"To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs." —Aldous Huxley
Like a captain willing to go down with the ship, the furry friends of sci-fi are full of a devotion that will keep them by their companion's sides till the bitter end. This week we are celebrating the ones who are always there, and who—whatever species they might be—can be counted on to bring a little extra dose of humanity to any story.
Think about which of the animal companions (robotic ones included!) from science fiction you'd want with you as the world falls apart, nominate as many as you'd like here or in our Facebook group, and then be sure to vote for your favorite(s)! We'll pin you down to one choice next week.
As always, we base our lists on the votes and nominations from this blog and our Facebook Reader group, and we want to hear your opinion!
Who Are the Best Furry Friends in Science Fiction?
Nimitz, Treecat in Honor Harrington Series (vol 1: On Basilisk Station) by David Weber*14%, 103 votes
103 votes14%
103 votes - 14% of all votes
Chewbacca*10%, 72 votes
72 votes10%
72 votes - 10% of all votes
Tribbles from Star Trek*7%, 54 votes
54 votes7%
54 votes - 7% of all votes
Little fuzzy from “Little Fuzzy” by H. Beam Piper*7%, 51 vote
51 vote7%
51 vote - 7% of all votes
Pip, the mini-dragon from the Pip & Flinx series by Alan Dean Foster*6%, 41 vote
41 vote6%
41 vote - 6% of all votes
Rocket from Gaurdians of the Galaxy*5%, 40 votes
40 votes5%
40 votes - 5% of all votes
Ewoks from Star Wars*5%, 34 votes
34 votes5%
34 votes - 5% of all votes
Frank the Pug in MIB movies.*4%, 30 votes
30 votes4%
30 votes - 4% of all votes
Pixel the cat from The Cat Who Walks Through Walls*4%, 27 votes
27 votes4%
27 votes - 4% of all votes
Sergeant Stumpy, the heroic dog from Earthrise by Daniel Arenson 4%, 27 votes
27 votes4%
27 votes - 4% of all votes
Mouse, the Tibetan Foo Dog in The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher*3%, 24 votes
24 votes3%
24 votes - 3% of all votes
Oberon, the adorable, opinionated wolfhound from The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne*3%, 23 votes
23 votes3%
23 votes - 3% of all votes
Nimitz*3%, 22 votes
22 votes3%
22 votes - 3% of all votes
Reepicheep, CS Lewis Narnia*3%, 21 vote
21 vote3%
21 vote - 3% of all votes
Miles, the Siberian husky sidekick in Hell Divers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith 2%, 18 votes
18 votes2%
18 votes - 2% of all votes
Barf the Mawg from Spaceballs The Movie.*2%, 17 votes
17 votes2%
17 votes - 2% of all votes
Blood in “A Boy and his Dog”*2%, 17 votes
17 votes2%
17 votes - 2% of all votes
Gizmo Gremlins*2%, 15 votes
15 votes2%
15 votes - 2% of all votes
Einstein, the dog from Watchers by Dean Koontz*1%, 10 votes
10 votes1%
10 votes - 1% of all votes
Speaker To Animals*1%, 9 votes
9 votes1%
9 votes - 1% of all votes
Carl Sagan a Werffle ( looks like a 6 legged cross between a weasel and otter) from a couple of sci-fi stories and books by C. Gockerl*1%, 8 votes
8 votes1%
8 votes - 1% of all votes
nimetz*1%, 7 votes
7 votes1%
7 votes - 1% of all votes
Fortinbras, the Murry family's dog from A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 1%, 6 votes
6 votes1%
6 votes - 1% of all votes
Lying Cat, from the Saga Series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples 1%, 5 votes
5 votes1%
5 votes - 1% of all votes
Hani from the "Pride of Chanur Novels" by CJ Cherryh*1%, 5 votes
5 votes1%
5 votes - 1% of all votes
BAGHEERA FROM JUNGLE BOOK*1%, 4 votes
4 votes1%
4 votes - 1% of all votes
Chewie/Goose the Flerkin*1%, 4 votes
4 votes1%
4 votes - 1% of all votes
Rosie, the Rottweiler cross from Occupied Earth by Jasper T. Scott 1%, 4 votes
4 votes1%
4 votes - 1% of all votes
Mephistopheles and Bushyasta, ship cats in Ancestral Night*1%, 4 votes
4 votes1%
4 votes - 1% of all votes
Meerkats from Andre Norton Beast Master*1%, 4 votes
4 votes1%
4 votes - 1% of all votes
Carey, the cocker spaniel from The Event by Nathan Hystad 0%, 3 votes
3 votes
3 votes - 0% of all votes
Eet from The Zero Stone by Andre Norton*0%, 3 votes
3 votes
3 votes - 0% of all votes
Hokas (Poul Anderson & Gordon Dickson))*0%, 3 votes
3 votes
3 votes - 0% of all votes
Kazak, the space hound from The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 0%, 3 votes
3 votes
3 votes - 0% of all votes
Hisa, from C.J. Cherry Alliance/Union universe.*0%, 2 votes
2 votes
2 votes - 0% of all votes
George the talking dog from Taken Trilogy by Alan Dean Foster*0%, 2 votes
2 votes
2 votes - 0% of all votes
Kubu the Megalodog from Black Ocean: Mercy for Hire by J.S. Morin*0%, 2 votes
2 votes
2 votes - 0% of all votes
Dust Bunnies from Jayne Castle's Rainshadow series.*0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
Boomer from the Far Beyond series by Christian Kallias*0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
Small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri*0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
Miles from the Hell Diver series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith*0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
The cat in Heinlein's "The Door Into Summer"*0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
Olaf Stapledon's Sirius*0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
Total Votes: 730
Voters: 352
June 9, 2020
* - added by visitor
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https://discoverscifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/The-top-Furry-Friends-in-science-fiction.png6801200Discover Sci-Fihttps://discoverscifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/discover-scifi.pngDiscover Sci-Fi2020-06-11 10:55:482020-06-11 10:55:51Who Are the Best Furry Friends in Science Fiction?
10replies
Ray says:
Without doubt Pip by Alan Dean Foster. I have the complete collection. Highly imaginative.
You have to be a real old fan to remember Murgatroyd, a creation of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, better known as Murray Leinster. Murgatroyd was a companion to the Medical Corps in Leinster’s series incl. “Med Ship”
data cleanup, please, de-duplication. You currently have “Nimetz” “Nimitz” and “Nimitz the tree cat”. Already in first place, but another 23 votes under the other two names. I did NOT scan the entire list to see if that was the only one with duplicates, but it sure leapt out at me…
Am I the only one that considers Tarzan as a Science Fiction series. (Okay, the science involved is Social Science – but still.) Jad-bal-ja the lion made for a powerful hunting partner and protector and Nkima the monkey was a fine, light-hearted fellow traveler. Okay, it’s not the same, but Cheeta was always good for a few laughs in the Tarzan movie universe.
I had to vote for the meerkats, after all, I wrote three of the five books with Andre. But recently came across the Rainshadow series by Jayne Castle and LOVE the dust bunnies.
[…] As always, these top ten lists are not meant to be all-inclusive or definitive, but give a great finger on the pulse of our communities interests and favorites. Want to see who missed out? Here's the original nomination list from the blog. […]
Without doubt Pip by Alan Dean Foster. I have the complete collection. Highly imaginative.
I do not recall Pip as being furry.
Nor are the robotics
If robotic companions count, where is the non-furry R. Daneel Olivaw? Granted, he might win in a landslide where robotic companions are considered.
You have to be a real old fan to remember Murgatroyd, a creation of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, better known as Murray Leinster. Murgatroyd was a companion to the Medical Corps in Leinster’s series incl. “Med Ship”
My first thought was also pip, but how about Little Fuzzy from H. Beam Piper’s books?
data cleanup, please, de-duplication. You currently have “Nimetz” “Nimitz” and “Nimitz the tree cat”. Already in first place, but another 23 votes under the other two names. I did NOT scan the entire list to see if that was the only one with duplicates, but it sure leapt out at me…
Am I the only one that considers Tarzan as a Science Fiction series. (Okay, the science involved is Social Science – but still.) Jad-bal-ja the lion made for a powerful hunting partner and protector and Nkima the monkey was a fine, light-hearted fellow traveler. Okay, it’s not the same, but Cheeta was always good for a few laughs in the Tarzan movie universe.
I had to vote for the meerkats, after all, I wrote three of the five books with Andre. But recently came across the Rainshadow series by Jayne Castle and LOVE the dust bunnies.