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This month, I'm blogging about sidekicks! I want to explore the qualities of a 'good' sidekick/wing woman/man, what traits they have, their roles in the storytelling and how to write them.
Re-blogged from the
11th House.
What Sidekicks Are Good For
Back story:
A well written, three dimensional sidekick can help with back story, allowing the reader to see and hear about things that came before page one without wading through heavy exposition. We see this in
Star Wars with the sidekick Chewbacca, where his adventures in the past with Han Solo help shape our understanding of the man. Also in the sidekicks C-3PO and R2-D2. We learn much about the world through their cometary.
World Building:
The sidekick can represent a culture or social group as Gimli and Legolas do in
Lord of the Rings. Gollum, a 'minor' character, but with a major goal, provides a talking point for the long and complex history of the ring. What life was like in the past, the roots of the hobbits as a people. He is kind of an 'anti-skidekick' to the anti-hero Frodo.
Contrast:
The sidekick can have different values, ethics, goals and motivations, making for a contrast to the main protagonist. Damon Salvatore in
The Vampire Diaries, for example, hasn't much of a moral compass. At all. His buddy Alaric Saltzman, however, does, and watching that friendship grow is a measure of the main character's arc and emotional evolution.
Humor and wit:
The protagonist has to be pretty serious at times, playing it 'straight' as they work out how to fight the baddy, retrieve the lost treasure and save the day. The sidekick, however, is free to use wit and humor at times when the hero cannot. We see this in
Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Xander (one of Buffy's many sidekicks). She may be in deep emotional angst and he can pop a one-liner that lifts the moment without throwing away her feelings.
Throw-aways:
Similar to wit and humor, there are times when a scene is
too intense, deep or meaningful and the sidekick can be just the one to lighten it all with a 'throw-away' line. Clive and Ravi do this on
iZombie when Liv is too deep into the fact that she is dead, turned into a zombie and has to eat brains to survive. It can turn a scene around in a flash.
Freedom of Speech:
The sidekick can say things the hero might be thinking, or wish they could say, but can't. In the
Quantum Enchantment Series, Rosette has a sentient familiar, a temple cat who links with her telepathically. She might be having a conversation with a mentor or rival while her familiar does a running commentary on the whole thing, adding a new element to the scene.
Sympathy:
The hero may also relate to the sidekick in ways they can't to others, allowing the reader to gain more compassion or understanding. This works especially well for main characters that are not fully sympathetic. Eric Northman's compassion for his progeny, Pam, is an example from
True Blood, or Charlain Harrie's
Southern Vampire Mysteries.
Writing the Sidekick
The first question to answer when developing a sidekick in the story is why are they there? They have to move the plot forward, be part of the part of the story. They also have to have their own GMC - goals, motivations and conflicts, internal and external. In a shorter work, these won't be explored to a great depth, but with novel length stories and series, there is room for these subplots to be woven.
In
Lord of the Rings, Gollum is a
shadow figure of Frodo, a kind of "anti-sidekick" representing the "anit-hero's" darker obsessions, passions, and also his instinctual side. Gollum knows natures ways, leads Sam and Frodo into dark places, with darker designs. Gollum's inner goals, in the end, aren't any different than Frodo's, but he still has his own history, motivations, conflicts, and outer challenges.
Further questions to ask when developing a sidekick:
- How do they move the plot forward?
- What do they contribute?
- Do they have heart or at least evoke an emotional response?
- Are their stakes genuine?
- Is their dialog strong and juicy?
- Are they redundant in any way?
When getting the story down, the writer isn't usually thinking of all these things. I know I'm not! Still, it's a useful checklist for the next edit, and the next.
How about you all? Who are some of your favorite sidekicks?
Writers, how to you approach these types of Characters?
Comments are always welcome!
Kim Falconer is a Supernatural Underground author writing
paranormal romance, urban fantasy, YA and
epic science fantasy novels.
You can find out more about Kim at the
11th House Blog, and on
FaceBook and
Twitter.
She posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month.
Her latest release is"
Blood and Water" in
Supernatural Underground: Vampires Gone Wild.
That is the first thing that I carry with me even today as I write and as I absorb storytelling how-to's. Monsters on the outside should be suited to the monsters we have on the inside. Only when you defeat the monster inside can you defeat the monster outside. When Xander was feeling down about being single, up popped a monster who wanted to give boys the Kiss of Death. When the Scoobies found dissonance among them, a monster would pop up who was literally a combination of other monsters, then they would have to come together to fight. I carry this notion with me in everything I write- make the outside mirror the inside.
