15 Best Video Game Dogs

This canonically unnamed pooch sticks by the also-canonically unnamed hero of Secret of Evermore, helping him take down baddies right and left, plus he can use his super sniffer to find goodies. We don't know your name, but you still deserve to be on the list of the 15 Best Video Game Dogs.

Final Fantasy III/VI's taciturn ass-kicker-for-hire, Shadow, may be renowned as a man so cold he'd "slit his mamma's throat for a nickel," but even a cold-blooded killer needs a friend, and his is Interceptor, his equally ass-kicking dog.

Poochy's a pretty single-minded pup— all he really wants to do is run around and bark, although he does inadvertently help Yoshi on occasion.

While Killer Instinct's Sabrewulf is actually a man stricken with lycanthropy (What? They count!), he does have one thing going for him — he's a count, which probably means he's loaded.

Like Sabrewulf, Darkstalker's Talbain is a lycanthrope who just wants to be human again. Whether that will ever happen remains to be seen, but at least Talbain can always fall back on his dope baggy pants and sweet nunchuck skills.

"Those industry fat cats try to put a price on my music, but it wants to be free." Deep words from K.K. Slider, a dog with a guitar in his paws and a song in his heart.

Peter Puppy may be a pretty cool guy, but he's not exactly easy for Earthworm Jim to pal around with — he and Bruce Banner have a few things in common, what with their tendency to hulk out into giant, stuff-smashing rage monsters.

Max may walk on two legs, but he's technically a dog, a suit-wearing detective, and the more sane half of the crime-fighting duo, Sam & Max.

Kick, punch, it's all the mind! A cooler doggy, you'll never find. Parappa's a rapper, and he ain't no crapper, so you better shut up or he'll smack your yapper!

Mira may seem unremarkable, at first, but if you dig into Silent Hill 2 you may find that this pup is the surreptitious mastermind behind the hellish town and its many secrets.

Everyone thinks their dog is special. "My Rosco is so smart!" says Mrs. Katzopolis. "Well, my Buddy is so brave!" retorts her neighbor. Yeah, well Okami's Amaterasu is a friggin' god, and can use a paintbrush to alter the universe. Top that, Mrs. Katzopolis.

Most of the pooches on the list of the 15 Best Video Game Dogs are friendly pups who just want a pat on the head and a, "Who's a good boy?" The dogs from Resident Evil, on the other hand, mostly just want to rip your face off and gobble up your intestines.

Fallout's Dogmeat is a rough-and-tumble kind of mutt— he'll throw down against any super mutants, giant scorpions, or rad-riddled ghouls with the best of them. Plus he's virtually indestructible, and with the right perks you can have a Buddhist reincarnation of Dogmeat should anything happen to his current mortal form.

Duck Hunt Dog: video games' first troll. While he may seem like a loyal companion who is there to help you strike down some foul fowl, he really just came along so he can laugh at you when you miss. What a jerk!

Rush can fly over gaps, turn into a submarine, vault you into parts unknown, and, to top it all off, transform into power armor to help Mega Man kick even more ass. Rush has been with Mega Man for a long, long time, co-starring in more games than the other pooches in this list put together, which is why he easily takes the top spot on this list of the 15 Best Video Game Dogs.