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No Longer a Noob
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The Best Buddies In Science Fiction
BY K. THOR JENSEN
05.21.2018
With Solo in theaters now, we decided to focus on one of the freebooting smuggler’s less famous qualities: his deep friendship with his Wookie co-pilot Chewbacca. The duo formed what was arguably one of science fiction’s first bromances, traveling across the galaxy having adventures together. It’s pretty much impossible to think of one without the other – or at least it was before The Force Awakens.
Close friendships are at the core of some of our favorite sci-fi movies, TV shows, and comics. It’s that essential humanity that keeps stories of spaceships and alternate dimensions relatable and interesting to us, and just about all of us can relate to having a bestie that will always stick by us no matter what. In honor of Han, Chewie and the rest, here’s our trip through some of science fiction’s best buddies.
Sam Beckett and Al Calavicci
When you’re unmoored from your timeline and find yourself unstoppably hopping into other people’s bodies, it pays to have a friend along for the ride. While Al only appeared in holographic form to Sam during the run of Quantum Leap, he helped anchor him not only to his real life in the present day but also gave him essential historical context for where he wound up. Al’s womanizing nature and sardonic humor offset Sam’s confusion and desire to make things right, and it’s hard to imagine one without the other. One episode did, though, with Sam causing Al’s death and suddenly having a new holographic companion, but the status quo was quickly restored.
Cable & Deadpool
Superhero comics aren’t strictly sci-fi but Cable is a time-traveling cyborg so we’ll allow it. A classic “odd couple” friendship, Cable is one of Marvel’s most self-serious characters, a grim and tortured soul who always seems to be making hard choices to save mutant-kind. Deadpool, on the other hand, is a fourth wall breaking smartass with an overtaxed healing factor. The only thing they have in common is that they were both created by Rob Liefeld. Somehow, their unlikely friendship has become a key pillar of X-Men canon, with Wade tagging along on some of Cable’s most merciless missions to keep him grounded.
William Adama and Saul Tigh
Sometimes it just takes one moment to forge a bond. William Adama and Saul Tigh were first introduced during a bar fight, and the pair became fast friends and shipmates in the Colonial Fleet. Adama was integral in keeping Tigh’s temper under control, and their philosophies clash but complement each other, with Adama’s humanism balancing Tigh’s logical calculus. Of course, everything changes after it’s revealed that Tigh is actually one of the original nine humanoid Cylons, acting as a sleeper agent in human form. But the friendship is so strong that even as Tigh has visions of himself shooting Adam through the head, he stays loyal and even volunteers to be vented out an airlock rather than betray the fleet.
Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago
Gears Of War is, of course, a game about shooting and chainsawing hordes of aliens in visceral glee, but it’s also a game about true friendship between two bros. Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago have been friends since elementary school, and the pair stayed close even after Marcus was convicted of dereliction of duty after the Battle of Ephyra. In fact, Dom was the one who broke him out and recruited his pal into Delta Squad, where they fought the Locust together over multiple games until his sacrifice during the Mission to Mercy. The pair’s easy repartee belies the intense situations they find themselves in, adding the human touch that the games desperately need.
Willis E. Davidge and Jeriba Shigan
The line between enemies and friends can be a thin one, as evidenced by 1985 film Enemy Mine, one of our favorite underrated classics. When Earth pilot Davidge and alien Shigan dogfight over an uninhabited world, they both crash-land and have to depend on each other for survival. A sci-fi story that’s all about the power of friendship is a pretty unusual take, but the twists don’t stop there as the hermaphroditic Shigan turns out to be pregnant and gives birth, leaving his new son to Davidge’s care. Some of the strongest bonds are forged in the fires of adversity, and this buddy story is a potent illustration of that maxim.
Julian Bashir and Elim Garak
You know we had to touch on Trek at least once in this thing, and that franchise is just full of deep, abiding friendships. We could spend a whole article just on Kirk / Spock, but instead, I decided to go to the well with DS9, and the perplexing pairing of Dr. Julian Bashir and spy turned tailor Elim Garak. The pair both came from circumstances, with Bashir’s parents subjecting him to genetic engineering to improve his intelligence, and when they met on DS9, they bonded in a relationship that was sometimes adversarial and remarkably tender. Behind the scenes, both actors made the choice to portray the characters as subtly LGBTQ, but that attraction was never publicly acknowledged by the show.
Klaatu and Gort
When you’re making first contact with a potentially dangerous alien race, it’s important to bring a buddy along. Klaatu in the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day The Earth Stood Still is lucky to have his good buddy Gort, the massive featureless robot, at his back when superstitious humans put a bullet in him upon his arrival to our dumb planet. In fact, it turns out that Gort was created to keep the peace among all of the known universe’s species, and the pair is on Earth to warn us that our continued atomic aggression might result in a quick wipe-out if we don’t get our act together.
Garrus and Shepard
The Mass Effect games are as famous for their intense interpersonal (and sometimes romantic) relationships as they are for their space-spanning adventures. It’s hard to pick just one partnership over the others, but there’s something very pure about the bond between Commander Shepard and the Turian Garrus Vakarian. Garrus is a gifted warrior who cares deeply about the honor of his people. One of his best moments comes in the second game, when Shep goes to recruit the vigilante Archangel and he turns out to be Garrus in disguise, fighting crime because he wanted to follow Shepard’s example. The scene in Mass Effect 3 where they bond over popping beverage cans with sniper rifles is also pretty sweet.
Yuri and Kei
Close friendships aren’t a male-only thing. Look no further than the two bounty hunter stars of manga The Dirty Pair. Yuri and Kei are Trouble Consultant team 234, tasked with all manner of missions that usually end up in extreme property damage. The duo are perfect compliments to each other, with hot-headed Kei favoring big guns and dumb lunks and Yuri specializing in hand-to-hand combat and classy gentlemen. Their adventures have extended to light novels, anime, and American comics and there just isn’t having one of the Pair without the other.
https://youtu.be/QJq_yFjKyRE
Rocket and Groot
Friendships can take many forms, and the ever-shifting bond between Rocket (he’s not technically a raccoon, so stop calling him that) and his tree-beast companion Groot is a great example. When we first meet them in Guardians of the Galaxy, they’re basically equals, but after Groot sacrifices himself to stop Ronan the Accuser and protect his friends, he reverts to a baby-like form and Rocket becomes more of a parent figure. That happens all the time in real-world friendships as well – things shift and change as one side or the other gains prominence, but the closeness at the core always remains.
Ratchet & Clank
Most human/robot partnerships are pretty lopsided, but the titular duo of the Ratchet & Clank franchise manage to keep things even. Catlike mechanic Ratchet meets defective robot Clank after he flees the factory and learns about a plot to destroy inhabited planets to build a new one for the corrupt Blarg. Over 15 years, the pair has teamed up for numerous adventures and also anchored their own solo games. The mark of a truly great friendship is covering each other’s weak points, and that’s what these two do best with Ratchet handling the running and gunning and Clank using his computer brain to control other robots and solve puzzles.
https://www.geek.com/movies/the-best-buddies-in-science-fiction-1740310/
BY K. THOR JENSEN
05.21.2018
With Solo in theaters now, we decided to focus on one of the freebooting smuggler’s less famous qualities: his deep friendship with his Wookie co-pilot Chewbacca. The duo formed what was arguably one of science fiction’s first bromances, traveling across the galaxy having adventures together. It’s pretty much impossible to think of one without the other – or at least it was before The Force Awakens.
Close friendships are at the core of some of our favorite sci-fi movies, TV shows, and comics. It’s that essential humanity that keeps stories of spaceships and alternate dimensions relatable and interesting to us, and just about all of us can relate to having a bestie that will always stick by us no matter what. In honor of Han, Chewie and the rest, here’s our trip through some of science fiction’s best buddies.
Sam Beckett and Al Calavicci
When you’re unmoored from your timeline and find yourself unstoppably hopping into other people’s bodies, it pays to have a friend along for the ride. While Al only appeared in holographic form to Sam during the run of Quantum Leap, he helped anchor him not only to his real life in the present day but also gave him essential historical context for where he wound up. Al’s womanizing nature and sardonic humor offset Sam’s confusion and desire to make things right, and it’s hard to imagine one without the other. One episode did, though, with Sam causing Al’s death and suddenly having a new holographic companion, but the status quo was quickly restored.
Cable & Deadpool
Superhero comics aren’t strictly sci-fi but Cable is a time-traveling cyborg so we’ll allow it. A classic “odd couple” friendship, Cable is one of Marvel’s most self-serious characters, a grim and tortured soul who always seems to be making hard choices to save mutant-kind. Deadpool, on the other hand, is a fourth wall breaking smartass with an overtaxed healing factor. The only thing they have in common is that they were both created by Rob Liefeld. Somehow, their unlikely friendship has become a key pillar of X-Men canon, with Wade tagging along on some of Cable’s most merciless missions to keep him grounded.
William Adama and Saul Tigh
Sometimes it just takes one moment to forge a bond. William Adama and Saul Tigh were first introduced during a bar fight, and the pair became fast friends and shipmates in the Colonial Fleet. Adama was integral in keeping Tigh’s temper under control, and their philosophies clash but complement each other, with Adama’s humanism balancing Tigh’s logical calculus. Of course, everything changes after it’s revealed that Tigh is actually one of the original nine humanoid Cylons, acting as a sleeper agent in human form. But the friendship is so strong that even as Tigh has visions of himself shooting Adam through the head, he stays loyal and even volunteers to be vented out an airlock rather than betray the fleet.
Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago
Gears Of War is, of course, a game about shooting and chainsawing hordes of aliens in visceral glee, but it’s also a game about true friendship between two bros. Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago have been friends since elementary school, and the pair stayed close even after Marcus was convicted of dereliction of duty after the Battle of Ephyra. In fact, Dom was the one who broke him out and recruited his pal into Delta Squad, where they fought the Locust together over multiple games until his sacrifice during the Mission to Mercy. The pair’s easy repartee belies the intense situations they find themselves in, adding the human touch that the games desperately need.
Willis E. Davidge and Jeriba Shigan
The line between enemies and friends can be a thin one, as evidenced by 1985 film Enemy Mine, one of our favorite underrated classics. When Earth pilot Davidge and alien Shigan dogfight over an uninhabited world, they both crash-land and have to depend on each other for survival. A sci-fi story that’s all about the power of friendship is a pretty unusual take, but the twists don’t stop there as the hermaphroditic Shigan turns out to be pregnant and gives birth, leaving his new son to Davidge’s care. Some of the strongest bonds are forged in the fires of adversity, and this buddy story is a potent illustration of that maxim.
Julian Bashir and Elim Garak
You know we had to touch on Trek at least once in this thing, and that franchise is just full of deep, abiding friendships. We could spend a whole article just on Kirk / Spock, but instead, I decided to go to the well with DS9, and the perplexing pairing of Dr. Julian Bashir and spy turned tailor Elim Garak. The pair both came from circumstances, with Bashir’s parents subjecting him to genetic engineering to improve his intelligence, and when they met on DS9, they bonded in a relationship that was sometimes adversarial and remarkably tender. Behind the scenes, both actors made the choice to portray the characters as subtly LGBTQ, but that attraction was never publicly acknowledged by the show.
Klaatu and Gort
When you’re making first contact with a potentially dangerous alien race, it’s important to bring a buddy along. Klaatu in the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day The Earth Stood Still is lucky to have his good buddy Gort, the massive featureless robot, at his back when superstitious humans put a bullet in him upon his arrival to our dumb planet. In fact, it turns out that Gort was created to keep the peace among all of the known universe’s species, and the pair is on Earth to warn us that our continued atomic aggression might result in a quick wipe-out if we don’t get our act together.
Garrus and Shepard
The Mass Effect games are as famous for their intense interpersonal (and sometimes romantic) relationships as they are for their space-spanning adventures. It’s hard to pick just one partnership over the others, but there’s something very pure about the bond between Commander Shepard and the Turian Garrus Vakarian. Garrus is a gifted warrior who cares deeply about the honor of his people. One of his best moments comes in the second game, when Shep goes to recruit the vigilante Archangel and he turns out to be Garrus in disguise, fighting crime because he wanted to follow Shepard’s example. The scene in Mass Effect 3 where they bond over popping beverage cans with sniper rifles is also pretty sweet.
Yuri and Kei
Close friendships aren’t a male-only thing. Look no further than the two bounty hunter stars of manga The Dirty Pair. Yuri and Kei are Trouble Consultant team 234, tasked with all manner of missions that usually end up in extreme property damage. The duo are perfect compliments to each other, with hot-headed Kei favoring big guns and dumb lunks and Yuri specializing in hand-to-hand combat and classy gentlemen. Their adventures have extended to light novels, anime, and American comics and there just isn’t having one of the Pair without the other.
https://youtu.be/QJq_yFjKyRE
Rocket and Groot
Friendships can take many forms, and the ever-shifting bond between Rocket (he’s not technically a raccoon, so stop calling him that) and his tree-beast companion Groot is a great example. When we first meet them in Guardians of the Galaxy, they’re basically equals, but after Groot sacrifices himself to stop Ronan the Accuser and protect his friends, he reverts to a baby-like form and Rocket becomes more of a parent figure. That happens all the time in real-world friendships as well – things shift and change as one side or the other gains prominence, but the closeness at the core always remains.
Ratchet & Clank
Most human/robot partnerships are pretty lopsided, but the titular duo of the Ratchet & Clank franchise manage to keep things even. Catlike mechanic Ratchet meets defective robot Clank after he flees the factory and learns about a plot to destroy inhabited planets to build a new one for the corrupt Blarg. Over 15 years, the pair has teamed up for numerous adventures and also anchored their own solo games. The mark of a truly great friendship is covering each other’s weak points, and that’s what these two do best with Ratchet handling the running and gunning and Clank using his computer brain to control other robots and solve puzzles.
https://www.geek.com/movies/the-best-buddies-in-science-fiction-1740310/