History Main / TagalongKid

[[caption-width-right:202:[[CaptainObvious He's the one holding the sign.]]]]

* JojosBizarreAdventure loves this trope. Part 1 has Poco, a kid who is rescued from vampires by the heroes. Part 2 has Smokey Brown, a kid who is rescued from a DirtyCop. Part 3 features an unnamed girl who is rescued from an assassin sent by the BigBad (seeing a pattern here?). Parts 4 and 5 finally break the trend with Koichi Hirose and Narancia Ghirga, respectively, who actually have some combat skills. Part 6 then returns to form WHILE subverting it with Emporio Alnino, a kid hiding out in the prison where this story is set. [[spoiler:His power is arguably the weakest in the entire series (being able to store objects in an unmovable pocket dimension), but due to circumstance he ends up being the only one able to bring down the BigBad, who so happened to achieve the strongest ability seen yet in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (being able to destroy and remake the universe by speeding up time).]][[/folder]]

* JojosBizarreAdventure loves this trope. Part 1 has Poco, a kid who is rescued from vampires by the heroes. Part 2 has Smokey Brown, a kid who is rescued from a DirtyCop. Part 3 features an unnamed girl who is rescued from an assassin sent by the BigBad (seeing a pattern here?). Parts 4 and 5 finally break the trend with Koichi Hirose and Narancia Ghirga, respectively, who actually have some combat skills. Part 6 then returns to form WHILE subverting it with Emporio Alnino, a kid hiding out in the prison where this story is set. [[spoiler:His power is arguably the weakest in the entire series (being able to store objects in an unmovable pocket dimension), but due to circumstance he ends up being the only one able to bring down the BigBad, who so happened to achieve the strongest ability seen yet in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (being able to destroy and remake the universe by speeding up time).]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* Woody in ''Film/SkyBlue''. He suffers.
[[/folder]]

* In ''{{Yotsuba&!}}'', Yotsuba is ''everyone's'' Tagalong Kid.

* In ''MahouSenseiNegima!'', Takamichi is a BadassTeacher and ReasonableAuthorityFigure who acts as a mentor to Negi and outside help to his group the Ala Alba. But in flashbacks, it's revealed Takamichi used to be the Tagalong Kid for Negi's father's group, the Ala Rubra.

* Gordito in ''[=~The Adventures of Dr. McNinja~=]''. A 12-year-old Mexican [[TheGunslinger GunSlinger]]... with a full-grown mustache. At one point, the good Doctor highlights that Gordito does not merely "[[{{Badass}} tag along]]".

* The ''[[{{ptitle17u4r74z}} Histeria!]]'' episode "The Legion of Super Writers" has Loud Kiddington play this role to the team of the episode's title.

* In ''[=~Yotsuba&!~=]'', Yotsuba is ''everyone's'' Tagalong Kid.

* Scar has Mei-chan in ''FullmetalAlchemist''.

* Rua from ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds}}'' is this to the main team. He's the same age as his twin sister, Ruka, but not having any Signer powers he tends to odefault to this roles.

* In ''DigimonAdventure'', Takeru is pretty much this, prior to Hikari joining the team his digimon Patamon only evolved to Adult and fought, twice. Once Hikari joins the team he becomes a lot more active but he and Hikari still have shades of Tagalong Kids. Ironically his Digimon's evolutions were the most powerful of the team and probably why they didn't appear much (Angemon didn't start making regular appearances until the kids has started fighting Ultimate Digimon and Angemon only reached his perfect form of Holyangemon for the final three episodes, just to play a key role in Piemon's demise and to participate in the final battle)

!!Examples

* By exploiting a glitch, you can get six year old Bumble to tag along after you throughout {{Fallout}} 3.

* Freddy in ''TheDreamer''. He's getting better though.

* Tommy (alias Number T) of ''CodenameKidsNextDoor'' -- [[SixthColumn almost]] promoted to SixthRanger.

[[quoteright:202: [[DragonBall http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tagalong_7467.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:202:[[CaptainObvious He's the one holding the sign.]]]]Typically the youngest member of a FiveManBand, the Tagalong Kid is usually the Hero's or the Chick's younger brother. He gets to save the day about [[OnceASeason once per season]], but in the worst case scenarios he'll end up being TheLoad or DesignatedVictim in every other episode.

* Clare is Teresa's TagalongKid in ''{{Claymore}},'' and Raki becomes hers.

* In ''{{Yotsubato}}'', Yotsuba is ''everyone's'' TagalongKid.

* Mamoru in ''GaoGaiGar'', although it's quite ''necessary'' that he tag along.
** And Mamoru proves his worth a few times outside his usual specialty, like during his DynamicEntry / BigDamnHeroes / ThrowingDownTheGauntlet moment in episode 40.
--->'''Mamoru:''' [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Fight me, Primevals!]]
** In fact, by the time FINAL rolls around, Mamoru has arguably [[TookALevelInBadass Taken A Level In]] {{Kid Hero}}; when he reappears late in the series, his purification abilities have gained [[HolyHandGrenade some real destructive power]], he gets his own FinalBattle with one of the Sol Masters, and his ultimate {{Determinator}} moment in said battle empowered the rest of the team's G-Stones when the good guys were on the knife's edge of defeat. The series would almost certainly have had a DownerEnding if Mamoru hadn't been there and hadn't been as {{Badass}} as he was.
* Max from the ''Advance'' seasons of ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}''.

* Rua from {{Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds}} is this to the main team. He's the same age as his twin sister, Ruka, but not having any Signer powers he tends to odefault to this roles.
* Kosuke Kita from CombattlerV and Hiyoshi Go from VoltesV. Both are TheSmartGuy and underaged
* In MahouSenseiNegima, Takamichi is a BadassTeacher and ReasonableAuthorityFigure who acts as a mentor to Negi and outside help to his group the Ala Alba. But in flashbacks, it's revealed Takamichi used to be the TagalongKid for Negi's father's group, the Ala Rubra.
* Son Gohan of DragonBallZ starts off as this in the early arcs, [[spoiler:only to subvert it in the Cell arc when he becomes the most powerful character in the show]]. After Gohan grows up, [[CheerfulChild Goten]] and [[BrattyHalfPint Trunks]] share the role.

* In DigimonAdventure, Takeru is pretty much this, prior to Hikari joining the team his digimon Patamon only evolved to Adult and fought, twice. Once Hikari joins the team he becomes a lot more active but he and Hikari still have shades of Tagalong Kids. Ironically his Digimon's evolutions were the most powerful of the team and probably why they didn't appear much (Angemon didn't start making regular appearances until the kids has started fighting Ultimate Digimon and Angemon only reached his perfect form of Holyangemon for the final three episodes, just to play a key role in Piemon's demise and to participate in the final battle)

[[folder:Films]]

* Trish from ''AngelsRevenge''.
* Short Round in ''IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''.

* [[spoiler:Lupine Wonse]] was a literal Tagalong Kid in ''[[Discworld/GuardsGuards Guards! Guards!]]'' The skipping run he developed to keep up with the big boys in his gang is how Vimes recognizes him as an adult leaving the scene of a crime.
* Allie in ''BonesOfFaerie''

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Dawn on BuffyTheVampireSlayer, though she is essential to the plot in Season 5, where she first appears.

* Robin's younger brother Much from ''RobinOfSherwood''.
* Debatably Kate from ''Series/RobinHood.'' Her age was unclear, yet the [[DawsonCasting thirty-year old actress]] seemed to be channelling a bratty teenage girl.
* Des from ''RepublicOfDoyle''.

* ''FireEmblem : Seisen no Keifu'' : You've got two of them in the First Generation : Oifaye, who's the army's TeenGenius [[TheStrategist Strategist]], and Shannan who starts as a JamesBondage. Both of them become [[BadAss badasses]] in the Second Generation.
* Adell's younger siblings, Taro and Hanako, from {{Disgaea}} 2 fill this role, while also acting as ThoseTwoGuys for the party. Taro and Hanako double as TheBigGuy (gameplay-wise) and TheSmartGuy (story-wise), respectively.
* Mission Vao and Zaalbar from {{Knights of the Old Republic}}. Mission is more obvious, being HotBlooded and a FragileSpeedster (her dexterity is very high), with a bit of the "genius" as her true strengths come from being more well-rounded in the skills department than the droids. She's also higher on the KarmaMeter than ''the party's Jedi'' (tied with Carth, surprisingly). Zaalbar is definitely TheBigGuy, who's actually marginally higher on the KarmaMeter than Jolee, but still light-sided. He doesn't really appear to be a kid (Wookiees age differently than humans), but his interactions with Mission, and the fact that he's constantly referred to as "young" mean you likely have two adolescents along for the ride.

* Hope of FinalFantasyXIII. Unlike some kids, though, he's incredibly useful, having the [[SquishyWizard highest magic stat]] in the game.
* Aila to Geddoe's mercenary group in ''SuikodenIII'', at least in the mercenaries' opinion. She [[DoomedHometown was]] a warrior in her home village, but still young and naive compared to the rest, and at the end of the game [[spoiler:Geddoe doesn't let her join the group officially, but he does let her stay around, making her an official TagalongKid]].

* Gordito in ''[=~The Adventures of Dr. McNinja~=]''. A 12-year-old Mexican [[TheGunslinger GunSlinger]]... with a full-grown mustache. At one point, the good Doctor highlights that Gordito does not merely "[[BadAss tag along]]".

** Jonny Quest himself, in the original ''JonnyQuest'' cartoon. When he aged up to teenhood in the later series ''WesternAnimation/TheRealAdventuresOfJonnyQuest'', he was much more actively involved in the adventures. Though he got into many scrapes as a kid, too.

<<|FiveManBand|>>
<<|{{Youngsters}}|>>

* Subversion- Get Backers. Makubex, aged 14, becomes the leader of lower town and has several adults working under him. Several of them "tag along" for their own purposes, Takuma Fudo comes to mind here, and others would go to the ends of the earth for him.

* Goku of ''{{Saiyuki}}'' has the personality and the relationship to the group, but he's actually the closest thing the series has to a genuine hero, and it's his relationship with Sanzo/Konzen that is the impetus of... well, pretty much every thing that happens in the plot? Something like that.

* Max from the ''Advance'' seasons of {{Pokemon}}.

* In Digimon Adventure, Takeru is pretty much this, prior to Hikari joining the team his digimon Patamon only evolved to Adult and fought, twice. Once Hikari joins the team he becomes a lot more active but he and Hikari still have shades of TagAlongKids. Ironically his Digimon's evolutions were the most powerful of the team and probably why they didn't appear much (Angemon didn't start making regular appearances until the kids has started fighting Ultimate Digimon and Angemon only reached his perfect form of Holyangemon for the final three episodes, just to play a key role in Piemon's demise and to participate in the final battle)

See also: ImprobableAge, ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, TheBumblebee, TheTeamNormal. TokenLoli is an AlwaysFemale subtrope in which the TagalongKid is there for either {{Lolicon}} fanservice, {{Moe}} in its purest form, or both.

* Justin in ''Power Rangers Turbo'' is literally a kid who tagged along and was given Ranger Powers. For reasons that are never adequately explained in the series, [[StockFootage he morphs into a fully grown adult blue Ranger]], unless he takes off his helmet, which shrinks him down to his normal size until he puts it back on.

** Jonny Quest himself, in the original ''JonnyQuest'' cartoon. When he aged up to teenhood in the later series ''TheRealAdventuresOfJonnyQuest'', he was much more actively involved in the adventures. Though he got into many scrapes as a kid, too.

** River is a bit of a subversion, actually. [[spoiler: Or did you forget when she shot a bunch of guys, with her eyes shut, saving Kaylee and Serenity?]]
*** Going by the description, which mentions saving the day every so often, no, it isn't a subversion.
** ThisTroper think she was more a development of this. In his opinion, the reason she never showed her power in the earlier episodes was that she didn't know she had it until she had been outside the academy for several months and had time to heal a little bit. Thus it is played straight combined with TookALevelInBadass.

See also: ImprobableAge, ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, TheBumblebee, TheTeamNormal. TokenLoli is an AlwaysFemale subtrope in which the TagalongKid is there for {{Lolicon}} fanservice.

See also: ImprobableAge, ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, TheBumblebee, TheTeamNormal.