There are few things more tragic than seeing an animal suffer, especially pets. ESPECIALLY companions. Animals don’t understand the greater flaws and problems present in the world. They don’t know what’s really going on. So to see them punished for living in an unforgiving world makes us just tear up.
While most video game animal companions never have to go through such hard times, some do. As the heartbreak of their struggle is felt all the stronger as a result. If you can’t handle seeing things like this, then you may want to avoid these particular games.
Just assume that there are spoilers for all of these games. I won’t go into much detail, but knowing that it ends with heartbreak is probably enough to reveal some plot points.
1The Last Guardian
Trico
From the same team that developed Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian tells a deep (but admittedly hard to understand) story about a boy who rescues a large beast inside a landscape of ruins and stone.
Throughout the entire game, you develop a bond with Trico. Solving the various puzzles and fighting the dangers together will do that. So learning about their initial purpose, and what the Master of the lands intends for them, makes it all the sadder.
2Arizona Sunshine 2
Buddy
In this VR zombie shooter adventure, the protagonist teams up with a dog named Buddy as they look for a way to safety. The first friend he’s had in years, the protagonist grows attached to the dog, panicking when they sustain a near-lethal injury during an explosion.
The emotional swelling reaches a peak during the grand reveal, when it’s discovered that the dog is actually patient zero and the one who started the zombie outbreak in the very beginning. His only friend and the cure to his isolation and loneliness was also the sole cause of it ever happening.
3Shadow Of The Colossus
Agro
The silent sidekick during your time in Shadow of the Colossus, Agro is the horse you ride into the Forbidden Land. With the only living things in this land being the Colossi you’re there to hunt, and some lizards, Agro acts as your only ally during the entire adventure.
The climax of the story includes a tragic scene where Agro throws the player to the end of a crumbling bridge as they fall into the chasm below. You lose your only friend in pursuit of your goal. Fortunately, we see Agro limping into the scene later, reassuring us that they survived the fall. Even so, we feel for the horse, who did not know the transgressions of their master.
4Dark Souls
Sif
Technically only an ally if you have the DLC, the Great Grey Wolf Sif is a mandatory boss fight in Dark Souls, guarding a special ring that lets you survive the abyss. The ring, however, is stashed at the grave of his former master Artorias. Explaining Sif and Artorias’s significance to the story of Dark Souls would require its own article.
But even if you weren’t tuned into all that, seeing a large dog separately try to defend the last remains of his long-departed companion, and having to be the one that puts him down anyway, is heartbreaking.
It’s even worse if you DO play the DLC, where he can be summoned as an ally. Then he recognizes you in the base game boss fight.
5Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Assan
Assan’s story is a tragic one, even before we meet them. The griffons were previously thought extinct, once acting as valiant companions to the Wardens in the fight against the blight. This made Assan’s existence already a shocking one.
Assan’s courage and enthusiasm during a dire time, despite the weight of an entire species hanging on their winged shoulders, is a small golden light during the adventure. How heartbreaking their story is depends on your choices, but we feel for them, all the same.
We chose to return them to the forest. Given the plot twists about the Wardens, they deserved some time apart.
6Fable 2
Your Dog
Your faithful ally and treasure hunter, the dog stands by you throughout everything that happens, the loss of your family, and the whole royalty thing. He supports you no matter what you do. He’ll quite literally take a bullet for you, making this game of the rare few that actually kill your animal companion.
Whether the dog is revived depends on your endgame choices. But if you DIDN’T, then you probably didn’t have the emotional connection we were hoping for, and this entry means nothing to you.
7Ori And The Blind Forest / Ori And The Will Of The Wisps
Ku
Does “animal companion” count if every character is an animal? It better, because the story of Ku is the closest we’ve ever come to crying over a video game. In The Blind Forest, they’re the only surviving newborn after an imbalance in nature kills their siblings and sends their mother into a lethal rage.
In The Will of the Wisps, Ku reunited with Ori, only to sacrifice themselves to save Ori from a massive bird monster. It’s a downright heartbreaking moment of “we finally found each other again, only to lose you.”
8Never Alone
The Arctic Fox
Never Alone is already a beautiful story about an authentic traditional Iñupiaq story. Solving puzzles in Arctic settings, the arctic fox acts as both our trusted ally and a hallmark of how in-tune with nature you are.
So watching some guy kill the fox right in front of you because he can is almost blood-boiling. Their unexpected and unceremonious demise hit us like a brick of emotions. They return as a spirit, so we need not mourn long, but the shock and sadness remain in our memories.
