History ThoseTwoGuys / Literature

* Some of ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'''s {{Punch Clock Villain}}s appear in pairs, but aren't nasty enough to qualify as ThoseTwoBadGuys. Lousewort and Sneezewort from ''The Long Patrol'' are probably the most memorable.

* ''Literature/EleanorAndPark'': Beebi and [=DeNice=] cross this over with BlackBestFriend, being Eleanor's only friends at school.

** Their various international counterparts as every locale has an ethnic equivalent of Fred & Nobby. Lampshaded in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}''.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', having even more characters than ''Harry Potter'', has remarkably few (given that everybody who shows up ever is significant):

* In the very long 18th century Chinese novel ''TheStoryOfTheStone'', written by Cao Xueqin and Gao E, There are two minor characters who appear in the first two chapters. They are Jia Yu-cun, a tutor, and Leng Zi-xing, an antique dealer. They have a conversation over wine in a tavern, and the point of this conversation is to give a description of the Jia family and their situation to the reader.

* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': There's Raoul and Gary in the ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' series, Miri and Evan in ''Literature/TheImmortals'' quartet, Merric and Seaver in the ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' sequence, and in ''Literature/ProvostsDog'' we have Aniki and Kora (on the outlaw side) and Verene and Ersken for the Dogs. [[spoiler:The latter breaks when Verene is killed on duty.]]

* Foix and Ferda in the ''Literature/{{Chalion}}'' series.

* ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'': Malicorne and Manicamp from ''Le Vicomte de Bragelonne'', one of the sequels.

* The ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' has these characters in spades. Bromances are common and almost every two-man pairing has shades of this:
** Kharkanas Trilogy [[note]]Forge of Darkness, Fall of Light, Walk in Shadow[[/note]]
*** Prazek and Dathenar
** Other books in the series:
*** Kalam and Quick Ben
*** Fiddler and Hedge
*** Shadowthrone and Cotillion
*** Tehol and Bugg
*** Stormy and Gesler
*** Bauchelain and Korbal
** Toll the Hounds:
*** Scorch and Leff. Never seen without each other, they hang around in the background of Torvald Nom's story arc and are his only subordinates when he becomes captain of Lady Varada's house guard, but otherwise have little significance beside being comic relief. They also [[TheDividual act as one entity]] throughout the book.
*** Lazan Door and Madrun Badrun. The former is tall, almost skeletal, and bald, while the other is broad-shouldered, short-legged and shaggy-haired. One wears a whispy cloak, the other is clothed like a court-jester. They are always together, and appear to be Studious Lock's accomplices. They also serve as a sinister contrast to Scorch and Leff's comic relief.

* The main characters of ''Literature/TheOtherGuys'' are what happens when Those Two Guys manage to become the heroes after the actual heroes die.

* The main characters of ''TheOtherGuys'' are what happens when Those Two Guys manage to become the heroes after the actual heroes die.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Legolas and Gimli are very much Those Two Guys, especially in relation to Aragorn. Merry and Pippin also qualify. Though less in ''The Return of the King'', where they are separated and get bigger roles as knights of Rohan and Gondor respectively. However, their separation has the effect of turning "the cities" Rohan and Gondor figuratively into ''those two guys''.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Legolas and Gimli are very much Those Two Guys, especially in relation to Aragorn. Merry and Pippin also qualify. Though less in ''The Return of the King'', where they are separated and get bigger roles as knights of Rohan and Gondor respectively.

* From ''TheFaerieQueene'', Braggadocchio and Trompart, mostly harmless nuisances who go around posing as a knight and his squire after Braggadocchio steals Guyon's horse.

* There's Mallory and Jessi in ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub''.
* Creator/TamoraPierce gives us lots of these in her [[Literature/TortallUniverse Tortall]] books; there's Raoul and Gary in the ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' series, Miri and Evan in ''Literature/TheImmortals'' quartet, Merric and Seaver in the ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' sequence, and in ''Literature/ProvostsDog'' we have Aniki and Kora (on the outlaw side) and Verene and Ersken for the Dogs. [[spoiler:The latter breaks when Verene is killed on duty.]]
* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Legolas and Gimli are very much Those Two Guys, especially in relation to Aragorn. Merry and Pippin also qualify. Though less in ''The Return of the King'', where they are separated and get bigger roles as knights of Rohan and Gondor respectively.
* William Shakespeare and Palamedes in ''Literature/TheSecretsOfTheImmortalNicholasFlamel''.
* The twins, Sam and Eric, in ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies''. They often finish each other's sentences and are so inseparable, that the others simply refer to them as "Samneric" instead.
* Yuichiro Takiguchi and Tadakatsu Hatagami in "Literature/BattleRoyale".

* Inspectors Lestrade and Gregson in ''Literature/SherlockHolmes''. Good enough coppers in their own way but naturally can't compare with the Great Detective, but only in the debut novel, ''A Study in Scarlet''. They never appear together after that, with Gregson largely fading into the background, while Lestrade attains enough prominence to [[InspectorLestrade get his own trope.]]

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', having even more characters than ''Harry Potter'', has remarkably few (given that everybody who shows up ever being significant):
** Verin and Alanna could qualify for a bit. Until Verin's [[spoiler:revelation that she has been TheMole among the Black Ajah and her HeroicSacrifice that lets her spill the beans to Egwene]].
** Those two Accepted who always march Elayne and Egwene around when they are in trouble might also qualify.
** Talmanes and Nalasean
** Bain and Chiad
* From ''TheFaerieQueene'', Braggadocchio and Trompart, mostly harmless nuisances who go around posing as a knight and his squire after Braggadocchio steals Guyon's horse.
* Some of ''{{Redwall}}'''s {{Punch Clock Villain}}s appear in pairs, but aren't nasty enough to qualify as ThoseTwoBadGuys. Lousewort and Sneezewort from ''The Long Patrol'' are probably the most memorable.
* In the very long 18th century Chinese novel ''TheStoryOfTheStone'', written by Cao Xueqin and Gao E, There are two minor characters who appear in the first two chapters. They are Jia Yu-cun, a tutor, and Leng Zi-xing, an antique dealer. They have a conversation over wine in a tavern, and the point of this conversation is to give a description of the Jia family and their situation to the reader.

* Bodger and Grift in JV Jones' ''Book of Words'' books are pretty much used for Rosencrantz-and-Guildenstern observational purposes for the whole trilogy, and occasionally have to do something important for the plot.
* Givenar and Antinas in ''Literature/SpaceMarineBattles'', who can't stop bickering and joking, to Lysander's neverending annoyance.
* The ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'' series has a female version in 'the Twins', two of Zoey Redbird's friends, who aren't literal twins (in fact, one is the TokenEthnicMinority) but are very close friends to each other. They even have [[ElementalRockPaperScissors complementary]] ElementalPowers, with one being fire and the other one water. I can't even remember which has fire and which has water. They have a brief romantic fling with a more typical set of Those Two Guys, incidentally.

* ''Literature/DonQuixote'': Pedro Pérez, the curate, and Maese Nicholas, the barber. Better known as "The curate and the barber", two guys from the same town as Don Quixote, who are fond of chivalry books, like Don Quixote. Unlike Don Quixote, they are completely ordinary (sane), and... well, you would not find any other personality trait in them. His personalities are exactly the same, their names are too simple to stand out ([[MeaningfulName "Pedro Pérez"]] is the Spanish equivalent to "John Smith"), In the first part, they have a significant involvement with the plot, but in the second part, they only appear in the beginning and in the end of the novel (with only a mention of the curate in one intermediate chapter).

* The buffoonish and arrogant homicide detectives Monoghan and Monroe in ''Literature/EightySeventhPrecinct'' series by Creator/EdMcBain.
* Elaina ni Leonor and Kara ni Lain are Those Two {{Action Girl}}s in ''Literature/{{Harald}}''..
* In a way, Tomo and Walberg of Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's Thousand Worlds, a pair of adventurers who visited many planets. They are almost always mentioned together when someone brings them up, and they are [[MemeticBadass Memetic Badasses]] in-universe. Unfortunately they have yet to actually appear in a story.
* Bella's friends Mike, Jessica, Angela, and Eric in ''{{Twilight}}''. Also the members of the wolfpack who aren't Jacob, Sam, Leah, and Seth.
* The main characters of ''TheOtherGuys'' are what happens when Those Two Guys manage to become the heroes after the actual heroes die.
* The novel ''Literature/WivesAndDaughters'' has Those Two Women. The Misses Brownings, Miss Browning and Miss Phoebe are family friends of Mr. Gibson and his daughter Molly. They are fairly similar characters and always paired together. Lady Harriet even calls them Pecksy and Flapsy.
* Dick and Dolly in ''[[LittleWomen Little Men]]'', then Stuffy and Dolly in ''Jo's Boys.''
* Mr. Hall and Mr. White play this role to Doug in {{Literature/Parellity}}.
* Donegan Bane and Gracious O'Callahan, the [[HeterosexualLifePartners Monster]] [[TheyFightCrime Hunters]], in Derek Landy's ''[[Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant The Maleficent Seven]]'', qualify as they are primarily used for comic relief. While shown to be very talented fighters, they never take centre stage except for the purposes of comedy.
* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold has used them at times
** Remo and Barr in the ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'' series, and also Bo and Hod.
** Foix and Ferda in the ''Literature/{{Chalion}}'' series.
* Birchfall and Berrynose from ''Literature/WarriorCats''.
* Beebi and [=DeNice=] cross this over with BlackBestFriend in ''Literature/EleanorAndPark''.
* The ''[[Literature/KnightLifeSeries Knight Life]]'' series has Buddy and Elvis, two drugged-out muggers who end up working for King Arthur's campaign and become jesters of a sort for him after witnessing him receive Excalibur ("the day-glo sword") from the Lady of the Lake.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Revas and Otio are two of Eric's school friends from ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]''. They're minor characters who are never seen apart and provide comedy. [[RedOniBlueOni One is a hotblooded cat beastfolk and the other is a calm lizard beastfolk.]]
* ''Creator/DaveBarry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need'' claims that Liechtenstein and Luxembourg are not countries at all but "minor characters in Creator/WilliamShakespeare's famous play ''Hamlet II: The Next Day''."
* The ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' has these characters in spades. Bromances are common and almost every two-man pairing has shades of this:
** Kharkanas Trilogy [[note]]Forge of Darkness, Fall of Light, Walk in Shadow[[/note]]
*** Prazek and Dathenar
** Other books in the series:
*** Kalam and Quick Ben
*** Fiddler and Hedge
*** Shadowthrone and Cotillion
*** Tehol and Bugg
*** Stormy and Gesler
*** Bauchelain and Korbal
** Toll the Hounds:
*** Scorch and Leff. Never seen without each other, they hang around in the background of Torvald Nom's story arc and are his only subordinates when he becomes captain of Lady Varada's house guard, but otherwise have little significance beside being comic relief. They also [[TheDividual act as one entity]] throughout the book.
*** Lazan Door and Madrun Badrun. The former is tall, almost skeletal, and bald, while the other is broad-shouldered, short-legged and shaggy-haired. One wears a whispy cloak, the other is clothed like a court-jester. They are always together, and appear to be Studious Lock's accomplices. They also serve as a sinister contrast to Scorch and Leff's comic relief.

* Malicorne and Manicamp, from Creator/AlexandreDumas's ''Le Vicomte de Bragelonne'', one of the sequels to ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers''.

* In a way, Tomo and Walberg of GeorgeRRMartin's Thousand Worlds, a pair of adventurers who visited many planets. They are almost always mentioned together when someone brings them up, and they are [[MemeticBadass Memetic Badasses]] in-universe. Unfortunately they have yet to actually appear in a story.

* In the eigth book of the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'':
** Scorch and Leff. Never seen without each other, they hang around in the background of Torvald Nom's story arc and are his only subordinates when he becomes captain of Lady Varada's house guard, but otherwise have little significance beside being comic relief. They also [[TheDividual act as one entity]] throughout the book.
** Lazan Door and Madrun Badrun. The former is tall, almost skeletal, and bald, while the other is broad-shouldered, short-legged and shaggy-haired. One wears a whispy cloak, the other is clothed like a court-jester. They are always together, and appear to be Studious Lock's accomplices. They also serve as a sinister contrast to Scorch and Leff's comic relief.

* Malicorne and Manicamp, from ''[[Creator/AlexandreDumas Le Vicomte de Bragelonne]]''.

* TamoraPierce gives us lots of these in her [[Literature/TortallUniverse Tortall]] books; there's Raoul and Gary in the ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' series, Miri and Evan in ''Literature/TheImmortals'' quartet, Merric and Seaver in the ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' sequence, and in ''Literature/ProvostsDog'' we have Aniki and Kora (on the outlaw side) and Verene and Ersken for the Dogs. [[spoiler:The latter breaks when Verene is killed on duty.]]

* Malicorne and Manicamp, from [[Creator/AlexandreDumas ''Le Vicomte de Bragelonne'']].

* William Shakespeare and Palamedes in ''TheSecretsOfTheImmortalNicholasFlamel''.

* ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'' opens on two Anglo-Saxons: Gurth, a swineherd, and Wamba, a jester. They playfully banter, making a linguistic observation in the style of Creator/StevenWright. Wamba misdirects the local man of the cloth and a Knight Templar away from the home of Cedric, the local thane, in order to protect Cedric's daughter from unwanted advances. (They make it to the castle anyway, making for an uncomfortable dinner.) While it would be an exaggeration to call those two main characters, they do get more characterization and some plot-relevant moments later in the book; Wamba even manages to [[spoiler:free his master Cedric from his jail cell in their enemies' castle]] virtually all by himself, by the simple expedient of a clever disguise.

* Some of ''{{Redwall}}'''s {{Punch Clock Villain}}s appear in pairs, but aren't nasty enough to qualify as ThoseTwoBadGuys. Lousewort and Sneezewort from ''The Long Patrol''are probably the most memorable.