Sidekicks are a venerable part of the comics industry but when it comes right down to it, DC is more well known for its sidekicks. Just about every DC hero, at one point or another, had a teenage sidekick of some kind hanging around, there to give young readers a character that could serve as a stand-in for them, having adventures with their favorite heroes.
DC would have the first team of teenage sidekicks and would elevate many of their longest-serving sidekicks to greater places in their pantheon of superheroes, sometimes even having them replace their mentors. Let's take a look at the 10 best DC sidekicks.
10 Arsenal
Arsenal started life as Speedy, the sidekick of Green Arrow. Back in the Golden Age, Green Arrow had much more of a Batman thing going and Speedy was his Robin. Later, in the 60s, Speedy would be involved in one of the most well-known stories of the era, as he was revealed to be a heroin addict during Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' classic Green Lantern/Green Arrow run.
Arsenal would go through lots of ups and downs over the years, getting clean, striking out on his own, joining the Justice League as Red Arrow, losing everything again, getting rebooted, and eventually killed. He could never catch a break but he's still a great character.
9 Tempest
Once known as Aqualad, Garth was Aquaman's sidekick, going on nautical adventures with the mighty king of Atlantis. He would become a founding member of the Teen Titans and when he got older, would shed the mantle of Aqualad, learn magic, and become Tempest, using his sorcerous skills to protect the people of the seas and the surface.
Tempest would join up with his fellow Teen Titans founders to form the Titans and would play a minor role in the DC Universe, always on the periphery and ready to help.
8 Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel, for most of her existence, has been weaponized goodness. Mary Batson was reunited with her long lost brother, Billy, and he would share his superheroic powers with her. Taking on the name Mary Marvel, she would help her brother, Shazam (then known as Captain Marvel) in his battles against evil.
She would also strike out on her own, helping out all around the DC Universe, joining the Justice League, and putting a cheerful face on the battle against evil. While she wasn't Shazam's only sidekick, she was the only one to distinguish herself on her own, forming ties outside the Shazam family.
7 Red Hood
Jason Todd was the second Robin. Unlike his predecessor, he was a young man with a chip on his shoulder. His time as Robin was unique from the other Robins and it would end in tragedy- killed at the hands of Joker (and readers, who voted on his death via telephone). He would stay gone for a long time before returning as the Red Hood.
At first, Red Hood would battle his former mentor Batman, using formidable skills he picked up after his resurrection. Eventually, he would be driven back to the side of good, even though his methods were more extreme than other members of the Bat-Family, making him the black sheep... but still a great hero.
6 Damian Wayne
The son of Batman and Talia al Ghul, Damian Wayne is the current Robin. Easily the most skilled Robin of the bunch, he was raised by his mother to be a worthy heir to the al Ghul legacy. Joining up with his father, Damian would learn a different way but would still be a mouthy, arrogant child... who could beat up armies of highly-trained adults if it came down to it.
Damian's lightened in recent years, becoming better with people- although he's still hard to get along with- and following in the footsteps of other Robins by leading his own team of Teen Titans.
5 Jon Kent
The son of Superman and Lois Lane, Jon Kent had some of the best role models of them all. Taking on the mantle of Superboy, he would go on adventures with his family, learning the superheroic ropes from the best and also working with Damian Wayne, forming an antagonistic friendship with Batman's son.
Of course, things can never be easy and after going into space with his mother and grandfather Jor-El, he disappeared and returned as a teenager, helping his father against a new threat and becoming the inspiration for both the United Planets and the Legion of Superheroes, who would come back in time and whisk him away to the future, where Superboy is teaching a new generation of young heroes what he learned.
4 Time Drake
The third Robin, there are some who would argue that Tim Drake was the greatest to wear the mantle. He was the only one to earn it, figuring out Batman's secret identity and asking to help him. Tim would work hard, forging his own place in the DC Universe, founding Young Justice, becoming the leader of a new generation of Teen Titans, and becoming a lynchpin of DC's teen superhero scene.
With Damian Wayne's ascendancy to Robin, Tim has gone through a few changes, becoming Red Robin and now known as Drake, but one thing has never changed- just how good he is at being a superhero.
3 Donna Troy
The first Wonder Girl, Donna Troy has had a strange time of it. Because of DC's shifting continuity, her origin has been muddled multiple times over the years but the thing that has never changed is the fact that she is one of the best young superheroes around.
Gifted with many of the same Amazonian powers of her mentor Wonder Woman, Donna would distinguish herself as a Teen Titan, a Titan, and would even fill the mantle of Wonder Woman for a time. Her time as Wonder Girl made her a legend and as she got older, she just reinforced that.
2 Wally West
Wally West was Kid Flash, sidekick to his uncle Barry Allen, the Flash. Together they would fight crime in Central City and Wally would team up with some of his sidekick contemporaries to form the Teen Titans. Barry Allen would die battling the Anti-Monitor and Wally would take on the mantle of the Flash.
Wally as the Flash would make the concept more popular than ever. He would join up with the Justice League, get married, and have children. The New 52 wasn't kind to him and while his return in DC: Rebirth #1 was a cause for celebration, he was subsequently done very dirty, accidentally killing a bunch of heroes and framing Harley Quinn and Booster Gold, going to prison, and gaining more power on a multiversal jaunt. Regardless of all the bad, Wally is still one of the most popular and beloved sidekicks of them all.
1 Nightwing
Dick Grayson was the first Robin, a founder and leader of the Teen Titans, and the first sidekick to step out from underneath his sidekick mantle and become is own hero- Nightwing. Nightwing would become the ideal- he would take all he learned as a sidekick and use it to forge his own identity.
He would eventually become Batman, taking on Damian Wayne as his sidekick and giving the boy the guidance and love he needed when he had no one else. Among the superhero community, Nightwing is one of the most trusted heroes of them all and the exemplar for every sidekick that came after him.