Coolest sidekick characters ever.

[Brakkart]

Best sidekicks:

Defenders of the Earth: Octon to Ming the Merciless (who was actually MUCH smarter than his boss, just usually had his advice ignored.)
Babylon 5: Lenier to Delenn
Babylon 5: Vir Cotto to Londo Mollari

Some more additions to the worst sidekicks list:

Visionaries: Mortdred to Darkstorm
Mysterious Cities of Gold: The two bumbling spaniards to Mendoza
Defenders of the Earth: Garaxx to Ming the Merciless

 

[Particle_Man]

Oldies:

Azreal to Gargamel (the cat to the evil wizard on The Smurfs)
Clumsy Smurf to Brainy Smurf.

Worst sidekick

Brainy Smurf to Papa Smurf

 

[Rackhir]

I'd have to disagree with this. Jack rescued and got the other girl, and he was the one who killed Lo Pan while Wang Chi did aerial somersaults with one of the flunkies.

At the very least, Jack is co-hero, even though he provides most of the comic relief as a true sidekick would.

According to the Carpenter/Kurt commentary on the deluxe DVD, Jack IS the sidekick. They wanted to play with the audiences expectations and assumptions.

Besides it was Vir who offed Emperor Cartagia in B5 and he's Defintely a sidekick.

 

[rbingham2000]

Sidney Fung and Sergeant Randy Chang from THE KILLER.

The best friends of the two heroes of the movie, who lay it all on the line to help their respective buddy out and actually manage to kick some ass in the process.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

According to the Carpenter/Kurt commentary on the deluxe DVD, Jack IS the sidekick. They wanted to play with the audiences expectations and assumptions.

You're going to make me buy that DVD. I can feel it.

I'd be interested in hearing the commentary, and then seeing how Carpenter/Kurt define "hero" and "sidekick" so that Jack fits into the second category. He is the central focus of the movie. The action follows him. There's a girl for him. He kills the villain. He begins the movie, and he ends it.

I feel more as if Carpenter/Kurt are playing with the definition of the word "sidekick" rather than expectations and assumptions. Are they (and others who've insisted Jack is the sidekick) using an academic definition of the word (and the word "hero") that I'm unfamiliar with?

 

[Plane Sailing]

When you need to take out a crazy werewolf, you don't call the guy who tries to box him in a gentlemanly fashion - you call old Stoneface.

Strange the change in the way Pratchett sees some of his characters. Considering that when Carrot first appears in 'Guards Guards' he is able to knock out Detritus (then working as a splatter* in a bar), an unheard of feat of fisticuffs. Indeed, in the followup "Men at Arms" Carrot is, indeed, the very man you want to have around to finish the job.

Then in Feet of Clay Pratchett de-powered him a little, and in the werewolf one (was that the Fifth Elephant?) Carrot gets treated shamefully in the fight with the werewolf. If he could take out Detritus he should have been able to take out that werewolf. IMO the story would have been improved if Carrot had simply not been there for that section, rather than rewrite his capabilities in that fashion.

But I rant

Cheers




*splatter. Like a bouncer but uses more force.

 

[Particle_Man]

To be fair Carrot did not get "depowered" without a (funny, well at least to me) reason. Carrot is very rule-bound, as an adopted Dwarf. He found a book that had "rules for fighting" (by the Marquis of Poncebury). The book was apparently a very bad book, and following its rules makes one fight at a terrible disadvantage when fighting against anyone not following its rules. But Carrot follows its rules because Carrot always follows the rules, and he thinks that these are the rules for fighting. Thus Carrot, before reading the book, was a great fighter. Carrot, after reading the book, is a terrible fighter.