A hero without a sidekick is like peanut butter without jam. Each one individually has its merits, but together, their true potential is revealed. The great thing about sidekicks is they’re widely varied in terms of their usefulness. Whereas some sidekicks are there more for comic relief, there are others that regularly beat down their adversaries with the same efficiency as the hero. However, all sidekicks pretty much started as a student. Dick Grayson was an orphaned acrobat before he was taken in by Batman and taught the ins and outs of defending Gotham. Superboy is a clone made from Superman’s genes, who looks to Superman for guidance on how to control his power.
Sidekicks also open up a narrative path that isn’t based around fisticuffs. It adds another human element to the story, forcing a loner character like Batman or Wolverine to take on a fatherly role to a budding hero. When they’re forced to look after and mentor someone weaker than them, we see a caring nature that comic panels are sometimes devoid of. However, sometimes the sidekicks advance to the point where they don’t need watching over. In fact, here’s proving that sometimes, the apprentice can become the master.
15 TEMPEST / AQUAMAN
We are not here to take shots at Aquaman. He gets a bad rep, despite being the king of Atlantis, but he can throw down with the best of them, and to anyone who says the ability to summon fish is lame, we say, “Have you ever seen a great white shark?”. However, Aquaman’s disciple, originally named Aqualad, has surpassed him in terms of subaqueous superheroes. As Tempest, he lost his marine communication abilities, but they were replaced with some upgraded mystical powers. Whereas Aquaman is a purely close quarters fighter, Tempest has the strength and speed to fist fight, and the energy projection abilities to take out adversaries at range.
Tempest has immense physical strength, speed and endurance, but those are basic compared to the mystical abilities he’s acquired.
He can fire concentrated beams of energy from his eyes, can sense magical energies, has telepathy, limited telekinesis, astral projection, dimensional/time travel and even demonic summoning abilities. However, the most OP is his ability to manipulate water currents to create whirlpools, and boil or freeze huge bodies of water near instantaneously. He is so powerful in fact, that when he amplified his powers with Poseidon’s trident, he was able to teleport the entirety of Atlantis into the past. Let Aquaman take care of catching dinner, while Tempest deals with the world ending threats.
14 ARSENAL / GREEN ARROW
The super aliases tell us all we need to know. Oliver Queen, known as Green Arrow, is proficient with just arrows. Roy Harper, code name Arsenal, is proficient with pretty much everything he gets his hands on. He is a walking, talking arsenal of weapons. Now, when it comes to archery, the two may be on even footing, as they each have pinpoint accuracy and use a number of trick arrows to burn, freeze or otherwise incapacitate their enemies. But take the bows out the equation and Arsenal has Green Arrow beat any day. Arsenal is a master of the Moo-Gi-Gong martial arts, which is a weapon-based martial art focusing on using external objects as weapons.
Those who practice this martial art must master 108 different weapon types within 20 different categories. Not only does this allow the practitioner to turn their environment into a weapon barracks, but it makes it easier for them to predict what an enemy will do with a given weapon. Oliver Queen is no slouch when it comes to fighting with his fists. He’s taken out Solomon Grundy with naught but his hands and two halves of a broken bow. But for Arsenal, the world is his weapon. He’s just too adaptable and skilled for Green Arrow to keep up with.
13 HIT-GIRL / BIG DADDY
Hit-Girl is perhaps one of the most violent and sadistic heroes to ever grace the pages, and we love her for it. She may be young, but Hit-Girl can take out hordes of armed mob henchmen in seconds with her double-bladed polearm. Her skills are all thanks to the ruthless training she undergoes at the hands of her father, codenamed Big Daddy -- ruthless is putting it kindly. Big Daddy tricked Hit-Girl into training to be crime fighters with a bogus story that her mother had been killed by a mafia boss, John Genovese. With a criminal to aim for, the two trained in all forms of lethal weaponry and martial arts to become strong enough to take on their target. It really is quite depressing that a sweet girl was brainwashed into becoming a bona fide butcher of bad guys.
But, on the other hand, we can’t wait for her to throw down.
Whereas Big Daddy opts for firearms as weapons of choice, Hit-Girl tears through enemies in a blood-soaked katana dance. Being able to take out groups of grown men armed with guns is a testament to just how strong she is and will become. Although Big Daddy has more raw power, Hit-Girl is undoubtedly a level above him when it comes to doling out a beatdown.
12 STEPFORD CUCKOOS / EMMA FROST
Emma Frost is an Omega level mutant -- she’s the cream of the crop when it comes to telepathy. It’s been stated that her abilities rival those of Professor X, which is really saying something. On top of telepathy, she has manifested another mutation, which is the ability to turn her body into an organic diamond. This form grants her limitless endurance, she is impervious to pain, has no need to breathe and has enough strength to toy with an enemy like Warpath. So, when five artificially created daughters of Emma Frost showed up, with nearly identical powers, we knew they were seriously powerful.
While each of the five Cuckoos are incredibly powerful telepaths individually, they share a telepathic hive mind. They can combine their telepathic powers to perform feats unfathomable to a single telepathic mind. This means a huge powerup for abilities like mind control, astral projection and psionic blasts. Furthermore, each of the Cuckoos can transform their body into the organic diamond substance, granting them invulnerability, superhuman stamina and strength. Unlike Emma Frost, who has a single weakness in her diamond body that can cause it to shatter, the Cuckoos’ diamond bodies are flawless -- nothing can get in or out. These sisters prove that when it comes to telepathy, more minds are better than one.
11 NIGHTWING / BATMAN
This is a tough one, but bear with us as there is a reason for everything. There’s no doubt that Batman is the ultimate strategist. He has contingency plans set up to take out every member of the Justice League should the need arise. In the comic “Hush”, while fighting a mind-controlled Superman in Metropolis, Batman dons his secret Kryptonite ring to duke it out with Superman before channeling all the electricity in the city to shock the Man of Steel.
However, there are a few areas where Nightwing stands out from Batman.
Despite the number of sidekicks he’s has had in his employ, Batman often shows a preference to working alone. Nightwing on the other hand, is a team player. He accepts help from his fellow heroes, which boosts his chance at coming out on top in a fight. Secondly, when we’re talking about martial arts ability alone, Nightwing also takes the cake. He was trained by Batman from a very young age, so he knows all about how to fist fight. But Nightwing has an added advantage of his acrobatic past. He’s extremely agile and can flip and jump circles around his enemies. If Batman had time to plan for Nightwing he could probably come out on top, but in a straight up, gadget-free-brawl, we think that Nightwing’s agility gives him the edge.
10 X-23 / WOLVERINE
Wolverine is the best there is at what he does. So, it makes sense that if someone cloned his DNA, they would be a good match for him. This is the case for X-23, the feral, female version of everyone’s favorite berserker, who was created to be the ultimate killing machine. Luckily for her, Wolverine adopted her as his daughter, but she eventually succeeded her father, taking on the mantle of Wolverine in the series All-New Wolverine. X-23 has all of Wolverine’s strengths, plus a couple of her own abilities that make her a formidable opponent.
Like Wolverine, her primary mutant power is accelerated healing. Bullets, sword wounds, detached limbs -- it doesn’t matter what you throw at her, as she’ll regenerate in seconds. Wolverine may have the advantage in strength, but X-23 far outclasses him in speed and agility. Unlike Wolverine, who’s whole skeleton is coated in adamantium, only her claws are coated. Her two hand claws are her primary means of offense, but she also has a blade that extends from each foot adding another form of stabbing to her arsenal. Perhaps her most deadly skill is her conditioning to a ‘trigger scent’ that sends her into a berserker rage. When triggered, she goes into a killer frenzy, viciously attacking anyone close by. Not good when you were made with the express purpose to kill.
9 ALPHA / SPIDER-MAN
Another high-school kid who got granted way too much power for their age, this is part of the reason why Spider-Man took student Andy Maguire under his wing. During a tour at Horizon Labs, a problem arises during Peter Parker’s demonstration of the ‘Parker Particles’. In the subsequent chaos, Maguire saves his classmate from harm, but in the process is struck with a bolt of energy from the particles. Instead of harming him, they gave him the ability to generate a form of kinetic energy tied to the energy of the universe.
At this point, Spider-Man took him under his wing to train, as he knows a thing or two about being responsible with power.
As Alpha, he has the ability to charge massive amounts of cosmic energy which can be used in a variety of ways. He can fire it in energy blasts, use it to augment his physical abilities like speed of strength, generate force fields, manipulate matter or fly. However, with great power, comes a great catch. Alpha can only use one of these powers at a time, meaning he needs to learn to adapt during battles. We have no doubt that Spider-Man is one of the greatest heroes of all time. But web-slinging and wall crawling lack the destructive force of harnessing kinetic energy.
8 LOCKHEED / KITTY PRYDE
Some of these entries may have a subjective viewpoint on them. While we may argue certain sidekicks are stronger, others will disagree. However, we think that this is one that everyone can agree on. Kitty Pryde is a mutant with the ability to phase through solid objects. Her sidekick Lockheed is a dragon -- yeah, that’s right, a dragon. Okay, so Kitty Pryde can pass through walls, which is admittedly very useful for infiltration missions. But when it comes to a fight, her mutant powers are woefully unprepared to deal with some threats. That’s where Lockheed comes in. Kitty is literally living every kid’s dream of owning a dragon.
Despite the fact he’s the size of a cat, Lockheed is an incredibly powerful sidekick. His powers are pretty much what you’d expect. He’s got insane strength for his size, razor sharp claws and teeth and can fly. Lockheed, despite his size, can breathe out huge waves of fire, intense enough to destroy a nest of powerful techno-organic aliens called the Sidri. In true dragon fashion, he has also bested a classic, fully armoured, medieval knight. He is also empathic and can understand/speak English. Phasing through walls is useful for hide and seek or avoiding people in public, but we think that the dragon takes the cake in a fight.
7 DAMIAN WAYNE / BRUCE WAYNE
It goes without saying that anyone who is trained by Batman will be an incredibly skilled fighter. Even more so when prior to Batman’s training they were put through the ringer of the League of Assassins. This is just the case for Damian Wayne, the son of Batman and Talia Al Ghul. Before becoming the latest Robin, he was put through brutal training at the hands of his mother and grandfather, Ras Al Ghul. Damian’s training puts him on equal footing with fully grown bad guys. Like his parents, he is a master martial artist.
He’s incredibly strong for his age, is at peak human conditioning and due to his small stature is incredibly agile and stealthy.
As a child he may not be able to stand up to the Caped Crusader, but he has every chance to become more powerful than his father. The key difference between the two is Damian Wayne is willing to kill people. Not very hero-like, we know, but this is a huge advantage. While it takes an incredible amount of skill for Batman to not kill his enemies, we can’t help but thinking how much easier the job would be if he did. In a life or death situation, Damian’s killer instinct, instilled from the League of Assassins, kicks in and he will do what it takes to survive.
6 AMADEUS CHO / HULK
Hulk is the strongest there is ... or at least, he was the strongest there was. Then Amadeus Cho showed up and proved that Hulk’s brawn works better when paired with some brain. Amadeus Cho is a 19-year old genius, regarded as one of the ten smartest people on earth. He succeeded Bruce Banner as The Hulk in The Totally Awesome Hulk #1, after he absorbed the ability to transform into the Hulk. Unlike Banner, who sees the power as a curse, Cho takes confidence in his power, and the positive benefits it can have. One huge advantage Cho has over Banner, is that he can transform at will as opposed to having his transformation triggered by rage.
He has the same iconic Hulk powers to smash anything that stands in his way. Although Cho can retain control over the Hulk persona to a certain degree, if he uses too much power, he loses control. This is both a power and a weakness. He can remain in control of the body, but if he isn’t strong enough, his rage makes the Hulk persona take over. So, for a while, he was definitely a more useful Hulk as he could control his rage. Unfortunately, like Banner, he eventually succumbed to the intense power of the Hulk persona, and Cho was trapped inside Hulk’s mind.
5 JUGGERNAUT / BLACK TOM CASSIDY
Surprise, surprise, Black Tom Cassidy and Juggernaut met in prison. Some may call them partners, but a smart villain like Cassidy needs a big, dumb brute like Juggernaut as their sidekick. Black Tom Cassidy is a mutant whose primary ability is to generate and fire blasts of concussive force or heat through wooden mediums. Being from Irish descent, this is usually through a wooden shillelagh he carries around. At one point, his body changed into a humanoid plant, capable of infecting plant matter and making them part of his body. But Juggernaut is the unstoppable force.
Concussive blasts are generally ineffective against a man who can swing an apartment building around as a weapon.
Juggernaut’s powers come from the gem of the entity Cyttorak, a deity that grants the Juggernaut powers. He is incredibly strong, capable of Hulk like feats of strength. One of his greatest powers is basically a super version of Newton’s First Law of Motion. An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless an external force acts upon it. Once he starts moving, he is virtually impossible to stop. Hulk has been the only one to stop his through brute force alone. Furthermore, at one-point, Juggernaut unlocks the full power of the Cyttorak gem, increasing his power by 1000 times. Not someone you can overcome with a shillelagh.
4 KATO / GREEN HORNET
After barely escaping Africa after a poorly timed social justice rant about the Warlords, The Green Hornet, aka Britt Reid, found himself in China. He was trapped there by the invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army. During this time, he saved a man named Kato from the Japanese, where after Kato pledged his loyalty to Green Hornet. The two returned to America, without The Green Hornet realizing just how lucky he was to have Kato at his side. Now, this isn’t to say The Green Hornet is a pushover -- he is a skilled hand to hand fighter and has two special guns he uses to incapacitate criminals. One of them fires a stream of knock-out gas and the other, Hornet’s Sting, is essentially a long range taser.
It’s just that Kato has spent his life training in martial arts. A desire to thwart crime is good, but the ability to roundhouse kick a man through a wall is better. Kato also has a mastery of Bushido, the way of warriors, which is a set of codes that governs the samurai way of life. Although he is most often seen pummeling bad guys with his bare fists, he can also use traditional martial arts weapons like the bo staff and nunchaku with ruthless efficiency. When the going gets rough, Green Hornet should let Kato take over.
3 KID MARVELMAN / MARVELMAN
This is one of the only entries where we actually see the sidekick and mentor throw down. Mike Moran, aka Miracleman (or Marvelman) was chosen by the Airforce to be part of the experimental project Zarathustra. The project essentially created a superhuman replica of Mike that retained his consciousness and was locked away in infra-space until he used the code word ‘Kimota’ to switch to the superhuman body. He is a very superman-esque hero, showing superhuman strength, speed, stamina, flight, invulnerability, energy manipulation and telepathy.
So, a sidekick would have to pretty powerful, or crazy, to mess with him -- Kid Marvelman is both.
Originally known as Johnny Bates, he was part of the same project that created Marvelman. The project was disbanded, but Marvelman and Kid Marvelman survived. Instead of switching between his two personas, Kid Marvelman completely took over Bates’s body, which caused him to slowly go insane. His powers are similar to Marvelman, but the fact he goes insane means he doesn’t attempt to control them. He calls out Marvelman and other superheroes out by going on a killing spree in London and when the heroes arrive, he singlehandedly defeats them all. He is taken down in the end, but before that, shows that he has far superior power to the original Marvelman.
2 OLD LACE / GERTRUDE YORKES
This one is probably the most obvious on the list. Debuting in Runaways #2, Old Lace is a genetically engineered Deinonychus, a carnivorous dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. Dinosaur versus teenage girl. We’ll have to give this one to the dinosaur. Gertrude Yorkes, commonly called Gert, has no powers save for a mental link with Old Lace. She discovered this link when she stopped Old Lace from eating the Runaways by yelling ‘Stop it!”. This telepathic bond allows Gertrude to command Old Lace to do anything she wants. Not a bad deal when your sidekick is a dinosaur who follows your every command. Old Lace can also send messages directly to Gert but can’t command her to do anything.
Old Lace is exceptionally smart for a dinosaur and is a capable combatant even against super powered enemies. She manages to easily take down Dagger and has also taken down various members of the Wrecking Crew. Fully grown, a Deinonychus can reach up to 3.4 meters long and have been estimated to weigh up to 100 kg. That’s a whole lot of teeth, claws and leathery hide to deal with. Each hand and foot bore lethally sharp claws. It turns out, that having a dinosaur as a sidekick is a pretty effective villain deterrent.
1 WALLY WEST / BARRY ALLEN
Wally West is the nephew of Barry Allen and gained his powers in a laboratory accident similar to his uncle. He was Barry Allen’s sidekick under the moniker of Kid Flash and was one of the founding member of the Teen Titans before he took over the mantle of the Flash. While Barry was a great speedster, Wally can access the Speed Force in ways never done before. Let’s compare a couple key speedster abilities to see why Wally West is the most powerful Flash to run across the strips. Barry Allen can pass through solid objects by vibrating his molecules. Wally West can do the same thing, but with the option to make that object explode, which is useful for deterring any super speed pursuers.
He is in contention for the fastest speedster ever and unlike his mentor, he doesn’t need the cosmic treadmill to travel through time.
His perfect connection with the Speed Force boosts his regular abilities but has also grants him the ability to share and steal speed. He can tap into his own speed to ‘lend’ speed to objects already in motion. Conversely, he can also steal speed from any moving object. He once absorbed the speed from an entire planet of super speed inhabitants, allowing him to calculate time at a rate of one sextillionth of a second. That’s fast.