Allies

We've had some great discussion on Enemies/Villians. Let's turn our attention to Allies.

Allies, friends, sidekicks. Typically, we have all these things in our story. They help the Heroine.

Allies come and go. Friends come and go. Sidekicks pretty much stay with the Hero. These characters can provide help, companionship, wisdom and humor.

In my WIP, Akeela has several friends. Not sure if any of them qualify for the type of sidekick we usually think of. There's Anon (a faun who is mentally challenged), Hawk (the boy she ends up falling in love with) and Hawk's cousins (a boy and a girl.) They all travel with her until the very end when she has to spend some time alone.

Allies can also band together to form a team, which I've done with Akeela.

I also have fairies, who are under the antagonist's (Tzmet) spell. They are enemies who mascarade as allies. This ends up causing a rift between Akeela and Hawk, which is the ulimate cause of Akeela falling into the Moon Dancer world. Which is not a good thing. Which is a good thing ... for tension. HA!

How important are allies, friends and sidekicks? How are you using them in your stories?
Let's talk!