Ok so I just realized that many platformers appear to have a main character and a secondary, smaller character on his/her back, or near them.

Obviously I'm not saying that the idea was copied but I think that there has to be a reason behind this.

Some examples

• Banjo Kazooie
• Ratchet and clank
• Jak and daxter
• Zelda (Yes, I consider this to have enough platforming aspects to be considered one.)

I think that given the exploratory nature of platformers, characters are often alone, and the secondary character is added to give dialouge opprotunities.

What are your thoughts? Do you have any theories? Am I thinking too much into this?

Why limit this to platformers? Most games have some secondary character to give dialogue opportunities. MGS4 has Otacon, RE4 has Hunnigan, any flight sim will have a voiceover. Infact, pretty much every genre besides survival horror has this quite frequently

Its like Mario and Yoshi...IN REVERSE!

^ha that gave me a good laugh.

heroes need a sidekick, did you notice batman has robin??

it's part of the TRADITION!!

Navi's annoying though, and Kazooie is the best...

They are just sidekicks, it adds more to the game and gives you a sense that you aren't alone :D.

I'd say Sonic is a better example than Zelda. That little purplish thing in Sonic Unleashed fits the bill.

Yeah sidekicks are very important to the story. They can be funny or oppisite of the main character.

I still can't believe Kazooie was a girl the whole time. It changed my life.