Sidney Poindexter: Misleading Nerd
VOICE ACTOR: Peter MacNicol
AGE: Physically between the ages of 14 to 18, according to Tucker’s PDA stating his school year between 1954 - 1958
EYES: Unknown; his eyes are gray in accordance to the rest of his black and white appearance
HAIR: Black
STATUS: Pathetic nerd and bully target, vengeance seeker of the latter
LIKES: When bullies get what they deserve, Egg cream, a social life
DISLIKES: Bullies, being picked on
PERSONALITY: Vengeful, nerdy, determined, naive
POWER: Standard ghost powers
STRENGTH: Can be pretty powerful when angry
WEAKNESS: A weakling who could be taken advantage of pretty damn easily, even as a ghost
FIRST APPEARANCE: "Splitting Images"
GOAL: To stop bullying and give them a taste of their own medicine, audition for Revenge of the Nerd, Part 47.
HISTORY: Sidney, despite Hartman’s word, is evidential proof that he was a ghost who once had a human life—a shitty one at that. Back in the 50’s, poor Sidney was the victim of numerous physical torment and abuse. He was bullied by everyone in school (to the point where it was an apparent graduation project) despite nothing to deserve it. Regrettably, he didn’t do anything about it, forever succumbing to this fate until, I don’t know, he graduated or something or died during his school years.
Sidney perished regardless and remained life as a restless teenage ghost, forever haunting his own locker (number 724) and garnering much Urban Legends surrounding his presence. As a ghost, Sidney spent much of his supposed time inside a black and white Ghost Zone version of Casper High, complete with students of his time period where he relieved his tortured state over and over (a masochistic fate if there ever was one). In due time, he would gain his comeuppance when the mirror located inside his locker opened the portal to the present time period.
Once he entered the present time period, he witnessed Danny bullying Dash and assumed him to be one. The two doth battle and Sidney eventually discovers the boy to be half ghost/half human; a growing popular subject back in his makeshift school. Upset that such a guy would do harm, Sidney overtakes Danny’s human body, sending his ghost half to take over Sidney’s previous role. In Danny’s body, Sidney not only tried to help those who have been bullied (although not in the right way), but gained friends with the popular folks. Danny managed to reach and get the help of his friends to pull Sidney back to his world where they fought for dominance of their respectful bodies. Danny won through blackmail (give back my body or mirror goes smashy-smashy and we're trapped forever—Afterlife Chess isn't fun after the first 50 years)
Once normalcy is restored, Danny smashes the mirror. Sidney doesn’t mind; his peers start respecting him when they realize this weakass mofo defeated Danny Phantom (sort of).
Sidney somehow got free in time to join the rest of the ghostly casts during their hasty run from Pariah. He eventually helped Danny fight off his gangs. He then later appeared as one of the many ghosts helping Danny restore Christmas and as one of the gazillions of ghosts phasing the planet from an asteroid in "Phantom Planet".
PERSONALITY: In another lifetime, Sidney may have fared better—he might have been ignored. He’s mostly a harmless kid who didn’t ask to be everybody’s personal punching bag, but decades of ghoulish obsession and anger forced his hands when he finally breaks free of his eternal torment. Sidney turned from goofy geek to hellish hero: a savior of nerdkind from other bullies.
He’s easily vindictive and aggressive in his pursuit, but unlike Sam, he just as quickly drops it when he mingles with the popular crowd, indicating he simply is a naïve, misguided child with a weak will. He means well, he just has it over his head that he can bigger then he really is.
OPINION: Sidney as a character is an interesting subject to look at (as are most of the ghosts on the show). For example, is his eternal torment in the makeshift Casper High a personification of his obsession? Could it be that Sidney is so traumatized by his victimization that he subconsciously chose to self-inflict pain and relieve the most horrible days of his life? Hey, it makes for interesting stories.
I have no idea what the writers would have done if they had kept Sidney’s venomous desire to shoo all the ruffians throughout the episode and it is shame they didn’t continue it. Halfway through the episode, he switches into an impressed, wide-eyed kid when he entered the forbidden grounds of popularity. It’s a smack on the wall that we’re forced to see what looks like a strong character with a justified background for his pissed off state suddenly mellowing and chatting with the big boys for no apparent reason. The episode never even hinted he wanted to be with the well-know, well-respected crowd.
Sidney started off strong, then dwindled into a plot point that Danny learned last episode.
Back to the Characters PageArticle written revised in: Jun. 4, 2010
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