History Main / HandyHelper

* In ''Film/BenHur1959'', Simonides the house slave was imprisoned and tortured by the Romans for several years, and when he was finally released he couldn't move his legs anymore. Another prisoner named Malick was released at the same time without a tongue. From that point on, Simonides became Malick's voice and Malick acted as Simonides' legs.

* In a chapter of ''Manga/BlackJack,'' an aspiring sushi chef is accidentally hit by a truck driver and loses his arms. To make amends, the driver offers to help the chef by serving as his hands. However, in a cruel twist of fate, the truck driver is himself killed in a traffic accident. Black Jack ends up grafting his arms onto the sushi chef.

* At the end of ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'', the hero and the chick cooperate like this -- he wields the sword while she helps him with her ability to see through illusions of the BigBad.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Chopper, the medic, is unable to move very much after [[spoiler:after using Monster Point]] so Robin helps him with medical duties, by moving him around.
* In ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' Raiga serves as this for Ranmaru, who is crippled with respect to his arms and legs. The people of Ranmaru's village used to bring him food but became convinced he was cursed due to his psychic abilities. Raiga arrived to the village on a mission and was going to kill Ranmaru but decided instead to invoke this trope. In a bit of an inversion, the line that typically accompanies the formation of such a bond was used by Ranmaru when in a blatant display of TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior He causes fog to appear and assures Raiga that he'll "be his eyes" The problem? Ranmaru's plan is to trick Raiga into walking off a cliff so that [[TogetherInDeath the two of them can die]] [[TheAtoner as atonement for all the wrong they've done.]]

[[folder:Fanfic]]

* In ''Gensokyo 20XXV'', a toddler Youmu plays this role to a near-blind Reimu, guiding her around. It genuinely sweet, even if Youmu is a bit young to understand the situation fully.

* In ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'' series, Dag is one-handed. Normally this isn't a problem for him, but when he breaks his other arm, his then-fiancée Fawn ends up acting as his hands.
* In the ''Literature/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'' series, Mary is stricken blind and her sister Laura becomes her eyes by describing everything she sees for Mary's benefit whenever she asks.

* In The Literature/BookOfExodus, Aaron serves as his brother Moses's speaker, since Moses has a speech disability.
* Magpie and Dog in ''Literature/{{Fox}}'' by Margaret Wild. Magpie's wing was injured in a forest fire, and Dog has only one eye, so Magpie rides around on Dog's back being his binocular vision, and when he runs it's ''almost'' as good as flying.
* ''Literature/BenHur'' has a mutual example. When Simonides and Malluch meet in the dungeons and are both released, Simonides acts as Malluch's tongue and Malluch acts as Simonides' legs.
** In the film version, Simonides says "together we make a considerable man".
* ''Literature/FreakTheMighty'' (and of course the movie adaptation, ''The Mighty'') is a mutual example of this. Freak is brilliant and outspoken but frail, while Max is big and strong but none too bright; together they can face down just about anybody.
* At the end of the ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Mage Storms]]'' trilogy, Karal is blinded preventing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. He can only see while in the spirit world and [[SeeingThroughAnothersEyes through his mind link with Altra]], who swears to stay with him. When Natoli writes to ask him to return to Valdemar, she says: "I can be your eyes too." (less literally than Altra, as she doesn't have any PsychicPowers).
* Invoked in ''Literature/FateZero''; when [[spoiler:Kayneth]] becomes crippled as a result of getting shot by Kiritsugu's Origin Bullet, [[spoiler:Sola-ui]] offers to become [[spoiler:Lancer]]'s new master, whether forcefully or otherwise.

* In ''Literature/EnchantedPonyAcademy'', all monarchs must choose a [[BondCreature Glitter Pony]], who serves as their advisor and mount. For Princess Alana, who can't walk, the choice is even more important: riding allows her speed and manoeuverability she can't achieve in her wheelchair. Fortunately, [[IntellectualAnimal Electra]] doesn't mind Alana giving her verbal rather than physical commands.
* Early in ''Literature/DrFranklinsIsland'' Semi [[DroppedGlasses loses her contacts]] in a [[ComingInHot plane crash]] and is [[BlindWithoutEm quite near-sighted]]. Her new friend Miranda describes things that Semi can't see for her. When they're [[ForcedTransformation transformed into monsters]], [[MellowMantas Semi's]] eyesight is stronger but she's stuck in a pool and has no hands, while Miranda is a birdlike monster with HandyFeet. Semi's more reliant on Miranda than ever to tell her what's happening and manipulate objects for her, but TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody and Miranda becomes less reliable over time, especially as they hear about the prospect of Semi and only Semi turning human again.
* In ''{{Literature/Dinoverse}}'', the first party of kids sent back to the Cretaceous possess an Ankylosaur (obligate quadruped with forefeet like clawed boots), a Tyrannosaur (tiny arms with two fingers), a Leptoceratops (has some dexterity but is hampered by the requirement to [[RunningOnAllFours walk on the forefeet sometimes]]), and a Quetzalcoatlus (thinner, sharper fingers on the wings). The girl in the form of the Leptoceratops isn't comfortable being naked and wants to "[[SeashellBra pull a Little Mermaid]]" but can't manage to pierce the seashells and string them together with vines as she'd like to, nor can she or the Tyrannosaur boy manage to tie it to her. The Quetzalcoatlus girl does both for her with a certain condescension, as they [[FormerFriendOfAlphaBitch have history]].
* Brainships in ''Literature/TheShipWho'' setting are {{Living Ship}}s each paired with a "brawn", an ordinary human able to do things like leave the ship (or take passengers by the shoulders and shake them). Brainships are carefully conditioned not to mind this and to prioritize their own power and abilities more highly, but they do still often need brawns. A good brain-brawn partnership is seamless and mutually supportive, each working together to be more effective than they would be alone. One brainship does have a RemoteBody made so that she can interact with the world more like a regular person (and have a physical relationship with her brawn, as in other cases brains and brawns CantHaveSexEver) but using it takes so much of her processing power that she's otherwise inert, so it's not something that can be used constantly.

* Invoked in an episode of ''Series/TheMentalist'' where Jane gets a millionaire to let him drive his car while blindfolded -- Jane steers by having the person's hand on his shoulder, responding to his tension as Jane drives.
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', the diplomat Riva is deaf from a hereditary genetic deficiency, but has his "chorus", an entourage of three people in telepathic communication with Riva and able to enunciate his thoughts. This trope is repeated in the same episode when [[spoiler:Riva's "chorus" is killed and Data must read his sign language and translate for him]] This happens in another episode of ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Next Gen]]'' where [[spoiler:[=LaForge=] and a Romulan lose the use of some of their senses due to interference from the planet Galorndon Core, and compensate for each other's lost senses]].

** Spoofed in season I when, after being brought back to life as an [[IntangibleMan hologram]] Rimmer asks Lister to be his hands. Lister refuses on the grounds he knows the type of things Rimmer liked to touch.
** In a season VII episode Lister has lost an arm, so Kryten does everything for him, including things he could still do, like wiping his mouth with a napkin.
* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' Simon Tam is River's Amygdala built for two.
* Sue Thomas' dog in ''Series/SueThomasFBEye''.
* {{Downplayed}}, since the impairments aren't permanent, in an episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' ("Lend a Hand"): Hawkeye and a visiting surgeon (played by Creator/AlanAlda's real-life father Robert) who he's been butting heads with get injured during a bombing raid, leaving one with a sprained wrist and another with a broken arm. They work side-by-side, each as the other's missing hand, to save the life of a soldier.

* ''Series/{{Haven}}:'' Downplayed, but Nathan's [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Trouble]] is that he [[FeelNoPain can't feel anything.]] Both Audrey and Duke fill those role, mostly reminding him that just because he can't feel something doesn't mean hes not injured. Nathan asking Audrey to check the temperature of his coffee so he doesn't burn himself is a smaller ShipTease moment, which gets a callback after they get together when Audrey has to remind him the coffee he just brewed (and took a huge swig of) is really hot.

* Subverted in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' -- The naga are a race of snake-headed humans and most of them cope just fine, either through dextrous mouths or magic. However, they do notice the trope and consider it a proof that they are a superior race -- after all, they are best suited for thinking, while lesser creatures serve as their limbs -- so this must be the intended natural order.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Wurr}}'', DelicateAndSickly Sinjal is carried around on his packmates' backs.

* ''Webcomic/OutOfPlacers'': The Baxxid are a sapient race with memories and language-learning skills greatly surpassing humans, but their spiky insectoid limbs are incapable of writing or using tools. So the Baxxid in Val Salia have to rely on human servants to do those sorts of manual tasks.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeIVJourneyThroughTheMists'' had villains Dil and Ichy, a near-blind crocodile and a bird, respectively. Ichy would act as Dil's eyes.
* The [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Classic Disney Short]]: ''Morris the Midget Moose'' is about a tiny moose with normal-sized antlers. He meets up with a normal-sized moose with tiny antlers, and the two combined themselves to make one complete moose.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' had Brainy lose his glasses, so he is forced to rely on Clumsy, whom he had earlier derided as being useless.

[[folder:Urban Legend]]
* A cop sees a car driving erratically, pulls it over on suspicion of drunk driving. Turns out the driver is blind. He's driving because his passenger ''is'' drunk (so he's acting as Designated Driver), but the drunk passenger is giving the blind man driving directions because the man is blind.
[[/folder]]

* At the end of the ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Mage Storms]]'' trilogy, Karal's eyesight is burned out. He can only see through his mind link with Altra. When Natoli writes to ask him to return to Valdemar, she says: "I can be your eyes too." (not literally, as she doesn't have any PsychicPowers).

This trope is a character compensating for another character's disability or deformity by basically becoming the appendage the other person is lacking (or, in cases like CumbersomeClaws, an appendage hard to use for other reasons). This altruistic attitude is usually attributed to, at least, a bond of friendship, and often is borne out of genuine love, be it brotherly, parent-child or romantic.

Compare TheCaretaker. Not to be confused with HelpingHands (although it's entirely possible for HelpingHands to be a HandyHelper). VoiceForTheVoiceless is a specific variant when the handicap is muteness.

* In [[Literature/TheBible The Book of Exodus]], Aaron serves as his brother Moses's speaker, since Moses has a speech disability.

* One of the ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' sequels had villains Dil and Ichy, a near-blind crocodile and a bird, respectively. Ichy would act as Dil's eyes.

This trope is a character compensating for another character's disability or deformity by basically becoming the appendage the other person is lacking (or, in cases like CumbersomeClaws, when the appendage is hard to use for other reasons). This altruistic attitude is usually attributed to, at least, a bond of friendship, and often is borne out of genuine love, be it brotherly, parent-child or romantic.

This trope is a character compensating for another character's disability or deformity by basically becoming the appendage the other person is lacking. This altruistic attitude is usually attributed to, at least, a bond of friendship, and often is borne out of genuine love, be it brotherly, parent-child or romantic.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' had Brainy lose his glasses, so he is forced to rely on Clumsy, whom he had earlier derided as being useless.

* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'': [[spoiler:the recently wingless fairy]] Maleficent invokes this when the raven Diaval, in exchange for her saving his life, offers her his service:
--> "I need you to be my wings."

* In ''WebComic/{{Wurr}}'', the resident IllGuy Sinjal is carried around on his packmates' backs.

* ''Series/{{Speechless}}'' begins it's pilot with the [=DiMeo=] family transferring schools so that J.J., who has cerebral palsy and communicates with a laser-pointer and word-board, can have a full-time interpreter in his classes.

* In ''Film/ShredderOrpheus'', since Axel's legs and lower nervous system don't work and he skates using his hands, Scratch and Razoreus help him get around in a hurry if need be.

* ''Series/TheWubbulousWorldOfDrSeuss'': These appear '''a lot''' in Season 2.

* ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico'': [[spoiler:Agent Sands]] is blinded and has to rely on a street kid he met earlier to guide him around.

** In the film version (not sure if it's in the book) Simonides says "together we make a considerable man".
* ''Literature/FreakTheMighty'' (and of course the movie adaptation, The Mighty) is a mutual example of this. Freak is brilliant and outspoken but frail, while Max is big and strong but none too bright; together they can face down just about anybody.

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' Riva a diplomat is deaf from a hereditary genetic deficiency, but has his "chorus", an entourage of three people in telepathic communication with Riva and able to enunciate his thoughts. This trope is repeated in the same episode when [[spoiler:Riva's "chorus" is killed and Data must read his sign language and translate for him]] This happens in another episode of ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Next Gen]]'' where [[spoiler:[=LaForge=] and a Romulan lose the use of some of their senses due to interference from the planet Galorndon Core, and compensate for each other's lost senses]].

* A cop sees a car driving erratically, pulls it over on suspicion of drunk driving. Turns out the driver is blind. He's driving because his passenger ''is'' drunk (so he's acting as Designated Driver), but the drunk passenger is giving the blind man driving directions because [[CaptainObvious the man is blind]].