3 Sassy Side Characters Who Stole The Spotlight

A good protagonist is a must. When you’re spending the whole book with a character, you need to have someone that you can like, or at least care enough about to spend several hundred pages with. But every good hero needs a sidekick, and every protagonist needs a side character or two to help them on their journey. My favourite kind of side character are the sassy, witty, humorous ones who lighten the mood. They’re especially good when they have a touch of tragedy about them. Just… so good. These are the characters who can seriously steal the spotlight. Today I thought I’d share three of my all-time favourites.

Leo Valdez | Heroes Of Olympus

The Percy Jackson series was one of my absolute favourite series when I was growing up. I read every book, shared them with my sisters, and bought the box set to grace my shelves. I’m never too certain about sequel series however, so I was cautiously optimistic about Heroes of Olympus, especially when I discovered that, rather than being in a single point of view, suddenly we had a huge cast of characters to contend with. Which could have posed a big problem, except for the fact that this extended cast was actually really likeable. And no one was more likeable than Leo.

Leo is the cheerful, wisecracking, comic relief, son of Hephaestus, with a tragic past. Always the first one with a joke, which sometimes covers up his insecurities, completely irreverent, which is fun when you’re dealing with literal gods. I feel like he’s the spark that so much of the fun of these books relies on, and honestly, he’s just my favourite character in any scene he’s in.

 “So, a crash course for the amnesiac,” Leo said, in a helpful tone that made Jason think this was not going to be helpful. “We go to the ‘Wilderness School’”—Leo made air quotes with his fingers. “Which means we’re ‘bad kids.’ Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison—sorry, ‘boarding school’—in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on ‘educational’ field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat.” 

Kevin | Dear Hero/Dear Henchman

I discovered ‘Dear Hero’ only very recently (my full review here). It’s a superhero story, told entirely though chat messages, and it is absolutely amazing. I have a soft spot for books that try something new with their storytelling structure, so it was right up my alley. It, and its sequel ‘Dear Henchman’ are both super fun, and bend the rules of both superhero fiction, and storytelling in general, and it is so much fun.

Kevin is my newest sidekick favourite. He’s a literal sidekick, with no powers, a terrible memory, makes awful coffee, and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of show tunes, which he sings really badly. He’s possibly the least useful sidekick in the history of sidekicks. He brings the bad puns, the lighthearted moments, and the terrible jokes that I so desperately need. I loved him in ‘Dear Hero’ and I was so excited to find that he was one of the main characters in ‘Dear Henchman’. Some side characters deserve their own stories, and he is definitely one of them.

Kevin: But, wait, it’ll just crash in here?

Kevin: Guys, these booths are made out of solid rock. Like, the Tower of London type bricks we saw in England.

Kevin: You sure the car can navigate through all of this?

Himari: It has sensors. Just press the remote access button, and the distress button and the button that looks like a superhero mask on the key fob.

Himari: Just don’t hit the button that looks like a tank.

Kevin: Hypothentically…

Kevin: If a sky little redhead, while hiding in a booth full of “Evil Puppets for Sale” hit the tank button.

Kevin: And the keys started flashing purple.

Kevin: Just what would happen?

Kevin: Welp, I had my question answered.

Kevin: Himari, does this thing work like a car?

Lemon Fresh | Lifel1k3

There are so many things to love about the ‘Lifel1k3’ books, from the dystopian setting, to the androids, and the general sass and humour of the whole story. I love dystopian fiction, but I especially love it when it makes a few jokes. Plus it draws inspiration from places like ‘Mad Max’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ so how could it not be the perfect book? I am a huge Jay Kristoff fan, ever since I first discovered the ‘Illuminae Files’ series, and this trilogy is just amazing.

If there is anyone who could steal the spotlight from Evie, who owns an assassin dog and a mysterious past, it’s Lemon Fresh. Optimistic, sarcastic, quick tongued and loyal, Lemon is the perfect sidekick and basically demands your attention every time she’s on the page. I was so excited to see that the second book Dev1at3 actually features a lot more Lemon, because she’s the sort of side character who just needs to be a major part of everything exciting.

“Pleased to meet you, Salvage.” She smiled. “I’m Lemon. Fresh.”

“Lemonfresh?” The boy did his maybe-frown again. “That’s a ridiculous name.”

“Says the shabby twelve-toed kid named Salvage.”

“Salvage is what we do here,” he said flatly. “We are not Pilot or Arsenal. We are not Princeps or Carer. We are Salvage/ What kind of a name is Lemonfresh?”

“I got left outside a pub when I was a baby,” she replied. “My folks didn’t leave a note with my name on it or anything. Only thing they ever left me is around my neck, see?” Lemon lifted her chin to show off her silver closer charm. “So, the pub’s owner came me after the logo on the side of the cardboard box they dumped me in. Lemon Fresh. It’s a laundry detergent.”

Have you read any of these books? Who are some of your favourite side characters? Let’s chat in the comments down below!

Looking for another fun read with smart, sassy characters who steal your heart? Check out my latest novel, Frost Hands, a YA sci-fi about kids with superpowers, a well-dressed villain determined to change the world, and a dysfunctional team on a mission to track him down. Available now on Amazon!