History Main / RequiredPartyMember

** The revamped Federation and Klingon {{Justified Tutorial}}s give sets of predefined boffs (complete with voice acting), though these can be replaced with custom boffs once you get through the tutorial and into the {{overworld}}.

* This is continued in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', where most classes has certain missions that need a certain companion. In addition, any mission classified as a Companion Mission will require that companion to accompany you.
** The Sith Inquisitor is specifically instructed to take [[spoiler:Khem Val with him for Zash's ritual, because Zash accidentally possessing him is a major plot point through the rest of the Inquisitor storyline]]. There is also a Sith Inquistor mission on Rishi in the Shadows of Revan expansion that you must take Talos Drellik with you, as it involves an archaeological find, and Talos is a professional archaeologist, and he is a key part of the conversations in that mission.
** The Republic Trooper has one mission where you have to use certain companions for certain segments of the mission, and switch out when moving on to the next one. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because it's a sabotage assault on a superweapon, and you need your demolitions expert to plant the bombs, your tech guy to shut down enemy systems, etc.
** The Jedi Knight takes [[spoiler:Kira along on the mission where you learn she's actually a [[TykeBomb Child of the Emperor]]]]. The Jedi Knight must also take T7 along as his companion when he [[spoiler:goes to Dromund Kaas for his showdown and to kill the Sith Emperor, where it's [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] that due to his strong mind control powers, which only the Knight has been able to resist, only a droid, also immune to force-based mind control, could accompany him]].

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyBraveExvius'' has 8 "storyline" characters you are guaranteed to obtain through the course of play: Rain, Lasswell, Fina, Lid, Nichol, Jake, Sakura, and [[spoiler:"Blue Mage" Fina]], and you even start with Rain & Lasswell being the only two characters you ''can'' use until you get more. There are ways to obtain other units (and they're permanently available to use unless you do something to get rid of them - sell, use as an "enhancement material"...), but it's largely random. Certain [side]quests will either require one of the "story" characters to even start it, or count their presence towards completion rewards; usually either abilities usable only by them, or equipment that, while useable by nearly any other unit, has extra buffs if attached to them. (Rarely it's just a random reward, but their presence is still made a 'requirement', usually due to the nature of the plot, such as the needed character learning something about a family member.)

** Aerith is forced into your party as you explore the Temple of the Ancients so she can understand herself and her ancestors. [[spoiler:Meta-explanation: it's required because she needs to be there to get abducted. And no, [[KilledOffForReal you are not]] [[TearJerker getting her back]]. Can also be a PlayerPunch if you were trying to get her together with Cloud.]]

In an RPG, the opposite of an OptionalPartyMember. That is, someone who you ''have'' to have in your group, usually due to plot reasons and ignoring the player's own choice in the matter. Depending on the story, they may leave after their work is done, [[SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear taking with them everything they had]], or they may stick around with your RagtagBunchOfMisfits.

In an RPG, the opposite of an OptionalPartyMember. That is, someone who you ''have'' to have in your group, usually due to plot reasons, when most of the other party members are optional. Depending on the story, they may leave after their work is done, [[SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear taking with them everything they had]], or they may stick around with your RagtagBunchOfMisfits.

In an RPG, the opposite of an OptionalPartyMember. That is, someone who you ''have'' to have in your group, usually due to plot reasons. Depending on the story, they may leave after their work is done, [[SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear taking with them everything they had]], or they may stick around with your RagtagBunchOfMisfits.

* Various characters during the seven heroes' games in ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'' ''have'' to join your party just to advance the plot. Others, like [[TheAlcoholic Gen]] and Fuse, are required to do certain quests.
* A few of the stars in ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' games get thrown into your party for plot. Luckily, due to the game's levelling system, even if they're weak when you get them, they catch up fairly quickly. These are also the characters that tend to get the most characterization.
** The [[VideoGame/SuikodenI first game]] was probably the worst about this, to the point where half of your six-person party was predetermined for the last stretch of the plot, right up to the final boss. By contrast, ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' included four 'extra' party slots (for a total of ten) where you could put non-combatants and spare members. So if somebody was forced into your party for plot reasons and you didn't care to use them/they were ''way'' too underleveled, you could just stick them in there and drag them along without worrying about dead weight.

* ''VideoGame/{{Kinder}}'' always determines which children are in Shunsuke's party for majority of the battles. The only time the player can freely choose is for the Final Boss on the True Ending path. And even then, the player has to have either Hiroto or Aya in their party because their unique ability is the only thing that can prevent the boss from using a party-wiping attack.
** The remake ''Re:Kinder'' removes this necessity for the Final Boss battle because the player can obtain the Eternal Force Blizzard, an item that only works on that boss and foregoes the worry about that attack. But actually [[GuideDangIt getting that item]] is another matter.

* Happens quite a bit in ''VideoGame/SonicChronicles'', whenever you must split into teams. Usually, some choices are already pre-selected for you, which can be a pain as it locks out certain combination attacks. One especially annoying example is Omega, who becomes [[PermanentlyMissableContent unobtainable]] if you don't find him in Eggman's City. Better hope you remembered to bring Shadow or Rouge along if you don't want him to try and ''murder Eggman''.
* The ''[[VideoGame/DotHackGUGames .hack]]'' games would occasionally require you to use specific teams for story events. When this happened, you could bet you were going to see an FMV before the dungeon was out. There were also side-dungeons which your party members invited you to, thus requiring you to use that particular person. At one point this results in an inadvertent TwoTimerDate when Kite is invited to the same dungeon by both Black Rose and Terajima Ryoko.
** The sequel pretty much forces at least one member for nearly every story dungeon. Likewise, your team for the Arena story battles are always Haseo/Atoli/Silabus for Vol 1, Haseo/Atoli/Alkaid (Haseo/Kuhn/Endrance for the finale) in Vol 2 and Haseo/Atoli/Kuhn for Vol 3. And whenever AIDA is confirmed in a dungeon you can only take someone who has an Avatar there.
* In ''VideoGame/LisaThePainfulRPG'', Brad's presence in the party is mandatory. At first, this doesn't seem like a problem, as he is quite tanky, and a good damage dealer thanks to his combos. Later on, though, his Joy addiction and [[spoiler:possible loss of arms]] make him much weaker, especially when compared to characters with similar capabilities, like RT, Tiger Mask, and Mad Dog.
** Some of the recruitable party members (Terry Hintz, Fardy Hernandez, Percy Monsoon and Buffalo Van Dyke) are recruited automatically as the story progresses; this happens specifically so that you will always have a character that can be sacrificed to other story events (like Buzzo's decisions or the Russian Roulette).
* In ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', Annah is necessary to progress into the Lower Ward. [[spoiler:Unless you kill her, then the game opens another path for you.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', Collette is required in all of the boss fights at the end of Sylvarant's temples, while Sheena is required for all summon seals. Also, in order to get the location information for monsters into your Monster Book, you need to use the Magic Lens with Raine, not any of the other characters. Raine is also required for the Windmaster boss fight, because she is participating in the ritual, and Lloyd is required for [[spoiler:the third battle with Yggdrasill, the [[DuelBoss third battle with Kratos]] and the battle with Origin]].

* In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', every character (except [[spoiler:Magus]]) is forced on you for a dungeon when he or she first joins. Frog and Ayla get ''two'' such dungeons and Robo is a mandatory party member when you're exploring the factory ruins. {{C|antDropTheHero}}rono is forced on you for most of the game, but eventually, he becomes optional.
** Also, there are optional dungeons later in the game that require certain characters to be in your party, namely Robo and Marle. Frog, Robo, and Lucca are each required to be in your party to finish certain optional quests, but they're not required for the dungeons/fights that are part of those quests. Finally, Magus gets some special dialogue in two others but is not required for them.
* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' has this with Serge ([[spoiler:and later, Lynx, after Serge's body is swapped with Lynx's]]). He must be in the party for the entire game, and there's no way to remove him. Playing on a NewGamePlus, though, will earn you an item that allows you to switch Serge out for someone else in battle.

* Played straight for most of the game yet also subverted at one point in ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory''. There are times in the game where you play as one set specific character or a set group of characters, and this holds for the first 3/5ths of the game. In the fourth "chapter" you're allowed to choose groups of Senshi, though Sailor Moon is usually required (in a few cases, Chibi Moon is). At the beginning of the fifth chapter, the Senshi split up, one group going to rescue Sailor Moon's little brother and the other to go visit the Crystal Palace. In the cut scene before choosing teams, it looks like Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury are going with Sailor Moon, while the other five (the "Outers" and Chibi Moon) are the other group. However, aside from Chibi Moon and Sailor Moon, you actually can mix this up and choose whoever you want to be in which group. There is different dialogue in the cut scenes depending on who's in which group.
* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts Covenant'' and ''From The New World'', you don't ''need'' Anastasia or Johnny in every battle... but if you don't, you can't get the enemy's photos, because they're the ones with the cameras.

* Nei in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' insists on coming with Rolf everywhere he goes [[spoiler:until she's murdered by her "sister" Neifirst]]. In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'', the party right up until the final dungeon is determined by the plot at any given point.
* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' occasionally has missions where you're required to dispatch a specific party member. For example, [[spoiler:talking Keisuke into rejoining the party without fighting him]] on day 5 leads to a fight with [[spoiler:Kaido and Midori]] where he is required, and [[spoiler:Atsuro]] is required for two of the game's final battles on day 7 ([[spoiler:his own]] and [[spoiler:Gin's]]).
* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' has occasional battles, where certain members need to be dispatched. Usually, this occurs along with the [Character] Dies losing condition, so the player cannot cheat the system by just ''not'' dispatching that character.
* ''VideoGame/EnchantedArms'' requires the player to always have the main character, Atsuma, at the head of the active party. Jarring, in that the game provides you with a large pool of optional "battle golems" to fill out the rest of your party. Not to mention that, in areas with enemies that either resist fire or possess strong water attacks, Atsuma can be a liability.
* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' had an interesting take on this that alleviated the more annoying aspects of the trope. It forced you to take Shandra along for an entire chapter.... but raised the party member limit by one to accommodate her, allowing you to take whatever team you were comfortable with in the previous chapters, plus her. When [[spoiler: she died, the extra spot became open]].
* Some battles in ''VideoGame/FossilFighters'' require the player to use specific vivosaurs in their team.
* Every single character in ''VideoGame/AlterAila Genesis'' will be a Required Party Member at some point in the game. Many times in fact, as the plot continually divides and regroups the party. Thankfully near the end you can choose who you want in your party and who all you want to toss out out their butts.
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' features a few quests and missions which require a particular hero in the party. It also has the inverse; a quest in which you ''can't'' bring a particular hero, lest the correct [=NPCs=] fail to spawn.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': Kaidan and Jenkins are initially your only party members. Once Jenkins dies Ashley joins your squad. You can try to reject her later on the ship, but Anderson will overrule you. Garrus or Wrex is required to proceed on the Citadel, but the other can be rejected. Tali and Liara also must join your group for the game to proceed, if you complain on Tali Udina overrules you (you don't even get the option to complain with Liara). Ultimately, this means out of your 6 possible members, you need a minimum of 5 to complete the game, 4 of which are predetermined.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has Jacob, Miranda, Jack, and Garrus invariably join you before the second plot mission but the one with most impact on the plot is Prof. Mordin, whose genius provides most of the success-relevant tech on the ''Normandy''. However, you cannot expect to survive the SuicideMission without losses with just the required party members. Interestingly played with for Grunt and [[spoiler:Legion]]. The missions where they are acquired must be completed for the game to advance; but the manner in which they then join your team means that technically, they are actually [[OptionalPartyMember optional]]. Another plot critical mission won't unlock until you have at least 8 members, but there are no further requirements for which ones.
** You also have to bring each party member along on his/her loyalty mission, for what should be pretty obvious reasons. Because of this, loyalty missions tend to be tailored to the associated party member's special skills.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': Liara for the Thessia and (DLC) Eden Prime missions, Tali (if she survived 2) for the first and last missions of the Geth-Quarian arc, and [[spoiler: EDI]] for [[spoiler:the assault on Cerberus headquarters.]]
** The early missions in the third game force you to take along an exact party: Anderson on Earth, Ashley/Kaidan and James on Mars (until you meet Liara, then Ashley/Kaidan and Liara), and James/Liara on Menae (unless Garrus survived; then he'll replace Liara). In all cases, the game goes out of its way to justify what the other characters are doing, and you don't have anyone else in your party to bring.
** And throughout the entire game you have to pick up James, EDI, and Liara and they cannot be killed outside of a BadEnding or otherwise removed from the ship, nor is there any point in the previous games where they can die. Garrus is similar, but he can die in the finale of the second game, in which case he won't appear in the third. If he is, he automatically joins you party, and don't have the option to reject him.
** Finally, a literal example. The DLC ''Citadel'' concludes with a party. Joker, Liara, EDI, James, Cortez, and Traynor (the only ones who ''must'' still be alive) are all automatically invited, and you cannot uninvite them. All other surviving teammates can be invited or not at your discretion.
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'', Jaal is automatically chosen for the mission to rescue the Moshae. Justified since it's a joint mission with the Angaran Resistance, and Jaal is their liaison to Ryder's team. Also, like in ''Mass Effect 2'', every party member is required for their individual loyalty mission.

* A staple in ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', you must bring Oghren on the [[spoiler:Anvil of the Void]] quest, Alistair to [[spoiler:the Landsmeet]], Zevran to the final fight against [[spoiler:the Crows, provided he chooses to stay with you]], etc. The various personal quests also require the companion they are associated with for obvious reasons except for Morrigan, who inverts it: her assignment requires you to ''avoid'' bringing her along when [[spoiler:you face Flemeth]]. On larger scale, you can kill or drive away pretty much any party member in the game except Alistair and Morrigan until the endgame (when you can drive even them away by [[spoiler:recruiting Loghain and refusing the Dark Ritual]], respectively). Ultimately subverted with Alistair during the FinalBattle, however: even though as a fellow Gray Warden, he is supposed to face the Archdemon with you, you can just as well leave him behind.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', most of the Companions' Personal Quests will require you to include them in the party. The one exception is Aveline's Act II Personal Quest [[spoiler:which involves her attempts to woo Guardsman Donnic (keyword: attempts)]]. There are also various points in the main plot in which companions may be required, such as Varric on the Deep Roads expedition.
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' is a touch better about this: of your nine companions, four can be driven away through disapproval, and you can't kill any of your party in battle. However, it uses the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' loyalty mission scheme as described above, with the exception of Cole's personal mission, which requires him, Solas, and Varric in the same party. (Thankfully no combat is involved, so you're not penalized if your Inquisitor happens to not be a tank.)
* There are two points during ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VIII'' where a specific character is required (above the undroppable hero). First the troll Overdune Snapfinger has to be recruited as a witness to the Lake of Fire's creation (this is not so bad, since it is still relatively early in the game, and the structure of the quest means no major combat is necessary during the parts where Overdune is required). Secondly, the cleric Dyson Leland is necessary for either variant of the quest where you align with the Clerics or the Necromancers (this ''is'' annoying, since Leland is liable to be more underlevelled than Overdune, and you have to take extreme measures to avoid having to have him in the party during the combat segments).

* All the party members introduced in ''VideoGame/EternalEden'' is integral to the plot in some way, and to make sure their role gets properly established throughout the game, one member always dies/leaves the party before a new one is introduced.
* This is not really the case in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' (with the exception of companion quests, which obviously requires the associated companion but are not needed to complete the game unless you want HundredPercentCompletion). It does, however, show up in the ''Dead Money'' and ''Honest Hearts'' add-ons, which both have main quest stretches that require a specific companion.
** Likewise, several missions in the sequel, ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', require you to have a certain companion, like Dogmeat or Nick Valentine. However, the game does not count mandatory companions as counting to the [[ArbitraryHeadcountLimit one-companion limit]], which is extremely helpful. Furthermore, while the DLC ''Far Harbor'' doesn't require you to take Nick Valentine, the story of Nick and Far Harbor are deeply entwined, due to the fact that [[spoiler:Nick's half-brother [=DiMA=] runs Arcadia, the Synth refuge on the island]].
* In ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'', certain story chapters will require some of the story characters to be in your party until you complete the chapter. This is also applied during event scenarios wherein the player needs to use the event character for the event chapters until they are completed. Lastly, this is played straight in 99% of all character's Fate Episodes (only a handful Fate episodes will require you not to use the character for story-telling purposes, such as in Jamil's Dark version).
* In ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter Tri'' and ''3 Ultimate'', several Moga Village quests require you to bring at least one of your Shakalaka comrades to begin the quest. In ''4'' and ''4 Ultimate'', some Caravan quests have the Ace Palico's deployment as a requirement to start.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'', Ashlynn can't be left at Patty's Party Planning Place unlike any other party members, without any reason given for this.
** [[spoiler:Terry]] is required to be in your party in order to [[spoiler:recruit Lizzie the Hackasaurus]].
* In both ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel I and II'', Emma is needed in the final dungeon of the first game, and the shrine trials in the second game. This is because she needs to explain to the party members about the things that are happening. Some party members in the second game are also required during certain sections of the game in the second act; Gaius during Nord, Elliot and Sara to rescue Fiona, Millium because she just wants to tag along, Alisa for Roer, Fie for the third exploration and the first shrine trial, Jusis and Sara for [[spoiler: arresting Duke Albarea]], Laura for the final three shrine trials, and Machias for rescuing his dad.

* In ''VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings'', when you reach Mt. Itoi (Holy Loly Mountain in the Japanese Famicom version), Lloyd is required to find the seventh melody as he's the only one who can fix the boat at the lake, and gain access to the underwater lab where they can find EVE.

* In ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'', you are required to bring along a specific party member when you are doing their story quest. In addition, many quests in the game require the specific abilities of a character. Luckily, half of the party shares a similar ability with the other half, giving you a choice of who you want to use for the quest. For instance, if you need to get an item off an NPC, you can either buy it with [[IntrepidMerchant Tessa]] or steal if off them with [[PhantomThief Therion]].

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', an {{NPC}} will occasionally take up one of your precious party member slots, most annoyingly in the [[LuckBasedMission Riovanes rooftop battle]] where Malak is [[spoiler: dead and can't be revived until the post-battle cutscene]] and a suicidally angry Rafa, who will charge headfirst into death unless your party is fast enough to intercept.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', you were often forced to take certain clan members on certain missions, mostly [[spoiler:Adelle's Heritor missions]] and sub-plots involving the [[OptionalPartyMember optional unique clan members]].

* Some levels of ''VideoGame/XMenLegends'' forced you to take certain members along. Sometimes you were free to fill out the other party slots with your choice (up to 4 charcters total), other times you were restricted to less.

* This happens frequently in the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' series, particularly in the games after the first. You're often denied the ability to bring any party members of your own choosing in the story dungeons, either having to manage with just you and your partner or being forced to take along a NPC, as well (who annoyingly needs to survive through the dungeon and ''cannot be issued commands'' like normal party members, which can lead to losses via ArtificialStupidity).

* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWarII'': The first expansion ''Chaos Rising,'' plays with this trope. While [[CantDropTheHero the Force Commander is mandatory]], for certain missions, the game selects some squads to gain Corruption, the negative karma of their KarmaMeter, if forced to stay behind, making those members effectively this if you don't want the corruption. The second expansion, ''Retribution'' does away with this.

* Various characters during the seven heroes' games in ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'' ''have'' to join your party just to advance the plot. Others, like [[TheAlcoholic Gen]] and Fuse are required to do certain quests.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' '''loves''' this trope; at various points in the game, one character or another is required to be in your party to advance the plot, whether you like it or not. Yuffie and Vincent are the only exceptions since they're optional party members and have no relevance to the main plot.

** Done once again in the Whirlwind Maze where Tifa forces herself into your active party so she can see Sephiroth defeated once and for all. At least, that's what it looks like on the surface: [[spoiler: the game forces Tifa to join you so that she can see that Cloud's memories of the Nibelheim incident are fragmented and made up, forcing her to spill the beans about what really happened.]] What makes this example particularly frustrating is that she gets shoehorned into the party ''right before a boss fight'', quickly turning her into TheLoad if you haven't been training her.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', during the last portion of Disc 1, you are forced to use the split up teams of Squall, Irvine, and (later on) Rinoa as well as Quistis, Zell, and Selphie. On Disc 2, when visiting the now under siege Balamb, Squall ''must'' have Zell in the party.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has an unusual case of the trope at the end of the 2.5 storyline. [[spoiler: Midgardsormr, a legendary and ancient dragon whom you defeat at one point, not only takes away [[TheGift your special ability that the Mothercrystal blessed you with]], but uses some of that power to construct himself a temporary body and forces himself into your company as a minion/pet. Unlike other minions, Midgardsormr is NOT optional and he automatically gets added to your minion list whether you want him to or not. Said dragon will also pop up during certain cut scenes to give his quips on what the current situation is and you can't stop him from doing so. To drive the point home further. Floating/flying minions will sometimes land on your head/shoulder and fly off if you move. Midgardsormr, if you have him out, will perch on your shoulder and will only get off when he feels like it as he sticks to you like glue. That dragon won't be leaving anytime soon. At the end of 3.0, Midgardsormr is impressed by your achievements without your gift and not only do you earn it back, the dragon gains an adult body and allows you to fly on his back as a flying mount while being forced into your mount collection. You don't have to use him as a mount and are free to use a different mount to fly with.]]

** The sequel pretty much forces at least one member for nearly every story dungeon. Likewise you're team for the Arena story battles are always Haseo/Atoli/Silabus for Vol 1, Haseo/Atoli/Alkaid (Haseo/Kuhn/Endrance for the finale) in Vol 2 and Haseo/Atoli/Kuhn for Vol 3. And whenever AIDA is confirmed in a dungeon you can only take someone who has an Avatar there.

* In ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', Annah is necessary to progress into the Lower Ward. [[spoiler: Unless you kill her, then the game opens another path for you.]]

** The Sith Inquisitor is specifically instructed to take [[spoiler:Khem Val with him for Zash's ritual, because Zash accidentally possessing him is a major plot point through the rest of the Inquisitor storyline]]. There is also a Sith Inquistor mission on Rishi in the Shadows of Revan expansion that you must take Talos Drellik with you, as it involves an archaelogical find, and Talos is a professional archaeologist, and he is a key part of the conversations in that mission.

* A handful of battles in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' require certain party members to fight with you at certain points. Lavitz must be in your party [[spoiler: during the second visit to [[TheAlcatraz Hellena Prison]] to save King Albert]] and Haschel is required for the fight with [[spoiler: Gherich]] and every party member gets a special personal fight in the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon whether you leveled them up or not.

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': Liara for the Thessia and (DLC) Eden Prime missions, Tali (if she survived 2) for the first and last missions of the geth-quarian arc, and [[spoiler: EDI]] for [[spoiler: the assault on Cerberus headquarters.]]

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'', Jaal is automatically chosen for the mission to rescue the Moshae. Justified since it's a joint mission with the angaran resistance, and Jaal is their liaison to Ryder's team. Also, like in ''Mass Effect 2'', every party member is required for their individual loyalty mission.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', you must bring Oghren on the [[spoiler:Anvil of the Void]] quest, Alistair to [[spoiler:the Landsmeet]], Zevran to the final fight against [[spoiler:the Crows, provided he chooses to stay with you]], etc. The various personal quests also require the companion they are associated with for obvious reasons except for Morrigan, who inverts it: her assignment requires you to ''avoid'' bringing her along when [[spoiler:you face Flemeth]]. On larger scale, you can kill or drive away pretty much any party member in the game except Alistair and Morrigan until the engdame (when you can drive even them away by [[spoiler:recruiting Loghain and refusing the Dark Ritual]], respectively). Ultimately subverted with Alistair during the FinalBattle, however: even though as a fellow Gray Warden, he is supposed to face the Archdemon with you, you can just as well leave him behind.

** Likewise, several missions in the sequel, ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', require you to have a certain companion, like Dogmeat or Nick Valentine. However, the game does not count mandatory companions as counting to the [[ArbitraryHeadcountLimit one-companion limit]], which is extremely helpful. Furthermore, while the DLC ''Far Harbor'' doesn't require you to take Nick Valentine, the story of Nick and Far Harbor are deeply intwined, due to the fact that [[spoiler:Nick's half-brother [=DiMA=] runs Arcadia, the Synth refuge on the island]].

* Frequently occurs in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX''. All missions that continue the main story require Elma and Lin on the party. Most missions unlocked through affinity with other party members must include them, though some are inverted, limiting the party's usual size and disallowing a character so that they can join midway through.

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'', the signature Blades of each party memeber (Pyra/Mythra for Rex, Drommarch for Nia, Poppi for Tora, Brighid for Mòrag, and Pandoria for Zeke) cannot be removed from their Driver's active Blade slots. The only exceptions to this are Pyra and Mythra leaving for most of chapter 7 and [[spoiler:an ability which Rex gets at the start of chapter 8 which allows him to equip any Blade, even the signature ones of other Drivers.]] Signature Blades can also be removed from the party by sending them on mercenary missions, but only during NewGamePlus. In addition, there are specific quests, heart-to-hearts, and mercenary missions tied to specific rare Blades which need those Blades as part of the party.
* In ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'', you are required to bring along a specific party member when you are doing their story quest. In addition, many quests in the game require the specific abilites of a character. Luckily, half of the party shares a similar ability with the other half, giving you a choice of who you want to use for the quest. For instance, if you need to get an item off an NPC, you can either buy it with [[IntrepidMerchant Tessa]] or steal if off them with [[PhantomThief Therion]].

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', you were often forced to take certain clan members on certain missions, mostly [[spoiler: Adelle's Heritor missions]] and sub-plots involving the [[OptionalPartyMember optional unique clan members.]]
* There are various points in ''VideoGame/CrossEdge'' where you'll be forced into using one or two other characters during a battle. York (Main character) and Raze get this treatment the most.
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games will automatically deploy certain units from time to time for plot reasons. In addition, recruiting optional characters or secret mechs often require specific characters to set flags.
* ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown''[='=]s final mission requires you to have your brand new super soldier, the psyonic volunteer, on the team, if the volunteer dies, its game over. Interestingly, this soldier could be anyone up to the point that they are chosen, after this, they are TheHero.
* ''VideoGame/TelepathTactics'' does this twice in the campaign: Teresa and Phoebe have to be included in the party in the crypt SideQuest, as does Silithis Predat in Rescuing Sarn Kamina. (In the later case, [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou it's also an automatic game over if she dies]].)

* ''VideoGame/PhantomDoctrine:'' For the final mission of the unlockable campaign, the entire party is chosen for you. You get the main character plus five new ones, and everyone is wearing "Openly Hostile" heavy armour.

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* This happens frequently in the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' series, particularly in the games after the first. You're often denied the ability to bring any party members of your own choosing in the story dungeons, either having to manage with just you and your partner or being forced to take along a NPC, as well (Who annoyingly, need to survive through the dungeon and ''cannot be issued commands'' like normal party members, which can lead to losses via ArtificialStupidity).

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* The Required Party Members in ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' vary depending on which path you take. In the SEBEC Quest, your party will ultimately consist of the MC, Maki, Mark and Nanjo, with one slot left for you to choose, and in the Snow Queen Quest, your party consists of the MC, Yukino and Ayase, with two slots to choose.

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** Likewise, several missions in the sequel, ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', require you to have a certain companion, like Dogmeat or Nick Valentine. However, the game does not count mandatory companions as counting to the [[ArbitraryHeadcountLimit one-companion limit]], which is extremely helpful. Furthermore, while the DLC ''Far Harbor'' doesn't require you to take Nick Valentine, the story of Nick and Far Harbor are deeply intwined, due to the fact that [[spoiler:Nick's half-brother DiMA runs Arcadia, the Synth refuge on the island]].

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'''s Subspace Emissary mode, when you head out to fight the FinalBoss, your party will always include [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Luigi]], [[VideoGame/EarthBound Ness]], [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]], [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], Franchise/{{Kirby}}, and [[spoiler:VideoGame/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}}]]. Anyone else you want needs to be collected as a trophy in the immediate two levels before the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and restored to normal form ([[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]] in particular can't be unlocked unless you've unlocked both [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] and [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]). On the other hand, [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Toon Link]], [[VideoGame/StarFox Wolf]], and [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Jigglypuff]] can't be unlocked until [[PostEndGameContent after the final boss is defeated]].

** In the [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI first game]], [[Disney/PeterPan Peter Pan]] is required to be active to fight the [[BonusBoss Phantom]] in Neverland.
** [[Disney/{{Mulan}} Mulan]] (as Ping), [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Auron]], [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Sparrow]], and [[Disney/TheLionKing Simba]] at certain story points in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. Only the third of these has an "[[TheUndead exc]][[HeroMustSurvive use]]" for his requirement.

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has Jacob, Miranda, Jack, and Garrus invariably join you before the second plot mission but the one with most impact on the plot is Prof. Mordin, whose genius provides most of the success-relevant tech on the ''Normandy''. However, you cannot expect to survive the SuicideMission without losses with just the required party members.

** And throughout the entire game you have to pick up James, EDI, and Liara and they cannot be killed outside of a BadEnding or otherwise removed from the ship, nor is there any point in the previous games where they can die. Garrus is similar, but he can die in the finale of the second game, in which case he won't appear in the third.

* In ''VideoGame/Lisa The Painful RPG'', Brad's presence in the party is mandatory. At first, this doesn't seem like a problem, as he is quite tanky, and a good damage dealer thanks to his combos. Later on, though, his Joy addiction and [[spoiler:possible loss of arms]] make him much weaker, especially when compared to characters with similar capabilities, like RT, Tiger Mask, and Mad Dog.

This can also be ButThouMust, if the game ''appears'' to give you a choice, but then forces you to use the characters it wants you to anyway. If it's the main protagonist that's forced to be in your party at all times (which is almost always the case anyways), that's CantDropTheHero. If you can choose not to use the character, but the game becomes nigh-impossible without them, that's CharacterSelectForcing.

* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar II'' has CantDropTheHero in full effect. The first expansion ''Chaos Rising,'' plays with this trope. While the Force Commander is still mandatory, certain squads will gain corruption if forced to stay behind for certain missions (though you are notified of this before you launch). The second expansion, ''Retribution'' does away with this.

* Most RPG games require the main character to be in the party permanently. This is somewhat balanced by the fact that the main character tends to be one of the strongest party members in the game.

*** [[spoiler:Cid also becomes the lead character for a little while when Cloud is forced out of the group. Hope you've given him some decent levels and gear...]]

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'''s Subspace Emissary mode, when you head out to fight the FinalBoss, your party will always include [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Luigi]], [[VideoGame/EarthBound Ness]], [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]], [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], Franchise/{{Kirby}}, and [[spoiler:VideoGame/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}}]]. Anyone else you want needs to be collected as a trophy in the immediate two levels before the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and restored to normal form ([[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]] in particular can't be unlocked unless you've unlocked both [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] and [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]). On the other hand, [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Toon Link]], [[VideoGame/StarFox Wolf]], and [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Jigglypuff]] can't be unlocked until [[PostEndGameContent after the final boss is defeated]].

* ''VideoGame/SouthParkFracturedButWhole'' has certain story segments and battles where you are forced to use specific party members. An example of this is during the raid on Professor Chaos's base where Toolshed is with you for the majority of the battles since he owes the player character a favor.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'''s Subspace Emissary mode, when you head out to fight the FinalBoss, your party will always include [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Luigi]], [[VideoGame/EarthBound Ness]], [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]], [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], Franchise/{{Kirby}}, and [[spoiler:Franchise/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}}]]. Anyone else you want needs to be collected as a trophy in the immediate two levels before the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and restored to normal form ([[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]] in particular can't be unlocked unless you've unlocked both [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] and [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]). On the other hand, [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Toon Link]], [[VideoGame/StarFox Wolf]], and [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Jigglypuff]] can't be unlocked until [[PostEndGameContent after the final boss is defeated]].