Thanks Buddy!: 25 of Gaming's Greatest Sidekicks

Alyx Vance - Half-Life 2
The woman behind the man (quite literally in this picture) Alyx is in many ways the main narrative source in the Half-Life 2 saga due to Gordon's mime-like nature. Hacker, scientist, athlete, and handy with a gun, the sassy and fiery Alyx fills basically every role in Half-Life 2. Will she and Gordon ever get together? We'll tell you as soon as Episode 3 comes out…

Barney Calhoun - Half-Life
From a lowly security guard, to an alien-fighting resistance leader, Barney is one of Gordon's staunchest allies. Whether it's providing extra ammo, or taking at least a few pot-shots at headcrabs before dying horribly, the endlessly resurrecting Barney provides key backup. And hey, he's way more helpful than all those worthless Black Mesa scientists.

Clank - Ratchet & Clank series
A sidekick any gadget man would love. Knowledgeable, quick, and seemingly at one with technology, Ratchet's cute little robot buddy packs more of a punch than he lets on.

Claptrap - Borderlands
Another cute robot buddy, Claptrap is more the helper type. More likely to cower in a hole than take on Borderlands' slew of psychotic marauders, Claptrap will help you out by unlocking doors and chests and upgrading your inventory. Oh, and he breakdances. Check him out, c'mon!

Alistair - Dragon Age: Origins
It's tough being a Grey Warden—drinking Darkspawn blood, slaying hordes of monsters, and dying young. Thankfully Alistair stays fairly positive through it all with his sarcastic wit. And whether he's your brother-in-arms or your saucy romance, Grey Warden #2 Alistair's got your back.

Slippy Toad - Star Fox series
This could’ve gone to one of four animals, but Slippy takes it because he’s the most annoying of Fox’s squadmates. That being said, he’s reliable and brave, and, well, is a toad.

Cedric the Owl - King's Quest V
Ok, Cedric is totally worthless. But he does point out potential dangers to Graham like POIIISONOUS snakes! He's exactly as much of a wuss as his vested, monocle-clad appearance would leave you to believe, and he makes Slippy look like Conan the Barbarian. But at least his ridiculous falsetto in one of the industry's earlier voice acted games will go down in gaming history (infamy).

Cortana - Halo series
You instantly earn distinction if you live inside Master Chief’s armor, but Cortana became so much more. We’d venture to say that Cortana actually became the only person (er, program)that Master Chief ever trusted, and that’s sayin’ something, believe us.

Luke Triton - Professor Layton series
Because every unmarried, fancy English professor in his mid-thirties naturally should travel with a prepubescent boy sidekick, we have Luke Triton. It's kind of like Batman and Robin, only British and with puzzles.

Weighted Companion Cube - Portal
Perhaps the greatest hero of Portal, as GLaDOS says, "While it has been a faithful companion, your Companion Cube cannot accompany you through the rest of the test. If it could talk - and the Enrichment Center takes this opportunity to remind you that it cannot - it would tell you to go on without it, because it would rather die in a fire than become a burden to you." Silence, loyalty, sacrifice - THAT'S a sidekick.

Leonardo Da Vinci - Assassin's Creed 2
Undoubtedly the staff’s favorite aspect of AC 2, Leonardo Da Vinci would build awesome things (like a hang glider) for Ezio to use during his bloody escapades. The only thing we could imagine being cooler would be having Thomas Edison build us flashbangs. PATENT PENDING.

Iolo FitzOwen - Ultima series
While a bearded old bard may seem an odd choice for a traveling companion and sidekick, Iolo is a man of many talents. He plays the lute, makes triple crossbows (eat your heart out Da Vinci), owns a talking horse, and helps out the Avatar over his many, century-spanning adventures.

Diddy Kong - Donkey Kong Country series
You know you’re having fun when you’re using a tiny monkey as a projectile. And when it’s Diddy Kong, you also know you’ve got a brave companion who will blindly follow you through any level, at any time.

Dogmeat - Fallout series
It just wouldn't be a post-apocalyptic wasteland survival tale without a trusty dog companion. Dogmeat has been the go-to pooch throughout the Fallout series, and though his look, his breed, and his stats have varied, Dogmeat has the loyalty and heart of a champion.

Foley - Modern Warfare 2
“Ramirez! Write up my bio for that sidekick story! Right now dammit!” Yes, there must be what, 12 other soldiers in Ramirez’s squad, but no, Foley never called on anyone else. No, it was always “Ramirez, use this spork to take out that Hind!” The big question is, is Foley truly a sidekick if he’s always ordering your ass to do every single thing? We suspect that if you questioned him, Foley would PT you until you couldn’t lift your mouse hand anymore.

Kazooie - Banjo Kazooie series
She flies, shoots eggs, plays the kazoo, and can lift a full-grown bear. That's right, you heard right, she plays the kazoo.

Max - Sam & Max series
We're sure Max would object to being labeled as the sidekick, but hey, his name comes second in the title, he's shorter, and he doesn't have a bitchin' trenchcoat like Sam. Everyone's favorite psychotic lagomorph, Max is always there for his buddy Sam, and happily willing to engage in any kind of insane antics to save the day.

Mordin Solus - Mass Effect 2
Scientist, researcher, spy, comrade-in-arms, singer, there's nothing Mordin can't do. He even offers up relationship advice and gives various pointers for safe sex and engaging in inter-species romance. That's a true friend.

Morte - Planescape: Torment
You wouldn't think a game called Planescape: Torment about an eternally-suffering, scarred immortal would be particularly amusing but it is, thanks to Morte. Whether he's chomping on your nearest foe, making lame pick-up attempts at your female party-mates, or cracking wise about his life as floating skull, Morte is head and shoulders—err, at least head, above other gaming sidekicks.

Otacon - Metal Gear Solid series
"SNAAAAAAKE!!" Yeah, you’ve heard it a million times, and Otacon’s always the one to say it. Both Snake’s confidant, friend, protector, and occasional ladies man, Snake wouldn’t be half the man he is without Otacon backing him up.

Victor "Sully" Sullivan - Uncharted series
Yes we get it, Drake is young, daring, handsome (he’s essentially Captain Mal: The Indiana Jones Version), but he wouldn’t have survived without the help of Sully, who raised Drake from a lowly teenage thief to one of the greatest bandits in video game history.

Jeff "Joker" Moreau - Mass Effect series
Seth Green's best role since…well, Seth Green's best role. Joker proves you don't have to be a gun-toting commando to be an asset. The ultimate wheelman for Commander Shepard, Joker gets the Normandy and her crew out of tough situations time and again.

Tails - Sonic the Hedgehog series
Pop quiz! Which came first, flying Mario or Tails? We don’t remember either, but Tails is the Yin to Sonic’s Yang. He’s fast as all hell, but can also fly! Maybe he should’ve been the main protagonist…

Wheatley - Portal 2
Our favorite witty server bot from Portal 2 suffers from a series of pretty serious complexes; the biggest one being the fact that he’s a total moron. And we love him for it.

Luigi - Super Mario Bros. series
Like every Star Wars movie after Return of the Jedi, we’d like to just forget that Luigi actually starred in his own game at one point. But Mario’s brother from another mother is probably the most iconic side kick in video game history. Yippee! Yahoo!