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The genesis of the sidekick role is that most early serials had a sidekick, but it was either a "(kid) sidekick" or "(comedy) sidekick" ... so the role more or less ended up tending towards the comedic. But then you have Rustlers of Red Dog. Of course, Johnny Mack Brown is the hero, there are no "co-heroes" ... but Walter Miller is not like a "comedy" sidekick at all. He has a couple bits of humor, but certainly is not incompetent, nor is he comedic. You see this in a few serials, but not most of them.

Prince Barin is not a sidekick by the "original" definition, in fact he is very capable on his own. Compare him with Happy from Trip to Mars. Yuck. One is obviously superior to the other. Clancy Cooper usually plays the able assistant who does a bit of comedy along with it, best exemplified by his role in Haunted Harbor.

The other "type" of "sidekick" is the one who basically just rides in with the cavalry to save the day (Jack Mulhall, Tim Tyler's Luck). A more modern example is Tiger Tanaka in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.

The "co-hero" comcept is one that applies very well to Perils of Nyoka. Yes, of course what we have is a hero and a heroine, but what a pair! They each truly needed the other to survive and defeat the villains. Speaking of that, they have arguably co-villains in Lorna Gray and Charles Middleton, who is for too memorable to "just" be a henchman. Comparing that to The Black Whip, where George Lewis is pretty much an able assistant to help BW out.

Regarding Daredevils, Quigley got most of the lines, so he is technically the hero, but the other two more than held their own, saved his life more than once, and in fact each got moments to shine. It was much like the aforementioned Rustlers of Red Dog.

One of the things I have noticed is the fact that western heroes tend to have these Kentucky-accented, coonskin-wearing, cranky older men types who serve as scouts. They are funny simply because they TALK funny and act cranky. But they are almost always very good at what they do. Had these fellows been played "straight", they would obviously have been less funny, but I think the role would then have lost a lot of charm and personality. They'd probably have been boring.