History Main / TagalongChronicler

* Leliana in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' is ultimately revealed to have been a bard before becoming a nun. Of course, in [[Franchise/DragonAge this setting]], bards are just as much assassins/burglars for hire as they are {{Wandering Minstrel}}s, so she is definitely not TheChick.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* While he is in more of an administrative position, the (ex-)journalist Diethard Reid from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' is essentially this. He didn't need to join the Black Knights, as he was already in a high ranking media position, but upon seeing Zero for the first time, he was immediately enthralled and impressed and wanted to see how far Zero would go in his plans and did everything to make them reality. [[spoiler: Upon the betrayal of the Black Knights, Diethard switched sides to work with Schneizel to see how far he'd go and was killed by a Geassed Schneizel.]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* Hurdy in ''FanFic/TheTaintedGrimoire'' joined Clan Gully so he can base his next masterpiece on them.
* The narrator in ''Fanfic/TheBlackCompanyInMiddleEarth'' is the Annalist, whose job it is to record the history of the Black Company.
* Sun from ''FanFic/KyoshiRising'' is a WanderingMinstrel whose life long dream is to write the Avatar's biography. He's the first member of Kyoshi's group, meeting her six days into her journey to master the Elements, and grows to being something of a Confidant and morality chain in case Kyoshi gets too stressed or slips into being a KnightTemplar.
* Father Constantin becomes this in ''FanFic/PaganVengeance'', a Christian priest kept by Juvage after he witnessed Constantin trying to save civilians from slaughter, and eventually [[spoiler:entrusted with safeguarding Juvage's daughter after his suicide]].

* In ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'', English Bob has a dime novelist following him around chronicling his exploits for the folks back east. When Bob is thrown out of town by sheriff Little Bill, the novelist chooses to stay in order to write about him instead.
* ''Film/YoungGunsII''. Pat Garrett recruits a chronicler for his pursuit of Billy the Kid, despite the man admitting he's unsuitable due to his poor physical condition. He does come in useful however during a sticky situation due his ability to speak the native languages. In a BrickJoke, it's mentioned at the end that the book he wrote was a dismal failure.

* Gilbert of Glockenspur carries quills and parchments galore like a Medieval serial Tweeter in ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'' as he chronicles the heroics of KnightErrant Sir Bowen and his EnemyMine dragon, Draco.

[[folder:Multiple Media]]
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
** This is played with in the earlier arcs with Takua, whose job literally is being the Chronicler. Although he plays a role as a major protagonist, this role is still somewhat relegated to side-character since he is a mere villager. The ''Mask of Light'' movie plays with this further when he and Jaller were called the heralds of the [[TheSixthRanger seventh Toa]], and the switching of responsibilities between who is the herald between the Chronicler and the Captain of the Guard. This ultimately comes to an end when [[spoiler:Takua puts on the Mask of Light and becomes the Seventh Toa.]] From this point on, he is no longer referred to as the Chronicler.
** Hahli took on this role briefly to accompany Takanuva. However, soon after she too became a Toa, and the Chronicler title was assigned to Kopeke. So far, he hasn't done any tagging-along.
* ''Series/GenerationKill'': Evan Wright is a reporter from Rolling Stone Magazine who embedded with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Both the book and the TV miniseries are based on his experiences during the invasion.
[[/folder]]

* Dandelion the Bard is Geralt's best friend and more or less personal chronicler in ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' novel series.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', after running into Rand and the others, Loial continues to follow them around at least in part so he can gather material for the book he plans to write about the time of the Dragon Reborn. Of course, given the many main characters and [[FourLinesAllWaiting diverging plotlines]] he quickly loses track of key groups and has a lot of catching up to do whenever they meet.
* The ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novels mention that the Legiones Astartes were accompanied by remembrancers, scribes whose duty was to write down the battle reports chronicle the legions' conquests. Some of the books feature them quite prominently.

* ''Literature/RedCountry'' has the infamous mercenary Cosca encountered by a dime novelist, in a ShoutOut to ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' (the novel is a [[SpaceWestern Fantasy Western]]). As in the film, the novelist gets caught up in his subject's nasty behavior [[spoiler: although unlike the film, the novelist here eventually has enough and kills Cosca, and at the end of the book, is about to start chronicling a famous Mountain Man who has been [[FakeUltimateHero built up as a larger-than-life hero]] throughout the book]].

* Lampshaded and PlayedForLaughs in ''[[Literature/JoesWorld Forward the Mage]]''. The book is ostensibly put together by the Alfredae, chronicling lice who live in the hair of the protagonist Shelyid. They are frequently disdainful of everyone else and extremely snobbish, die quite frequently causing shifts in how they narrate, and complement their own narrative with other sources (which they often think are untrustworthy and biased). They are very much an UnreliableNarrator, but so is everyone else.
* Dr. Watson chronicles the cases of Franchise/SherlockHolmes in-universe, even though he is not a professional writer from the start.
* Matthew in ''Literature/TheLastTemptationOfChrist''. Subverted in that [[spoiler:most of what Matthew writes down was dictated to him by an angel]].

* Gabrielle from ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' starts off as this, she goes on to become Xena's almost equal throughout the series.

* This was the function of the ''Franchise/GIJoe'' character Scope. Originally a reporter, he joined the Joes to get access to stories as they were happening instead of just seeing after-action reports. His bio said that many of his teammates were rather annoyed by his presence but admitted he made a good field communications officer.

* The bard Iolo [=FitzOwen=] was one of the mainstays of the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, although he could first be recruited into the Avatar's party in ''VideoGame/UltimaIV''. In the same game, however, the Avatar could be a bard himself (combining both roles), in which case Iolo never joined him.
* In the first ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' expansion pack ''Shadows of Undrentide'', you can recruit a kobold bard named Deekin Scalesinger as a henchman. The second expansion ''Hordes of the Underdark'' reveals that Deekin wrote a book about your character's exploits in Undrentide, leading to both him and [[PlayerCharacter your character]] becoming minor celebrities in the realms.
* Dandelion reprises his role as Geralt's chronicler in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'' video game adaptation.

* After the intro missions of ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa3'', you stumble upon a Minstrel in a bar, who recites a poem and proclaims that he feels that you inspire him to write a new one, joining your party.

* [[MeaningfulName Tag]] in the 1989 InteractiveFiction game ''Journey'' is nominally the merchant of the group, but acts more as a chronicler for the adventure. He survives every GameOver and records your HaveANiceDeath as his reminiscing, which also includes hints on how to win next time (framed as his thoughts in hindsight).

* In ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'', Linzi the bard joins up with the Stolen Lands expedition because she wants to write a book about a hero's adventure. All the narrative aspects of the game are told from her POV.

* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZone'': Before founding the [[ArtifactCollectionAgency Bureau of Balance]], Lucretia was the official chronicler of [[spoiler:the IPRE crew, though she became a fully-fledged member of the team after the destruction of their homeworld.]]
* ''Roleplay/FireEmblemOnForums'': Enchanters according to the class lore, who turn their experiences into songs and stories to tell later.
** ''Lost Lands'': Johan is a very violent and bloodthirsty version of this; he wants to follow the party around to watch them kill people so he can sing about it later, due to not being able to do it himself.

* Jiminy Cricket from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''. He's tasked by King Mickey to find Sora and record his journey. In the second game, not only he records your journey, he also gives you a hint of where to go/what to do in a world. Being an actual cricket, he mostly hides in Sora's hoodie.

* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', after running into Rand and the others, Loial continues to follow them around at least in part so he can gather material for the book he plans to write about the time of the Dragon Reborn. Of course, given the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters many main characters]] and [[FourLinesAllWaiting diverging plotlines]] he quickly loses track of key groups and has a lot of catching up to do whenever they meet.

* PlayedWith in the ''Literature/GotrekAndFelix'' novels. Both are adventurers walking the Earth, and both keep getting drawn into events which has the fight for their lives. The entire journey is nominally about Gotrek, a dwarven [[RedemptionEqualsDeath Slayer]] looking for something to kill him to atone for past sins, while Felix is a bard chronicling their adventures in song to keep a record of the Gotrek's end of life. In the later part of the series after a TimeSkip they get in a lot of trouble because Felix's brother missed the point of the notes he'd been storing for him and had them published as fiction.

* In ''Discworld/TheLastHero'', the Silver Horde abducts a minstrel to follow them as they assault the Gods, so he can create a saga about their glorious deaths. He is unnamed through the entire tale, and ends calling himself "The Singer".

* PlayedWith in the ''Literature/GotrekAndFelix'' novels. Both are adventurers walking the Earth, and both keep getting drawn into events which has the fight for their lives. The entire journey is nominally about Gotrek, a dwarven [[RedemptionEqualsDeath Slayer]] looking for something to kill him to atone for past sins, while Felix is a bard chronicling their adventures in song to keep a record of the Gotrek's end of life.

* This was the function of the [[Franchise/GIJoe]] character Scope. Originally a reporter, he joined the Joes to get access to stories as they were happening instead of just seeing after-action reports. His bio said that many of his teammates were rather annoyed by his presence but admitted he made a good field communications officer.

* PlayedWith in the ''Literature/GotrekAndFelix'' novels: Felix is one of the two main characters but he is also a bard trying to keep up with and sing about the adventures of the dwarf Gotrek, who is trying to find something that can kill him.

* The bard Iolo [=FitzOwen=] was one of the mainstays of the ''Franchise/{{Ultima}}'' series, although he could first be recruited into the Avatar's party in ''VideoGame/UltimaIV''. In the same game, however, the Avatar could be a bard himself (combining both roles), in which case Iolo never joined him.

* ''Film/YoungGuns 2''. Pat Garrett recruits a chronicler for his pursuit of Billy the Kid, despite the man admitting he's unsuitable due to his poor physical condition. He does come in useful however during a sticky situation due his ability to speak the native languages. In a BrickJoke, it's mentioned at the end that the book he wrote was a dismal failure.

* ''Film/YoungGuns''. Pat Garrett recruits a chronicler for his pursuit of Billy the Kid, despite the man admitting he's unsuitable due to his poor physical condition. He does come in useful however during a sticky situation due his ability to speak the native languages. In a BrickJoke, it's mentioned at the end that the book he wrote was a dismal failure.

Very much TruthInTelevision. Virtually every major expedition since the invention of writing had to have someone keeping track of events, so it was this whenever the leader himself wasn't the one taking notes. Very often, a priest/missionary took the role thanks to being the only literate fellow around.

Very much TruthInTelevision. Virtually every major expedition since the invention of writing had to have someone keeping track of events, so it was this whenever the leader himself wasn't the one taking notes.

* Parodied in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' with Sir Robin's minstrels, who follow him around and make up impromptu songs about him. However, since his a chronic coward, their task often proves quite difficult.

* In MercedesLackey's ''[[HeraldsOfValdemar Vows and Honor]]'' series, Tarma and Kethry have a bard called Leslac following them around, who keeps, ahem, "embellishing" the details of their adventures, much to their irritation.

* In ''SERA00'', main character Evie starts off as this, tagging along to write about the A-ranks when she's a C-rank. Later, she is no longer a tagalong, though the "chronicler" part still applies.