#sidekicks

So. We all know (I hope) that Jews invented the superhero comic book medium. One of the most famous sidekick-hero duo, Batman and Robin, was created by Jews (Bill Finger and Bob Kane), as was Captain America and Bucky (Jack Kirby and Joe Simon). Sidekicks have become a staple of the superhero genre (although unfortunately in modern comics they've been in decline).

In Jewish storytelling and theology, the idea of the lone hero is a foreign one. All of the most notable Jewish heroes in Tanakh did not act alone- Avraham had Eliezer. Moshe had his brother Aharon to act as his interpretor, Yehoshua to act as his right-hand man and apprentice, Aharon and Chur to hold his hands up in the battle with Amalek, and when leading the Jewish people alone became too taxing for Moshe, he set up a system of delegates to ease his load on his father-in-law Yitro's advice. Eliyahu had Elisha. Devorah had Barak. While the relationship types between these people varied from siblings to master-and-apprentice to a married couple, the running theme is that all these great leaders had assistance.

In fact, for Noach, while he was considered a righteous man in his time, one of his main criticisms is that he acted alone, that he didn't make enough of an effort to reach out to others. In the very beginning of the Torah, G-d says "It is not good for Man (humans) to be alone, I will make him a counterpart" (Bereishit 2:18).

The idea of a lone hero getting all the credit and responsibility is present in various European mythologies, and subsequently Christian theology with Jesus as the singular Messiah and saviour. In contrast, while the idea of Mashiach is bit more fluid in Jewish theology, even Mashiach is thought to not act alone, with two counterparts to Mashiach, a Mashiach ben David and a Mashiach ben Yosef being recognized, as well as Eliyahu HaNavi to usher in Mashiach. This also intersects with Jewish ideals of masculinity contrasting with Western ideals. The ideal Jewish man is not characterized by brute strength and the lone wolf persona, but rather by a gentle, intellectual man with close bonds and loyalty to his family and community. (I highly recommend reading the essay by Jonathan Sexton in Chapter 5 of 'Jews in Popular Science Fiction' for more about superheroes and Jewish masculinity, especially with regards to Batman).

I've talked about the concept of Endeavor's former sidekicks before. His current ones throughout the series are all much younger than he is, so I have a headcanon that he did have a previous team that was closer to him in age. This previous team is no longer with the Endeavor Agency for three major reasons. The former sidekicks:

Are dead or retired due to the dangerous and physically demanding career.

Or found out about the abuse and left.

And that second one has a lot of interesting implications. Did they try to intervene on behalf of Rei and the children? Did they quietly bow their heads and leave? If they reported the abuse, even anonymously, the Commission could have covered it up in favor the No. 2 Hero being an invaluable cog in their system. Whatever choice the hypothetical sidekicks made, their inability to save the Todoroki family from Endeavor would have eaten at them the rest of their lives.

So the twist:

I think it would have been interesting if sidekicks who left the Endeavor Agency fell in with the Paranormal Liberation Front. Especially if the Commission is corrupt enough to cover up abuse and enable their heroes, tearing down Hero Society would appeal to those who perceived themselves powerless to help the family.

The scenario I'm imagining, though, is the former sidekicks somehow recognize Dabi as Touya before the reveal. These are people who would have known him when he was a child, after all, and recognizing him as their former boss's dead son is an impressive feat when his own family didn't.

Kinda picturing this scene from Arcane S2 happening at Gunga Mountain Villa.

“That man will face justice.”

A sort of Anti-Endeavor Agency forming if you will.  Current sidekicks vs former sidekicks backing father and son respectively.

Whether or not Dabi would accept the gesture or wipe them all out in a fiery blaze for their former inaction as hypocrite Pros is a coin toss, though. Personally, I kinda lean toward the latter being his more likely response, but I can also see him going the other way since his overall plan did end in self-destruction.

Sidekicks: Super Fun Summer Special #1 (July, 2003)

Leader whose whole team is basically a bunch of bodyguards, but who all know they can handle themselves

Leader who doesn’t even trust people on their team because they know any one would kill them if they were in a room alone together

Leader who doesn’t see that their team would actually protect them at all costs because they’re a pretty good boss despite technically being a villain

it is a universe, like fantasy, that tells us what is moral & immoral within its contexts. sure, this should be questioned as we all read through our own lenses of experience and believe, but you still have to set aside real life morals to suspend disbelief for certain situations.

for example, in the sidekick debate, within the universe of comics, we have to believe in a universe where a child actively wanting to be a sidekick, and trained in that, etc., is a good thing. more than that, it is the BEST thing for that child (if we're taking the example of most of the robins, this is the case) because without that training it is very likely they would attempt to be a superhero regardless, but instead without adult supervision or a mentor figure to support them.

if we were to apply real-world morals to this, "my teenager really wants to fight crime" would not be a reason to actually allow said teenage to fight crime, regardless of the training, supervision, or anything they are given to make them more prepared. likewise with "my teenager really wants to fight crime and wont take no for an answer."

Sidekicks are interesting because they were genuinely a very common type of character for a while- almost every cape in the golden age had one- but they've kind of been a dead horse trope ever since Spider-Man demonstrated that you could straight up mainline a teenage hero without making them the ward or pageboy of a thirty-something masculine power fantasy. Almost every example of the type at DC or Marvel has been allowed to age out of the role, and every contemporary sidekick character I've seen in Indie stuff is a riff on Robin specifically- the sole surviving example where they've done the legwork to justify the continued existence of that costumed identity within the fiction. I've got mixed feelings on that, because the titanic presence of Batman and Robin in the cultural imagination means that that'll basically always be a relevant target to take a swipe at, but at the same time, we get it. It would fuck you up trying to live up to the expectations of the senior superhero in the partnership. Half of all officially published plots involving Robin is about how it's fucking him up (whoever he currently is) to try and live up to the expectations of the senior superhero in the partnership. Yes there's a weird age gap, yes it's child endangerment, we get it. This is covered ground.