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[[quoteright:330:[[ComicBook/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bat_hound.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330: Complete with identity concealing mask!]]
->''"The rabbit is cuddly! Kids like little cuddly sidekicks! I mean, the rabbit... it's a time-tested... okay, the rabbit bites."''
-->-- '''[[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1 Mr. Incredible]]''', attempting to defend the (fictional InUniverse) TeamPet Mr. Skipperdoo in ''WesternAnimation/MrIncredibleAndPals''

The insertion of an animal sidekick into a property that normally wouldn't be expected to have one. Its presence generally feels forced but not necessarily without contributing anything to the script. Often an example of ExecutiveMeddling, particularly on AnimatedSeries, in an attempt to have a KidAppealCharacter.

May be a HeroicDog as well. Compare with CousinOliver, TeamPet.

Website/TVTropes has TropeyTheWonderDog.

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!!Examples:

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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/{{Classicaloid}}'': In a show about modern versions of composers, Hashie the (blue scarf-wearing) shoebill is completely unexpected.
* {{Enforced}} InUniverse in ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'': Maeno is a shoujo manga editor, but loves {{tanuki}}, so he forces his mangaka to insert them into the plot, be it as sidekicks/animal companions or otherwise. Other characters find this completely ridiculous.
* ''Anime/TamakoMarket'' is about a normal group of people who live on a market street...and then there's Dela, a magical talking bird.
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[[folder:Art]]
* In ''[[Art/TheTemptationOfStAnthonyRops The Temptation of St. Anthony]]'', Satan is accompanied by a pig.
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' had Krypto in his [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] comics, who also appeared in the 1960s ''Superman/Batman'' animated series. In 2005, the Last Dog of Krypton made his move to center stage on TV in ''WesternAnimation/KryptoTheSuperdog''. Recurring heroes were Streaky the Supercat and Ace the Bat-Hound. Robbie the Robin occasionally worked alongside Ace, being an [[GratuitousAnimalSidekick animal sidekick]] ''to'' a guy who's usually an [[GratuitousAnimalSidekick animal sidekick]]. Krypto also got a ShoutOut in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' (though it was AllJustADream). Krypto himself has recently been reintroduced to the comics, and it works.
* Not to be outdone, ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' had Ace the Bathound back during UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}.
** A version of Ace appeared in the '90s Batman comics, this time as a seeing-eye dog Batman had inherited from a blind Native American medicine man. He mostly hung around the cave with Harold, Batman's [[TheIgor mute hunchback assistant]].
** In one comic, Ace was originally a vicious attack dog tormented by the Joker. He was called "Ace" for the sole reason to make the joke "[[PunnyName Aces]] High" as he killed the other two dogs, a King and a Queen, by ripping their throats out. Obivously the only person that could rehabilitate the German Shepard was Alfred and that took several months and several uses of a dog bite suit until Ace gave Alfred his respect and started listening to him (shown with a simple "sit" command). Ace winds up becoming a part of the Bat-family as he eventually comes around to Bruce.
** In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', Bruce Wayne has a dog named Ace, but he's an AngryGuardDog. He nevertheless makes for a pretty good sidekick in the episode "Good bad dog". He also came in handy in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker''.
** The FullyAbsorbedFinale of ''Batman Beyond'' in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'' gives us the possibility that Ace is named after a member of the Royal Flush Gang who died in Batman's arms. Since the ''JLU'' episode was the last thing to ever be shown of the ''Batman Beyond'' universe, it's still definitely a nod to the old Bat-Hound.
** Ace is pretty badass in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' as well.
** In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnlimitedAnimalInstincts'' and its sequels, one of the bad guys' horde of robot dogs gets reprogrammed, and eventually given the name Ace. What's cooler than a robo-dog sidekick? One that [[TransformingMecha turns into a motorcycle]], that's what!
** [[ComicBook/New52 The DCnU]] has introduced Titus (Damian Wayne's pet Great Dane) and the [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Batcow]].
* In 1948, the original ComicBook/GreenLantern, Alan Scott, was suddenly given a canine sidekick in Streak, the Wonder Dog. Not only did Streak share GL's title ''ComicBook/GreenLantern1941'', but the dog actually ''became the top-billed star of the series''! Streak also served as the prototype for DC's ''other'', subsequent wonder dog (ComicBook/RexTheWonderDog), who would operate without a superhero partner.
* After being rescued from a band of grisly poachers, a white tiger named Ruarc becomes the loyal sidekick of Erin O'Shea, the hero and main protagonist of ''{{ComicBook/Shamrock}}''.
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': The Falcon has a pet falcon called Redwing that is psychically linked to him. Most adaptations ditch the bird but pay homage to him: in the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'', Redwing is a remote-controlled spy drone (sort of bird-shaped, but not the point that you'd mistake it for a real bird) that comes out of his wing pack. In ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'', "Redwing Mode" is when the entire wing pack detaches and is remote-controlled, though this of course leaves Sam himself grounded until he calls it back.
* Wonder Dog (with Wendy and Marvin in tow) made his way from ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' on TV to the pages of ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''... in which he goes nuts, kills Marvin, and puts Wendy in a coma. Would you guess that the writer didn't like them all that much?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* {{Parodied|Trope}} mercilessly in the ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'' followup [[WesternAnimation/PixarShorts short film]] ''WesternAnimation/MrIncredibleAndPals'', a parody of '50s-'60s Saturday morning cartoons. It's a pilot to an InUniverse show about Mr. Incredible, Frozone, and Mr. Skipperdoo, a rabbit (who is original to the cartoon) that does nothing but bounce up and down. He annoys the real Mr. Incredible and Frozone in their commentary on the cartoon.
-->'''Frozone:''' And that rabbit is getting on my last nerve!\\
'''Mr. Incredible:''' The rabbit is cuddly! [[KidAppealCharacter Kids like little cuddly sidekicks]]! I mean, the rabbit... it's a time-tested... okay, the rabbit bites.
* Nearly every Disney movie since ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' has the protagonist, and sometimes the villain as well, having an animal sidekick. (Or animated household object sidekicks in the case of ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''.)
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' both parodies and lampshades this tendency: Moana starts off with a fairly standard sidekick in Pua the pig, but when her adventure gets going she winds up with the idiotic chicken Heihei. Maui calls it out later:
---> '''Maui''': If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you're a princess.
** Also parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', where Bucky the Squirrel attempts to become one of these for the protagonist Kuzco, only to be summarily rejected. He then vengefully tries to get Kuzco eaten by a pack of jaguars.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* At some point between ''Literature/ConstanceVeritySavesTheWorld'' and ''Literature/ConstanceVerityDestroysTheUniverse'', Connie had picked up Chestnut the Wonder Dog, a dog that was trained to steal and infiltrate. He was apparently trained by a larcenous animal trainer that worked for a PerformerGuise group called the Circus of Crime.
* Thoroughly lampshaded, spoofed, gnawed on, buried and piddled upon by ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s "Gaspode the Wonder Dog".
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[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* One of the CBS Executive memos to the producers of ''Series/GilligansIsland'' was that Gilligan should acquire a pet dinosaur. Seriously.
* The RobotDog K-9 was a one-shot ''Series/DoctorWho'' character who ExecutiveMeddling made into a permanent companion, to serve as a KidAppealCharacter and to hopefully make the tone of the show (as well as [[PetTheDog the personality of his owner, the Doctor]]) LighterAndSofter, as the show was being strongly criticized by MoralGuardians at the time for its CreepyGood hero and the FamilyUnfriendlyViolence. The character itself is quite enjoyable and well-liked, but was unpopular with the showrunners due to the means of its addition and the fact that [[SpecialEffectsFailure the prop rarely worked]].
* Parodied in ''Series/BigTimeRush'' episode, "Big Time Cartoon", when the band see a pitch for a cartoon (made by, of all people, Creator/ButchHartman) in which the band have a pet pig as a mascot in a send up of cartoons from the 60s.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* [[CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown The Mysterious and Handsome Stranger]], who came into Wrestling/{{Chikara}} with a feral pigeon named Sapphire.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The monster Cotton from ''Videogame/SagaFrontier'' was planned to be a member of the IRPO team, but their story was cut as the game was rushed. Instead Cotton is this trope to any of the other characters who recruit it, is only able to say "[[PokemonSpeak myu]]" and even has a technique called "Wonderdog".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'':
** Formerly named after the original Wonder Dog in the first series.
** Gleek in the Wonder Twins episodes of the ''Super Friends''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFonzAndTheHappyDaysGang'':
** In this AnimatedAdaptation of ''Series/HappyDays'', the Fonz has a dog called Mr. Cool. Seriously.
** And in the ''Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/The Fonz Hour'', Mork got this pink six-legged alien dog-thing, and Laverne and Shirley were in the army with a talking pig. (We only know this from [[http://www.retrojunk.com/details_tvshows/2010-mork-and-mindy-cartoon/ Retrojunk.com]].) Sgt. Squealy (the pig) is technically their superior, but they never listen to him.
* No dinosaur (see Live-Action TV above), but [[Series/GilligansIsland Gilligan]] got a monkey sidekick in his AnimatedAdaptation, and an alien one when the AnimatedAdaptation was RecycledInSPACE.
* Nikko the [=Shar-Pei=] got shoehorned into this role for the ''WesternAnimation/NewKidsOnTheBlock'' cartoon.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBradyKids'' gave the kids a whole menagerie of sidekicks: a dog, a magical talking bird, and a pair of twin panda bears. They made a cameo appearance in ''A Very Brady Sequel'' as a hallucination, and then an encore appearance in the credits.
* The first cartoon based on the Harlem Globetrotters features a TeamPet dog named Dribbles.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'':
** When Timmy Turner becomes his standard superhero alter ego, Cleft, Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof usually tag along as "Ace, Clefto, and Puppy Poof the Chin-Hounds", partly parodies of Batman and Superman's dogs.
** And, after trying the CousinOliver adding Poof (Cosmo and Wanda's baby) in season 6, they added Sparky the fairy dog to the show. Naturally, Sparky quickly became TheScrappy with his annoying voice and attitude.
* The animated version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Flash Gordon|1979}}'' in the 1970s had a baby dragon called Gremlin that was a blatant attempt to appeal to younger children.
* The crew of the ''[[CoolBoat Calico]]'' in ''WesternAnimation/TheGodzillaPowerHour'' had a 30 foot tall mini-[[{{Kaiju}} kaiju]] named Godzooky. In addition to Godzilla himself, of course.
* The [[WesternAnimation/{{Kim}} animated adaptation]] of ''Literature/{{Kim}}'' gave Kim a cricket called Dree. He's there to deliver messages, find secret passages, and help him get out of trouble, besides [[KidAppealCharacter looking cute]].
* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' parodies this with Rippy Roo, an adorable boxing kangaroo who's a member of the elite crime-fighting team, P.O.I.N.T. And then plays with it by showing that said [[BadassAdorable adorable kangaroo]] [[{{Hammerspace}} was scouted]] [[CrazyPrepared for a reason]].
* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/PunkyBrewster'' added [[FairyCompanion Glomer]], a "magical friend from the end of the rainbow". Never mind the fact that she already had her dog Brandon.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': The animated series has Slimer fill this role.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats}}'' had Snarf.
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