A side character who was better than the hero

[somepeopleperson]

Christ, where to begin?

1.Luigi, Super Mario Bros.: He jumps twice as high, can slow his fall just by kicking, and actually has some semblence of a personality as opposed to Mario, who is little more than a meat puppet you toss onto things.

2.Tails, Sonic series: Yahtzee agrees, he moves just as fast as Sonic, and he can fly and swim.

3.Funky Kong, Donkey Kong Country series & D.K. 64: He's the only one with acess to technology more advanced than two rocks or a stick.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Hmmm, in Shining Force your main character is pretty awesome but you recruit a dragon. A dragon who spews lightning bolts. Also, you recruit a ridiculously powerful Samurai, and a werewolf.
All three of these people are more awesome than the main character.

 

[Vigilantis]

I would just like to take this opportunity to say that I always liked Robin a lot better than Batman.

Wow and here I was about to say the same thing.

I think I've always liked sidekicks/side characters over the Hero/main character such as Han Solo over Luke. Its probably because we are meant to like the hero so much more and you just cant help but sympathize that if given the same chance/power this sidekick would outdo the hero 10 fold.

My main examples are :

Knuckles over Sonic The Hedgehog
Eskel over Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)
Vegeta over Goku (DBZ)
Aisha over Gene Starwind (Outlaw Star)

 

[theLadyBugg]

I think I've always liked sidekicks/side characters over the Hero/main character such as Han Solo over Luke. Its probably because we are meant to like the hero so much more and you just cant help but sympathize that if given the same chance/power this sidekick would outdo the hero 10 fold.

While I agree with you on sidekick sympathizing, do Luke and Han Solo really fall into this category? Yes, one of if not the biggest character threads is Luke's quest, but I've never thought of Han as a sidekick. Throughout the entire series he's got his own agenda, which eventually comes around to match the goals of the rebel alliance -- but that's hardly because of Luke alone. Plus, he has Chewy... I think I never consider him a sidekick type because he himself has a sidekick.

Just a thought.

 

[Shadowfiend]

The talking oak tree from Dragon Age: Origins.
Man he was cool.

 

[rosemystica]

Hermine/Nevil > Harry potter

Yeah, I was always wondering why the hell Hermione wasn't the hero of the story.

Harry didn't do shit. He just coasted through the story on virtue of being The Chosen One. He didn't ever research his enemies, or show a particularly huge amount of compassion, or really a lot of qualities beyond "CAPSLOCKY" and "good at sports." He was very bland, and strikes me as an annoyingly incurious person.

Hermione studied EVERYTHING, knew how to kick every bad guy's and monster's ass, came up with all the plans, led the boys along by the hand, discovered the treasures they needed to beat up Voldemort, and did pretty much all the heroic stuff while Harry stood around capslock-of-raging at everything.

Neville also had a surprisingly large amount of character development in the books--HE had a real hero's journey. Harry's reaction: "Uh, 'kay." Neville's reactions, from the early books to the later books: "I'm afraid! ... I want to help! ... Get the fuck out of my school before I kick your ass all over this courtyard!"

 

[Vigilantis]

I think I've always liked sidekicks/side characters over the Hero/main character such as Han Solo over Luke. Its probably because we are meant to like the hero so much more and you just cant help but sympathize that if given the same chance/power this sidekick would outdo the hero 10 fold.

While I agree with you on sidekick sympathizing, do Luke and Han Solo really fall into this category? Yes, one of if not the biggest character threads is Luke's quest, but I've never thought of Han as a sidekick. Throughout the entire series he's got his own agenda, which eventually comes around to match the goals of the rebel alliance -- but that's hardly because of Luke alone. Plus, he has Chewy... I think I never consider him a sidekick type because he himself has a sidekick.

Just a thought.

Well the OP said side character and I was just grouping the two together really, the sidekick part was only pertaining to the comic (batman) reference I was quoting. Do you disagree Han is a side character?

 

[Grotch Willis]

Isn't Adrian Shepard supposed to be better than Gordon Freeman? I may be wrong, but isn't the only reason why Adrian Shepard didn't kill Gordon Freeman was because the G man stopped him?

 

[theLadyBugg]

I think I've always liked sidekicks/side characters over the Hero/main character such as Han Solo over Luke. Its probably because we are meant to like the hero so much more and you just cant help but sympathize that if given the same chance/power this sidekick would outdo the hero 10 fold.

While I agree with you on sidekick sympathizing, do Luke and Han Solo really fall into this category? Yes, one of if not the biggest character threads is Luke's quest, but I've never thought of Han as a sidekick. Throughout the entire series he's got his own agenda, which eventually comes around to match the goals of the rebel alliance -- but that's hardly because of Luke alone. Plus, he has Chewy... I think I never consider him a sidekick type because he himself has a sidekick.

Just a thought.

Well the OP said side character and I was just grouping the two together really, the sidekick part was only pertaining to the comic (batman) reference I was quoting. Do you disagree Han is a side character?

Well... yes. When I think of Star Wars, especially the original trilogy as a whole, I don't pull one lead character. There's a small group that stands ahead of the rest of that 'verse, and Han Solo is a key player. If we limit the scope to Episode IV, then I might call him a side character, but by the time we get to Endor, he's on par with Luke (I'm just carrying the Luke/Han comparison at this point) for all the protagonist points. He shows up, albeit a little later in the game but with a history, develops over time, fights the good fight and gets the girl. During all of which, he has our attention.

If you're seeing the series as having one Hero (protagonist, leading man, whatever), then I can understand marking Luke as that guy. I just never saw it as having a definitive main character.

 

[smudgey]

Everyone in Half-Life 2 > Gordon Freeman.
Midna, Twilight Princess.
Haggard, Battlefield: Bad Company.
The dog from Secret of Evermore.
Barry, Resident Evil.
That Indian guy from Red Dead Redemption. I forget his name. And Bonnie McFarlane.

 

[Windupferrari]

Dolorous Edd from the Song of Ice and Fire series. Everything he says is snark. He's easily the funniest character without a chapter, and

Spoiler

has somehow survived the first five books, which is a feat in and of itself.

...Only in this series someone living a spoiler-worthy occurrence.

Maybe not "better" than the other main characters, but he's the one I liked the most.

 

[Vausch]

Rock Lee from Naruto. His spinoff has been a little entertaining but I miss the badass that he was. Seriously, he's had virtually no attention ever since the awesomeness that was his drunken battle with Kimimaro and what he had was an off panel battle.

 

[kypsilon]

Zevran from Dragon Age Origins, but only because that was exactly the character I wanted to be, right down to the voice. Instead I just took Zev everywhere and lived vicariously through him and secretly hated my character for the rest of the game.

 

[ACman]

Every character on Seinfeld. But then that was kinda the point with Seinfeld being the straight-man I guess.

Cornfed the sidekick to Duckman. Most of the cases solved by the Duckman Detective Agency are solved by Cornfed, with Duckman usually hurting the case rather than helping. He has had numerous former occupations, such as mailman, truck driver, waiter, plumber, clerk for a Supreme Court justice, member of the Irish Parliament, and keyboard player for A Flock of Seagulls. He has a medical degree from a Peruvian medical school. He is also a Vietnam veteran. Practices dozens of ancient martial arts and claims to know "200 ways to kill a man"

 

[Vigilantis]

Well... yes. When I think of Star Wars, especially the original trilogy as a whole, I don't pull one lead character. There's a small group that stands ahead of the rest of that 'verse, and Han Solo is a key player. If we limit the scope to Episode IV, then I might call him a side character, but by the time we get to Endor, he's on par with Luke (I'm just carrying the Luke/Han comparison at this point) for all the protagonist points. He shows up, albeit a little later in the game but with a history, develops over time, fights the good fight and gets the girl. During all of which, he has our attention.

If you're seeing the series as having one Hero (protagonist, leading man, whatever), then I can understand marking Luke as that guy. I just never saw it as having a definitive main character.

I understand what you are saying and I can agree that Han grew in character from his first introduction. I do suppose I look at the series as having a single hero the "one" who is supposed to bring balance to the force which Luke does by saving his father who in turn kills the emperor. Where as Han was indeed a key player I'm not positive to say hes a MAIN just because he was means to the destination of the story. At this point you have me fighting myself now as to whether Han is a main or not...so I admit defeat xD

Do you consider Lando a main character since he went from backstabber to needed ally in two movies?

 

[zerobudgetgamer]

OK, six pages and no one has said it? Man, I haven't even played the damn game, and I know this one. The narrator from Bastion. /thread.

 

[SillyBear]

Doc Holiday from Wyatt Earp.