Sidekick Graduations Stick

And not even those Running the Asylum will change that!

"Hey, no one can be a Boy Wonder forever."

— Dick Grayson, The New Batman Adventures

In Super Hero Comic Books, the Status Quo Is God. It might not seem like that at first, what with all the deaths, resurrections, Face Heel Turns, Heel Face Turns, and whatnot. It's a rare year — honestly, a rare month — where comic book readers aren't gravely informed that Nothing Is the Same Anymore.

Yet, take a look at the major characters of The DCU or the Marvel Universe today and five or ten years ago. Things will be different, but not that different, and most of the major changes will seem to have happened recently. The companies that own these characters, like all large corporations, are conservative (in this case meaning wanting to maintain a status quo), and all these dramatic changes have a noticeable tendency to cancel out in the long run. Once a character establishes an iconic status quo, or becomes part of another character's iconic status quo, it can be extremely difficult to change anything major about that character.

There is, however, one category of change that's an interesting exception: the "graduation" of Sidekicks to become independent heroes in their own right, or assume their mentor's mantle (which can overlap with Passing the Torch). Perhaps it is only because this tends to be accompanied by finally aging the character from a teen to an adult, and even in the Retcon-happy world of comics, reversing that without breaking the Willing Suspension of Disbelief is hard (with the possible exception being large-scale Reboots, since everything for the most part is turned back to square 1).

Still, it also seems that negative fan reaction to these changes is also much, much rarer than with the average change. What little of it there is tends to occur when another character's mantle is taken by the graduating sidekick, with fans of that character being understandably upset at the displacement, rather than desire to see the sidekick remain a sidekick. When that sort of thing happens, it's most often remedied by simply having the character graduate again, creating their own hero identity and handing the Legacy Character baton back to its proper holder.

The real life version is probably soldiers, politicians, artists or sportsmen initially apprenticing under experienced mentors who may or may not be big names before proving their worth and becoming equally famous in their own right.

See also Kid Hero All Grown-Up.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• This is the standard Modus Operandi of My Hero Academia. When a student graduates from Hero School, they begin their career by working as a Sidekick under another hero. After working for a time, they can then go and establish their own independent hero agency and hire their own sidekicks. The prime example of this process is the hero, Sir Nighteye, who was once the sidekick of All Might before establishing his own agency.

Comic Books

• All-Star Squadron: DC brought back Mr. Scarlet, an old Golden Age hero, except now the role is taken by the original's sidekick, who was called Pinky, the Whiz Kid. (Yeah...the Golden Age was a sillier time, wasn't it?)
• Aquaman: Aqualad was the last of the original Teen Titans to get a new name. When it happened, though, he got an entire miniseries in which, as well as the name Tempest, he got new water-shaping powers.
• Batman: Batman's sidekick Dick Grayson became Nightwing, and has never returned to being Robin; unlike many characters with successors, he's never referred to as the "real" Robin, just the first. (Although his counterpart in the original Earth-2 never gave up the Robin identity.)
  • One exception: in the storyline following "Knightsend", he became Batman briefly, then returned to being Nightwing. This was, however, always intended to be temporary.
    • And then he became Batman an a more permanent basis in Batman (Grant Morrison) after Bruce Wayne's 'inconveniencing' in the event Final Crisis. Fans guessed this would be reverted as soon as Bruce got back, but it actually stuck around for a little while with both men operating as Batman - in fact, Bruce started franchising and appointing even more Batmen worldwide. Dick's promotion was eventually reversed by the New 52 relaunch, where he went back to being Nightwing.
  • The second Robin, Jason Todd, graduated once he came back from the dead. Except instead of becoming his own hero he became a villain. Or a really dark Anti-Hero or something; it's complicated. He's tried to hijack the Batman and Nightwing names a couple times, but for the most part he's taken over the pre-existing name the Red Hood.
    • Also, in an Alternate Universe where he didn't die, he becomes the second Batman.
  • Tim Drake, the third Robin, altered his identity into Red Robin. And yes, this counts as a full graduation, as Damian Wayne has taken over being original-style Robin. He later went back to sharing the Robin identity with Damien, after a mercifully brief period where his heroic identity was somehow Drake.
  • Stephanie Brown, the Spoiler, "graduated" to replace Tim Drake as Robin. It lasted only a few issues, and she then returned to being the Spoiler... but only for the Bat Family Crossover that ended with her death. Later played straight when Stephanie reappeared (she had been Just Hiding) and graduated again, this time to Batgirl... At least until the New 52 relaunch, where Barbara took the mantle of Batgirl back. It wasn't until Rebirth that she turned up again as The Spoiler. Barbara Gordon showed no signs of wanting to abandon her role and power as Oracle as she was more confident and a much more influential hero than she'd ever been as Batgirl. Outside of the comics there was substantial — though far from universal — desire to see her scaled back to a street level hero once more. However, there was significant fanbase support for Babs as Oracle, as she was a rare example of a handicapped hero whose concept doesn't rely on a Disability Superpower or on being Inspirationally Disadvantaged. In the end Flashpoint erased the other Batgirls from continuity and put Babs back in the cowl and younger than she's ever been in comics before. As for the other major Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, she stepped away and gave the role to Stephanie. She was eventually appointed as the "Batman" of Hong Kong, using the code name "Blackbat". Then changed again in Rebirth to become "Orphan".
• Captain America:
  • At one point, Steve Rogers was forced out of the role by the US government and replaced by John Walker. When Steve came back, John continued as a hero called the U.S.Agent.
  • After Civil War Steve was killed and was replaced as Captain America by Bucky Barnes, his WWII sidekick. You thought Bucky was a Dead Sidekick? It's a long story... Anyway, when Steve came back, they decided that Bucky should be the one to continue on as Cap, as it helped his Character Development. Steve instead operated sans codename as a super-agent not unlike Nick Fury. Like other examples here, his was eventually reversed: after supposedly dying during Fear Itself, Bucky decided to go back to his prior identity of the Winter Solder to pursue black-ops missions, using his "death" as a cover.
  • Jack Monroe and Rikki Barnes, the third and sixth Buckies, eventually each took up the Nomad identity that Steve once used and became a solo act (Rikki doing so after Monroe's death). Later on, Steve's adopted son, Ian Zola (whose real father is Arnim Zola), took up the role of Nomad.
  • Lemar Hoskins, the fourth Bucky, became the solo hero Battlestar after a stint as the sidekick of John Walker.
  • Prior to AXIS, Steve Rogers had his Super Soldier Serum deactivated, reverting him to an 80-year-old man. Due to this, he hand-picked his new successor, Sam Wilson, the Falcon. Steve eventually got his youth back and returned to superheroics, but he and Sam are now sharing the title of Captain America.
• Captain Marvel: Though more of a Distaff Counterpart than a proper sidekick, Carol Danvers finally left behind the Ms. Marvel identity and became Captain Marvel proper in the wake of Avengers vs. X-Men. The Ms. Marvel identity has since passed to a Muslim teenager named Kamala Khan.
• The Flash:
  • Pictured: Wally West is the greatest example of this trope, even after all the attempts at a subversion. After Wally's mentor and the second Flash, Barry Allen, died in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wally stepped up from the role of Kid Flash to Flash, and was, for over two decades, the primary Flash, even being featured in Justice League and was slated to be in a Live Action film. Then Barry came back, Flashpoint happened, and in the New 52, Wally was retgoned, along with most of his supporting cast and any other potential 'sidekick' to the Flash. Later on, they introduced him as a 12 year old troubled biracial child to get him back down to his Kid Flash role again. This faced a massive backlash from the fans and the overall decline in interest resulted in DC Rebirth, where the original version of the character returned in a grand fashion and was given his title and legacy back^note (with the other younger Wally West revealed to be the original's cousin, both named after their great grandfather, allowing both characters to remain and the younger Wally to have a chance to carve his own path). After the one-shot, The Flash (2016) tie-in had Barry telling Wally he is a Flash, essentially making them equals. Out of all Legacy Characters who held their mantles for short periods of time only to revert back to their previous positions, Wally West earned to become The Flash.
    Barry Allen: "You are no longer Kid Flash. You are a Flash now."
  • Bart Allen is a subversion. Originally Impulse, then Kid Flash, then the Flash, then dead, then back to Kid Flash. After the New 52 kicked in, his time as Impulse and the Flash was erased and now he's a different Kid Flash. (He also had an entirely different origin where his name wasn't even really Bart Allen. These days, most fans assume that was a completely different character, and don't talk about him.) Then, after Rebirth, he's back to being Impulse, but is as much his own hero as he ever was, acting more as his own agent.
  • Jesse Quick plays with this; she surpassed her father, Johnny Quick, after he died in large part because the rest of the Flash family basically took her in as one of her own, but she never surpassed Wally West due to Can't Catch Up being a defining issue. He stepped down from the Titans to give her room to flourish in that team and play this role straight, but things...didn't go well, and she shortly after became so depressed that she lost her speed after loaning it to Wally to beat Zoom. She then reconnected with her mother, also a superhero by the name Liberty Belle, and after a timeskip, took over her mantle after unlocking her powers. However, she then reconnected with the Flash Family after regaining her speed and became something of a Superior Successor to both her parents.
• Green Arrow: The original Speedy, Roy Harper, has long since moved on from being Green Arrow's sidekick, becoming first Arsenal, then Red Arrow, then Arsenal again.
• Hawkeye: Inverted, as Kate Bishop started out as the new Hawkeye in Young Avengers before eventually partnering up with the original Hawkeye in Hawkeye (2012), Clint Barton. She still retains the Hawkeye moniker though (shared with Clint) and they tend to act more as partners than the traditional sidekick/mentor dichotomy. It helps that Clint has admitted that Kate is a better archer than him.
• The Incredible Hulk: Subverted in Hulk (2008), as with Bruce Banner safely locked away in a military base and unable to turn into the Hulk, a new, Red Hulk (called "Rulk" by fans) shows up from out of nowhere. Who is he? All signs pointed to Rick Jones, the original Hulk's old sidekick, having graduated into the role...which just made it all the more shocking when we learn that Rick has graduated, but NOT into the Red Hulk...instead, he's become a creature called A-Bomb, strong enough to fight Rulk on his own level. Rulk was eventually revealed to be General "Thunderbolt" Ross, having teamed up with the Leader to take down the Hulk, making this an example of He Who Fights Monsters.
• Knight and Squire: The current Knight (the "Batman of Britain") is the original Squire. Admittedly, the Knight and Squire hadn't appeared anywhere for about fifty years until this version showed up, so it was less a change in the status quo and more the introduction of a might-as-well-be-new character...
  • Similarly, the Ranger of Austalia was killed during his reintroduction, and his sidekick Scout took over. Chief Man-of-Bats' sidekick Little Raven went the more Nightwingy route of creating his own adult identity (Raven Red). Man-of-Bats still tends to call him Little Raven, though.
  • An issue of Batman Incorporated had the current Knight be killed and the current Squire become the new Knight with a completely different person becoming her sidekick.
• Miracleman: Miracleman saw his sidekick, Kid Miracleman, grow up and become...a homicidal lunatic who horribly tortured and killed millions of people. Sometimes these things don't work out like you'd hoped.
• Moon Knight: An unusual example, as Moon Knight reluctantly took on Midnight—the son of one of his enemies—as a sidekick. Eventually Midnight was "promoted" to villain status, after becoming an evil cyborg. This graduation stuck until Moon Knight recently euthanized his old charge.
• Shazam!: Captain Marvel had Captain Marvel Jr. become the Big Red Cheese himself during a brief Audience-Alienating Era.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): A mini-series staring Tails showed how Tails went from Tagalong Kid to a full-fledged member of the Freedom Fighters. The Saturday Morning cartoon would do the same thing for him, but with different events. Amy Rose would get a few stories showcasing her own rise to Freedom Fighter status.
• The Wasp: Downplayed in the sense that Janet van Dyne answers to 'The Winsome Wasp' to this day; but no one has thought of the tactician, strategist, leader, and low-key chessmaster she has become as anyone's sidekick for decades.
• Wolverine: After Death of Wolverine, Wolverine's his clone daughter X-23 assumed the mantle of Wolverine, starring in All-New Wolverine. Since Logan's return, Laura's shared the Wolverine name with him, with his blessing.
• Wonder Woman: Donna Troy stopped being Wonder Girl, and started being... well, we won't get into that. Almost nothing's stuck without having new layers of convoluted continuity added on, but she's still not Wonder Girl again. She's a really unique case. Both the confusion and Donna's subsequent promotion stem partially from the fact that Wonder Girl was originally supposed to be Wonder Woman as a young girl who occasionally interacted with her adult self via Time Travel. A writer saw the cover for one of these stories and got confused when he was writing the Teen Titans.
• Ultimate X Men: Kitty Pryde goes from the X-Men's Tagalong Kid to independent superheroine to underground vigilante and eventually the actual leader of mutantkind by the end of Ultimate Marvel.

Literature

• Tony Foster, hero of the Smoke and Shadows series by Tanya Huff, was previously the sidekick of vampire Henry Fitzroy in the Blood Books. Now, the tables have turned, and Tony is the hero, while in an astonishing reversal, Henry becomes Tony's Older Sidekick.

Live-Action TV

• In Doctor Who, the Doctor and his companions aren't exactly superheroes and sidekicks, but three of his companions have gone on to have major roles in holding down the fort in modern-day Earth: in The Sarah Jane Adventures, Sarah Jane Smith and the meddling kids solve weirdness they're alerted to by "Mr Smith," Sarah Jane's ultra-supercomputer. Jack Harkness is the leader of The Men in Black in Torchwood. Martha Jones doesn't have her own spinoff (yet) but she Took a Level in Badass in The End of Time, saving the world freelance.
  • The only reason Rose Tyler isn't holding down the fort in modern-day Earth is because she's doing the same on a parallel version thereof. Mickey did it as well during series 2, though he eventually moved back to his own Earth.
  • This seems to happen to everyone the Doctor takes on as a companion in the new series; they all grow from their time with him and become heroic alien-fighters in their own right. Except Donna. Poor, poor, Donna. Although even she qualified, before she got her memory wiped. Davros brought this up during the series four finale, although he put a rather dark spin on it.
  • Jo Grant is probably one of the best examples in the classic series. When she was first introduced she was a bumbling, clumsy young girl who kept messing things up and only stuck around because the Doctor couldn't bring himself to upset her by saying she wouldn't make a good assistant. By the time she left, she was able to escape from several dangerous situations on her own, had explored half the universe, and was the only person in the Jon Pertwee era to successfully resist being hypnotised by the Master. By The Sarah Jane Adventures, she's a major environment defender, traveling from problem to problem so fast, even the Doctor can't keep up.
• Angel who gets his own show in another city after having been Buffy's Battle Couple partner.
• A few years after Inspector Morse finished, Sergeant Lewis got a promotion and his own show.

Roleplay

• In Dino Attack RPG Montoya started off practically as little more than a sidekick to Trigger in a flashback. However, in an interesting twist, seeing as Trigger was already a Replacement Scrappy, many players found themselves relating closer to Montoya due a more personal connection and it got to the point where Montoya became a much more independent character after Trigger was killed.

Tabletop Games

• Sentinels of the Multiverse:
  • Thiago, listed in Spite's deck as "Potential Sidekick," ends up becoming the next incarnation of Ra in Tactics once Dr. Washington perishes fighting OblivAeon. He's noted as being a bit less arrogant than the previous Ra, but no less hot-headed.
  • Young Legacy in both new timelines post OblivAeon. In Sentinels Tactics, where her father is still active as Legacy, she graduates to Beacon. In the RPG, where her father has retired, she takes up the mantle of Legacy properly.
  • In the RPG timeline, Ra / Blake Washington's sidekick Marty Adams becomes the new Anubis.

Video Games

• Vayne Aurelius, #2 of Mana Khemia Alchemists Of Alrevis becomes "Alchemy Man" to combat his Mentor, #1/"The Flay", when he became an Evil Overlord, the "Flayvor of Evil".
• The Mass Effect series has a few cases of this, some played straight, some subverted. In Mass Effect 2, of all the original surviving party members, only Tali and Garrus rejoin Shepard, as Wrex has become the leader of the Krogans, Ashley/Kaidan works for the Alliance and is unable to accept the hero joining up with a terrorist group, and Liara is preoccupied with work against the Shadow Broker. However, Liara and Ashley/Kaidan return as party members for Mass Effect 3 (though they still play the trope straight to some degree since Liara is still the Shadow Broker and Ashley/Kaidan became a Spectre like Shepard). Wrex plays this trope straight, though, as do the other party members from Mass Effect 2 besides Garrus and Tali, as they're all focusing their efforts on other responsibilities.
• Galaxy Angel: In Zettai Ryoiki no Tobira, Tact Mayers (the protagonist of the Galaxy Angel trilogy) and Coco Nutmilk (the Elsior's radar operator) move to the newly commissioned Luxiole while Lester and Almo stay on the Elsior. In the next game, Mugen Kairo no Kagi, Tact is promoted to a higher position as a desk job, and command of the Luxiole is given to Coco and she remains the commander of the Luxiole hence. While it takes a bit of development time, Coco eventually becomes a respectable leader in her own right, proving Tact's hunch right that she had the potential all along.

Webcomics

• In Sidekicks this is major plot point. Sidekicks strive to become superheroes in and of their own right, and when they do, it sticks (unless they get demoted by the Committee). Only Lamia has been seen to go from sidekick to superhero over the course of the story.
• In Sonic the Comic – Online! Sonic's former Kid Sidekick Tails has now taken Sonic's role as The Hero of Mobius.

Western Animation

• Batman: The Animated Series:
  • Just like in the comics, Dick Grayson leaves the mantle of Robin to become Nightwing.
  • Barbara Gordon going from Batgirl to Police Commissioner could count too.
• Young Justice (2010):
  • Young Justice has one of these pretty early on with Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy Rage Quitting and later coming back as the new hero, Red Arrow.
  • As of season two, Robin is now Nightwing, with Tim Drake taking up the Robin identity.
  • In a blending of this trope with Decomposite Character, the real Speedy becomes Arsenal.
• An episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold had Robin, fed up with being the sidekick, finally graduate into his own hero, Nightwing (again). Unlike other versions, this one was quite amicable, with Batman giving him the codename (apparently, Dick had another in mind, but preferred his mentor's parting gift instead). Another episode shows an imaginary tale where Dick ends up becoming Batman and Bruce and Selena's son, Damian, becomes Robin. At the end, we see that Damian's taken up the Mantle in the future with his son becoming Robin.
• Kim Possible: It's pretty obvious that after Ron's incredible heroics in the Grand Finale that he becomes a full-fledged partner to Kim. What makes it really amusing is that the episode in question was known as "Graduation."

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