History Main / RecklessSidekick

The Reckless Sidekick will [[LeeoryJenkins rush in headlong]] regardless of the danger and get captured or otherwise get himself into serious trouble, forcing the hero to [[FriendOrIdolDecision choose whether to stop the bad guys or risk rescuing the sidekick]]. Even if the sidekick manages to mop the floor with the {{mooks}}, the hero will gruffly explain he wanted to wait to discover who their buyer/supplier was, and now they'll never find out. On the positive side, if they trail an overly self-reliant or [[MartyrWithoutACause self-sacrificing]] hero they may well rescue ''them'' when they're caught or in danger (though he [[HeroHarassesHelpers might not]] be very [[UngratefulBastard grateful]]). Some shows like to mess with viewers by having them get captured even if they stay put -- sometimes you just can't win.

The Reckless Sidekick will run in headlong regardless of the danger and get held hostage or otherwise get himself into serious trouble, forcing the hero to [[FriendOrIdolDecision choose whether to stop the bad guys or risk rescuing the sidekick]]. Even if the sidekick manages to mop the floor with the {{mooks}}, the hero will gruffly explain he wanted to wait to discover who their buyer/supplier was, and now they'll never find out. On the positive side, if they trail an overly self-reliant or [[MartyrWithoutACause self-sacrificing]] hero they may well rescue ''them'' when they're caught or in danger (though he [[HeroHarassesHelpers might not]] be very [[UngratefulBastard grateful]]). Some shows like to mess with viewers by having them get captured even if they stay put -- sometimes you just can't win.

* Godzooky in ''TheGodzillaPowerHour'' had the habit of flying around Godzilla's head and trying to fight the evil MonsterOfTheWeek WHILE Godzilla himself was trying to stop said evil monster.

* Penny from ''InspectorGadget'' adverts this hard. She is the competent one and the main hero is InspectorOblivious.

* In the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' Barnstormer's sidekick, the young Tailgunner.

* Chuck from ''{{Chuck}}'' as he's not a real spy, while the other two are trained spies.

* Chie and Naoto show signs of this in {{Persona 4}} before they get their personas. Chie rushes right into a shadow infested castle to find Yukiko, ignoring the advice of the two guys who have been here before and have a better understanding of the danger at hand. Naoto, on the other hand, was a tad smarter but still very reckless. [[spoiler:Her idea was to make herself the next major target for the serial killer. All of the members of the gang were almost entirely past victims who lived, so the plan was to find the truth herself and let the gang save her, since she knew enough that they had been doing so for awhile. However, she had no concrete facts and was only lucky that her theory was in the right ballpark. Even then, it didn't prepare her for meeting her inner shadow...]]

* In the backstory of ''KamenRiderDouble'', protagonist Shotaro was this to his boss Sokichi Narumi. [[MyGreatestFailure Which resulted in Sokichi's death.]]

* ''FreedomForce'' devotes a couple missions to one of these. A fanboy of the game's CaptainAmerica {{Expy}}, he [[TakingTheBullet gets shot instead of him]] by a machinegun-toting baddie and is saved only by an emergency blood transfusion from his hero. The transfusion gives him superpowers of his own, so he goes off on his own to find the villains' hideout (against orders to remain in safety and recover), and nearly gets himself killed ''again'' before he gets saved by another hero.

* In ''NurseAngelRirikaSOS'', Ririka's [[LikeBrotherAndSister lifelong friend]] Seiya does not know the meaning of "in over your head" and has a penchant for attacking large monsters [[ImprobableWeaponUser armed with conveniently placed mops and brooms]].

* [[ScoobyDoo Scrappy Doo]]. Cynical fans wished that Scooby would stop picking Scrappy up during his "Puppy Powerrrr!" charge and let the MonsterOfTheWeek eat him.

*** And part of why Scrappy is hated is that, since he's always willing to attack the monster, he rather wrecks the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief that keeps us from asking why the ''others'' don't try it.

** BreakTheHaughty arcs have indeed made him more likeable to a good postion of the fans.

* This was part of the reason a part of the {{Batman}} fandom wanted Jason Todd, the second {{Robin}}, dead as a doornail. The guy would just jump in at the most inopportune times and mess up {{Batman}}'s plans, and then he'd whine to Batman that he was being soft. Though the degree to which he showed this trope swung wildly over the course of his career as Robin, depending on the title he was appearing in, and also on [[WriterOnBoard how far into the run you look]]- he got a lot worse at this as time went on in a lot of people's eyes.

* Dick Grayson acted very much like a RecklessSidekick in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''. The first major action sequence was a classic example of such, as Dick's insistence in going after Mr. Freeze led to him getting frozen and Batman having to choose between going after Freeze or thawing Robin. Dick receives a hell of an ass-chewing from Bruce afterward, and the conflict between the two continues for the good part of the movie.

* Wendy Watson, sidekick Middleman-In-Training in ''TheMiddleman'' starts out with serious concerns about becoming [[{{Batman}} Robin, the Boy Hostage]]. Early in the series, she does end up as the hostage of a gun-totting psychologist alien-hunter and a gorilla army wielding government scientist, but she ends up saving The Middleman from a troop of evil Mexican wrestlers (''before'' [[TookALevelInBadass her training with Sensi Ping]]) and a melt ray soon enough to at least avoid the trope's more negative connotations.

* This trope is inverted in the ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E7WonderboltsAcademy Wonderbolt Academy]]", where Lightning Dust is a reckless leader and Rainbow Dash is her more sensible wingpony.

* This trope is inverted in the ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E7WonderboltsAcademy Wonderbolt Academy", where Lightning Dust is a reckless leader and Rainbow Dash is her more sensible wingpony.

* Chuck from ''{{Chuck}}'' as he's not a real spy, while the other two are trained spys.

* In ''NurseAngelRirikaSOS'', Ririka's [[LikeBrotherAndSister lifelong friend]] Seiya does not know the meaning of "in over your head" and has a penchant for [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome attacking large monsters armed with conveniently placed mops and brooms]].

* Jade in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures''. While she ''does'' prove invaluable, her insistence on ignoring any order of Jackie's, no matter how sensible and life extending, makes her an avid IdiotBall juggler.

* "Incrediboy" in ''WesternAnimaiton/TheIncredibles''. Leading to [[HeroHarassesHelpers Hero Harasses Helper]], leading to MotiveDecay... [[spoiler: leading to BigBad.]]

* Zack in the 1987 ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' wants so badly to be a Turtle that he was the source of much of the conflict in his first appearance. His second one gave him some restraint, but not much.

----
<<|ComicBookTropes|>>
<<|CharactersAsDevice|>>
<<|IHaveYourIndex|>>

* "Incrediboy" in ''TheIncredibles''. Leading to [[HeroHarassesHelpers Hero Harasses Helper]], leading to MotiveDecay... [[spoiler: leading to BigBad.]]
* Both versions were [[LampShading lampshaded]] in LastActionHero. Jack: "You ever see those movies where the hero tells his sidekick to stay in the car and he disobeys and gets killed?" Danny: "Good point. <...> Wait, what if staying in the car is what gets me killed?"

* [[{{XenaWarriorPrincess}} Gabrielle]], especially in the earlier seasons of Xena, epitomized this trope.

* ''TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'': Wonderita tends to get like this, simply because she's TheDitz and doesn't necessarily realize she's in a dangerous situation.

* [[GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse Barnstormer's]] sidekick, the young [[GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse Tailgunner]], certainly qualifies.

* Subverted in ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''; Robin is now a solo hero in his own right, but Batman ''still'' [[SidekickGlassCeiling expects him to hold back]] and fight the {{Mooks}}. So it's quite justified for him to object to this.