History Main / SignatureMon

*** Yugi's and especially Atem's Signature Card is Dark Magician. Unlike other protagonists, Yugi/Atem doesn't spam his favorite monster in most duels and his deck is not exclusively based around Dark Magician. Dark Magician's evolutions are usually only one-time-transformations and don't appear again. Dark Magician even gets an origin story in the final arc, revealing that he was a priest named Mahad who devoted himself to protecting Pharaoh Atem.

*** Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon appears in all of Kaiba's duels, and he even has three copies of her. The only duel where she doesn't appear is in one duel of the non-canon NonSerialMovie. In Battle City, Blue-Eyes is often overshadowed by Obelisk the Giant God Soldier, although Kaiba tends to fall back to Blue-Eyes when Obelisk is out of question. Like her fated rival Dark Magician, Blue-Eyes is also given an origin story in the final arc, being the spirit of a woman named Kisara who fell in love with Priest Seto (Kaiba's past life).

* Each companion in ''VideoGame/CassetteBeasts'' has a perk that grants them improved stats when transformed into the monster they start with.

*** Yujin has Offmon who can become the Ultimate-level Logomon by himself, [[spoiler:but still can merge with Bootmon to become Rebootmon]].

** Ethan with Totodile (promotional material from the game has this Mon affiliated primarily with him) or Cyndaquil (in ''Masters EX'', his Kotobukiya figure, his counterpart in the anime and his counterpart in the anime) whilst Lyra with Chikorita (featured for the same reasons as the previous entry). Kris also has Chikorita with a secondary of Suicune
** Brendan with any of the three Hoenn starters: Treecko (''Masters EX'', Generations and the ORAS Trailer), Torchic (promotional material for the original GBA games), or Mudkip (His counterpart's starter in the manga as well as his anime movie cameos). May with Torchic (and sometimes Mudkip)
** Lucas and Dawn with Piplup (sometimes the latter has Turtwig or Chimchar), Hilda with Tepig, Nate with Tepig, Rosa with Snivy, Calem with Froakie, Serena with Fennekin, and Selene with Rowlet.
** Some of the rivals have one. Blue has Pidgeot or Alakazam (or Eevee in Yellow), Wally has Ralts, Bianca has Munna, Calem or Serena have Absol, etc.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonMasters'' features famous trainers and lets them have one Pokémon apiece; most either use their Signature Mon, or didn't have a specific signature to start but are assigned one from the Pokémon they're known to use. But it's also subverted in some cases, as some trainers' partners are Pokémon ''other'' than their signature. For instance, Lt. Surge is well-known for his Raichu, but in ''Masters'' he uses his other mainstay, a Voltorb.

** Protagonists don't officially have canon starters, and in fact Red was given [[ThirdOptionAdaptation all three]] Kanto starters specifically to avoid canonizing one, however official artwork often depicts a protagonist with one starter more than the others. In the first generation, Red was associated with Bulbasaur, but come the third generation remakes and he is now associated with Charmander. Green and Leaf are associated with Squirtle, Ethan with Cyndaquil or Totodile, Lyra with Chikorita, Brendan with any of the three Hoenn starters (Treecko, Torchic, or Mudkip), May with Torchic (and sometimes Mudkip), Lucas and Dawn with Piplup (sometimes the latter has Turtwig or Chimchar), Hilda with Tepig, Nate with Tepig, Rosa with Snivy, Calem with Froakie, Serena with Fennekin, and Selene with Rowlet. Red is also associated with Pikachu due to the fact he is his highest leveled Pokémon and that he was Red's starter in ''Pokémon Yellow''.

*** Sajou Manaka, being the BigBad in ''Prototype'' and the VillainProtagonistin the prequel ''Fragments of Sky Silver'', has two Signature Mons, Beast, and Saber, respectively. In ''Fragments'', she gained the contracts of Assassin and Caster in addition to Saber, whom she both uses to fulfill Saber's wish against his will.

*** Iris's Axew is basically her Pikachu/Togepi/Piplup. Her initial signature powerhouse is Excadrill, who is then overshadowed by Dragonite. When Iris returns in ''Pokémon Journeys'', Axew has already fully evolved into Haxorus and became Iris's new ace, just like in the games (but male in the anime).

*** James' Signature Mon started as Koffing, who later evolved into Weezing. Its place was taken later on by Cacnea and Carnivine, but he would get a comical Pokémon similar to Jessie's Wobbuffet in the form of Mime Jr. (after Chimecho, the first attempt, was PutOnABus in the Battle Frontier segment of ''Advanced Generation'') who remained with him until the end of ''Diamond and Pearl'', in which Mime Jr. is inexplicably left behind at Team Rocket HQ and unlike Wobbuffet, never returns back to James. Since then, James never really has a permanent Signature Pokémon by his side unlike Jessie, as they would always be PutOnABus after one series. Morpeko is the closest to being James's new comedic Pokémon, but it never quite reaches the same level of status as Wobbuffet.

** [[spoiler: [[TheManBehindTheMan Emperor Octavius's father]], the man who mentally damaged him, was the only user of Chamelva, a HollywoodChameleon with the [[DittoFighter Skill Copy]] ability, which copies the Sushi Sprite ability the opponent had last used. The man was revered by Empire loyalists as a master striker, and his use of Chamelva suggests he liked to humiliate his opponents by using their Sushi Sprites' skills better than they could.]]

** The anime tend to have two types of signatures; tiny companions that do cute/comical things and are often seen with their trainers outside their Pokéballs, and badass powerhouses. Sometimes the tiny companions do participate in battles as well.

*** James's Signature Mon started as Koffing, who later evolved into Weezing. Its place was taken later on by Cacnea and Carnivine, but he would get a comical Pokémon similar to Jessie's Wobbuffet in the form of Mime Jr. (after Chimecho, the first attempt, was PutOnABus in the Battle Frontier segment of ''Advanced Generation'') who remained with him until the end of ''Diamond and Pearl'', in which Mime Jr. is inexplicably left behind at Team Rocket HQ and unlike Wobbuffet, never returns back to James. Since then, James never really has a permanent Signature Pokémon by his side unlike Jessie, as they would always be PutOnABus after one series. Morpeko is the closest to being James's new comedic Pokémon, but it never quite reaches the same level of status as Wobbuffet.

** If his various [[HorseOfAdifferentcolor mounts]](Hoot, Dorrie, Parakarry, Sushie, Lackilester, the blooper racers, the surfing rays, Fluzzard, Plessie, etc.) can be considered Mario's Mons, then his signature mons are the Yoshis, as Mario is known for personally rescuing them from Bowser's minions, or raising them from eggs. The green Yoshi in particular is his signature among the signatures. Not only is it the one that Mario is most commonly seen riding, but also the only playable Yoshi in most of the spin-offs.

* In Pedro Araujo's Pokemon series:

*** Red actually has a whole team of Pokemon he can be associated with. Of course, we have Charizard, who never leaves his side. Then we have a Pikachu he caught in Viridian Forest who, much like Charizard, never leaves Red's side [[spoiler: and is the Pokemon who did the finishing blow on Blue's Blastoise in the Pokemon League, ensuring Red's victory]]. Early on, Red's main powerhouse was a Nidoking, until said Nidoking was boxed [[spoiler: because Red could no longer bring himself to use Nidoking after Nidoking accidentally killed Blue's Raticate]]. Currently, his main powerhouse is a Snorlax. Red used a Lapras to fight Giovanni [[spoiler: after Mewtwo was defeated and the Master Ball destroyed]]. Lastly, he got a Hypno, which he used to catch [[spoiler: Mew]]. All of these Pokemon were used by Red in the Pokemon League.
*** Early on, Blue's favorite Pokemon was a Rattata, which eventually evolved into a Raticate. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, Raticate was killed in an accident caused by Red's Nidoking.]]

*** Deconstructed with Gold and his at the time Quilava. Much like Red, Gold keeps Quilava around at all times, but Gold didn't even think about catching other Pokemon until after defeating Falkner. And then Gold challenges [[ThatOneBoss Whitney]], who can only be defeated with a full team.

*** James's Signature Mon started as Koffing, who later evolved into Weezing. Its place was taken later on by Cacnea and Carnivine, but he would get a comical Pokémon similar to Jessie's Wobbuffet in the form of Mime Jr. (after Chimecho, the first attempt, was PutOnABus in the Battle Frontier segment of ''Advanced Generation'') who remained with him until the end of ''Diamond and Pearl'', in which Mime Jr. is inexplicably left behind at Team Rocket HQ and unlike Wobbuffet, never returns back to James. Since then, James never really has a permanent Signature Pokémon by his side unlike Jessie, as they would always be PutOnABus after one series. Morepeko is the closest to being James's new comedic Pokémon, but it's unclear if it will remain by James's side like Wobbuffet.

*** Gym Leaders often have one, such as Misty's Golduck and Lt. Surge's Raichu.

[folder:Web Animation]]

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight:'' As mentioned with ''LightNovel/FateZero'' and ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' above, Masters are technically able to make new contracts with already summoned Servants that have their original contracts severed, and in within the three routes of the visual novel, several Masters obtain another Servant due to circumstances. Similarly, because of those bizarre situations within the Fifth Holy Grail War, the trope can also be inverted and certain Servants have a Signature Master instead.

** ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Kotomine Kirei having managed to do so during the Fourth Holy Grail War, after losing his first Servant, Assassin. Interestingly, the second Servant he obtains during the war, Archer (Gilgamesh) would serve as his Signature Mon for this war and the next one and for the franchise as a whole.
** ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'':

** Protagonists don't officially have canon starters, and in fact Red was given [[TakeTheThirdOption all three]] Kanto starters specifically to avoid canonizing one, however official artwork often depicts a protagonist with one starter more than the others. In the first generation, Red was associated with Bulbasaur, but come the third generation remakes and he is now associated with Charmander. Green and Leaf are associated with Squirtle, Ethan with Cyndaquil or Totodile, Lyra with Chikorita, Brendan with any of the three Hoenn starters (Treecko, Torchic, or Mudkip), May with Torchic (and sometimes Mudkip), Lucas and Dawn with Piplup (sometimes the latter has Turtwig or Chimchar), Hilda with Tepig, Nate with Tepig, Rosa with Snivy, Calem with Froakie, Serena with Fennekin, and Selene with Rowlet. Red is also associated with Pikachu due to the fact he is his highest leveled Pokémon and that he was Red's starter in ''Pokémon Yellow''.

*** Shark keeps switching Signature Cards all the time. First, it's Black Ray Lancer, then Number 32: Marine Biting Dragon -- Shark Drake, then Number 101: Silent Honor ARK, and finally Barian Hope.

* ''Fanfic/PokemonCrossing': Each prominent character has one Mon associated with them: Benedict's is the Torchic line, Tank is associated with the Treecko line, and the Mudkip line for Kidd. Others include Skarmory for the Hawkwind family, Minccino for Flora and Eevee for Raymond.

** Hareta from ''Manga/PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'' has his starter, Piplup, who eventually goes on to evolve into Empoleon.

* ''Fanfic/PokemonCrossingFlyMeToTheMoon'': Each prominent character has one Mon associated with them: Benedict's is the Torchic line, Tank is associated with the Treecko line, and the Mudkip line for Kidd. Others include Skarmory for the Hawkian family, Minccino for Flora and Eevee for Raymond.

*** Ryouma has Psychemon who can evolve into Astamon[[spoiler:who later turns out to be part of the BigBad Quartzmon]].

* ''Franchise/{{FateSeries}}'': Within the Nasuverse, most Masters can only summon one Servant, but are able to make contracts with other Servants that have already been summoned. In reverse, Servants who have been serving for more than one Master, can also have their own Signature Master.

*** Shirou Kotomine manages to gain the contracts of five additional Servants from the Red Faction, and thus has six Servants under his command. The one he himself summoned, Assassin of Red, serves as his Signature Mon and LoveInterest.
*** Rider of Black and Assassin of Black form contracts with a second Master, respectively, with their second Master (Sieg for Rider and Rikudou Reika for Assassin) serving as their Signature Master. What differs them from the five aforementioned Servants of the Red Faction is that the two Servants of the Black Faction form a very close bond with their second Master, whereas the five Servants of the Red Faction do not and maintain a purely professional relationship with Shirou, which also emphasizes the close relationship between Shirou and Assassin of Red. That is why Shirou does not serve as a Signature Master for the other five Servants, especially in the case of Lancer of Red, whose Signature Master being Jinako Carigiri in ''[[VideoGame/FateExtra Fate/EXTRA CCC]]''.

*** Sajou Manaka, being the BigBad in ''Prototype'' and theVillainProtagonistin the prequel ''Fragments of Sky Silver'', has two Signature Mons, Beast and Saber, respectively. In ''Fragments'', she gained the contracts of Assassin and Caster in addition to Saber, whom she both uses to fulfill Saber's wish against his will.
*** Sajou Ayaka's Signature Mon is the very same Saber her older sister summoned in ''Fragments''. Ayaka would later lose her contract with Saber, but then later forms a new contract with Lancer. Ayaka herself serves as Saber's Signature Master, despite Manaka's maniacal love and devotion to him being probably stronger than Ayaka's love for him. But since Ayaka brings out the good inside out of him, Saber is devoted to face Manaka to protect Ayaka even when he's not under Ayaka's contract.

*** James's Signature Mon started as Koffing, who later evolved into Weezing. Its place was taken later on by Cacnea and Carnivine, but he would get a comical Pokémon similar to Jessie's Wobbuffet in the form of Mime Jr. (after Chimecho, the first attempt, was PutOnABus in the Battle Frontier segment of ''Advanced Generation'') who remained with him until the end of ''Diamond and Pearl'', in which Mime Jr. is inexplicably left behind at Team Rocket HQ and unlike Wobbuffet, never returns back to James. Since then, James never really has a permanent Signature Pokémon by his side unlike Jessie, as they would always be PutOnABus after one series. Morepeko is the closest to being James's new comedic Pokémon, but it's unclear if it remain by James's side like Wobbuffet.

*** James's Signature Mon started as Koffing, who later evolved into Weezing. Its place was taken later on by Cacnea and Carnivine, but he would get a comical Pokémon similar to Jessie's Wobbuffet in the form of Mime Jr. (after Chimecho, the first attempt, was PutOnABus in the Battle Frontier segment of ''Advanced Generation'') who remained with him until the end of ''Diamond and Pearl'', in which Mime Jr. is inexplicably left behind at Team Rocket HQ and unlike Wobbuffet, never returns back to James. Since then, James never really has a permanent Signature Pokémon by his side unlike Jessie, as they would always be PutOnABus after one series. Morepeko is the closest to James's comedic Pokémon, but it's unclear if it remain by James's side like Wobbuffet.

*** Jessie's Signature Mon started out to be Ekans, who later evolved into Arbok. After Arbok's release, Serviper takes its place as Jessie's main powerhouse from ''Advanced Generation'' all the way to end of ''Diamond and Pearl'' before Giovanni forces Jessie to leave Seviper behind during their mission to Unova (and Jessie never got Seviper back). Meanwhile Wobbuffet ends up becoming Jessie's most famous Pokémon on the technicality of being owned by her while also serving as the SixthRanger to the Team Rocket trio dynamic for its comedic timing and personality throughout all the series except ''Black & White'' where it was temporarily PutOnABus.