History Main / BumblingSidekick

Often overlaps with MinionWithAnFInEvil. Contrast HypercompetentSidekick.

* Annoying comic relief Bumbling Sidekicks were a staple of MaskedLuchador films starring ElSanto and other wrestlers. Just taking a look at one of them, Perico (from ''Film/SantoEnElTesoroDeDracula), on this page's Image Links, should give you the general idea.

* Annoying comic relief Bumbling Sidekicks were a staple of MaskedLuchador films starring ElSanto and other wrestlers. Just taking a look at one of them, Perico, on this page's Image Links, should give you the general idea.

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* Pinky from ''{{Pinky and the Brain}}'' is not desperate, nor does he ever quite demonstrate the delusion that he is appreciated. Rather, he is simply too [[TheDitz scatterbrained]] and [[CloudCuckoolander cheerfully oblivious]] to notice that such a thing as contempt exists, much less that the Brain harbors so endless a supply of it for him. Deep down, the Brain really does care for Pinky as much as Pinky, who considers the Brain his best friend in all the world, cares for the Brain.

* Stimpy from ''{{Ren and Stimpy}}''.

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* Bubble from ''AbsolutelyFabulous''.

* Kronk, from ''[[TheEmperorsNewGroove The Emperor's New Groove]]''

* [[CanonForeigner Sasuke Sarugakure]], {{ninja}} servant to the Kunos in the ''[[{{ptitlegynukzwikxmd}} Ranma ½]]'' anime, alternates between this and StraightMan for the Kunos, depending on just how insane his masters are this week.

* Fighter from ''[=~8-Bit Theater~=]'' is, at times, Black Mage's Bumbling Sidekick.
* Elan from ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'' is often portrayed as Roy's Bumbling Sidekick. In the ''Origin of the [=PCs=]'' {{prequel}}, he definitely is toward his Paladin partner. On the villains' side, Thog is this for Nale in the Linear Guild.

* ''AxisPowersHetalia'': How the hell does Lithuania put up with Russia? [[{{Yandere}} Maybe it's because he's scared shitless of him]].

* [[TheStarscream Starscream]] from ''{{Transformers}}'' is whiny, bitchy, violent, and [[{{Understatement}} actually prone to disloyalty]]. Yet his fangirls love him the most when his delusions of grandeur and his frequency of abuse are at their most inverted extremes. If Megatron ''doesn't'' hit his Second-in-Command with his own dislocated arm or Starscream doesn't die in ''at least'' three painful ways, your series was a failure, sir!

** Even TheSpectre had "Percival Popp, the Super Cop," a dorky amateur detective (not an actual police officer) who followed him around.
** PlasticMan was already pretty funny in his own right, but he still had Woozy Winks, a fat, bumbling sidekick [[{{Expy}} with a personality based on]] [[AbbottAndCostello Lou Costello]].

** The GreenLantern had Doiby Dickles, a dimwitted, [[possibly psychotic, wrench-wielding taxi driver]].

* ''TeenTitans'' - Bette Kane, a former member of the Teen Titans, and prior to some retconning the original {{Batgirl}}, has been portrayed as this for many years. Recently, she decided to come out of retirement while in college, only to end up being kidnapped and held hostage by a serial killer a mere issue after her initial decision.

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[[caption-width-right:300:PinkyAndTheBrain. Guess which is which, and which of the two illustrates this trope.]]

[[quoteright:300: [[PinkyAndTheBrain http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pinky_and_the_brain_9000.jpg]] ]]
[[caption-width-right:330:PinkyAndTheBrain. Guess which is which, and which of the two illustrates this trope.]]

* DonaldDuck frequently falls into this role when Uncle Scrooge is around. To be fair: a)ItDependsOnTheWriter, and b)Donald is not stupid, just blinded by his own ego at times.
* Comicbook/{{X-Men}} villain Toad was played this role for Magneto for a very long time. He didn't start to grow balls until the '90s, and even then, he was still the ButtMonkey until TheMovie came out where -- thanks to additional ranine abilities like a "nasty tongue" and spitting goo -- he became quite an effective villain, which carried over into the comics.

* Bette Kane, a former member of the TeenTitans, and prior to some retconning the original {{Batgirl}}, has been portrayed as this for many years. Recently, she decided to come out of retirement while in college, only to end up being kidnapped and held hostage by a serial killer a mere issue after her initial decision.

* ''Stolen from Gypsies'' has two, both probably inspired by Baldrick. The protagonist/narrator has his servant Antonio, and in the story-within-a-story he's writing, there's the character Short Clog. Since the characters in the story-within-a-story reflect the narrator's life, it's likely Short Clog reflects Antonio, although the two are somewhat different- Antonio is a bit of a HypercompetentSidekick (think Baldrick in the first season of ''Blackadder''), whereas Short Clog is a straight up BumblingSidekick, being a dullard with bad hygiene.

An annoying, incompetent sidekick for another character (usually an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist) who barely tolerates him. The only talent a Bumbling Sidekick has is the ability to tolerate any amount of abuse -- and he needs it, given how often his "friends" are yelling at him and throwing him face-first into walls.

Some Bumbling Sidekicks are delusional and think they're appreciated, which is why [[HappinessInSlavery they put up with the abuse they get]]. Others are just too desperate for friendship and/or money to leave.

They tend to have extreme luck -- either they're the resident ButtMonkey, or they reap all the benefits of other characters' hard work (which makes everyone resent them even more).

Originally named TheBaldrick after "Sod-off" Baldrick from ''{{Blackadder}}'', who is probably the definitive example. In the first season, he was a HypercompetentSidekick, but a {{Retool}} between seasons (coupled with a TimeSkip that meant we were now watching his [[IdenticalGrandson identical great-grandson]]) increasingly transformed him into the clumsy, clingy idiot who put up with a beating an episode. By the time of the fourth TV series, ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', Private S. Baldrick's stupidity [[RalphWiggum borders on insanity]].

Not at all related to the demons from TheSalvationWar (who are also coined after the aforementioned Baldrick).

Not to be confused with a certain adulterous golf player, either.

* Kronk, from ''The Emperor's New Groove''

** And then again among the Death Eaters (although Voldemort himself finds such a sidekick ''useful''...)
*** YourMileageMayVary - Pettigrew can be surprisingly competent when his survival's at stake (killing thirteen people to cover his escape, making his way to Albania and kidnapping Bertha Jorkins, and then brewing what are presumably quite complex potions to sustain Voldemort's existence during Goblet of Fire). He only really comes across as bumbling because he sucks up to James and Sirius so much, and because all his real competence is off-page.
* Partially subverted in the ''CiaphasCain novels'' set in the ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe (inspired in no small part by [[BlackAdder the trope namer]], according to author SandyMitchell). Commissar Cain's aide, Jurgen, is ugly, taciturn, unhygienic, and most can barely tolerate his presence. However, he is entirely reliable, competent, honest to a fault, and a frighteningly skilled driver of anything from civilian autos to heavy military tanks.
** Also, the main reason people can't tolerate him is because he's a "blank" (a person who generates a negative [[PsychicPowers psychic field]]), so his presence protects commissar Cain from enemy psykers, whose powers get nullified in his presence.
*** Further subverted in that, although Cain constantly describes Jurgen in his memoirs as being dim, unhygienic and ALWAYS preceded by his odor wherever he goes, he's also ''very'' fond of Jurgen, defends him to others who question his competence and (despite Cain's obsessive self-interest) is extremely upset in the first book when he thinks Jurgen has died. The fact that Jurgen is always left out of the stories about him is also something of an irritation to Cain.
**** Jurgen is a walking DeusExMachina armed with a weapon best described as what flamethrowers want to be when they grow up. ''Of course'' Cain is fond of having him around...

* Ted from ''{{Scrubs}}''.
** Actually, J.D. fits this trope when he's around Dr. Cox.

* Mieu a.k.a. "Thing" in ''{{Tales of the Abyss}}''. He's a typical cutesy animal like you'd find in many a fantasy anime, complete with an annoying squeaky voice and [[VerbalTic Spoon Speak]]. What makes him a Bumbling Sidekick is his undying faith in his master, who gives him the aforementioned nickname, bashes him into a soldier's helmet to knock the SOLDIER out, and every other time he speaks, he either kicks it around or tells it to shut up, or (usually) both.
** One of the members of the QuirkyMinibossSquad is also this. Yes, it's Dist, who attempts to make it very clear that he really does hate [[strike:that duplicitous snake whom he once counted among his friends]] Jade, but fails miserably because of his stalkeristic actions. [[GoldfishPoopGang The entire party pretty much just treats him like a joke.]]

* Elan from ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'' is often portrayed as Roy's Bumbling Sidekick. In the ''Origin of the [=PCs=]'' {{prequel}}, he definitely is toward his Paladin partner.
** On the villains' side, Thog is this for Nale in the Linear Guild.

* Greasy of the ''WhatelyUniverse'', the deviser who's the sidekick of annoying horndog Peeper around the [[SuperheroSchool Whateley campus]].

* Helga Phugly, ''TheOblongs'' (a rare female example).
* GIR, ''InvaderZim''
** Actually, Zim acts this way towards the Tallests, though he's clearly the protagonist.

* Meatwad from ''AquaTeenHungerForce'' acts like a small child, complete with imaginary friends. This lets him be the perfect Bumbling Sidekick -- he's clingy, gullible, stubborn, useless in an emergency, and has no attention span. He also has the wild sidekick luck -- his fortunes vary from being sold for cash to becoming the god of Christmas.
** The golf videogame lampshades this with comments like "What a rotten friend you are!" when describing the pickups allowing you to use him as a golf ball or as a distraction for the enemy to target.
* Pinky from ''{{Pinky and the Brain}}'' is not desperate, nor does he ever quite demonstrate the delusion that he is appreciated. Rather, he is simply too [[TheDitz scatterbrained]] and [[CloudCuckoolander cheerfully oblivious]] to notice that such a thing as contempt exists, much less that the Brain harbors so endless a supply of it for him.
** This is subverted somewhat by the fact that, deep down, the Brain really does care for Pinky as much as Pinky, who considers the Brain his best friend in all the world, cares for the Brain.

** ''TransformersAnimated'' must have been a HUGE success, then...

* ''Stolen from Gypsies'' has two, the protagonist/narrator's servant Antonio and the character Short Clog in the story-within-a-story (which makes sense, since the narrator is the one who made up this story and it reflects upon aspects of his life). Both of them have a dept to the original Baldrick, although while Antonio has a bit of first season Bumbling Sidekick in between his ignorance, Short Clog is a dullard with poor hygiene.

* DonaldDuck frequently falls into this role when Uncle Scrooge is around.