Buster

Location: In the main courtyard, behind the door just to the right of the East Wing entrance Rescue Reward: A faithful helper who will follow you anywhere. From the Manual: Buster is the family dog and your faithful companion since childhood.

Buster always appears in the same location, in a basement room adjacent to the Main Courtyard which can be reached from a door immediately to the right of the East Wing entrance door. Buster will be in a cage guarded by two gypsy henchmen with scythes and one with a flintlock pistol (who seem to be preparing to cook him). Although you can reach Buster as soon as the game begins, you won't be able to free him until you find the key to his cage. You'll receive Buster's cage key after rescuing Aunt Sophie from the East Wing's 1st boss. Unlike your relatives, there is no time limit on freeing Buster, since he's not a scheduled sacrifice. After you free him, Buster will follow you where-ever you go, just like one of your relatives. Unlike your relatives, Buster is actually pretty handy in a fight and will attack any enemies that appear while he's traveling with you. Also, since enemies tend to concentrate on attacking you and will usually ignore Buster, you don't have to worry too much about him getting killed. He's got the same amount of health as any other relative, so he can survive a decent amount of damage. Buster's biting attacks aren't quite as powerful as the punching attacks of Greg or Wilfred, but they still do a lot of damage and kill most enemies in 3 to 5 hits. Buster's attacks can also stun an enemy for a second or two. Buster is more powerful than most enemies in the game, so he should be able to handle himself if you accidentally leave him alone in a room with a couple monsters. Just don't make a habit of it, because he CAN die.

Buster's reasonably quick, but it can slow you down a little to constantly be checking if Buster is following you. You may want to drop him off in the Main Courtyard whenever you don't need his help. Unlike your relatives, Buster won't die if you just leave him in the Main Courtyard. Instead, he'll simply appear near his dog-house in the Main Courtyard, where you can pick him up again. Just don't leave him alone inside the castle itself, because he can die that way.