Assist Character

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A trope present in many genres but especially in Fighting Games where a non-playable character assists a playable one in some form, usually providing an attack the playable character cannot execute by themself or providing a needed help such as healing, a shield used to tank attacks or another kind of boost.

This happens because not all characters are clear-cut for the genre the game belongs to, either because of their Crippling Overspecialization preventing them from having a varied toolset or their power of heart being that lame (even accounting for Competitive Balance) or another issue (technical or not) preventing them from making the playable cut. So the solution to the problem is usually them appearing as part of the moveset of another playable character. The assist appears, does their stuff, and vanishes. After all, even the toughest One-Man Army has to call for backup sometimes. As a result, expect them to be beloved enough by either the fandom or the developers, if what they do is effective enough.

These characters may become Ascended Extras and be ascended to the main roster if the fandom or the developers are sufficiently fond of him/her/it in the game and finally find a way to make them work as playable characters.

Subtrope to Summon Magic. Compare/contrast the Non-Player Companion, who also assists the Player Character but sticks around them the entire time. See also The Cameo and A Boy and His X. Compare Mons and The Minion Master, where the entire point is summoning others to fight for you, and Mook Maker and Enemy Summoner for the non-playable versions. One step up from this is for the character to be actually controllable in some way, turning them into the "puppet" part of a Puppet Fighter. Contrast It's Up to You, where you do everything without any kind of help.

Examples:

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Fighting Games

The Ur-Example is in Data East's Avengers in Galactic Storm (a loose adaptation of the Operation: Galactic Storm crossover event); one of four characters (Iron Man, Thor, The Vision, or Giant-Man if an Avenger is being played, or Ronan the Accuser, Ultimus, Captain Att-Las or a Kree Sentry robot if a Kree character is being played) can be summoned by pressing all punch buttons when the meter is half full. Why Iron Man and Thor are assists instead of fully playable characters is another story altogether.
The Capcom vs. series frequently uses this:
- In X-Men: Children of the Atom, the Sentinel can call in a squad of miniature Sentinels.
- In Marvel Super Heroes, Blackheart can summon small demons and gargoyles with some of his special and Super moves.
- X-Men vs. Street Fighter: One of Sabretooth's attacks consists of Birdy jumping in from nowhere and shooting at the adversary with a burst of bullets from her BFG. Also used as a Hyper Combo in which she shoots at the adversary with even More Dakka.
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes has several dedicated "Special Partners" taken from both Marvel and Capcom's libraries. These included returning MvC characters (such as a number of Children of the Atom veterans), as well as newcomers like Jubilee, Arthur, Saki, Devilotte, Michelle Heart and Thor. In the arcade and Dreamcast versions, they can be chosen as the third team member and had a limited number of Helper Attacks that varied by character. In the PlayStation version, you can choose an Assist from the main roster or the assist roster as your second partner, because of the 1-on-1 battles. Aside from this, Captain Commando is assisted by Mac, Ginzu and Baby Head; Jin is assisted by Blodia, Mega Man and Roll are assisted by Rush, Beat and Eddie, and Onslaught is assisted by the Sentinels.
- In Marvel vs. Capcom 2 along with the Sabretooth, Captain Commando, Jin, Blackheart, Sentinel and Mega Man examples, Jill Valentine can summon a Tyrant and zombies; Tron Bonne is assisted by her Servbots; and Servbot is assisted by... more Servbots. In regular gameplay, a character's teammates can be called in to perform an attack or buff, although they are still vulnerable to attack — even more so since they take more damage in this state.
- In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Tron is again assisted by Servbots, Sentinel can summon mini-Sentinels, Viewtiful Joe is assisted by Sexy Silvia and Felicia can summon her cat girl friends from Darkstalkers. In Ultimate, there's also Hawkeye, who's assisted by Ant-Man/Giant-Man in his Level 3, Firebrand, who summons a Red Arremer in his Level 3 (similar to the example of Felicia), and Phoenix Wright, who can summon Maya and Missile with several of his moves. Regular Assists function as they did in the previous game.
- In Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Ultron is assisted by his army of drones, while Rocket Raccoon is assisted by Groot. Unlike the past few games, Infinite does not have any traditional Assists.
- In Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000, Nakoruru is assisted by her hawk Mamahaha.
- In Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium, aside of Nakoruru, Kyosuke is assisted by Batsu and Hinata; Chang shares his moveset with Choi; Yun is assisted by Yang (which carried over to Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX); and Rolento is assisted by El Gado (akin to his Street Fighter Alpha incarnations).
- In SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, one of Mars People's Supers summons miniature Mars People to attack his opponent, while another will summon a Martian UFO. Additionally, Zero's Exceed summons a bunch of Cyber Elves, Tessa can use ghosts and her cats to attack, and Athena and Red Arremer can summon a variety of creatures from their respective games.
- In Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Doronjo is assisted by Boyacky and Tonzra; Morrigan is assisted by Lilith; Viewtiful Joe by Sexy Silvia; Yatterman-1 by Yatterwan; Yatterman-2 by Omotchama and Yatterpelican; and Ippatsuman by his Humongous Mecha Gyakuten-Oh. Frank West can summon zombies.
In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Squirrel Girl can summon Tippy-Toe and other squirrels in certain moves.
A lot of The King of Fighters 2000's Another Striker cameos.
- Also the strikers in 99: Evolution.
- There's also Original Zero in KOF 2001. In said game, you could assign characters on your team to be Strikers, but it'd cost a bar of super to bring them in. Original Zero has three, which he uses as command normals, at any time. This is a good part of the reason of why he's a SNK Boss.
- In KOF XIV Nakoruru joins the cast and is once again supported by her bird Mamahaha.
In Kouchuu Ouja Mushiking, players can use special skill cards to summon non-beetle insects to aid them in battle. Although each special skill cards have different summoning condition, the player usually has to win in order to summon them.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 has Big Bad M. Bison as one for Juni in when she uses her Psycho Streak Super, he appears and mows down the opponent with a Psycho Crusher.
In Street Fighter V, R. Mika can call on her tag team partner, Nadeshiko. Akira, meanwhile, can call in Daigo, her older brother from Rival Schools.
Several characters in Darkstalkers have friends they can summon using special moves:
- Felicia: The catgirls who appear in her Please Help Me special. They each even have names, home states, and a couple sentences worth of backstory.
- Anakaris: Khaibit, who appears in several of his attacks and animations; also, he can summon a team of mummified harem girls with one of his Super Combos.
- Lord Raptor: Le Malta, who appears during his Hell Dunk and Dark Force moves.
- Sasquatch: He has a whale, explosive penguins, and a pack of dogs, who appear in some of his moves.
- Huitzil: In Vampire Savior 2, one of his specials consists of three other Huitzil units coming down to assist him with Beam Spam moves.
- B.B. Hood: John and Arthur, the two bulky hunters that appear in her Dark Hunt Super Combo.
Super Smash Bros.
- Since the first game in the series Poké Balls have been a staple item. They summon a Pokémon when thrown, who then proceeds to assist its summoner in some manner (with a few exceptions). They can hold from common regular Pokémon to rare legendary Pokémon who usually wreak havoc on the battlefield with powerful attacks.
- Brawl adds assist trophies to the mix. They function similarly to Poké Balls, but they can summon all kinds of characters instead of being limited to one series, bringing characters from a wide range of franchises both with and without playable representation in the series.
- Some characters bring help to battle with some of their regular attacks. Peach pulls out a Toad to serve as a Human Shield, King Dedede throws his minions (Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos and Gordos in Brawl, limited to Gordos in 4 onwards) at his opponents, and Duck Hunt summons the 8-bit bandits from Wild Gunman to open fire at their opponents.
- Some Final Smashes have the character summon aid to join in for a Combination Attack. In Brawl, Pit called Palutena to summon Centurions to ram opponents; Mega Man is joined by his counterparts from the X, Battle Network, Star Force and Legend series to blast at his opponents, with Proto Man and Bass being added in Ultimate; Robin summons Chrom to pull off an aerial beatdown (even after Chrom was Promoted to Playable in Ultimate); Villager and Isabelle summon Timmy, Tommy and Tom Nook to trap the opponent in a house or town hall respectively; Shulk calls Dunban and Riki for a 3-man smackdown, with Ultimate adding Fiora to the party; Duck Hunt Duo summon a flock of 8-bit ducks to carry opponents in front of the 8-bit bandits from Wild Gunman and thugs from Hogan's Alley ready to open fire at them; Piranha Plant summons Petey Piranha to throw opponents in cages and breathe fire on them; Joker calls his fellow Phantom Thieves of Hearts for an All-Out Attack; the Dragon Quest Hero summons the series's fellow heroes for one big strike; Banjo & Kazooie summon the Mighty Jinjonator so he and other Jinjos attack the opponent; Byleth uses power from Sothis for a powerful blow; Min Min calls other ARMS fighters to assist her in a rush of punches and Pyra and Mythra summon their Driver, Rex, to help them unleash their ultimate specials.
The Simpsons Wrestling has Mr. Burns, which uses Smithers to do all the work, assisting by throwing plutonium bars as a special move. Smithers himself can summon Blinky the Three-eyed fish as an attack. The Bumblebee Man can summon his chihuahua and Marge can summon Maggie.
Jackie Chan: The Kung-Fu Master: Yeung is assisted by a pair of birds, while Mysterious Dragon can send out exploding miniature copies of himself.
In Injustice: Gods Among Us, General Zod's Character Trait allows him to summon a wraith from the Phantom Zone. Solomon Grundy can also summon zombies from beneath the Earth, while Wonder Woman's Super Move involves calling in a group of Amazons to attack her opponent.
In Injustice 2, Atrocitus is assisted by Dex-Starr, Darkseid is assisted by his Parademons, Harley Quinn is assisted by her pet hyenas, Poison Ivy is assisted by her plant creatures, and Enchantress is assisted by her demonic minions. Aquaman can also summon certain sea creatures, such as a tentacled beast that grabs his opponent.
The Ultimate Ninja line of Naruto fighting games features this; your assist character drops items for you during combat, and one of these items calls them to perform one of their special attacks.
Throughout the Guilty Gear series, some characters which can't be played tend to pop up, such as Dizzy's sentient wings (Her main form of combat) or A.B.A.'s sentient key. Meanwhile, May can summon aquatic animals to attack her opponent.
- Related, in BlazBlue, Carl is always assisted by his giant puppet and sister Nirvana and a large portion of Rachel's attacks come from her familiars Nago and Gii. Later on, Carl's father, Relius was added. Like Carl, he fights alongside his giant puppet and wife Ignis.
Most characters in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure have a Stand, which alone qualifies most of the playable characters for this trope, but a few have separate characters help them out as well:
- In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future, Hol Horse has two playable versions where he's assisted by another character; his "Standard" version is aided by Hanged Man and in his "& Boingo/Voing" version he's aided by Boingo (renamed "Voing" in the English release for legal reasons).
- In the original release of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle, Hol Horse teams up with Hanged Man, Kosaku uses Stray Cat's air bubbles as a ranged attack and Hayato to activate Bites The Dust, and both Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli can fight with their horses Slow Dancer and Valkyrie.
  - In the Updated Re-release All Star Battle R, you can choose another playable character to act as this a limited number of times during the match. In addition, Speedwagon is assisted by Tattoo and Kempo Fighter (being able to switch between them at will), F.F. is assisted by Weather Report, and Diego is added to the Horseback users with Silver Bullet. This re-release also gets a Double Subversion with Prosciutto & Pesci: the game bills them as The Dividual, however it's Prosciutto who does most of the fighting, while Pesci assists with Beach Boy as long as Prosciutto's The Grateful Dead isn't active.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven has Tattoo and Kempo Fighter for Speedwagon, the Nazi Soldiers for Stroheim, Stray Cat and Hayato for Kosaku Kawajiri, and the Steel Ball Run horseback users with their respective horses (with Diego having two versions, to boot, both of which feature the horse Silver Bullet).
In Touhou Hisoutensoku ~ Choudokyuu Ginyoru no Nazo o Oe Sanae is assisted by her gods, Kanako and Suwako. Which can be kind of weird, as Suwako is also playable. (All There in the Manual explains god's can spiritually divide themselves, essentially existing in two places).
- Yukari Yakumo can call upon her shikigami (Ran) and the shikigami of that shikigami (Chen). Only difference here is they're called upon as spellcards. She's been able to call upon them since Perfect Cherry Blossom. Basically, if Yukari appears as a playable character, count on her using one or both of them in her attacks (this even extends to Ran providing roughly half of her firepower in Imperishable Night, which is part of the main series of games.)
- In Hopeless Masquerade, Mamizou has her tanuki partners to assist her or turn into weapons for some of her attacks. If they are hit too often, then they can't be used for a short period of time, similar to Persona 4: Arena's Persona mechanics.
- Then there's Ichirin, whose strongest attacks actually come from a huge cloud spirit named Unzan. In Unidentified Fantastic Object, Unzan supplies Ichirin's spell cards; he manifests as an enormous, bald, bearded head peering down from the top half of the screen, and attempts to punch the player (represented by large fist-shaped bullets) while also launching various other bullets. In Urban Legend in Limbo, in which Ichirin is a playable character, Unzan manifests in order to punch the opponent, similar to a Stand.
In Arcana Heart, Maori's sisters assist her in some of her special attacks.
In Jump Super Stars and its sequel Jump Ultimate Stars, characters that take up 2 or 3 panels (or "Koma", as commonly called by the fans) are used as Support characters that can be summoned anytime in battle by tapping their frame on the DS's bottom screen (or using an assigned shortcut button in Jump Ultimate Stars). Support characters use a bar from the Special meter (which is also used for special attacks), and playable characters can also serve as Support characters in addition to the non-playable Support characters. Represents battle koma, minor characters (like Gaara and Gohan) and characters who couldn't really fight (like Light and Kon).
Vanguard Princess is built entirely around utilizing support characters.
Dissidia Final Fantasy's prequel, Duodecim, has incorporated this system into its gameplay, allowing you to summon another playable character to perform either a Brave or HP attack, which varies depending on the position of the enemy. All playable characters can fill this role. Aerith is an Assist-only character for players who purchase a paid demo of the game.
In Super Cosplay War Ultra, Ziro has a posse of lackeys who do all his fighting for him, including taking hits when he blocks.
Persona 4: Arena turns the various Personae the main characters summon into more complex versions of this. They appear, perform their attacks, and vanish. However, they're also targetable; If a Persona takes too many hits, it "breaks" and can't be summoned for a while.
- This is similar to how Stands worked in JJBA, save that breaking a Persona doesn't stun you like a Stand Break did.
Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion takes the Assist concept one step further with Synergy Attacks, which happen when a certain character summons a specific Assist (i.e. Kevin Levin and Numbuh 4, Grim and Mung Daal, Captain K'nuckles and Captain Stickybeard).
Skullgirls: Several characters have help for their moves.
- Peacock uses her cartoon buddies to pester the opponent from afar in this manner. The most commonly seen ones are Avery (a bird), George and Lenny (bombs, one large and one small), Andy Anvil (guess), and Tommy Ten-Tons (a large weight).
- As seen in the page picture, Parasoul summons some of her Black Egret soldiers to assist her in some of her special moves and all three of her Blockbusters. The page image is Egret Dive, where a Black Egret leaps in front of Parasoul to intercept damage.
- DLC character Eliza has two bodyguards that resemble ancient Egyptian deities, one named Albus, who resembles Anubis and another named Horace who resembles Horus.
- Black Dahlia has her Henchbunnies, proteges in playboy bunny suits who serve as backup and as servants. The named ones are Bookie (the one who shows up in a timeout), Bonnie (the one with the shotgun), Buttercup (the one with the pistol), and Killer (the one with the knife).
In Tekken 7, Kazumi can summon her pet tiger to attack her opponent. The same holds true for Devil Kazumi. Meanwhile, DLC character Leroy Smith can call in his pet dog Sugar.
One Piece Gigant Battle and its sequel feature assist characters. You can pick up to three, and not only can you summon them in battle, but they also give you passive bonuses like increasing your damage output or health bar. Those passive bonuses depend on the character you chose to play as: usually, the stronger connection there is, the better the bonus, though putting two enemies together (Like Crocodile and Vivi) gives you a malus instead. Setting up certain teams (For example, four Straw Hats, or Sanji with three beautiful ladies) can also give you additional bonuses on top of that. Long story short, choosing your assists in these games is very important.
In Asuka 120%, Karin is aided by her pet frog Kero-pyon.
A few character-specific examples pop up in Playstation All Stars Battle Royale, such as Kuma for Heihachi, a Pipo Monkey for Spike and a Little Sister for Big Daddy.
In the Sega/Dengeki Bunko fighting game Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax, each playable character can equip and use an assist character prior to combat, each with a single, unique action, called by pressing the Assist Button when the Assist Gauge is full. Many assists are derived from a series that a playable character comes from, including Mikoto Misaka (playable) and Touma Kamijou (assist), Shizuo (playable) and Celty (assist), and Asuna/Kirito (both playable) and Leafa (assist).
Several examples from the Crossover Doujin Magical Chaser: Stardust of Dreams:
- Rein from Twin Princess of Wonder Planet aids Fine in some of her attacks.
  - Bibin occasionally calls up Edochin and throws him at the opponent.
- From Ojamajo Doremi, Hazuki, Aiko, Onpu, and Momoko aid Doremi in casting Magical Stage even if she's already fighting Aiko.
  - Mutsumi teams up with Aiko whenever she uses her level 3 super while Mimi helps out with some of her other attacks. Robo-Doremi is also one of her supers.
- Meteo from Princess Comet sometimes throws Mook into her opponent in some of her attacks.
- Kasumin is helped out sometimes by her friends during special attacks.
In Kinnikuman Muscle Fight, a doujin fighting game based on Kinnikuman, most of Atlantis's special attacks are assists from Black Hole, Stecasse King, the Mountain, and/or Mr. Khamen. Pentagon is assisted by Black Hole in about half of his moves, including supers. Since most of the characters operate in tightly-knit groups, nearly all of them appear as assists in someone else's super moves, as well.
The doujin game Eternal Fighter Zero features some assist characters:
- Akane Satomura can call her friend Shiko to attack her opponent, as a reference to the Striker System in The King of Fighters 99.
- Mai Kawasumi can call a Cute Ghost Girl with multiple attacks to assist her in battle, very similar to a Stand.
- Misuzu Kamio, aside from her crow partner Sora, can also summon Yukito, the protagonist of AIR, to keep distance, and extend combos.
- Minagi Tohno fights on par with her best friend Michiru, you control Minagi directly, and Michiru via special moves.
Mortal Kombat:
- Mortal Kombat 9 has Noob Saibot use his shadow as an assist character in some of his special moves and combos. Pay attention to Noob, as whenever Saibot (the shadow) is used or just away from him, his shadow will disappear.
- In Mortal Kombat X, some characters gain assistants with different variations. They include Ferra for every Ferra/Torr variation except Lackey, self-projections and demons for Kenshi's Balanced and Possessed, a Netherrealm bat for Quan Chi's Summoner, Netherrealm minions for Scorpion's Inferno, and a Special Forces drone for Sonya Blade's variation of the same name.
- Mortal Kombat 11: As a nod to his career as a Hollywood actor, Johnny Cage can actually summon his stunt double to grab his opponent.
- Mortal Kombat 1 introduces Kameo Fighters into the series, who serve this function. While a select few fully playable characters (namely the classic versions of Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Kung Lao) can be used as Kameos, the game also features a roster of dedicated Kameo Fighters who can be chosen instead, similar to the Another Strikers/Maniac Strikers in The King of Fighters 2000 or the Special Partners from first Marvel vs. Capcom.
In ARMS, Byte the robot policeman is assisted by his robot dog partner Barq. Barq follows Byte around and occasionally throws out a punch and Byte can jump on his head for a huge jump while reflecting incoming punches. Also in Rush Mode, Byte and Barq form together with Barq firing explosive shots. Barq can also be punched and he'll be knocked out for a few seconds after taking too much damage.
In M.U.G.E.N, May is a rather unique character. Depending on which version of her you are using, either her attacks are weak or she can't attack on her own at all. She has to rely on her Pokemon- Torchic, Beautifly, Bulbasaur, and Skitty- in order to win the fight.
Dragon Ball FighterZ:
- A dedicated button can be used to briefly bring in the next character down in a player's roster for a unique move.
- Android 18 can summon her brother, Android 17, to attack independently of herself, or have him stand by to intercept enemy assists. Krillin fulfills this role if he's on the squad.
- Nappa can plant Saibamen which will sprout after a short while and move autonomously, dealing extra damage or interrupting an enemy attacking Nappa.
- Tien is assisted by Chiaotzu, who will telekinetically paralyze foes to open them to attack. He also plays a role in Tien's Level 3 Super, after which point Chiaotzu can't be called upon again for the rest of the battle.
- Captain Ginyu is assisted by the various members of the Ginyu Force in sequence, each of which contribute in a different way.
- Goku Black is assisted by Zamasu in a few of his special abilities.
Many of the fighters in Sengoku Basara X have at least one dedicated assist character, such as Nobunaga being assisted by Nōhime and Ranmaru, and Oichi being assisted by Nagamasa. The assist characters can actually be seen waiting in the background of the stage when they are not actively being called upon.
In Them's Fightin' Herds, Pom Lamb, who has a puppy doing most of the offense for her, can summon and control more puppies, ground or airborne, for more complex attacks. With a full magic meter, she can summon the puppies' mother (and by using two bars of her Super meter, she can call their father) for even more devestating attacks.
British Redcoats from Pirate Hunter backs you up in each stage, assisting you in defeating large amounts of pirate mooks before they expire. You automatically get a new set of Redcoats after each boss fight, regardless if the previous batch survived or not.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
- Like Dragon Ball FighterZ, the game uses Marvel vs. Capcom 2-style assists involving the various members of each three-person team. There are also gigantic assist characters (either one of the Megazords or Goldar) that can be called in for short periods, an idea that also functions as a Comeback Mechanic.
- In addition to these, several of the characters have Special and Super Moves that function in a similar manner. The Mastodon Sentry calls in three more Sentries for backup, Lord Zedd sends out his Putties, Tommy uses his flute to summon the Dragonzord (the White Tigerzord if he's wearing his White Ranger DLC skin) and the Gold Ranger signals for an an airstrike from Pyramidas.
Bleach: Blade of Fate and its sequel Bleach: Dark Souls has Mayuri Kurotsuchi summon his assistant/"daughter"/punching bag Nemu in several of his moves. Nemu is actually playable by herself, and turns it around: in her strongest super, she calls out "Master Mayuri!", at which point Kurotsuchi's Bankai storms across the stage.

Examples:

Video Example(s):

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