50 Fun Facts About Famous Sidekicks

Chewbacca, Han Solo's towering Wookiee co-pilot, was inspired by George Lucas's own dog of which breed?

Alaskan Malamute was the breed of Lucas's dog, who was named Indiana. The same pet later gave the adventurer Indiana Jones his first name.

Milhouse Van Houten, Bart Simpson's best friend, takes his first name from the middle name of which US president?

Richard Nixon's middle name was Milhous. Creator Matt Groening picked it because it was the most unfortunate name he could think of for a kid.

Which martial arts star played Kato, the Green Hornet's driver and sidekick, in the 1960s television series?

Bruce Lee stole the show so completely that in Hong Kong it was known as The Kato Show. That success led to the feature films that made him a star.

Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes's loyal companion, was wounded while serving as an army surgeon in which country?

Afghanistan is where a jezail bullet struck Watson at the Battle of Maiwand. He also caught enteric fever and was shipped home to England on a troopship.

Which comedian voices Donkey, the talkative sidekick modelled on a real miniature donkey named Perry, in Shrek?

Eddie Murphy supplied the voice for a character whose model, Perry, lived in a park in Palo Alto, California, after a failed career working with polo ponies.

Scooby-Doo, the cowardly canine companion of amateur detective Shaggy Rogers, belongs to which dog breed?

Great Dane traits were deliberately reversed for the cartoon. Designer Iwao Takamoto gave Scooby a sloping chin, bow legs and a sloped back, the opposite of a prize-winning show dog.

Which masked Western hero, first heard on Detroit radio in 1933, rides with his Native American companion Tonto?

The Lone Ranger ran for 2,956 radio episodes after his debut on station WXYZ. Tonto got a horse of his own, named Scout.

In The Lord of the Rings, Samwise Gamgee works for Frodo Baggins in which job before their quest begins?

Gardener was a post Sam inherited from his father, the Gaffer, who had done the same work for Bilbo. After the war Sam replanted the trees the Shire had lost.

Dick Grayson, the first Robin, grew up performing with his parents in which kind of family act before meeting Batman?

Circus acrobats billed as the Flying Graysons were the family act. Dick was eight years old in his first appearance, and Batman's wealthy alter ego later adopted him.

Which Nintendo sidekick battles ghosts with a vacuum cleaner in his own video game series?

Luigi took the lead when Luigi's Mansion arrived with the GameCube, sent into a haunted house to rescue Mario. It became that console's most successful launch title.

Which fictional knight-errant promises his peasant squire Sancho Panza the governorship of an island?

Don Quixote makes the promise to recruit his neighbour, and neither Sancho nor his family strongly objects. The squire's earthy proverbs, known as sanchismos, run through the novel.

Which announcer spent thirty years as Johnny Carson's sidekick on The Tonight Show, starting in 1962?

Ed McMahon had already worked beside Carson as the announcer on the daytime game show Who Do You Trust? before the pair moved to late night together.

Which actor won five Emmy Awards as Barney Fife, the jittery deputy sheriff on The Andy Griffith Show?

Don Knotts won three of the awards during the show's first five seasons. The other two came for guest appearances he made after leaving the cast.

Which of Robin Hood's Merry Men is usually portrayed as a seven-foot giant who fights with a quarterstaff?

Little John's name is an ironic joke about his huge frame. In the ballads he first meets Robin in a staff fight on a narrow bridge, then joins the band as second-in-command.

Bucky Barnes, Captain America's wartime sidekick, returned from supposed death in 2005 as which brainwashed assassin?

Winter Soldier was writer Ed Brubaker's way of reviving a character thought killed near the end of World War II. Sebastian Stan plays him in the Marvel films.

Which actor, cast as a child as Indiana Jones's sidekick Short Round, won an Academy Award almost forty years later?

Ke Huy Quan landed the part after his brother auditioned for it. Around 6,000 actors worldwide tried out for the 12-year-old Shanghai taxi driver.

Which Saturday Night Live comedian played Garth Algar, Wayne Campbell's timid sidekick in Wayne's World?

Dana Carvey based the shy, metal-loving co-host on his own brother. The pair's public-access show is broadcast from Aurora, Illinois.

Which actor played Mini-Me, the tiny clone of the villain Dr. Evil, in the Austin Powers films?

Verne Troyer made Mini-Me his best-known character. In the story the clone was meant to match the villain in every way, but came out at one-eighth of his size.

Tails, the flying sidekick of Sonic the Hedgehog in Sega's video games, is a two-tailed version of which animal?

A fox named Miles Prower, a pun on miles per hour, won Sega's internal design contest. Sega of America felt that name would not sell and suggested the nickname instead.

Patrick, the dim-witted starfish who is SpongeBob SquarePants's best friend, lives beneath what in Bikini Bottom?

A rock is all the home Patrick needs. He holds no steady job and spends most of his time clowning around with SpongeBob, catching jellyfish or lounging.

Which cartoon character, whose name resembles a New York Yankees catcher's, roams Jellystone Park with his pal Boo-Boo?

Yogi Bear reached TV screens when baseball star Yogi Berra was already a household name, so the likeness between the two names was hard to miss.

Barney Rubble, Fred Flintstone's easygoing sidekick, was based on the character Ed Norton from which 1950s sitcom?

The Honeymooners shaped the whole cartoon. Voice actor Mel Blanc was asked to copy Norton's voice for Barney but reportedly refused, thinking it was stealing from another actor.

Jimmy Olsen, the young photojournalist known as Superman's pal, works for which fictional newspaper?

Daily Planet readers were not the first to meet him. The character was introduced by name on The Adventures of Superman radio show in 1940, and spent years in the comics as an office boy.

Which fictional detective's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, is narrated by his friend Captain Hastings?

Hercule Poirot shares most of his short stories with the captain, who narrates the majority of them yet appears in only eight of the novels.

Which French valet joins Phileas Fogg on his wager to circle the globe in the novel Around the World in Eighty Days?

Passepartout has his own reason to hurry. He left a gaslight burning in his room, and the cost of the wasted gas will be docked from his salary.

In Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel, what name does Robinson Crusoe give the man he rescues on his island?

Friday is named for the weekday on which the rescue takes place. The character gave English the expression Man Friday for an especially loyal and capable assistant.

In the 1931 film Frankenstein, the doctor's hunchbacked assistant, often misremembered as Igor, actually has which name?

Fritz, played by Dwight Frye, is where the popular image of Igor began. He comes not from the original novel but from an 1823 stage adaptation.

Wallace, the eccentric inventor whose silent dog Gromit keeps rescuing him, is especially fond of which English cheese?

Wensleydale owes the pair a favour. The struggling creamery's sales jumped after Wallace named it a favourite in A Close Shave, and it went on to license a Wallace & Gromit cheese.

Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad, three superheroes' young sidekicks, teamed up in 1964 and became which DC Comics group?

Teen Titans became the group's name only once Wonder Girl had joined. The trio's first joint case was against a weather-controlling villain known as Mister Twister.

Gabrielle, a farm girl from Potidaea who grows into an Amazon warrior, is the travelling companion of which TV heroine?

Xena's sidekick almost had another face. Sunny Doench was cast first but did not want to leave her boyfriend in the United States, so Renee O'Connor took the part.

Jesse Pinkman, a sidekick whose creator planned to kill him off after one season, appears in which crime drama?

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan changed his mind by the second episode. Aaron Paul's performance convinced him that killing Jesse would be a huge, colossal mistake.

Which Frasier star voices Sideshow Bob, the sidekick who framed Krusty the Clown for armed robbery on The Simpsons?

Kelsey Grammer based the voice on actor Ellis Rabb. Bob began as a non-speaking sidekick who communicated only through a slide whistle.

Which AI companion of Master Chief in the Halo games gave her name to Microsoft's virtual assistant?

Cortana started as the codename Microsoft used while developing the assistant for Windows Phone, a nod to the game character. A beta followed in April 2014.

Which film director plays Silent Bob, the near-wordless half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in his own movies?

Kevin Smith first put the pair on screen in his 1994 film Clerks. His character communicates mostly through gestures and facial expressions.

Which British sitcom antihero is served through several centuries of history by his servant and sidekick Baldrick?

Blackadder usually ridicules the plans Baldrick dreams up for their implausibility, yet he often falls back on them when a situation turns desperate.

In 1988, DC Comics readers voted by telephone to kill off which character, the second sidekick to be called Robin?

Jason Todd lost the poll by just 72 votes out of 10,614. Readers had 36 hours to call one of two 1-900 numbers printed inside the comic.

The Brain, the scheming lab mouse partnered with dim-witted Pinky, looks and sounds like which actor and director?

Orson Welles was a favourite of voice actor Maurice LaMarche, who had already supplied the director's voice in the 1994 movie Ed Wood.

Which Greek hero's close companion Patroclus is killed by Hector while disguised in the hero's own armour?

Achilles had lent the armour so that his friend could impersonate him, with orders to retreat in time. Patroclus defied them, and Hector stripped the armour from his body.

Which menhir delivery man, super-strong since falling into a magic potion cauldron as a baby, is Asterix's best friend?

Obelix needs no top-up of the druid's brew, because its effect on him became permanent. He chisels the menhirs himself in a quarry he owns.

Which actor played Goose, Maverick's radar intercept officer and best friend, in the 1986 film Top Gun?

Anthony Edwards won his first widespread recognition with the part. He went on to spend eight seasons as Dr. Mark Greene on the hospital drama ER.

Which figure, the oldest wild man in literature, becomes the precious friend of the Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh?

Enkidu grows depressed at having abandoned his old life in the wild, and Gilgamesh responds by proposing an expedition to the Cedar Forest.

Which orchid-growing New York detective, loath to leave his brownstone, has cases narrated by assistant Archie Goodwin?

Nero Wolfe keeps 10,000 orchids in the greenhouse of his West 35th Street home. Archie told his boss's stories from 1934 to 1975.

Which English actor was chosen by George Lucas to operate the droid R2-D2 in the 1977 film Star Wars?

Kenny Baker wore a harness that secured the unit to his body, and turned its head or lit it up on cue. A mechanical version handled scenes where the droid rolled on three legs.

Which actress won the first Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress as landlady Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy?

Vivian Vance was honoured for her 1953 work on the sitcom. After her death, family members donated the statuette to a theatre in Albuquerque where she had performed in 1930.

Which radio countdown host of American Top 40 was the first actor to voice Shaggy Rogers in Scooby-Doo cartoons?

Casey Kasem, a committed vegan, quit the role in the 1990s in a dispute over a Burger King commercial. He came back in 2002 once the producers agreed to make Shaggy a vegetarian.

Tattoo, the sidekick played by Hervé Villechaize, assists which white-suited host on the TV series Fantasy Island?

Mr. Roarke lost his sidekick before the last season, when the producers dismissed Villechaize. A sedate butler named Lawrence took over and rang the bell with an electronic button.

Which masked hero created by Johnston McCulley is aided in the original stories by a deaf-mute servant named Bernardo?

Zorro's helper changed for Disney's television series, where Bernardo only pretends to be deaf and works as his master's secret agent.

Dr. Watson proposes to which client of Sherlock Holmes once the case in The Sign of the Four is resolved?

Mary Morstan has died by the time Holmes returns in The Adventure of the Empty House, and the widowed doctor has moved back into his former London lodgings.

Muttley first appeared in 1968 as the snickering sidekick of villain Dick Dastardly in which Hanna-Barbera cartoon?

Wacky Races spun off Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines a year later. Designers pictured the dog's shape as a tank-style vacuum cleaner.

Which bumbling film detective orders his manservant Cato to attack him without warning to keep his combat skills sharp?

Inspector Clouseau's valet was spelled Kato in A Shot in the Dark, a tribute to the Green Hornet's sidekick. The ambushes usually do take the detective by surprise.