History Main / OlderSidekick

* Captain Hook's first mate and personal assistant Mr. Smee from ''Disney/PeterPan'' is about a decade older than him.

* Kamina and Simon of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' are BashBrothers who are true equals, both excelling in the areas the other lacks in. However, Simon later outgrows Kamina, making the latter seem like an older sidekick in retrospect.

* Phoenix's regular partner in the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' saga is his young assistant Maya Fey, but when he needs extra assistance he calls Maya's older sister Mia fey, who fits in this trope. Also, Mia's assistants were her mentors Marvin Grossberg and Diego Armando, both older than her. Then Apollo was assisted in his first case by his mentor Kristoph Gavin, and later Phoenix himself, and finally in the Spinoff ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations'', Edgeworth is helped by the older Detective Gumshoe.

* A villainous example: Bane's henchmen Bird, Trogg, and Zombie from ''ComicBook/Batman'' were already adults when he was a child in prison serving his father's sentence, they took him in after his mother died and taught him how to read, fight, and survive harsh conditions.

* Back in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, a lot of superheroes had older PluckyComicRelief sidekicks. The best remembered today is probably Doiby Dickles, the cab-driving associate of the original GreenLantern.

* In the 1989-93 NOW Comics comic book adaptation of ''ComicBook/TheGreenHornet'', Hayashi Kato (sidekick of the second Green Hornet, based on the Bruce Lee role in the 1966 TV adaptation) becomes OlderSidekick to Alan and Paul Reid (the third and fourth Hornets, respectively).

* This is OlderThanFeudalism: In Creator/{{Homer}}'s ''Literature/TheIliad'', Patroclus was traditionally an OlderSidekick (and, later, the ultimate [[spoiler:DeadSidekick]]) to Achilles, although modern adaptations such as the movie ''Troy'' tend to portray him as younger to be more in keeping with audience expectations.

* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'', [[WanderingMinstrel Fflewddur Fflam]] is the OlderSidekick to [[FarmBoy Taran]] and [[RebelliousPrincess Eilonwy]], who are barely out of their teens. He subverts the expectation that he would be more mature and responsible than them, however, being something of a [[WideEyedIdealist romantic and a daydreamer]] ([[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass although he's still handy in a fight]]).

** Since the player in VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} is ''19 years old'', every companion except Dogmeat ([[CaptainObvious a dog]]) and Butch (someone your character grew up with) qualifies. In particular:

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''[[Fanfic/TheDarkLordsOfNerima The Dark Lords Ascendant]]'' presents a villainous example in the form of Tanizaki Kazuo and his personal assassin, Zhang.
[[/folder]]

** Likely Count Dooku to [[EvilChancellor Chancellor Palpatine]], considering Creator/ChristopherLee is over twenty years older than Ian McDiarmid.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'', the titular hero is a twelve year old boy, so his [[BattleButler Body Guard]] Norman does all the killing. Meanwhile Virgil who is even older, serves part as his boss (telling him what needs to be done) but more as a sidekick, helping him out and giving him details he'll need to know.

One is that the older character won't fall out of the CompetenceZone because they're under the direction of the younger hero, and thus doesn't undermine their maturity. If the relationship is close, the sidekick's more adult qualities actually fulfill some kind of parental role, which the hero might lack from having [[ParentalAbandonment no family]], without being intrusive. On the other hand, the Older Sidekick can be a non-threatening (yet incredibly appealing) fantasy object for the audience, who identifies with the main hero. A variant of this is when the younger character leads due to rank or status but requires the more experienced sidekick for advice. A typical example of this would be CaptainSmoothAndSergeantRough.

* In ''VideoGame/TouhouFuumarokuTheStoryOfEasternWonderland'', there's Genji, a [[TurtlePower flying geezer turtle]] who serves and Reimu's [[SapientSteed mount and mentor]]. [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome He was never seen in again]], as subsequent games in the series would depict Reimu as simply flying by her own power, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness rendering Genji's general existence redundant]].

* In the 1989-93 NOW Comics comic book adaptation of ''Franchise/TheGreenHornet'', Hayashi Kato (sidekick of the second Green Hornet, based on the Bruce Lee role in the 1966 TV adaptation) becomes OlderSidekick to Alan and Paul Reid (the third and fourth Hornets, respectively).

** In series 5, [[spoiler:Rory Williams]] became this, [[spoiler:being an Auton replicant with Rory's memories, standing by the Pandorica for 2,000 years.]] Though by the end of "The Big Bang", he's now [[spoiler:back in his twenties, with his millennia of memories locked away unless necessary.]]

->'''Doctor:''' Bless. I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. [-Well, I say not bad-]-- Anyway, lead on! Allons-y. But not too fast, her ankle's going.\\
'''Jackie:''' (''sotto'') I'll show ''you'' [[LiteralAssKicking where my ankle's going!]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* On an episode of ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', it was revealed that Iolaus is actually older than Hercules by two years.
** Rather odd considering that in the myth, he's Heracles' NEPHEW.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':

** Though naturally much younger than [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld The Doctor]], Wilf in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]] certainly looks the part, being the Doctor's oldest human companion. The Doctor outright says he'd be proud to have Wilf as a dad.

** In ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'', the Sixth Doctor is accompanied by Dr. Evelyn Smythe. At age fifty-five she is perhaps the second oldest human companion behind Wilf.
* The actor who plays John Watson in BBC's ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' is five years older than the one who plays Sherlock. However, the age difference isn't obvious and so far hasn't come up on the show.

* Mike to Gus in ''Series/BreakingBad''. Neither is particularly ''young'', but Mike is clearly older.
* Dominic Santini to Stringfellow Hawke in ''Series/{{Airwolf}}''

* Arf of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' for Fate, though considering how she's a wolf familiar that Fate bonded with, she may be [[YoungerThanTheyLook Younger Than She Looks]] (well, when she's not using her FunSize mode).

* Although not as active in the field as some examples Alfred could be considered to be this to {{Batman}}.

* ''RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy'' has TalkingAnimal SpiritAdvisor Gouto-douji, who is over a thousand years older than the eponymous protagonist.

* All of Oliver's party members in ''NiNoKuni'' are older than he is. Esther is only a few years older, but Swaine is about thirty [[spoiler: and his little brother, Marcassin, is in his early twenties]]. ExpositionFairy Drippy, the most explicitly "sidekickish" of them, is old enough to have traveled with the Great Sage Alicia when she was younger, and acts a bit like a man in his forties.

* Dominic Santini to Stringfellow Hawke in ''{{Airwolf}}''

* Jake in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' for Finn.