Sidekicks have long played crucial roles in literature and popular culture—from Sancho Panza’s grounded pragmatism in Don Quixote to Samwise Gamgee’s quiet heroism in The Lord of the Rings. While often cast in the background, sidekicks shape plotlines, support protagonists, complicate heroism, and challenge normative ideas of centrality, identity, and power. This volume investigates the role of sidekicks across literary and media traditions, uncovering how these characters enrich narrative structure, illuminate cultural values, and offer provocative alternatives to dominant figures.