Suggest to me: Weird sidekicks for teen investigators

Umbran · Apr 30, 2026

Think: Scooby Doo, Jabberjaw, the Funky Phantom, Captain Caveman, Speed Buggy.

I will be running a one-shot game in the "teens with weird sidekick investigate possibly supernatural phenomena..." genre. While my players will be able to make up their own investigators, I should have some pregens available.

And I thought - Why not crowdsource this?

So, gimme your wacky, but playable, weird sidekick ideas!

Umbran · Apr 30, 2026

Kafka - is a large talking bug. Smaller than a cat, say, but still huge for a bug. Not known for tact, as bugs have different social mores.

Boone - is a talking dog in a jaunty hat. Except, really, the dog is just a dog - the hat is the intelligent one. The hat doesn't actually control the dog - sometimes, Boone gets his own ideas.

Bob - a vaguely humanoid robot. Strong. Not too fast. Vocal processors have a very small buffer, and can manage one word (or maybe like 12 letters) per vocalization.

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 30, 2026

Umbran said:
Bob - a vaguely humanoid robot. Strong. Not too fast. Vocal processors have a very small buffer, and can manage one word (or maybe like 12 letters) per vocalization.

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 30, 2026

A ghost like Casper the Friendly Ghost.

A familiar, especially a black cat with ‘tude.

A handheld AI (like the one from Quantum Leap) made as one kid’s science project.

Something like The Luggage from Diskworld, or a young mimic.

Something akin to ATHF’s Meatwad, Master Shake or Frylock.

A portable video game sprite that can enter our world for brief periods. Possibly, a portable game that can project characters based on what game was last played.

An imaginary friend like Blue (or other):

Fenris-77 · Apr 30, 2026

A slightly steampunk engineer hedgehog.

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 30, 2026

Fenris-77 said:
A slightly steampunk engineer hedgehog.

But still tiny, right?

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 30, 2026

Teenage Mutant Skateboard Turtle!

Tiny turtle follows cat everywhere

A rescue turtle and a cat are an unlikely, but adorable duo! #animalstory #cuddlebuddies #wildlife #rescueturtle #catstory

m.youtube.com

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 30, 2026

Mr. Squirrel, MASTER THESPIAN!

Fenris-77 · Apr 30, 2026

Dannyalcatraz said:
But still tiny, right?

Of course!

Tigris · Apr 30, 2026

If sidekicks can also be human:

A really plain dude who everyone overlooks/ forget that the person is there. Great for sneaking and gathering information. Maybe give it a really bad orientation such that the person gets lost all the time and vanishes (or sometimes fors not vanish people just forgot them but think dude is lost once again).
Raimond. The person who somehowe knows everyone. No matter where you sre and who you met, they have met raymond before somewhere. Talks way too much about random stories.
John black. Great detective, from a film noir from the 30s. Has absolutely no common sense. Somehow got out of the movie and was adopted. Thinks in movie logic. But can also be clever sometimes (if people behave like movie people). He id in black and white of course.
A really small child which believes its s grest detectice but was transformed into a small child. Kind of vlever, but teally short and well weak, dince its judt a small child.
The best fortune teller in the world. She knows always from the beginning the solution. However, she is absolutely bad at communicating since she wants to sound misterious. Cant give any simple understandable answer even if her lives depends on it.

Then non humans:

A talking book, en encyclopedia. Has vast knowledge of all kinds of topics, except a lot of stuff is completly outdated since its a 20+ year old book. And since its a book its knowledge of course cant be updated.
A small devil on the shoulders trying to give evil advice, but is incredible bad at it. Often trying to think around 4 corners making "brain"- like plans (pinky snd the brain), so in the end often helping to do good.
The self made swiss army giant fork. Child sees it as its best friend and talks to it and about how useful it is. Its just a bunch of glood together random tools/items, the main one being a fork. From time to time one of the random objects actually is useful! "Of course Forky had a fitting key!"
A Dragonfly from a literal pet store. And of course it can spit fire. Can speak and talk, but takes everything literal thats why it can spit fire because a dragon must be able to right?
A reslly really cute "monster" which looks more like a really fluffy teddybear. But wants to be taken seriously as a monster, but for that its just too cute. Tries always to evoke fear in people, but rarely succeeds. (But when it does it is always the bad guys which are afraid by its tricks).
The lucky coin. Is a coin cant talk, thr child often plays around with it, it often gets temporarily lost but always returns somehow. But the "luck" of where the coin lands, how it returns etc. Feels almost like intent. "Oh I see something glittering. Oh cool its my coin and whoa whats below it? This looks like a letter from the victim" etc.