The Singh Brothers Remain Most Intriguing Element of Jinder Mahal's Character

In the case of The Singh Brothers and Jinder Mahal, the supporting characters are making the leading man.

The Modern-Day Maharaja's bootlicking sidekicks offer him more than protection at ringside. They provide him with character depth, comic relief and an air of importance every week on WWE SmackDown Live. 

When WWE went all-in on the heel's push in April, it signified his shift from midcarder to title contender by pairing him with Sumil and Samir Singh, giving him two devoted minions to aid his rise. Eight months later, the brothers remain key to the overall Mahal package.

Credit: WWE.com

We saw that again on Tuesday's SmackDown.

When WWE champ AJ Styles took the stage in Cincinnati to talk his title match with Mahal at Sunday's Clash of Champions pay-per-view, it was The Singh Brothers who first greeted him. They tried to deceive him, telling him they had left Mahal's employ and wanted to now stand in his corner. 

Styles saw through the ruse, but not before the scene inspired a few chuckles.

Again, The Singh Brothers set up the pins for Mahal to bowl over. They joked about how their master's feet smell. They were awkward, bad liars who Styles caught in the act. The Maharaja then led the way on another attempted ambush moments later. 

The scene was not Shakespearean by any stretch, but it was more entertaining than it would have been sans Singhs.

And that's been the case throughout Mahal's time as a marquee talent. The cronies have faked laughter to please their boss. They have talked up the former champ with no fear of overusing hyperbole. The brothers have been the jesters buzzing around their angry king.

Christopher Novak of Fansided wrote that Sumil and Samir have "delivered in this run, no doubt about it."

And The Singh Brothers help highlight Mahal's character traits. Their constant sucking up shows off his ego and his need for it be stroked. The abuse they suffer at his hands plays up his mercilessness. Their constant interference drives home how little Mahal cares about rules and ethics.

The Maharaja can thank them for making him look more like a powerful nobleman. He simply wouldn't exude quite the same royal air without two loyal attendants at his side.

It's their service as human shields, though, that has been the most fun element of the Mahal show.

Be it against Styles, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura or someone else, the best part of the heel's matches has regularly been The Singh Brothers getting flung around like confetti at a New Year's party. Their eye-opening bumps provide a means to punctuate every bout with a sense of danger.

They are the goons the hero can rip apart to issue a sense of comeuppance even if Mahal ends up winning.

And while many have pushed for Mahal to get less spotlight, there's a section of the crowd who wants to see more of Samir and Sunil. Miami Herald columnist Scott Fishman wrote about moving the brothers into the tag team division, for example:

Whether that's the direction The Singh Brothers head or not, they are liable to leave Mahal's side at some point. Partnerships rarely last in WWE. 

When WWE decides to split up this crew, Mahal's stock will fall. He'll have to go forward without the entertaining pushovers who have propped him up. A flatter character would be forced to walk alone.