Bender a sidekick?

[on:]

I was looking through a Cartoon Network magazine when I came across a sidekick crossword puzzle (where you needed to find words of cartoon sidekicks, like Odie or Linus or Morroco Mole, what have you) I then I saw Bender listed as Fry's sidekick. Bender is no sidekick! As he said himself, "Bender is a lone wolf! A solitary ego! A cuddly baby tapier, and that's why I love him!" What do YOU think?

[Reply #1 on:]

 

Originally posted by Shadowstar:
A solitary ego!

Solitary eagle...and no, he's more of an equally-defective main character.

[Reply #2 on:]

I think he's a bit of a sidekick.  It's a degrading term, but usually Bender serves up the comic relief.  I think that would make him one.

[Reply #3 on:]

Well, the show really is about Fry.  That would technically make both Bender and Leela sidekicks.

[Reply #4 on:]

Personally, I think sidekick is better term than "supporting character." It implies a greater level of closeness to me. Bender and Leela are sidekicks, Amy, Zoidberg, Hermes, and the Professor are supporting characters.

[Reply #5 on:]

Bender is more of a sidekick than Leela. Everything important involves Fry and/or Leela and their respective sources of angsty inner turmoil; Bender does not appear to be programmed for angsty inner turmoil, so it's much less likely for emotional things to focus on him.

[Reply #6 on:]

I certainly think that the way the show is Bender is the sidekick althoug it wouldn't have changed the series a great deal if Bender had been made the main character and Fry the sidekick, they are a team 

[Reply #7 on:]

Although Fry is thought of as the main character because it's about how a guy from the 20th century lives in the future I think that Fry, Leela and Bender are all pretty much main characters, none of them are sidekicks, the sidekicks are the rest of the Planet Express staff.

Take both Anthology of Interests for example, Fry, Leela and Bender all have equal parts which shows that none of them are more importanat than another. Apart from Space Pilot 3000 I would say that they are equal as main characters, all three have plenty of episodes deductaed to them in each season. In "Thats Lobstertainment" we hardly even see Fry, and Bender is bussy doing is own thing without relying on Fry to play off of. Thats my views anyway but they could change depending on further arguements.

[Reply #8 on:]

No one said a sidekick couldn't be a main character.  Look at any superhero that has a sidekick.

[Reply #9 on:]

I say Bender and Fry are Buddies. Like Bill and Ted, Wayne and Garth, Rimmer and Lister,
Eddie and Richy, Joey and Chandler, ect.

Bender not Fry sidekick

[Reply #10 on:]

Bender's a sidekick in deep. deep denial. Leela's more of a co-star.

[Reply #11 on:]

(dictionary.com)
sidekick

n : a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities

Fry is the main character.  Leela and Bender are sidekicks (Bender more so than Leela).  Fry, Bender, and Leela are all the stars of the show.  The rest of the people on the PE staff are secondary characters.  Everyone else is a supporting character.

[Reply #12 on:]

I think that technically Bender is a sidekick but he isn't actually in the sense of Batman + Robin

[Reply #13 on:]

 

Originally posted by Shadowstar:
I was looking through a Cartoon Network magazine when I came across a sidekick crossword puzzle (where you needed to find words of cartoon sidekicks, like Odie or Linus or Morroco Mole, what have you) I then I saw Bender listed as Fry's sidekick. Bender is no sidekick! As he said himself, "Bender is a lone wolf! A solitary ego! A cuddly baby tapier, and that's why I love him!" What do YOU think?

Bender's definitely a sidekick.  He'd kick you in the side to get at your wallet. 

[Reply #14 on:]

Bender's a chum, a buddy, a homie in the sense of being a sidekick, but he's not gonna help you save the world. He's out on his own on that. Take "Fear of a Bot Planet." Bender turned against the humans. Also, in "Insane in the Mainframe" Bender didn't help Fry escape one bit. He left off with Roberto.

I can think of some sidekick-like things though.
-Bender letting Fry move into his apartment closet
-Bender and Fry agreeing on joining the army for a lousy discount

[Reply #15 on:]

I just noticed that you mentioned that Linus was a sidekick.  If you think he's a sidekick then Bender most definitely is too.

[Reply #16 on:]

Bender provides comic relief, so he is a sidekick.  He's a great character, but a sidekick.

[Reply #17 on:]

Seeing as most magazines describe the show as "Fry ,a 20th century pizze delivery guy gets frozen for a thousand years, and wakes up in a world of aliens, robots and suicide boths. etc.etc." I'd have to say that Fry is intended to be the star of the show. Leela and Bender are very important characters as well, but slightly less so than Fry.

The triumvirat of Fry, Leela and Bender reminds me of Kirk, Spock and McCoy from ST:TOS. The leading stars of the show, great supportd for eachother and all essential for the succes of the show.

And even though Fry/Kirk was supposed to be the leading character, everybody knows that the alien (Leela/Spock) is the true star of the show.

[Reply #18 on:]

"Why am I *his* sidekick? How do you know he's not *my* sidekick?"
--Brody Bruce, Mallrats

[Reply #19 on:]

Bender is a sidekick, since Fry is the main character. Like many shows, Futurama has plots involving secondary characters, which is why some may argue that Bender is his own character.

And, Juliet, thanks for including Rimmer and Lister!!! Who could forget them???

[Reply #20 on:]

 

Originally posted by Juliet:
I say Bender and Fry are Buddies. Like Bill and Ted, Wayne and Garth, Rimmer and Lister,
Eddie and Richy, Joey and Chandler, ect.

Juliet might have something here. Pauly Shore's Biodome would have sucked (more) without the moron-to-moron interactions. Ted's Excellent Adventure wouldn't be as entertaining..... Tweety without Sylvester..... Futurama wouldn't be the same without Bender. But it has to have the proper blend of character interaction.... when it goes lopsided in anyone's favor that's bad news.