The Dogs of Gaming: The Good, the Bad, and the Pugly

It’s the Year of the Dog for those celebrating the Chinese New Year and what better way to ring it in as gamers than to celebrate the beloved canine companions found in game. From the adorably loyal Dogmeat from Fallout 4, to the ferocious (and smelly) Mabari companion in Dragon Age Origins – there is enough puppy love to go around!

To keep it all in balance though, we’ll also throw in a few of the “bad puppers” in the mix. I think we can all agree when we turn our eyes to the dogs in Resident Evil. So let’s kick off our own Year of the Dog celebration beginning now!

Dragon Age: The Mabari

I wouldn’t be a very good Dragon Age fan girl if I didn’t bring up the beloved Mabari! Seen in all three games, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition, the adorably slobbery war hound is a staple in Ferelden. If you’re lucky enough to have one of these ferocious, yet cuddly, hounds imprint on you – they’ll be loyal to you for life. 

Handy both in battle and comfort, the Mabari are one of the most beloved in-game companions that an RPG fan could ask for! According to the Dragon Age Wiki page: 

“Each mabari chooses their master for life in a process called imprinting. Although fierce combatants, a mabari companion is shown to be a highly sociable animal, and though not capable of speech, they can clearly respond to speech with growls, whines, barks and several other actions that demonstrate intelligent comprehension.

Mabari are huge mastiffs with a touch of wolf blood that stand as tall as a dwarf and just as wide. Their masters (or “partners” as many of those paired with Mabari prefer) will often choose a distinct style of war paint to mark them with so that they can better pick them out from other Mabari at a distance in the midst of a combat. Correspondingly, many Fereldans that frequently fight alongside Mabari will scent themselves with distinctively pungent body paint called “kaddis” which allows the dogs to easily mark them as allies. Due to their great value, “feral” Mabari are unheard of”

Metal Gear Solid V: D-Dog

From the moment we first laid eyes on D-Dog as a puppy in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, we knew were about to fall in love – and fast. The puppers in arms and in stealth grows up throughout the game and he’s not just a pretty face either! D-Dog is a phenomenal help during missions of reconnaissance and the bond between him and Snake is undeniable. 

If you didn’t find him in your playthrough, or are about to dive in for the first time, you can find him in these three locations: 

• North of Da Wialo
• South of the Eastern Communications Post
• South of the Wakh Sind Barracks deployment area 

Fable 2

Whether you were the hero or the monster in Albion, the dog in Fable II was both a trusted friend and a handy partner. He could find buried caches, treasure chests, and more while remaining loyal at the player’s side. 

When playing the beloved RPG, players can rescue the dog from being bullied in Bowerstone. Later on in the story, the player is thrown out of a window in Fairfax Castle where the adorable puppers find them and saves them forever sealing a bond of love and loyalty. Even if the player goes the more evil route in game, this digital puppers will be there for it all. 

Fallout 4: Dogmeat

Dogmeat is the German Shepard in Fallout 4 that fans fell in love with before the game was fully launched. A loyal companion to the Sole Survivor, he can help the player find things all over the Commonwealth, including other people. 

Dogmeat has helped Nick Valentine, Preston Garvey, and others while the Sole Survivor remained cryogenically frozen but once the two meet in-game – it’s a bond forever cemented. Whether finding quests, exploring the wasteland, or just hangin’ around being cute; Dogmeat is one canine companion no list can be without! He can also be gifted neat cosmetic items, like the hanker chief seen above!

Okami: Amaterasu

Though this one might be seen as a stretch because it’s no simple canine companion, but instead a celestial goddess in a large white wolf form. Her name literally means “heaven’s illumination”. She takes the shape of a large white wolf with unique markings artfully scaling her body and a tail that resembles that of a calligraphy brush, which is fitting for the game style. She is the Sun Goddess with a quiet, yet indomitable nature. Her intelligence, her self acknowledgement, and the overall personal aspects of her character make Amaterasu a beautifully done centerpiece to a game that was damned near perfection.

The honorable “Bad Dogs” mention, for balance:

Not every canine can be perfect (as much as we’d like to think differently), so here’s a nod to the “bad puppers” also seen in gaming:

• Sif the Great Grey Wolf in Dark Souls is an incredible wolf both in size and might. The companion to Sir Artorias, the Abysswalker, in Dark Souls, he is one of the bosses players will face in the Darkroot Garden. 
• Zombie Dogs in the Resident Evil franchise were no joke either. Seemingly endless, these enemies can appear out of no where and proved to be quite formidable in combat. Aggressive, agile, and hungry – players will have but a single notice by way of a growl before combat ensues. 
• The Dog from Duck Hunt simply because he laughs at you when you miss a shot, and that’s just rude.

Also, quick thanks to fellow writer Tanner for the puppy pun used in the title!