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Hey all, wondering what RP justifications pet collectors have for their characters' vanity pet menageries. Does your character have a reason to take that groundhog, bunny, snake or sprite darter on adventures?

Playing a mage I took what might be the "easy" way out and decided that my character has a rather rambunctious personal familiar with an overactive imagination. Relying on the idea that a familiar can take on any shape it chooses mine follows me around and assumes any shape that would help it navigate the terrain it is in. So in a mountainous region it might transform into an owl to fly between the crags I am climbing. When I'm racing through the snow it takes on the form of a baby polar bear. You get the idea.

I've been trying to get the Higher Learning achievement so as to have a pet that represents its "natural state" but I haven't had much luck yet with that.

As I said, the witch's familiar justification works for a mage - how do other folks regard their pet collections?

I had a similar idea to yours with my blood elf mage's silver dragonhawk familiar in his storyline. I even had it boost his "affinity" for Arcane and Frost magic in the story where I used the idea. Other than that, the only real pets I've worried about are actual combat pets for my hunters. It's fun giving them different personalities and the like.

I only use pets when they are arpee appropriate. My Tauren druid has a Sprite darter, just for his affinity to nature.

Elrith here has had his hawk owl since he turned level ten back in 2004. To make a long story short, his late mother was a Sentinel, and the hawk owl was her familiar. The owl's name is Trill. I've had the hawk owl activated at all times the last 6 years, it's always the first thing I do when I log in or change zones.

Kae here has her loveley Red Dragonhawk that roams beside her. He's just her only connection to home, along with her staff. Being a Half Elf and born in Quel'thalas, she is most interested in being connected with her father's Elvish Lines.

My warlock, Kitonwy, lives in the Slaughtered Lamb (I always imagined it as an inn as well as a tavern, and kind of a place for the warlocks of Stormwind to live), and there was a smuggler that liked to deal in exotic pets. The guard, however, was getting wise to him, so he had to offload some inventory fast. So he sold a sprite darter egg to my warlock for really cheap. Next to her felguard (who actually just really wants to kill her), Alistair is her closest, dearest friend.

And my draenei priestess, Silmeria, adopted an Oracle youngling in Northrend. He's always bouncing around her, climbing her horns, and generally causing trouble.

This character mainly uses the Argent gruntling--in character, it's an orc child she's helping to care for, a survivor of one of those plots where certain people go "lolol I'mma blow up these buildings in the Drag" and don't take the fact that NPCs live there into consideration. (There were four or five other survivors as well, all adults.) Her mate has the same noncombat pet, so we can switch off who is playing him, though if both are present he usually has Mr Wiggles out since the boy has a pet piglet.

My troll hunter always has a raptor hatchling or two about--she's a Crazy Raptor Lady, in the same way that some have cats. She's always looking for a good home for them.

My night elf hunter had a hippogryph hatchling for a couple years, one she raised from an egg she found in Feralas. It's fully grown now (into one of the Argent hippogryph mounts) and carries her husband.

My engineers have large collections of mechanical pets, and my human paladin will be getting the Argent squire once I level her a bit, as she is the sole guardian of her cousin's child. For now, she visits him regularly in the orphanage in Stormwind--he's quite fond of her white kitten, Catgar. (He named it after a lesson about heroes of Azeroth.)

I usually don't use my vanity pets ICly or as part of any RP. If I have one out most people would ignore it or really not notice it anyway.

If it does come up I make up a name and just offer the excuse that they were cute and I just -had- to take it home with me, or something.

This character mainly uses the Argent gruntling--in character, it's an orc child she's helping to care for, a survivor of one of those plots where certain people go "lolol I'mma blow up these buildings in the Drag" and don't take the fact that NPCs live there into consideration. (There were four or five other survivors as well, all adults.) Her mate has the same noncombat pet, so we can switch off who is playing him

That's how Lanuria and her husband explain Torky, the young Argent Squire nipping at their heels. He is also the son of another character my fiancé plays, so it's one big happy family.

We write stories of Torky with Lan or Varen. Lan is currently teaching him the ways of the Elven Ranger and when he grows up (Or is old enough to go out on his own) he's going to be an Orcish rogue with Sin'dorei weapons.

My paladin has a silver dragonhawk that was given to him by his high elf friend to take care of for a bit. His high elf friend is now dead and the paladin resents Silver but he keeps it because he promised his friend and because he is actually getting along a bit with Silver.

We write stories of Torky with Lan or Varen. Lan is currently teaching him the ways of the Elven Ranger and when he grows up (Or is old enough to go out on his own) he's going to be an Orcish rogue with Sin'dorei weapons.

It's fun to have kid characters around, isn't it?

Kagg will likely be a hunter someday, when his runty little pig grows up, and probably an engineer to boot--Tana's mate is a skilled engineer, and a friend of the family has given the boy several mechanical birds, so it makes sense that he'd pick up on it. He's only ten now, though, so it will be a few years.

Most of mine aren't IC. ICly, Allein has two talking snake companions: Crimson and Black Kingsnake. That's all.

Personal little companion of choice is my azure whelpling that i have named Zenithalgos (Zenith for short)

Back story here ties into the war with the blue dragonflight during on of Sheikaris' missions int he Dragonblight. During a a recon run from Star's Rest to Wintergarde, he came across a squadron of mage hunters and blue dragonkin closing in on an injured blue dragon that seemed to have been fleeing from them. He rode in to defend the injured dragon, having been taught a value of alllife from his druidess mother, but suffered a scar across his right eye and down the side of his cheek. The mother, whose injuries were to great for her to survive, left he rlast egg from her shattered clutch for him to protect. Her last wish was that he be free from the insanity that had ensnared Malygos. Not to refuse the wish of a dying mother, Sheikaris cared for the egg in his travels until the day it hatched during the yearly Lunar Festival. Zenithalgos received his name as per the time of his birth, for the zenith at which the moon was highest in the sky on the evening of the festival.

I know it can be a bit tricky to have a dragonling as a pet but I felt that this sort of link between the two was well explained and heart warming. I do have many other companions, but Zenith has been with me since 2004 when i ventured into Azshara for the first time. With the events in Borean Tundra and Dragonblight, I was finally able to come up with the proper story for the two of them as partners.

I rp'ed with my worg pup for a bit, I'd buy fetch balls and throw them around for it to retrieve but I never really gave it a name or incorporated it into Hadhan's story or anything, it was just kinda there.

My blood elf rogue is an engineer so sometimes I'll bring out one of the "robot" themed non-combat pets (Lil'XT, Warbot, etc.) and rp working on them.

I think my favorite non-combat pet to rp with was the pandaren monk. Part of Hadhan's backstory is that he learned martial arts from the monks of the Argent Dawn and as one of his "trials" he was sent to whatever part of the world where pandarens live (the name escapes me atm) and while there, he met and befriended a small pandaren who, like him, had an affinity for the martial arts and thus accompanied him back to the Eastern Kingdoms. The pandaren would mostly follow Hadhan around and harass him in various ways or house sit Hadhan's house in Ironforge (martial artists, even small ones, make great security systems).

This character has a small prairie dog named Boo, who is probably more intelligent than the orc who cares for him. Fiercely loyal, he sniffs out the villains, makes a great projectile and hangs on to ponytails, and goes for the eyes!

<3 Minsc

When I first joined the Scourge I was part of a group specializing in the demoralization of the enemy. Something I got to do was to use the baby frost whelps. When I stopped being Scourge and became a member of the Ebon Blades I kept one of the whelps. Maybe it was one I'd worked with a lot before, maybe it just liked me.

I dunno. Either way it's been with me for a while now.

"It followed me home."

EDIT: Stupid double post. Q.Q

I keep a lich on hand, for morale.

My 'pets', as you say, are less companion or friend than they are partners in a... mutually beneficial relationship.

Smolderweb Hatchling: For the strong silken thread.

Giant Sewer Rat: As a useful disposer of the remains of my 'tailoring supplies'. After they have been thoroughly pilfered and skinned, of course.

Argent Gruntling: Emergency food rations for myself and those listed above.

My druid actually has a fairly similar situation to the OP. He met a nature spirit (longish story) and befriended it. The spirit takes on whatever form it deems appropriate for the situation, or chooses one based on its unpredictable whims.

Naturally, this means that I have to stick to the companions whose forms the spirit could feasibly take, but I'm working on explanations for the others on a case-by-case basis.