History Main / HitchhikerHeroes

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' 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.

* Every ''VideoGame/{{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.

** In ''Film/ANewHope'', we start with the droids, who "happen" upon Luke Skywalker, who knows Ben Kenobi, who takes them to Mos Eisley whey they meet Han Solo, ad so on.

* Of course the Rock and roll fairy tale ''Film/AKnightsTale'' is this, picking up a poet, a blacksmith, and a Queen on the way, as well as being a RagtagBunchOfMisfits.

[[folder:Literature]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

* The Creator/RogerCorman[=/=]Creator/JohnSaxon[=/=]Creator/RichardThomas B-Movie ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'': although the whole point of TheQuest was to assemble such a group, each new member was encountered quite by chance. [[OlderThanTheyThink ...just like its predecessors]], ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven'' and ''Film/TheSevenSamurai''

* 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.

->'''Luffy''': ''"You. Join our crew!"''
->'''Brook''': ''"All right then!"''

** During the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]] expansion, you start out with a few people and get more as you complete the main plot quests.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' you manage to recruit several people with no very good reason to come with you, who you meet on your way. Including one who first tries to kill you for money. Some are forced on to you (Morrigan), some feel they owe you a debt (Wynne, Oghren), and some have nothing better to do (Shale, Sten).
** During [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]], you start out with a few people and get more as you complete main plot quests.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'', to an extent. The Doctor is on an endless thrillseeking journey in time and space, and tends to pick up particularly adventurous people they happen to meet during a crisis. They inevitably leave (usually after a particularly big adventure, at least in the revival), at which point the process starts all over again.

* 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 {{m|rExposition}}outhpieces on their species' history and culture, and all six combat classes were represented by the six squad members.

*** It also converses the previous game's use of this. Ask Archangel how he put together a team to take on the underworld of Omega and he'll reply he followed Shepard's example; he started doing something about the criminals and people got inspired and joined up.

* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''

* ''Series/DoctorWho'', to an extent.

* Of course the Rock and roll fairy tale AKnightsTale is this, picking up a poet, a blacksmith, and a Queen on the way, as well as being a RagtagBunchOfMisfits.

** ''PlanescapeTorment'' is slightly similar, in that there turns out to be a reason why all the seemingly random companions end up joining the Nameless One--even for those who aren't his companions from a former incarnation.

In computer role-playing games with a party of playable characters, most are typically encountered this way. An aggravating variation 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 often results in the formation of a RagtagBunchOfMisfits. This trope can delve into BecauseDestinySaysSo or even ContrivedCoincidence, as the average viewer might find it very improbable So weekend is October 21-23? 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.

This often results in the formation of a RagtagBunchOfMisfits. 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.

* ''MemorySorrowAndThorn'' features TheHero, Simon, escaping from the castle that has been his home, on the heels of his [[TheObiWan mentor's death]], with nothing but the clothes on his back. On his journey north to find [[TheWisePrince Prince Josua]], he encounters and befriends: a [[AllTrollsAreDifferent troll]] and his pet wolf, a [[TheFairFolk Sitha]] prince, and a RebelliousPrincess, all of whom join his party and become crucial to the plot.

* {{Justified|Trope}} and {{deconstructed|Trope}} in ''Franchise/StarWars: KnightsOfTheOldRepublic 2'', where the Exile gathers allies by subconsciously creating Force bonds.

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

->'''Brook''': ''"Alright then!"''

* In "Literature/TheFoolOfTheWorldAndTheFlyingShip," 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.

When you're a callow youth charged with halting some EvilOverlord'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, without the skills needed to pull off this most solemn of tasks. At least, not alone.

# Each member or sub-group shall be [[DebutQueue encountered sequentially]] -- and, ideally, quite by "coincidence" -- during the course of the Quest, and will join in the Quest separately.

* 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). This is also Ash's MO for getting his Pokemon, though he rarely has to out-Pokemon his potential recruits.

* In "Literature/TheFoolOfTheWorldAndTheFlyingShip", 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.

** ''PlanescapeTorment'' is slightly similar, in that there turns out to be a reason why all the seemingly random companions end up joining the Nameless One - even for those who aren't his companions from a former incarnation.

* 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 {{m|rExposition}}outhpieces on their species' history and culture, and all six combat classes were represented by the six squad members.

* Once you [[IntroOnlyPointOfView get control of]] TheHero Kyrie in ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction'', he meets his LoveInterest, Morte. As she hopes to use his status as a PersonOfMassDestruction to cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and he's just fallen in LoveAtFirstSight, the two agree to become a team and journey across the world - she to convince him to want to use his powers (as he's ''not'' keen on the idea of world destruction), and him because...hey, the pretty girl asked. They soon meet Taupy, a bounty hunter who is first paid to keep tabs on them for Felis Rex, but eventually decides to join the group because Kyrie is a NiceGuy and that's a very strange thing (especially if he's capable of ending the world as Morte thinks he is). Morte suggests they seek out her old friend Agan to use his ship (since hers [[DrivesLikeCrazy got wrecked somehow]]), but it turns into a RecruitmentByRescue when they discover he's been captured and is undergoing some ColdBloodedTorture due to the FantasticRacism that humans and beastmen have against each other. He's reluctant to get involved in any of Morte's craziness, but eventually decides [[TeamMom it's better to keep on eye on them]] - and because Kyrie's nice to the point of insanity. Later, Rhi'a - the [[CuteMonsterGirl dragonkin]] who's been hanging around with Felis Rex - decides to join because she, too, is curious about Kyrie (especially since she's aware of his destiny and didn't expect the Destruct to have emotions at all, much less to be kind and polite), and because [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight she thinks it's the thing to do, even if dragons are supposed to be strictly observers of the fate of the world, not participants in it]]. This seems to make a full roster, but TheSixthRanger [[spoiler:Naja, the guy you controlled briefly in the beginning,]] decides to join the team just after the mid-point of the game, [[MagneticHero once again because Kyrie is so strangely nice to everyone]] [[spoiler:and he can't believe he asked him to kill him in order to prevent himself from losing control of his powers and ending the world. Furthermore, he has a hard time accepting that someone could be resurrected after he stabbed them in the chest, but if anyone deserves a second chance, it's Kyrie]]. It's not a DebutQueue because there's plenty of ''other'' plot going on between character collections.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' - They began with three, and ended with at least six. It manages to escape most questions about it being 'unlikely' with the heavy implication of destiny; Aang had visions of Toph before he met her, and Zuko was always meant to reconcile the two parts of his ancestry.

* ''RaveMaster'' begins with Haru and Plue. Then they're joined by Elie, Musica, a non-combatant, Let...

* The Creator/RogerCorman[=/=]Creator/JohnSaxon[=/=]Creator/RichardThomas B-Movie ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'': although the whole point of TheQuest was to assemble such a group, each new member was encountered quite by chance.
** [[OlderThanTheyThink ...just like its predecessors]], ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven'' and ''TheSevenSamurai''

When you're a callow youth charged with halting some EvilOverlord'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.

In computer role-playing games with a party of playable characters, they are usually encountered this way. An aggravating variation 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.

* ''Literature/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.
** At least, that's how it's presented [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings in the film]]. In the book, Merry and Pippin realized that Frodo was going to leave the Shire, and recruited Sam to help them come along, as they wouldn't dream of leaving Frodo with his burden alone.