Sorry I’m a bit late this week! You’d be surprised how hard it is to find images for the sidekick, which is fitting — they often stand in their hero’s shadow, although that doesn’t mean they can’t break out of that role. Let’s step into that shadow for moment, though, to figure out why the sidekick’s there in the first place!
Index
What, Where, Why
History Lesson
Good, Bad, and Ugly
Example Time
What, Where, Why
While the sidekick’s name conjures up images of superheroes, this is not always the case. The sidekick is just the character who is dedicated to furthering the goals or development of the hero while standing at their, well, side. This doesn’t mean that they lack development, just that they are not the main attraction of the story. They are often, however, the story’s deuteragonist, if that spot is not taken by an anti-hero or an entirely separate hero.
Some good examples of sidekicks include:
Luigi, from the Super Mario franchise
Chewbacca, from the original Star Wars trilogy
Robin, from the Batman franchise
Enkidu, from the epic of Gilgamesh
Watson, from the Sherlock Holmes short stories and derived works*
The sidekick’s narrative purpose is to support the hero and to move the plot along in ways the hero cannot. Sidekicks often act as a foil to the hero in terms of appearance, temperament, or abilities, such that they also act as a reflection of the hero and their character. For example, Robin’s bright colors and cheerful disposition act against Batman’s dark colors and stern methods. Alternatively, they have skills that the main character simply doesn’t have access to, such as Tails’ intelligence and ability to fly in order to aid Sonic in his high-speed adventures.
History Lesson
The term “side kick” can be traced back to 1900’s slang relating to where a pickpocket could find a wallet. The “kick” referred to a person’s front pocket which was, in theory, the safest from theft. Thus, the pickpocket’s “side-kick” was their closest friend. The term spread to mean a trusted friend or confident by the 1920’s and to it’s modern definition in the 1940’s.
The term is sometimes applied to Enkidu from the Epic of Gilgamesh, who would then be one of the first recorded instances of a sidekick. More interestingly, the use of the sidekick in superheroes didn’t occur unti 1940, when DC comics introduced readers to Robin the Boy Wonder for the first time.
Good, Bad, and Ugly
The worst kind of sidekick is, ironically enough, one that sticks to their job too well. They never get a chance to be their own character, to the point that they don’t even have a character. They are so far into their hero’s shadow that without them they have no personality or defining traits.
Alternatively — and much more annoying to casual audiences — the sidekick is bad in how they foil the hero, particularly a serious hero. They create a foil to this serious hero by making the sidekick humorous but clumsy or inept to the point of always causing trouble. In a word: annoying.
Good sidekicks, however, are ones whose abilities and personalities create a change of pace for the viewer and, more importantly, even get them to save the day once in a while. Even if they have to tangle with their hero.
Example Time
“Have you defused the bomb yet?” Heroica’s voice came through my headset. I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see it. “And don’t roll your eyes at me.”
“No,” I said, cutting through a wire, “And I was only able to find the bomb, like, two seconds ago. Have you found Notorious yet?”
Silence.
“That good, huh?”
“Just get it done, will you?”
“You first.”
She groaned. Good, that was the response I was looking for.
“By the way, the bomb is disabled now,” I said, leaning back, “So if you want to shower me with gratitude, now would be the time.”
Another groan. Good, now she could loosen up and focus on her job. It’s the little things, you know?
* Just so we are all aware, I really wanted to pull an image of literally any other version of Watson, but I’ve made a habit of making these character images transparent and neither the Jude Law version nor any illustrations of him match that. What can you do? (I mean I could have gone with Elementary‘s Joan Watson or Ace Attorney‘s Iris Watson, but they’re a bit too far removed from the John Watson everyone knows and loves.)
Heroes, Villains, and Damsels, Oh My! 