History Main / HitchhikerHeroes

This collection is a common feature of fairy tales. In computer role-playing games with a party of playable characters, they are usually encountered this way.

* An aggravating variation on this occurs in many western-style [=CRPGs=] in which you can only have so many party members at once. While you can still only recruit certain characters, you have to dump current party members temporarily in order to change around your party. Since there's no console-style portable hyper-dustbin to leave spare companions, you actually have to track them down again if you want them back. In some games, they may be so insulted by being discarded that they're LostForever.

This collection is a common feature of fairy tales.

* Many RPG video games recruit [=NPCs=] into the player character's entourage, one or two at a time, as the player progresses through the game.
** It's a running joke among FireEmblem fans that none of the series' many heroes could've won their respective conflicts if they didn't take every chance to steal troops from the enemy.

* ''CaravanOfCourage'', a Franchise/StarWars MadeForTVMovie. (This trope's working title was "Caravan Cavalry")

* ''JourneyToTheWest''.

* ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}: Michael Kappel starts on a life of adventure with just a SympatheticSentientWeapon whom he rescued. Over time he gathers a wife and two more sidekicks (these five meld together into a family) plus a large group of other followers that includes a former TortureTechnician and an embittered government secret agent.

* ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}: Michael Kappel starts on a life of adventure with just a SentientSympatheticWeapon whom he rescued. Over time he gathers a wife and two more sidekicks (these five meld together into a family) plus a large group of other followers that includes a former TortureTechnician and an embittered government secret agent.

* In the fantasy webcomic ''CwensQuest,'' Cwen and her [[LivingToys stuffed]] {{weasel|Mascot}} companion Wendy have thus far collected a [[IOweYouMyLife life slave]] named [[TheLancer Riddly Lancer,]] a geriatric dragon, a younger half-sister with hat phobias and has called the favor of a friend of the family, a demon named Essex. The first three were collected in the same place and same day, while Essex was actually summoned later by Wendy.

* {{Roza}} [[http://www.junglestudio.com/roza/?date=2008-11-17 acquires at first a goat, then a man under a]] {{Curse}}.

->''"You. Join our crew!"''
->''"Alright then!"''
-->-- '''Luffy''' nonchalantly asks [[DemBones living skeleton]] '''Brook''' to join his crew right after meeting him, and Brook's response, ''Manga/OnePiece''

This often results in the formation of a RagtagBandOfMisfits. This trope can delve into BecauseDestinySaysSo or even ContrivedCoincidence, as the average viewer might find it very improbable that so many people with just the needed talents can be encountered along the path of the Epic Quest. See Also PlotTailoredToTheParty, CharacterMagneticTeam, DebutQueue, MagneticHero. Expect at least one episode to be devoted to a member facing the LeaveYourQuestTest.

-->-- '''Luffy''' nonchalantly asks [[DemBones living skeleton]] '''Brook''' to join his crew right after meeting him, and Brook's response, ''Manga/{{One Piece}}''

When you're a callow youth charged with halting some {{Evil Overlord}}'s rise to power, life ain't easy. Your home village probably [[GullibleLemmings won't support you, and may actively oppose you]] ([[DoomedHometown assuming it's still there]]); your parents are most likely [[ParentalAbandonment dead and/or gone]] [[LukeIAmYourFather and/or evil]]; and the one thing you need to vanquish the evil -- the MacGuffin or SpiritAdvisor or whatever -- is an [[TheQuest Epic Quest]] away. And again, you're but a callow youth, with not the mad skillz needed to pull off this most solemn of tasks. At least, not alone.

HitchhikerHeroes describes a band of warriors or (more commonly) would-be warriors who join up with TheHero over the course of his journey to defeat the EvilOverlord. The trope encompasses several specific characteristics:

# The Hero should [[TheDrifter begin the journey alone]], or at least with minimal companions. Perhaps a love interest, if that one is not [[DistressedDamsel currently a hostage]].

** Oftentimes, certain would-be HitchhikerHeroes will initially decline to join in the Quest, whether out of disinterest, [[WeAREStrugglingTogether fear or mistrust]]. In these cases, TheHero will usually have to earn their respect by besting them with their own special skill.

* ''Hokuto No Ken'' (or ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' as it is known in the US) starts off and often falls back into this. The only times Kenshiro ever asks for anybody to tag along are when the person in question is actually competent enough to defend themselves, but that doesn't stop people from following him anyway.

* ''OnePiece'' is particularly notorious for this, as Luffy is willing to take in just about anyone as part of his crew at the drop of a hat. And each member of his crew has a special power. And he never expects to meet them at all. It gets to the point of being PlayedForLaughs, as Luffy offers membership onto the crew to some very ridiculous characters, including a ''tree''.

* The ''InuYasha'' gang met up this way, starting out with Kagome and [=InuYasha=], and picking up Shippo, then Miroku, and finally Sango.

* The first arc or so of DragonBall starts out like this with a colorful cast of characters joining [[TheHero Goku]] and [[HotScientist Bulma]] on their quest to collect the [[MacGuffinTitle titular]] [[MacGuffin Dragon Balls]]. However, as the series progresses, they gravitate more towards DefeatEqualsFriendship most of the time.
* The titular main character of ''BoboboboBobobo'' roams the planet on a quest to take down the worldwide regime of the Hair Hunters. Though he starts off alone, various allies sequentially join him on his journey, usually due to personal reasons, loneliness, or just for the sake of having a crazy, good time.

** [[{{OlderThanTheyThink}} ...just like its predecessors]], ''TheMagnificentSeven'' and ''TheSevenSamurai''
* ''Film/{{Krull}}''. TheMentor heads down to bind the wounds of TheHero, an IneptMage teleports near them ([[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] it by noting he came quite a distance from where he intended), a gang of robbers decide to join them, an ''actual'' mage and his apprentice comes along to lead them, a cyclops has [[YouCantFightFate seen the future]] to know he'll join them...

* ''Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales'' is a good example of the {{Antihero}} version.

* ''CaravanOfCourage'', a StarWars MadeForTVMovie. (This trope's working title was "Caravan Cavalry")

* Every ''{{Suikoden}}'' game ever encourages the player to gather up at least some of 108 possible party members, with all of the important ones (read: those with some importance to the plot somewhere)encountering the player as opposed to the player hunting them down. This is of course destiny, no matter how hard/annoying/pointless the quests seem, and you get the 'good' ending for collecting all of them.

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] and [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in ''StarWars: KnightsOfTheOldRepublic 2'', where the Exile gathers allies by subconsciously creating Force bonds.

* This is the way recruitment works in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' - save for starting squad member Kaidan Alenko, each is recruited sequentially during the main quest and joins the team as soon as you meet them. The alien members served as [[MrExposition mouthpieces]] on their species' history and culture, and all six combat classes were represented by the six squad members.

* ''{{Chrono Trigger}}'': You begin as [[TheHero Crono]]; he meets [[RebelliousPrincess Marle]], who promptly disappears. Here the quest starts; you and [[WrenchWench Lucca]] save her, but the three become outlaws upon their return (Crono and Lucca for 'kidnapping the princess', Marle for defying her father). Then the three find out about [[EldritchAbomination Lavos]]. From this point, they recruit several unconnected people from different time periods (who know nothing of Lavos), as they try to find Lavos' source, and destroy it to save the future. You collect a FailureKnight BalefulPolymorph, a TinCanRobot [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots with a big heart]] and a NubileSavage. ([[spoiler:Optionally, they can also get AntiVillain Magus]]).

* ''{{Webcomic/No Rest For The Wicked}}'': November has picked up three companions. Thus far.
* In the fantasy webcomic ''CwensQuest,'' Cwen and her [[LivingToys stuffed]] [[WeaselMascot weasel]] companion Wendy have thus far collected a [[IOweYouMyLife life slave]] named [[TheLancer Riddly Lancer,]] a geriatric dragon, a younger half-sister with hat phobias and has called the favor of a friend of the family, a demon named Essex. The first three were collected in the same place and same day, while Essex was actually summoned later by Wendy.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicAdventuresOfMumfie''

When you're a callow youth charged with halting some {{Evil Overlord}}'s rise to power, life ain't easy. Your home village probably [[GullibleLemmings won't support you, and may actively oppose you]] ([[DoomedHometown assuming it's still there]]); your parents are most likely [[ParentalAbandonment dead and/or gone]][[LukeIAmYourFather and/or evil]]; and the one thing you need to vanquish the evil -- the MacGuffin or SpiritAdvisor or whatever -- is an [[TheQuest Epic Quest]] away. And again, you're but a callow youth, with not the mad skillz needed to pull off this most solemn of tasks. At least, not alone.

When you're a callow youth charged with halting some {{Evil Overlord}}'s rise to power, life ain't easy. Your home village probably [[GullibleLemmings won't support you, and may actively oppose you]] ([[DoomedHometown assuming it's still there]]); your parents are most likely [[ParentalAbandonment dead and/or gone]]; and the one thing you need to vanquish the evil -- the MacGuffin or SpiritAdvisor or whatever -- is an [[TheQuest Epic Quest]] away. And again, you're but a callow youth, with not the mad skillz needed to pull off this most solemn of tasks. At least, not alone.

* The RogerCorman/John Saxon/Richard Thomas BMovie ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'': although the whole point of TheQuest was to assemble such a group, each new member was encountered quite by chance.

* ''TheLordOfTheRings'' is another borderline example. Subverted in that none of the eventual Fellowship of the Ring (with the exception of Merry and Pippin) are encountered by random chance, but rather by design. Further subverted when the Fellowship is sundered long before The Quest is completed.

* ''TheMagicAdventuresOfMumfie''

* In ''TheFoolOfTheWorldAndHisFlyingShip'', it's understood, if unspoken, that Fate or some Higher Power is directing the encounters, given that the Fool is told he must give a ride to anyone who asks him; and of course each person he encounters does ask him. He picks up, in short order and completely unconnected: a man who runs extremely fast; a man who can hear things miles away; a man who can see things miles away; a man who can keep eating and never be full; a man of extraordinary strength who generally seems to be a weakling; and a man with a bundle of sticks which he can turn into soldiers. Various versions add to or subtract from the lineup, but the PlotTailoredToTheParty at the end always requires each of their strengths, in some combination.

** {{Baldurs Gate}} 2 gets around this by giving you the option of telling dismissed party members to go wait for you at the Copper Coronet. You still have to go back and get them but at least they're all in one handy location.

** Oftentimes, certain would-be HitchhikerHeroes will initially decline to join in the Quest, whether out of disinterest, [[WeAREStrugglingTogether fear or mistrust]]. In these cases, TheHero will usually have to earn their respect by [[BestedAtBowling besting them with their own special skill]].

* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', most Pokemon trainers start off on their journey alone. Although some stay alone, Ash has a strong tendency to pick up companions on the way, typically forming a team of three - him, a girl trainer, and a guy trainer (usually Brock).

* ''{{Chrono Trigger}}'': You begin as [[TheHero Crono]]; he meets [[RebelliousPrincess Marle]], who promptly disappears. Here the quest starts; you and [[WrenchWench Lucca]] save her, but the three become outlaws upon their return (Crono and Lucca for 'kidnapping the princess', Marle for defying her father). Then the three find out about [[EldritchAbomination Lavos]]. From this point, they recruit several unconnected people from different time periods (who know nothing of Lavos), as they try to find Lavos' source, and destroy it to save the future. You collect a FailureKnight BalefulPolymorph, a [[TinCanRobots Robot]] [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots with a big heart]] and a NubileSavage. ([[spoiler:Optionally, they can also get AntiVillain Magus]]).

* This is the way recruitment works in ''MassEffect'' - save for starting squad member Kaidan Alenko, each is recruited sequentially during the main quest and joins the team as soon as you meet them. The alien members served as [[MrExposition mouthpieces]] on their species' history and culture, and all six combat classes were represented by the six squad members.
** ''[[MassEffect Mass Effect 2]]'' averts the trope: recruiting and gaining the loyalty of Shepard's squad members forms the majority of the game's storyline. They talk mostly about themselves and the mission, and there are no new classes, so there is overlap in powers and abilities.

* "The Redemption of Althalus" is pretty much based on this trope as not only does the hero have to find his allies in order one by one but also encounter his enemy's allies in order as well all according to the future as predicted by the Knife.

* In ''MARDEK RPG'', the only person actually ''recruited'' is the mercenary Zach (and, kinda, the ClockPunk robot [[IAmLegion Legion]], whom you help construct).

* In the fantasy webcomic ''[[http://www.drunkduck.com/Cwens_Quest Cwen's Quest,]]'' Cwen and her [[LivingToys stuffed]] [[WeaselMascot weasel]] companion Wendy have thus far collected a [[IOweYouMyLife life slave]] named [[TheLancer Riddly Lancer,]] a geriatric dragon, a younger half-sister with hat phobias and has called the favor of a friend of the family, a demon named Essex. The first three were collected in the same place and same day, while Essex was actually summoned later by Wendy.