DB - Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

In the western genre, few roles in the films are as integral and common as that of the sidekick. Perpetually ready to assist the alpha male cowboy hero in his adventures, they perform roles ranging from saving the cowboy’s life to simple comic relief. Often, a cowboy’s sidekick would fall into the category of “the other”. That is, they are typically an Indian, a woman, or something other than the white alpha male cowboy. Defined by their loyalty, sidekicks serve to exemplify one of the core values most often expressed in westerns. Usually the sidekick in a western is what one might term a greenhorn. For example, in the film The Searchers, Martin starts out on the adventure without much experience, and over the course of his adventure following Ethan he becomes something more, a more rugged, more powerful man. Sidekicks learn from their leader, they emulate his actions and at the end of the film they emerge as better people, often as alpha male cowboys in their own right.
Interestingly enough, in the film Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the character who would ordinarily be termed the sidekick is essentially an alpha male cowboy in his own right. Doc Holliday is just as quick a draw as Wyatt Earp, just as powerful. Additionally, both men behave in ways characteristic of alpha males. They both ignore their respective women, which is almost a requirement to be an alpha male cowboy in a western film. They both are roughly equals, with Wyatt at one point saying that they are both pretty much the same person. There really aren’t any ways in which Holliday breaks the mould of the alpha male cowboy. Considering that Wyatt views Doc as his equal and as a trusted confidant. A sidekick by definition should not be viewed as an equal by their supposed leader, and as such, it is incorrect to label Doc Holliday as a sidekick or an other in the film. He is, indeed, an alpha male cowboy in his own right.