User blog comment:Jamie/Episode 15 - Sidekicks/@comment-1895174-20140718062709

Sidekicks: A younger superhero whose primary function in the narrative is to aid another superhero in their duties fighting crime. The relationship between the two is not that of heroes on roughly equal footing, but of a master and apprentice.

Characters like Lois Lane, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Black Cat, or War Machine are not sidekicks.