Psycho Sidekick: Difference between revisions

 

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]].

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* 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% 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.

* 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 worse—the murder of her whole family unhinged her so badly that she's now a [[Death Seeker]] with Max as the only anchor she has in life.

 

* 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]].

 

* 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}}.

 

* 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''.

* 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 Psycho Sidekick in relation to his friends who are [[Our Elves Are Better|fantasy elf nobility]], but it's less that he is more bloodthirsty than that he is less bound by social conventions. This is played rather straight in ''Orca'' though as a [[Lawful Good]] police officer, who normally disdains assassins, has Vlad kill her partner who was a [[Corrupt Cop]] and a murderer.

* 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.

* 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]].

* 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 this—the other characters kept needing someone to do bad things for the greater good, and it became easier and easier for her to be that someone. The entire team functions to enable and justify her actions.

 

* ''[[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]].

* 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.}}

* ''[[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]].

* The latter half of everybody's favorite crime-solving dog and rabbit duo [[Sam and Max]]. Very much so.

 

* 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.

 

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