The wonderful world of Disney is home to some truly classic character
archetypes. From princesses to villains, even if you’ve never seen a Disney animated movie before,
you will still recognize it as them from these recurring character tropes. But out of all their
archetypes, the most flexible may very well be that of the sidekick. These characters are in
almost every single one of their films, but they change depiction greatly between them. They can
be animal or human, good or evil, smart or stupid. The Disney sidekick is a very malleable archetype,
but of Disney’s catalogue of sidekicks, which ones are the strongest, and which are the weakest?
I’m Brad with WickedBinge, and this is Disney Sidekicks: Weak to Powerful
For today’s list, we’ll be starting off with the weaker sidekicks, and then
work our way up to the strongest ones there are!
First up is our Gold Medal of Weakness recipient, Frozen’s Olaf! While this snowman might be one of
the most loved and recognizable sidekicks in all of the Disney canon, a competent fighter
he is not! Despite being created by Elsa’s magic, Olaf doesn’t have any real powers. Beyond that,
he certainly isn’t scaring anyone with those twigs he calls arms. Olaf is also the least
durable sidekick out of anyone we will cover on this list. This is because he’s, well, a snowman!
They aren’t exactly known for being strong or sturdy. If enough force is applied against him,
or the temperature is hot enough, he’s done for! As you can see, Olaf is unfortunately not gifted
the best powerset. If the temperature is not cold enough, he melts away. Even if it is though,
his abilities aren’t going to be helping him out of any troubles anytime soon. It is with a
heavy heart that we have to give Olaf the unlucky distinction of being crowned the
least powerful Disney sidekick. Maybe if he gets into a fight around Christmas he’d fare better?
Up next, we have to give Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio the Silver Medal of Weakness!
Although he is one of Disney’s first sidekicks, he’s far from being one of the strongest.
Jiminy Cricket’s one major brightspot is that he is rather wise. If he’s in a tense situation,
it’s likely he could assess everything, and come up with a good strategy to escape. Escape would
be his only viable plan, because anything else would result in certain doom. Jiminy Cricket is,
of course, a cricket. These beings are not known for being fierce fighters in general,
let alone the insect kingdom. In a straight-up one on one battle between any of the succeeding
characters, Jiminy Cricket would be gone in mere seconds. As sad as it is to say,
Jiminy Cricket really doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on. Wisdom can only get you so far in a
test of strength, and in the case of Cricket, it looks to have only gotten him to our second spot!
Wrapping up the bottom three is Gus and Jaq from Cinderella! The winners of our Bronze
Medal of Weakness, Gus and Jaq are a pair of mice that act as Cinderella’s friends. The two are
very different in personality, which gives them quite the interesting dynamic. Gus is dimwitted
and feisty, while Jaq is smart and fast on his feet. The two are good at outsmarting a few other
animals, like the family cat, Lucifer. Though their stature is small, they are rather clever,
thanks in no small part to Jaq’s skills at strategizing. Unfortunately, Jaq and Gus are no
match for humans, a fact that they are completely aware of in the film itself. Given that there’s a
few human and near-human characters on this list, we can’t put Jaq and Gus over any of them. Besides
that, Gus and Jaq’s differing personalities could also cause for some trouble communicating
on the battlefield. Gus’ penchant for punching could quickly get both him and Jaq into trouble,
and there may very well be no way out of it for them. Gus and Jaq might have the strength
of two on their side, but there’s only so much strength that can come from mice, be they two or
two hundred. However, we would like to confirm that mice DO eat crickets. Watch out, Jiminy!
Up next is perhaps Disney’s most famous sidekick character of all time,
Tinker Bell! Hailing from the original Peter Pan, it might surprise a lot of you to see such
a notable character be so relatively low on the list. Let us explain ourselves. Tinker Bell is a
fairy, so you’d expect her to have a pretty wide assortment of powers, right? We assumed the same,
but when you examine her character, she really doesn’t bring a lot to that table. Tinker Bell
has the ability of flight, she can give others flight via pixie dust, and she can mend items like
kettles. Certainly more powers than anyone else has had thus far, but it’s not really impressive
when you’re looking for legitimate strength. Like Jiminy Cricket before her, Tink’s only realistic
solution when in a fight would be to flee. And just like Cricket, she could only run for so
long before she is inevitably caught. Overall, Tinker Bell has more actual powers than any
character on the list yet, but what good is that when you can be taken out by a handy fly swatter?
Sorry Tink, but you’re gonna need more than pixie dust if you wanna join the big leagues!
Under the sea is where we’ll meet our next character, Sebastian the crab! From The Little
Mermaid, Sebastian is a bit of a complicated character, surprisingly enough. For the most
part, Sebastian is a kind-hearted crab who loves the sea. He’s also incredibly loyal
to those he cares about, and will do anything in his power to keep them safe.
Though he isn’t much of a fighter in the film itself, real life crabs actually do
pack quite the punch! Those claws of his? They actually pinch harder than the bites of most
animals do. Bet you never thought Sebastian had such strength in him, did you? This along gives
him more actual strength than any of the previous sidekicks, but we can’t quite justify putting
Sebastian any higher on our list than this spot. He’s not exactly a guy fit for combat. He’s the
type of person who would rather resolve issues diplomatically, and leave fighting for actual
fighters. With that type of mindset, we can’t see Sebastian making it far in a fight. And lest
we forget the small fact that he’s just a crab? They may have a crazy strong pinch,
but they’re not a creature that’s going to be chasing you off the beach anytime soon!
We’ve looked at plenty of animals, fairies, and even a snowman, but what about living houseware?
That’s exactly what Lumiere and Cogsworth of Beauty and the Beast are! A candelabra and clock
respectively, Lumiere and Cogsworth are probably causing a lot of you to scratch your heads in
confusion? How could a clock be more powerful than, say, a fairy? It may be surprising to hear,
but Lumiere and Cogsworth are the first characters on this list to actually have been in some sort
of fight. The two helped fight off the horde of villagers that invaded the Beast’s castle,
and were actually successful in keeping them away! Since they have some fighting experience,
we have to put them over prior characters, who lacked that component. We must also mention that
the two are actually humans, they were only houseware because of a curse put onto them.
Although it’s unlikely they have that much strength as humans, these forms would give them an
immediate advantage over the preceding sidekicks. What could a cricket or a pair of mice possibly
do against two humans? Nothing, and that’s why Lumiere and Cogsworth get this spot on the list!
He’s the guardian of lost souls! Presenting the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructible
Mushu! The guardian to Mulan in the film of the same name, Mushu is a chinese dragon that
controls fire. That sounds like it makes him a pretty powerful character, but his fire-breathing
ability is, how shall we say, puny? It’s certainly not very powerful, to say the least. And his size?
He’s not much bigger than a lizard, sadly. On the brighter side of things, Mushu appears to
be completely invincible. He can withstand being stepped on, explosions, and all other matter of
peril without even a scratch. Mushu also the advantage of being in battles beforehand,
much like Lumiere and Cogsworth. He was in many of the film’s action sequences, and even played
a vital role in defeating the film’s villain, Shan Yu. So, if Mushu is more or less immortal,
why isn’t he higher? In short, he can take a lot, but he can’t really dish out much in return.
Being immortal is undoubtedly a powerful ability to have, but we’re looking at strength above
anything else. Besides a measly fire-breathing ability, Mushu doesn’t have much to use against
his opponents. He’d be hard to keep down, but he himself would have just as hard of a time
actually defeating someone. In a nutshell, that’s why Mushu gets this spot on our
list. This is one dragon that talks a big game, but doesn’t quite back himself up!
We’re following that duo up with Disney’s first set of sidekicks, The
Seven Dwarves! In all, the group consists of Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Dopey, Sneezey,
and Bashful. Right from the getgo, they have the benefit of strength in numbers on their
side. Admittedly, one of these guys on their own would not be so powerful, but put seven of them
together? We think they’d definitely be capable of doing some damage then! Aside from that, we
can assume they have some pretty good strength to them, due in no small part to their days working
in the diamond mines. Ultimately however, we feel the Seven Dwarves have just as many weaknesses as
they have positives. That’s why they fit perfectly here, right in the middle of the list. For one,
several of the dwarves aren’t really fit for fighting. While Grumpy would have no problem
throwing hands, we can’t bring ourselves to say the same for someone like Sleepy.
We also feel they are just simply outclassed by the remaining entries.
We’re definitely in the upper echelon of powerful Disney sidekicks, and the Seven Dwarves would
have to try pretty hard to compete with some of the characters yet to come. These dwarves might
have given the Evil Queen some trouble, but the following characters to be covered? Not so much!
Up next are the breakout stars of The Lion King, Timon and Pumbaa! This meerkat and warthog duo
might not seem like the most capable pair of characters, but when you look at their
real-life counterparts, they suddenly become a lot more impressive. Before we do that though,
let’s look at what they actually accomplish in the film. In the movie, these two were able to
give the dastardly hyenas a run for their money in the climax. Not only does this give them the
advantage of having been in fights before like our previous two entries, but it also shows that they
have a lot of courage. If there’s any wild animal we wouldn’t wanna be around, it’s definitely the
hyenas! But for Timon and Pumbaa, they didn’t just encounter them, they successfully fended them off!
In the animal kingdom, meerkats may look cute, but they can become agitated rather easily. When that
happens, they’ll resort to biting or using their claws. While neither of these are all that strong,
they aren’t pleasant to experience, either. It’s clear that Pumbaa would do a lot of the heavy
lifting here. Warthogs can adapt to new challenges skillfully, and they are surprisingly fast.
When in a fight, their sharp tusks can leave the opponent seriously injured.
The only real weakness a warthog has is a weak eyesight, though that is actually
negated by the meerkat having a ridiculously strong pair of eyes! As unlikely as it sounds,
Timon and Pumbaa are one of the most powerful duos on this entire list. They might look cute, but
don’t let that fool you! Sometimes even the most lovable Disney animal sidekicks can pack a punch!
From the swampy bayous of Louisiana comes our next pick, Louis! The lovable alligator from
The Princess and the Frog, Louis is a lot like Sebastian when it comes to abilities.
He’s entirely capable of dishing out pain, but he seldom does it. It is only when his friends
are in his danger that he really starts to put matters into his own hands. While that
could lead to some pain from a crab, that would be far more dangerous coming from an alligator.
Alligators have one of the strongest bites out of any animal there is. It’s even possible for their
bites to break steel! This makes Louis one of the most dangerous animal sidekicks we’ve covered
today. Unfortunately, that’s where his problems begin. While he possesses phenomenal strength,
believing Louis would take advantage of that is a completely different story. He’s very fearful,
and as we said earlier, only takes an active role in conflict when his friends are in trouble.
If he’s in a fight where he isn’t worried about his friends,
things might not go so well for him. Overall, Louis has a powerful set of jaws,
but his cowardly persona holds him back from being one of the top sidekicks.
Coming from The Hunchback of Notre Dame is our next selections, The Gargoyles! Our only trio on
this list, Victor, Hugo, and Laverne are their names, and protecting Quasimodo is their game.
Being made of stone, they are given a big advantage over other contestants on this list.
Their stone bodies are very durable, letting them take punches a lot better than a human would.
This also means any punches they throw would be extremely painful for the receiver. Also,
unlike some of the more cowardly contestants we’ve looked at, the Gargoyles would have no
issue fighting others. As the film’s climax showed, the Gargoyles played an instrumental
role in the final battle, throwing bricks and fire stones at Frollo’s many troops. That’s something
you wouldn’t see from Sebastian the crab! The only reason we don’t rank them higher is because,
simply put, the rest of the list has more going on. The other characters we’ll cover
have many more skills and powers, making these Gargoyles look rather lacking in comparison.
But that doesn’t mean Victor, Hugo, and Laverne aren’t competent sidekicks.
If you ever find yourself in Notre Dame, this trio will have your back any day of the week!
Things are about to get evil, because for our next pick, we’ll have to descend into the
underworld. That’s right, our next characters are Pain and Panic from Hercules. To describe
these guys quickly, they are basically a suped up version of Mushu. They’re small and immortal
like him, but they also have the added power of shapeshifting. It seems like there are no
limits to what they can transform into. While the two cannot stay in thes forms forever,
they can turn into seemingly anything their minds conjure up. So, if they can turn into anything,
and they appear to be immortal, why aren’t they higher on the list? Well, that’s because Pain and
Panic are anything but competent. Throughout the Hercules film, the two repeatedly fail
to complete the many tasks Hades gives them. And can you really be powerful if you failed
to take out a baby? Given that they are some of the dumber characters on our list, this costs
them a higher spot in our rankings. We can only imagine Hades will not be happy to hear that!
Another evil sidekick, Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove gets fourth place! Kronk is a lot like
Pain and Panic, and we don’t just mean the way they are both sidekicks to the villain.
Both are rather dimwitted, and they have even both failed to take out the protagonist of their
respective movies. However, when we put both side to side, we feel Kronk has the better set
of brawns and brains. Kronk has nearly superhuman strength, making him the most physically powerful
human out of the entire list. The guy can travel a mountain with a seat tied to his back!
How could we not give him props for that? Though he can be pretty foolish, Kronk actually does
possess some intelligence, at least for an evil sidekick. He points out flaws in Yzma’s plans,
for example. Kronk might not have a strong bite or immortality, but his strength more than makes up
for those shortcomings. He’s not afraid to use it either, unlike some prior sidekicks. Besides, who
else here can make spinach puffs? For all those reasons, we have to place Kronk at fourth place!
In third place, we give the Bronze Medal of Power to Robin Hood’s Little John!
A bear who acts as Robin Hood’s friend and has more than a passing resemblance to Baloo,
Little John is certainly a friendly fellow, but that doesn’t stop him from being one of
the most strong sidekicks there is. First off, he’s a bear. They are pretty well known for
being very dangerous creatures. On average, one bear has the strength of five humans,
so he’s definitely a force to be reckoned with. Bears are already intimidating, but
how about a bear that does archery? Yes, Little John has an impressive arsenal at his disposal,
giving him an advantage over most characters here. He’s skilled at archery, he’s used a dagger, and
even a staff. Little John has also handled himself well in fights, even taking on Prince John’s
rhino guards and emerging the victor. With good strength, brains, and prior fighting experience,
Little John is proof that the only thing scarier than a bear, is a bear in medieval clothing!
For second place, we have to give Big Hero Six’s Baymax the Silver Medal of Power! Come on,
in what world would Baymax not be in the top five on a list like this? Being a robotic superhero,
Baymax has a most impressive range of abilities and tools for him to use.
First, he can lift well over a thousand pounds at any given time. Baymax is also very intelligent.
He can assess situations quickly, giving him one of the better minds out of all
the characters we’ve analyzed today. However, where Baymax’s true power lies is in his red
battle armor. With this, his arsenal grows to become even more powerful.
The armor, of course, gives him much more protection than when he’s outside of it. The
suit also lets him fly, which he can use to move quickly across the battlegrounds. Additionally,
it can allow him to track beings, which is a huge advantage when in a fight with somebody.
Trying to hide? That’s not going to be super helpful when Baymax is around! Lastly, the suit
has a set of rocket fists, which are very powerful when used against opponents. Baymax is easily one
of the most powerful sidekicks to come out of the entire Disney canon. He’s got everything
from strength to smarts to weapons. There’s only one who could possibly be a match for him…
Introducing our Gold Medal of Power receiver, the often imitated, but never duplicated Genie! From
Aladdin, it seems like a no-brainer that Genie would be the most powerful Disney sidekick of
them all. Genie has his weaknesses, but they are pretty few. When giving wishes, he cannot kill,
raise the dead, or force someone to marry. He’s also affected by items taht can effect magic in
general. Beyond that, however? Genie’s power appears to be limitless. If there’s anything
else you want, all you have to do is wish for it, and Genie will make it a reality.
Even after being granted freedom, he still has an insane amount of powers that he is free to use.
In a nutshell, Genie can do anything prior characters could do, but better. He is seemingly
immortal, he can transform, he can fight, the only limit is imagination! With an almost endless array
of abilities, it would be criminal if we were to place Genie anywhere else on this list but here.
And with that all said, we have to call Genie the most powerful Disney sidekick of all time!
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ranking. And tell
us what we should cover next. Remember to hit that notification bell and binge our
Good to Evil playlist. Where we break down who the most powerful characters
are in your favorite cartoons, shows, and movies. But most importantly, stay wicked.