The animal known as “man’s best friend” has been featured in many video games. Sometimes they are the protagonist, and other times they are even a boss you have to defeat.
Dogs are animals with a ton of symbolic meaning. They stand for loyalty and friendship, which often makes them valued video game sidekicks. Players can’t get enough of them. Even when their roles are small they are often the most valued characters. Many gamers are just programmed to love animals, especially dogs!
While all dogs are good dogs, here are 10 dogs from video games that we consider the best of the best.
10 K.K. Slider From The Animal Crossing Series
Isabella is very popular, but we ultimately decided that K.K. Slider is the best Animal Crossing dog. He was around since the beginning and enchanted players with his mellow speech and passion for song. He is not a one-trick-pony either, as he has over 90 songs since New Leaf came out! He is also a unique dog character since he can talk and is either a boss, sidekick, or protagonist. He is just a famous traveling artist and sticks true to the laid-back and cute style of Animal Crossing games.
9 Dogmeat From The Fallout Series
Fallout is a big series, and Dogmeat is one of its most iconic characters. He first appeared in the original game in 1997 and continued to pop up in the games as a companion all to way to Fallout 4.
Fans loved this dog so much that they would reload their save files if he ever ended up dead. Sometimes that meant undoing hours of game progress! So fans were very happy once Fallout 4 made it so Dogmeat could not die.
8 The Dog In Fable II
The dog of Fable II is most well known for being part of one of the biggest choices in the game. The dog, who is your loving companion throughout the game, dies protecting you in a boss fight. At the end of the game, you get to choose a major reward. You have three choices: a ton of wealth, reviving the people who died, or reviving your dog. Guess what a lot of players end up choosing?
7 Sif From Dark Souls
This boss fight broke a lot of hearts, as you had to defeat a wolf that was protecting the grave of its fallen comrade. First of all, the wolf’s design is awesome. It is huge, epic, and carries a giant sword. Also, its backstory is very tragic. Players felt very strongly about this boss fight due to the lore behind the wolf and its dead companion.
Players didn’t want to kill Sif, so rumors spread about that Sif could be spared and a ton of players hoped it was true. Unfortunately, the rumors were false. Sif is not an optional boss.
6 D-Dog From Metal Gear Solid V
Players fell in love with this companion the moment they saw him as a little puppy in Snake’s hands. D-Dog and Snake even got matching eye-patches! You get to see the dog grow from a puppy to a grizzled military dog. Before you know it, the dog is sniffing out and taking down enemies.
5 Polterpup From Luigi’s Mansion 3
Who said spooky cannot also be cute? Polterpup may be a ghost, but it still has all its dog charm. Also, the name is adorable. Fans were very excited when they learned they could pet Polterpup in Luigi’s Mansion 3. A major complaint from many animal-loving gamers is when there are cute animals but you cannot pet or interact with them. Luckily, Polterpup became available for pets and he certainly deserves them for being a good boy.
4 The Annoying Dog From Undertale
This dog has become somewhat of a symbol for Undertale as a whole. The dog is just a troublemaker and appears in short instances throughout the game. It plays a part in one of Papyrus’ traps, steals bones from Papyrus, is an actual bomb at one point, and it absorbs an item you get for completing the difficult piano puzzle. Besides those instances, there are a lot of other minor encounters with this mischief-maker. The dogs’ antics are absurd and funny, which is quite true to Undertale’s humorous tone.
3 Amaterasu From Okami
Amaterasu is the character you play as, and she is actually a goddess in the form of a wolf. To any regular human though, she just looks like an ordinary wolf. However, her tail is actually a paintbrush that can create day, night, wind, fire, rain, and so much more. Despite being so powerful, she can also just do dog things like bite people, bark, dig, and even pee on her enemies.
It is theorized that the wolf is not her true form and that she is actually an elegant human-looking woman.
2 Wolf Link From Twilight Princess
One of the most iconic video game characters of all time was turned into a dog. Link in Twilight Princess got to be a wolf and switch between his human and wolf form throughout the game. Being a wolf had its moments, especially since it allowed you to talk to other animals. Most humans did become afraid of you, though. Midna would also ride on your back like you were her personal steed, so that was fun.
Wolf Link remains a popular game character. The wolf even can be summoned as a companion in Breath of the Wild.
1 The Pomeranian From Tokyo Jungle
Tokyo Jungle is a hugely underrated video game. Basically, you play as animals following the human apocalypse in Tokyo. This includes zoo animals, dinosaurs, and little house pets like Pomeranian. Basically, your goal is to hunt, survive, and breed. The Pomeranian is one of the starting characters and is quite difficult since you are a tiny dog in a big, wild world. It is pretty amazing to watch the fluffy little dog take on the post-apocalypse and go toe-to-toe with larger animals.
