Sidekick

A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Sancho Panza (of Don Quixote), Doctor Watson (of Sherlock Holmes), Tonto (of The Lone Ranger), Robin (of Batman), and Friday (of Robinson Crusoe).

Origins

The origin of the term is unknown. It was originally "side kicker" (as seen in the stories of O Henry), having grown from the 1850s term "side partner." Contrary to popular folk etymology, it is unrelated to the early-20th century British pickpocket slang "kick," referring to a trouser pocket.^[1][2]

One of the earliest recorded sidekicks may be Enkidu, who adopted a sidekick role to Gilgamesh after they became allies in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Other early examples include Achilles and Patroclus from the Iliad, and Moses and Aaron from the Bible.^[3]

Function of the sidekick

Sidekicks can provide one or multiple functions, such as a counterpoint to the hero,^[4] an alternate point of view, or knowledge, skills, or anything else the hero does not have. They often function as comic relief,^[4] and/or the straight man to the hero's comedic actions. A sidekick can also act as someone that the audience can relate to better than the hero, or whom the audience can imagine themselves as being (such as teen sidekicks).^[3] And by asking questions of the hero, or giving the hero someone to talk to, the sidekick provides an opportunity for the author to provide exposition, thereby filling the same role as a Greek chorus.

Sidekicks frequently serve as an emotional connection, especially when the hero is depicted as detached and distant, traits which would normally generate difficulty in making the hero likable.^[3] The sidekick is often the confidant who knows the main character better than anyone else and gives a convincing reason to like the hero. Although Sherlock Holmes was a difficult man to know, his friendship with Dr. Watson convinces the reader that Holmes is a good person. The Left Hand of Vampire Hunter D, being mentally linked to the reticent protagonist, often reveals thoughts, feelings, and the physical condition of his host, as well as background elements of the story. In Star Trek: The Original Series, this pattern is reversed since it is Kirk who convinces us that Spock is a decent person.

The apparent stupidity of some comedy sidekicks is often used to make a non-intellectual hero look intelligent, such as Deputy Barney Fife to Sheriff Andy Taylor. Similarly, a flamboyant or effeminate sidekick may make an otherwise unimposing hero look more masculine. And a strong, silent and modest hero may have his fighting qualities revealed to the other characters and the audience by a talkative sidekick.

While many sidekicks are used for comic relief, there are other sidekicks who are less outrageous than the heroes they pledge themselves to, and comedy derived from the hero can often be amplified by the presence or reaction of the sidekick. Examples include Porky Pig, who is more sensible and calmer than Daffy Duck in later short films; similarly, Sancho Panza is more rational than Don Quixote.

It is typical for the character and sidekick to be of the same gender — otherwise, the term "sidekick" is replaced with "partner" or "companion". Whenever there is a team of more than two characters, the term sidekick is generally reserved for another team member of the same sex. It is rare for the relationship between a character and an opposite-sex sidekick to lack romantic or sexual overtones of any kind — though there are examples, like Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, and Encyclopedia Brown and Sally Kimball. The original Doctor Who series intentionally avoided any explicit onscreen indications of romantic or sexual attraction between The Doctor and his female companions. (See the discussion of comic books' teenage sidekicks below.)

While unusual, it is not unheard of for a sidekick to be more attractive, charismatic, or physically capable than the supposed hero. This is most typically encountered when the hero's appeal is more intellectual rather than sexual. Such heroes (usually fictional sleuths and scientists) are often middle-aged or older and tend towards eccentricity. Such protagonists, either due to age or physical unsuitability may be limited to cerebral conflicts (such as those based on conversational interplay) while leaving the physical action to a younger or more physically capable sidekick. This type of sidekick is rarely encountered in fiction, because the hero runs the risk of being upstaged by them. However, examples of successful such pairings include Inspector Morse and his sidekick DS Robbie Lewis, Nero Wolfe and his sidekick Archie Goodwin, Hiro Nakamura and his sidekick Ando Masahashi, and Miles Vorkosigan and his sidekick cousin Ivan Vorpatril. In other media, The Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato, has traditionally (especially since the 1960s television series with Bruce Lee) been depicted as a capable man of action, such as with martial arts. The earliest Doctor Who serials, particularly during the First Doctor era had young male companions who were capable of the physical action that the elderly William Hartnell was not. This especially became more crucial as Hartnell's health declined during his tenure as The Doctor. This was not an issue with the following Doctors as they were cast with significantly younger actors.

It is also not unusual, especially in more recent TV programs such as Bones and NCIS, for there to be a team of sidekicks. In Bones, for example, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth often fulfills one of the traditional roles of a sidekick by providing translations for the brilliant but socially incapable Dr. Temperance Brennan. Both Brennan and Booth, however, are heroes in their own right. The sidekicks in this case are the team of "squints" back in the Jeffersonian Institution's Medico-Legal Lab, each with their own scientific specialty, all of whom are usually needed to break the case.

It is also possible in certain cases for sidekicks to grow out of their role of being a second fiddle to the hero and become independent heroes in their own right. Dick Grayson is one such example, having outgrown the mantle of Robin when he was under Batman and taken up the new identity of Nightwing.^[5] Grayson later temporarily succeeded his mentor and took on the costumed identity of Batman himself. Another example is the popular comic-strip soldier of fortune Captain Easy, who started as the two-fisted sidekick of the scrawny eponymous hero of the strip Wash Tubbs.

A Cartoon Network mini-story featured a "sidekicks bar" which had various cartoon sidekicks such as Robin the Boy Wonder discussing how important a sidekick is to the story, giving an example of how Porky Pig's career actually became better as a sidekick. The ego-driven Chicken of Cow and Chicken used these examples to lay claim to being a "co-star" instead of a sidekick.

Comparisons

A villain's supporters are normally called henchmen, minions, or lackeys, not sidekicks. While this is partially a convention in terminology, it also reflects that few villains are capable of bonds of friendship and loyalty, which are normal in the relationship between a hero and sidekick. This may also be due to the different roles in fiction of the protagonist and the antagonist: whereas a sidekick is a relatively important character due to his or her proximity to the protagonist, and so will likely be a developed character, the role of a henchmen is to act as cannon-fodder for the hero and his sidekick. As a result, henchmen tend to be anonymous, disposable characters, existing for the sole purpose of illustrating the protagonists' prowess as they defeat them.

Nevertheless, some villains do have sidekicks, including Harley Quinn (of the Joker), Amanda (of Jigsaw), Charlie Prince (of Ben Wade from Three-Ten to Yuma), Mini-Me (of Dr. Evil), Waluigi (of Wario) and Mystique (of Magneto) (albeit only in the X-Men live action films).

Use in fiction

Frodo Baggins' Samwise Gamgee as well as the afore-mentioned Sancho Panza and Doctor Watson, are notable sidekicks from fiction.

In fiction, the term "sidekick" commonly refers to assistants to crime-fighting heroes. The sidekick has the literary function of playing against the hero, often contrasting in skill, or performing functions not suited to the hero.

The sidekick was a regular presence in westerns, where Fuzzy Knight, Al "Fuzzy" St. John, Smiley Burnette, and Andy Devine had longer careers than some of the heroic singing cowboys for whom they took pratfalls.

In science fiction the sub-type of the alien sidekick has been established. Examples of alien sidekicks are Mr. Spock (sidekick of Captain James T. Kirk) on Star Trek and Chewbacca (sidekick of Han Solo) in the original Star Wars trilogy. One of the roles of the alien sidekick is to act as a mouthpiece for social commentary on the human condition from an outsider's point of view.

Heroic sidekicks such as Streaky the Supercat of Krypto the Superdog, Festus Haggen of Gunsmoke's Matt Dillon, or Gabrielle of Xena: Warrior Princess not only provide comic relief, but can occasionally be brave and/or resourceful and rescue the hero from a dire fate.

Comic books

Batman with his sidekick Robin. Painting by Alex Ross.

Comic book sidekicks have a long and popular history, dating back to the beginnings of the form.

Many of the early comic book sidekicks were used for comic relief, and many perpetrated ethnic and cultural stereotypes of their era. The Spirit's sidekick Ebony White (debut: 1940) was depicted with facial features — including large white eyes and thick pinkish lips — that wre typical of the era's darky interpretation of blacks. As he was routinely the height of a small child, he resembled a stereotypical pickaninny. The Blackhawks' Chinese sidekick Chop-Chop (debut: 1941) was depicted as more of a highly-exaggerative caricature amid the realistic art style that otherwise surrounds him. Fat, buck-toothed, and orange-skinned, he spoke in broken English, wore a queue hairstyle complete with a bow, and dressed in colorful coolie garb.^[6]

In 1940 DC Comics introduced comics' first teenage sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder, created to soften the dark tone of the Batman comics and make the Batman more attractive to younger readers.^[7] Robin's instant popularity spawned a host of imitations, including such iconic characters as Bucky, Toro, Sandy the Golden Boy, and Speedy. (Stripesy was the exception to the rule: an adult sidekick to a teen hero, the Star-Spangled Kid.)

The prevalence of so many adult male superheroes and their teenage "wards" caused some observers to look askance at the trend. Psychologist Fredric Wertham decided that the phenomenon was a landmine of hidden and repressed Freudian issues, and that a sidekick's involvement in violent acts with his hero masked a sexual subtext.^[7] In 1954, Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent coincided with Congressional hearings on (among other topics) the negative influence of comic books. For a time, superhero comics lost their popularity, and many teenage sidekicks faded into obscurity. (Rick Veitch's graphic novel Brat Pack, and issues of Alan Moore's Top 10, directly address the seamy, exploitative, and potentially pedophilia-related aspects of the adult hero-teen sidekick relationship.)

In the early 1960s, at the advent of comics' so-called Silver Age, a new round of superhero sidekicks made their debuts. The superhero group the Teen Titans (first appearance 1964) was originally made up entirely of sidekicks: Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, and Speedy.

Silver Age Marvel Comics mostly got around the teen sidekick quandary by creating a selection of super-powered teenagers — heroes in their own right, such as Spider-Man, the second Human Torch, and the X-Men.^[7]

Most of the Golden Age and Silver Age sidekicks have subsequently evolved into mature heroes in their own right or have been killed off; and in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, some new sidekicks have come into being. Certain heroes seem to attract serial sidekicks, notably Batman, Captain America, and The Flash. There have been at least five iterations of Robin; while Captain America has had a diverse array of sidekick successors to Bucky, including the Falcon, Demolition Man, Free Spirit, and Jack Flag.

Conversely, the character Rick Jones is virtually a "sidekick-for-hire," having assisted a number of different heroes during his career, starting with the Hulk, moving onto Captain America (when he briefly became the second Bucky), then the first Captain Marvel, Rom Spaceknight, and finally the third Captain Marvel (Genis).

In television

TV sidekicks usually play a supporting pivotal role to the star. Examples include Ethel Mertz to Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy), Ed Norton to Ralph Kramden (The Honeymooners), Ensign Charles Parker to Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale (McHale's Navy), Screech Powers to Zack Morris (Saved by the Bell), Major Roger Healey to Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson (I Dream of Jeannie), Stiles Stilinski to Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Sam Puckett to Carly Shay (iCarly), or even a group of people such as the Sweathogs to Mr. Kotter (Welcome Back, Kotter). Duos of equal importance on TV such as Kate McArdle and Allie Lowell (Kate & Allie), Oscar Madison and Felix Unger (The Odd Couple), Bart Maverick and Beau Maverick (Maverick), Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue (Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons), or Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney (Laverne & Shirley), are sometimes both called sidekicks to each other, although the usual sense of the term denotes inequality.

Many television talk shows make use of a sidekick as a co-host who anchors a show with the main star. Ed McMahon played this role famously to Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, as did Andy Richter to Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and during O'Brien's short-lived tenure on The Tonight Show. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson employs a mechanical robot sidekick named Geoff Peterson (played by comedian/entertainer Josh Robert Thompson). "The Sammy Maudlin Show" on SCTV famously lampooned the late night talk show format, with John Candy in the role of William B. Williams, the sidekick or "second banana" to host Sammy Maudlin (Joe Flaherty).

Clarence Gilyard informed viewers on a television commercial for Walker, Texas Ranger that he was not Chuck Norris's sidekick, instead humorously saying, "This is Chuck Norris's sidekick," over footage of Norris kicking a villain.

See also

• Confidant
• Foil (literature)
• List of comic book sidekicks

References

Notes

External links

Look up sidekick in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• "Sidekicks are second bananas no more," Los Angeles Times