Sancho Pansa is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. A simple peasant who follows Don Quixote only out of greed, curiosity, and loyalty, Sancho is the novel’s only character to exist both inside and outside of Don Quixote’s mad world. He embodies the good and the bad of both the current era and the bygone days of chivalry and shows faults which most of the sane characters in the novel exhibit; however, he has an underlying honorable and compassionate side which the others largely lack.

Sancho Pansa is precursor to "the sidekick," and embellishes the virtue of practicality over idealism. Sancho is the your everyday man, who, by not sharing his master's delusional "enchantment" until late in the novel, remains an ever-faithful companion, a realist and functions as the clever sidekick.