9 Most Annoying Video Game Sidekicks
Sidekicks who needed their bottoms kicked.
A quarter of a century ago, a humble little fox with a can do attitude made his debut in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, stealing hearts and losing rings in the process. Such was the overwhelming success of Tails (it was a different, more innocent time), that Sonic soon found himself with a menagerie of goggle-eyed followers, each more progressively useless than the last. A radgey red Rastadog we could tolerate. The fishing cat - a literal kind - not so. Thanks for nothing, Tails.
It's easy to forget through Vector the Crocodile and Cream the Rabbit (named during a less innocent time) that Tails himself wasn't actually very good. In fact, he was a complete pain in the ring hole (that's the thing you jump through to enter special stages).
The nugatory fox might have been one of gaming's first truly annoying sidekicks, but he wasn't the last. Just as he inspired a coterie of animal idolaters for Sonic, so too did he set the template for insufferable video game acolytes. From kamikaze toads to overly officious cats, these are the video game buddies which confirmed Sartre's maxim that "Hell is other people."
9. Slippy Toad (Starfox 64)
Maybe if Fox McCloud's bufonidae buddy didn't nearly get shot down by popcorn mooks within the first ten seconds of Starfox 64, a generation of N64 spacecraft pilots might be more forgiving. After all, the toady technician comes good during later missions, fitting Fox out with the slow-but-sturdy Blue Marine on Aquas, not to mention a hovering tank.
Even Slippy's teammates can't seem to stand him, with the squad's resident wisecrack Falco Lombardi reserving most of his opprobrium for his amphibious wing-man - though he's just as likely to need rescuing ('G-diffuser' my eye).
Still, at least Falco has the good grace to not wail like an overly theatric banshee every time he flies straight into a bullet. Sometimes, it's best just to let Slippy perish and continue the war in peace.