Having friends is great. Having some buddies while going through the highs and lows of life makes life easier, and the bonds bore in friendship can last a lifetime. Friendship can take many forms and has been explored a thousand times over in our literature as well as other media. Dating all the way back to the classic epics, the strong platonic bond that can be forged between men has been one of the most beloved versions for creators to explore, and as epic fiction is the backbone to a majority of genre fiction, it is no wonder that what we call a “bromance” is alive and well in modern storytelling.
Sci-fi is home to some of the greatest bromances known to modern audiences, especially those works that are in part if not completely in the sub-genre of space operas. So that’s what I’ve went and done, scoured through the galaxies of spaceships, ray-guns, federations, rebellions, and empires to to highlight and celebrate the greatest bromances in sci-fi today!
Strap in, set your phasers to “fun,” and let’s get this ship rocking!
5. Rocket and Groot
The Guardians of the Galaxy may have only hit the greater pop culture within the last few years, but with the comics and their 2014 hit movie as well as the follow up set for release next year, the Guardians are one of the hottest sci-fi properties out there today.
The strength in this modern interpretation of the Guardians both in comics and the movie is how well all the characters bounce off of each other. You can take any pair of Guardians and slap them together in a situation and the result will be something interesting. All pairs are not equal however, as the duo of Rocket and Groot are so beloved by fans that you can’t talk about one character without it leading to talking about the other.
Some dismiss the pair as just a rehash of another famous duo on this list, but Rocket’s pathos and Groot’s child like nature give these characters enough personality of their own to make them their own unique thing.
4. Fry and Bender
Ah, these two are truly a match made in heaven. While Futurama isn’t a total space opera, it does mosey into that territory enough times for it satisfy my need to count it. The interesting thing about Fry and Bender is that this is a relationship that shouldn’t work. If Fry had any higher self worth or intelligence he’d get as far from the toxic relationship he has with our favorite angry degenerate piss drunk robot as possible. What makes things work here is Fry’s extreme naivety and because he is a geek from our time who, like us, would think that there is nothing cooler than having a robot best friend.
Other than Bender himself, nobody thinks higher of the robot than his buddy, Fry, a fact that is not lost on Bender. As much as he tries to deny it, Bender does care about Fry and enjoys hanging out with him as much as possible. He’ll still screw Fry over in a second if it suits him, but there is a fair chance Bender might eventually feel bad about it, which is way more than he would go for almost anybody else.
3. D’Argo and Crichton
Easily the most “bro-ish” of the bromances on this list, but I mean that in a good way. They aren’t super dickish or disrespectful to women, but they do like to party hard, show off in front of women, shoot guns, high-five, fist-bump, the occasional chest bump, and sit down and have serious man-talks. In the craziness of the Farscape universe, these two grown men who are still horny teenagers at heart bonded like nobody else on Moya.
This isn’t to say their bromance has always been smooth sailing, they fight all the time, often over the dumbest stuff imaginable. When things heat up however, they back each other up without question, which given their luck is every other day. Hell, D’Argo means so much to Crichton that he names his kid after him, that is a true bromance if I ever saw one.
2. Han and Chewie
The sci-fi bromance upon which next to every other bromance in the genre is based on, it was only a matter of time before we had to talk about Han and Chewie. Han, the aggressive fast talking smaller one with a huge ego and Chewie, the seven foot Wookie stoic who rarely speaks and only in a language that the characters in the movie can understand who acts as the muscle for the pair. This pairing is so popular and ingrained in the culture that every entry on this list save the top spot are directly influenced by them.
Everyone knows Han and Chewie, everyone loves Han and Chewie, and everyone knows Han and Chewie are super close best friends of the highest order. They would have easily been number one if the next entry didn’t exist, but as it does and as much flak as I might get for this, I can’t give Star Wars‘ Odd Couple any higher than the number two slot.
1.Kirk, Spock, and McCoy:
Military Space Operas count the same as regular space operas in my book so if you have any problems with this pick you can go as DX so cleverly put it and “Suck It!” How could the top spot be given to anybody other than these guys?! Not only is it a three way bromance, which is rare in itself, but said bromance is integral to the franchise. Sure, Han and Chewie are important to Star Wars, but they they aren’t the very cornerstone of the franchise like the dashing Kirk, logic driven Spock, and the gruff yet lovable Bones are to any Star Trek media featuring the original crew of the Enterprise in either the Classic or Kelvin Timelines. That makes three full seasons of live action television, twenty-two episodes of the animated series, and nine movies as of when I am writing this focused on this bromance, which is really quite spectacular when you stop and think about it.
What makes the trinity of Star trek so great is how well they both compliment as well as antagonize each other. These three can bicker all day and night if given the chance and still manage to save the galaxy while doing it. It is a classic case of picking on the ones you love to show you care. All verbal jabs aside there isn’t a damn thing these guys wouldn’t do for each other and that has been clear since the first time they all got together. Three life-long best buddies hot-roddin’ through the galaxy, boldy going where no one has gone before. How more bromantic do you get?
