We can all agree, there certain guys emanate an energy that can only be described as “righteous”. These are dudes that truly rock and this is a powerful, wholesome vibe that only the best kind of man radiates. These sorts of dudes have a heart of gold and the stubbornness of a brick wall. They have the vibes of an excited labrador retriever and the emotional sensitivity of one too.
When two or more of these powerful beings come together, sometimes, on rare occasions, something wonderful happens. They combine, the good vibes multiply, and positive masculinity becomes undeniable. Something stronger than sexual tension, and something deeper than family ties. These are what we call “Bromances”.
12 Dom And Marcus – Gears Of War
Even if you aren’t a Gears fan, you know of the purely platonic romance between Dominic Santiago and Marcus Fenix. These two bros will go to the ends of the earth for each other, and then some. Fighting back against Locust together in the hopes of a better tomorrow for their families.
They are the closest thing video games have ever come to replicating the found family feeling of Dominic Toretto and Co. in Fast and Furious. They also totally have a super secret handshake for when they see each other. Just look at them.
11 Leonardo And Ezio – Assassin’s Creed 2
It does feel a little strange that Ubisoft took a real-life historical genius and portrayed him as the dream wingman for a fictional bachelor assassin. However, it’s hard to deny how good these two are together. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest minds to ever live, and in Assassin’s Creed 2, he’s basically Q to Ezio’s James Bond, and it works perfectly.
While Ezio’s quest for revenge might be deadly serious, every time these two are on-screen together feels like two rapscallions getting up to mischief. By the time Leonardo is egging you on to try out a flying machine that might kill you, these two feel more like Beavis and Butthead than the cunning men they really are.
10 Drake And Sully – Uncharted
Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan’s relationship in Uncharted is great because it is so much more than just the grizzled old mentor and plucky mentee dynamic it first appears to be. Yes, that was the relationship at one point, but both men have been working together so long that it’s evolved into something with so much more mutual respect.
Sully, for all his cynicism, is well aware that Nate’s antics and hair-brained plans usually work out for the best, while Nate knows that he would be lost with Sully to ground him. They balance each other out, and over the years Sully has transformed from the dad Drake never had, to the partner he always needed.
9 Sonic And Knuckles – Sonic Series
Some people might claim that Sonic and Tails relationship works as a bromance, but that has never really fit. Tails and Sonic are like two brothers, always on the same page, working together.
Sonic and Knuckles’ relationship is much more complicated: they started out as enemies and only became mutual acquaintances when the two knuckleheads paused for a moment and realized they were on the same side. It also helps that they have shared marque space on game titles, while Tails has always been the sidekick in this equation.
8 Kratos And Mimir – God Of War
You might not have noticed this subtle detail in the God of War series, but Kratos really doesn’t like gods. To be fair, The Ghost of Sparta has good reason not to be the most trusting, for most of his time in Greece he was either fighting or being manipulated by cruel gods.
While Kratos was originally extremely hesitant of the Smartest Man Alive and the god of Knowledge and Wisdom, Mimir proves himself to be a true friend. So much so that he is pretty much the only person alive Kratos would ever consider calling “brother.” They could not be more different, but they’ve something in common. They both are desperate to make up for their mistakes.
7 Ken And Ryu – Street Fighter
street fighter 2 ken and ryu fighting
Ryu and Ken. Just two dudes being bros.
They spend their days sparing trying to better each other so that they can be the best of the World Warriors. What else can you say?
6 Yagami And Kaito – Judgment Series
You would think that between running a detective agency, running afoul of the police and yakuza, and trying to foil international governmental plots that this lawyer and ex-con wouldn’t get much time to just chill and be bros together. Yet somehow, every time Yagami and Katio work a case together, they may as well be just hanging out in an arcade or at a bar.
The co-op protagonists of the Judgment games are two guys that don’t have a malicious bone in their bodies, but are willing to break the bones of anyone that stands in the way of justice – they are the epitome of rad dudes. These guys won’t just do anything for each other, they’ll do anything together in the name of what’s right.
5 Ichiban And The Gang (Including Eri And Saeko) – Yakuza Like A Dragon
Ryu Ga Gotoku is either really good at writing lovable himbos or the writers just think everyone is a doofus with a heart of gold. This can be seen best in the eighth mainline Like A Dragon game where every party member recruited by the unbelievably earnest, Ichiban Kasuga, turns out to be a vital part of his large-scale bromance polycule.
Even the women in his party – Eri-chan and Saeko-chan – have to be given honorary dude status for the way they stick with each other through thick in thin, no matter what. It might be purely platonic, but this crew of misfits loves each other more than most people care for anyone in their lives.
4 Kiryu And Majima – Yakuza Series
If we are going to include the bromances from the latest Yakuza games, we could hardly leave out the Dragon of Dojima and The Mad Dog of Shimano. Even if they are often at odds, and have come to blows plenty of times, these two rad guys have more than just mutual respect for each other.
Maybe it’s because they know that despite everything, and the years of crime and backstabbing, they can rely on each other. Or maybe it’s just the begrudging respect they hold for each other after their heartbreaking first run-ins together in the 1980s. But these two guys quietly love each other – they’d just never admit it out loud.
3 Ren And Ryuji – Persona 5
As much as the community might ship them together, Ryuji Sakamoto and the protagonist of Persona 5 are not in a relationship. Until the day comes that Atlus gets over including queer player relationships in its games, these two are destined to just be best-bros-forever.
But don’t worry though, until Joker and Skull can deal with the sexual tension between each other, they can continue working out together, grab beef bowls for lunch, and change the hearts of the evil.
2 Peter And Miles – Marvel’s Spider-Man
Oftentimes in media, the relationship between Miles Morales and Peter Parker is portrayed as an uneven one. One where Peter is very the crime-fighting veteran and Miles is just trying to find his feet. Thankfully though, Insomianic skipped most of that in its Spider-Man games, portraying them as just good friends even before Miles got bit.
Miles trusts Peter so much in this universe he even shows off his powers to him before he even knows that Parker is the original Spider-Man. By the time Miles’ own game came around, Peter already trusts him enough to leave all of New York in the Ultimate Spider-Man’s hands for a few weeks. Above all else though, sometimes these two just want to grab a slice together and chat.
1 Wario And Waluigi – Mario Series
Mario and Luigi couldn’t go on this list – they’re brothers. The Wa-Bros., on the other hand, have never actually been confirmed to be related. So as far as we know, they are just two evil-loving dudes that love suspenders and causing chaos.
These guys are happy to leave each other to their own devices – after all, Wario has a video game business to run, and Waluigi probably has toilets to clog or something evil like that. However, they’re at their best when they’re together, whether that means being the other’s tennis duo or just causing wanton destruction across The Mushroom Kingdom.
