Familiar

A Familiar is a subtype of passive items. Familiars are small companions that follow and assist you on your journey. The effects from these include (but are not limited to): spawners that generate Pick Ups, shooters that fire additional shots at enemies, and orbitals that act as projectile shields or deal damage.

Only 4 Shooters can follow Isaac at once. Orbitals stack up to a maximum of three. Flies have the lesser priority and are replaced if you pick up another while all three slots are taken.

• Rebirth: Rebirth removes the familiar limit, so you can have as many as you can find.

Spawners

Item	Icon	Effect
Bomb Bag		Isaac is followed by a small bag that drops a Bomb, 1+1 Free, or a Troll Bomb every 3 rooms.
Sack Of Pennies		Isaac is followed by a small bag that drops a coin every 2 rooms. Usually a penny, sometimes a nickel.
Little C.H.A.D.		Isaac is followed by Little C.H.A.D, who will drop a half Heart every 2 rooms.
The Relic		Isaac is followed by a small blue cross that will drop a Soul Heart every 5 rooms.
Bum Friend		A portable Beggar who follows Isaac, pick up coins for himself, and occasionally drop Pick Ups. Does not spawn Collectibles. Can push around dropped bombs, similar to Meat Boy.

Shooters

Item	Icon	Effect
Brother Bobby		Follows Isaac around shooting normal tears.
Demon Baby		Follows Isaac and automatically fires at enemies in its reach.
Little Chubby		Adds a small grub that follows Isaac. Charges forward and deals touch damage to any enemies in her path. Will attack when the Isaac attacks with a moderate cooldown time before she can attack again.
Little Gish		Follows Isaac around shooting tar projectiles that reduce enemies' movement speed, shot speed, and range for a few seconds.
Little Steve		Follows Isaac around, shooting homing projectiles.
Robo-Baby		Follows Isaac around, shooting enemies with an eye laser similar to Technology.
Sister Maggy		Follows Isaac around shooting blood tears.
Abel		Mirrors Isaac's movements. Shoots in opposite direction to the player.
Ghost Baby		Familiar that shoots spectral tears.
Harlequin Baby		Familiar that shoots a pair of tears diagonally every second while Isaac is firing.
Rainbow Baby		Tear Effect changes every shot.

Orbitals

Item	Icon	Effect
Forever Alone		Spawns a blue attack fly that orbits a long distance from Isaac.
Distant Admiration		A red attack fly circles further out than the Halo of Flies/Pretty Flies, but closer than Forever Alone. Deals more damage than Forever Alone.
Guardian Angel		Spawns a Guardian Angel that orbits Isaac. Does damage on touch, blocks shots and doubles the speed of other orbitals.
Halo Of Flies		Grants 2 Fly orbitals that circle Isaac. Blocks shots and damages Fly enemies on touch.
Pretty Fly		Grants a Fly similar to those from Halo Of Flies. Obtained from a Slot Machine or a Pill effect by the same name.
Sacrificial Dagger		Dagger orbits Isaac, very high damage.

Others

Item	Icon	Effect
Dead Cat		Your HP is set to 1. You are followed by a floating cat head and have 9 lives (these still count as deaths on the statistics screen). You can increase your max HP as normal, but after each death it will reset to 1 again.
1UP		Gives an extra life. Upon death, you will respawn in the previous room with full health and lose the 1UP.
Guppy's Hair Ball		Loosely follows behind Isaac. Can be swung like a flail by rapidly spinning Isaac in a circle. Grows bigger by killing enemies
Cube Of Meat		The first pick up gives a floating cube similar to a Pretty Fly that damages enemies and blocks shots. The second pick up changes it into a floating head that shoots red tears and blocks shots. The third pick up changes it into a humanoid Meat Boy, who walks around chasing enemies, but no longer shoot projectiles. (This stage and the last stage can push bombs around, which can damage Isaac if the player is not careful) The fourth pick up increases his size and damage. A fifth pick up will create another cube of meat orbital which then advances to another Super Meat Boy. However, it is not possible to have three or more Meat Boys, as the ninth cube will simply disappear on pickup. → →→
Attack Fly		Circles Isaac in a loose orbit. When in range, they will break away from their orbit and chase after an enemy, dealing touch damage and usually killing themselves. There is no limit to the number of attack flies that can orbit around you, but only 5 will follow you from room to room. The rest will disappear. Can be found from Pills (Friends 'Til the End), Red Chests, Fish Head trinket, Guppy's Head, Infestation and The Mulligan item. Transforming Isaac into Guppy will also give him a permanent Mulligan effect.
Holy Water		When Isaac receives damage, the bottle breaks and a puddle of blue Creep forms, which damages non-flying enemies, similar to Lemon Mishap. The bottle is reformed upon entering a different room.

Gallery

A host of familiars.

A large number of flies.

Trivia

• Edmund stated that the knob on the end of most Familiars is a Fetal Tail.

Bugs

• Using a familiar to shoot Bombs spawned with Dr. Fetus as Guppy or with The Mulligan will create Attack Flies. This technique can be use to prepare five Attack Flies before each room.