Full bracket

Tonto (1)



Sidekick to: Lone Ranger

Advantages: Superb horseman and marksman.

Disadvantages: Iffy communication skills.

vs. Willow Rosenberg (8)



Sidekick to: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Advantages: Computer hacking. Spell-casting. Hot.

Disadvantages: Fear of frogs. Overdeveloped sense of empathy.

***

Jiminy Cricket (12)



Sidekick to: Pinocchio

Advantages: Wisdom. Serves as conscience for Pinocchio

Disadvantages: Started existence as a euphemism for profanity. A bit heavy-handed when it comes to education.

vs. Huckleberry Finn (4)



Sidekick to: Tom Sawyer

Advantages: Adventurous. Became as famous as his pal -- perhaps moreso.

Disadvantages: Uncouth. Little use for authority.

***

Felix Leiter (6)



Sidekick to: James Bond

Advantages: Stealth. Intelligence-gathering. Toughness.

Disadvantages: Bad luck. (He’s been fed to a shark and had his wife raped and murdered.)

vs. Dr. Watson (3)



Sidekick to: Sherlock Holmes

Advantages: Skilled physician. Capable, brave and successful with women.

Disadvantages: Intellect appears ordinary, even dull, in comparison with the brilliant Holmes.

***

Renfield (7)



Sidekick to: Dracula

Advantages: Physically strong. Intelligent, if bat**** crazy.

Disadvantages: Aforementioned craziness. Eats flies, spiders and birds, leading to social awkwardness.

vs. Samwise Gamgee (2)



Sidekick to: Frodo Baggins

Advantages: Unswerving devotion. Courage. Gardening skills.

Disadvantages: Inescapable homosexual innuendo has brought criticism (though he marries at the end of “Return of the King.”

 

I'm already on record as being sick about Gabrielle's defeat.