the.com/sidekick
The one who does the work and gets the comic-relief credit.
means A close companion or assistant, usually the secondary figure who supports a more prominent partner.
from From early-20th-century American slang, where a "side-kick" or "side-kicker" was a trusted companion. Pickpocket cant offers the likeliest root: a "kick" was the trousers pocket, and the "side kick" — the front side pocket pressed against the leg — was the hardest one for a thief to pick, hence the safest, most reliable place. From that "closest, most trustworthy" sense the word slid naturally into meaning a loyal partner who stays right at your side.
- word origin
- From a wallet's safest pocket, the side-kick.
- survival rate
- Outlives most heroes by simply staying useful.
- loyalty tax
- Saves the day, named in smaller font.
- secret math
- Two sidekicks equals one functioning hero, usually.
robin the boy wonder — batman's partner in dc comics, first appeared 1940, has had multiple iterations including dick grayson
watson — sherlock holmes' companion in arthur conan doyle's stories starting 1887, chronicled the detective's cases
samwise gamgee — frodo's loyal companion in lord of the rings who carried him up mount doom in tolkien's 1954 novel
donkey — shrek's talkative sidekick in dreamworks' 2001 animated film, voiced by eddie murphy