Honorary True Companion

Haymitch Abernathy I'm sorry about Berenice.
Lyme: You knew her better than I did. I always stayed away. Wish I'd stayed away this time ... I need to go for a walk, clear my head. Or maybe I'll go home. They're not requiring me to stay. Maybe it's time to go home.
Harris: You should stay. You never know what will happen.
Lyme: No. I have a feeling I'm needed in District 2. Maybe I'll see you both again next year. You never know.

—'The End Of The World Fernwithy, The Golden Mean

This character is on good terms with most, if not all, of the True Companions of the series. They will fight alongside them, shed blood and tears, and join in the celebrations. With their close-knit relationship with the main cast, you would expect that it would be a no-brainer for them to join them in a heartbeat. Alas, their alliance is always only temporary and once the goal is completed they're off on their merry way; perhaps on their own adventures, not mentioned here.

Unlike the Sixth Ranger, who will join the squad on a permanent basis when given a chance, the Honorary True Companion is always prevented from joining due to some force of nature, whether they are "needed elsewhere," or they would say that they would prefer to "work solo most of the time", or they just politely refuse for personal reasons. Despite never officially becoming a member of the team, they will remain the group's closest ally, being the first to respond in the need of help, and the series will continue, usually with the offer to join the team still on the table.

Compare to the Sixth Ranger, 11th-Hour Ranger, and Guest-Star Party Member. Contrast with Sixth Ranger Traitor. Sometimes may also be Remember the New Guy?.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Moe "Suzu" Suzuya in Asteroid in Love is too busy tending the Suzuya Bakery to commit to the Earth Science Club (or any Japanese School Club for that matter). However she helps with the club's activities so often that the club treats her as if she was a member, anyway.
• Black Clover: Inverted with Nero. For most of the story she's just assumed to be Asta's pet anti-bird. When she's revealed to be a human girl named Secre Swallowtail, who once personally served the First Wizard King, and she helps to stop the Clover Kingdom from being destroyed by the reincarnated elves, Yami recruits her into the Black Bulls under the basis that, since she's been around for so long, she's pretty much a member of the squad already, so she might as well join the squad as a proper magic knight.
• In post-Time Skip Claymore, Galatea is technically not one of the Seven Ghosts (as she has not directly taken part in the Northern Campaign) and never hangs out with them for long (preferring to defend her new home city of Rabona), but she belongs to the same generation and is likewise hunted by the Organization for deserting almost simultaneously with the Ghosts, so they let her in on all their plans and secrets, anyway.
• Fairy Tail:
  • Jellal (who is an Expy of Sieghart from Rave Master) becomes this over time to the guild, as a result of often fighting alongside them despite never actually joining. When he competes in the Grand Magic Games disguised as Mystogan (his Edolas counterpart, who had been an elite member of Fairy Tail), Mavis, the first master of the guild, says he has the same heart as those in Fairy Tail do.
  • As an inversion, Wendy, one of the main characters and True Companions, becomes this to the Lamia Scale guild after the second Time Skip. After Fairy Tail disbanded she joined their guild, but after she rejoins the re-formed Fairy Tail the offer to stay part of Lamia Scale still stands, and she's still close to all of them.
• New Game!: At the start of the series, Aoba sits next to two fellow character team members — Yun and Hifumi^note Who moves to sit next to Ko during the PECO arc/second season to make way for the newly hired Momiji — as well as Hajime, who's actually on the motion team. Despite being part of another group, the four girls consider Hajime one of them, especially since their work often requires them to collaborate.
• One Piece:
  • Vivi travels alongside the Straw Hats for close to 3 arcs, but never officially joins the crew. It was teased in her final arc that she would join, and was even offered to by Luffy, but she reluctantly turned down his request. Despite this, she is considered one of the crew (and that she'd be welcomed back with open arms anytime in the future), arguably having the closest bond with the crew of all of the Supporting Cast. When Luffy returned to Marineford under the guise of paying his respects to Whitebeard, she, along with the crew, realized there was an ulterior meaning to it. She only lacked the up to date knowledge of the Straw Hats to know what the message was actually about. In fact, she's so important to the crew that Luffy was fully prepared to put his dream of becoming Pirate King on hold (despite how close he was to actually accomplishing it) by detouring all the way back to her home kingdom of Alabasta when she's reported missing.
  • Jimbei as well develops a close relationship with Luffy and is even offered a chance to join the crew. He declines due to other duties but hopes that Luffy will still keep his offer open. By the end of the Whole Cake Island arc, he subverts this trope and does join the crew officially as its helmsman.
  • Trafalgar Law forms an alliance with the Straw Hats and has essentially been promoted to the unofficial 11th member of their crew. For his part, Law was initially reluctant to treat their alliance as anything more than an Enemy Mine situation, but he eventually came around to accept that Luffy sees him as a friend and return the sentiment (even if he will never admit it out loud). It's likely he won't join up since, similar to Jimbei, he has other responsibilities, namely his own ship and crew. Not that this matters much to Luffy, of course.
  • Multiple pirates who the Straw Hats befriended during the Dressrosa arc decide they're going to declare their allegiance to Luffy, and declare themselves the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. While Luffy wasn't interested in having a fleet, he accepts their decision and they're each given a piece of his Vivre Card so they can seek him out when necessary. The exception is post Heel–Face Turn Bellamy, who wants to go his own way... but also takes a piece of the Vivre Card and tells Luffy he'll see him around.
  • Though Yamato repeatedly states his intention to join the crew throughout the Onigashima Raid, at the conclusion of the Wano arc he decide to remain in Wano to ensure that it can defend itself from the World Government now that Kaido is out of the picture.
• Iroha Isshiki and Komachi Hikigaya in My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, as I Expected. They're not official members of the Service Club, and Iroha takes until Season 2 before she appears, but they're so vital to the Service Club's efforts they may as well be club members anyway, particularly Iroha as she gets Ship Tease with main guy Hachiman. By the end of the series, Iroha and Komachi revive the Service Club and reunite Hachiman, Yukino, and Yui, making Komachi an official member at last.
• Sieghart in Rave Master, started out as an enemy, but then switched sides to the good guys. Despite this, he never actually joined the main gang and preferred to do his own stuff.
• In Shirobako, Aoi's older sister Kaori is considered part of her group of friends, who'd been in the same high school animation club, even though Kaori is significantly older than Aoi, and was most likely not in high school at the same time as her and her yearmates Shizuka and Ema, let alone Misa (one year younger than Aoi) or Midori (two years younger).
• Sylphiel from Slayers. She is a good friend of the main cast, is remembered or missed by the heroes rather often, and even shown in the opening credits alongside the main four, but actually joins the party only for several episodes per season, then is Put on a Bus again.
• Kuroeda in Tomica Hyper Rescue Drive Head Kidou Kyuukyuu Keisatsu. Although he pilots a Drive Head and will assist the Mobile Rescue Police on several occasions, he's actually a member of the separate Mobile Assault Police. As evidence of this, he's absent from the third ED animation, which features a large group shot of the Mobile Rescue Police.

Comic Books

• The Beast is prone to mention being an honorary member of The Avengers far more than being on the team.
• Contrary to popular belief, Batman never officially joined the Justice League, despite the fact that he is considered a part of their main trio along with Superman and Wonder Woman. He considers himself "a part-timer". One notable instance of this in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon when the group opts to turn themselves over to the authorities to appease the public, Batman opts out citing that because he never officially joined the group, he's not obligated to go along with their plans if he doesn't agree with them.
• Being two teams of True Companions, Runaways and Young Avengers treat the other team as whole like this.
• Spider-Man shared this dynamic with the Fantastic Four for years. He initially tried to join the team in his early years as a Superhero but was rejected. Despite this he maintained a close bond with the group, particularly Johnny Storm. When Johnny was seemingly killed, Spider-Man was their first choice for a replacement to fill the void.
• While his exact location and involvement with the larger conflict has varied throughout the series' run, this was how Knuckles the Echidna started out in Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics). While helping them out when they were in his area, joining up with them when they really needed him and even going on an extended quest to find a legendary sword connected to the royal family, Knuckles could never permanently join the Freedom Fighters because he had to take care of the Floating Island.
• In the Teen Titans Very Special Comic Book dealing with teen drug use Robin is replaced by The Protector, who is well known to the other Titans and they are implied to have had adventures together before this. He even orders them about like he's in charge even though he's explicitly a friend of the Titans and not a Titan himself. He is Robin with the serial numbers filed off because the comic book was produced by Keebler, and Nabisco owned the Robin cookie license.
• The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye: Wipe-Out joins the crew in their misadventure on Troja Major, bonds with them a fair bit (in addition to already knowing two of them), and is even offered a place on the team. However, he politely declines and goes his own way. He finally joins them during the grand finale, teaming up with the various other Guest Stars to back up the crew in Cyberutopia and help fight the Big Bad Ensemble.
• Several X-Men allies who support the team and are inextricably tied to them but never officially joined, such as Ms./Captain Marvel, Daytripper, Captain Britain, Lilandra, Lila Cheney, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, etc.

Fanworks

• This is what Hinata is to Team 7 in Teenage Jinchuriki Shinobi, as per being on a different team than them, but being Naruto's Love Interest had quite a bit to do with it.
• Several examples exist throughout the The Infinite Loops.
  • Sector V consider Phineas and Ferb as well as Double D to be honorary KND operatives.
  • Samus, Duncan, and Vivian are all considered to be honorary Star Allies, the former for being a frequent visitor as well as close friend to Kirby while the latter two are Meta Knight's adopted children.
  • The Doki Doki Literature Club Loops has the Dokis give Blake Belladonna an honorary membership card after they bond over mutual love of literature (and their dark backstories). Blake in turn invites them to her wedding.
• During the final confrontation of On the Run, Chloe Sullivan basically becomes this to Dom's crew; Clark has been part of the team since he saved Letty from her near-death in the events of Fast & Furious and Chloe apparently died back in Smallville, but once Clark learns that Chloe was left with amnesia and manipulated by Lex and Tess, he goes to great lengths to bring her back to herself. Once her memory is restored, when Hobbs tries to arrest Chloe for the crimes she committed with Tess Mercer's crew, Dom makes it clear to Hobbs that his team consider Chloe family due to her ties to Clark and Brian (her cousin) despite none of those present having met her before now.
• Avengers: Infinite Wars;
  • When the Avengers are initially split up across the galaxy, Wanda arrives on Dathomir, where she befriends a clan of Nightsisters. After saving Dathomir from renegade clan Queen Zalem, Wanda is allowed to take part in meetings of the Coven Leaders despite not being a leader herself, officially attending as the representative of Mother Talzin and the clan that took her in.
  • Likewise, it is later established that T'Challa, the Black Panther, is considered an honorary member of the Wookie clan that took him in after he arrived on Kashyyk, and he has even invited that clan to accompany him back to Wakanda when regular access to Earth is available.
  • On a wider scale, while the Avengers are essentially an independent force that have chosen to ally with the Republic, they are particularly close with certain key members of the Senate and the Jedi Order; when the Avengers discover the existence of Order 66, they only share that knowledge with their closest allies, including Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Bariss Offee, Aayla Secura, Bail Organa, and Mon Mothma.
  • Back on Earth, while the Masters of the Mystic Arts have their own priorities and Ghost Rider doesn't consider himself a team player, Strange, Mordo, Celeste Morne and Bucky Barnes are all considered to be fellow members of the Avengers by the main team, and even the Rider will respond to calls from the Avengers so long as the crisis is sufficiently dangerous to merit his attention.
• In “Spider-Man and Kitty Pryde: Into the Great Unknown”, after Kitty Pryde (currently dating Spider-Man) assists the Order of the Web in defeating the returned Inheritor Verna (Spider-Geddon), she is proclaimed to be an honorary member of the Order despite not having spider-powers herself.
• The Power Rangers in Space/Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series crossover "Lost and Found" opens with the Space Rangers rescuing Canard- the Ducks' original team captain- from dimensional limbo, Canard subsequently helping them repair the Astro Megaship after it was damaged rescuing him from the worm. By the time the Rangers reunite Canard with the rest of the Ducks, he has been granted level two access to most of the ship's systems, and the Rangers immediately join forces with the Ducks to thwart Draganus's latest attempt to invade Earth.
• “Come Together” sees Tom Riddle (Harry Potter) become an official part of the Howling Commandos (Captain America: The First Avenger) after Steve Rogers rescued him from a Hydra prison. While Tom and the Commandos are genuine True Companions, this trope becomes relevant after Grindlewald's defeat, with Peggy Carter becoming the first muggle to receive an Order of Merlin as she delivered the killing shot to Grindlewald (Riddle fought Grindlewald directly but he basically just wore the enemy down while Peggy waited under the invisibility cloak until Grindlewald was vulnerable).
• In the Pokemon fic "Meanwhile", Ash's Buizel has had trouble getting along with Ash's other Water types as he finds them all to be too eccentric or hyper where he's more serious. When he runs into Sceptile and Snivy while taking a swim, they end up bonding to such an extent that he's invited to claim a pond in their territory, the two Grass types recognising that Buizel is a better fit with them than Ash's other water Pokemon.
• The Amazing Spider-Man: True Purpose;
  • During the clash with the Red Skull’s forces, Red Sonja and Black Cat are basically affirmed to become reserve Avengers, as they won’t join the new team but will help out if they’re available.
  • When Beast brings the original five X-Men and the young Spider-Man into the future, the younger Spidey seems to have swiftly become this to the other time-travellers, with young Jean stepping into protect the young Spider-Man from his future self (who assumed the time-travellers were clones) and the young X-Men inviting young Spidey to join them as they go to confront present-day Scott.
• “Faith Wayne” features a few;
  • After Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) learns that her father is Batman, she at least once joins Batman and Robin on their latest patrol to track down the Joker.
  • During the final battle, Xander briefly acquires a Green Lantern ring, but returns the ring to Kilowog after the battle as he doesn’t feel he would fit in as a hero on that scale, although he is still remembered in future history for his role in the crisis.
• In Daphne Greengrass and the Boy Who Lived, not only does Daphne Greengrass become close friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione, but she is essentially accepted as an honorary Gryffindor, to the extent that she not only sits at their table during meals but is sometimes invited into the Gryffindor common room.
• In the Power Rangers fic "Restless Warriors", the core team-up is between five Yellow Rangers- Maya (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy), Kendall (Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue), Taylor (Power Rangers Wild Force), Dustin (Power Rangers Ninja Storm) and Kira (Power Rangers: Dino Thunder)- as they have been chosen by a prophecy passed on to Maya by the spirits of Zordon and Trini to oppose an upcoming demonic invasion. However, Eric (Quantum Time Force Ranger), Tori (Blue Ninja Storm Ranger) and Conner (Red Dino Thunder Ranger) are also "allowed" to join the group as they have strong emotional ties to Taylor, Dustin and Kira respectively. During the final battle, Aisha, Tanya, Ashley, Katie and Z- Earth's remaining active Yellow Rangers- also join their sisters in Yellow for the final stand, even if they weren't part of the original prophecy.
• In "The Golden Mean" from The End of the World series, while none of the four District 10 victors are among the circle of rebel victors in all of the authors earlier stories, all four of them ultimately end up allied with the main character here. The only outright rebel of the four, Toffy, was the only one who'd never gone to the Capitol to mentor at the same time as Haymitch but Earl and Kate, the Quell tributes fight and survive alongside of victor-tributes who are part of the rebellion and die without betraying them, while the fourth victor, Mindwell Larue, helps fight the peacekeepers when they arrive at the viewing center to try and arrest Haymitch and the other rebel mentors (several of whom, such as Harris and Philo, also count as this due to having been rebels who'd stayed in the districts before then and also not been part of Haymitch's circle).
• The Naked Jedi: Aayla Secura of the Jedi Council spends a couple of weeks learning from Master Haara and living as a Nue Jedi, but while she acknowledges the positives of the Order and confirms to her satisfaction that they aren't Dark, Aayla doesn't decide to become a permanent part of the Nue Jedi herself.

Literature

• In Baptism of Fire, Geralt's hanse meets up and travels with Zoltan Chivay's gang for a while, with both groups starting to see each other as True Companions, but never actually merging into one (they go separate ways at the end of the book, but their friendship persists well into the later novels). Considering how Geralt is the only one alive of his group when he meets Chivay again, he is the Honorary True Companion to Chivay's gang.
• Prince Gwydion and Doli the dwarf, in The Chronicles of Prydain, are both good examples of the trope. While Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi and Fflewddur Fflam make up the core group who are identified in the narrative as "the companions," both Gwydion and Doli join them on an as-needed basis in the varying adventures. They're kept from being there all the time because Doli, being a dwarf, lives in the underground kingdom of his people; while Gwydion is the heir apparent and war leader of Math son of Mathonwy, the High King of Prydain, so he's usually off in the service of the crown.
• Pat Savage is this to Doc and his aides in the Doc Savage novels. She is always willing to help them, and would be a permanent member of the crew if Doc would allow her, but Doc consider his work too dangerous to allow his sole surviving family member to be involved regularly.
• The Legend of Sun Knight: Elijah is this to the Twelve Holy Knights. He is the original Hell Knight of the 38th generation, but his job required him to go undercover as a Royal Knight for years, and he has long since become the mask. Sun freed him from his obligations to the Holy Temple by declaring his friend Roland the Hell Knight, but Elijah drops in to help his brothers when he is needed, such as when Sun is AWOL as the Demon King.
• Tiny seems to be the honorary True Companion for Oregon's crew in The Oregon Files, as he is treated as member of the Corporation while not living with them on their Cool Ship. His honorary status is justified by the fact that he is team's plane pilot, and Boeings hardly fit on a ship.
• Sunahara of Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note has being considered, or even being invited, as a member of the KZ detective team every time he appears. But since he leaves at the end of every book he appears due to one reason or the other, nothing comes out of it.

Live-Action TV

• Arrow: John Diggle's ex-wife/girlfriend /wife Lyla Michaels, Action Girl member of A.R.G.U.S., likely qualifies. She'll help Team Arrow immediately when she can, to the point of Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! if necessary, and the team overall is protective of her, getting very angry whenever her life is in danger.
• In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the core members of the Scooby Gang are Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles. Lovable Alpha Bitch Cordelia and Buffy's vampire boyfriend Angel would sometimes join them in the early seasons; but the former still does not like being in their presence, and the latter, being a vampire, can't be there during the day.
• Dr. Turner to the nurse-midwives of Nonnatus House on Call the Midwife. Though he's not quite One Of Them, as he's a doctor with different responsibilities, he is on excellent terms with all of them — especially Sister Julienne, with whom he has worked side-by-side for years, he as the local physician and she as the nun-in-charge — and is just as dedicated to serving the residents of Poplar. Oh yeah, and after she realises that God's plan for her is not to be a nun, but to be a wife and mother as well as a midwife, he earns his happy ending with the utterly adorable Sister Bernadette, becoming engaged to her at the end of the second series.
• Doctor Who
  • Madame Vastra, her wife Jenny Flint and their alien butler Strax technically don't count as companions as they've never traveled with the Doctor in the TARDIS full-time. The three of them are, however, loyal allies to the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors and the Doctor once visited his own future grave-site (a big time travel no-no) in order to save them, stating that they've always been there for him.
  • Before them was Captain Jack Harkness, who travelled with the Ninth Doctor and Rose for a few adventures before being left behind. Once Jack and Ten worked their problems out, Jack was the Tenth Doctor's most consistently recurring ally. He even led a team to help defend Earth against threats the Doctor couldn't (or didn't) show up for.
  • Sarah Jane Smith was originally a full-fledged Companion of the Doctor, but became this during NuWho. Like Captain Jack, she protected Earth and had a few adventures with the Doctor. Due to her adoptive son Luke being only fourteen, she never rejoined the Doctor, but would always have his back.
  • Martha Jones and Mickey Smith also have shades of this. They both stopped travelling with the Doctor, but ended up carrying on the good fight on their own. Both would show up several times after parting ways with him, just like Sarah-Jane and Captain Jack.
  • Before all of them, however, was Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, CMG, CBE, DSO. He led UNIT in the 70's (or was it the 80's?) and fought alongside more incarnations of the Doctor than anybody else in the franchise's history. Their relationship could be rocky, but the Brigadier was just as determined as the Doctor to keep the Earth safe. Even when he was old, grey and retired, the Master considered him a big enough threat that he took countermeasures to ensure he couldn't interfere with his plans.
  • Spin-off media has introduced a range of other characters who are close to certain Doctors without ever actively travelling with them, such as DI Patricia Menzies.
• In The Expanse Prax Meng flies on the Rocinante to rescue his daughter, slowly becoming something of a Science Hero with the crew, even figuring out a way to defeat the protomolecule monster. After saving his daughter, he returns to Gannymede.
• Dr. Sidney Freedman in M*A*S*H, while he's actually stationed at the evac hospital in Seoul, is often called out to the 4077 for his psychiatric expertise or even just for a poker game. The main characters consider him one of their own and are always happy to see him.
• Million Yen Women: Shin and the five women are bound by a set of rules imposed upon them the anonymous person who invited the women to live in Shin's house. By the time the series starts, Shin's frequently-visiting publicist Seiji is on friendly terms with all the women, is unfazed by Shameless Fanservice Girl Minami walking around the house naked and regularly joins Shin and the women for dinner, the one meal the invitation sender wants all six members of the household to have together. He can't be considered part of the central group due neither living in the house nor being covered by the invitation sender's rules.
• CGIS Special Agent Abigail Boran becomes one for the NCIS team once or twice per season, a position which includes affectionate familiarity, lots of harmless flirting, and a strong role in the Mystery of the Week.
• Zoe Morgan on Person of Interest is this. She isn't going to quit her day job anytime soon, but whenever the team needs it she is more than willing to help. In her case the motive has something to do with John.
• During the first half of Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, when the Dino Fury team are accidentally banished to a distant galaxy and their Blue Ranger is brainwashed to evil, they gain a significant ally in the form of Billy Cranston, the original Blue Ranger (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers). Not only does Billy act as a temporary mentor to the team, but he also provides their new morphers, even serving as their temporary Blue Ranger when commanding their zords, until he has to leave to help other Rangers deal with Zedd's latest conquest, trusting the core team to oppose Zedd on their own and bring Ollie back to their side.
• Smallville: While he's a part of the larger group of True Companions that is the JLA, Dr. Emil Hamilton also qualifies as an Honorary True Companion for the smaller core group of True Companions within the team that consists of Clark, Oliver, Chloe, Lois, and, eventually, Tess. He's not around all that often, but when he shows up he's considered a good enough friend to be a part of the bachelor/bachelorette party What Did I Do Last Night? episode that centers on the core five.
• Maj. Dr. Janet Frasier, the CMO of Stargate Command in Stargate SG-1 was effectively a series regular (despite never appearing in the opening credits) and was treated this way, particularly by Sam, who was apparently her best friend and a surrogate aunt to Janet's adopted daughter. This made Janet's sudden death by a stray staff blast in "Heroes" all the more of a Tear Jerker.
  • Another example is Maj. General George Hammond, who was the base commander for seven years and is A Father to His Men, with a particularly strong fondness toward the members of SG-1. He occasionally joins them off-world, even participating in their rescue at one point, but naturally is forced away from regular action because of his job.
  • An even stronger example is Jacob Carter (also a retired Air Force general), the father of SG-1 team member Samantha. He is host to a Tok'ra, a race of symbiotic alien who shares a human's body, and because of his military expertise, knowledge of alien technology and tactics, and general savvy, he is a great help to SG-1 on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, he can't ever stick around because the Tok'ra still need him.
  • Similar to Jacob is the Jaffa Bra'tac, who was a mentor and father figure to Teal'c. With his sage advice, warrior's cunning, and strong network of contacts in the Jaffa Rebellion, he is a great asset to the people of Earth, but once again he is often called away on his own missions and isn't around to help as much as we might like him to be.
• Supernatural has the angel Castiel as this to brother hunters Sam and Dean Winchesters. All three are nicknamed "Team Free Will" but since Castiel is a walking Story-Breaker Power, the show keeps making flimsy excuses to keep him away for most of the series, in order not to resolve the Monster of the Week episodes too easily.

Pro Wrestling

• Ric Flair was never officially a member of D-Generation X, but he was The Mentor of Shawn Michaels and Triple H, so he still maintained a close relationship with them, and anyone hurting him was sure to anger both of them.
• Sarah Stock never wrestled for Arsion and it was defunct before she even had the chance to but during her 2010 trip to Japan, mainly to participate in FUKA's retirement show she also took a booking at Shinkiba First Ring, which lead to her being offered another for a battle royal which lead to a rematch with Princesa Sujey two days later in the same place at Estrella★Japan. Afterwards she was gifted the Sky High Of Arsion title belt, which was no longer recognized by any promotion, ahead of all Arsion alumnus present, who then posed in the ring with her.

Video Games

• The Fairy Tale Detective is implied to be this to the Red Riding Sisterhood in the Dark Parables games. She initially joins them for one adventure, but when they join forces again in a later game, her familiarity with the members and inner monologue indicate that she's been periodically visiting them and is still their respected and treasured ally. She can't join them permanently, because she has too many other fairy tale mysteries to solve, but they would almost certainly welcome her if she could.
• Invoked in Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories. After clearing an Optional Boss fight with the Sentai parody Prism Rangers, Adell will be granted the title of Prism Black. Rozalin complains that she doesn't get to be Prism Pink.
• A few of the Disney characters in Kingdom Hearts. They don't get to join the main group and their only scenes are when Sora visits their world. Ariel from The Little Mermaid is the most notable example. The first game draws parallels between her desires and Sora's, and Ariel is the only Disney character to worry that she'll never see Sora again. The trio also go through rather a lot of bother to help set her up with Eric in the second game.
• The Trails Series has a few instances of characters who are reasonably close to a main character group, but is not an official member of said group for one reason or another:
  • In The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky The 3rd, Reis Argent is this in relation to the established Liberl cast from FC and SC. While she has no problem helping the group, she mainly acts as a close friend to Kevin, as the Gralsritter's squire and assistant to his mission. Kevin himself ultimately plays this role, despite his genuine friendship with much of the cast, as the work of a Dominion is never finished.
  • Both Tita Russell and Randy Orlando become this to Class VII in The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III and IV. Tita in particular is regularly seen with New Class VII, and is notably close with Musse due to being roommates and former classmates.
• Gen-san from Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! almost reads like a parody of this and the Ineffectual Loner trope. He lives with the majority of the Kazama family (the protagonist's friend group) and has known and been close to them for longer than the two members who officially join it over the course of the prologue. He also helps them out whenever they're in a jam, shares tender and intense moments with them, and for all intents and purposes is a member of the group... but his standoffish Tsundere personality causes him to always justify himself by claiming to be Just Passing Through (despite, again, being their roommate) whenever he does. He is officially recruited onto the team during the Agave route, and remains recognized as such in the sequel.
• In the Mass Effect series:
  • Urdnot Wrex is the only one of the first game's squad mates who appears in both sequels but never rejoins the Normandy crew (except temporarily in the "Citadel" DLC of Mass Effect 3).
  • All survivors of the Suicide Mission in Mass Effect 2 who don't rejoin you in part three (conditionally: Grunt, Jack, Jacob, Kasumi, Legion, Miranda, Mordin, Samara, Thane, Zaeed) are treated as True Companions when you meet them.
  • Lastly, Admiral Anderson, Shepard's CO and the first captain of the Normandy. You only fight alongside him as a guest star in the first level of the last game, but he's included on the Normandy memorial wall right next to Shepard's own name in the Extended Cut.
• Persona:
  • Marie in Persona 4 Golden and especially in its anime adaptation could easily be a full-fledged member of the Investigation Team, since she spends time with all of them in the course of her Social Link. The only reason she's not is because she's helping from the back stage as a Velvet Room attendant and is technically the villain. After the crisis passes, she becomes a full-blooded Persona-user in Persona 4: Arena Ultimax and happily joins her friends in the game's epilogue.
  • Persona 5: Yuuki Mishima is somehow this and The Friend Nobody Likes at the same time. Despite being the Phantom Thieves' chief Knowledge Broker and public relations guy, he only really knows Joker and Ryuji (and some of your dialogue choices you give him as Joker could be blunt to say the least.) However, they do show concern and care for him during his route with his Shadow manifesting over his resentment regarding being this and his past and he is included in various events away from Thief work (Ann shows a great deal of trust in him during the Hawaii trip and Joker recruited him to help with Futaba to acclimatize to regular life.) Plus, he gets one hell of a moment in getting everyone to cheer them on in the final battle (assuming you maxed his Confidant, which is admittedly quite easy) and the developers note they designed him as the Phantom Thieves' "grounded" member, showing he is ultimately a part of them.
• Carmelita Fox in Sly Cooper has several Enemy Mine team-ups with the title character throughout the series, but it's not until the fourth game that she actually teams up with the Cooper Gang and develops a bond with them. Murray's drawing makes it known that he considers her part of the gang.
• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • Shadow the Hedgehog becomes one of these to Sonic after his Heel–Face Turn. Although he doesn't hang out with Sonic's group like Tails, and Amy and keeps more than a bit of his rivalry with Sonic intact; he can usually be counted on to be "Just Passing Through" whenever Sonic really needs him.
  • Knuckles also qualifies for this, Depending on the Writer that is. In some games he's too Married to the Job of guarding the Master Emerald to hang out with Sonic's group, while in other games he's seen hanging out just like anyone else.
  • Really, the entire supporting cast can qualify as Sonic spends most of his time Walking the Earth, so he never spends that much time with any one group for longer than any given game. His most frequent allies are the aforementioned Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Shadow but Sonic tends to act on his own for the most part.
• Super Mario Bros.
  • Alongside the franchise's two most famous princesses, Peach and Daisy, Rosalina is sometimes grouped as a third member, despite not officially being a princess. She is the ruler of the Comet Obervatory, holding a similarly vague cosmic authority position. By design she wears a similar Princess Classic ballroom gown and crown attire, but in light blue/cyan forming a Chromatic Arrangement trio with Peach's pink/magenta and Daisys orange/yellow. She even looks like a larger and even more elegant Peach. However where Daisy's appearances are almost only in spinoffs as Peach's counterpart, Rosalina appears in the plot of main series games like Galaxy, as a special unlockable in games like 3D World, and even got into Smash Bros. as a unique fighter before Daisy got in as Peach's echo fighter.
  • Less frequently, Pauline is grouped with the princesses as another Statuesque Stunner Implied Love Interest authority figure and sometimes damsel of the Mario series. As of Odyssey instead of being a princess proper, or a cosmic protector, she's the mayor of New Donk City. While she started out as a precursor to Peach as the Damsel, she's now a Recurring Element to Rosalina.

Visual Novels

• In Melody, Xianne, who’s not part of Melody’s band, eventually starts coming along sometimes as a masseuse.

Webcomics

• In Girl Genius, Lars sacrifices himself to save Agatha from being killed by Klaus. Maxim later retrieves his corpse, arranges for him to be granted a proper funeral, and acknowledges him as a fellow Jäger in all but name by giving him his hat.
  Maxim: Dot meester Lars — he vos scared to death. Ve could schmell it on him. But he come to get Miz Agatha anyvay, und he sacrifice himself vitout thinking. He fight vit us Jägers und die for the House of Heterodyne. Dot make him as goot as vun of us. Ve don't leave our own behind.

Web Original

• Kev in F*** Kayfabe: Wrestling With Labels. He's the only person outside the tight group of friends we meet. He clearly has a close bond with Bobby though it's unconfirmed if he knows anyone else in the group. One would assume they'd accept him as one of their own.
• In Noob, the eponymous guild never left the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits stage, but frequently gets help from Golgotha, who's a mercenary and can't formally join any guild because of that (as it's against rules). She's however a childhood friend to Gaea, gets along with the other members of the guild and is frequently the one who decides to join the group, even if they can't afford to pay her. DVD covers and official photomontages meant to show the entire Noob guild frequently include Golgotha.

Western Animation

• As Told by Ginger:
  • Darren was already pretty tight with the girls before he and Ginger started dating.
    "Darren's...an honorary BFF."
  • Courtney shows herself to be kind-hearted towards Ginger and demonstrates her loyalty in many episodes. One incident has her refer to the three of them as her "real friends".
• Flash the Wonder Dog was awarded Honorary Membership in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers for thwarting Fat Cat's attempt to replace Flash on his television show. In return, Flash made Chip and Dale Honorary Wonder Dogs.
• Codename: Kids Next Door:
  • Tommy Gilligan. He joins sector V for one episode, but sacrifices his membership in order to save everyone. After that he becomes a parody of the trope. He dresses in a ridiculous cape and fedora, attempts to make dramatic entries, tries to be mysterious (when everybody is well aware he's the Annoying Younger Sibling of The Smart Guy) and refers to himself as "The Tommy."
  • The baby skunk Bradley, honorary Numbuh 6.
• Two episodes of Defenders of the Earth ("Audie and Tweak" and "One of the Guys") end with a guest character being made an honorary Defender. In both cases, the character in question is a young boy of roughly the same age as Kshin.
• Dragons: Race to the Edge
  • Heather, whom the Dragon Riders befriend before the timeskip, becomes this once they meet her again, frequently teaming up with them to fight their numerous enemies. She actually temporarily subverts this by officially joining the team for a season or so, but eventually leaves to live with her brother and the other Berserkers and goes back to being this trope again.
  • Dagur, Heather's aforementioned brother, eventually becomes this as well after his Heel–Face Turn.
  • Once the Dragon Riders clear up their initial misunderstanding with Mala and her tribe, she becomes this too. She and Dagur act as this together once they start dating and later get married.
• In The Legend of Korra, the actual Team Avatar consists of Avatar Korra, Bolin, Mako and Asami Sato, but they have many friends who help them so often that they can be considered extended members: Tenzin, Jinora, Lin Beifong, Bumi, Kya, (starting from Book 3) Kai, Suyin Beifong, and Opal Beifong.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender has several as well. Aang, Katara, Sokka and later Toph form the core team (with Zuko joining in the final season). However they have a number additional allies like Suki, Iroh, Hakoda and others who help them out with some regularity.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Both Shining Armor and Spike are this to the main six ponies. They've saved their friends several times each (and Spike has saved the day twice, but the two of them don't have Elements Of Harmony. Not that they don't try anyways: Shining Armor typically finds himself incapacitated early on by the threat and Spike is simply too young to regularly fight alongside his pals.
  • Starlight from Season 6 and on is an interesting case. Like Spike, she doesn't have an Element of Harmony and she lives with Twilight, but she's gotten more character focus than him since her addition to the show (especially in the "higher stakes" two-parter episodes) in a way that would be typical of many Sixth Ranger additions in most other media. However, when it comes to her relationship with the Mane Six, the show tends to keep them separate as she's seen hanging with them even less compared to him. Even though she lives in Twilight's castle, out of the main cast she mostly only runs with Twilight and Spike, usually only meeting the other Mane Six through Twilight or when she tags along as the Mane Six go on said two-parter adventures, but seeing her in a one-on-one with the primary cast in Slice of Life stories is rarer (She has spent time with Pinkie Pie however, who is friends with everyone). Although the show seems to make a distinction between her and the other Mane Cast, to compensate, her own focus episodes tend to follow her with her own set of friends instead. Season 8 addresses this by having Starlight Glimmer spending more time with the Mane Six outside of Twilight, with one episode having Starlight join the entire Mane Six on their special friendship retreat.
• Ready Jet Go!: While Mitchell is not a member of the main cast of characters, by the end of the series, he's a trusted ally to them. He often helps them out like in "Sean's Robotic Arm" and "Eye in the Sky", and is much more of a sweetheart than he was in season 1. Solidified in "One Small Step", when he rescues the kids from drowning in Little Dipper Lake, and is invited to their sleepover. It's even implied that he now knows that the Propulsions are aliens.
• Recess has Cornchip Girl, who frequently helps the gang out later in the series and has a Ship Tease with Gus but is not part of the core six. Justified as she was several grades below them so not around as much.
• Storm Hawks: Starling is this to the Storm Hawks. Aerrow refers to the team including her as the Storm Hawks Seven, and the team tries to get her to join permanently, but she declines for fear of attachment.
• In X-Men: The Animated Series, mutant guest stars, with every right to be on the team, would appear every few episodes, but you'd have to pay for the additional voice acting and everything so they just kind of left and did their own thing.
• In Young Justice:
  • This was Red Arrow's role in the first season. Despite the fact that he could've been a founding member of the team, he refused to join because he only thought the Justice League was worthy of his talents. Still being close friends with the other founders he relied on them, backed them up, and threatened people on their behalf.
  • Captain Marvel also has this dynamic with the team, once they find out he's a kid younger than them. He doesn't join the team because he's already a member of the Justice League, but he hangs out with them when he can because they're his closer to his age. He's part of the group that fights Despero and L-Ron because he was helping Mal, M'gann, and Conner move their stuff from the Hall of Justice.

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