Recently I’ve done several poll on the SFF Facebook group to determine the Top 5 of lots of different things. For the 24 days leading up to the 25th Anniversary (and the day itself, of course) I will be posting a new Top 5 list each day, using the highly scientific and unbiased results from those FB polls. I’ll try to make these posts short but I’m pretty long winded and like to talk so…they’re probably all going to be pretty long. Enjoy?
Top 5 Sidekicks & Secondaries
Every hero needs a sidekick and every main character needs a secondary friend to help them through whatever conflict the plot has in store for them. Friends can help, fight for, or advise the hero and make the hero, and the story, better. Not all secondary characters are sidekicks, they're just not the main focus of the story. Here are some excellent allies and special sidekicks that help the hero and often steal the show.
CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!
#5 - It's a tie between
Atropos & Cory DeVro
Atropos, played by Syndi Eller, is a character in two TV shows, Dream Chasers and Eidolon. She plays a bigger role in Dream Chasers but is still an important secondary in Eidolon as well. Atropos is the Goddess of Death and is responsible for making sure the souls of the dead go where they are supposed to. She manages a team of grim reapers who are in charge of death around the world, but for any big event like an earthquake or a terrorist attack she goes there in person to make sure everything goes smoothly.
Since there are billions of people in the world and millions die every day, Atropos is extremely busy. I have to give Syndi Eller credit for helping create some of Atropos quirks like the fact that she shoots hoops and goes bowling to relax, and that she loves chocolate so much that it's the only thing that keeps her going sometimes. Despite the fact that only gets one day off a year and a week's vacation never she loves her job. As Syndi once described her, "She's a big bad bitch."
One of the two main characters in Dream Chasers, the original Maria Sanchez, is her niece. Atropos is not a touchy-feely person, obviously, but she cares about her niece and helps her as much as she can. However she draws a firm line between work and family and work always comes first. She won't bend the rules of death for anyone no matter how much she likes them. She returns in Eidolon when Maria/Marion seeks her out to help remove Zelda's curse. Although Atropos doesn't help with that, she does help Morpheus, her brother, watch over Maria and make sure things work out for her.
Cory DeVro, played by Michelle Chapman, is a character in the TV show The Curse. She is Zandra's best friend since childhood and always has her friend's back no matter what stupid mess Zandra gets herself into. If Zandra needs her help, Cory comes running to her side. She is funny, flirty, pretty, sassy and smart - an extrovert that compliments Zandra's introverted tendencies. Cory has no problem letting Zandra get the glory for whatever they achieve because Cory is full of confidence and doesn't need recognition to know how awesome she is. She may be the daughter of divorced and super rich parents, but she's not spoiled or selfish in any way.
In Episode 4 she and Maria are on the run from a gang of ruthless treasure hunters. They take shelter behind a tree and hide for a moment to catch their breath. Cory then says the memorable line, "If Zandra's life were a movie, you know who I'd be? I'd be the comic relief! I'd be the spunky sidekick and you know what happens to spunky sidekicks? They die!"
She right, but not about the dying part. Cory is the epitome of the spunky sidekick. She has knowledge the hero lacks - specifically foreign languages, resources the hero needs - money, and the courage to either do what Zandra can't or push Zandra to do it herself. When her best friend is possessed by a demon Cory attacks her and tries to expel it. When they end up facing the powerful ghost of a hungry cannibal from the Lost Colony of Roanoke Cory is the one who grabs a stick and tries to fend him off.
So when Cory takes a stand and refuses to back Zandra up in Episode 5 it's a big deal. She does it because Zandra is too scared to go to the police with information about a murder that she witnessed. Cory tells her that she has to do it - she's the only one who can get justice for the victim - and that if Zandra runs away from this Cory won't be friends with her anymore. This is one of the few times we see Cory being completely serious and very angry. It's a powerful moment and it makes you realize how complex Cory really is. She's not a silly sidekick even if she plays that part sometimes, she perfectly capable of kicking ass and being a god-damn hero!
#4 - Erion
Erion, play be Jen Weber, is a character in the movies/mini-series, Destiny Trilogy. She starts off as one of a trio of silly characters named Milly, Molly, and May from the O.O.P.S. (the Organization of Out-of-work Prostitutes and Singers). In Destiny II, however, we discover that she is actually a magical fairy and the fairy guardian to Ketlan's mother Queen Lavinia. She is a bright, funny, silly sidekick who always tries to cheer up Lavinia or help her worry less.
When Lavinia feels worried and asks Erion to disguise herself and keep an eye on Esteban, she does. She first tries to get his attention as a small fairy - pocket sized for his convenince - in order to talk to him and keep him save, but that backfires and she goes another route, disguising herself as a thief named Ned who becomes Esteban's best friend. The first time we really see her being serious is when she finds out that Lavinia plans to sacrifice herself for her son's future and confronts her about it.
Erion tries to think of other things she can do to save Lavinia including killing Esteban's brother Balthazar. When Lavinia refuses to let her intervene, and as her guardian spite Erion must obey Lavinia, she is heartbroken. Lavinia gives her one last order - to watch over Ketlan and protect him for the rest of his life. Erion agrees and you can see her as an extra in lots of scenes in Destiny where she's keeping an eye on him. I totally wrote it that way. It clearly wasn't because Jen was always available to be an extra and plays fifteen different characters and I wanted to find a way to explain that or anything. Nope, it was planned all along.
In Destiny III she returns as Milly, part of the O.O.P.S. trio. When things start going wrong and it's clear Balthazar is back to make trouble, Erion ditches her Milly disguise, dresses up like Ned, and shows up in front of Esteban, determined to help him and save Ketlan. Before she died Lavinia told Esteban all about Erion and about Ned being Erion in disguise so Esteban is prepared to face a magical sprite.
Over the course of the very long third movie it is revealed that Erion is actually a hell of a lot more powerful then anyone knows. She's an ancient fairy with immense power and is able to take down the villain with god-like powers who is helping Balthazar get his revenge. The silly, goofy, compassionate, and smart little sprite is actually a powerful badasses. She prefers to play it cool and lay low, hanging out with her magic fairy friends Molly and May but if she needs to step up and kick some ass she will.
#3 - Berry
Berry, played by Sherman Stasheff who I still call Berry anyway, is a character in the TV show The Gift Bearer. He's actually the title character but he counts more as a sidekick and secondary rather then the main lead. That's because Berry is a statue. As an inanimate object, he appears to be little more than a prop, but he is really a magical statue with the souls of three sacrificed children giving him life. Because he's basically a child he likes to play tricks on people. There's even a scene where he plays a trick on Drake and you hear a little child laugh. It's really creepy.
He can't talk or move, but he can communicate with things that magically appear on his tray when people aren't looking. He can't really move or make magic when he's being observed unless it's an emergency. When he gets lost in a lake in Episode 6 he magically reappears in the water near Minerva's foot. When Minerva and Xavier are in danger in Episode 10 he suddenly flies into Minerva's hand. The longer he knows someone, and the more he likes them, the stronger his powers are and the more willing he is show them off.
When Xavier is kidnapped in Episode 11 and 12, Berry let's the Silverstone sisters know about it by manipulating their television set to show what's happening to Xavier. Then, when Minerva picks him up, he basically drags her super fast to where Xavier is. He can't really move on his own, but he can make Minerva move by pulling her like she's a puppet on a string.
Although he is very loyal to Minerva and her sisters, he won't tolerate them being mean to him. When Minerva yells at him for trying to give Xavier rat poison instead of a pain killer, he disappears and doesn't return for five episodes. Minerva doesn't know that Xavier is actually Drake in disguise, but Berry does and that's his way of letting her know. Clearly it backfires. We do see a shot of him watching them so we know he's still hanging around he just refuses to show himself again until they really need him...and beg for him to come back. He has his pride, I mean he is a magical statue with god-like powers after all despite seeming like a sidekick. Funny, charming, mischievous, clever and cute Berry can win over almost anyone with his silly costumes and playful tricks.
#2 - Terri Madison
Terri Madison, played by Jen Weber, is a character in the TV show Eidolon. While she may technically be a secondary character she is very important and actually critical to the plot. Because Terri can see ghosts and Maria can't, Terri gets involved when Zelda, cursed to be a ghost, demands that Terri help her talk to Maria, her guardian. This puts Terri literally in the line of fire and she ends up getting shot in the leg and kidnapped by organ harvesters while trying to help them both.
She is intelligent, compassionate, and has a strong conscience. When she sits back and watches Zelda get her ass kicked by another ghost she does it because she knows that Zelda deserves it. Zelda had no compassion for Terri why should Terri have compassion for her. But Terri feels guilty and goes to Maria to see if she can help remove Zelda's curse by being her research assistant (ie sidekick). She promises to help out of the goodness of her heart.
There is so much to Terri's character like the fact that she's a die-hard fangirl of Mordecai's TV show, Sorcerer, flirts with pretty much every boy around her, and for some reason is hazard friendly. She continues to get shot, kidnapped, and attacked yet still stays to help because she's promised that she would. She's a great character, hilarious at times, very serious at other times. At first she doesn't fight back, she's too scared, but eventually she gets sick of always being picked on and learns to fight back.
#1 - Zarconia Gold
Zarconia Gold known as Zarc, played by Virginia McCreary, is a character in the TV show Pandora's Box. She starts out an a cheerful, playful, annoying young teenage thief and ends up as a strong, smart, grown up rebel fighter. Despite all the hardships in her life, being an abandoned orphan, having to steal to survive (and discovers she's really good at it), getting her heart broken twice and watching people she loves die, she is overall an opptomist. She always tries to look on the bright side even in the midst of personal tragedy. She hits a point where she just can't do that at the end of Episode 18, but she eventually bounces back even if she is never really quite the same.
Colorful, and possibly colorblind, Zarc dresses like a pineapple stir-fry in clashing colors and patchwork fabrics and wears as much bling as she can steal. She clearly doesn't care what other people think about her but that's okay, most people really like her regardless of her fashion style. But don't be fooled by the silly antics and playful demeanor, she was actually adopted by the King of Cutthroats and knows how to fight. She rarely loses her temper but when she does watch out. She shot up her best friend and held her and DeCarlo at gun point then locked them in a room in order to force them to talk things out because she was sick of being put in the middle of their arguments. Zarc is a great character and a wonderful sidekick in every way.
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