Lockjaw (Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: Black Order)
Lockjaw is a teleporting alien bulldog. That’s enough to get Lockjaw on our list — but Lockjaw is an honest-to-god playable hero in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. Like other playable dogs on this list (Caesar), Lockjaw is accompanied by a completely superfluous human that nobody really cares about. Technically Crystal, the Inhuman, is the playable character here, but because they’re working together, we all know Lockjaw is the true power in this duo.
Kiva – Nightwolf’s Wolf (Mortal Kombat 11)
Kiva doesn’t get quite as much screentime as Lockjaw, but Kiva is just as important to Nightwolf — Kiva is the ‘wolf’ in Nightwolf, and various moves summon the dog to maul your kombatant enemies. Hilariously, Kiva is a new addition to Nightwolf. Yes, the animal-attuned fighter didn’t have an official canine companion until MK11. And Kiva is itself an Easter egg — a reference to the wolf Kiba from the Mortal Kombat cartoon series. The fact Kiva exists at all is enough to get my Saturday Morning cartoon butt to put him on this list.
Pet even more good pups on the next page!