10 Comic Book Heroes Betrayed By Their Own Sidekicks
Batman, Green Arrow and Captain America have all suffered the wrath of a sidekick gone bad...
Batman and Robin. Superman and Superboy. Aquaman and Aqualad. Behind every great superhero is a great sidekick. These companions owe a lot to their heroic counterparts; from training to fame – they provide a lot. So why is it so many end up betraying their mentors?
Maybe they’re sick of constantly living in someone’s shadow, or perhaps it’s an ‘out with the old, in with the new’ philosophy that so many come to foster. But whatever the reason, one fact remains the same: spend time as a sidekick, and you’ll probably end up either encountering a predecessor who went evil, or you'll end up doing it yourself.
Whether they’re turning their back on everything their mentor taught them, or actively trying to destroy their former teacher, sidekicks have a history of backstabbing.
So, prepare to exclaim “How could they!?” – because who doesn’t love a story of vengeance and betrayal? Well, maybe not the heroes who were betrayed, but you get the idea.
10. Green Arrow - Speedy
Green Arrow never had much luck with sidekicks, a trend beginning with his very first protégé Roy Harper, AKA Speedy. In DC's new 52 series of comics, it didn’t take long for the hero life to take its toll on poor Roy.
Instead of turning to the dark side the traditional way, Speedy’s story took a more realistic downfall – he turned to drink. Something Green Arrow does not handle well, abandoning Roy and leaving him homeless and alone.
This lack of support leads Speedy down an ever-darkening path and in the pages of Red Hood and Arsenal, we discover this path led him to the nation of Qurac. There Roy and his new team, The Iron Rule, overthrew a dictator and made a nice profit in the process. However Roy's new team were not of the heroic breed and in a desperate bid for power, slaughtered hundreds of innocent people.
Its at this point Roy fully betrays the teachings of Green Arrow, he launches a lethal explosion at his new team. Making him not only partially responsible for deaths of hundreds but also the direct murder of his former allies. While this is something Green Arrow would never stand for, the emerald archer did bring this one on himself.