History Main / PsychoSidekick

[[folder: Religion and Mythology]]

** Downplayed with Miho Shiina, who doesn't even ''like'' Satsuki all that much due to how much their personalities clash. Miho befriending Satsuki was born out of self-preservation: she knows she's an AlphaBitch who people are willing to hurt, and [[SecretChaser upon figuring out the Satsuki is legit]], concludes it would be beneficial to have someone close by that can warn her if she's the next one on the chopping block. As such, while she'll still do whatever she needs to do to keep Satsuki safe without prompting, and will assist with other schemes here and there, her level of investment immediately cuts in half if that day's premonitory corpse [[ItsAllAboutMe isn't hers]].

* Akira Atou in ''Manga/UsotsukiSatsukiWaShiGaMieru'', whose friendship with Satsuki began when the latter [[DefeatMeansFriendship stopped her from committing patricide]]. With a start like that, it is of little surprise that while she'll happily do what she can to assist her best friend's actions, she's also of the belief that Satsuki should let at least a few people die for the sake of her mental wellbeing and reputation (as Satsuki's [[CassandraTruth attempts to warn people of their future deaths]] have made her a social pariah to the point her own father doesn't trust her). Akira even openly admits that, while Satsuki is probably morally correct in how much she values all human life, she personally agrees more with the philosophy of [[spoiler:school council president Mikami]], who shares Satsuki's power but instead uses it to ensure the deaths of terrible people.

* Let's see now. Is this a film about [[TheMafia wiseguys]]? Is Creator/JoePesci doing his HairTriggerTemper routine? Yup? Well, there you go. To list a few examples; ''Film/{{Casino}}'', ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}''.

* In ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'', Creator/QuentinTarantino's character Richard Gecko is this to his brother Seth, played by Creator/GeorgeClooney. While Seth is an AffablyEvil NobleDemon who [[EvenEvilHasStandards refuses to kill unnecessarily]] and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil finds sexual violence disgusting]], Richie is an AxCrazy SerialRapist who appears to be too much of a PsychopathicManchild to even [[ObliviouslyEvil realize what he's doing is wrong]]. Oh, but ''[[BerserkButton never]]'' point out how crazy Richie is when he's within earshot.

** Inverted in the case of Harry and Michael. While Harry is heroic, he is more likely to do morally dubious things than Michael, who dislikes people ''swearing''.

* The latter half of everybody's favorite crime-solving dog and rabbit duo [[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max]]. Very much so.

** Both Derek and Cameron move around on the spectrum between this and PoisonousFriend in relation to the more moral Sarah and John. This occurs as early as the second episode, when Sarah holds [[spoiler:Enrique at gunpoint because she thinks he might be a snitch, but doesn't shoot. Cameron arrives on the scene by shooting him twice in the chest before anyone has a chance to stop her. Of course, she's vindicated at the end of the episode when it turns out Enrique really ''was'' an FBI informant.]]

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': While Giles is sometimes the PoisonousFriend, the "Scoobies" are well aware of his Ripper persona. Spike is this for Dawn; at certain points in the series, she adores him despite knowing that he would be back out slaughtering innocents if not for his chip.

Contrasted to the case of the PsyhcoSupporter, in which the main character is genuinely unaware of what the friend is doing. In this case, the main character is perfectly aware of the type of person their friend is and what they do for them. Naturally, this does come across as a bit hypocritical. Sometimes the hypocrisy is ignored by the story, but more often it's lampshaded. It's sometimes explicitly or implicitly argued that the ruthless act isn't so much [[ThouShaltNotKill wrong]] ''per se'', as something that would brutalise the hero to the point that they'd lose their compassion or ability to empathise with others or [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim ability to act as a moral exemplar to others]].

Contrasted to the case of the PoisonousFriend, in which the main character is genuinely unaware of what the friend is doing. In this case, the main character is perfectly aware of the type of person their friend is and what they do for them. Naturally, this does come across as a bit hypocritical. Sometimes the hypocrisy is ignored by the story, but more often it's lampshaded. It's sometimes explicitly or implicitly argued that the ruthless act isn't so much [[ThouShaltNotKill wrong]] ''per se'', as something that would brutalise the hero to the point that they'd lose their compassion or ability to empathise with others or [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim ability to act as a moral exemplar to others]].

When this comes in useful is when the hero has to [[ShootTheDog do something that they don't feel they can do]], most often killing somebody who is certain to do horrible things to them or their loved ones or innocent bystanders, but who is too [[VillainWithGoodPublicity sneaky]] or too [[DirtyCoward unsuited]] to [[TheManBehindTheCurtain combat]] for them to be conveniently able to kill them in self-defence or some kind of [[DuelToTheDeath fair fight]]. At this point the PsychoSidekick can step in and shoot the helpless guy in the face while the hero feels some slight angst but is grateful that they didn't have to do it.

* In ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'', Creator/QuentinTarantino's character Richard Gecko is this to Richard's brother Seth, played by Creator/GeorgeClooney. While Seth is an AffablyEvil NobleDemon who [[EvenEvilHasStandards refuses to kill unnecessarily]] and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil finds sexual violence disgusting]], Richie is an AxCrazy SerialRapist who appears to be too much of a PsychopathicManchild to even [[ObliviouslyEvil realize what he's doing is wrong]]. Oh, but ''[[BerserkButton never]]'' point out how crazy Richie is when he's within earshot.

* Paul von Oberstein in ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'': he works for the (relatively) idealistic Reinhard, and lost no sleep when he let two million people die in a nuclear attack.

* In ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'', Creator/QuentinTarantino's character Richard Gecko is this to Richard's brother Seth, played by Creator/GeorgeClooney. While Seth is an AffablyEvil NobleDemon who [[EvenEvilHasStandards refuses to kill unnecessarily]], Richie is an AxCrazy SerialRapist who appears to be too much of a PsychopathicManchild to even [[ObliviouslyEvil realize what he's doing is wrong]]. Oh, but ''[[BerserkButton never]]'' point out how crazy Richie is when he's within earshot.

* In ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'', Creator/QuentinTarantino's character Richard Gecko is this to Richard's brother Seth, played by Creator/GeorgeClooney. While Seth is an AffablyEvil NobleDemon who [[EvenEvilHasStandards refuses to kill unnecessarily]], Richie is a [[SerialRapist habitual sex offender]] who appears to be too much of a PsychopathicManchild to even [[ObliviouslyEvil realize what he's doing is wrong]].