15 Totally Obnoxious Sidekicks in Film and TV

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15 Totally Obnoxious Sidekicks in Film and TV

Ever watch a TV show and love it until that one character shows up? You know who we're talking about. It’s the one that bungles things up for the main character, is the “comic relief” in an otherwise engaging show, or is just plain annoying to audience members. It’s the effing sidekick.

Sidekicks have been around to make the hero look good by comparison ever since the invention of storytelling around campfires. At their best, they’re the audience proxy and actually add some depth to the other characters around them due to their presence, like Watson is to Sherlock Holmes or Robin is to Batman. At worst, they’re just dragging the story down with their “comedy,” or narratively don’t make sense since any competent protagonist would have dumped them long ago.

This Pictofact is about the latter. Here are some of the most annoying, pointless, and outright bad sidekicks in film and television.

Short Round in 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'

Obnoxious Sidekicks Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Short Round Even putting racial insensitivity aside, the kid's there for younger viewers to relate to - but if you're eight, you want to be Indiana Jones, not the twerp that gets in his way 99% of the time. CRACKED.COM

Snarf in 'Thundercats'

Obnoxious Sidekicks Thundercats Snarf Aside from the obvious reasons why he's annoying (high-pitched voice, saying his own name as a verbal tic, being a hindrance to the main cast), Snarf is Lion-O's nursemaid. Who wants to see their hero team up with their babysitter? CRACKED.COM

Slimer in 'The Real Ghostbusters'

Obnoxious Sidekicks The Real Ghostbusters Slimer Why do the Ghostbusters keep this guy around? He's loud, eats all of their food, and gets slime everywhere while jeopardizing every assignment they have. He's all the worst parts of raising a baby, mixed in with a bad roommate. CRACKED.COM

Scrappy-Doo in 'Scooby-Doo'

Obnoxious Sidekicks Scooby-Doo Scrappy-Doo Even the Scooby-Doo movies called this pup out for being a yippy, annoying character that frankly had no reason to exist. Kids already have to deal with obnoxious, egotistical classmates at school, so there was no need to bring a similar character to a talking dog mystery cartoon. CRACKED.COM

Obnoxious Sidekicks Frozen Olaf Luckily, the snowman was used so sparingly that he didn't pull focus from Anna and Elsa's story. Which makes you wonder - i if you don't need him, why bother having him in the first place? CRACKED.COM

Ruby Rhod in 'The Fifth Element'

Obnoxious Sidekicks The Fifth Element Ruby Rhod Everything about Ruby is loud. Loud clothes, loud Chris Tucker, loud phallic hair... It's just too much. Yeah, the character is supposed to be annoying, but that doesn't make him less annoying. CRACKED.COM

Orko in 'He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'

Obnoxious Sidekicks He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Orko Serving as the little kid perspective in an animated commercial about space barbarians, Orko just causes trouble, has an annoying voice, and looks out of place in a world filled with muscles and lasers. CRACKED.COM

Jar Jar Binks in 'Star Wars'

Obnoxious Sidekicks Star Wars Jar Jar Binks The prequels were in danger as soon as George Lucas said, Jar Jar is the key to all of this. Even in the cartoony, sci-fi fantasy world of Star Wars, Jar Jar is over the top. Any seriousness a scene may require is undercut whenever this fish-lizard Roger Rabbit shows up. CRACKED.COM

Leo Getz in 'Lethal Weapon' Movies

Obnoxious Sidekicks Lethal Weapon Movies Leo Getz While the films' main problem today is Mel Gibson's involvement, having Joe Pesci be a fast-talking idiot doesn't help, either. When the main characters themselves aren't having fun with the sidekick, then you can be sure the audience is also not having fun with the sidekick. CRACKED.COM

H.E.R.B.I.E. in 'Fantastic Four'

Obnoxious Sidekicks Fantastic Four H.E.R.B.I.E. Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics was created for the Fantastic Four cartoon as a replacement for the Human Torch. OK, whose idea was it to replace a fire dude with a small Fisher-Price toy? CRACKED.COM

Minilla/Godzooky in 'Godzilla' Movies/'The Godzilla Power Hour'

Obnoxious Sidekicks Godzilla movies Minilla/Godzooky It must be hard to be the son of Godzilla, especially when you're just slightly larger than a basketball player. That said, Godzilla fans want to see the monster fighting other monsters, not his son fighting to be accepted by the world. The Godzilla Power Hour CRACKED.COM

Donkey in 'Shrek' Movies

Obnoxious Sidekicks Shrek Movies Donkey Donkey could be a little much, but he was fun in Shrek. Then came Shrek 2. Then Shrek the Third. Followed by Shrek Forever After. With each entry, this sidekick kept evolving from annoying but fun to just plain annoying. CRACKED.COM

Jonathan Carnahan in 'The Mummy' Movies

Obnoxious Sidekicks The Mummy Movies Jonathan Carnahan There's nothing worse than someone who tries to pass off their annoying quirks as charm. He's supposed to be the foil to Brendan Fraser, but that could easily be accomplished through villains rather than cowardly allies. CRACKED.COM

Blarp in 'Lost in Space'

Obnoxious Sidekicks Lost in Space Blarp This bug-eyed lizard-monkey monstrosity is just one of the movie's several problems. If you're going to put in an out-of-place animal sidekick in your live-action film, at least make him cute? CRACKED.COM

Fergee in 'Judge Dredd'

Obnoxious Sidekicks Judge Dredd Fergee Comic relief characters are tough to pull off in general, and they're even tougher if they're Rob Schneider. Every scene felt undercut by Schneider's attempts at humorous remarks. CRACKED.COM
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