[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]
* In ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', one gets the impression that the Club wouldn't survive without Kyouya keeping an eye on Tamaki. He decided early on after they met that he would do everything in his vast intellect to make Tamaki seem as awesome as possible for Tamaki's sake, ''even at the cost of his own reputation.'' Every club member knows this and calls Kyouya the Shadow King. Tamaki even spends an entire event trying to get Kyouya to compete ''against'' him.
** This has a rather depressing explanation. As the youngest son, Kyouya is encouraged to do well but never deliberately outshine his siblings; being a HypercompetentSidekick was his only outlet.
*** [[spoiler:Subverted in episode 26 of the Anime, when Kyoya's father claims it was all a BatmanGambit to get Kyouya to excel at something he cared about, though given the circumstances of his confession (Kyouya engineered a hostile takeover of his father's company ''just to prove he could'') he may just be trying to save face.]]
**** Played straight in the manga, though.
* Subverted in ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes''. While Reinhard von Lohengramm is a genius in quite a lot of things, he recruits people who are better than him in certain areas (Kircheis, Reuenthal, and Mittermeyer in the military; Mariendorf and Oberstein in politics and governing) in order to be truly great.
* Abelia to the mad King Hamdo in ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere''.
* Rob Lucci from ''Manga/OnePiece''. Not only is he far, far, far (etc.) stronger than Spandam, but by being a GeneralFailure, Spandam shouldn't be a boss at all. It seems, that Lucci doesn't try to take over the leading chair only because unquestioning loyalty to his superiors was hammered into him from childhood.
** When people see Zoro's [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower absurd strength]], they often assume that he's this to the usually much less serious [[IdiotHero Luffy]]. Of course, once Luffy [[LetsGetDangerous shows what he can do]], that theory is quickly put to rest.
** Nami however defiantly fits this, often having to [[DopeSlap hit]] some sense into her captain.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Kabuto is this to [[BigBad Orochimaru]]. Kabuto isn't as strong (or manipulative) as his boss, but he is much better at making plans, and his [[CombatMedic medical skills]] have greatly helped his master's unethical experiments. Orochimaru says he doesn't know what he would do without him.
** For much the same reasons [[BrilliantButLazy Shikamaru]] is this to Asuma. On one particular occasion Shikamaru was put in a team with people that were all 10 years older then him at least, and they were soon remarking how they would have been wiped out very quickly without him.
** It's hard to imagine Tsunade surviving without Shizune.
*** Interestingly enough, Tsunade and Shizune is played with. Shizune does keep Tsunade on track with official hokage duties, but, Tsunade seems to be able to do this by herself, as seen when she sneaks off to study Rock Lee's case so she can improve the chances of the surgery being successful. However, Shizune isn't even close to competent in battle or politics as Tsunade is, who constantly makes the great choices because of her [[GenreSavvy undying faith in Naruto]]. In short, Shizune is usually competent with paperwork stuff and documents. This is something that [[BrilliantButLazy Tsunade]] is never on the ball with.
* While ''FullMetalAlchemist'''s Roy Mustang is obviously very competent in his own right, his general laziness when it comes to such things as paperwork causes them to fall to his incredibly efficient and loyal lieutenant, Riza Hawkeye. Roy's reputation for laziness might have even reached the level of MemeticMutation, as it is touched on comparatively infrequently, compared to some of the other {{Running Gag}}s in the series, such as Ed's shortness and Al's love for kitties.[[spoiler: Of course, this is just what Roy wants people to think to hide his real goals.]]
** Of course, when you can be defeated by a lightly drizzling ''rain'', it's not too hard to have a HypercompetentSidekick by comparison.
*** That was proven to be not-so-true during the fight with Lust.
* This trope ''Is'' ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' all by itself.
* This is effectively what ''Manga/GoldenBoy'''s Kintaro Oe does, although pinning him down exactly is a bit tricky.
* Coopa from ''Anime/TheTowerOfDruaga'' is this to Melt, who really looks like he wouldn't be anywhere if it weren't for her. She has SuperStrength, and superb management abilities among other things, [[ImprobableAge but is only ten]].
* Saru of ''Manga/SetoNoHanayome'' becomes one of these when he starts working for Mikawa. Of course, he's still not exactly competent, but compared to Mikawa himself, Saru gets a lot done.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Nanao Ise is stuck with the job of running the 8th Division. Her captain can run the division, but he loves to drink, sleep, and skirt-chase too much. Of course, Kyoraku isn't incompetent, just [[BrilliantButLazy lazy]]. We see how he is in battle.
** Subverted in the case of Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, who behave exactly like this, with Hitsugaya often winding up doing all the things Matsumoto should be doing - except it's ''Hitsugaya'' who's the boss, whilst Matsumoto's the lazy subordinate.
* Kondou Isao is a figurehead of Shinsengumi in ''Manga/{{Gintama}}''. His number two, Hijikata, does all the managerial work and makes most decisions in the organization. Combat wise, his number three, Okita, has the highest on screen kill count than the rest of the organization combined. Understandably, enemies of Shinsengumi generally target Hijikata and or Okita for assassination, rather than Kondou.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny'''s [[ZenSurvivor Neo Roanoke]] is this to Blue Cosmos leader, [[DiabolicalMastermind Lord Djibril]]. While Djibril is a GeneralFailure (as well as the living embodiment of NukeEm, MoreDakka, and WeHaveReserves) Neo is a capable tactician who [[KnowWhenToFoldEm Knows When To Fold Em]]. Interestingly he's ''not'' a DragonInChief. Djibril may be StupidEvil, but he's also dangerously psychotic, and is definitely the greater of the two evils.
* In ''Manga/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'', Sanada North's StudentCouncilPresident is often plainly ignored in favour of his three council members. While not much is known about the President, the other three is clearly seen as hypercompetent.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'' has Ryuk. Given his motivations are to stir up some fun, and given who he gets to help him...
* ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}''.
* Following on from ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'', there's an entire subgenre of this in kiddy anime. More or less normal kid, paranormal sidekick/pet. ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' crosses this with {{Mon}}s by having Pikachu as Satoshi/Ash's fulltime companion.
* Canti from ''Anime/{{FLCL}}''. Everyone thinks that the kid who goes inside the robot is the hero, but the kid doesn't remember anything about what happened (even if he takes credit for it). The Robot also does chores and rescues girls.
* Sebastian, Ciel's butler in ''Manga/BlackButler'', does most of the dirty work for Ciel, and, as he puts it, "is one hell of a butler." Of course, he ''is'' a demon with awesome supernatural powers that serves Ciel because of a contract...
* Neuro from ''Manga/MajinTanteiNougamiNeuro'' decides to "work for" protagonist Yako in her detective agency (that he forced her to set up). At least on the outside. In actuality, he's the one solving all the mysteries and is actually a sadistic Daemon from another world.
* Reborn from ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' acts as a "tutor" and sidekick to Tsuna. In much of the beginning of the series, most of Tsuna's problems are solved by Reborn (of course, most of the problems were ''started'' by Reborn in the first place, but anyways...). In fact, two of Tsuna's guardians, Hibari and Mukuro, are much more capable than Tsuna (though of course, it's later suggested that he surpasses them in the future).
* [[{{Yandere}} Yuno]] from ''Manga/MiraiNikki'' acts as a sort of sidekick to Yukiteru, and so far in the series, she's been doing most of the killing and grunt work.
* In ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', Yuki Nagato has almost [[PhysicalGod godlike powers]], but acts more or less as Kyon's sidekick. She solves most of the problems created by [[RealityWarper Haruhi]] and generally acts as the Brigades' personal DeusExMachina.
** The unofficial leader of the team claims to be the only one of them without any special powers (According to Itsuki, Kyon is completely normal, and his Agency have done extensive background checks that prove it), but there is something unusual about Kyon; at the least it's being "god's" favourite.
* Youzen from ''Manga/HoushinEngi'' is, as almost everybody else, considerably stronger than the main character, Taikoubou. His PowerCopying makes him so versatile that he once dedicated a whole [[BadassBoast pre-asskicking speech]] to [[LampshadeHanging explain just how broken he was]]. However, he still plays [[TheLancer second banana]] to Taikoubou because the latter is just [[TheChessmaster so much smarter]].
* Subverted every which way in ''Manga/KamenNoMaidGuy''. Main character Naeka is as useless as the stereotype and her maid/bodyguard Kogarashi ''is'' powerful enough to solve any problem she might have, but the Maid Guy's bizarre methods have everyone else trying to stop him from actually ''doing'' anything.
* ''Manga/OmamoriHimari'' has Yuuto, an heir to an demon-slayer family who's not good for much of anything. Himari shows up to protect him until he learns what he's doing, but thirty chapters in so far it looks like his only talent is building demon harems.
** He ''is'' able to "enchant" swords, knifes and even ordinary sticks to turn them into rather powerful magical weapons, so he's not entirely powerless. However, he seemingly needs mortal danger to do so, and several other characters keep him from fighting by killing everyone who might even try to hurt him.
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' brings to the table Kamina, [[SupportingLeader the leader of the group]], to which the main character Simon is a sidekick. While Kamina is the more confident and charismatic of the two, Simon is the one who bails him out repeatedly, and definitely the more intelligent of the pair.
** Kamina is good enough to {{lampshade|Hanging}} this by refusing to take credit for Simon's victories and repeatedly telling him what great things he's destined for. [[spoiler:Since Simon becomes leader of Team Gurren after Kamina's death and saves first the planet, then the universe, Kamina was bang on the money.]]
* Arguably, Garo in ''Manga/SkullMan''.
* In the anime ''LightNovel/ToAruMajutsuNoIndex'', in the angel's fall arc, Touma, who usually has to solve everything because everyone around him is incompetent, is toyed with and ultimately forced to watch while his friend, Tsuchimikado, solves the problem.
* Sun has two in ''Literature/TheLegendOfSunKnight''. The first is Storm, who holds a similar rank, but must still take orders from Sun. Generally, work that Sun doesn't get done will be pushed off onto him, and as the one everyone goes to for gossip, Sun uses him to gather information. The other is Adair, one of the most loyal knights in Sun's squadron. He does roughly 3/5 of Sun's work on a regular basis and can actually ''interpret'' the intent behind Sun's praise laden speech (recognizing a lecture on how the God of Light is merciful to secretly be an order to put a bag over someone's head before beating them up.) One several occasions it's mentioned that the squadron under Sun can actually run just fine in his absence, since Adair handles so many of his duties anyway.

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[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Nodwick}}'', on a good day, is this rather than a BeleagueredAssistant. [[SarcasticDevotee Don't expect him to stop with the snark, however]].
* Disney Comics have recurring stories featuring Sherlock Holmes parody "The Sleuth" with Mickey fulfilling the role of Watson. Seeing as The Sleuth seems to have the same investigative capabilities as WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget, it's not hard to guess who fulfills this trope...
* Lieutenant Pamela Mae Snap in ''ComicStrip/BrewsterRockitSpaceGuy''.
* Jenkins from ''Comicbook/AtomicRobo''. WordOfGod even jokingly declares that Robo is ''Jenkins'''
* {{Iznogoud}}'s sidekick, Dilat Larat, is absolutely loyal to his evil master, but is otherwise a sensible and pleasant person, being much wiser than nearly everyone in the series.
* For {{Deadpool}}, it's [[PlayfulHacker Weasel]] and [[NeverMessWithGranny Al]] who play this role. Weasel does pretty much everything but the actual grunt work while Al tends to provide some helpful insight in between tormenting her captor by doing things like telling him the salt is sugar (which Pool then proceeds to heap on his cereal, making for a funny spit-take).
* Poor, poor Arthur from ''TheTick''. Then again, he might not be ''hyper''competent, just far more competent than his boss, which isn't [[CloudCuckoolander exactly]] [[FearlessFool difficult.]]
** See also the animated version.
* To those who don't know better, Lucius Fox is this to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]].
** Alfred is often this to both Bruce Wayne and Batman. And most of the other members of the Batfamily too, [[{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]], [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl2000}} Cassandra Cain]], Damian... they all turn to Alfred for help on not-so-rare occasion.
* For a while, ''Franchise/GreenLantern''! Alan Scott was sidekick to... ''a dog'' (Streak the Wonder Dog, not to be confused with RexTheWonderDog, though both were Creator/DCComics characters, and Rex was largely based on the earlier canine star.)
* FrankMiller's ''Comicbook/TheBigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot'' ([[WesternAnimation/BigGuyAndRustyTheBoyRobot later made into an animated series]]). The titular big guy was the result of research to create an autonomous robot to protect the USA against the USSR, however while the body was functional, no one could code a proper AI for it, and thus the government converted the big guy into a piloted robot, keeping the fact that it had a human pilot rather than an AI secret. Two decades later, the corporation that built the big guy has a break-through in AI research. The trick is however that the AI can only be coded to be of a similar mentality as a child, and that it needs to learn like a child to that it can grow into the adult, soldier-like mind the US government wants. Equipped with energy weapons, Rusty, the boy robot, is paired with The Big Guy (whom he is led to believe to be a real robot, so that Rusty will try to emulate him and model himself on him). Thing is, despite being an eighth of the big guy's size, Rusty has more firepower than the big guy, only his immaturity keeps him in line and acting as sidekick to the Big Guy, whom he's supposed to replace eventually. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU_ljMDJ4uk Really, the theme song says it all]].
* Johnny Thunder was like this, being in possession of a basically omnipotent genie who will do whatever he says. Unfortunately, he can do ''only'' what Johnny says, and Johnny isn't the brightest guy around. His LegacyCharacter Jakeem Thunder is brighter (and Johnny himself has merged with the genie), but also thirteen years old and lacking in maturity.

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[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/WithoutAClue'' (1988), Sherlock Holmes is actually an incompetent stooge that fronts for Dr Watson, the true detective.
* Bough in ''Film/JohnnyEnglish''.
* Gobei from ''Film/BeverlyHillsNinja''.
** To be fair, Gobei is not really the sidekick. The sidekick is ChrisRock's character, who really is ineffectual. Gobei is Haru's clan brother sent by the sensei to secretly keep an eye on Haru.
* Cato Fong of the original ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' movies. Gilbert Ponton in the SteveMartin Reboot.
* ''IntolerableCruelty'' names this trope "The Tenzing Norgay", after the Sherpa who helped Edmund Hillary get to the top of Mount Everest.
* Vadinho from ''Film/PumaMan'' is a BadassNormal who constantly hand-holds the nominal superhero Tony through the adventure and displays power and badassery in such quantity that you wonder why he needs Tony at all.
* An extreme example in Kato from ''Film/TheGreenHornet'', who does all the work and is treated like a worthless sidekick until he rebels. This is because Creator/BruceLee, who played Kato in the series, is far better remembered than the actual character of the Green Hornet. SethRogen, who plays the Green Hornet, [[TypeCasting also specializes in playing idiot slackers.]]
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Film/SkyHigh''
-->'''Will''': Do you hand [your Hero] A) his silver-tipped crossbow, B) a wooden stake, C)...
-->'''Zach''': I'm already holding his crossbow, why can't I just shoot it myself?
* A prevalent running gag in ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina''. Jack Burton acts like the hero, but it's his sidekick Wang who actually knows what's going on.
** And yet it's Burton who [[spoiler:kills the BigBad by catching a knife thrown at him and "returning" it]].
* Nobody will ever really understand why Jules agrees to serve under Reynolds ''Pirates XXX''.
* ''Warriors of the Wasteland'' (aka 'The New Barbarians'): the bow-and-arrow-wielding Nadir does a better job of dealing with the homicidal Templars than the purported hero, Scorpion. He does it so well that it's usually his character depicted on the cover.
* [=R2D2=] in ''Franchise/StarWars'', particularly if viewed as specifically C-3PO's sidekick. In the original trilogy, he hacks the Death Star main computer to show its internal lay-out and shut down the trash compactors, keeps Luke's X-wing flying, and functions as a spy and monitoring station. He's also shown a number of times to be particularly brave and determined. In the prequels, it's the same story again: repairing a ship in hard vacuum while other droids blow up around him, ''flying'', and once again hacking in the enemy's flagship.
** In the Expanded Universe Artoo continues this trend. He's effectively saved entire planets and civilizations of the Galaxy numerous times thanks to saving Han, Luke, Leia, or whoever the hell he's with repeatedly despite great personal risk to his tiny droid self. It's all the more impressive that he accomplishes this without really having any direct defenses of his own.
** Of course, WordOfGod from Lucas himself has always been that what we see aren't the true events, it's R2 telling the story to an alien race. It's entirely possible that he embellished a bit, especially since most of his biggest heroic moments had no organic witnesses.
* In ''Film/{{Steel}}'', Steel's sidekick, [[HandicappedBadass Sparky]], has [[SuperWheelchair a wheelchair that can shoot rapid fire energy blasts and fly.]] Since she has better powers and a better backstory, wouldn't the movie have been better if [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot she was the lead]]?
* Played straight from the point of view of the Literature/WatershipDown rabbits in that Bigwig is tougher, stronger and more experienced in combat than Hazel, and in many warrens this would qualify him to be Chief, yet these rabbits have been through so much and come to respect [[TheChessmaster Hazel's qualities of leadership, lateral thinking and delegation]] that he is, without having to even decide on it, the Chief. It's beautifully played with, though, when Bigwig faces down Woundwort at the end and informs him that his Chief told him to defend the run - Woundwort is visibly [[OhCrap taken aback]] since he can't help but imagine the rabbit that could command Bigwig to be even stronger than him!

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[[folder:Literature]]
* The archetypal example of this trope is the valet (not butler) Jeeves from Creator/PGWodehouse's ''Literature/JeevesAndWooster'' novels, and the various TV adaptations of the same.
* In a direct ShoutOut to Jeeves, Creator/PoulAnderson's TechnicHistory has Dominic Flandry's alien valet Chives, although Flandry is very smart and competent.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Hermione does roughly ninety percent of all magical research that the lead trio requires. She also ties with Dumbledore in terms of the amount of useful information she provides Harry with. That's not to say the rest of the trio isn't competent. [[SubvertedTrope In the end, it was an equal partnership.]] On the villainous side of things, Barty Crouch Jr. was '''much''' more efficient than all the other Death Eaters put together. He even managed to fool ''Dumbledore'' for over a year. Notably, like Hermione, he was the top student of his class at Hogwart's.
* [[Literature/BlandingsCastle The Efficient Baxter]], Lord Emsworth's secretary, who was too hyper competent for most tastes.
* Kaliko, the level-headed majordomo of the hot-headed CardCarryingVillain, the Nome King, in the [[Literature/LandOfOz Oz books]].
* Jame Retief, in Creator/KeithLaumer's ''Literature/{{Retief}}'' series of SF diplomacy stories, is always one rank below Magnan, despite being the only effective one of the pair. Of course, his techniques weren't terribly diplomacy oriented.
** Indeed, almost the whole point of the series was that the diplomatic corps is utterly useless, and only by breaking their (incredibly involuted and wrong-headed) rules can Retief achieve the supposed objectives of policy.
* ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'': Jim Taggart is CEO of Taggart Transcontinental, but his sister Dagny actually does all the work.
* In ''PhulesCompany'', Phule's butler Beeker calmly and practically organizes everything that the intensely focused and somewhat hyperactive Phule ignores when he's distracted by the big picture.
** He also invested his considerable pay to such good effect that he could probably retire to a private planet if he wanted to.
* In Miquel de Cervantes's ''Literature/DonQuixote'' Sancho Panza occupies this position by the sheer fact that he's not completely crazy. This trope is older than the Enlightenment.
* In ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', while Lt. Blouse was smart and competent in his own way, it was the veteran [[ManipulativeBastard Sergeant Jackrum]] who's practical and kept the squad of newbies alive by various means. In fact, all officers (or "ruperts") were basically there to be manipulated by Jackrum----from his own lieutenant to the Borogravian High Command. The main character, being an OnlySaneMan among the recruits, is praised by Jackrum to be great sergeant material. [[spoiler: She's promoted to Sergeant by the end of the book.]]
* Sydney Carton from ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities'' is the Hypercompetent Sidekick to his boss, C. J. Stryver. He does all the paperwork and is responsible for winning the one case we see them handle. He has no ambition, however, while his boss [[MeaningfulName Stryver]] is always shouldering his way through life.
* Burtsev and several other exiled Decembrist officers are this to supposed GeneralFailure Paskevich in ''TheDeathOfTheVazirMukhtar''. Each of them manages one of the crucial areas of warfare, and their efforts seem crucial to all of Paskevich's victories.
* If Collot d'Herbois had been in charge instead of Chauvelin in ''[[Literature/TheScarletPimpernel The Elusive Pimpernel]]'', he [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim would have just shot the Scarlet Pimpernel]] instead of planning an elaborate FateWorseThanDeath.
* Mr. Skree from ''Literature/TheKingdomsOfEvil''.
* Fisk is this to Michael in the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries'' as the squire, he's the one that comes up with all the plans and always rescues [[DistressedDude Michael]] after some botched scheme by his 'employer'.
* In ''Literature/TheShahnameh'', the ever-more reluctant Rostem is this to Kay Kavus, who is constantly leading Iran into trouble.
* Milo in the ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' series leans towards this in the first few books. He's unfortunately so good at his job that he attracts the attention of the Inquisition, thinking he's a previously un-identified pskyer. He later leaves Gaunt's side to become a full time soldier.
* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Captain Carrot is strong enough to punch out a troll, idealistic enough to make up for the combined weight of Ankh-Morpork's cynicism, and is charismatic (and quite possibly intelligent as well) enough to make sure said idealism doesn't get him killed/beaten. And he still takes orders from Sam Vimes. Who's admittedly a badass, but still, as one character in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'' noted, "[Carrot] can make water run uphill, and ''he'' has a commander..."
** Pretty much everyone knows he's the heir to the throne, but he steadfastly denies it except on a very few occasions that hint at ObfuscatingStupidity the rest of the time. And, for that matter, let's also not forget that #3 in the Watch hierarchy is his girlfriend, a gorgeous werewolf with an amazing sense of smell, super strength, and the ability to regenerate from almost anything. The only reasons she isn't a MarySue are that a) the criminals all know there's a werewolf in the Watch, so silver and peppermint bombs are becoming standard and b) Creator/TerryPratchett is a freaking ''genius''.
** Somewhat averted in Carrot's case - he has a chance to run the Watch and consciously decides not to largely on the grounds that, "People shouldn't do what I say because Captain Carrot is good at being obeyed". He doesn't want to be in charge precisely because it's too easy. It's also worth pointing out that in the first few books, Carrot very clearly ''is'' TheHero; it's just that Pratchett ended up [[BreakoutCharacter finding Vimes more interesting...]]
* One story in ''The Escapist'' emphasized this aspect about Big Al, the Escapist's 8-foot-tall, philosophy-quoting sidekick. A bad guy points out how much tougher and smarter Big Al is, yet he plays second banana to the Escapist--to try to recruit Big Al to the evil organization. (The story was probably a self-conscious comment on comic-book tropes.)
* Gunner Jurgen, aide of Literature/CiaphasCain, possesses the incredibly rare talent of being [[AntiMagic able to nullify Warp powers within a certain area of effect]]. This (and his [[{{BFG}} melta]]) often come in handy for saving Cain's posterior in situations that would probably have gotten him killed ''long'' ago otherwise. The fact that he's a blank is part of the ''reason'' no one notices him. As the author has joked, if anyone actually ''noticed'' Jurgen, he'd probably be the famous one. (Though the idea would probably horrify him.)
** He'd probably fit the trope even without his Blank abilities: He's an incredibly good driver of vehicles ranging from luxury cars to APCs, a crack shot with his Lasgun, capable of out-obstructing even the worst ObstructiveBureaucrat and can scrounge up pretty much anything Cain needs, from luxurious lodgings and food in the middle of a warzone to staff cars, heavy weapons and restricted armor.
* Astromech Droids in the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse. Other than [=R2D2=], the ''[[Comicbook/XWingSeries X-Wing]]'' novels brought us Corran Horn's droid Whistler, who can circumvent restraining-bolts thanks to a custom internal lay-out, has advanced data-gathering programming for criminal investigation purposes and once ran a minor pro-New Republic resistance cell on a minor Imperial world. Other notable droids included Emtree, who operated a commodities brokerage out of the Rogue Squadron barracks until they were forced to throttle back his programming, and Tonin, who helped Lara Notsil to infiltrate and practically take over a Super Star Destroyer, which functioned as TheMothership of the BigBad of the series.
* In HarryHarrison's ''TheStainlessSteelRat Wants You'' involves a full-blown alien invasion on humanity. One of the aliens' first acts is to kidnap all the high-ranking military leaders, who have gathered on one space station for a conference. The book notes that, after their subordinates took over their superiors' responsibilities, the military effectiveness of humanity's military rose dramatically.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* ''Series/{{Mash}}''
** Former {{Trope Namer|s}} Radar O'Reilly, especially in seasons 1-3, where he was running things for the somewhat overwhelmed Colonel Blake. Later seasons had the more efficient Colonel Potter, so Radar didn't need to be quite so Hypercompetent. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the season two premiere, when a general says that it often seems as if Col. Blake is Radar's clerk.
** After Radar's departure, Klinger, originally a complete incompetent, grows into the role as part of his character development but is never quite as hypercompetent. Father Mulcahy notes that Radar had a similar start before growing into the HypercompetentSidekick he eventually became.
* This is the popular perception of ''Radio/TheGreenHornet'', due to Creator/BruceLee's later popularity and the fading of the Green Hornet himself from pop culture. Although Kato gets the impressive fight scenes, the Green Hornet is still portrayed as the competent leader.
* Gabrielle from ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' was this everytime she was Joxer's "sidekick".
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Although Buffy is by no means incompetent, Willow does a great job of personifying this trope in Season 7, when [[spoiler: as the most powerful witch in the Western Hemisphere, she was ''so'' strong that the writers felt the need to ''knock her out'' before most major fights]].
* Walter Harriman from ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}''. He doesn't do ''all'' of the work at Stargate Command, but he has been compared to Radar. Wasn't he named after him?
** Major Marks is turning into the Walter of Earth's battleships in both SG-1 and ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. He's served on all five of the Air Force's ships (usually whichever one is being used by the main characters at the time).
** On the villain’s side the First Prime of Lord Yu did a good job of compensating for his master’s increasing madness and senility.
* Jennifer, from ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati''. Played with in that Jennifer is both the highest-paid member of the staff and the one most respected by Mrs. Carlson, the station owner.
* Bernard Woolley, Jim Hacker's PPS in ''Series/YesMinister'', who finds his loyalty split between Hacker (who badly needs his help to decipher the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Civil Service red tape]]) and his Civil Service superior [[TheBarnum Sir Humphrey]] (who expects him not to tell Hacker ''anything'' that might disrupt the status quo), and usually chooses Hacker.
** On the semi-rare occasions when Hacker and Humphrey are on the same side, Humphrey is this.
* In ''Series/RemingtonSteele'' the apparent "boss" (Remington) is explicitly a figurehead for PR purposes and Laura is the one who is, in fact, in charge.
* Sgt Wilson in ''Series/DadsArmy''. Noted for his CatchPhrase "Do you think that's wise, sir?"
* Baldrick is normally thought of by fans as a classic BumblingSidekick. Yet in the first season of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' Baldrick was a Hyper Competent Sidekick. And as mentioned above, Blackadder was the Hyper Competent Sidekick sidekick in the third season.
** While Blackadder was certainly the brains of the outfit, he was only the sidekick if no opportunity for being TheManBehindTheMan or TheStarscream presented themselves.
* In ''The Adventures of FATMAN'', the ShowWithinAShow in ''Series/TheWeirdAlShow'', Fatman's sidekick, Harvey, despite having no superpowers and being a hamster, can talk and is generally more quick-witted than Fatman.
* Al Borland from ''Series/HomeImprovement'' is a hypercompetent sidekick, but only on the ShowWithinAShow ''Tool Time''. Tim really is a mechanical genius, but lets his reach exceed his grasp in the same way that the speed of light exceeds a highway speed limit. Tim's inventions usually fail because they are too powerful, causing them to either {{explo|siveOverclocking}}de or [[GoneHorriblyRight work too well]], such as a vacuum cleaner that doesn't so much clean the dirt out of the carpet as much as it cleans the carpet out of the room. Whereas Tim embodies AwesomeButImpractical, Al embodies BoringButPractical.
** This becomes reversed when the two guest host a cooking show together. Al is the far superior cook, but Tim's inferiority complex at being upstaged by Al's abilities causes him to study hard and learn how to cook decently. Al, for his part, does not like being corrected by Tim and makes similar mistakes to the ones Tim usually makes.
* Polly in ''Series/FawltyTowers'' is this, in contrast to Manuel, who is the BumblingSidekick. It's not so much that she's an incredibly skilled and talented person as the fact that everyone else in the hotel is at least half-crazy, making her the OnlySaneMan in the DisfunctionJunction.
* In Episode 5x20 of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Rom and Quark's mother Ishka becomes the lover [[spoiler:and assistant]] of Grand Nagus Zek. Her importance isn't revealed until later in the episode, when [[spoiler:Quark is forced into the position and finds that his mother was keeping the Alliance afloat.]]
* While Avon is far from incompetent, Stringer Bell in ''Series/TheWire'' is much more cool-headed and business-oriented while Avon sees himself as primarily a "soldier".
* Leslie Knope in ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''. She's ''ThePollyanna'' and a softer ''[[SmallNameBigEgo Ted Baxter]]'', but the episode "Christmas Scandal" made it clear she does a LOT of the work in the department.
** Leslie started off as an analogue of Michael Scott from ''TheOffice'', but the writers eventually took her in a different direction, so that by Season 3 she is acknowledged to be brilliant at her job and respected by a lot of people in Pawnee because of it. (Although she is the protagonist of the show, she is in fact a sidekick, the Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation under Ron Swanson who is pretty much happy to let her run the department.)
* Sgt. O'Rourke from ''Series/FTroop'', who also runs a saloon and an Indian souvenir business under his commander's nose.
* Jeeves of ''Series/JeevesAndWooster''.
* Butler Pyo in the KoreanDrama ''ShiningInheritance'', who maintains the household and still has time for many covert side activities for his [[NeverMessWithGranny boss]].
* Another KoreanSeries, ''Series/ScentOfAWoman'', has Park Sang Woo, Ji Wook's assistant who literally does everything the job entails, and submits a report that Ji Wook then reads to the Board of Directors.
* ''Series/MaidMarianAndHerMerryMen'' features one in each camp: the titular heroine is one to Robin Hood, to the extent she is actually in charge, while the Sheriff of Nottingham (played, incidentally, by Tony '[[Series/{{Blackadder}} Baldrick]]' Robinson in another BumblingSidekick role) is one to Prince John. Both double as the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane (Wo)man]] of their respective sides.
* Laura, the leisure center's assistant manager in ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire''. Every time she's left in charge, business booms...but it all goes back down the pisser as soon as [[PointyHairedBoss Gordon Brittas]] gets home.
* Charlie Young in ''Series/TheWestWing''. Not that the President is incompetent, but still, he needs all the help he can get.
** Mrs Landingham too, to an extent, until [[spoiler: her death in season two.]] Charlie's comment to the president about why he always had a good quality pen in his pocket comes to mind.
** Also Leo to the President, Josh to Leo, and Sam to Toby.
* ''MajorDad'' gave us Gunnery Sergeant Alva "Gunny" Bricker.
* Toros Revoke in ''{{Ravenor}}'' is the most dangerous and competent of the Secretists, yet remains a loyal "just doing my job, sir" to Jader Trice.
* Series/{{Merlin}} is this to Arthur, so very much. Though [[BadassNormal Arthur]] is by no means incompetent, how many times has Merlin secretly saved him from an almost certain death? If you factor in the episodes in which he does it multiple times, it's practically a OncePerEpisode occurrence.
* Francis got a hyper competent assistant in one episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''. He ended up so reliant on the assistant he was unable to function on his own. Fortunately, the assistant fired himself for him.
* Frankengirl from ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''. First Justin's, then Alex's, then Justin's again.
* In C-drama ''The Holy Pearl'', High Priestess Mo Yin is this for the King. When [[LoveRuinsTheRealm he goes AWOL]], she makes sure he has sufficient guards; she throws his brother out on his ear after he attempts a coup (twice); and she governs the realm until he comes back.
* Truly is this in ''Series/{{Bunheads}}'' despite her own serious emotional issues
-->"I know what everyone needs except me"
* Stiles on ''Series/TeenWolf''. The protagonist Scott is more brave than bright, and relies heavily on Stiles to do the thinking. In fact, Stiles is so useful that Scott has to share him with Derek on the sidekick front.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]
* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'': Asok the intern is not only one of the best engineers in the office, he also possesses amazing mental powers, including pyrokinesis and shapeshifting. Despite his prowess, he is paid the least, works in an eighth-sized cubicle, and is rarely allowed to leave.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Table Top Games ]]
* Sememmnon of the Zhentarim from the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' campaign setting of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''.
--> "[Sememmnon] WAS the Black Network, having calmly picked up the pieces on innumerable occasions and ensured its smooth operation while his superiors raved, pursued mad schemes, or fought each other."
* Commissar ''Literature/CiaphasCain'''s aide, Gunner Ferik Jurgen, probably qualifies somewhat. Cain himself isn't so much incompetent as merely lazy, fobbing off most of the boring office work onto his aide unless his personal involvement is absolutely necessary. Also the BattleButler - Ciaphas is annoyed that none of the official histories mention Jurgen's part in his numerous victories.
* Between [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Korg and Zet]] of ''TabletopGame/MagiNation'', Zet is by far the more intelligent and capable of the two, both in the animated series and in the game. However, for some reason Korg is Zet's superior; Korg's poor planning in both mediums results in much suffering for Zet. In the game at least, when Zet is finally alone, he not only proves to be smarter, but also much, much stronger.
* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'' fandom has [[http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine/servitors/Sparky.htm Sparky]]; for actually ''running'' the Demon Domain of Technology while Vapula is....well...being a MadScientist.
* [[TabletopGame/{{Chess}} The Queen]], anyone?
** Although somewhat evened out in Battle Chess. The queen gets magic whilst the king... [[{{Hammerspace}} pulls out a bazooka from his robes.]] Among other standard comedy trope weaponry.
* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'': While the "Sidekick" feat buys you an NPC Cohort of less skill or ability, the game specifically suggests that you can play the character you build with this feat as your PC and the more able PC as your NPC Sidekick to duplicate instances of this occurring in comic books.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' can let you do this with the Leadership feat. It gives you a "cohort" who is a couple levels lower than you, and acts as a sidekick. However, thanks to CharacterTiers, it's perfectly possible for this character to be significantly more powerful than his higher-leveled "boss". A paladin with a wizard cohort is almost certainly overshadowed by mid-levels.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* OlderThanFeudalism: The whole wise servant/dumb master dynamic is probably one of the most popular staples of ancient Roman/Greek comedy theater. See ''Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum'' for a modern take on the old Roman cliche.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* Sora from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' has the honor of being the sidekick to most of the Disney Universe. In any given world, his first instinct is to help that world's [[GuestStarPartyMember main character]] with whatever's troubling them. In most cutscenes and story events, that character will take center stage (since the worlds are adaptations of Disney Movies). However, Sora is far and away more powerful than any world companion, and ''he's'' the one who takes down the main villain for each world (this is in fact a gameplay element--a boss can only be killed by Sora's attacks.). He's often also the one who provides the initiative for said main character to do whatever it is he needs to do.
* One of the Horde starting zones of ''[[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Wrath of the Lich King]]'' has Varok Saurfang, grizzled veteran and MemeticBadass of the game, working in the shadows to mitigate the effects of the reckless commands of Garrosh Hellscream, a young and brutal but successful commander, whom he fears might reawaken the dark side of the orcish race.
** In a lot of quests and raids, the Players themselves often count as this. Sure, sometimes the heroes show up and swing their hammers around (looking at you, Arthas in the Culling of Stratholme), but when push comes to shove, it is the coordination and skills of the players that really gets things done.
** Drakuru is one of these to the Lich King, while at the same time you play this role to him. When you learn who his allegiance is with though, you turn into TheMole and sabotage his plans.
* Flea and Slash are far more effective battlers than Ozzie in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''.
** Similarly, in both of the battles with the Shadow Sirens in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', the leader Beldam is the weakest member of the team compared to the far more deadly Marilyn and, in the second battle, the fairly more dangerous [[spoiler: Doopliss]].
* Beatrix does all the heavy lifting in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', compared to Queen Brahne's incoherent rages.
** That's why she's a general instead of a queen.
* Thunder God Cid (Orlandu) in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', working under Duke Goltanna.
** This carries over when he joins you, [[GameBreaker destroying the difficulty of the game]] if you actually use him.
* Eirin Yagokoro of ''[[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Imperishable Night]]'' does pretty much all the work while Princess Kaguya just sits around doing nothing, at least as far as fanon is concerned. Many fans also believe Eirin to be a more difficult boss than even the true final boss of the game.
** Reisen gets shades of this plus a little OnlySaneMan on the side...when she's not busy being the ButtMonkey of the Eientei group.
** Similarly, Sanae Kochiya from ''Mountain of Faith'' is often portrayed as a much more mature character than the goddesses she technically serves.
** UFO also brings us Nazrin, who is increasingly portrayed as much more serious and diligent than her "master" Shou, thanks to Shou canonically losing her Jeweled Pagoda, forcing Nazrin to find it for her.
** Even earlier is the maid Yumeko, right-hand to [[{{Satan}} Shinki]]. Sure, Shinki created the whole of Makai, but Yumeko single-handedly takes care of the day-to-day affairs of the whole of Makai. She is often compared against her Windows-era Expy Izayoi Sakuya, a human maid who serves the vampire Remilia Scarlet (though not an instance of this Trope).
** It's still at least a partial example. Though her [[{{Ojou}} mistress]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Remilia]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent/AnimeAndManga Scarlet]] is by no means weak and helpless, [[{{Meido}} chief maid]] [[TimeStandsStill Sakuya]] [[KnifeNut Izayoi]] is very hypercompetent and pretty much runs the Scarlet Devil Mansion almost by herself (since the fairy maids she commands are hardly any good at all). [[MundaneUtility Good thing Sakuya's power to stop time allows her to do massive amounts of housework with extreme speed.]]
* Lin from ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars: Days of Ruin]]'' is this to both Brenner and Will, being the tactical brains behind the operation while her superiors act more as TheHeart. Lin is fine with working under them, and admires Brenner immensely, but she's also the single most competent and practical character in the main cast; coming up with the army's tactics, showing much more practical, if cynical, solutions to the problems the groups face than the others do, [[spoiler: killing GeneralRipper Greyfield]], and generally helping to stop the MASSIVE HeroBall Brenner and later Will carry from causing too much trouble.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', Jin serves as TheDragon and hypercompetent sidekick to suicidal NietzscheWannabe[=/=]DarkMessiah Takaya, often restraining the latter when he decides on a whim to point a gun to his head to make a message or take on a large group of Persona-users quite capable of beating him with just four of its members.
* Tron Bonne from ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends''. While her brother Teisel is seen as the head of their "Evil Family", she's clearly the one that keeps things moving. No wonder she's the protagonist of her own game.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'' series, Dracula is often a pansy AnticlimaxBoss, where as Death is more often than not one of the hardest bosses in the game, generally being much harder to hit, faster and having much better attacks. In Rondo of Blood, Maria is a little girl Ricther rescues, and playing as her makes the game MUCH easier.
** YMMV, especially in the NintendoHard, well, NintendoEntertainmentSystem days.
** Taken to an extreme in ''Lament of Innocence''. Dracula [[spoiler:aka Matthias]] relies on Death to do all the heavy lifting in the endgame [[spoiler:such as stealing Walter's vampire soul]] and ''Death'' is the FinalBoss.
* Eddie Riggs in ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'', as the ultimate roadie serves this role to the Resistance, whose leaders lack ThePowerOfRock and Eddie's skill with stage building and handling of equipment.
* Arguably [[BattleButler Katakura Kojuurou]] from CAPCOM's ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara''. His young master Masamune isn't incompetent by any sense, but he seems to be far too focused on being the [[GratuitousEnglish Engrish-speaking]] BloodKnight {{Badass}} that he is to take care of the details, such as ruling his province, which Kojuurou takes care of.
* If you listen to {{meme|ticMutation}}s, [[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Private Ramirez]] is this to pretty much the entire [=75th=] Ranger Regiment.
* ''VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms X'' is known for having a weak AI, even for high-stat leaders. As a result, if you're playing as a vassal instead of a ruler, it's entirely possible to have more troops in your district than all of your force's other districts combined.
* [[BrattyHalfPint Ge]][[TheSmartGuy nis]] from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' is this to [[IdiotHero Lloyd]].
** Sort of. [[ChildProdigy Genis]] only fulfills this role in the very beginning, and [[IdiotHero Lloyd]] is consistently shown to be better both at combat and at thinking on his feet. After the first part of the game, Raine fulfills this role more consistently, letting Lloyd be the main leader of the group but still figuring out key information before anyone else. In battle, Raine's [[TheMedic healing, support]] and Photon provide a lot of assistance with Lloyd's [[LightningBruiser fast combos]].
** '' VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has Guy. Granted that it's not hard to look hyper-competent compared to [[spoiler: the 7-year old]] Luke, but [[TheSmartGuy Jade]] suspects that Guy is not a mere servant because he is too smart for a commoner.
* [[OnlySaneMan Alexei Stukov]] is this to Gerard [=DuGalle=] in the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' series. [[TooDumbToLive DuGalle has successfully managed to screw up nearly everything the UED has done, and is easily tricked by]] [[spoiler:[[ManipulativeBastard Duran]]]]... [[TooDumbToLive He even got tricked into]] [[spoiler:having Stukov killed!]] Meanwhile, Stukov is very hesitant to follow his boss's orders, knowing what the outcome would be, and easily sees through [[spoiler:Duran]]'s deceptions. It's very obvious that if he were the one in charge, the UED would already own the universe. [[WordOfGod It's even stated in the manual that he's the smartest of the two.]]
** [[spoiler:Kerrigan mocks [=DuGalle=] this way. She claims that Stukov was twice the man [=DuGalle=] was, and she's ever so grateful that [=DuGalle=] saved her the trouble of killing Stukov.]]
** The player's NonEntityGeneral fills this function throughout the campaigns, commanding forces for most of the plot important events in the story. This only applies inside the first game, in the books and the second game, these characters are assumed not to exist (except [possibly] the magistrate, who may just be hiding).
* The protagonist [[OnlySaneMan Luis Fernando-Lopez]] of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony'', is this to Gay Tony. Tony shows that he knows how to use a gun, but in the very frequent event they have to kill/strong arm someone, it's usually Luis's job to handle it. Of course, the one time Tony does attempt to do some killing, he's [[TooDumbToLive heavily dosed on unspecified drugs.]] Luis also finds himself this trope to a number of rich people he's introduced to through their nightclub business, including [[JerkAss Mori Kibbutz]]. (Tony handles the actual nightclub stuff almost exclusively, Luis's work is just killing, roughing people up, and he half jokes at one point, being around to [[FridgeHorror share the blame with the IRS when they catch money vanishing.]])
* [[EnsembleDarkhorse Jyunichi]] is this to [[RoyalBrat Shogo Akuji]] in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2''. Even thinking in meta, Jyunichi's boss fight is a long [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] duel, whilst Shogo's boss fight you just gun down some mooks and briefly chase him on a motorcycle.
* [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Luigi]]? It's stated in an interview that he's the more powerful of the two brothers, and in the games you see that he's [[SuperSpeed faster]], [[InASingleBound quite a bit better at jumping]], and [[DarkIsNotEvil a reality-destroying entity]].
** He might be more powerful, but he's a flawed character. Mario is generally more reliable, and Luigi has serious confidence issues. He's still going to pull through when you need him, and the brothers are pretty much evenly matched, although Luigi gets his issues from the fact that Mario overshadows him.
** He's arguably not a sidekick, but an equal partner. This is most evident in the ''Mario & Luigi'' series, where they clearly have an equal partnership, sharing the platforming and stomping burdens evenly. Neither of them really defers to the other, nor do either of them have a bigger part in the plot. Mario does have the heroic instinct to jump in first, and Luigi backs him up as a matter of course. Most people in the Mushroom Kingdom ''do'' view Luigi as a sidekick, so this kind of blurs the boundaries.
* [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Miles Prower]] A.K.A Tails is often joked about as being this. He is a [[TheSmartGuy mechanical genius]] who built a fake (but almost perfect) Chaos Emerald (with [[BoobyTrap one key difference]]) in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' and as a matter of gameplay in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' had to out pace Sonic by using his flight capabilities, indicating he can. Added to that is his swimming is much better than Sonic's and his occasional invulnerability.
** In ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' and ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles 3]].'' Not only is he every bit as fast as the protagonist, he can also fly (taking Sonic with him in the 3rd game), swim, and is ''completely invulnerable'' to enemy attacks, to the point of not even losing rings when struck. In addition, any rings or powerups he collects automatically go to Sonic, regardless of the distance or obstacles between them. Parodied in [[WebAnimation/AwesomeSeries Awesome the Hedgehog]] with this delightful exchange:
-->'''Robotnik''': Now, Sonic will fall right into my trap!
-->'''Mook''': But Tails is with him sir!
-->'''Robotnik''': FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUU-
** {{Retcon}}s make it so he can't actually move as fast as Sonic: Knuckles can't either, and Tails is ''[[AllThereInTheManual just as fast as Knuckles, if not slightly faster]]''.
*** While no longer as fast as Sonic, Tails is still incredibly fast (at least enough to keep up with Sonic) as shown in ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', when he's mind-controlled. In addition to having an [[ImprobablyHighIQ IQ possibly higher than Eggman's]], having a more powerful SuperMode (which uses birds to destroy things) than [[GameBreaker Hyper Sonic]], being able to swim and fly, and his "invulnerability", he'd probably be more competent than Sonic if he got more of the spotlight.
** However, the ability list of both Knuckles and Tails makes it so either one can generally outclass Sonic in several areas. For Tails, his flight ability does allow him access to easy shortcuts, he can swim, Super Tails was a GameBreaker the one time he was playable, and, well, [[GadgeteerGenius Machina]].
* An interesting variation in ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' occurs with [[RedHeadedHeroine Aika]], the Lancer to [[TheHero Vyse.]] The game has a Swashbuckler Rating, which gives a title to Vyse and affects his reputation, ranging from the ability to recruit crew members to prices at shops (the higher the rating, the lower your prices). There are ButThouMust trees in the game that can increase, decrease, or not affect the rating. Making a crapload of bad choices sends your rating down (the lowest you can go is [[ThisLoserIsYou Vyse the Ninny]]), and whatever Vyse says in those makes Aika this trope. Whatever Vyse suggests in a good choice (i.e, "shall we sneak into the Coliseum" or "save everyone right now") will be suggested by Aika in a bad choice.
** Of course, this is different in battle (Aika is a FragileSpeedster who can cast magic fairly well, but becomes near-useless by the end of the game)
* [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Otacon]] has been called more effective than Snake at everything that Snake does, despite his tendency to [[{{Squick}} urinate in fear.]]
* Stern of ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Gears of Destiny'', what with being the Material of Wisdom to the EvilOverlord RoyalBrat Lord Dearche. She's the one who inevitably calls most of the shots amongst the Materials since her logic easily trumps Lord Dearche's childish orders, a fact that annoys her lord a lot.
* Bleu (Deis) from the ''VideoGame/BreathOfFire'' series can be recruited into your party and aid your quest. She's pretty much a [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld beautiful, ancient sorceress]] that's the strongest character in your party.
** In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'' and ''[[VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV IV]]'', [[spoiler:she really is a PhysicalGod. In ''IV'' she's stuck inside a suit of armor and the main character is a free god, so it's a bit less jarring.]]
* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008'': Elika is the DoubleJump, the source of your magic attacks, can do all the same acrobatic moves you can [without his trumped up glove], and is the one who heals the land. Oh, and she saves him from certain death all the time. The only thing the Prince has that she doesn't is a sword.
** Although the Prince is demonstrably [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower physically stronger]] than most of the humanoid abominations who dwarf him in size and are powered by TheDarkSide. Elika would not do well in a fight by herself. He's also ostensibly the one doing the navigating. If this game were played from Elika's point of view, the exact same arguments could be made for the Prince.
** Justified in a sense in that she planned to save the land by herself. The prince is more of a SupportingProtagonist.
* A radio show on ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' featured "adventurer Herbert Dashwood and his stalwart ghoul manservant, Argyle." In each episode Herbert's bumbling landed them in situations Argyle would singlehandedly extract them from. The player could meet Herbert in game, who claimed he wasn't really that big of a fool but admitted Argyle was most certainly a badass.
** You can find Argyl's corpse later. He fell trying to defend a village from slavers in a battle Dashwood barely escaped from, the news of which will crush Dashwood.
* The module ''[[http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=3681 The Light Reborn]]'' for ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' has you literally play the sidekick to the actual hero, he tackling the main enemies while you go on the smaller errands. This all culminates into a giant "tipping the scale" moment that's even based on a player's earlier decision and can thus fail. Never has being the sidekick felt so rewarding.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', [[spoiler:Joshua is none other that Shibuya's [[PhysicalGod Composer]]. Even though his powers are diminished, he manages to kill some Taboo Noise, which are the hardest to beat in the game, with a single blow.]]
* There's a (failed, to an extent) attempt to avert this in ''AncientDomainsOfMystery''. A necromancer or a bard can easily have an extremely powerful sidekick (or a few!), in extreme situations rarely ever having to fight at all. The penultimate level, however, is a SlippySlideyIceWorld, so you can't take any sidekicks with you. But... if you take a Scroll of Familiar Summoning with you, you can summon a new friend in the final level. And the power of a familiar depends on the so called "danger level" of a dungeon. Cue a Greater Earth Elemental of an insanely high level mopping the floor with the several boss monsters guarding your objective.
* The Flash game ''VideoGame/HelpTheHero'' is all about this. While the hero is the one that fights monsters and gets all the glory, the player is his sidekick who has to make sure that he's properly equipped for said fights or else end up beaten to a bloody pulp.
* The main character of ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' is one of these in [[AlternateHistory one of the two timelines]]. While his commander and best friend Rosch is fairly competent on his own, [[TheHero Stocke]] is TheAce, and thanks to TimeTravel often comes across to other people as CrazyPrepared and nearly prescient. Stocke is just fine with this, since he feels Rosch is a much better leader, and when he's nominated for a command position turns it down with a rather vehement no.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* The premise of ''Webcomic/SidekickGirl'', though the title character is not happy with the status quo.
* In ''Webcomic/AntiHeroForHire'', Union was a Hypercompetent Sidekick for Dr. Nefarious before breaking out on his own.
* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'': Wanda Firebaugh fills that role for the overconfident and strategically inept Lord Stanley.
** And for protagonist Parson Gotti, who's a strategic genius but needs a crash course in the rules of Erfworld.
** Likewise, Parson plays this role in a strategic capacity to Stanley.
* Richard from ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' is the most powerful member of Cale's team, being able to kill with his hands or use magic do perform whatever execution he has come up with for his enemies. Tempered a little in the fact he is an [[HeroicComedicSociopath evil undead warlock]].
* Redcloak from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' is the sidekick who makes Xykon's evil organization run. Although Xykon is devastatingly powerful and capable of surprising cunning at times, he has no patience for details, and his idea of strategy consists of pounding obstacles with spells until they go away. It helps that Redcloak is DangerouslyGenreSavvy whereas Xykon suffers from ContractualGenreBlindness.
** The prequel book ''StartOfDarkness'' establishes Redcloak as having elements of a BeleagueredAssistant. Throughout the webcomic itself (especially the later strips), more and more of this pokes through to the surface. He still voluntarily works for Xykon, though.
*** [[spoiler:Somewhat voluntarily at least. It's partly that that keeps him working for Xykon, and partly because he doesn't want the death of his brother to have been a complete waste.]]
*** [[spoiler: and partly because [[ManBehindTheMan Xykon still works for him]], [[UnwittingPawn no matter what the lich may think]]]]
* Judy, the Doctor's receptionist, in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja''. While [=Dr. McNinja=] is competent [[BunnyEarsLawyer in his own way]], Judy's dependability and no-nonsense attitude are pretty much the only reason anything gets accomplished in the office. She's also a gorilla. Just thought that should be out there.
** [[http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=37&issue=8 "This is why the gorilla is Dr. [=McNinja's=] receptionist. Because she is a PROFESSIONAL, and she BEHAVES LIKE ONE."]]
** [[http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=8&issue=14 She's such a professional...]]
** Also Gordito. In the Doctor's own words:
--->"Do you think I run around with a ''twelve year old boy'' just because I like his inferior grasp of girls and higher level math? Do you think I left him with my psychotic parents because I wanted him to '''die'''? '''No''', you undead pale ponce! '''Gordito''' is the effing '''badass kid'''. So go ahead and finish up your masterful scheme to make me let you kill me, because Gordito's going to slap around whatever ghost lackey you have like he was a pinata on the Mexican day of the dead."
* Dr. Wily was tricked into becoming the hypercompetent sidekick for Mike Haggar's in ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES''. When President Haggar's first act was to abolish taxes, Vice President Wily realized he'll be too busy fixing Haggar's horrible decisions and keeping the country afloat to take advantage of his position.
* Partly deconstructed in ''Webcomic/{{Girly}}'', where sidekicks engineered to be perfect become too much so, rendering the "hero" of their relationships virtually unnecessary. [[spoiler: However they end up evil, try to take over, succeed, and have to be taken out by pairs of hero/sidekick pairs of roughly equal ability or the more typical competency ratios.]]
** Also Otra APPEARS this to Winter, but it's been proven that Winter is what inspires Otra to be so competent and both are far weaker/more helpless alone. Otra, in general, can do everything by herself but would hate to and Winter can kick ass, but needs Otra around to be able thanks to RuleOfFunny[=/=]RuleOfDrama.
* ''Webcomic/{{BIBLE}}'' has Opal, working for Balthazar. [[FourStarBadass Not that Balthazar's incompetent]], but Opal is certainly better at dealing with people.
* Elliot, Dr. Breign's assistant in ''Webcomic/TheSnailFactory''. He essentially does all of the work, cleans up after Breign's messes and keeps everything going.
* [[KillerRabbit Bun-Bun]] from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. The other characters still have to take care of things themselves most of the time, since Bun-Bun is a SociopathicHero who won't lift a paw unless there's something in it for him and/or the current bad guy did something to piss him off. However, when he does get involved, heads tend to fly.
* ''Webcomic/DresdenCodak's'' [[WonderTwinPowers Tokamak twins]] are {{superhero}}es, in fact.
* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Molly is a GadgeteerGenius and even has modest super-speed (she can outrun a bear, anyway), while her adoptive daddy Bob is, of course, nominally the World's Most Average Man. Bob's other big defining trait though is CommonSense, a quality Molly certainly lacks.
* Bill the Extra Guy is the sidekick to Fred the Spanyard from ''Neglected Character Comix'', a sprite comic series involving Mario characters on the Neglected Character subpage of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' HQ. A seemingly useless sidekick compared to Fred's death rays and other such powers, he freezes time and space with his "extra power" which leaves his friend more than impressed.
* ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' has Adharia Kuvoe's servant [[spoiler:and consort]], Sedja the Efreet. Sedja is essentially a BenevolentGenie, but is bound to and protected by Adharia (as it's been heavily implied that Sedja would've been destroyed by the Star Org if not for Adharia protecting her, acting as a translator, and having hidden her up until the point [[ItMakesSenseInContext Sedja was shot out of a pistol]]).
* Namine serves as one to Governor Zexion in ''Webcomic/AnsemRetort''. Given Zexion's habit of blowing the state budget on things like explosives, hookers, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Doritos]], Namine is frequently the one organizing things so that the government doesn't collapse on itself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]
* Greasy, sidekick to Peeper at [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse.
* "Commander" Jeremy Wickstrom in ''WebVideo/ChadVader''. Although he is a little off as well.
* WebVideo/{{Phelous}} and WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob gained this role in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}''.
* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', while Church is the leader of the Blue Team, Tucker has far more plot influence and action the instant he picks up [[WeaponOfChoice his sword.]] The only thing stopping him from stealing the spotlight is that Church keeps story focus. [[spoiler: This eventually gets deconstructed. Tucker gets promoted to an alien ambassador while Church gets sent to a backwater canyon in the middle of nowhere.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* [[HeroicComedicSociopath Swedish Murder Machine]] Brock Samson, the bodyguard on ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''.
** Dr. Girlfriend (later Dr. Mrs. The Monarch) as well. It's explicitly stated at one point that she designed most of the Monarch's technology, and his entire operation goes to hell after she dumps him.
* Cornfed from ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}''.
** Lampshaded to some extent in the AdventureGame where while Cornfed does make a plan for Duckman to save the day, he decides that this time he needs to learn how to do things himself and doesn't help him directly outside of that.
* Itchy Itchiford, (Itchy for short) from ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' has this in spades, especially in the first movie and more so in the TV series. Charlie usually doesn't follow the phrase "think before you do" very well. Itchy prevents Charlie from going too far with his intentions for the most part, but even if he is unsuccessful in doing so, he always knows what is going to happen. Also, in the first movie, Itchy built Charlie's new casino.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has "Coon and Friends", the pairing of Eric Cartman as the [[SociopathicHero "hero"]] and ''[[Creator/HPLovecraft C'thulu]]'' as his erstwhile companion.
** [[FanOfTheUnderdog Dougie/General Disarray]] seems to be this to [[HarmlessVillain Butters/Professor Chaos]] in more recent episodes.
* In ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'', Penny and Brain help out the titular inspector.
** Moreover, Penny's dog, Brain, is ''Penny's'' hypercompetent sidekick.
*** Although given Penny's competence, he's probably more her Puss (or should that be Pup?) in Boots...
* In a similar vein, Spot from ''WesternAnimation/HongKongPhooey''. There are two ways Hong Kong Phooey defeats a villain. Either by luck (when he's alone), or by his cat sidekick, who usually takes advantage of the villain being distracted by the hero screwing up.
* Stan is Xander Crews' hypercompetent sidekick in ''WesternAnimation/FriskyDingo''. Likewise, Sin is Killface's.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Although Mr. Burns is not incompetent so much as out of touch with the times, Waylon Smithers arguably serves this role.
** Parodied in "Simpson and Delilah" when Homer is briefly made an executive at the nuclear power plant. His secretary Karl ([[BlackBestFriend as]] [[ThoseTwoGuys opposed]] [[HeterosexualLifePartners to]] Carl) immediately realises that Homer is just some lucky buffoon and isn't suited to his new job. He proceeds to help Homer act the part, resolving every problem in Homer's professional ''and'' personal life without so much as being asked. He later gets fired protecting Homer's job and still writes a presentation to aid him. Homer does brilliantly even without him, but because he's [[PrematurelyBald bald]] again no one takes him seriously.
* Jazz to Sentinel Prime in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. While Sentinel Prime is technically second in command to Ultra Magnus, Jazz is usually the one who keeps a handle on Sentinel and tries to steer him towards good judgment. Jazz eventually realized this was a lost cause and left to join the Autobots on Earth.
* Cyclonus from ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1''. He was sane, calculating, dangerous... everything Galvatron was not.
** Well, Galvatron was dangerous, but to his troops just as much as the Autobots.
* PorkyPig when he's depicted as DaffyDuck's sidekick (in numerous ChuckJones movie parody shorts, perhaps mostly famously ''Film/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'') -- in most of these cases, Daffy breaks the fourth wall to insist that Porky's character is ''supposed'' to be the PluckyComicRelief, so this character type may be a subversion.
** This holds especially true in the ''series'' ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'', where Dodgers doesn't so much hold the IdiotBall as have it surgically implanted in place of his actual brain. Apparently, the Cadet is so competent that he singlehandedly ''cured world hunger'' in his younger days.
*** It should be noted however this interpretation is mostly exclusive to the Chuck Jones shorts (or later ones based on his work specifically), with alternate interpretations often portraying Porky as somewhat a bumbling ButtMonkey to a more [[ScrewySquirrel apt]] [[LoveableRogue trickster]] Daffy. It was also subtly implied that Porky's enormous deviation from his usual character was due to Jones' Daffy playing the StrawLoser of the series (similarly Bugs's RoguesGallery were often {{Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain}}s [[TookALevelInBadass until they placed against Daffy]]), perhaps why Jones played Porky as TheFool in non-Daffy shorts, with Sylvester playing his HyperCompetentSidekick.
** True to their SpinOffBabies nature, in ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' Hampton J. Pig has more than once been HypercompetentSidekick to Plucky Duck, most notably in [[AffectionateParody Batduck]] where Hampton was "Decoy, the Pig Hostage."
*** Humorously, Plucky himself has once has served this role to Daffy in a Duck Dodgers short where he was "the eager young space cadet." Somewhat odd, since Plucky is a [[SpinoffBabies child version]] of Daffy and normally suffers the same defeat-by-hubris role that Daffy does.
*** This situation was reversed for Hampton and Plucky all of once. In the movie special, ''How I Spent My Summer Vacation'', the Pig family picks up a hitchhiker - who turns out to be a (and this is quoted directly from the radio report that only Plucky seemed to note the importance of) "mass-murderer with a psychotic aversion to pork." Said "hitchhiker" then expanded his range of targets later as he pulled out a hockey mask and chainsaw and proclaimed, "I hate duck, too!" [[HilarityEnsues Insanity then Ensued.]]
* Kif Kroker from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is often shown to be far more intelligent and quick-witted than his boss, Zapp Brannigan, but on the rare occasions that Kif overcomes his shyness to speak up, Brannigan invariably ignores him, and often later blames Kif for his own mistakes.
** "Be prepared to take the blame in three, two, one...Now!"
* Shego from ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''. She fights all the battles for [[HarmlessVillain Dr. Drakken]], she ''tries'' to keep his {{evil plan}}s in line, she even provides Drakken with the {{Unobtainium}} / AppliedPhlebotinum needed for his capers (either by stealing them, or actually buying them). Add her being DangerouslyGenreSavvy to the list, and the reason why she isn't the BigBad instead comes down to pure [[BrilliantButLazy lack of motivation]]. Shego is by far the best example of this on the show, particularly later on as Drakken became more and more silly and she became more clearly the only reason he gets anything done at all.
** It should also be mentioned that the one time she did a caper on her own, during ''[[TheMovie A Sitch in Time]]'', she actually took over the world. But even then, she had to be talked into it by her future self.
** TeamPet Rufus is often this to Ron, sometimes appearing to be smarter than his owner and much more mechanically adept. Many times has the day has been saved by Rufus running off and interfering on his own while Kim and Ron keep the villains busy. Lampshaded in "The Ron Factor."
** Depending on the episode Ron himself may occasionally approach this, though as KP is barely ever inept and his moments tend to be one-offs he never actually makes it. "Roachie" is a fairly decent example.
** Wade also qualifies; there are a few times where even Kim would be lost without him.
* Ms. Sara Bellum, assistant to the Mayor of Townsville, from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''.
* Similarly, Deputy Mayor Calico "Callie" Briggs from ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats: The Radical Squadron'', who assists the lazy Mayor Manx.
* Gromit from ''Franchise/WallaceAndGromit''.
* Peter Puppy from the ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' cartoon was like this at times. In fact, because of this one episode featured a council of superheroes that ordered Jim to hand over his super suit to Peter, who at the end gave it back.
* Charles Foster Ofdensen in ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}''. Clever, take-charge, and literally DEADLY CFO, manager, and laywer who has more brainpower in one pinky than his metalhead employers have between them.
** Proven [[spoiler: after he died, when their wild, compulsive spending sprees and horrible business practices pretty much drive them to bankruptcy.]]
* Princess Azula of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. [[EvilOverlord Fire Lord Ozai]] does have the edge in personal power, but young Azula already outstrips him in [[MagnificentBastard cunning]], to the point where if she wanted him [[EvilPrince out of the way]] as opposed to [[DaddysGirl proud of her]], the only question would be who to frame.
** The answer is obviously Zuko. The real question is why hasn't she done that already?
** And the answer to ''that'' is that for all her cunning, Azula is at heart an emotionally unstable wreck who ''needs'' Daddy's approval - when she loses it (or thinks she does), [[VillainousBreakdown things turn nasty for her]] ''real'' quick...
** Also, Ty Lee for Azula. Ty Lee has the highest KO count in the series, because her fighting style is largely nonlethal and her victims recover pretty quickly. The other two-thirds of the QuirkyMinibossSquad, Azula and Mai, can't take anyone out without burning/electrocuting/stabbing them, which they really can't show on [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids what is nominally a kids' show.]]
** Iroh serves as this for Zuko in season one. He's arguably one of the most formidable characters in the series but is content to sip tea and give Zuko advice.
* [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Harley Quinn]], the Joker's sidekick, is usually able to pull off more competent comedy-themed crimes without him - and once beat Batman so bad the only way Batman could escape was getting her to invite the Joker over, knowing that [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou the Joker's ego wouldn't let anyone else kill him]].
-->'''Batman''' (to Joker): "She came closer to killing me than you ''ever'' have, ''puddin'!''
** Harley is more a case of SanityHasAdvantages ([[MadLove not to say that she's sane]], just more so than Joker). Joker suffers from some degree of ContractualGenreBlindness, but is frequently shown to be just as intelligent as Batman.
** It might also have something to do with the fact that DC is not comfortable showing [[DoubleStandard their male heroes hitting women]].
** Also, the Franchise/{{DCAU}} [[PeripheryDemographic is still aimed mostly for children]]. Harley being competent is slapstick and AmusingInjuries. SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker being competent is... a lot less suitable for children's television. [[BlackComedy but still hilarious]].
* Arthur of ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' is many times more intelligent than his partner, The Tick, but he's got nowhere near the combat prowess (or NighInvulnerability) of him, so he's content to play second fiddle to the big blue superhero as it allows him to help people superhero-style while avoiding the punishment.
* Baba Looey to WesternAnimation/QuickDrawMcGraw I teenk. [[LampshadeHanging Pointed out]] by a third party (possibly a criminal they had just busted?) at least once.
* Mr. Big's secretary/assistant/minion, from ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl''. She wanders into BeleagueredAssistant territory, though, often asking for raises.
** What about [[NonHumanSidekick Captain Huggyface]]?
* Strummer the flea from ''WesternAnimation/{{Scruff}}''.
* Slinkman of ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'' is this to Scoutmaster Lumpus. When Lumpus isn't being a mad dictator, he's laying in a lawn chair making Slinkman do all the work. As Lumpus [[{{Flanderization}} deteriorated]], Slinkman gained more control over camp. Slinkman secretly dreams of being scoutmaster, but by the time the show ends, he pretty much is already.
* Owen Burnett [[spoiler: alias Puck]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' shows how dangerous one of these is when paired with a boss who's ''already'' a MagnificentBastard in his own right (enough of one to get [[TropeNamers a couple of tropes]] named for him!). It's not that Owen is the smarter of the two, but that they're smart in different ways- Xanatos is a truly brilliant schemer, but it's Owen's cool efficiency and eye for details that make sure all the bases are covered, while occasionally acting as Xanatos's conscience. Both parties have genuine liking and respect for each other, and it's heavily implied that neither would be quite sure what they'd do without the other.
** For the record, in "The Gathering: Part II", Puck mentions that he offered Xanatos the choice between a lifetime of loyal service form Owen or granting one no-fingers-crossed wish. Xanatos is smart enough to know the better choice.
*** And Puck respects him for that. Though one wonders if Xanatos decided to be cute about it and ''wish'' for Owen as his permanent sidekick.
** And of course Preston Vogel is exactly the same way for Fox' father - [[spoiler: without the aid of also being a magical being]].
* Dukey from ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest''.
* While he's supposedly more of a partner instead of a sidekick, ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'''s Ferb fits this trope pretty well. Phineas is the idea guy and the spokesman of the two, but Ferb tends to have more mechanical expertise. He does most of the work building all their crazy contraptions and does all the menial jobs. He doesn't seem to mind, though.
** Even more so in the episode where he's helping his crush Vanessa Doofenshmirtz get a component for her supervillain father. She shows herself to be somewhat resourceful and very agile, but Ferb shows that his capability dwarfs that of everyone except Perry.
** Also Isabella, who's a hybrid of TheChick and TheSmartGuy. Shows strongest if he's [[LetsGetDangerous in danger]].
** Speaking of, Agent P. Major Monogram and Carl tend to spend much of their screentime goofing off and generally just being ThoseTwoGuys, leaving Perry to stop Doofenshmirtz's plans with pretty much no help. Half the time, they don't even give him the slightest bit of information to go on, simply telling him to "Go find Doofenshmirtz and stop him"; this tendency is lampshaded when Perry has to work with [[TuxedoAndMartini a (human) British spy]].
--->'''Agent Double 0-0''': What, that's it? No files, no location, no contact; what kind of a mission is this?
--->'''Major Monogram''': It was enough for the ''mammal''.
* Ray the Firefly in ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog,'' who keeps the show going until [[spoiler:his HeroicSacrifice.]]
* GIR from ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is far more competent than Zim himself... but only in duty mode. Which only lasts a few seconds.
** An example of how much more competent GIR is, is when Zim decides to lock GIR in duty mode. GIR captures humans, absorbs huge amounts of knowledge, and determines Zim to be the reason that they haven't taken over the planet yet.
** And according to the unused scripts, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen had the show continued]], Skoodge would have become this as well.
* Haroud serves this function (and combines it with DeadpanSnarker as usual) for Abys-Mal in ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}: the Series.''
** A classic example of this is Abys-Mal explaining (for exposition) his plan to attack the heroes. Haroud politely replies "I know what the plan is, master. Why are you telling me this?"
* It may be the case in the space-themed episode "Space Madness" of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'', where the titular duo's space counterparts, Commander Hoek and Cadet Stimpy, are sent to a mission that is roughly said to [[AndIMustScream take around 36 years.]] They are exposed to the effects of the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin space madness]], but Ren is the only one to succumb to them, while Stimpy does his job as TheCaretaker for him in an unusually competent manner (in most episodes Stimpy's actions are well-intentioned yet careless). However, Stimpy might have been immune to the effects of the space madness due to being [[TooDumbToFool too stupid for them to have any effect on him]], while Ren is [[AxCrazy mentally unstable]] by nature.
* Boo Boo exhibited this in the ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear'' cartoons, often knowing when to stay out of a situation, and warning Yogi, [[CatchPhrase "Mr. Ranger isn't gonna like this."]]
* Spike is this for Twilight Sparkle in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. While Twilight herself is generally pretty damn competent the number of skills Spike possesses is simply staggering and there are a few episodes where Twilight would have been completely screwed without him.
* Generally speaking, the cartoons of the late 70's and early 80's each seemed to have their protagonists be best friends with an [[SmallAnnoyingCreature irritatingly cute]] FairyCompanion who could pretty much [[ComboPlatterPowers do anything the plot required]]. The most bizarre/notorious example would be ''WesternAnimation/RubikTheAmazingCube'', which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: the adventures of some kids and their magical talking, er, Rubik's Cube. Yes, as in the little cube-shaped puzzle where you match all the colors on each side. Really.
** The only reason Rubik was a sidekick at all is that he could only walk/talk/save the day after he had been "solved", and the young boy he hung around with had the amazing ability to solve him quickly. So every episode Rubik had to be dropped or something, which was apparently enough to mix him up so that he couldn't fix everything in the first two minutes.
* Genie in ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' [[TheGrimReaper well...]]
** Of course Mandy is the [[ApocalypseMaiden humorless girl]] who defeats Death himself with one word, then grows up to become [[OneWingedAngel far more formidable]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shazzan}}'' was a BenevolentGenie, at least toward Chuck and Nancy. He was only a LiteralGenie if a {{villain|s}} got control of him.
* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'' has Norman, but the trope is justified in that his job is to be Max's bodyguard until he can fend for himself.
** Max's other guardian, Virgil was really, really smart and really really old. But Max's [[IndyPloy on-the-spot ideas]] are what made him TheChosenOne.
* The Creator/CartoonNetwork series ''WesternAnimation/RobotBoy'' revolves around Tommy, a short wimp with a giant head, who has been given the good Professor Mushimo's titular robot, whom the evil Dr. Kamikaze is determined to steal and use for [[WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity evilness... Nessness]]. Tommy's task is to help Robot Boy [[PinocchioSyndrome become a real boy]], while in the process Robot Boy continually saves Tommy and his friends from certain doom by means of unorthodox evil plan.
** Since the show is named after Robotboy, Tommy is probably meant to be Robotboy's sidekick, not vice versa.
* This is where we mention Glomer in ''It's Series/PunkyBrewster''. Often cited as even more annoyingly ex Machina-y than most of these.
* In HannaBarbera's ''WesternAnimation/TheGodzillaPowerHour'', poor [[TheScrappy Godzooky]] gets a lot of grief from fans because he's cute and much tinier than Godzilla. But taken objectively, Zooky is ''still'' a twelve-foot tall flying monster who dwarfs the human castmembers, and can handily intimidate humans who aren't expecting him. Apart from being a standard cute cartoon sidekick, he's also there so that even the [[JustHereForGodzilla human-scale filler scenes]] all [[{{Kaiju}} Dai Kaiju]] stories have can ''still'' have a cool big monster in them.
* ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus's'' cousin, Brattus, often fills this role during very many of Bogus's adventures.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]
* A frequent occurrence in Prussia/the German Empire from 1814-1918. Field commands were traditionally given to high-ranking nobles, who were raised for the task but nevertheless had varying levels of competence. After Prussia's crushing defeat to Napoleon at the Battle of Jena (1806), [[TheChessmaster Gerhard von Scharnhorst]] was put in charge of reforming the Prussian military, and came up with the idea of retaining the contemporary social structure, while cleverly undermining it by forcing the Field Marshals to co-operate with their Chiefs of Staff, who were appointed on Scharnhorst's advice. The most notable example of this was [[AccidentalHero Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg]], who became a national hero and public icon during WorldWarOne, even though most of his decisions were made by the obscure no-name [[ManBehindTheMan Erich Ludendorff]].
** In practice, Hindenburg had never been a very competent officer, and he had already been retired in 1911. The [[TheChessmaster master strategist]] behind him and true brain behind the victory at Tannenberg was Colonel (future General) [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Hoffmann Max Hoffmann]]. Both had been decorated for the battle, Hoffmann promoted to General and Chief of Staff for Eastern Front Armies, yet the propaganda system gave the full credit to the old Prussian General and turned him into a national hero.
* This happened a lot during the later parts of the Roman Empire, especially in the 5th Century West, where ineffectual emperors were backed by military strongmen. Not all of them were constructive, but a few of them pretty much kept the West from falling apart immediately, most notably Aetius and Stilicho. Their deaths didn't bode well for Rome. Even the East had this. Belisarius was the famed general of Justinian and a fantastic commander.
* Claudius was this to Caligula. At least for the first six months, when Caligula was sane. The jury's still out on after that; but it was only by accident that Claudius became emperor at all.
* Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was this for Octavian, later EmperorAugustus. While Octavian was a highly competent administrator, he needed someone who could match wits with Mark Antony on the battlefield and come out on top. That was Agrippa. He managed to absolutely crush not only the remnants of the conservative resistance to the Second Triumvirate, but also obliterate Antony's forces both at sea and on land. It is widely accepted that Octavian may never have become emperor if he did not have Agrippa handling the military side of things.
* In a rather vile example of this; Heinrich Himmler, the man who supposedly carried out the Holocaust, had Reinhard Heydrich who carried out and created many of the ideas of the Holocaust. He was so vicious, it is said some of the Nazi officials who were his subordinates were more afraid of him than Hitler. This makes sense, as he created the concentration camps and the rest of the Final Solution.
* Vice President Walter Mondale was this to JimmyCarter, serving as Carter's troubleshooter (particularly in foreign affairs).[[note]]Mondale's foreign affairs experience later earned him an appointment as ambassador to Japan under the Clinton administration.[[/note]] RichardNixon filled the same role for Eisenhower. Prior to Mondale and Nixon the vice-presidency was little more than a ceremonial posting, and usually a dead end for a political career.
* Vice President Dick Cheney was widely lampooned as TheManBehindTheMan to President GeorgeWBush and is thought to have been the architect of a lot of his foreign policy.
* Nixon had his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
* This is the typical situation in many modern militaries when you have wet-behind-the-ears junior officers fresh out of training placed in charge of units with [=NCO=]s who sometimes have been serving longer than the officer has been alive.
[[/folder]]

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* In the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' games, Remilia Scarlet is a vampire who has the power to manipulate fate, [[InformedAttribute supposedly.]] She's the mistress of Scarlet Devil Mansion. Meanwhile, her [[EnfantTerrible little sister]] locked in the basement has a magic rod that can [[YourHeadAsplode unmake any object she points it at]]. Their head maid is Sakuya Izayoi, who can ''manipulate time and space to her liking.'' [[MundaneUtility She mostly uses said powers to clean house.]]
** Then we have [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses Kaguya]] and [[MadScientist Eirin]]. Canonically, Kaguya was the one who provided Eirin backup in the GrandFinale but MemeticMutation has made ''"Help me, EIRIIIIIIN!"'' her {{Catchphrase}} in even the most mundane situations.
** This happens a lot in ''Touhou''. In ''Imperishable Night'', more often than not, your youkai buddy outclassed you not no matter which team you were. Reimu had Yukari, who's pretty much omnipotent; Marisa had Alice, who's a much more powerful magician than she is; Youmu had Yuyuko, who has the ability to ''invoke death in mortals''. The exception is the Scarlet Team, as mentioned above.
** In ''Subterranean Animism'', Satori's pets include a cat youkai that can carry away corpses and a hell raven with the power of ''nuclear fusion''.

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