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Quiz about Sidekicks and Henchmen
Quiz about Sidekicks and Henchmen

Sidekicks and Henchmen Trivia Quiz


Fictional detectives often have a sidekick - a chronicler, a henchman, a cat's paw. See how many you can identify.

A multiple-choice quiz by agony. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
agony
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
331,182
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
1478
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: malama (9/10), Linda_Arizona (9/10), Guest 173 (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. The original and most famous detective sidekick is Dr John Watson. He is, of course, the first person narrator of almost all of Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" stories. However, the good doctor is not the only sidekick in the Holmes stories - Holmes' nemesis, Professor Moriarty also had a segundo. Who was he? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. My favourite sidekick is always good for a snappy comeback. He's a sharp dresser, good dancer, and types up germination records for orchids with flair and dispatch. He lives in a brownstone in New York with a gardener, a Swiss cook, and his boss, the fat detective. Who is he? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. John D MacDonald's Travis McGee had an unusual sidekick - a stocky, bearded, middle aged economist. What was his name? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Harlan Coben's sports agent detective, Myron Bolitar, is a pretty nice guy. His sidekick, though, is not such a nice guy at all. What is his name? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Robert B Parker's Spenser has one of the best-known "mean guy" sidekicks. Who is he? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Lawrence Block's "Matt Scudder" novels have several recurring characters, but only one could really be classed as a sidekick - TJ. Who is TJ? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Joe Pike is the coldly efficient, violent sidekick of LA detective Elvis Cole. Who created these two? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Paul Drake is a private investigator who often works with the lawyer hero in a series of books by this prolific author. Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. In this series by Jonathan Kellerman, it's a little hard to tell who is the sidekick. Is it the cop, or the psychologist/narrator who tags along on his cases? Name the psychologist. Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are a tough Boston detective team, but sometimes they need some backup. When they do, they call in their childhood buddy, psycho gundealer Bubba Rugowski. Who created them? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 18 2024 : malama: 9/10
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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The original and most famous detective sidekick is Dr John Watson. He is, of course, the first person narrator of almost all of Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" stories. However, the good doctor is not the only sidekick in the Holmes stories - Holmes' nemesis, Professor Moriarty also had a segundo. Who was he?

Answer: Sebastian Moran

Colonel Moran was a soldier gone bad, who served as criminal mastermind Moriarty's chief assassin. After Moriarty died at Reichenbach Falls, he attempted to kill Holmes, but failed in the story "The Adventure of the Empty House".

The incorrect answer options were all Scotland Yard detectives in the Holmes stories.
2. My favourite sidekick is always good for a snappy comeback. He's a sharp dresser, good dancer, and types up germination records for orchids with flair and dispatch. He lives in a brownstone in New York with a gardener, a Swiss cook, and his boss, the fat detective. Who is he?

Answer: Archie Goodwin

Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe was the pattern of the quirky detective - an orchid-growing gourmand who never left the house on business. All the footwork in the series was supplied by Archie, the narrator. And what a narrator he was; the first Nero Wolfe book, "Fer de Lance", came out in 1934, but still feels as fresh and witty as if it were written last week. In my opinion, these books are still the best example of the American variety of the "Great Detective" genre.

The incorrect options are all law enforcement officials in the series.
3. John D MacDonald's Travis McGee had an unusual sidekick - a stocky, bearded, middle aged economist. What was his name?

Answer: Meyer

Meyer (we never learn his first name) is often described as looking like a bear; he is lovable, shrewd, philosophical, and not really very adventurous - the intellectual man to McGee's physical one. MacDonald was one of the first writers to set his crime novels in Florida, paving the way for such authors as Elmore Leonard, James W. Hall, and Randy Wayne White. The books have been called "the embodiment of (early 60s) male wish-fulfillment."*

The incorrect options are detectives from Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" series.

*George Pelecanos
4. Harlan Coben's sports agent detective, Myron Bolitar, is a pretty nice guy. His sidekick, though, is not such a nice guy at all. What is his name?

Answer: Windsor Horne Lockwood III

A common use of the sidekick in detective fiction is for him to do all the morally dicey things that readers don't really want to see our hero doing. Win Lockwood definitely fits that mould - he's a conscienceless semi-psychopath in a golf shirt, a preppy with a seventh-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and doctored dumdum bullets.
5. Robert B Parker's Spenser has one of the best-known "mean guy" sidekicks. Who is he?

Answer: Hawk

Hawk appeared first in the fourth Spenser novel, "Promised Land" (1976). He was working as muscle for the bad guys in that one. Spenser and Hawk are both adherents to the tough guy code that plays such a large part in the sensibility of these novels, but Hawk has fewer softening (or perhaps we could say "humanizing") influences on him than Spenser.
6. Lawrence Block's "Matt Scudder" novels have several recurring characters, but only one could really be classed as a sidekick - TJ. Who is TJ?

Answer: a black street kid

TJ appears in the later novels of the series, after Matt sobers up and starts solving his cases one day at a time. Over the course of several books, he grows from a homeless kid of about 14 to a young man - ain't that right, Dwight?
7. Joe Pike is the coldly efficient, violent sidekick of LA detective Elvis Cole. Who created these two?

Answer: Robert Crais

Joe Pike is yet another "bad guy" sidekick - silent, loyal, cold and violent. With his ever-present sunglasses, sleeveless sweatshirts, and the red arrows tattooed on his triceps, he does the dirty work so Elvis can remain the wisecracking likable hero.

Researching this quiz, I was a little startled to see how many sidekicks fit this mould - a smartmouthed protagonist with a stone cold killer backing him up.
8. Paul Drake is a private investigator who often works with the lawyer hero in a series of books by this prolific author.

Answer: Erle Stanley Gardner

Poor Paul, doing all of the work, getting none of the glory. He always seemed to be slouching in the corner, lighting a cigarette, while Perry Mason wowed the crowd.

There were more than eighty Perry Mason novels, written between 1933 and 1973.
9. In this series by Jonathan Kellerman, it's a little hard to tell who is the sidekick. Is it the cop, or the psychologist/narrator who tags along on his cases? Name the psychologist.

Answer: Alex Delaware

Milo Sturgis is the LAPD officer in this series which burst on the scene in 1986 with "When The Bough Breaks". At that time, it was a fresh new voice and concept, but over the years, the series has, in my opinion, gotten stale.

Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus are series characters created by Kellerman's wife, novelist Faye Kellerman.
10. Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are a tough Boston detective team, but sometimes they need some backup. When they do, they call in their childhood buddy, psycho gundealer Bubba Rugowski. Who created them?

Answer: Dennis Lehane

One of the best - oh, what the heck, make it THE best - writer working in the mystery/thriller genre, Lehane returned to the team of Kenzie/Gennaro in 2010's "Moonlight Mile". He is of course also well known for his stand-alone novels "Mystic River" and "Shutter Island".

Bubba is yet another conscienceless sidekick, but instead of being a stone cold killer, he takes a childlike glee in mayhem.
Source: Author agony

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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