The best thing about a fantasy game is when its creators go wildly creative, building incredibly innovative universes with unique settings, rich mythology, and various characteristics that most players wouldn’t even imagine could exist.
When you have a novelty world, its creator sets the rules governing that universe. Often, especially inJRPGs, we get sentient animals whose role extends beyond simply barking or meowing. Some are powerful allies in combat, while others serve as mascots or comic relief.
10 JRPGS With Short Runtimes
These games are for those who love JRPGs but don’t want to spend months on the same playthrough.
Moreover, if we broaden our perspective, we often see a variety of races populating these fantastical universes. Among these, anthropomorphic creatures—animals with human-like traits—are not uncommon. For the intimate, the term furry fits perfectly.
So, by including both fully-fledged animals and furries, we’ve compiled a list of the best JRPG animal party members out there, whether due to their role in the story or their combat prowess.
Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition
Plotwise, Draggy doesn’t hold much relevance inChrono Cross.However, as a fan of dragons and considering the lore behind the evolution of the Reptites fromChrono Triggerand the rise of the Dragonians, I feel it deserves a spot on this list.
Serge finds Draggy’s egg and places it in the incubator at Fort Dragonia, eventually hatching it andadding the dragon child to the party.
If the player takes Draggy to Fossil Valley, it interacts with the bones of a dragon—its mother. There’s a brief exchange between them, and life goes on as the little dragon learns the Big Breath ability.
Honestly, it’s always a win to have dragons in the party. Draggy isn’t the strongest party member inChrono Cross, but it holds its own. Bonus points if you have Leah in the party because they can use a Dual Tech called Draggy Rider, which is utterly adorable.
Tales of Vesperia
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition
Everyone loves a good mascot, but it’s even better when it’s practically a ninja wolf wielding a pipe and swapping it for a dagger when he’s in the mood to slice up enemies. That’s Repede fromTales of Vesperia, the buddy of protagonist Yuri.
8 Best JRPGs Where You Play A Rebel
In some games, our protagonists are rebels; in others, we’re part of a rebellion.
Repede doesn’t get much narrative development in the game. His backstory is explored in the prequel movieTales of Vesperia: The First Strike.It’s revealed that the pipe Repede carries in his mouth is a tribute to his former owner, Niren Fedrok, who died due to imperial corruption.
That same corruption pushed Yuri to leave the army and live independently. In the process, the protagonist adopted Repede, who accompanies him on all his adventures. The chain and blastia the dog wears also belonged to his previous owner.
Drakengard
Regarding dragons as animal party members, we have Angelus, the partner of protagonist Caim inDrakengard.Angelus is intriguing becauseDrakengarddoesn’t feature a traditional party system, but you can still play with the dragon in standard and flying missions.
As a dragon, Angelus is one of the most powerful entities inDrakengard.She despises humankind but is forced to swallow her pride when she forms a pact with Caim to ensure their mutual survival. Together, they unleash chaos upon the empire.
Over time, Angelus and Caim’s relationship strengthens, with both profoundly caring for one another, which is the game’s most compelling aspect.
But sinceDrakengardis a dark fantasy and Yoko Taro is a madman, their fate is almost certainly tragic. The game has five endings, and in most of them, things go terribly wrong. Well, it’s the journey that matters, not the destination, eh?
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
I’m not sure if there’s acreature more iconic in the JRPG worldthan Chocobos—maybeDragon QuestSlimes—but it would be disingenuous to leave them out. The hardest part was deciding which title to feature since the mascot is practically omnipresent.
There’s a huge variety of instances where a Chocobo joins your party inFinal Fantasy,not counting the spin-offs where it takes center stage. However, I wanted to highlightFinal Fantasy Tacticsbecause they’re an absolute menace there.
There are three ranks: the traditional yellow Chocobos, Black Chocobos, and the global threat, Red Chocobos. The yellow ones are essentially support units, the Black Chocobos are physical damage dealers, and the Red Chocobos are the bringers of chaos.
Why? Because Red Chocobos innately have access to the Choco Meteor ability, a long-range massive damage attack.
If you’re not into using their combat skills, your units inFinal Fantasy Tacticscan mount them to take advantage of their high movement speed—especially the Black Chocobo, which has the power of flight.
Breath of Fire III
Breath of FireIII is my favorite nostalgic JRPG. I always say it’s my favorite game, but deep down, I know it’s the memories of an easily impressed young me.
A big part of the love for the game comes from the characters, especially the protagonist Ryu and his step-big brother Woren, Rei.
Rei meets Ryu at the beginning of the game and doesn’t blink twice before taking the boy in, something he had already done with the orphan Teepo.
As their guardian, Rei teaches them the harsh realities of life and introduces them to a life of crime, doing the necessary to survive.
8 JRPGs With the Most Rewarding Exploration
These games are for the intrepid explorers who love to scour every nook and cranny of the worlds they inhabit.
Eventually, things go south. Their home is burned down, and the trio is separated. Years later, when Ryu reunites with Rei, he finds him out of control, transformed into a beastly creature.
The reason? Ever since their separation, Rei had been searching for the perpetrators who burned their house down, believing they had also killed Ryu and Teepo. It’s a heartwarming reunion that shows how Rei always kept them in his thoughts.
Persona 5 Royal
Morgana may not be everyone’s cup of tea inPersona 5, but I like how he portrays himself as the main character’s spokesperson, even though the protagonist isn’t silent.
The catboy also helps answer some of the player’s burning questions about the game’s setting and undergoes one of the most remarkable character developments.
What starts as an apparent mascot ends up revealing a character full of layers who doubts himself and his very existence, adding toPersona 5’soverarching themes. It also helps that he’s a cat for those who love feline companions.
Granted, he can be annoying at times, especially when arguing with Ryuji or obsessing over Ann. Still, Morgana has heart, and compared to otherPersonamascots, he might be the least bothersome and the most useful, both in and out of combat.
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Red XIII, or Nanaki to those who know him well, is our old young one who oscillates between wisdom and naivety throughoutFinal Fantasy VII’sjourney. If you think he’s a dog, know that Tetsuya Nomura once said Red XIII is a feline of sorts. Not precisely a cat, but I’d consider him a mountain lion.
Regardless, that’s beside the point.Red XIII is phenomenal, and his personality gets even more fleshed out inFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Initially, he’s introduced with a deep voice, radiating experience and age. However, once he returns home, his youthful and flamboyant side emerges despite being 48 years old.
Red XIII’s Cosmo Canyon arc is responsible for many players' tears.Final Fantasygave him a depth rarely seen in animal party members, who were usually portrayed only as mascots or comic relief. In the end, Red XIII is that which you see before you, nothing more.
Chrono Trigger
Although technically, Frog isn’t an animal party member,he’s too iconic inChrono Triggerand deserves a spotlight. For God’s sake, the guy even croaks when he’s happy! He’s completely enthralled in the façade. But if you prefer, you may call him Glenn.
Crono and Lucca meet Frog while trying to rescue Marle and immediately recognize his presence, strength, and chivalrous personality. And that’s precisely what Frog embodies at all times. He doesn’t dwell on his appearance while seeking the one who transformed him and continues to exude his heroic prowess.
It gets even better when he wields the Masamune, and histriumphant theme starts playing. Frog is the kind of character you could call to travel to the future and fight an alien threat to save a world he won’t even live to see, and he’d accept it in a heartbeat.
1Donald Duck
Kingdom Hearts
The realization that I had when I considered Donald Duck as one of the best animal party members in a JRPG left me a bit incredulous.
It sounded wrong but so right at the same time. But alas, we can’t deny that Donald Duck is one of the best characters inKingdom Hearts,whether you like him or not.
Probably like you, I’ve screamed at the screen when Donald took too long to cast Cure, and I ended up dying—or when he burned through his scarce MP spamming Fire over and over. However, his chaotic energy, over-the-top personality, and everything he brings toKingdom Hearts’narrative are undeniably endearing.
Let’s not forget that, canonically, he was themost powerful mage in theFinal Fantasyuniversefor a long time, being the only one capable of casting Zettaflare.
That all changed with the release ofFinal Fantasy XVI,where Bahamut also unleashed a Zettaflare, putting him on the same level as the Royal Magician of Disney Castle.
10 Best Indie JRPG Party Members
There are plenty of fantastic JRPGs out there, but here’s our cultivated list of some of the best party members in the indie sphere.
