kills them]].

** Downplayed with Yoshi in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2''. Yoshi can flutter jump[[note]]the key to a GoodBadBug that breaks the game in interesting ways[[/note]], use his tongue as a hook to swing over wide bottomless pits and to eat enemies, and transform into Dash/Light/Balloon forms as power-ups. However, this is one of the few ''Mario'' games in which Yoshi does not provide an extra hit point at all, so taking a hit will result in '''both''' Mario/Luigi losing a health wedge/life, '''and''' Yoshi fleeing.

* ''BillyHatcherAndTheGiantEgg'' has three: Rikol the kangaroo-lion who can jump quite high and spit fireballs, Datch the sheep-ostrich who can glide and has a green-charged attack... thing, and Kaboot the shark who averts your SuperDrowningSkills and has a body-slam attack. They can also sustain several hits of damage, instead of just one.

** In ''[=LittleBigPlanet 2=]'', Avalon has create several robotic animals you can ride onto. The [=RoboBun=] can jump to a great height and land a GroundPound from above. The [=MechaPup=] can use its Sonic Bark to push heavy objects. The [=HamsterTron=] can roll through tunnels and boost toward any direction. And the Bee 2.0 can both pick up object and shoot projectiles.

* Sabrecats in the ''DragonQuest'' series, like [[Franchise/FinalFantasy chocobos]], have served simultaneously as enemy, party member, and transportation.

* ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'' has its champions respawn on speedy horses to get to the battle faster. They can be upgraded during the match to be even faster.

* The NES version of ''TheEmpireStrikesBack'' has the Tauntaun which makes Luke much faster, and gave him increased jumping abilities.

A Powerup Mount is sort of like a powerup item plus {{Mon}}. It is an animal ([[RidiculouslyCuteCritter usually adorable]]) that the main character can ride on. Riding on a powerup mount usually does one or more of the following:

** In ''PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', your Yoshi partner is a [[CuteBruiser Cute]] BoisterousBruiser with the strength to carry a plumber three times his size.

* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' has these feature prominently enough to be named after one - granted, most of these are adorable ''military vehicles'', but the series features ridable animals from time to time, ranging from camel to elephant to donkey. Unlike vehicles, riding an animal leaves the player exposed to enemy fire and may sometimes be a liability.

** In ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamland'', it's possible for Kirby and friends to ride each other, which allows them to utilize a CombinationAttack when all four of them are stacked up in a tower. There's also a more traditional example with [[spoiler:the dragon Landia]], who serves as a mount for an UnexpectedShmupLevel.