sidekicks

Noun

sidekick (plural sidekicks)

1. (informal) An assistant to another person, especially to a superior or more important person.
   • In the abstract, Stuhlbarg’s twinkly-eyed sidekick suggests Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 by way of late-period Robin Williams with an alien twist, but Stuhlbarg makes a character that easily could have come across as precious into a surprisingly palatable, even charming man.2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club
2. (figuratively) In literature, theatre, etc., a good foil of the protagonist, a character who helps emphasize the traits of the main character.
   • So even though he had – no question – the best lines in Friends, he was never what he would have been in an earlier era: the sidekick.2023 October 29, Zoe Williams, “‘An ironic, self-deprecating metrosexual’: how Matthew Perry captured the spirit of the age”, in The Guardian, →ISSN