{"id":979,"date":"2020-03-03T12:45:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T17:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979"},"modified":"2020-04-23T13:07:45","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T17:07:45","slug":"the-important-role-of-a-sidekick-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979","title":{"rendered":"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Every Hero Needs a Sidekick<\/h2>\n<p>Sidekicks are typically your Main Character&#8217;s best friend. But they can be a family member, co-worker, an employee, an accomplice.<\/p>\n<p>They&#8217;re your hero&#8217;s most avid supporter. They represent faith, encouraging your heroine when she gets her heart broken, as she wallows in self-doubt, land loses motivation to pursue a love again.<\/p>\n<p>Sidekicks characters:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are aligned with the Protagonist&#8217;s goals<\/li>\n<li>They differ from the Protagonist in important ways, whether good or bad, in order to highlight areas of the Protagonist&#8217;s growth<\/li>\n<li>Are loyal to and supportive of the Protagonist.<\/li>\n<li>Illustrate the importance of success and the cost of failure throughout the story.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sidekicks.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-984\" src=\"http:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sidekicks.png\" alt=\"Sidekick archtype characters in movies\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sidekicks.png 250w, https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sidekicks-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sidekicks-50x50.png 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>The sidekick character offer the audience and ongoing glimpse of the mental and physical impact and risks involved with the Main Character&#8217;s goals and choices.<\/p>\n<p>As story guru, <strong>Michael Hauge<\/strong>, states about sidekick\/reflection characters:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;They serve&nbsp; as a crucial ingredient in the process of creating drama, foreshadowing, establishing stakes, conflict and tension.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Think of <strong>Spock<\/strong> in <em>Star Trek<\/em>, <strong>Chewbacca<\/strong> in <em>Star Wars<\/em>, <strong>Samewise<\/strong> in <em>Lord of the Rings<\/em>, <strong>Gerty<\/strong> in Moon,<strong> Ned<\/strong> in <em>Unforgiven<\/em>,<strong> Donkey<\/strong> in <em>Shrek<\/em>, <strong>Ron Weasley<\/strong> in <em>Harry Potter<\/em>, <strong>Bubba<\/strong> in <em>Forrest Gump<\/em>, <strong>Wilson the Soccer Ball<\/strong> in <em>Castaway<\/em>, and <strong>Annie Porter<\/strong> in<em> Speed<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>They are perfect examples of sidekick characters. The story, movie, or TV show would not be the same without them.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sidekicks are typically your Main Character&#8217;s best friend. But they can be a family member, co-worker, an employee, an accomplice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[248,245,251,256,257,250,255,127,246,252,254,253,249,247],"class_list":["post-979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rants-on-writing","tag-chewbacca","tag-duckie-in-pretty-in-pink-movie","tag-harry-potter-movies","tag-lord-of-the-rings","tag-michael-hague-on-reflection-characters","tag-ron-weasley","tag-samwise","tag-screenwriter-kay-patterson","tag-sidekick-characters","tag-spock","tag-star-trek-movies","tag-star-trek-tv-series","tag-star-wars","tag-tom-hanks-and-wilson-the-soccer-ball","has-thumb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Important Role of A Sidekick Character - Scriptchic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character - Scriptchic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sidekicks are typically your Main Character&#039;s best friend. But they can be a family member, co-worker, an employee, an accomplice.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scriptchic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-03T17:45:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-23T17:07:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/RantSidekick.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kathy Patterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kathy Patterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kathy Patterson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78fe6594ac9223d278797dec4ce6ada7\"},\"headline\":\"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-03T17:45:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-23T17:07:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979\"},\"wordCount\":234,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/RantSidekick.png\",\"keywords\":[\"chewbacca\",\"duckie in pretty in pink movie\",\"harry potter movies\",\"lord of the rings\",\"michael hague on reflection characters\",\"ron weasley\",\"samwise\",\"screenwriter kay patterson\",\"sidekick characters\",\"spock\",\"star trek movies\",\"star trek tv series\",\"star wars\",\"tom hanks and wilson the soccer ball\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Rant\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979\",\"name\":\"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character - Scriptchic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/RantSidekick.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-03T17:45:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-23T17:07:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78fe6594ac9223d278797dec4ce6ada7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/RantSidekick.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/RantSidekick.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"A sickekick character's role in supporting your protagonist.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?p=979#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Scriptchic\",\"description\":\"Kathy Patterson - Fiction &amp; Screenwriter\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78fe6594ac9223d278797dec4ce6ada7\",\"name\":\"Kathy Patterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/242535b96cfd4b6ddd8f22e68791d944582a5a05d6f854241251cb0e9d53af82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/242535b96cfd4b6ddd8f22e68791d944582a5a05d6f854241251cb0e9d53af82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/242535b96cfd4b6ddd8f22e68791d944582a5a05d6f854241251cb0e9d53af82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kathy Patterson\"},\"description\":\"As a published author and award winning screenwriter, my writing blends reality with elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror and suspense. Before screenwriting, I created and managed AlienSkin Magazine, an online paying market for SFFH genre writers, for eight years as senior editor. At home, I manage two businesses, cuddle with my eight little dogs, dabble with photography, and lavish in the attention and encouragement of my loving husband, ComputerBob.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scriptchic.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character - Scriptchic","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character - Scriptchic","og_description":"Sidekicks are typically your Main Character's best friend. But they can be a family member, co-worker, an employee, an accomplice.","og_url":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979","og_site_name":"Scriptchic","article_published_time":"2020-03-03T17:45:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-23T17:07:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/RantSidekick.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kathy Patterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kathy Patterson","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979"},"author":{"name":"Kathy Patterson","@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78fe6594ac9223d278797dec4ce6ada7"},"headline":"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character","datePublished":"2020-03-03T17:45:14+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-23T17:07:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979"},"wordCount":234,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/RantSidekick.png","keywords":["chewbacca","duckie in pretty in pink movie","harry potter movies","lord of the rings","michael hague on reflection characters","ron weasley","samwise","screenwriter kay patterson","sidekick characters","spock","star trek movies","star trek tv series","star wars","tom hanks and wilson the soccer ball"],"articleSection":["Rant"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979","url":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979","name":"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character - Scriptchic","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/RantSidekick.png","datePublished":"2020-03-03T17:45:14+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-23T17:07:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78fe6594ac9223d278797dec4ce6ada7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/RantSidekick.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/RantSidekick.png","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"A sickekick character's role in supporting your protagonist."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?p=979#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Important Role of A Sidekick Character"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/","name":"Scriptchic","description":"Kathy Patterson - Fiction &amp; Screenwriter","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78fe6594ac9223d278797dec4ce6ada7","name":"Kathy Patterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/242535b96cfd4b6ddd8f22e68791d944582a5a05d6f854241251cb0e9d53af82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/242535b96cfd4b6ddd8f22e68791d944582a5a05d6f854241251cb0e9d53af82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/242535b96cfd4b6ddd8f22e68791d944582a5a05d6f854241251cb0e9d53af82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kathy Patterson"},"description":"As a published author and award winning screenwriter, my writing blends reality with elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror and suspense. Before screenwriting, I created and managed AlienSkin Magazine, an online paying market for SFFH genre writers, for eight years as senior editor. At home, I manage two businesses, cuddle with my eight little dogs, dabble with photography, and lavish in the attention and encouragement of my loving husband, ComputerBob.","url":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=979"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1008,"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979\/revisions\/1008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptchic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}