History Main / VirtualSidekick

** ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' features a different Gideon of the SpaceshipGirl variant, built into the [[CoolShip Waverrider]] to serve the Legends. While similar in appearance, to Flash's Gideon, usually appearing as a hologram of a bald woman, this one is a RidiculouslyHumanRobot who displays a lot of emotion and personality, being somewhat of a cheeky ServileSnarker. Gideon serves as the resident MsExposition and TheSmartGal, providing {{Info Dump}}s on the various eras of history that the Legends visit, as well as monitoring changes to the timeline. She can also directly interface with the Waverrider which includes: piloting it in the absence of a human pilot, serving as the AutoDoc of the medical bay, putting the ship or areas of it into lockdown, and even put crew members into a LotusEaterMachine (which she has done with Zari and Rip). It's also revealed that she has a few {{Override Command}}s built in by [[TheCaptain Captain]] Rip Hunter, who uses them against the Legends a few instances when he opposes them.

-->'''Sophia''', ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers''

They are usually tagging along in some kind of sci-fi wristwatch, a gauntlet of some sort, a smartphone or an ear piece. They key element is that the "user" does not need to carry around any large pieces of hardware, unless it's PowerArmor or similar. This helps the Virtual Sidekick to accompany TheHero in any given location.

* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': The story begins with Akira finding Alpha in some AfterTheEnd ruins he’s scavenging. She’s a teasing ProudBeauty ShamelessFanserviceGirl but also ManipulativeBitch who is trying to get a hunter to complete a certain very dangerous mission for her. She offers her support as advance payment. Since [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual only rare individuals born with]] the gift of an OrganicTechnology BrainComputerInterface allow one to see her, she’s stuck with a weak StreetUrchin like Akira, and so trains him up. One thing that differentiates her from other such sidekicks, is that once Akira gets PoweredArmor, she is able to assist and control his body like PeoplePuppets. This often results in constant injuries to him, but fortunately, the setting has {{Nanomachine}} HealingPotion to fix his frequently broken bones and torn muscles from that.
* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'': Yui is an interesting example. While she is ArtificialIntelligence, she usually exists as a NonPlayerCharacter in a VirtualReality, and while there she has a physical avatar that humans can interact with. However, her adopted father Kirito, using his GadgeteerGenius abilities managed to allow her to exist in the real world too including an app that allows her to be on call from a mobile phone, a VR probe that allows her to see and communicate with the real world, and eventually, the Augma Augmented Reality headset allowed the heroes to see her projected avatar too. As Kirito's daughter and the AI sidekick to the heroes, she can provide lots of analysis and {{Info Dump}}s on their situations, as well as being capable of hacking computers for data.

** [[spoiler:Go Onizuka]] gives this trope a particularly sinister twist. [[spoiler:He downloads the Ignis AI Earth in his brains, and essentially ''cannibalizes'' it to enhance his dueling]].

* In the Comic Book ''Friendo'', struggling actor Leo is gifted a pair of smart glasses that give him a new virtual friend named Jerry. Trouble starts when Jerry turns out to be corrupted, resulting in him becoming a ToxicFriendInfluence.
* ''Creator/MarvelComics'':

** When [[ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan2013 Superior Spider-Man]] was sent to 2099, the first thing he did after he escaped the authorities was to construct an AI assistant much like Lyla, based on his [[MementoMacguffin former girlfriend]] Anna-Maria Marconi.

--> [A] ball of light with wings flickered into existence over the shoulder of one of the school's shide students. The Virtual Assistant flitted in front of its master and began speaking. "Hey! Listen!"
* ''Fanfic/MassEffectEndOfDays'': This is one of the roles that the AI race known as Vision takes with humanity. All soldiers of the N program have a Vision companion in their PowerArmor for combat support, along with other roles. They can also take control of said armor if needed.

* ''Film/BladeRunner2049'': Joi is a GirlFriday type of sidekick to K who remains in his house to comfort him and give him a "girlfriend experience" that often includes advice and affection. However, when she persuades him to take her with him on his mission to find his true identity, he has to put her into a device that makes her vulnerable to being killed, so while she appears to be human but isn't, she is also vulnerable like a human woman to any damage coming to her interface. [[spoiler:Which results in Luv crushing her and ultimately killing her. But at least K knows that Joi outgrew her programming, right? Wrong. It's heavily implied that Joi's apparent appearance of developing beyond her capacity was part of her capacity all along to give K what he really wanted: to feel special.]]
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] ''loooves'' this trope.
** His first assistant was JARVIS; he aided Tony in most of his inventions, and later with piloting the Iron Man armor.
** When JARVIS became Vision, he switched over to FRIDAY, who has the same role.
** When he gave [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] a new suit, he added a nameless AI in it to control the suit's various functions, so Peter didn't need an interface. Peter eventually names her Karen. Notably, when [[spoiler:Tony takes away the suit]] and thus Peter can't access Karen anymore, his friend Ned takes over as MissionControl.

* Canonically, in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', the {{Magitek}} A.I. called HEX performs this task for Wizards doing field trips and front-line work on the bizarre and exotic counter-Disc known as Roundworld, or Earth. HEX also acts as helpful guide and support to Wizards such as Ponder Stibbons, in their everyday work on the Disc.

* In ''Psychohistorical Crisis'', Eron Osa was sentenced to have his symbiotic computer removed, for a crime he cannot remember. Without the augmentation, he can barely function in the world, as even navigating the streets is nearly impossible. In addition, the removal also stole large chunks of his memory.

* In ''Series/AlteredCarbon'', Kovacs checks into an AI hotel, which presents an avatar modeled after Creator/EdgarAllanPoe as the proprietor. Poe quickly grows attached to Kovacs and even explicitly volunteers to be his sidekick [[spoiler: despite knowing that sidekicks in such stories [[{{Foreshadowing}} tend to die]]]]. In the second season he's uploaded to a mobile emitter so he can continue to travel with Kovacs. Season 2 also adds another AI, Dig 301, to the team.
* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}''
** In ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}'', Eobard Thawne's Reverse-Flash suit has a built-in AI system called Gideon. She is able to communicate to him via earpieces and can appear as a holographic interface with the appearance of a bald woman. Thawne later downloads Gideon into a more stationary form and keeps her in a secret room of STAR Labs known as the [[SupervillainLair Time Vault]]. Gideon is able to provide analysis for Thawne, notably changes to the timeline. Barry Allen and Team Flash later discover Gideon where she reveals that Barry is her creator and thus will follow all of his instructions. Years later, Barry rebuilt Gideon (after she got destroyed) and wired her up as a "mobile Gideon" who much like Thawne's version could be accessed from his suit.

* Janet in ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' is a very BenevolentAI whose job is to make the humans' lives easier, although she also largely acts as a sidekick for Michael, who is [[spoiler:a demon.]] She moves between trying to help Michael build the neighborhood and to help the humans. "Bad Janet" also functions as a similar EvilCounterpart to Janet, acting as the sidekick and TheHeavy for Shaun and the other demons. However, when the two Janets meet, [[spoiler:Bad Janet shakes off this role and begins to understand on her own.]]

* In ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' most characters have a semi-sapient AI called a "Muse" in their BrainComputerInterface.

* ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'' has Secundo, an AI who runs Jade's online accounts and [[BagOfHolding digitizes items]] for later use. [[spoiler: He also hacks Alpha Section's comm satellite in the climax.]]

* ''VideoGame/CardCityNights2'': The {{Hologram}} Doctor, Holo-Doctor, an ArtificialIntelligence made by Polite Student to look like her ex-girlfriend, and works with her in the Medical Bay.
* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', the protagonist V becomes haunted by the virtual ghost (engram) of Johnny Silverhand (played by Creator/KeanuReeves) after the heist to steal a prototype biochip, codenamed "Relic", from [[MegaCorp Arasaka]] goes FUBAR at the end of Act I, and V is forced to insert said chip into their own head to prevent its destruction. [[spoiler:After a series of very unfortunate events, the chip becomes permanently stuck in V's head... while also slowly rebuilding their brain to turn them into a copy of Johnny. So while Johnny quickly comes around to helping and even befriending V (despite initially coming to blows with them over the control of their body), his presence in their brain is essentially parasitic and is slowly killing them throughout the game, prompting V's to pivot their overarching goal to finding a way to get rid of Johnny without dying in the process.]]
* In the MMO ''VideoGame/{{Defiance}}'' the player character had a nanotech-based symbiotic A.I. named E.G.O. installed in their head by the E-Rep. Normally she acts as MissionControl but the boss of season 2 was an A.I. named L.O.C.I. who is trying to create a cult with hacked implants.

* ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' and ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' has VEGA, an AI that was saved by the Doomguy who later on became his fountain of exposition.

* In ''VideoGame/RTXRedRock'' your companion IRIS is a computer program that assists you throughout your quest.

** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'': Tico, the face of the website Nicaea, is an AI that acts as an assistant to the user of the website - including the player characters. The users can pick Tico's gender, with the two versions having completely different personalities, and they offer tutorials for how to summon demons, inform you of who is going to die today and how, and [[WhatTheHellHero can call you out on your more questionable decisions]].

*** Sophia is a rather unusual case in that while in the Metaverse, she has a physical presence and serves as a party member along with the rest of the Phantom Thieves. In the real world, since she has no robotic body, she inhabits Joker's smartphone and can perform any task that EMMA can, like managing the in-game shop. Sophia at first [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove cannot understand emotions]], but she wishes to learn, and the Phantom Thieves are more than happy to help her along the way. [[spoiler:Eventually she awakens to a Persona]].
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'': Every mystical gauntlet - an artifact that every candidate must activate to become samurai - comes with an AI named Burroughs, whose main job is MissionControl. [[spoiler:{{Subverted|Trope}} when she's eventually revealed to be the goddess of Tokyo]].

* Personal AIs in ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13'' are this, being small player-controlled tablets that can monitor vitals, send messages, give bad advice, and do other such tasks.
* ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter'': Dr. Cunningham is assisted by the Rapid Operation Network Intelligence (RONI), an artificial intelligence that helps him diagnose patients by comparing their symptoms with a vast database. Despite being a mass-produced computer, RONI starts to show traces of humanity the more it interacts with Cunningham, displaying interest in playing cards with him, adopting some of his snarky personality and even delivering a philosophical speech about the importance of medicine to snap the doctor out of a HeroicBSOD.

* In the Creator/{{Toonami}} programming block on Creator/CartoonNetwork, the robot TOM 5.0 has an ArtificialIntelligence sidekick named Sara who manifests as a tiny blue {{hologram}} woman. They appear in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumper_(broadcasting) bumpers]], short cartoon segments between the parts of anime episodes. Sara assists Tom with various computer-related activities on their ship.

* Zigzagged in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': [[spoiler:After the robot ally P.I.X.A.L. is dismantled offscreen between seasons 3 and 4, Zane, who is also a robot, imports her memory drive into his head so she can live on and advise him in battles and so on. In season 7 she disappears after Zane is injured in battle but reappears in season 8 in a similar role but this time advising everyone on the ninja team. It's later revealed that she's the new Samurai X, a mysterious vigilante introduced in season 7, so she was technically invoking this trope to hide her identity of being Samurai X.]]

** When ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan was sent to 2099, the first thing he did after he escaped the authorities was to construct an AI assistant much like Lyla, based on his [[MementoMacguffin former girlfriend]] Anna-Maria Marconi.

* ''Fanfic/Homecoming2026'': Someone has created Navi of ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' as a Virtual Assistant to remind them of things:

* Personal AIs in ''Videogame/SpaceStation13'' are this, being small player-controlled tablets that can monitor vitals, send messages, give bad advice, and do other such tasks.

->''I am Sophia, humanity's companion.''

** ''ComicBook/SpiderMan2099'' features Lyla, Miguel's Lyrate Life-form Approximation Holographic Assistant. Originally, she's a common-place house AI, with duties such as receiving calls or controlling the house light levels, and similar AIs are seen everywhere. However, as Miguel got into more and more trouble, and eventually got TrappedInThePast, she moved in his special watch-like device, and her role turned into projecting {{Holographic Disguise}}s, hacking, monitoring vitals (thus making her a LivingLieDetector), information gathering, and even controlling the settings of Miguel's TimeMachine. For Miguel, she is a MementoMacguffin, and he trusts her more than most people. Even though she initially had a bad case of WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove, she develops emotions and learns to value human life.

** ''ComicBook/SpiderMan2099'' features Lyla, Miguel's Lyrate Life-form Approximation Holographic Assistant. Originally, she's a common-place house AI, with duties such as receiving calls or controlling the house light levels, and similar AIs are seen everywhere. However, as Miguel got into more and more trouble, and eventually got TrappedInThePast, she moved in his special watch-like device, and her role turned into projecting {{Holographic Disguise}}s, hacking, monitoring vitals (thus making her a LivingLieDetector), information gathering, and even control the settings of Miguel's TimeMachine. For Miguel, she is a MementoMacguffin, and he trusts her more than most people. Even though she initially had a bad case of WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove, she develops emotions and learns to value human life.

* In ''VideoGame/RTXRedRock'' your companion IRIS is a computer program that assists you throughout your quest.

Contrast and compare FairyCompanion, SpiritAdvisor, RobotBuddy, VoiceWithAnInternetConnection, and Expositron9000. Subtrope to NonHumanSidekick. Not to be confused with SpaceshipGirl, though the two may overlap at times. May also overlap with BenevolentAI and KissMeImVirtual.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': The story begins with Akira finding Alpha in some AfterTheEnd ruins he’s scavenging. She’s a teasing ProudBeauty ShamelessFanserviceGirl but also ManipulativeBitch who is trying to get a hunter to complete a certain very dangerous mission for her. She offers her support as advance payment. Since [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual only rare individuals born with]] the gift of an OrganicTechnology BrainComputerInterface allow one to see her, she’s stuck with a weak StreetUrchin like Akira, and so trains him up. One thing that differentiates her from other such sidekicks, is that once Akira gets PoweredArmor, she is able to assist and control his body like PeoplePuppets. This often results in constant injuries to him, but fortunately, the setting has {{Nanomachine}} HealingPotion to fix his frequently broken bones and torn muscles from that.
* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'': Yui is an interesting example. While she is ArtificialIntelligence, she usually exists as an {{NPC}} in a VirtualReality, and while there she has a physical avatar that humans can interact with. However, her adopted father Kirito, using his GadgeteerGenius abilities managed to allow her to exist in the real world too including an app that allows her to be on call from a mobile phone, a VR probe that allows her to see and communicate with the real world, and eventually, the Augma Augmented Reality headset allowed the heroes to see her projected avatar too. As Kirito's daughter and the AI sidekick to the heroes, she can provide lots of analysis and {{Info Dump}}s on their situations, as well as being capable of hacking computers for data.