25 best video game sidekicks ever

Wheatley (Portal 2, 2011)

Voiced by, and with a personality very much reminiscent of, Stephen Merchant, Wheatley is another AI. He wakes the player from stasis so that both can escape the destabilising remains of Aperture Science, frequently helping out with the game’s puzzles until… well, until a certain point is reached, and it would be remiss of us to spoil that for anyone yet to experience Portal 2’s greatness.

Captain Price (Call of Duty 2, 2005)

A frequent computer-controlled companion during SAS missions in the Modern Warfare series, Captain Price actually first appeared in the World War II-set Call of Duty 2, where he led the player’s unit throughout the British campaigns. While his voice changed in the Modern Warfare games (Infinity Ward has hinted that the second Price is the grandson of the original) his distinctive facial hair and never-say-die attitude did not, and he appears in some of the series’ most memorable set pieces.

Cole Train (Gears of War, 2006)

His larger-than-life personality makes sporting hero turned soldier Augustus Cole the most memorable of Gears of War’s four main characters. Never hesitant to loudly express his love for stomping Locust soldiers’ heads into mush, his ultra-violent tendencies become almost welcome comic relief in the grim post-apocalyptic setting of the original trilogy.

Alyx Vance (Half-Life 2, 2004)

Ah, Alyx – the one person on Combine-ruled, dystopian Earth who seems attracted to mute bespectacled physics nerd Gordon Freeman – and God bless her for that. Alyx pulls Gordon’s behind out of the fire multiple times in Half-Life 2 and its expansions, but perhaps her greatest achievement is adding a human face (a very pretty one, it has to be said) to the series. We look forward to blasting headcrabs with her once more when Valve finally gets around to releasing the near-mythical Half-Life 3.

Clank (Ratchet & Clank, 2002)

More of a backkick than a sidekick, Clank rides piggyback on Ratchet for most of Ratchet & Clank, a burden apparently accepted on the strength of the robot's aptitude for getting the protagonist out of tight spots, usually by turning himself into some sort of back-mounted jetpack. Much less worrisome than having a monkey on your back.