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Sidekick Nominations - Behind every great person is another person

Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
On the previous iteration of these forums, I ran a popularity contest for fiction's best villains. This contest is sort of a spiritual follow-up, covering another essential character type, the sidekick. Let's define sidekick real quick.

A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one he or she accompanies.

Thanks, Wikipedia. For the purposes of this contest, you will be picking fictional characters who meet that definition. It is okay if that character is not a sidekick in all of their appearances, as long as they are a sidekick in at least one notable appearance. Here are a couple more guidelines.

You can pick multiple different sidekicks who all kick the side of the same central character.

You can pick characters who are sidekicks to heroes or villains. I expect some henchmen on this list.

You can't pick a collective group as a sidekick. So you can't nominate the minions from Despicable Me. You would have to pick an individual minion. The exception is that a notable duo or even trio of named individuals who are always together can be nominated as a single entry.

If there are multiple individuals who fulfill the same sidekick "role" over a character's long history, please nominate an individual if possible. So don't vote for Robin, vote for a specific character who wore the costume.

Send me a private message with your ranked list of up to 25 sidekicks by Friday, the 22nd of January. Please include the work they appear in and the character they sidekick for. I'll probably start the list on the 25th, so if you submit that weekend I might be able to get it in, but please try to send it before then.

Feel free to ask if there are any questions.

EDIT: Also feel free to include a paragraph explaining your pick.
 
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Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
It seems weird to say a real person with a whole life is defined by their sidekick status in relation to another person.
 
Johnny Unusual

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
I mean, they certainly have a career, a good one to be proud of, beyond that but their role on late night TV is definitely that.

It should also be noted that many of the fictional sidekicks are characters who moved beyond their role and that journey is largely what I like about them and their former status is very much key to why they work and remains very much a part of them.
 
Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
If you mean like a person who as themselves played a sidekick role on a TV show then that's fine. An exception to the rule.
 
Ixo

Ixo

"This is not my beautiful forum!" - David Byrne
(Hi Guy)
Johnny Unusual said:
I mean, they certainly have a career, a good one to be proud of, beyond that but their role on late night TV is definitely that.

It should also be noted that many of the fictional sidekicks are characters who moved beyond their role and that journey is largely what I like about them and their former status is very much key to why they work and remains very much a part of them.
Click to expand...

Stephen Colbert? (In relation to Jon Stewart.)
 
Johnny Unusual

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
No. I don't really consider correspondents to be sidekicks because all of them are equally under Jon and in this case, I'm talkin' about a real right hand person.

BTW, sent mine. Really excited for this list.
 
Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
If you haven't sent a list of sidekicks yet, please do so! I'm hoping for a bunch more submissions before starting next week.
 
Zef

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
Do Doctor Who companions count separately, or is "Doctor Who companion" a single entry that any nomination would contribute to?
 
Zef

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
Having quite a bit of trouble determining whether characters that accompany our Protagonist constantly, but more in a "guide" or "mentor" capacity, rather than a subordinate, would count as sidekicks. There's a lot of talking animal companions that fit this role.

Even looking for help in various wikis only results in characters that are clearly partners to the Protag rather than followers. (Though I believe characters that legitimately started out as sidekicks, and later graduated into independence despite keeping the same codename or even relationship with said Protag, like, say, War Machine, still count.)
 
Zef

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
Johnny Unusual said:
Oof, only fictional? I had a pretty good real world one.
Click to expand...

Augh, I just thought of a VERY good real world one, too, warrior type who completely dedicated themselves to serve their lord after their first encounter. There's some legendary qualities to both of them, but... yeah, they're both RL people.
 
Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)

I'm still hoping for a bunch more lists, so I'll definitely be counting votes through the weekend. Please send me a list of sidekicks you like if you haven't yet!
 
Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
Last call for votes. The absolute deadline is 12:30 PM ET. I'll start posting results this afternoon. I'll do two per week day until we reach the top 10.
 
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