Mentor Mascot

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    Yep, this is your all knowing guide.

    The Hero is, in the beginning, just a normal boy/girl (or at least relatively normal, anyway). However, this character has a powerful destiny, completely unaware of the role they will play in the grand scheme of things. Someone has to break the news, and turn this Muggle into the hero he/she is meant to be. And that someone is... a talking cat?

    Part Talking Animal and part enlightened teacher, the mentor mascot plays the dual role of teaching the protagonist about their destiny and powers, while at the same time adding that little bit of comic relief and cuteness (if the show in question is already cutesy, it might start to become sickeningly sweet). Even still, the Mentor Mascot takes its job seriously, and tends to accompany The Hero everywhere just in case the Mooks or the Quirky Miniboss Squad show up.

    In a show (or other medium) where the Masquerade is of significant importance (and when is it not?), the Mentor Mascot will simultaneously be the strictest enforcer and the greatest threat to said facade, since talking animals are usually not normal. However, due to cleverness and selective possession of the Idiot Ball, this is generally just for comic effect rather than an actual problem.

    Oftentimes, the mentor is an Old Master who was cursed into a helpless form, serving as a very good justification for why he is shepherding the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits instead of using his great knowledge and power to save the world himself.

    Generally an anime/manga trope (especially common in Magical Girl anime) but still present in other media. In Magical Girl shows, this critter is usually the one who initially gives the girl her powers, and is known as a companion or a Familiar.

    Examples of Mentor Mascot include:

    Animated Films

    Anime and Manga

    Film

    • Yoda anyone?
    • Arguably, Fin Raizel from Willow. She's a powerful sorceress who spends much of the movie in the form of a possum (not to mention a raven and a goat).

    Live Action TV

    • In the first episode of Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Sensei Watanabe gets into a fight with Lothor, and is turned into a guinea pig. Nonetheless, he is still the team's mentor, and still a master ninja - just very, very small. The same goes for his Japanese counterpart in Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger
    • Mandora Boy in Mahou Sentai Magiranger. He educates the Ozu kids about their powers through song in light of their parents being absent, and provides additional info on the show's spells in a bonus segment.
    • Bomper in Engine Sentai Go-onger is the closest thing the team has to a mentor. He's also a small, pink robot.

    Web Comics

    • Boo is something of a subversion in that he really does try his best to help Largo, but unlike most of the other examples on this list he has something of a language barrier to overcome. In effect, Boo ends up just squeaking while Largo goes off and causes havoc.
      • Actually it seems that Erika can understand Boo just fine, implying that his ineffectiveness is less due to a language barrier and more to do with Largo being a hyperactive Cloudcuckoolander who doesn't listen to anyone's advice if he doesn't need to.
    • Miya from Angel Moxie is a sendup of Luna from Sailor Moon, but is a good deal snarkier.
      • Then there's the whole really-a-Catgirl and exchanging her life for Alex's thing
    • Hermod from Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki, though less qualified than some of the others on this list.
    • Carl from Soul Symphony is this. He's a mystical spirit who looks like "a cross between a rat and a kangaroo", and while he is very wise in the workings of magic, he's not the most helpful mentor.

    Web Original

    • Dusty from Sailor Nothing plays this role.
    • Played straight and played with in Magical Girl Hunters. The animals in question are almost always outlandishly colored. In case of mass empowerment, a crate full of baby chicks was used. In another case, Sailor H's turn to homicidal mania was prefixed by her animal companions, a purple raccoon, developing rabies.
    • The Recruiters from Lambda. Given the nature of the setting, it's only natural to have so many of these Ridiculously Cute Critters running around and serving as walking army recruitment posters.

    Video Games

    Western Animation

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