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1-> ''"He's overeager. He's impulsive. I can't trust him not to get hurt."''
2-->-- '''Bruce Wayne''' on Dick Grayson, ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''
3
4TheHero / {{Sidekick}} dynamic is a very interesting one, with a lot of parallels between that of the hero and TheLancer. Usually, the Hero is older and calmer, while also being a stronger and better combatant than their HotBlooded young charge. For these or other reasons, the hero will instruct the sidekick to hang back and [[WeWait observe events]], or [[LeaveHimToMe leave a particularly dangerous fight to him alone]].
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6They never do.
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8The Reckless Sidekick will [[LeeroyJenkins rush in headlong]] regardless of the danger and get captured or otherwise get himself into serious trouble, forcing the hero to [[FriendOrIdolDecision choose whether to stop the bad guys or risk rescuing the sidekick]]. Even if the sidekick manages to mop the floor with the {{mooks}}, the hero will gruffly explain he wanted to wait to discover who their buyer/supplier was, and now they'll never find out. On the positive side, if they trail an overly self-reliant or [[MartyrWithoutACause self-sacrificing]] hero they may well rescue ''them'' when they're caught or in danger (though he [[HeroHarassesHelpers might not]] be very [[UngratefulBastard grateful]]). Some shows like to mess with viewers by having them get captured even if they stay put -- sometimes you just can't win.
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10Expect the hero to be justifiably infuriated by this behaviour. The reasons run the gamut of insubordination, recklessly endangering himself and others, and just plain stupidity, though occasionally there are [[ObfuscatingStupidity ulterior motives]]. The sidekick will counter that they aren't a kid (well, a [[InnocentBystander helpless one]] anyway) and can handle it, or that the hero is overcautious and always has to do things "his way". Expect the sidekick (and hero) to learn AnAesop about how trusting others doesn't just mean blind obedience, but also giving them responsibility and listening to them.
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12The Reckless Sidekick runs the risk of becoming TheScrappy if his sole contribution to the action is acting stupid and getting himself captured all the time and never learns from his mistakes.
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14Compare GoingForTheBigScoop. Related to KidAppealCharacter, DamselScrappy, and LeeroyJenkins.
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16----
17!!Examples:
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19[[foldercontrol]]
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21[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22* In ''Manga/NurseAngelRirikaSOS'', Ririka's [[LikeBrotherAndSister lifelong friend]] Seiya does not know the meaning of "in over your head" and has a penchant for attacking large monsters [[ImprobableWeaponUser armed with conveniently placed mops and brooms]].
23[[/folder]]
24
25[[folder:Comic Books]]
26* This was part of the reason a part of the Franchise/{{Batman}} fandom wanted Jason Todd, the second Comicbook/{{Robin}}, dead as a doornail. The guy would just jump in at the most inopportune times and mess up Batman's plans, and then he'd whine to Batman that he was being soft. Though the degree to which he showed this trope swung wildly over the course of his career as Robin, depending on the title he was appearing in, and also on [[WriterOnBoard how far into the run you look]] -- he got a lot worse at this as time went on in a lot of people's eyes.
27* The new Robin, Damian Wayne, is also like this. Being the son of Bruce Wayne and the grandson of Ra's Al Ghul, and being brought up by the League of Assassins, he has a little bit of a superiority complex. It's pretty obvious what character arc they have in mind for Damian as he grows up.[[note]]BreakTheHaughty arcs have indeed made him more likeable to a good portion of the fans.[[/note]]
28* Intentionally inverted in the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' storyline ''A Lonely Place of Dying'':
29** Batman, who has sworn to no longer take in a sidekick after the death of Jason Todd, has started becoming brash and impulsive without "someone to look after." Standing right outside a building he is about to investigate, Nightwing, the original Robin now all grown up, shows up to assist him. When Nightwing asks for a plan, Batman shrugs him off and jumps right into the building, [[spoiler:walking right into a trap]].
30** Tim Drake chose to become Robin precisely because he believed Batman needed a sidekick to keep him on the right path.
31* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'': The new Robin, Carrie Kelley, is this for issue #3 until she nearly gets herself blown up and fired.
32* Rocket from ''ComicBook/{{Icon}}'', whose tendency to rush into situations and shake things up went hand-in-hand with a tendency to save the day. Unlike other examples, she was shown as justified most of the time.
33-->'''Rocket''': This isn't a "sit tight and hope things come out right" situation this is a "do anything and hope it's not wrong" situation!
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Comic Strips]]
37* The appropriately named "Scrappy Lad" from ''ComicStrip/InkPen''.
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
41* "Incrediboy" in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1''. Leading to {{Hero Harasses Helper|s}}, leading to MotiveDecay... [[spoiler:leading to BigBad]].
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
45* Both versions were [[LampShading lampshaded]] in ''Film/LastActionHero''. Jack: "You ever see those movies where the hero tells his sidekick to stay in the car and he disobeys and gets killed?" Danny: "Good point. <...> Wait, what if staying in the car is what gets me killed?"
46* There's a bit of this in ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/AttackOfTheClones''. Anakin acts as Obi-Wan's sidekick, and when they face off against Darth Tyrannus, Obi-Wan tells Anakin to stand back and to take him together. Of course, Anakin flips his shit, charges forward, and gets tossed aside, leaving Obi-Wan to fight alone and ultimately lose. In the next movie, during the rematch, they do take him together, however.
47* Dick Grayson acted like a Reckless Sidekick in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''. In the first major action sequence, Dick's insistence on going after Mr. Freeze led to him getting frozen and Batman having to choose between going after Freeze or thawing Robin. Dick receives an ass-chewing from Bruce afterward, and the conflict between the two continues for the good part of the movie. Later on, [[spoiler:when he confronts Poison Ivy in her lair, he tricks her into telling him her plan by pretending to still be in love with her, and survives her kiss by wearing rubber lips. But, once Ivy taunts Robin over this, he removes his rubber lips to one-up her and show he [[TakeThatKiss stole a kiss from her]], instead of keeping them for protection and tackling Ivy when she doesn't expect it. Ivy becomes enraged and shoves him into her pond, where he is almost drowned by her vines.]]
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
51* Chuck from ''Series/{{Chuck}}'', as he's not a real spy while the other two are trained spies. He's not usually particularly reckless though, and he generally tries to run away from danger unless it threatens someone he cares about.
52* Wendy Watson, sidekick Middleman-In-Training in ''Series/TheMiddleman'' starts out with serious concerns about becoming Comicbook/{{Robin}}, the Boy Hostage. Early in the series, she does end up as the hostage of a gun-totting psychologist alien-hunter and a gorilla army wielding government scientist, but she ends up saving The Middleman from a troop of evil Mexican wrestlers (''before'' [[TookALevelInBadass her training with Sensi Ping]]) and a melt ray soon enough to at least avoid the trope's more negative connotations.
53* Gabrielle of ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', especially in the earlier seasons of epitomized this trope.
54* The companions in ''Series/DoctorWho'' are often like this. In one spin-off novel, the Tenth Doctor speculates that he has a sign on his head saying "Ignore this man and any sensible thing he tells you".
55** Canonically, the Eleventh Doctor asked: "Do I just have a face that nobody listens to?" in ''The Eleventh Hour" when new Companion Amy Pond walked into a room that Eleven knew was dangerous and warned her away from.
56--->'''Ninth Doctor''': (''to a stray cat after Rose wanders off'') One day, just one day, maybe, I'm going to meet somebody who gets the whole "don't wander off" thing.
57* In the backstory of ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'', protagonist Shotaro was this to his boss Sokichi Narumi. [[MyGreatestFailure Which resulted in Sokichi's death.]]
58* Richie in ''{{Series/Highlander}}''. He did improve a little in the later seasons before he got axed, but early on, he was always getting himself into trouble-or sometimes getting Duncan in trouble.
59* Blair, sometimes, in ''Series/TheSentinel''.
60* Series/AceLightning has the stereotypically fiery red-headed Sparx.
61[[/folder]]
62
63[[folder:Toys]]
64* Lewa for the first few years of the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' storyline. He's supposedly become [[CharacterDevelopment less reckless and impulsive over time]], but [[TheChewToy he's still the one who usually ends up in trouble and needs rescuing]].
65[[/folder]]
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67[[folder:Video Games]]
68* ''VideoGame/FreedomForce'' devotes a couple missions to one of these. A fanboy of the game's ComicBook/CaptainAmerica {{Expy}}, he [[TakingTheBullet gets shot instead of him]] by a machinegun-toting baddie and is saved only by an emergency blood transfusion from his hero. [[SuperhumanTransfusion The transfusion gives him superpowers of his own]], so he goes off on his own to find the villains' hideout (against orders to remain in safety and recover), and nearly gets himself killed ''again'' before he gets saved by another hero.
69* Chie and Naoto show signs of this in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' before they get their personas. Chie rushes right into a shadow infested castle to find Yukiko, ignoring the advice of the two guys who have been here before, have a better understanding of the danger at hand, and have the ''means to fight it''. Naoto, on the other hand, was a tad smarter but still very reckless. [[spoiler:Her idea was to make herself the next major target for the serial killer. All of the members of the gang were almost entirely past victims who lived, so the plan was to find the truth herself and let the gang save her since she knew enough that they had been doing so for a while. However, she had no concrete facts and was only lucky that her theory was in the right ballpark. Even then, it didn't prepare her for meeting her inner shadow...]]
70* He's by no means a ''sidekick'', but ex-00 Agent Jack Hunter from ''VideoGame/GoldeneyeRogueAgent'' is heavily implied to have been this. It's what gets him dismissed from [=MI6=] and hired by Goldfinger.
71[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Web Comics]]
74* Gordito in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' tends to act this way, though he also shows signs of being very thoughtful and clever. For example, after catching "Plumber" [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain Victor]] trying to install cameras in the Doctor's office, he sets off on trying to get rid of him... by hiring another plumber and firing Victor.
75* ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'': Wonderita tends to get like this, simply because she's TheDitz and doesn't necessarily realize she's in a dangerous situation.
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder:Web Original]]
79* From "[[http://www.thalia.org/hero.html The Things I Will Do If I Am Ever the Hero]]"
80-->''I will not make the sidekick wait somewhere while I go on ahead. He'll only get into worse trouble than he otherwise would.''
81* From "[[http://www.thalia.org/sidekick.html The Things I Will Do If I Am Ever the Sidekick]]":
82-->''If the hero tells me to stay put while he goes on ahead, I will do so instead of sneaking around and getting captured.''
83* Quinn from ''WebVideo/DemoReel''. He's more of a [[HoYay partner]] to Karl than a sidekick, but he's still younger, more passionate and Karl looks after him when he's sick.
84[[/folder]]
85
86[[folder:Western Animation]]
87* Godzooky in ''WesternAnimation/TheGodzillaPowerHour'' had the habit of flying around Godzilla's head and trying to fight the evil MonsterOfTheWeek WHILE Godzilla himself was trying to stop said evil monster.
88* Jade in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures''. While she ''does'' prove invaluable, and in most cases, her quick thinking is what saves the day, her insistence on ignoring any order of Jackie's, no matter how sensible and life-extending, makes her an avid IdiotBall juggler.
89-->'''Uncle:''' (''after Jackie tells Jade to do nothing'') [[LampshadeHanging Jade never "does nothing".]]\
90'''Jackie:''' I know, but I feel like I have to say that.
91* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'': Scrappy-Doo. [[FridgeLogic Considering all of the monsters of the week were old men in costumes, Scrappy might have been able to take them]].
92* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''; Robin is now a solo hero in his own right, but Batman ''still'' [[SidekickGlassCeiling expects him to hold back]] and fight the {{Mooks}}. So it's quite justified for him to object to this.
93* Zack in the 1987 ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1987}}'' wants so badly to be a Turtle that he was the source of much of the conflict in his first appearance. His second one gave him some restraint, but not much.
94* Penny from ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' averts this. She is the competent one and the main hero is InspectorOblivious.
95* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
96** Rainbow Dash tends to fill this role compared to the rest of the Mane Six, especially in the first season.
97** This trope is inverted in the episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E7WonderboltsAcademy "Wonderbolt Academy"]], where Lightning Dust is a reckless leader and Rainbow Dash is her more sensible wingpony.
98* While not an official sidekick, Max Gibson fills this role on occasion for Terry's Batman in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. Used most egregiously in the episode "Final Cut", where her recklessness almost gets her killed by an assassin.
99* Miko Mai of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', quite infamously, is always hankering to [[LeeroyJenkins charging off into action, especially if that means combat, alongside her friends]] and has directly endangered them at least half a dozen times as a result of this. The kicker? Miko is a 15-16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl. Her friends -- and their enemies -- are ''giant alien robot killing machines'', all of which are armed to the teeth, covered in armor that resists most conventional Earth firearms, nevermind the improvised weapons Miko tries to use, and big enough that they could easily squish her underfoot like a bug. Despite this, Miko just never seems to learn that she has no place in the actual combat. [[spoiler: Though she does [[Awesome/TransformersPrime holds her own in season three]] with the help of the Apex Armor.]]
100* Loudmouse is this to [[WesternAnimation/CBBears Undercover Elephant]], usually blowing the hero's disguises or covers in front of the villain.
101[[/folder]]

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