The modding community is overrun with wide-eyed skanky followers. However, you may find refuge from the "just another pretty face" follower here--enjoy.

Criteria: Dark / Non-Standard Type, Healer (to Offset Difficulty), Looks and Custom Voiced.

Herman the Mad by JaervSkyrim

This guy is old (literally--over a year) and is not currently being updated....but...he's a ton of fun! He is very lore friendly and the way you meet him will remind you of an old D&D crawl. He's got attitude and and a nasty sword and is custom voiced. What more could you want?

NOTE: Due to him not being updated, some people do report issues with him. Unfortunately, that is the way it is when a modder retires a project. Still, you should see how he works in your mod load.

Necromancer Follower - Xavier by Nightshade

This guy is helpful in a dark sort of way. Why not have a cool, and calm albino with the ability to raise his own undead army all for your cause? Xavier will quickly become a cool friend that you are happy to have met (because you don't have real life friends).

Faallokaar - The Loyal Voiced Dragon and Human Follower by Bifteki

This teenage dragon will quickly become a favorite for many. The guy shoots fire, flies overhead, and sounds awesome when he decides to talk to you. Also, he comes available in two colors! (We like the red one.) He is custom voiced, and can transform into a human form to tag along in dungeons.

NOTE: It seems poor Faallokaar has compatibility issues with Dragon Combat Overhaul.

Arissa - The Wandering Rouge by Chesko and Nikkita

Every adventuring fantasy party should have at least one rogue/thief member in it. This concept was established as long ago as the first Conan movie. Chesko (of Frosftall fame) has created one of the most unique rogues that your party will find is rather convenient. She is voiced by the talented Nikkita and like Herman the Mad, is found in a true D&D and lore friendly style.

Hoth by hothtrooper44

This guy is a bounty hunter who makes criminals think twice and would make "Dog the Bounty Hunter" yipe like a scared little runt in the corner. He costs, but he's worth it. He comes with his own unique and awesome armor (being entirely created by the creator of Immersive Armors, this comes as no surprise) and a good ole' skull cleaving weapon which he prefers not to part with. Plus, he is custom voiced. Further, he is found in a lore friendly and typical RPG fashion. (You hire him when you find him waiting for work at an inn.)

Vilja in Skyrim by the incredibly friendly & talented Emma

What list of followers would be complete if it was missing Vilja? If you have been around the modding community at all, you know of this fantastic follower already. If however, you are fairly new, please allow us the honor of introducing the most absolute advanced follower made for Skyrim--Vilja. She is absolutely amazing and full of "life". She is completely custom voiced by the author, Emma and hearing her comment about her surroundings and interact with other followers (you read that right) adds so much to the game. Every advanced follower that will ever be made, unfortunately for them, will be compared to this amazing work of art. She complements this list nicely in that she is a fantastic healer which will help offset the difficulty you'll be adding by using the mods on this list, and further, she can lead her own party of followers too! This means that you'll be able to split up your party of heroes and strategically attack the powerful Lich that lies ahead. We highly recommend Vilja, no party is complete without her.

Inigo by Smartbluecat

If you have been around the Nexus at all, you should have known about this guy. Inigo is winner of Gamespot's mod of the year and was inspired by the most popular and advanced follower mod to date-- Vilja. He is also found in a unique manner and will require some assistance to get out of jail. He is fully voiced and comes loaded with unique dialogue and options. He will be a fantastic addition to any party of heroes.

Companion Valfar by Omesean

This old codger is one cantankerous and pissed off dude--which is why we like him. Like the others mentioned here, he is found in a lore friendly and appropriate place (as apposed to just plopped in a random inn) and is fully voiced. He hates elves and imperials and loves to drink. If you are the "rude" sort of player, he will accompany you nicely.

Celestine Custom Healer by techprince

This girl is certain to come in handy with all those new fancy combat overhauls since she is a healer. We do recommend at least one dedicated healer in your party (typical old school RPG rule) to aid in keeping the rest of the party alive. She'll cast light over the party members to help guide them in the darkness as well as bless them with various buffers to protect them. Further, she can calm enemies which could very well be the tipping point in the tide of battle.

Victoria Velina - Custom Voiced Follower by choco2114

She's a gothic vampire follower, so she makes the list. (We have such high standards.) She has some special lady-of-the-night-powers (bad, we know) that will be of great benefit to those adventurers willing to see her for the beautiful person that she is on the inside....and not the walking corpse, blood-sucking, murderer she is on the outside. All that aside, what makes her stand apart from the other vampire follower mods available is that she is a self-proclaimed vampire-huntress. (A vampire that hunts other vampires? She must be really messed up and have some serious inner-turmoil and hate issues that gives her the strength to throttle stakes into her fellow-kind........And that is how she made her way into our hearts.)

Erandur Redone by CoffeMandibles

Erandur is a priest you meet in Dawnstar who is investigating the residents' nightmares. Once you meet him at the inn, you'll kick off the quest "Waking Nightmare" which at the end of, a demon will try to trick you into killing Erandur. If you choose to deny the demon and let Erandur live, you have a new companion.....Oh yeah, that's a spoiler alert by the way. Anyway, Erandur is a pathetic priest that is only priest in name. This mod fixes that. He now will automatically heal the player (and other followers) and has some new awesome holy magic. This mod is highly recommended--and Erandur will be the best priest in your party--hands down.

Queen of the Damned -- Deadlier Serana by xunderxdosedx

Serana sucks (get the joke?). She is suppose to be an all powerful pure blood vampire--one of the first, but all she can do is cast low level raise zombie spells and shoot a tiny red orb that really doesn't do much. Much like the above Erandur mod, this mod overhauls Serana and makes her a worthy ally and prowler of the night! It gives her some nasty unique spells and upgrades her skills--especially a unique healing spell. If you are a bandit, happening upon Serana now would have you fleeing in terror. If playing Dawnguard, this is a worthy treat. (Consider adding Serana Dialogue Edit as well in order for her to seem more "alive"--another vampire joke there.)

Meeko Reborn by BluePianoTwo

What can we say? We wuv our wittle woofy companion. We confess, we're animal people. This awesome Meeko makeover will give the little guy some extra sneak skills, as well as an immersive way to summon him if he ever wonders off. Plus, he'll work right along with whichever follower overhaul you choose to use.

OUR RECOMMENDED SETTINGS: There are a variety of options with regards to how Meeko looks. We prefer the choice with the mechanical dwemer leg. It shows how harsh the dog's life has been and lets anyone know that he is ready for a fight!

Familiar Faces by verteiron

Created by the gifted verteiron, this mod enables you to port in your other characters as followers (or enemies). Imagine a unique party of characters that you created all teamed up. That is now a possibility! Armor and weapons (even from mods) that your characters are using will also port in. It's truly amazing.

Follower Overhauls

Amazing Follower Tweaks (AFT) by Dheuster

This handy mod adds a very extensive and advanced follower overhaul system into your game.
You'll be able to recruit up to five followers at a time and manage their inventory/AI with a multitude of options. It is the most stable and one of the most feature rich follower overhauls available. The SoT team recommends using this in your game, as the extra help will be much needed.

OR

Extensible Follower Framework (EFF) by expired6978

This is (as of this writing) the only follower system overhaul (of the original big three) being actively updated. It boasts some of the most advanced functions for an overhaul (such as follower health-bar). In time, this mod will be most likely be the most advanced follower overhaul available. You can't go wrong when choosing this or AFT.