Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2018 January 12

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January 12

Have there ever been any villains depicted as having both a right-hand man and a left-hand man?

Have there ever been any villains depicted as having both a right-hand man and a left-hand man? If so, can you please tell me the names of these villains and what fictional work they appeared in? Unboredom (talk) 19:46, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

What do you mean by left-hand man? "Right hand man" is known expression referring to a personal assistant (the current redirect) or closest confidante. Is it a reference to this? Matt Deres (talk) 20:07, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

This states that Dexter Morgan is ambidextrous. Google ambidextrous + villains for more. Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 20:44, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

No, because then the right-hand man wouldn't know what the left-hand man was doing. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:41, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

There can be only one ... second banana. [OR alert] In fiction, criminal organizations tend to be very hierarchical. See for example SPECTRE#By hierarchy (where the expression "number one with a bullet" really means something) or The Prisoner ("You are number six.") or Dr. Evil's Number 2. If you had two immediate (ambitious) subordinates with the same rank, that would just be asking for trouble. They'd both be scheming to replace you. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:43, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

It occurred to me to look for stories where the main henchmen are twins (which perhaps balances out the potential competitiveness). A search threw up the Kabuki twins (henchman of The Penguin in Batman) and twin henchmen of the Merovingian from The Matrix Reloaded. Wymspen (talk) 16:21, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

In Batman and Harley Quinn, Two-Face has twin henchmen Min and Max. In The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, the Hooded Claw has twin henchmen "The Bully Brothers". Octopussy has twin henchmen Mischka and Grischka. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 21:06, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Shredder had Bebop and Rocksteady. After the turtles whooped one, the other was typically left. Not for long, though. InedibleHulk (talk) 18:23, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

Two Bad was a bit of both for Skeletor. InedibleHulk (talk) 18:27, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

If pro wrestling counts as fictional work, most heel managers had at least one tag team made of roughly similar goons carrying out their vile plots. Too many to list, but Bobby Heenan and The Blackjacks, Captain Lou and The Wild Samoans or Teddy Long and Doom were pretty rotten and two-thirds equal. InedibleHulk (talk) 19:00, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

Clearly, that is not what the OP had in mind. --Viennese Waltz 22:02, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

Then clearly, I wasn't reading his mind. As far as his question went, here's a man on the right hand, one on the left and a brain in the middle. If that's not exemplary depiction of a famous villain with the ability to flank pesky do-gooders with loyal and balanced associates, I guess I don't know what is. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:24, 15 January 2018 (UTC)

I did some research, and I found out that having both a right-hand man and a left-hand man is of particular importance in fictional (as well as in real life) mob organizations. It seems the most famous example of a boss, right-hand man, and left-hand man who are not related to one another are Tony (boss), Paulie (right-hand man), and Silvio (left-hand man) from The Sopranos. Unboredom (talk) 19:10, 16 January 2018 (UTC)