History Main / Familiar

* [[WeaselMascot Chamo]] in ''MahouSenseiNegima!'' It's kind of a subversion, as they really don't seem to have a special bond, but Negi officially makes Chamo his familiar so the latter has a valid excuse for staying at Mahora.

* In one issue of ''{{Beasts of Burden=='' a coven of witches each with a cat familiar moved into town. While most of them were killed along with the witches, Dympha survived and sought revenge on the others, then joined them. She retains magical capabilities without the witch.

A familiar is a creature that has been magically bound to a person in a master-and-servant type of relationship. The actual type of familiar varies greatly; it is typically a small animal (such as a witch's cat) but can be anything, including demons or even human beings! Similarly, the type of bond can vary: in some cases it is nothing more than the ability to [[TheDoctorDolittle understand]] what the familiar says [[TalkingAnimal (if it speaks)]] while in others the familiar ''is'' the source of the character's powers. But there ''must'' be a specific bond; just having a magical creature as a companion doesn't count. The "master" need not be a sorcerer, either -- many stories have a normal person gain a familiar by accident, often resulting in trouble.

* Galenth Dysley of ''FinalFantasyXIII'' has an owl familiar named Minerva, who is often seen with him when he appears. [[spoiler: She is actually a manifestation of his power and he uses her to transform into his true form, Baldanders. Not only that, she is capable of turning into an airship, as well.]]

** Occasionally, some cards are seen making independent choices. In the first series, the very first duel between Yugi and Kaiba, has the later attempt to cheat by putting the Blue Eyes he stole from Yugi's grandpa on the top of his deck, then drawing and summoning it instantly. The dragon immediately self destructs, allowing Yugi to call it back to his own side with Raise Dead (monster reborn).

* ''[=~Mage: The Awakening~=]'' features Familiars for the title mages, creatures that are actually manifested spirits capable of using Numina (spirit powers) at will. Those with a good knowledge of the Spirit Arcanum even have the ability to summon temporary familiars at will; needless to say, the {{Pokemon}} jokes are endless.

A familiar is a creature that has been magically bound to a person in a master-and-servant type of relationship. The actual type of familiar varies greatly; it is typically a small animal (such as a witch's cat) but can be anything, including demons or even human beings! Similarly, the type of bond can vary: in some cases it is nothing more than the ability to [[TheDoctorDoolittle understand]] what the familiar says [[TalkingAnimal (if it speaks)]] while in others the familiar ''is'' the source of the character's powers. But there ''must'' be a specific bond; just having a magical creature as a companion doesn't count. The "master" need not be a sorcerer, either -- many stories have a normal person gain a familiar by accident, often resulting in trouble.

A familiar is a creature that has been magically bound to a person in a master-and-servant type of relationship. The actual type of familiar varies greatly; it is typically a small animal (such as a witch's cat) but can be anything, including demons or even human beings! Similarly, the type of bond can vary: in some cases it is nothing more than the ability to [[TheDoctorDoolitle understand]] what the familiar says [[TalkingAnimal (if it speaks)]] while in others the familiar ''is'' the source of the character's powers. But there ''must'' be a specific bond; just having a magical creature as a companion doesn't count. The "master" need not be a sorcerer, either -- many stories have a normal person gain a familiar by accident, often resulting in trouble.

A familiar is a creature that has been magically bound to a person in a master-and-servant type of relationship. The actual type of familiar varies greatly; it is typically a small animal (such as a witch's cat) but can be anything, including demons or even human beings! Similarly, the type of bond can vary: in some cases it is nothing more than the ability to understand what the familiar says (if it speaks) while in others the familiar ''is'' the source of the character's powers. But there ''must'' be a specific bond; just having a magical creature as a companion doesn't count. The "master" need not be a sorcerer, either -- many stories have a normal person gain a familiar by accident, often resulting in trouble.

This is based on the medieval belief that The Devil granted demon servants (in animal form) to witches [[DealWithTheDevil as part of their pacts]]. The idea has since evolved greatly in Fantasy fiction, and even some Science Fiction settings have similar concepts ({{telepath|y}}ic pets, for example). Compare EmpathyPet, {{Mons}}, RightHandCat.

[[folder: ComicBooks]]

* In one issue of ''BeastsOfBurden'' a coven of witches each with a cat familiar moved into town. While most of them were killed along with the witches, Dympha survived and sought revenge on the others, then joined them. She retains magical capabilities without the witch.

** Fourth edition changed it to a feat that any arcane class can take. The list includes small animals, weak monsters, and... [[TheAddamsFamily Things]].
*** By fourth edition familiars are not real animals, but solid "spirits" that can die and be brought back as many times as you like.

->"A flash of lightning tore through the tumult, illuminating the grizzled Elemenstor and his ambulatory dresser."
-->-- [[PennyArcade Tycho Brahe]], ''[[http://elothtes.pbwiki.com/Book+ 1 The Elemenstor Cycle, Book 1: The Fires of Mount Windice]]''

->'''Ray:''' "I think this cat is a familiar!"\\
'''Winston:''' "You know this cat?"

A familiar is a creature that has been magically bound to a person in a master-and-servant type of relationship. The actual type of familiar varies greatly; it is typically a small animal (such as a witch's cat) but can be anything, including demons or even human beings! Similarly, the type of bond can vary: in some cases it is nothing more than the ability to understand what the familiar says (if it speaks) while in others the familiar ''is'' the source of the character's powers. But there ''must'' be a specific bond; just having a magical creature as a companion doesn't count. The 'master' need not be a sorcerer, either--many stories have a normal person gain a familiar by accident, often resulting in trouble.

This is based on the medieval belief that The Devil granted demon servants (in animal form) to witches [[DealWithTheDevil as part of their pacts]]. The idea has since evolved greatly in Fantasy fiction, and even some Science Fiction settings have similar concepts ([[{{telepathy}} telepathic]] pets, for example.) Compare EmpathyPet, {{Mons}}, RightHandCat.

Not to be confused with the term "familiar" meaning "something known" though sometimes the similarity is used as the source of an IncrediblyLamePun. It's even worse in Spanish, where "familiar" can also mean "blood relative" (this is also the case in English, though it's more uncommon.) See also SapientSteed.

!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]

* Jiji from ''KikisDeliveryService.''

* [[WeaselMascot Chamo]] in ''MahouSenseiNegima''. It's kind of a subversion, as they really don't seem to have a special bond, but Negi officially makes Chamo his familiar so the latter has a valid excuse for staying at Mahora.

* Arf, the Lieze twins, Linith, and Zafira in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' ([[InsistentTerminology Zafira says]] he is a "[[CallARabbitASmeerp guardian beast]]" rather than a familiar, but Arf retorts that it's the same thing), serve Fate, Gil Graham, Precia and Hayate, respectively.
* The "Shadow Dragons" in NaruTaru.

* Most {{Mons}}.
* The main character (and title character) is a familiar in ''ZeroNoTsukaima'', which translates to Zero's Familiar.
* In ''{{Kekkaishi}}'', the titular practitioners summon familiars called "landlords" to aid them in perfecting their abilities. These are basically dog spirits that wear collars to limit their powers.

* Calcifer from HowlsMovingCastle.

[[AC:{{Fan Work}}]]
* In the ''[[BaldursGate Baldur's Gate]]'' fanfic ''A Tale of Two Mages'', an additional rule is established: when a mage casts the Find Familiar spell, the familiar is chosen as the creature maximally "compatible" to the mage in a certain radius. (There's a mention of some poor girl who got her own tapeworm as a familiar...) It just so happens that two wizards - NeutralGood Nalia and LawfulEvil Edwin - cast the spell simultaneously and being in a fairly close proximity... and both become familiars ''to each other.'' HilarityEnsues.

--> "In answer to your question, a giant slug is NO GOOD AT ALL as a familiar - in fact MOST familiars are no good as a familiar."

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* {{Disney}}'s ''BedknobsAndBroomsticks''. Miss Price has a black cat as her familiar.

* In the MysteryScienceTheater3000 viewed movie MerlinsShopOfMysticalWonders the {{jerkass}} critic tries to turn his cat into a familiar. [[GoneHorriblyWrong It doesn't]] [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel work]].

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* In Steven Brust's {{Taltos}} stories, Vlad Taltos used witchcraft to obtain a familiar: the jhereg Loiosh.
* In ''[[EarthseaTrilogy A Wizard Of Earthsea]]'' Ged has an otak familiar.

* Played with in the {{Discworld}} series. Nanny Ogg has a cat, but he's just a pet; Magrat has tried various animals, but none of them lasted for long; Granny Weatherwax has avoided getting a familiar, for fear it would be ''too'' familiar. Mrs Gogol's black cockerel Legba, in ''Witches Abroad'', would be the straightest example, except that she privately admits that he's just for show.
** Twoflower (and later Rincewind) have The Luggage, which deserves its captialization.
* In TheHollows novels, people using [[LeyLine ley-line]] magic can use animal familiars to help them in handling the energy of the line safely. This is somewhat hard on the familiar as an accident in handling the energy will hurt the familiar instead of its master.
** Demons use sentient beings such as humans, elves, witches or even other demons for their familiars. This is considered to be a FateWorseThanDeath and is often a result of making a DealWithTheDevil. Demonic familiars are slaves to their masters and suffer physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Even worse, the BlackMagic used by the demons creates harmful 'smut' that can pollute their aura but the demons transfer this to their familiar instead.

* The only pets allowed at [[HarryPotter Hogwarts]] are animals traditionally thought of as familiars (owl, cat, rat or toad.) They don't appear to have any special magical connection to their owners, though.

[[AC:TabletopRPG]]
* DungeonsAndDragons allowed wizards to acquire a familiar by using a spell. Most were animals, but there was a small chance you could get a weak monster.

*** By forth edition familiars are not real animals, but solid 'spirits' that can die and be brought back as many times as you like.
* Because ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is ''[[GrimDark War]][[CrapsackWorld hammer]] [[ItGotWorse 40]],[[{{Gotterdammerung}} 000]]'', their take on Familiars is pure HighOctaneNightmareFuel. [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/File:Cherubim2.jpg Cherubim]] are vat-grown infants who have mechanical wings and propulsion devices installed, as well as bio-programming to make them intelligent enough to take orders. Controlled through their master's Mind Impulse Unit, Cherubim are used to help carry equipment, ferry messages, [[ChurchMilitant sing devotional hymns]], spy on their master's enemies, or just flutter around and be decorative symbols of purity. Unless they go feral, that is - their bio-programming is partially derived from pigs and other animals, so there's a small chance a Cherub will flip out and start lunging at throats. Yes, it's not enough that they're lobotomized clone-babies, they may also kill you.
** Other types of Familiars in 40k include Servo Skulls (skulls of particularly loyal seravnts of the Imperium fitted with an antigravity generator and a machine spirit so that they can continue to serve even in death) and Psyber Eagles or Ravens (cybernetically modified birds that share a psychic link with the owner). Chaos gets daemonic Familiars, mutated creatures and the likes. Eldar psykers are sometimes accomanied by Gryxes, which are catlike creatures that are sensitive to psychic energy, but it's not quite clear whether they're Familiars or just pets.
* ''MageTheAwakening'' features Familiars for the titular mages, creatures that are actually manifested spirits capable of using Numina (spirit powers) at will. Those with a good knowledge of the Spirit Arcanum even have the ability to summon temporary familiars at will; needless to say, the {{Pokemon}} jokes are endless.

* Don't the Charmers in ''Yu-Gi-OhCardGame'' count? Because in their artwork, small monsters can be seen alongside human spellcasters.


[[AC:TruthInTelevision]]
* Accounts of witches with familiars go back to the 1500s, making this OlderThanSteam.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* The 'Manas' in the AtelierSeries and ''ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis'', where [[spoiler:the ''main character'' is one]].
* Erasmus, the {{Dumbledore}} of the QuestForGlory series of games, has a talking rat as his familiar.

* ''BaldursGate'' (mostly) follows the second edition AD&D rules, but makes the familiar summoning a lot more forgiving. Which familiar gets summoned, is determined by the mage's alignment: for example, a fairy dragon for ChaoticGood, an imp for LawfulEvil, etc. Familiar gives the mage a hit points bonus plus some other small benefits; but if it is killed, the mage loses one point of constitution ''permanently''.
* While its engine and gameplay are based on D&D 3.0, ''NeverwinterNights'' diverts from the source in a number of ways, familiars being one of them. Perhaps to make gameplay easier, a wizard or sorcerer PC's familiars are largely combat-oriented (save for one which works as a replacement rogue). They're still animals or weak monsters... but this game lets a wizard have a frickin' ''panther''. [[RuleOfCool Or a]] ''[[RuleOfCool hellhound]]''. (For the record, [[NeverwinterNights2 the sequel]] doesn't do this.)
* [[TheBeastmaster Beastmasters]] in ''FinalFantasyXI'' can summon familiars as a replacement pet. Unlike charmable pets, they will never turn against their master(They may spontaniously vanish after 30 minutes or so, but what can you do?). Summoners can call forth elemental spirits(Elementals), and Avatars(Classic FF summons).

* Familiars play a fairly important role in KingdomOfLoathing, and certain familiars are vital to complete some of the higher-level quests. This being KOL, they are somewhat stranger than in other fictions (Sabre-Toothed Lime, Blood-Faced Volleyball, NinjaPirateZombieRobot, etc.). They have several possible functions, such as restoring your HP and/or MP, damaging your opponent with physical and/or elemental attacks, weakening and/or disrupting your opponent during a fight, increasing the amount of items and/or meat and/or stats you get when you win a fight, or [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Familiar_abilities any combination of these]]. Black Cats deserve special mention, because they create bad luck for the player: they reduce the amount of items and stats you're awarded after winning a fight, they regularly strip you of beneficial status effects and drain your MP, and they usually prevent you from using skills, spells, or items in combat. Basically, they do everything short of attacking you directly. However, using them exclusively can let you permanently unlock Bad Moon, a special harder-than-hardcore difficulty level.

* In ''WorldOfWarcraft'' there's a minipet called Kirin Tor Familiar. It looks like a small mana elemental. Some NPC mages have familiars, such as cats, dragonhawks or servants. Warlock's demons could be considered Familiars, especially if you spec demonology when they provide various beneficial effects for the master.

* ''RivieraThePromisedLand''

* AzureDreams allows you to have a variety of familiars.
* Several games in the {{Castlevania}} series allow you to have familiars, including ''[[CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon Circle Of The Moon]]'', ''[[CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony Of The Night]]'', and ''[[CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness Curse Of Darkness]]'' (in which they played an important role).

[[AC:WebComics]]
* {{Yamara}}'s friend Fea has "[[FrogsAndToads Poopsie]]". [[http://yamara.com/yamaraclassic/index.php?date=2005-06-16 "Poopsie" has nightmare]].
* [[ErrantStory Meji]] has Ellis, a winged talking cat. While he's referred to as a familiar, he was apparently bought from a pet store and has little to no magical significance. He's also sarcastic and abrasive to everybody and especially Meji.
* Technomages in TheCyantianChronicles have familiars that were formerly animals but had their consciousness transferred into cybernetic bodies after their deaths and are used as power sources by their masters.
* In TheOrderOfTheStick: Vaarsuvius has Blackwing. This trope was [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] because in the beginning Blackwing only appeared when V remembered that he could be useful. In fact, Blackwing didn't even have a name until Haley gave him one. Later on, Blackwing pretty much tells off V for treating him this way. Lately, though, Blackwing has been hanging out in plain view, and V is treating him like an equal. Unfortunately the rest of the group think he is an illusion and V has a screw loose.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* Napoleon, Lilian's cat familiar in {{WITCH}}.

<<|SpeculativeFictionTropes|>>

* The talking cats in ''SailorMoon'' may count.

*** The Snake familiar is particularly interesting; it gives you + 3 to Bluff checks. You would think a snake would make people [[SnakesAreEvil less inclined to trust you]], rather than more...
*** probably a StealthPun on "snake tongue".

* Jiji from ''KikisDeliveryService.''

** While animal familiars seem to be existant, as Chamo suggested in being his familiar himself, humans are more often than not the familiars of mages. The pactio system specifically is stated to be exactly this, a master/servent relationship magically connected by the ritual. And while there are tons of people shown to be involved in a pactio, almost nobody has been shown with an animal familiar.

* The Servants in FateStayNight are classified as human familiars, but aren't really. They're too powerful. Tohsaka can also make familiars in the shape of animals by using crystals.

* In BaldursGate fanfic ''A Tale of Two Mages'', additional rule is established: when a mage casts the Find Familiar spell, the familiar is chosen as the creature maximally "compatible" to the mage in a certain radius. (Where's a mention of some poor girl who got her own tapeworm as a familiar...) It just so happens that two wizards - NeutralGood Nalia and LawfulEvil Edwin - cast the spell simultaneously and being in a fairly close proximity... and both become familiars ''to each other.'' HilarityEnsues.

* In ''[[EarthseaTrilogy A Wizard Of Earthsea]]'', Ged has an otak familiar.

* In TheHollows novels people using [[LeyLine ley-line]] magic can use animal familiars to help them in handling the energy of the line safely. This is somewhat hard on the familiar as an accident in handling the energy will hurt the familiar instead of its master.

* Discussed briefly in FateZero. Most Magi use familiars, which leave a magical trail so they can be detected. However, Kiritsugu also uses normal cameras attached to bats as they do not leave a presence nor can a camera be tricked with magic like the brain of a familiar.