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Vika comments on The Importance of Sidekicks - LessWrong
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Do you know of any examples, fictional or real, of a male sidekick to a female hero?
Margaret Thatcher and Denis Thatcher.
Buffy / Xander, Motoko / Batu, Deunan / Briareos
(although I'm not sure "Sidekick" is exactly right here)
Hit Girl/Kick-Ass, Korra/Mako, Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Mask, She-Ra/Bow.
Moiraine Damodred and Al'Lan Mandragoran
Tiffany Aching and Rob Anybody
* SPOILERS FOR AN ANCIENT FANTASY SERIES *
Severely hampered by the fact that Moiraine is fridged for -- what, six, seven books?
Less "fridged" and more "pulling a Gandalf", I'd say. She isn't murdered to demonstrate the opposition's evilness and to motivate the hero; she's a mentor figure who gets killed neutralizing a threat that the hero can't overcome at that stage of his development.
Not that that's much of a step up, plot-wise.
Good catch.
Man, I'd forgotten how ridiculous that series is. I'd started reading them as a child, and finished just after Winter's Heart was published. A couple years later, I met Jordan at a book signing for Crossroads of Twilight. I was so disappointed by that horrible, horrible novel that I still haven't finished the series yet.
They're pretty ridiculous. I had a similar arc of experience with them, minus the book signing, but a year or so ago I picked up ePubs of the tail end of the series with an eye toward finally driving a stake into its heart. I hardly ever read fantasy these days, but I had a long plane flight ahead of me and figured I could do worse.
Roughly six hours of reading later, I was a quarter of the way into Knife of Dreams and already regretting that plan. I never did finish them.
Yes, they are. If I were to find myself re-reading them for some reason, I think I'd just have to read the parts with the Asha'man, and skip the two bazillion other subplots that go nowhere interesting.
And especially I'd skip everything that includes Faile. Better yet, women in general.
You'd miss all the incredible Nynaeve tugging her braid action X-)
But unhampered by the observation that it's not just this particular pair -- this is an entire social institution where a male Warden becomes a sidekick to a female Aes Sedai.
And hampered by the fact that the main character is the one exception.
The Aes Sedai society is a limited example, I had trouble remembering the names of any other bonded pairs where both characters were developed and the warden fit the willing, mentally healthy, sidekick role. The wardens were a case study in the reverse Bechdel test.
In that entire story, Lan was an exception that he embraced his sidekickness.
I don't remember any, either. Doesn't Taim end up bonding with an Aes Sedai? I know at least some of the Asha'man did.
I suppose the triple bond on Rand is an example....? Ick.
Now I feel like a bad person because I can't remember Verin's warder's name :(
Ooh, or Adaleas and Vandene's sweet old-man warder.
(Looked them up - Tomas and Jaem)
Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin.
Marie Curie and Pierre Curie
I'm not sure how good an example that is. Pierre Curie was an extremely successful scientist in his own right.
Dagny Taggart and Eddie Willers.
I was going to cite "Worm," but - aside from maybe the Number Man and Contessa - none of those examples really work. Alas, poor Clockblocker never got to fulfill his true role.
Morgaine and Nhi Vanye.
Jessie and James in the Pokémon anime (kind of).