25 Sidekicks and Comic Relief Characters That Saved the Whole Works

A love letter to the greats behind the greats
25 Sidekicks and Comic Relief Characters That Saved the Whole Works
Add Cracked to Google

What would Walter White and Jesse Pinkman be without Saul Goodman? What would Hook be without Smee? Well, Hook would have a few less bruises on him without that bumbling little oaf around, but we’d have a few less laughs, so overall he’s a pretty great right-hand man. 

Or should we say, right-hook man. See what we did there? 

Anywho, this list goes out to all the sidekicks and comic reliefs that provided some heart and some extra chuckles. Thank you for your service.

Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad

BOB ODENKIRK CRACKED.COM The idea of Saul landing his own TV show started as a joke in the Breaking Bad writers room. Then Better Call Saul was pitched as a half-hour sitcom. Four Emmy nominations later, Odenkirk has turned Saul into a leading man for the ages.

Andy Dwyer from Parks and Recreation

CHRIS PRATT CRACKED.COM Pratt made the leap from pudgy 5th lead on Parks and Rec to chiseled leading guy in multiple Guardians and Jurassic Park flicks. One key to his success: Не brought a dollop of dopey Andy Dwyer to his big-screen starring roles.

Mini-Me from Austin Powers

Doofy henchmen The Spy Who Shagged Me MINI-ME He's fiercely loyal and wants to kill Scott right away, but his very existence as Dr. Evil's mini clone is for comedic relief. Dr. Evil asks to put a bell on him (like a dog) and says if he died, he'd be a wreck for ten minutes, then move on with another replica. CRACKED

Megan from Bridesmaids

MELISSA MCCARTHY CRACKED.COM Always a Bridesmaid? Not McCarthy, who parlayed that supporting turn (and Oscar nom) into lead roles in some of the biggest box-office comedies of the decade. Spy, Heat, and Identity Thief all topped $100 million.

Iago from Aladdin

Doofy henchmen Aladdin IAGO Voiced by Gilbert Gottfried, lago is a squawking soundboard for Jafar, and it's Gottfried at his Gottfriediest. Не is named after lago in Shakespeare's Othello (although that lago was the main villain). CRACKED

Donald from Happy Gilmore

Doofy henchmen Happy Gilmore SHOOTER MCGAVIN'S CRONY, DonALD Joe Flaherty portrays Shooter's fanboy, Donald, who causes Happy to fight Bob Barker. Не desperately wants to be friends with Shooter, offers to treat him to Red Lobster, then goes way overboard when one of his heckles is just hitting Happy with a Volkswagen. CRACKED

Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show

DON KNOTTS CRACKED.COM Knotts took home five Emmys playing the bumbling Barney Fife, but that success didn't translate to leading roles. Не starred in The Incredible Mr. Limpet, a film one reviewer described as suitable only for the very, very young and the massively -- massively -- medicated.

Pain and Panic from Hercules

Doofy henchmen PAIN AND PANIC Bobcat Goldthwait provided his insane voice for Pain, and Matt Frewer joined him as Panic. They fail to kill Hercules and leave him with his godly powers, then wearing his merch is the cherry on top to really piss Hades off. Hercules CRACKED

Smee from Peter Pan

Doofy henchmen Peter Pan smee Smee is the O.G. (and English) Lefou who ends up hurting Captain Hook more than he helps. In the 1953 Disney movie, he hits Hook with a hammer, and scalds his feet with boiling water, but he is loyal to the bitter end. CRACKED

The Hyenas from The Lion King

Doofy henchmen The Lion King THe HYenAS Shenzi (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg) gets a pass because she'd actually be of value to Scar if it wasn't for complete dummies Banzai (Cheech Marin) and Ed (Jim Cummings). They do make the right move by killing Scar in the end. CRACKED

Gretchen Wieners from Mean Girls

Doofy henchmen Mean Girls GReTCHen WIENERS Regina George's lackey is rich because her dad invented the toaster strudel. She fails to make fetch work, and she's so unaware that her apology for being popular gets no help in the trust fall. We wouldn't catch her either. CRACKED

Dwight Shrute from The Office

RAINN WILSON CRACKED.COM Wilson parlayed his success as Assistant to the Regional Manager to snag the lead role in The Rocker, playing an aging drummer living out his rock and roll fantasies. Unfortunately, audiences weren't interested, with reviewers labeling the film a School of Rock wannabe.

Wilson from Castaway

Underappreciated Sidekicks Castaway Wilson Projecting a whole personality onto a volleyball allows Tom Hanks', er, John Castaway to keep his sanity in isolation, and even face Wilson's death in the ocean with the life-affirming drive he needs the most. Wilson! CRACKED.COM

Frank from Billy Madison

Underappreciated Sidekicks Billy Madison Frank Frank is a constant source of emotional support and growth for childish Billy Madison - and at the same time, he's a slacker just chilling all day in Billy's mansion, and encouraging his worst habits. We salute you, Frank, you absolutely legendary sidekick. CRACKED.COM

Annie Porter from Speed

Underappreciated Sidekicks Speed Annie Porter Annie steps up to take the wheel when needed, and drives like a boss. Annie is so cool she manages to stop the bus from blowing up, and her driving is so awesome she even gets the bus goddamn airborne. CRACKED.COM

Cameron Frye from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Underappreciated Sidekicks Ferris Bueller's Day Off Cameron Frye Ferris' psychopathic shenanigans would be much harder to pull off without the complicity of walking depressive episode Cameron. Did he finally confront his dad? We hope so! We wish you the best, buddy! CRACKED.COM

Owen Bouchard from Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Underappreciated Sidekicks Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Owen Kid Contact Bouchard Even after becoming a douchebag, Kid Contact remains by Conner's side, and eventually parent- traps him into making amends with former Style Boy Lawrence. What happens next may or may not be the greatest thing in the history of music. CRACKED.COM

Chuckie from Good Will Hunting

Underappreciated Sidekicks Good Will Hunting Chuckie Sullivan Chuckie gives Will the exact final push he needs to finally take his responsibility for his life, by telling him that his favorite part of the day is picking him up and imagining he won't be there, that he went on to better things. What a friend. CRACKED.COM

Frenchy from Grease

Underappreciated Sidekicks Grease Frenchy Frenchy gets Sandy into the Pink Ladies clique, offers lots of emotional support during the movie, and even has her own arc and musical number (with Frankie friggin' Avalon telling her to go back to high school). CRACKED.COM

Garth from Wayne’s World

Underappreciated Sidekicks Wayne's World Garth Wayne is fun and all, but it's Garth's adorable, quick- witted, and awkward silliness that makes the sparks fly. Dana Carvey deserves more love (like, in general), and Garth is a hilarious character just as quotable as Mike Myers' Wayne. CRACKED.COM

Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite

Underappreciated Sidekicks Napoleon Dynamite Pedro A quiet character in a movie full of quirky, flashy ones, Pedro deserves more love as a friend and ally to social outcast Napoleon. In fact, Napoleon's iconic Jamiroquai dance would not exist if he hadn't had to save the day for Pedro's political campaign. CRACKED.COM

Sam from Casablanca

Underappreciated Sidekicks Casablanca Sam Sam anchors Humphrey Bogart's Rick to the old life with Ilsa he wants to forget, and offers emotional support to a bottled-up, old-timey dude like Rick. He's also great representation for the time. CRACKED.COM

Shuri from Black Panther

BROKEN WHITE BOYS. CRACKED BLACK PANTHER After Shuri's efforts to fix Bucky Rogers, Everett Ross is brought in with a bullet wound. She looks him over and says, Another broken white boy to fix. She's got better things to do, fellas.

Mantis and Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy

MANTIS READS PETER'S EMOTIONS. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: VOL.2 CRACKED You feel romantic love. Romantic, sexual love. For her. When she points directly at Gamora, Drax laughs hysterically like Peter is caught with a middle school crush. Then Mantis laughs in his face too.

Harley Quinn from Batman

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM HARLEY QUINN JUST A GIRL IN LOVE WITH A CLOWN. We're pretty sure Harley's super power is acts so bananas that no one sees the baseball bat coming. Like with Marvel hero Spider-Man, Harley talks a mile a minute while engaged with foes, and in her case she doesn't even have proportional spider strength.

Tags:

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

VIRAL ON CRACKED

A WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER OF
JOKES + TRIVIA

Forgot Password?