Sidekicks and Minions

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by EmoBorg, Nov 17, 2013.

  1. EmoBorg

    EmoBorg Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2012
    Location:
    in the 10 dimensions of reality
    This thread is about honoring the sidekicks and minions from television, films, books, comics and other media. They are not often in the limelight like the heroes and villains.


    A favorite sidekick of mine is Thirty Thirty, the horse sidekick of Marshall BraveStarr in the 1980s cartoon show Bravestarr. Thirty Thirty is both the main ride and back up gunman to Marshall BraveStarr.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]




    A favorite minion of mine is Soundwave from Transformers. A loyal and very capable assistant to Megatron.


    [​IMG]




     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2013
  2. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 10, 2005
    Location:
    Confederation of Earth
    Minions? Somebody say Minions?

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNsibN4D36A[/yt]

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du-5OfkgkD4[/yt]

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnvy1gpZa7M[/yt]

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCkerYMffMo[/yt]
     
  3. Fist McStrongpunch

    Fist McStrongpunch Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2003
    Location:
    Milwaukeeish
    I'm a fan of the classic WWII pairing of Captain Wonder and Tim, who became Captain Tim when his hero was frozen for decades, to be reawakened in the present day.
     
  4. Pondwater

    Pondwater Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2011
    Location:
    The Backwoods
    I loved Iolaus from Hercules and Gabrielle from Xena.
     
  5. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2003
    Location:
    Beach condo, Bay of Eldamar
    Here's an old av of mine... :D

    [​IMG]
     
  6. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    I never liked Thirty-Thirty that much. I grew up with Filmation cartoons in the height of their wholesomeness, with peace-loving, essentially nonviolent heroes, and I liked it. While Bravestarr himself fit that mold, the gun-happy Thirty-Thirty felt like an intruder from the more violent media climate of '80s TV in general. Granted, the previous few years of Filmation shows had featured heroes who used weapons -- the Lone Ranger with his six-guns and Zorro, Blackstar, He-Man, and She-Ra with their various kinds of sword -- but they weren't as fond of using their weapons, didn't glorify them or give them names. And of course none of them, Thirty-Thirty included, were allowed by the censors to actually use their weapons on living beings, but he was the only one who ever seemed like he wanted to.

    Hold on, though... big, irascible sidekick in a space Western, has a big gun that he cherishes and gives a female name to... holy cow, Thirty-Thirty is Jayne! Well, albeit not as dumb and more trustworthy.
     
  7. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    Two of my favorite lesser known sidekicks would have to be Jenks the Pixy from Kim Harrison's Hollows series, and Kenzi from Lost Girl.
     
  8. EmoBorg

    EmoBorg Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2012
    Location:
    in the 10 dimensions of reality
    I do agree that Thirty Thirty was an aggressive character especially for a cartoon show. But you did get a feeling that he could take care of the bad guys with or without Bravestarr. He was one tough horse.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2013
  9. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2001
    Location:
    Burlington, VT, USA
    I never really got into Bravestarr, but I do seem to recall catching the tail end of a "Drugs are Bad" episode where a character actually OD'ed and died. Dark stuff!

    Scott Evil remains one of my favorite sidekicks/minions. I really hoped at some point he'd take control of the empire and make it a force to be reckoned with. And the end of the 3rd movie points to an outcome like that, but sadly we've yet to receive any follow-up.

    Does Loki in Thor 2 count as a sidekick/minion? Let's avoid or spoiler-tag any detailed discussion for the benefit of those who haven't seen the film yet.
     
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Yeah, Bravestarr pushed the envelope farther than prior Filmation shows. It actually had three episodes in which characters died. There was the drug episode, there was one about a character who'd committed a murder (shown -- almost -- in flashback), and there was one where, IIRC, an old man died. Since it was so rare and shocking in kids' TV at the time, it was very powerful each time it happened. Although Filmation had done it before in previous years. Filmation's Star Trek had Spock's sehlat die in "Yesteryear," and "The Slaver Weapon" actually ended with the violent death of the villains in an explosion. The Secrets of Isis had an episode about a boy's dog dying, one that really made an impact on me as a kid. And there was an episode of, I think, The Young Sentinels (aka Space Sentinels) where an evil sorceress who'd been stealing youth had the process reversed and died of accelerated aging, which was a startlingly dark fate for a character in a Filmation show. Then there was the Flash Gordon TV movie and series -- there was a fair amount of death in the movie, which was made for prime time, and even the more toned-down Saturday morning version incorporated stock sequences from the film including footage of Hawkmen getting disintegrated in battle.
     
  11. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2001
    Location:
    Burlington, VT, USA
    It does speak to the power of the scene that I remember it after all this time. :)

    Then again, I seem to remember Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty showing up on the show as well, but IIRC that wasn't an especially successful effort.
     
  12. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Yes, "Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century" was a backdoor pilot for a spinoff in which Holmes fell through a time warp at Reichenbach Falls (ignoring everything from "The Empty House" onward) and arrived in the future, where he teamed up with an alien named Whitson and a tough, gun-loving female descendant named Mycroft Holmes. Moriarty -- played by Jonathan Harris! -- had himself cryogenically frozen and revived in the same era so that he could continue his battles of wits with Holmes.

    Coincidentally, a few years later there was an entirely unrelated animated series called Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, in which Holmes's honey-preserved corpse is revived by future science so that he can battle a clone of Moriarty, and he's teamed up with a robot Watson and a tough female cop named Lestrade.
     
  13. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2010
    Location:
    publiusr
    Two big favorites of mine. The best episode of The Young Sentinels involved their M-Falcon like a spacecraft being pursed by a drone that changed into different geometric shapes depending on its function. They even made an inflatable version of the Flash Gorden rocketship.
    http://www.toymania.com/334archives/flash/access.htm
     
  14. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    I watched Sentinels on DVD a while back and I couldn't stand the music editing. They only had a few music tracks and they cut between them abruptly and jarringly -- it made the show rather unpleasant to listen to. Blackstar had the same problem with jerky music editing, although it had much better music (much of which was reused from Flash Gordon).
     
  15. Velocity

    Velocity Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 19, 2001
    Location:
    In the back of beyond
    totally agree!
     
  16. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    Loki would probably kill you for calling him either, so no.

    He's more the supporting antagonist/recurring villain. He isn't always the main villain, but that doesn't stop his finger from getting in the pie.