Gia's List: 6 Most Indispensible Team Pets

Some series have mascot characters. Some have shared pets among their characters. And some shows give them triple duty: mascot, pet, and useful ally. It's a lot of work, but hey...someone has to do it. So why not make it someone who can't talk, like most of the characters on this list? These are the pet/mascot characters who are the most useful to their 'owners.'

6. Plue (Fairy Tail)
I know, you may be thinking: "Plue? Indispensible? Say what?" And at first glance, you're right! Plue, a summoner spell/mascot character whose owner, Lucy Heartfilia, acquired primarily because of his cuteness and affordability. The adorable little snowman is sort of the magical equivalent of having a silent chihuahua, occasionally shivering out of sheer excitement. He's not completely without uses, however: during one battle with enemy lizardmen who mimic their opponent's abilities, Lucy plops Plue in the way. The lizardmen transform into similarly sweet-looking but generally combat-less snowmen, allowing our heroes to go along their merry way. His high-level cuteness has also been known to temporarily blindside enemies on occasion.




5. Chamo (Negima!?)
Chamo is a magical ermine, with extensive knowledge of magical powers and people alike. He wields his own powers as well, often in the name of assisting his pal Negi, for whom he serves as familiar. Unfortunately, he's also a greedy jerk and a lech, who takes advantage of Negi's good nature and gullibility to make a buck or swipe some panties. On the other hand, he's been very instrumental at hooking Negi up with his students in order to fight evil...so Chamo is indispensible to the Mahou Sensei Negima team, but that doesn't mean he's just naother adorable mascot character, perhaps unfortunately. He does occasionally serve as a stand-in punching bag for Asuna, managing to counter his asinine behavior and serve an important role at the same time!




4. Kirara (InuYasha)
From an adorable kitten to a giant flying transport, Kirara is a two-tailed feline youkai (demon) with strong powers and a firm loyalty to demon-hunter Sango. Unlike many of the characters on this list, she has virtually no bad qualities. She doesn't talk, so she has no annoying tendency to disagree or cause problems. She's adorable. She can even change sizes so that her larger size doesn't get in the way of anything. She plays well with Shippo, helps Kagome fly back to the well that allows her to transport home, and carries the entire party around on most of their adventures. She even has superb senses, able to see or smell danger from far away, which is pretty useful when dog half-demon InuYasha isn't around to handle it.




3. Ryo-Ohki (Tenchi Muyo!)
Like Kirara, Ryo-Oh-Ki serves as a superb transportation device for her pals, the titular Tenchi and his hangers-on Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi, Kiyone, Washu, etc. Unlike Kirara, though, Ryo-Ohki takes this transportation to a whole other level: she can transport her team through space. She's also completely adorable when not in spaceship form, presenting as a fusion between a cat and a rabbit...or a cat, a rabbit, and a human toddler. She loves Tenchi thoroughly, along with the rest of the gang, and is always happy to help out with her intergalactic transit abilities. There are two dangers to Ryo-Ohki's presence: the first is that she can be mass-reproduced, and the second is the possibility of a complete run on the Earth's carrot supplies. Ryo-Ohki loves carrots.




2. Akamaru (Naruto)
Transportation is great, but let's face it: how can you beat a ninja dog? Seriously, Akamaru is a "ninken," with heightened senses (including smelling out an opponent's skill level), the ability to mimic another person's appearance in order to confuse an opponent, and he can— not even kidding! —pee on someone and track them for great distances. Slavishly loyal to his friend/'owner' Kiba Inuzuka, Akamaru also has weird lips and a mohawk, and later on he gets big enough for some characters to ride him, meaning that he also serves as— you guessed it! —transportation. In combat, Akamaru can "fuse" with Kiba, allowing them to double up on abilities and strength. As far as a well-rounded companion goes, Akamaru has it in spades.




2. Boota (Gurren Lagann)
Most of the time, Boota is a sunglasses-wearing mole-pig who bounces around with his pal, protagonist Simon. For most of the series the only known use Boota serves, aside from being adorable and squeaky, is that he can shed his rear end so that his friends can eat it for sustenance...and then regrow it, like a lizard with his tail. If that's not the most unique way of helping out on this list, well, prepare for some spoilers in the next part: during a battle with the Anti-Spiral, an entity who is determined to keep humanity down, Boota transforms into a humanoid, allowing him to generate spiral power in order to save Team Gurren from certain destruction long enough for them to recover and fight back. Maybe his day-to-day uses are limited, but when the chips are down, you could do worse than the mole-pig!

The new poll: We decided to keep this week's poll sweet and simple after last week's listravaganza. We simply want to know which you prefer: sci-fi or fantasy? We know there are lots of different ways the two can overlap, and we definitely want you to share your favorite shows that do so in the comments. But also vote here and check back next time for the results!

The previous poll: Last week, in the wake of word that Cartoon Network would bring back Toonami, we asked you which Toonami shows you had the best memories of. Who did you think would win? Well, the Dragon Ball franchise took first place with a little over 14% and Sailor Moon stands in second with around 12%— no surprises there. Gundam Wing, also known as "the show that launched a thousand yaoi fandoms," took third with just under 10%, with Rurouni Kenshin (about 8%) and Tenchi Muyo! (about 7%) rounding out the top five. Here are the results:

1. Dragon Ball (et al) - 14.46%
2. Sailor Moon - 12.40%
3. Gundam Wing - 9.73%
4. Rurouni Kenshin - 8.34%
5. Tenchi Muyo! (et al) - 6.62%
6. YuYu Hakusho - 6.23%
7. Outlaw Star - 5.39%
8. Naruto - 4.28%
9. Pokémon - 3.39%
10. Cardcaptors - 3.11%
11. The Big O - 2.50%
12. One Piece - 2.39%
13. Zoids - 2.34%
14. G Gundam - 2.17%
15. .hack//SIGN - 1.56%
16. Hamtaro - 1.56%
17. Gundam Seed - 1.28%
18. Robotech - 1.22%
19. Zatch Bell! - 1.22%
20. Yu-Gi-Oh! (et al) - 1.17%
21. Ronin Warriors - 1.00%
22. Gundam 08th MS Team - 0.95%
23. Mobile Suit Gundam - 0.89%
24. Cyborg 009 - 0.83%
25. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo - 0.78%
26. IGPX - 0.72%
27. Rave Master - 0.67%
28. Martian Successor Nadesico - 0.50%
29. Blue Submarine No. 6 - 0.44%
30. Voltron - 0.44%
31. The Prince of Tennis - 0.39%
32. Gundam 0080 - 0.28%
33. MÄR - 0.22%
34. Blue Dragon - 0.11%
35. Dai-Guard - 0.11%
36. D.I.C.E. - 0.06%
37. Duel Masters - 0.06%
38. Gatchaman / G-Force: Guardians of Space - 0.06%
39. Gigantor - 0.06%
40. Mega Man Star Force - 0.06%