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Hypercompetent Sidekick: Difference between revisions
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Frequently the [[Only Sane Man]]. See also [[The Reliable One]] and [[The Jeeves]]. Contrast [[Bumbling Sidekick]].
{{examples|suf=s}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'', one gets the impression that the Club wouldn't survive without Kyouya keeping an eye on Tamaki. He decided early on after they met that he would do everything in his vast intellect to make Tamaki seem as awesome as possible for Tamaki's sake, ''even at the cost of his own reputation.'' Every club member knows this and calls Kyouya the Shadow King. Tamaki even spends an entire event trying to get Kyouya to compete ''against'' him.
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** Kamina is good enough to [[Lampshade Hanging]] this by refusing to take credit for Simon's victories and repeatedly telling him what great things he's destined for. {{spoiler|Since Simon becomes leader of Team Gurren after Kamina's death and saves first the planet, then the universe, Kamina was bang on the money.}}
* Arguably, Garo in ''[[Skull Man]]''.
* In the anime ''[[
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** He also invested his considerable pay to such good effect that he could probably retire to a private planet if he wanted to.
* In Miquel de Cervantes's ''[[Don Quixote]]'' Sancho Panza occupies this position by the sheer fact that he's not completely crazy. This trope is older than the Enlightenment.
* In ''[[
* Sydney Carton from ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' is the Hypercompetent Sidekick to his boss, C. J. Stryver. He does all the paperwork and is responsible for winning the one case we see them handle. He has no ambition, however, while his boss [[Meaningful Name|Stryver]] is always shouldering his way through life.
* Burtsev and several other exiled Decembrist officers are this to supposed [[General Failure]] Paskevich in ''[[The Death of the Vazir Mukhtar]]''. Each of them manages one of the crucial areas of warfare, and their efforts seem crucial to all of Paskevich's victories.
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* In ''[[The Shahnameh]]'', the ever-more reluctant Rostem is this to Kay Kavus, who is constantly leading Iran into trouble.
* Milo in the [[Gaunt's Ghosts]] series leans towards this in the first few books. He's unfortunately so good at his job that he attracts the attention of the Inquisition, thinking he's a previously un-identified pskyer. He later leaves Gaunt's side to become a full time soldier.
* In ''[[Discworld]]'', Captain Carrot is strong enough to punch out a troll, idealistic enough to make up for the combined weight of Ankh-Morpork's cynicism, and is charismatic (and quite possibly intelligent as well) enough to make sure said idealism doesn't get him killed/beaten. And he still takes orders from Sam Vimes. Who's admittedly a badass, but still, as one character in ''[[
** Pretty much everyone knows he's the heir to the throne, but he steadfastly denies it except on a very few occasions that hint at [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] the rest of the time. And, for that matter, let's also not forget that #3 in the Watch hierarchy is his girlfriend, a gorgeous werewolf with an amazing sense of smell, super strength, and the ability to regenerate from almost anything. The only reasons she isn't a [[Mary Sue]] are that a) the criminals all know there's a werewolf in the Watch, so silver and peppermint bombs are becoming standard and b) [[Terry Pratchett]] is a freaking ''genius''.
** Somewhat averted in Carrot's case - he has a chance to run the Watch and consciously decides not to largely on the grounds that, "People shouldn't do what I say because Captain Carrot is good at being obeyed". He doesn't want to be in charge precisely because it's too easy. It's also worth pointing out that in the first few books, Carrot very clearly ''is'' [[The Hero]]; it's just that Pratchett ended up [[Breakout Character|finding Vimes more interesting...]]
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* The Flash game ''[[Help the Hero]]'' is all about this. While the hero is the one that fights monsters and gets all the glory, the player is his sidekick who has to make sure that he's properly equipped for said fights or else end up beaten to a bloody pulp.
* While [[Super Mario Bros.|Luigi]] is certainly smart enough and powerful enough to be one of these, he has serious confidence issues that prevent it unless absolutely necessary.
* Elizabeth in ''[[BioShock Infinite]]''; {{spoiler|Booker's daughter}}, she's a [[Plucky Girl]] and a [[Reality Warper]] who can, among other things, tear open portals to other realities and timelines. Compared to her, protagonist Booker (who can't do much except shoot at enemies, even if he is ''very'' good at doing that) is almost boring, and once Booker successfully rescues her, she pretty much steals the show. Oh, and you ''do'' get to use her as a playable character in one of the DLCs, and that's mega-fun.
* Vaan from ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'' can be seen as this. Yes, he is the player's avatar, but one could argue Basch and Ashe are the true heroes of this story, and Vaan is simply helping them.
== Webcomics ==
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* Bill the Extra Guy is the sidekick to Fred the Spanyard from ''Neglected Character Comix'', a sprite comic series involving Mario characters on the Neglected Character subpage of ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario Bros]]'' HQ. A seemingly useless sidekick compared to Fred's death rays and other such powers, he freezes time and space with his "extra power" which leaves his friend more than impressed.
* ''[[Last Res0rt|Last Res 0 rt]]'' has Adharia Kuvoe's servant {{spoiler|and consort}}, Sedja the Efreet. Sedja is essentially a [[Benevolent Genie]], but is bound to and protected by Adharia (as it's been heavily implied that Sedja would've been destroyed by the Star Org if not for Adharia protecting her, acting as a translator, and having hidden her up until the point [[It Makes Sense in Context|Sedja was shot out of a pistol]]).
* ''[[Freefall]]'' got Clippy — a robot who belongs to Mr. Ishiguro, but was usurped ([[Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated|falsely "inherited"]] by Mr. Kornada. Mr. Kornada on his own is a narcissistic and [[Too Dumb to Live]] corporate bureaucrat. Clippy developed a dangerous rip-off on the planetary scale. Because AI have to follow authorized orders (as long as those don't run into [[Three Laws Compliant|the First Law]] too hard).
== Web Original ==
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* Stan is Xander Crews' hypercompetent sidekick in ''[[Frisky Dingo]]''. Likewise, Sin is Killface's.
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'': Although Mr. Burns is not incompetent so much as out of touch with the times, Waylon Smithers arguably serves this role.
** Another Simpsons example is seen in an early episode when Homer is briefly made an executive at the nuclear power plant. His secretary Karl ([[Black Best Friend|as]] [[Those Two Guys|opposed]] [[Heterosexual Life Partners|to]] Carl) immediately
* Jazz to Sentinel Prime in ''[[Transformers Animated]]''. While Sentinel Prime is technically second in command to Ultra Magnus, Jazz is usually the one who keeps a handle on Sentinel and tries to steer him
* Don't forget Cyclonus from ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]''. He was sane, calculating, dangerous... everything Galvatron was not.
** Well, Galvatron was dangerous, but to his troops just as much as the Autobots.
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* Shego from ''[[Kim Possible]]'' She fights all the battles for [[Harmless Villain|Dr. Drakken]], she ''tries'' to keep his [[Evil Plan|evil plans]] in line, she even provides Drakken with the [[Unobtainium]]/[[Phlebotinum]] needed for his capers (either by stealing them, or actually buying them). Add her being [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] to the list, and the reason why she isn't the [[Big Bad]] instead comes down to pure [[Brilliant but Lazy|lack of motivation]].
** It should also be mentioned that the one time she did a caper on her own, during ''[[The Movie|A Sitch in Time]]'', she actually took over the world. But even then, she had to be talked into it by her future self.
** Rufus serves as this for Ron; on missions, he tends to be more resourceful than Ron. Wade also qualifies; there are a few times where even Kim would be lost without him.
* Ms. Sara Bellum, assistant to the Mayor of Townsville, from ''[[Powerpuff Girls]]''.
** We get to see why this works so well by the time of the episode when Fuzzy Lumpkins temporarily becomes mayor. Neither Fuzzy nor the Mayor was competent at much more than looking like they cared about the job, but at least the Mayor wasn't malicious and held the title while the lion's share of the real work was done by Ms. Bellum, an arrangement that works well because [[Ultimate Job Security|because all the alternatives are just that much worse]].
* Similarly, Deputy Mayor Calico "Callie" Briggs from ''[[Swat Kats]]: The Radical Squadron'', who assists the lazy Mayor Manx.
* Gromit from ''[[Wallace and Gromit]]''.
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* Haroud serves this function (and combines it with [[Deadpan Snarker]] as usual) for Abys-Mal in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]: the Series.''
** A classic example of this is Abys-Mal explaining (for exposition) his plan to attack the heroes. Haroud politely replies "I know what the plan is, master. Why are you telling me this?"
* It may be the case in the space-themed episode "Space Madness" of ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'', where the titular duo's space counterparts, Commander Hoek and Cadet Stimpy, are sent to a mission that is roughly said to [[And I Must Scream|take around 36 years.]] They are exposed to the effects of the [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|space madness]], but Ren is the only one to succumb to them, while Stimpy does his job as [[The Caretaker]] for him in an unusually competent manner (in most of the episodes Stimpy's actions are well-
* Boo Boo exhibited this in the ''[[Yogi Bear]]'' cartoons, often knowing when to stay out of a situation, and warning Yogi, [[Catch Phrase|"Mr. Ranger isn't gonna like this."]]
* Spike is this for Twilight Sparkle in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]''. While Twilight herself is generally pretty damn
* Generally speaking, the cartoons of the late 70's and early 80's each seemed to have their protagonists be best friends with an [[Small Annoying Creature|irritatingly cute]] [[Fairy Companion]] who could pretty much [[Combo-Platter Powers|do anything the plot required]]. The most bizarre/notorious example would be ''[[Rubik the Amazing Cube]]'', which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: the adventures of some kids and their magical talking, er, Rubik's Cube. Yes, as in the little cube-shaped puzzle where you match all the colors on each side. Really.
** The only reason Rubik was a sidekick at all is that he could only walk/talk/save the day after he had been "solved", and the young boy he hung around with had the amazing ability to solve him quickly. So every episode Rubik had to be dropped or something, which was apparently enough to mix him up so that he couldn't fix everything in the first two minutes.
* Genie in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''.
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
** Of course Mandy is the [[Apocalypse Maiden|humorless girl]] who defeats Death himself with one word, then grows up to become [[One-Winged Angel|far more formidable]].
* There are two ways ''[[Hong Kong Phooey]]'' defeats a villain. Either by luck (when he's alone), or by his cat sidekick, who usually takes advantage of the villain being distracted by the hero screwing up.
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* Surprisngly, this is what Ron Stoppable becomes in the [[Grand Finale]] of ''[[Kim Possible]]''. Though he might've been promoted to partner for his heroics. [[Team Pet]] Rufus can be this to Ron, sometimes appearing to be smarter than his owner and much more mechanically adept.
* In [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s ''[[The Godzilla Power Hour]]'', poor [[The Scrappy|Godzooky]] gets a lot of grief from fans because he's cute and much tinier than Godzilla. But taken objectively, Zooky is ''still'' a twelve-foot tall flying monster who dwarfs the human castmembers, and can handily intimidate humans who aren't expecting him. Apart from being a standard cute cartoon sidekick, he's also there so that even the [[Just Here for Godzilla|human-scale filler scenes]] all [[Kaiju|Dai Kaiju]] stories have can ''still'' have a cool big monster in them.
** He also serves as a valuable backup way to call out Godzilla himself, so even at his least useful he still had a valuable potential.
* Cornfed on ''[[Duckman]]'' alternates between this and mere Hypercompetent Sidekick, depending on the needs of the plot.
** However, in the [[Adventure Game]] based on the series, Cornfed decides that this time Duckman has to stop relying on him and save the day himself. Because of this he mainly just gives advice on how to progress.
== Real Life ==
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* In a rather vile example of this; Heinrich Himmler, the man who supposedly carried out the Holocaust, had Reinhard Heydrich who carried out and created many of the ideas of the Holocaust. He was so vicious, it is said some of the Nazi officials who were his subordinates were more afraid of him than Hitler. This makes sense, as he created the concentration camps and the rest of the Final Solution.
* Vice President Walter Mondale was this to Jimmy Carter, serving as Carter's troubleshooter (particularly in foreign affairs).<ref>Mondale's foreign affairs experience later earned him an appointment as ambassador to Japan under the Clinton administration.</ref> Richard Nixon filled the same role for Eisenhower. Prior to Mondale and Nixon the vice-presidency was little more than a ceremonial posting, and usually a dead end for a political career. [[Your Mileage May Vary]] as to how effective either was in the job.
* Then-Vice
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Servant Tropes]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Hidden Badass]]
[[Category:Sidekick]]
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[[Category:Ind Ex Machina]]
[[Category:Competence Tropes]]
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