Slang for sidekick, the second banana generally serves as comic relief to the hero or villain. The term applies most obviously to superheroes (like Batman and Robin), but the can also be used in other pairings, like the villainous mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester and the loveable TV's Frank or the longtime vaudeville partners Don Lockwood and Cosmo Brown. A good example of second bananas in action is the Disney animated feature Aladdin, which offers a set of each: the good guys, thieving street urchin Aladdin and his adorable pet monkey Abu, and the bad guys, evil royal vizier Jafar and his sarcastic loudmouthed parrot Iago. The term can also be applied to late night talk show host Conan O'Brien and his former sidekick Andy Richter.

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