Duck Hunt Dog

"Dog", also known as "the Laughing Dog", is a character from the NES video game, Mh:awesomegames:Duck Hunt. As his name suggests, he is a dog. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, he becomes a playable character in the game who tags along with a duck from Duck Hunt.

The dog has become a sort of icon of the game due to him laughing at the player whenever they fail to shoot a duck, and his popularity has even gotten him mentioned on TV.

Why He's Intentionally Not "Man's Best Friend"

 * 1) Because of him laughing at the player for every miss they make for shooting a duck, he has been carried to the point that he's considered to be one of the most annoying video game characters alongside Navi the Fairy, Omochao, and the list goes on.
 * 2) He is a sidekick who was meant to be the player's hunting companion who drives the ducks out of their hiding spots and collects the shot down ones for you. Normally, you expect the dog to be disappointed or sad since his efforts were all for naught (and thus make you feel guilty). But instead, he laughs at you for missing, and given that each round has the ducks fly faster and more sporadic, you will experience this moment more often than not.
 * 3) * The dog doesn't seem to be that smart by mocking the gun-wielding player and later hopping around among the ducks in Vs. Duck Hunt (which the latter would get himself shot easily more often than not).
 * 4) While the laugh itself isn't that bad to hear the first time, this becomes rather annoying to hear the same sound clip play every time you can't shoot the ducks.
 * 5) * This led many players to want to shoot the dog for being a poor sport, and some even believe the dog was never on your side, instead of conspiring with the ducks to make your life miserable. This is carried to the point that you even want to shoot him when you see him laughing.
 * 6) * Some die-hard Nintendo fans found his laugh terrifying when they were young.
 * 7) Due to him not speaking (aside from the quote mentioned above), he does not have a clear personality.
 * 8) Where he did appear in the Smash games, for some reason, he became friends with Duck. Which seems odd since he was always enemies to them.
 * 9) * Also, his friendship with Duck in the Smash games although somewhat sensible since they were both mascots of their game, but was also rather vague and unexplained, this is better shown when they hardly even interact with each other.
 * 10) While in-game he looks appealing, there have been instances where Dog had an ugly character design.
 * 11) * His extremely uncanny 3d design from the infamous "You Cannot Beat Us" Nintendo Entertainment System commercial in 1986 (View the image at your own risk). He also had a very disturbing voice as well to match the creepiness of this version of Dog's design.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Minor nitpicks aside, he has significantly improved as a character in the Smash games.
 * 2) He can be also quite fun to play as him in the Smash series, depending on your view.
 * 3) * His snicker was done decently (and in a way anyone can enjoy listening to), which sounds better than his laugh on the NES.
 * 4) Since you are able to shoot him in VS. arcade version of Duck Hunt, this means the player can get back at Dog for laughing at you remorselessly. Sure, you're penalized for shooting him by getting an earful from him and being taken out of the bonus stage, but nonetheless, it still feels satisfying. Especially when it's all done in a cartoonish manner that is very comical to see.
 * 5) * This pointer aside, he actually has been given comeuppance by Banjo himself. This is done in a way that is played for comedy in the reveal trailer for Banjo Kazooie, where Dog is rather funny & entertaining to watch. His aforementioned comeuppance is hilarious to see coming from Nintendo themselves.
 * 6) It is possible that he is meant to be hated because he antagonizes the player.

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Trivia

 * He is a Labrador Retriever. Bred for marking, retrieving, and delivering waterfowl directly to your hands.
 * He got his own page on Wikipedia because of how infamous he is.
 * Despite the fact that you can shoot the dog in the VS. arcade version of Duck Hunt, unofficial titles have been released on the internet where the dog can be shot. These are typically more graphical and often result in the dog dying rather than just a face full of gunpowder like in the Vs. Series version.
 * The dog laughing at you has been mocked and parodied time and again all over the internet. It became an ascended meme when the trailer for Banjo & Kazooie being added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate dropped, with the duo being impersonated at first by Duck Hunt, who proceed to heckle the cast of Donkey Kong Country (and the video's audience) with vast quantities of their laughter.
 * Before and after he became an added character to the Smash series, he has made guest appearances in other video games like World Class Track Meet, Barker Bill's Trick Shooting, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$, Tetris DS, WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase, Mh:awesomegames:Super Mario Maker, and WarioWare Gold.
 * The snicker he was given in Smash Ultimate/U was never credited.