Pop Culture’s 10 Greatest Bromances

What’s that hanging in the air? Is it gym sweat? Aftershave? Close! It’s love! No, not romantic love. Bromantic love: the undying bond between two male buddies. A bromance goes deeper than a run-of-the-mill friendship between guys; like their romantic counterparts, bromances are defined by mutual affection, devotion, and maybe even a hint of obsession. This sort of relationship is perhaps the pinnacle of platonic male bonding, the Mount Everest of manly friendship — and pop culture can’t get enough. Enemies turned friends, besties turned brothers, buddies turned lifelong companions, these are the 10 greatest bromances in pop culture history. Hold your bro close, and read on.

Finn and Jake

Quite literally putting the “bro” in “bromance,” Finn the Human and Jake the Dog were raised as brothers despite being two completely different species. After finding Adventure Time’s human hero abandoned as a baby, Jake’s canine parents lovingly raised him as their own. They’ve been inseparable ever since. Like many dedicated bromantic pairs, Finn and Jake live together, roommates in a treehouse in the Land of Ooo. From this all-time great bachelor pad, they kindle the fires of their bromantic love, whether it be through bacon pancake breakfasts or gearing up for another dungeon-delving expedition. Everyone knows that dogs are man’s best friend; this particular boy/dog pair has one of the tightest bonds in TV history. Just ask any monster that they’ve laid a joint smackdown on; Finn and Jake are a completely united front.

Troy and Abed

Troy and Abed are the wonderfully weird beating heart of Community. At first, this jock and film buff combo couldn’t have seemed more unlikely, but as the series went on, it became clear that they were made for one another. Perhaps the most essential aspect of a bromance is the ability to have fun with one another, and Troy and Abed have this covered. The floor is lava games, pillow forts, secret handshakes, they’re like two little kids in adult bodies. Troy and Abed bring out each other’s inner child, and with their shared sense of humor and wonder, they’re a beacon of wholesomeness for their community college, and pop culture as a whole.

Bender and Fry

Who would have thought that an emotionless automaton and a dimwitted pizzaboy would be a match made in heaven? While Fry and Leela are Futurama‘s central romance, Leela has to be content with sharing her boyfriend with Bender Bending Rodriguez. Fry and Bender’s bond is built on a mutual love of dude stuff: watching TV, drinking beer, burping, etc. And while their relationship can appear a little toxic on the surface (Fry is often a casualty of Bender’s schemes), Bender has repeatedly sworn never to fatally harm his human bestie. After all, Fry is the only human being in the universe that Bender cares about. Considering that Bender is a cold-hearted and sociopathic machine, Fry befriending him is a pretty extraordinary achievement.

SpongeBob and Patrick

As SpongeBob SquarePants‘ top practitioners of nautical nonsense, SpongeBob and Patrick serve as an undersea Abbott and Costello to the community of Bikini Bottom — for better or for worse. Whether they’re crashing boatmobiles, catching jellyfish, or stealing balloons on Free Balloon Day, these two agents of chaos are completely inseparable. At one point, they even decide to take their bromance to the next level and serve as surrogate parents to an orphaned scallop. The best bromances have romantic undertones, after all, and while changing the diapers of a colic bivalve might not fit the traditional definition of “romantic,” these two sea creatures happily do it for one another. Well, at least one does. Patrick spends that episode pretty busy throwing office parties for one under his rock. No bromance is perfect.

Han Solo and Chewbacca

While some argue that R2-D2 and C3P0 are the central bromance of the Star Wars franchise, Han Solo and Chewbecca have their bond beat. R2-D2 and C3P0’s bond can be a bit codependent, with R2 whistling to the beat of his own drum while C3P0 worriedly putters along behind him. Meanwhile, Han and Chewy are partners, mercenary buddies with shared goals in mind. And while meeting those goals often means breaking some galactic laws, who better to commit crimes with than a best friend? Han and Chewy are always there to cover each other’s backs, and while their bond seems transactional at times, Han’s fluency in Chewy’s language proves his affection. Taking the time to learn all those different grunts and groans was a labor of love.

Frodo and Sam

The best bromances have romance bubbling beneath, and Sam and Frodo’s bond is as romantically bromantic as it gets. Sam and Frodo were casual buddies at the beginning of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Sam was his gardener, after all), but once the pair separated from the rest of the Fellowship at the end of the first film, their real bromance began. Wandering across a continent together, Frodo and Sam’s relationship endures some of the deadliest challenges faced by any pair of bros on this list. Sure, a regular bestie will show up for game night on Sunday, but will he be there when you’re getting stabbed by trolls, chased by ghosts, and hunted by giant spiders? Sam doesn’t just stand by Frodo through all these horrors; he carries him through. Literally. While whispering in his ear about strawberries. Now that’s bromantic.

Bheem and Ram

Bheem and Ram’s epic bromance is what made RRR a worldwide smash hit. Sure, the tiger-wrestling, British Empire-toppling, and song-and-dance number-singing helped out, but without the love between these two heroes, this high-flying action flick would have lacked heart. Friends turned enemies turned friends again, Bheem and Ram’s bromance follows one of the complicated trajectories on this list, but those ups and downs are what make their bond so endearing and enduring. Any therapist worth their salt will tell you that true intimacy is built through conflict repair, and I struggle to think of a greater example than Ram choosing to turn against the British and join forces with the very revolutionary he was fighting against. But hey, when your bromance was built on musical numbers and motorcycle stunts, that’s not something you can walk away from easily.

Aang and Zuko (and Sokka)

Another example of bitter enemies turned besties, Aang and Zuko have arguably the most enduring bromance in Avatar: The Last Airbender. After getting over his daddy issues, Zuko turned against his nation and teamed up with his sworn foe, becoming best buds in the process. After the war was won, Aang and Zuko spent the remainder of their lives working together to rebuild a better world. Their bromance changed the course of history, helping four once separate nations find common ground. The only bro who could hold a candle to their bond is Sokka, who was a surrogate older brother to Aang and a peer of Zuko. The greatest bromantic moment in the series? When Sokka opened up about the loss of his lunar ex, and Zuko responded with a sympathetic “that’s rough, buddy.”

Goku and Vegeta

Before Sasuke and Naruto, before Zorro and Luffy, before Gon and Killua, there was Goku and Vegeta. The blueprint for all other anime bromances, Dragon Ball Z‘s central enemies-to-besties pair is arguably the most iconic in the medium. Once again, true intimacy is built through the repair of conflict. Is there any greater conflict than a battle for planet Earth? While Vegeta’s Saiyan pride once compelled him to rule the planet, his hard-won respect for its Saiyan protector eventually made him want to protect the planet as well. He even sacrificed his life for Goku, his friends, and the planet during the battle against Majin Buu. Why? He wanted to follow in Goku’s example of compassion and self-sacrifice. The best bromances change bros for the better, and Goku helped one of the worst become one of the best.

Kirk and Spock

Sci-fi’s ultimate bromance, Kirk and Spock’s bond has had a stranglehold on pop culture for decades. Two of Star Trek‘s most iconic heroes, Kirk and Spock represent two essential qualities necessary for any space explorer: logic and emotion. Kirk relies on Spock’s quick mind to present rational solutions to seemingly impossible problems, while Spock trusts Kirk to inspire the Enterprise crew in even the most hopeless situations. Like a healthy version of Batman and the Joker, these two heroes complete one another, giving each other the resolve to face the most dangerous threats in the universe. And who could forget arguably one of the most bromantic moments in sci-fi history? Spock’s sacrifice. In The Wrath of Khan, Spock gave his life to save the Enterprise crew, but not before giving Kirk a Vulcan salute through a pane of glass. A gesture like that would make any man risk his career to save his bro, which is exactly what Kirk did in the sequel film. Few other people could make Kirk turn against Starfleet to search for a long-lost comrade, but when bromance like this was on the line, Kirk couldn’t help it. Any bro on this list would understand.

(featured image: Phars Film / Netflix)

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