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{{quote|''"Mouse was the truest friend I ever had. And if there is such a thing as true evil he was that too."''|'''Walter Mosley''', '''''A Red Death'''''}}
A trope common in private eye novels since the 1980s, and occasionally found in other genres. Sometimes, your [[The Cape (trope)|morally]] [[Knight in Shining Armour|spotless]] [[Martial Pacifist|hero]] has a buddy who's a lot less morally spotless. Often, they've been friends for so long that a bit of moral divergence hasn't spoiled it. On the more moral end of the spectrum, the friend's a [[Hitman with a Heart]] or [[Loveable Rogue]]. In [[Darker and Edgier]] cases, the friend is actually a [[Punch Clock Villain]], [[Noble Demon]] or even a [[Psycho for Hire]], but they deliberately avoid any situation that might actually pit them against one another because it would be [[Rival Turned Evil|just too painful]]. Of course, the friend could be just a little bit more violent or ruthless than the hero.
When this comes in useful is when the hero has to [[Shoot the Dog|do something that they don't feel they can do]], most often killing somebody who is certain to do horrible things to them or their loved ones or innocent bystanders, but who is too [[Villain with Good Publicity|sneaky]] or too [[Dirty Coward|unsuited]] to [[The Man Behind the Curtain|combat]] for them to be conveniently able to kill them in self-defence or some kind of [[Duel to the Death|fair fight]]. At this point the
Contrasted to the case of the [[Poisonous Friend]], in which the main character is genuinely unaware of what the friend is doing. In this case, the main character is perfectly aware of the type of person their friend is and what they do for them. Naturally, this does come across as a bit hypocritical. Sometimes the hypocrisy is ignored by the story, but more often it's lampshaded. It's sometimes explicitly or implicitly argued that the ruthless act isn't so much [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|wrong]] ''per se'', as something that would brutalise the hero to the point that they'd lose their compassion or ability to empathise with others or [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|ability to act as a moral exemplar to others]].
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Can also be defined cynically as [[The Dragon]], but working for a [[Designated Hero]]. Compare [[Big Bad Friend]] for when the friend keeps their and evil tendencies and plot under wraps. One of these in an ensemble is the [[Token Evil Teammate]].
{{examples}}
▲== Anime And Manga ==
* ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'': At least in the beginning while Yukki still has his moral compass in the fully upright and locked position, Yuno Gasai is what happens when you mix this trope with [[Yandere]] and shake rapidly.
* Virid the Mad Prince from ''[[There Beyond the Beyond]]'', staying true to his name.
==
* The ''[[League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' Victorian-era team actually consists of 60%
▲* The ''[[League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' Victorian-era team actually consists of 60% [[Psycho Sidekick|Psycho Sidekicks]] and 40% relatively moral people. When a vampire attack-survivor music teacher and an opium-addicted hunter are the normal guys, have fear. And now Orlando is tending that way in ''Century''.
* Wolverine sometimes plays this role in ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', in issues where the other characters are being depicted as relatively pacifistic.
* Cassidy in ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'', until we find out some of the things he did in his past...
* A ''[[JLA]]/[[Hitman (Comic Book)|Hitman]]'' miniseries depicted Tommy Monaghan as a
** And Natt 'The Hat' to Tommy in the regular ''Hitman'' series. Natt does things like shoot the subdued prisoner (he was only going to be sent back) and kill the innocent staff of the mafia safehouse (Tommy said 'Kill everyone'). It becomes apparent over the course of the series that Natt only (mostly) follows Tommy's creed of 'kill only bad guys' because he values their friendship.
* ''[[Captain America (comics)]]'': Bucky Barnes is portrayed this way in current books, as a creative [[Retcon]] explaining his 'harmless' sidekick persona was actually a front for shady activities a public figure like [[Captain America (comics)]] couldn't be caught doing. He makes quite a darkly hilarious contrast to the older and unfailingly idealistic [[The Cape (trope)|Cap]].
* Bruce Wayne's son Damian tries to become the psycho equivalent of Robin to [[Batman]], to the point of trying to dispose of Tim Drake in his first appearance. {{spoiler|While Bruce was thought dead, Damian served as Robin to Dick Grayson's Batman, and Dick had his hands full trying to teach Damian proper restraint. And in the New 52 DC, Damian is Robin to Bruce.}}
{{quote|
* Jailbait and Headcase to Max Damage in ''[[Irredeemable|Incorruptible]]''. Jailbait was Max's sidekick/underage lover when he was a supervillain, and hasn't taken his [[Heel Face Turn]] and [[Jail Bait Wait]] well at all. The last straw was when he left her behind in an attempt to ''keep her safe''. Since she's a bloodthirsty adrenaline junkie, that was the worst thing Max could do to her. Her successor Headcase is even
== Film ==▼
* Let's see now. Is this a film about [[The Mafia|wiseguys]]? Is [[Joe Pesci]] doing his [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] routine? Yup? Well, there you go. To list a few examples; ''[[Casino]]'', ''[[Goodfellas]]''.
* Walter Sobchak from ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'' is The Dude's best friend and a walking [[Berserk Button]].
== Fan
* In the ''[[Good Omens]]'' fanfic [[The Sacred and the Profane]], 'Zirah' (Aziriphale) is a chillingly ruthless
▲* In the ''[[Good Omens]]'' fanfic [[The Sacred and the Profane]], 'Zirah' (Aziriphale) is a chillingly ruthless [[Psycho Sidekick]] to 'Caphriel' (Crowley), {{spoiler|who ends up having to kill him to protect Adam}}.
== Literature ==▼
* Hawk in Robert B Parker's ''[[Spenser]]'' novels: the type specimen for the trope and one of the first to appear, resulting in a [[Fountain of Expies]].
* Mouse in Walter Mosley's ''Easy Rawlins'' novels. A particularly extreme example in that he's ''genuinely'' [[Ax Crazy]]. And brilliantly played by Don Cheadle in the 1995 film adaptation of ''Devil in a Blue Dress''.
{{quote|
* Clete Purcel in [[James Lee Burke]]'s Dave Robicheaux novels, although Dave can get a bit more morally ambiguous than is usual in such cases.
* Bob the Skull in [[Jim Butcher]]'s [[The Dresden Files]] series. He's a spirit of intellect, and thus doesn't wholly understand the "morality" thing. Kincaid stands well within [[Psycho for Hire]] in most cases, but acts as the Psycho Sidekick to the Archive.
** Inverted in the case of Harry and Michael. While Harry is heroic, he is more likely to do morally dubious things than Michael, who dislikes people ''swearing''.
*** Inverted a ''lot'' by Harry. He plays Psycho Sidekick to Karrin Murphy's advocacy of the law, and the White Council see him as useful psychotic that'll need to be [[Shoot the Dog|shot sooner or later]].
*** And on top of all of these you have {{spoiler|1=Ebeneezer McCoy}}. Being the
* Joe Pike in Robert Crais' ''The Monkey's Raincoat'' and the other Elvis Cole books. He actually has a moral code but is a lot more comfortable with violence than Elvis. He also has a few books centered around him.
* Mick Ballou in Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder novels.
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* ''[[Stephanie Plum]]'' series by Janet Evanovitch: Ranger, although Ranger's a bit more cerebral than most examples, and significantly less psycho than average.
* ''[[The Alloy of Law]]'' has [[The Hero|Wax]], an upstanding heroic member of society, working with [[The Lancer|Wayne]], a partially-reformed thief whose definition of being 'reformed' tends to mean that instead of just stealing things he leaves something in their place.
* Subverted in Carol O'Connell's ''Mallory'' novels, which are about a sociopathic primary character who would usually be someone else's
* The ''[[Dragaera|Taltos]]'' books have been acknowledged as inspired by the Spenser series, but seem to turn this on its head. Vlad Taltos, the protagonist, is the
* In [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s [[Vorkosigan Saga]], Sergeant Bothari has elements of this, though Aral Vorkosigan is more active than most in acting as his [[Morality Chain]] and eventually gets him some much-needed medical intervention.
* Major Joachim Steuben in [[David Drake]]'s ''
{{quote|
* Lee in [[Gordon R. Dickson]]'s ''[[Childe Cycle|Dorsai!]]''. Due to an uncorrectable medical condition, he's unable to tell right from wrong and is socially dysfunctional. He knows this, and seeks a ''cause'' to keep him functioning. He'll do ''anything'' for that cause. Luckily, he found Donal, who keeps Lee from doing anything nasty. Also notable that Lee likely inspired Joachim Steuben, as David Drake is a fan of the novel. Drake's [[RCN Series|Tovera]] seems even more directly based on Lee.
* Edward in the ''[[Anita Blake]]'' series (although it's not like Anita's such a saint).
* Bubba Rugowski in [[Dennis Lehane]]'s [[Kenzie and Gennaro Series]].
* ''Myron Bolitar'' series by Harlan Coben: Windsor Horne Lockwood III, or, Win.
* In ''[[Animorphs]]'' Rachel is this to the rest of the team, although they're not exactly [[Knight in Shining Armor|white hats]] themselves. Reached its peak in the final two books when Jake sent her to {{spoiler|[[Cain and Abel|kill his own brother]]}}.
** Eventually, Rachel herself lampshades how she was made into
* Willikins to Sam Vimes in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': Leela (and K-9, a bit). While the Doctor sometimes criticises her violence ineffectually, he doesn't often intervene to stop it when it's useful. Subverted with Ace, in that a vague description of the dynamic between them would make Ace seem like a
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Avon in ''[[Blake's
▲* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': Leela (and K-9, a bit). While the Doctor sometimes criticises her violence ineffectually, he doesn't often intervene to stop it when it's useful. Subverted with Ace, in that a vague description of the dynamic between them would make Ace seem like a [[Psycho Sidekick]], but the Seventh Doctor is [[Manipulative Bastard|much more ruthless than she is in a less personally violent way]].
▲* Avon in ''[[Blake's Seven|Blakes Seven]]'', with interesting consequences when he ended up as the central character. Unusually, Avon continues to act like a Psycho Sidekick -- but having authority this is a disaster for himself and everyone around him. It's aspects like this which make it feel like a show shot on the deck of a burning ship.
* Gene Hunt (and sometimes Ray) in ''[[Life On Mars]]'' and ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]''.
* Both Derek and Cameron in ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' move around on the spectrum between this and [[Poisonous Friend]] in relation to the more moral Sarah and John. This occurs as early as the second episode, when Sarah holds {{spoiler|Enrique at gunpoint because she thinks he might be a snitch, but doesn't shoot. Cameron arrives on the scene by shooting him twice in the chest before anyone has a chance to stop her. Of course, she's vindicated at the end of the episode when it turns out Enrique really ''was'' an FBI informant.}}
{{quote|
'''Cameron''': What you couldn't. }}
** Derek does it even more often, whereas Cameron can usually be persuaded not to kill people if John or Sarah are near. And aside from {{spoiler|the guy they thought was Sarkissian,}} all the people he kills were ''really'' close to him, namely {{spoiler|Andy Goode and Jesse.}}
{{quote|
* Guerrero in ''[[Human Target]]''. A short middle-aged man wearing round Harry Potter glasses, in the show's premiere he says the following (in a completely low-key tone of voice) to a couple of [[Mooks]] who are trying to intimidate him:
{{quote|
** Likely also a retired [[Psycho for Hire]] and a [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse]]. Played by [[Jackie Earle Haley]], better known as Rorschach from the ''[[Watchmen (film)|Watchmen]]'' film.
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7zvE58sAg8 Guerrero doesn't like to be interrupted.]
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': While Giles is sometimes the [[Poisonous Friend]], the "Scoobies" are well aware of his Ripper persona. Spike is this for Dawn; at certain points in the series, she adores him despite knowing that he would be back out slaughtering innocents if not for his chip.
==
* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'': [[Kill All Humans|HK47]] and [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Canderous Ordo]], plus HK again, Mandalore and to [[The Atoner|some extent]] [[Dark and Troubled Past|Atton Rand]] in the sequel.
* [[Boisterous Bruiser|Black Whirlwind]] in ''[[Jade Empire]]'' doesn't know of a problem that [[Ax Crazy|his axes]] [[When All You Have Is a Hammer|won't solve]].
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* The latter half of everybody's favorite crime-solving dog and rabbit duo [[Sam and Max]]. Very much so.
▲== Web Comics ==
* Little Sappho, the sidekick from [[The Adventures of Gyno Star]], can be extremely violent when angered, and is often willing to do morally questionable things that Gyno-Star would never consider doing.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Foil]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Sidekick]]
▲[[Category:Psycho Sidekick]]
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