Episode 70 – Dude! – The Hero & Sidekick’s Excellent Journey

A pencil, a ball point pen, and a quill sitting in lounge chairs drinking coffee; Title: Writers Drinking Coffee

(Yes – we skipped 69. We’ll come back to that auspicious number with more salacious content.)

Empty square

Does every hero need a sidekick? When they have one, what roles do they fill in a story? How can a sidekick help you tell your story more effectively? We explore our favorite sidekicks through time and how they effectively advance each story.

Mentions from Episode 70:

  • Enkidu, ancient sidekick of Yore
  • Gilgamesh, jerk king of the Uruk
  • Sancho Panza, the Interpolated Narrative Voice
    • (Jeannie objects to the idea that this was the first time the concept of INV existed, and quietly points to The Golden Ass, Tale of Genji, and more.)
  • Sidekick becomes main character in Huck Finn
  • Sidekick tropes
  • Where would Sherlock be without Watson?
  • When Carol Berg talked about using a Sidekick POV
  • Nora Charles as sidekick detective
  • Silent Bob, sidekick to Jay
  • Gromit, the silent sidekick
  • Hit-Girl, the sidekick in Kick Ass

Tinkerbell is the murderess sidekick of Peter Pan, who is himself a famous murderer. From the book:

“The boys on the island vary, of course, in numbers, according as they get killed and so on; and when they seem to be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out; but at this time there were six of them, counting the twins as two.”

Man, did Disney clean them up or what? Remember, Tink tried to get Toodles to shoot Wendy.

  • Kato, sidekick of the Green Hornet
  • Jeeves, the perfect valet sidekick to Bertie Wooster
  • Passepartout, a made-up name meaning Skeleton Key, helps Phineas Fogg get Around the World in 80 days
  • Character writeup for Artemus Gordon
  • Was Chewbacca the best sidekick?
  • 99 was smarter than Max in Get Smart
  • Discworld’s Nanny Ogg
  • Ref. – Picaresque as a novel form

2 thoughts on “Episode 70 – Dude! – The Hero & Sidekick’s Excellent Journey

  1. ktmcg says:

    Sidekicks are often smarter than leads.

    1. ddb says:

      I might even say “mostly” smarter than their leads… unless they’re literally apprentices (see: Robin) 🙂

Comments are closed.