History Main / TributeToFido

* ''VideoGame/LuckBeALandlord'': Pizza the Cat and Nori and Lefty the Rabbits are designed after the creator's real-life pets.

* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Series writer Rachel Lipman based Mitchell's dog Cody on her own pet dog.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' has an interesting example with Mabel's pet pig, Waddles. While Creator/AlexHirsch wanted to give the character a pig after his sister wanted one growing up, the name was given by series writer Aury Wallington, whose family had raised a number of pigs growing up, each year having one being named Waddles. And each year, they would apparently eat whichever pig was named Waddles at the time and then raise another one to be eaten the following year.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', Anne has a cat back on earth named Domino, who was modeled after Creator/MattBraly's cat of the same name.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "Eclipse Lake" shows that Amity has a cat palisman named Ghost, who just happens to look like Dana Terrace's cat of the same name.
* Gweeseeks from ''WesternAnimation/TigNSeek'' was named after Myke Chilian's cat of the same name.

** In MINECON Earth 2018, Jeb announced that the community could vote for a 9th cat skin to be added with the rest of the other 8 cat skins.[[note]]Technically speaking, cats were already in the game but only as tamed ocelots, and cats only had three textures -- Siamese, tuxedo, or orange tabby; in the 1.14 update, the two were split into separate mobs and six more cat textures were added, with one of them being voted in by the community.[[/labelnote]] Ultimately, [[LetsPlay/HermitcraftServer GoodTimesWithScar's]] cat Jellie won the contest and was added in the 1.14 "Village & Pillage" update. On a related note, ever since her addition to the game, Scar the content creator has sought out her incarnation in just about every Minecraft series he has, so she can continue to accompany him in the blocky world as well as the real world.

** In MINECON Earth 2018, Jeb announced that the community could vote for a 9th cat skin to be added with the rest of the other 8 cat skins[[labelnote:*]]Technically speaking, cats were already in the game but only as tamed ocelots, and cats only had three textures--Siamese, tuxedo, or orange tabby; in the 1.14 update, the two were split into separate mobs and six more cat textures were added, with one of them being voted in by the community[[/labelnote]]. Ultimately, [[LetsPlay/HermitcraftServer GoodTimesWithScar's]] cat Jellie won the contest and was added in the 1.14 "Village & Pillage" update.

* A Pomeranian named Missile is a main character in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', based on game creator Shu Takumi's own Pomeranian (also named Missile). The real-life Missile is himself named after the Shiba Inu police dog Missile from ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', also created by Shu Takumi.

* A Pomeranian named Missile appears in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', based on game creator Shu Takumi's own Pomeranian (also named Missile). The real-life Missile is himself named after the Shiba Inu police dog Missile from ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', also created by Shu Takumi.

Most people love animals, especially their pets. Some authors may even put some sort of reference to a real-life animal in their work. Most often, it will be their own pet, either as a memorial or just because they love him that much.

* Creator/MamoruOshii loves Basset Hounds – who frequently appear in his films – and has included his in his films, including ''[[Anime/GhostInTheShell Innocence]]'', in which she provides the sounds of Batou's pet Basset Hound.

* ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'': The Puppy Hat has a chance to {{summon|magic}} a Friend Dog with a unique sprite named Maxi. The summon is a homage to Matt Roszak's pet dog Maxi, who [[http://kupogames.com/2016/07/02/rip-maxi-2001-2016/ died during the game's development]].

* Creator/NaughtyDog originally had a company mascot in the form of Morgan, the dog of one of the team's developers, before VideoGame/CrashBandicoot would replace him.
** When Morgan passed away, he got a tribute in ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' as an EasterEgg.
** The company has since credited the company dogs in every game as "mascots, morale-boosters and food patrol", sometimes with photos.

* Most games produced by Skip Limited--including ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo,'' ''VideoGame/GiftPia,'' and ''VideoGame/CaptainRainbow''--include a black-and-white dog named Tao, who frequently has a lazy and hungry personality. Tao was a real dog belonging to one of their head game designers. Even though he passed away in 2009, Skip still features a few hidden references to him in their games.
* Guppy the cat from ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'', whose body parts and related items ([[BeeBeeGun a head]], [[CursedWithAwesome a tail]], [[SoulJar a paw]], [[EpicFlail a hairball]] and even [[CatsHaveNineLives his whole corpse]]) can be collected by Isaac, was based on a real cat owned by Edmund [=McMillen=], the game's creator. When Guppy died during the development stage of ''[[UpdatedRerelease Rebirth]]'', a memento item - his pink collar - was added to the game, granting the owner a chance to resurrect upon dying.

* For the 2013 ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'', the devs made an alternate costume for Sabrewulf based off of Benny, [[LetsPlay/TheOnlineWarrior Maximilian Dood]]'s Pomeranian; while Max worked on the game's trailers and cutscenes, it was also a "thank you" for his efforts to promote the game.

* The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Hoothoot is based on a pet bird Ken Sugimori had that used to stand on one foot, which Hoothoot has a tendency to do constantly.
* The default player character of ''VideoGame/CatlateralDamage'' is modeled on and named after Nippy, lead developer Chris Chung's cat who died in 2014. The game contains many other collectible photos of real cats, as well as cat player characters modeled on real cats.

* In the ''WebOriginal/FurryBasketballAssociation'', Ryan Rottshep is based on one of the contributor's dogs.

* Koko and Yum Yum, the Siamese in the ''Literature/TheCatWho'' books, were named after author Lilian Jackson Braun's real-life Siamese. Koko's personality is particularly modeled after that of the original Koko, who met a tragic untimely end. She recalled later, "He adored me and I adored him." For the remainder of her life, she would always have two Siamese cats by those names, named for the original pair.

* Music/{{Queen|}}:

* Music/{{Queen}}'s "All Dead, All Dead" was inspired partly by the death of Music/BrianMay's boyhood pet cat.

* The default player character of ''Catlateral Damage'' is modeled on and named after Nippy, lead developer Chris Chung's cat who died in 2014. The game contains many other collectible photos of real cats, as well as cat player characters modeled on real cats.

* A Pomeranian named Missile appears in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', based on game creator Shu Takumi's own Pomeranian (also named Missile).

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* Shu Takumi's Pomeranian, Missile, first debuted in ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' as a Shiba Inu police dog. He doesn't do anything useful in that game, but he does eat all of Larry's hot dogs. Though Missile's taste for those hot dogs [[ChekhovsSkill actually makes him useful]] for finding an important clue in the last case of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations''.
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* The composer of the song "Hampster Dance" actually got the song name from her dead hamster. [[WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973 Guess where]] she got the lyrics from!

* In the ''Fanfic/TwiceUponAnAge'' series, it's mentioned that [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Hawke]] has a mabari named Rikki. Lady Norbert named him after her parents' dog.

** This was taken even further in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'': Willie was the name of Creator/StevenSpielberg's dog, and Short Round the one of the co-writers.

* Champ from the ''VideoGame/{{Postal}}'' series was named for the now-deceased[[note]] He succumbed to cancer in 2011[[/note]] dog of lead designer Vince Pesi. Not only was the 2015 ExpansionPack for ''VideoGame/Postal2'', ''Paradise Lost'', dedicated to the memory of the real life pet, but the plot involved searching for the in-game Champ in the ruins of Paradise.

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice: Invasion'', Wally and Artemis have adopted a sleepy white pit bull. According to the producers and Stephanie Lemelin, Artemis' voice actor, he's explicitly modeled after her own sleepy white pit bull, Bruceley. When asked what the dog's name was, Creator/GregWeisman answered "I want to say Bruceley." And once the show was UnCancelled, Bruceley became the canon name of the dog.

* The composer of the song "Hampster Dance" actually got the song name from her dead hamster. [[WesternAnimation/RobinHood Guess where]] she got the lyrics from!
* "Jenny," from {{Music/Chicago}}'s sixth album, is about guitarist Terry Kath's Saint Bernard.

* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'', it is implied that [[DisappearedDad Dumbo's father]] is Jumbo, a famous elephant that appeared first at the London Zoo then at the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Dumbo was supposed to be named Jumbo Junior, but ended up being known by a mocking nickname instead.

* Creator/RickBaker based David’s werewolf form from Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon on his dog Bosco a keeshound.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': David Mattingly, the artist for most of the book covers, hid EasterEggs in many inside cover pages as a tribute to his cat [[https://animorphs.fandom.com/wiki/Orson Orson]] (list of easter eggs at the link). Ironically, the one cover to include someone morphing a cat (#2, ''The Visitor'') was done before he was hired.

** Lady Jane, the evil-tempered gyrfalcon who is constantly attacking Hodgesaargh is named after a real falcon, just as Hodgesaaargh is named after a real falconer.

* In the ''WebOriginal/FurryBasketballAssociation'', Ryan Rottshep is based on one of the contributer's dogs.

* Bindy Sue Irwin, daughter of the late Creator/SteveIrwin, is named after a crocodile he worked with frequently and his favorite dog.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', a special skin rabbits get when named [[https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Rabbit#Toast Toast]] was implemented as a memorial for a missing rabbit of certain player's girlfriend.

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