I’ll nominate the Paksennarrion series by Elizabeth Moon, and with a bit of a wink the old TV series Have Gun - Will Travel.

Just a warning about The Once and Future King, I hadn’t reread it in forever, picked it up again lately and was surprised by the use of the n-word in the scene where Wart is a merlin early in the book.

Big Trouble in Little China. Jack is absolutely the sidekick character.

Looks like a lot of possibilities so far. I’ll add Stewpot? evilhat.com/product/stew...

For the new kids:

Rule 1: Where there is value, there is crime.
Rule 2: A fine is a price.
Rule 3: Nothing ever stops until a Rich White Guy goes to jail.
Rule 4: There are no Moriartys
Rule 5: Everyone can be conned.

Consistently solving purple first is a flex!