You know, the kind of couple where bullets figure prominently in the story of their early romance. Where "war buddy" and "significant other" are synonyms. Where if you harm either one, the other will kill you as surely as the sun rises. Likely to have a Back-to-Back Badasses moment.
Battle couples aren't that common, due to restrictions on women in combat. One might expect for the great prevalence of men to mean that gay couples would be overrepresented here, but one would be disappointed in that case; anti-Badass stereotypes of gay men have probably been holding that in check. In heterosexual pairings, the woman will often not be a conventional soldier, but a partisan of some kind. They tend to be more resistant to breakup than most, given the extra bonds forged in combat, but they are particularly vulnerable to losing one half in battle. If the female half of this couple needs to go in disguise, she is a Sweet Polly Oliver. If they have gone all the way expect them to engage in a lot of Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex. It's also possible they may get it on before the fighting
In Real Life, it's also the same as above — and often, they're officers, instead. There are laws in some areas against this sort of thing if one outranks the other, although this is usually meant to prevent the superior from forcing the under-ranked into it.
If they're married, they're likely Happily Married. Has a platonic counterpart in Adventure Duo. It may overlap with Spy Couple. In fantasy settings, they'll probably manifest as Sword and Sorcerer. Add a kid or two for a Badass Family with a Mama Bear and a Papa Wolf. If it's one guy/girl and his/her harem instead of just two people, then it's a Harem Hero(ine) and his/her Battle Harem.
See Bash Brothers, Sibling Team, and Fire-Forged Friends for the non-romantic, sibling and platonic forms, respectively. If they're criminals, they're an Outlaw Couple. If they are royalty who do this as one of their jobs they are also a Ruling Couple. If they're villains, they live in Unholy Matrimony. Absolutely no relation whatsoever to this classic board game.
Tsukune Aono and Moka Akashiya from Rosario+Vampire are gradually developing into one of these, as Tsukune starts to develop the powers necessary to fight at or near her level.
Eureka and Renton of Eureka Seven, oh so much. Their preferred method of fighting is piloting their shared mech while holding hands.
Also Ray and Charles Beams from the same show. A more conventional example of this trope than Renton and Eureka, really.
In Kaze No Stigma, Kazuma is often paired up with Ayano for his missions.
Max and Milia/Miriya from Macross/Robotech are probably one of the earliest examples in anime. Their races were at war. Max is a human, and Milia is a Zentradi, but after she pulls off a Red Sonja and defects, the two end up marrying. Milia gets a red variable fighter to match her husband's blue one. They even lead different squadrons together for a time span of about 30 years after the events of the original series.
Kiri and Elraine in Double Arts. They even developed the TitlularDouble Arts fighting style to fight while constantly connected. They are the official couple of their series and will never let go of each other. No matter what. Elraine is afflicted with a special disease that killed a third of the world's population, and the only reason she isn't dead yet is because of Kiri's mysterious ability.
Mahou Sensei Negima! specifically requires something like this for most mages, because mages are squishy and need a physical-fighting warrior to protect them. Subverted by battle mage-class fighters.
The manga took pains to show this early on in chapter 17, when any sort of unexpected contact is enough to stop a spellcasting, even if the contact isn't even remotely painful.
Hell, even they usually have a partner as they get older and start to develop their Glass Cannon aspects to supplement their Magic Knight aspects. Being able to use both styles equally well and accurately decide which is appropriate for the task at hand is a mark of a high-level mage.
A character-specific example of this are Negi and his partner Asuna. As of chapter 252, Konoka and Setsuna got into a Pactio, which means they've pretty much become a Battle Couple. Natsumi and Kotaro have become a BC as well.
And of course, we have the Curtis family. IzumiCurtis, a powerful and impatient alchemist, and her husband, the at least seven foot tall SigCurtis. Together, they run a butcher shop and kick so much ass, you could fill the ocean with it...unless they're being lovey-dovey.
Bleach has a lot of potential couples though none have ever been outright acknowledged. The only one that might be official in the Bleach verse is UraharaKisuke and YoruichiShihouin. Granted, they might not actually be romantic partners but it's pretty clear that they're soulmates of a sort.
They would both deny it until the day they die, but the Major and Batou in Ghost in the Shell definitely fall into this trope. For heaven's sake, even their voice actors agree that the series is in part, a romantic story.
They're also a lot more dependent on each other than the other pairs; Caro powers up Erio and serves as the primary transportation, while Erio handles the actual combat.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Simon and Nia! Even their mecha are an OTP; Also Kamina and Yoko- she watches and protects his back while he takes the front; and let's not forget about Leite, who does all the maintenance (being in the direct war zone) while hers trully, Makken is in the battlefield.
Every Fighter/Sacrifice duo in Loveless, to a degree.
Basara has pirate leader Chacha and her lover and first mate Zaki.
Allelujah Haptism and Soma Peries/Marie Parfacy in Gundam 00, after Marie returns to action in the GN Archer, which combines with Allelujah's Arios Gundam to form the Arios Archer. In The Movie, they will co-pilot Gundam Harute.
Ranma ˝: You'd thinkRanma and Akane would be one of these, but the truth is, they aren't... or at least, they're not a very good one. For starters, Akane's typically a bystander in any battles Ranma gets involved in — if she isn't just back at home while Ranma's out in the middle of nowhere beating on whoever's ticked him off, she's sitting on the sidelines and watching while he does all the fighting... or is hypnotized, kidnapped, tied up or turned into a doll and otherwise incapable of joining in. When Akane does join in the fight against an opponent, assuming she and Ranma actually fight the same foe, a lot of times, Akane and Ranma tend to get in each other's way more than anything (or, at the very least, Akane ends up getting herself overwhelmed and Ranma has to pull her fat out of the fire). Akane, you see, resents the way Ranma assumes "I'm the greater martial artist, so I gotta protect Akane", which typically leaves them wide open to the exploits of their enemies. The one exception in the series, the one time they really pulled the Battle Couple deal off, was during their face-off against the Orochi. There's a reason why Rakaneshippers in particular like to see that story as a Crowning Moment of Awesome and Crowning Moment of Heartwarming. Ranma also fights along side his other fiancees, Shampoo and Ukyo several times throughout the series.
On the other hand, when Ryoga and Ukyo teamed up in order to order to fight the ghosts in the Cave of Lost Love, they actually worked really well together. The odds were overwhelming, but they put up a good fight. The irony here is that Ukyo and Ryoga are not a couple, not interested in becoming a couple, only started working together to fight off the "stray" ghosts that got over-enthusiastic about attacking the real targets (Ranma and Akane), and their doing so just got them deeper into trouble, as seeing their teamwork, and comparing it to Ranma & Akane's bickering, convinced the ghosts that Ranma and Akane were not a couple at all and Ryoga & Ukyo were. Cue Ryoga and Ukyo wailing in despair that they aren't the couple the ghosts are supposed to be breaking up, and afterwards viciously blaming each other for bungling things up.
On several occasions, Akane has actually attacked Ranma, while he was in the middle of fighting somebody else, further proving their subversion of this trope. This tends to happen more in the manga than in the anime.
Renais and Soldat J from GaoGaiGar. They may or may not be "official" but they do get a power up when they hold hands and undeniably work as an amazing team.
Kazuki and Tokiko from Busou Renkin, although it does take them almost until the end of the series to admit it.
Kagura and Kensuke from Ga-Rei. Eventually, anyway.
Eventually, Yui and Nagi from Spin-Off manga Vampire Yui.
Yuri Genre (sorta) example: Noir, with Kirika and Mireille. Chloewanted to have Kirika as her partner and it almost works, but then she attacked Mireille...
Elfin and Preyas from Bakugan, complete with Belligerent Sexual Tension and Cannot Spit It Out. They constantly argue about which one of them is Marucho's guardian, as well as other things, but when the time to fight comes, they make a great team. And whatever you do, do not, I repeat, DO NOT attack Elfin, or else Preyas will go Ax Crazy on you.
Saya Otonashi and Haji from Blood+ have been fighting chiroptera together for decades, though they don't admit their feelings for one another until the finale
Rust Blaster: A BL example (however, although the series is classified as shounen-ai, there are only vague hints of their being an actual couple).
Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple has Kenichi and Miu, who, due to having sparred together for a long period of time, naturally fall into this slot whenever they have to fight side by side.
In Liar Game, despite not actually physically fighting together, Nao and Akiyama make one heck of a team, able to psychologically and mentally defeat their opponents. Combined with his wits and skills and her often deceiving honest nature, they are a near invincible team.
Though we have yet to see them actually fighting together, MinatoNamikaze and KushinaUzumaki from Naruto can pretty much be assumed to be this.
What we do get to see is how they come up with an awesome and heartbreaking Thanatos Gambit to seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto at the cost of their lives, so they can save Naruto's life and their village. So yeah, Minato and Kushina definitely count.
The first Hokage (Hashirama) and his wife (Mitou) are implied to be this, considering that she was the original jinchuriki of the Kyuubi and Kushina's Old Master.
Umino Iruka's parents. Sadly, they died when the Kyuubi was unleashed.
Oscar and Andi from the Pokémon anime are a spoof of the trope. They are pretty efficient as a team-up (and the same goes to their Nidoqueen and Nidoking), but they also are huge Shippers On Deck who claim to be able to spot couples in love a mile away and thus try to hitch Ash with May and Jessie with James.
Lyon and Sherry from Fairy Tail sort of count. Subverted for Lyon falls for Juvia.
Freezing has this as the main premise with an older female Pandora and a younger male supporter.
More of a Deconstructed Trope, though, since it also shows the psychological and social consequences of losing said partner in the war zones.
Happens eventually in Dragon Ball Z, when Great Saiya-Man is joined by Great Saiya-Man 2 (called Great Saiya-Woman in the US).
Haseo and Atoli become a Battle Couple in the final volume of .hack//G.U.+, fighting against Cubia together using their Avatars. Ditto for Kuhn and Pi.
Inukami! Youko would like to be this with Keita, and from the perspective of EVERYONE ELSE they pretty much are.
Comics
Snake-Eyes and Scarlett from Larry Hama's run on the Marvel G.I. Joe comic
In Garth Ennis's run on The Punisher, the title character had this with O'Brien. For a little while, anyway.
Tempest and Blackwing from the New Warriors. After going out to fight crime together, they come home to take care of their kids.
If New Warriors is going to be brought up: Nova and Namorita, Firestar and Justice, and Night Thrasher and Silhouette.
You're more likely to find this in the X-Men and The Avengers than not. Superheroes have got to stick together, right?
Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four.
The original Cap had it too with Sharon Carter and Diamondback.
Thor and Sif, which comes in handy when Thor is time-sharing Don Blake's body, and is not up to fighting giant robots because he's busy trying to fish Mjolnir-in-stick-form out of the gutter where he accidentally dropped it. You think I'm kidding.
Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. They're (New) Avengers and have a child!
Marvel villains Titania and Absorbing Man were this for a while. They even got married.
Apollo and Midnighter, a rare male/male example. That they're unstoppable badasses somehow makes it all the more adorable when they drop the badassery for a cuddle. Also, should you mess with one, expect the last thing you ever see to be the other one dismembering you.
Although DC prefers non-costumed spouses/significant others, there are a few qualifiers: Green Arrow and Black Canary, Liberty Belle and Hourman, Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) and Traci 13, the Kryptonian Nightwing and Flamebird.
The original incarnations of Hawkman and Hawkgirl were a textbook Battle Couple.
Villain example: Cannon and Sabre were assassins working for opposing gangs who decided to kill each other's bosses and merge the two organisation into one with themselves on top. When that panned out, they bought a beach house together and went freelance.
The New Gods Mr. Miracle and Big Barda are another DCU example.
Wonder Girl and Superboy, at least before Conner died. Now that he's back, they resumed. ...And now they're broken up again.
Nightwing and Starfire, then Nightwing and Oracle. (And there was that tension between him as Robin and Batgirl...)
Adeline and Slade (Deathstroke) Wilson, in New Teen Titans, till his double life got their son kidnapped and rendered mute, then she shot out his eye (she was trying to kill him, but enhanced reflexes saved his life, if not his eye).
At the end of Watchmen Silk Spectre II and Nite Owl II have married, and from their conversation it's clear they plan to work together as illegal masked vigilantes.
Sgt. Rock and Mademoiselle Marie. One recent story even hints that Rock was the father of her son.
Ball and Chain features Edgar and Mallory Bulson, alias Thunderball and Chain Lightning. Their powers are dependent upon their physical contact and proximity, which is inconvenient since their relationship was pretty much over when they got them. Still, they get it together in the end - because they'll always be there for each other.
101 Dalmatians: Pongoteams up with Purdy in 101 Dalmatians to lay the hurting on the two thugs who plan to kill not only their puppies but the other 84 parentless puppies as well. Their treatment of the bad guys is SCARY. You do not mess with puppies and let their parents find out. It is clear these dogs will go through hell and back to save their puppies, all 15 of them.
In Kung Fu Panda 2, Po and Tigress have obviously become this as the pair of the new team of The Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five who fight closest together with new tactics they have developed together.
Films — Live Action
Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann (milder example, though they did get married in the middle of a battle), from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Jack: I have to warn you. I've heard relationships based on intense experiences never work. Annie: Okay. We'll have to base it on sex, then. Jack: Whatever you say, ma'am.
At the end of the Affectionate ParodyZorro The Gay Blade, Zorro and Charlotte Taylor Wilson become a battle couple to take down the baddie once and for all. Though they also need the help of Zorro's twin brother to succeed.
The fact that the VI quote comes in the middle of a battle right before Leia shoots the two Stormtroopers holding them at gunpoint requires this example to be Seconded.
In Kung Fu Hustle, there is the battle couple of the Landlord and Landlady. Both appear as innocuous, though important characters that later in the film demonstrate incredible martial arts skill.
From Animorphs, both Rachel and Tobias and Jake and Cassie
In Seven Men Of Gascony Nicholette marries several successive men, all of which die except Gabriel who is the last of The Squad.
Ruggiero and Bradamante from Orlando Furioso. When they're reunited halfway through the work, the first thing Bradamante does is go off to save a dude, and Ruggiero is thrilled to have a woman understand what he does.
Slippery Jim diGriz (The Stainless Steel Rat) and Angelina, his wife and fellow criminal genius.
He's a criminal mastermind who dislikes killing. She's a formerly-psychotic criminal mastermind who occasionally bemoans the fact that she can't casually kill people now she's had a conscience implanted. They Fight Crime. With crime.
Similarly, Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain novels feature several couples in the mixed-gender Valhallan 597th. These include Cain's own apparent liaison with Inquisitor Amberley Vail, as well as Sergeant Vorhees and a female trooper named Dedre in Caves of Ice, and a strongly implied lesbian relationship between Sergeant Grifen and trooper Mari Magot in the same book.
Cain seems to be invoking this trope in fact, relationships in the guard normally isn't allowed but Cain allows it because it improves morale and makes them fight harder.
Amelia Peabody and her husband Radcliffe Emerson, Egyptologists and incidental detectives in the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters. The stories are set stretching from the Victorian era into the Roaring Twenties (so far). Peabody and Emerson are grandparents, now, but that only slows them down a little. Anyway, they have produced a second generation Battle Couple, their son Walter "Ramses" Emerson and his wife Nefret. The third generation is alarmingly precocious and will almost certainly turn out to be Meddling Kids.
Koryk and Smiles in Malazan Book of the Fallen occasionally act like this. The fact that they are flirting while killing people is a tad disconcerting.
Dan Abnett's Warhammer 40,000: Gaunt's Ghosts has Tona Criid and Caffran, who met during the battle for Vervunhive in Necropolis. There's also Jessi Banda and Major Elim Rawne, who are wounded in Straight Silver, though they are less tight. It is implied that Brin Milo and the esholi priestess Sanian developed a connection in Honour Guard, which carries on to Sabbat Martyr when Sanian becomes the reincarnated Saint Sabbat.
Corran and Mirax, Kell and Tyria, Face and Dia... it should go without saying that the X-Wing series of the Star WarsEU, being about fighter pilots, has a lot of these. They didn't tend to end well, but there were exceptions.
Luke and Mara. If they don't belong in this trope, who does?
And let's not forget Jacen Solo and Tenel Ka. Probably one of the best couples in Star Wars.
Talia and Dirk, Elspeth and Darkwind, Kerowyn and Eldan ... basically, nearly every time Heralds and/or Hawkbrothers get together in the Heralds of Valdemar series, it qualifies. A specific exception is Alberich and Myste; Alberich is the series' resident Badass (almost) Normal, while the Author Avatar Myste, Herald or no, is a bookish librarian.
Otori Takeo and Shirakawa Kaede (as well as Takeo and Muto Yuki) in Tales of the Otori.
In the third book of the Mistborn series, Elend and Vin go beyond the Body Guard Crush relationship of the second book and straight into this following Elend turning into a full-on Mistborn. And it's awesome.
In the third book of The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Nathaniel and Kitty become this, almost kissing just before his heroic sacrifice.
Artemis Fowl and Holly Short, especially from the third book on.
Drizzt and Catti-brie were this in addition to an Adventure Duo in R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels, at least before her Chickification(and also even before they 'officially' became a couple.)
Suzie Shooter and John Taylor have been known to kick some serious ass, although their couple status is still a work in progress.
The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher gives us several. Most prominent throughout the series are Bernard and Amara, and later Tavi and Kitai. Also notable are Lord and Lady Placida in First Lord's Fury, who are homages to the already-mentioned Aral and Cordelia Vorkosigan.
During the second Heir Trilogy novel by Cinda Chima, it's evident that Ellen and Jack have become one.
In the fifth Maximum Ride book, Max and Fang become this.
Certainly, Leisl and Sasha were well on their way to becoming this by the end of the Ravenloft novel Vampire of the Mists.
The Wheel of Time has just about every named couple falling in this trope, a few examples being Rand and Min/Aviendha/Elayne, Lan and Nynaeve, Egwene and Gawyn, Perrin and Faile, Siuan and Gareth, a few Aes Sedai and their Warders, a few Asha'man and their Warder-like Aes Sedai, and a countless Aiel couples. The main plot of the series involves just about everyone preparing for The Last Battle, so the high number of battle couples does make sense.
Harry Potter is full of these. Ron and Hermione is a big one, but Harry and Ginny also fit, on the occasion when they fight together. Since virtually everyone joins in on the last battle in Deathly Hallows, Lupin and Tonks, Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, and Fleur and Bill could also count.
Likely the Potters and the Longbottoms were this during the first incarnation of the Order Of The Phoenix.
Mystic And Rider has the titular mystic and rider, Senneth and Tayse, who are so badass they take down an entire rebellion pretty much all by themselves. Senneth is a fire-throwing Deadpan Snarker; Tayse is a sword-wielding Deadpan Snarker - together, They Fight Crime! And snark at things!
The Last Apprentice has Tom and Alice, who are gradually becoming one. They aren't officially a couple yet, but they have kissed a few times and it is obvious to everyone who knows them that they are sweet on each other.
Addie and Rhys are this at the end of The Two Princesses of Bamarre. In fact, they happen to declare their love for one another just before the final battle takes place.
Clay and Elena in Kelley Armstrong's Women Of The Otherworld series, definitely. He's the Pack's Enforcer, she learned to fight though necessity and long years of hardship, and together, they royally kick ass. Though, pretty much all of the canon couples can be defined with this trope, with the possible exception of Lucas and Paige.
As shown on the covers of The Alien Series, Kitty and Martini believe that the couple who kicks ass together stay together.
Quite a few of them in the Emberverse, mainly among the good guys.
The Amazon Legion invokes this intentionally with the Tercio Gorgidas, a tercio (roughly equivalent of a regiment) comprised of homosexual male pairs who are married in a special ceremony, with an explicit nod given to the Sacred Band of Thebes (see the Real Life section).
Bellisarius and Antonia in Belisarius Series although they are usually in different theaters. Also Rao and Shakuntala. The Theodoran Cohort has a number of Battle Couples.
Katniss and Peeta in the first book of The Hunger Games. In subsequent books Peeta more often plays The Load. Subverted in Mockingjay: Katniss and Gale act as this for most of the book, but never manage the Relationship Upgrade.
In Death: Eve and Roarke. Just read Origin In Death if you want a big example of this.
Time Scouts: Malcolm Moore. Margo Smith. Time Scouts.
Nico and Josef are a platonic example in The Spirit Thief (Legend of Eli Monpress series).
Richard Sharpe and Teresa Moreno from the Sharpe novels and TV series are the archetype. They met fighting in Spain. They fell in love. They married and had a daughter (although not necessarily in that order). In between these episodes, they fought against Napoleon's armies in Spain.
John Crichton and Aeryn Sun from Farscape. A slight variant, as he starts off being mostly useless in combat (he was a scientist before he was shot across the universe), but by the end he's not only protecting her as much as she protects him (well, almost), she finds his insane "plans" and constant, nigh-incomprehensible-to-aliens pop culture references charming and fun.
Perhaps best shown at the start of the Peacekeeper Wars. They are reformed after two months Not Quite Dead in the same passionate kiss they were in before. They pull apart, stare tenderly into each others eyes, and at the exact same moment pull out their weapons and have the whole room covered. It's awesome.
Arguably Wash and Zoe from the Firefly-verse, seeing as they have faced a great deal of danger together, and that Zoe didn't particularly care for him at first. Although, it is implied that Zoe did not like Wash because he had a mustache.
In War Stories at least, quite definitely Wash and Zoe.
Also subverted in Zoe and Mal. Despite fighting through the war and facing life and death together, there is no romance between them, as we see in "War Stories".
All Klingon relationships. Almost all Bajoran relationships.
Quark, amazingly, started a battle couple relationship by successfully courting a Klingon Noblewoman.
Klingons adore Battle Couple s and they are Older Then Dirt in their culture. Not only is there the legendary pair Kahless and Lucera but stories of Battle Couple s go back from the legendary to the mythic when the first Klingon Battle Couple sacked the heavens together. And in every Klingon marriage an important part is promising to be a Battle Couple.
Don't forget the top quote. That refers to Odo and Kira Nerys.
Buffy and Angel, with their lots of time spent fighting evil together, would probably qualify, but Buffy and Riley would definitely qualify — unfortunately this is one of the factors leading to their break-up, as Riley's lack of superpowers meant he can't keep up with Buffy in a fight. But Riley returns for "As You Were" in Season 6, he's married to a Badass NormalAction Girl, forming a new Battle Couple.
On the Angel end, Fred and Wes and Fred and Gunn both count. Fred and Wes have a definite battle couple scene in the beginning of "A Hole In The World".
Helo and Athena from Battlestar Galactica would probably fall into this category.
As would Apollo and Starbuck, who, ironically enough, do better together in battle than as a couple.
Funny enough, Starbuck and her other love, Anders, are probably a minor example.
Bryce and Sarah in a couple of Bryce's episodes in Chuck.
Chuck and Sarah become this late in the third season. Especially evident in "Chuck vs. the Honeymooners", when their fighting (while cuffed together) looks a much like a dance as a fight, and in "Chuck vs. the First Fight", where they fight bad guys while fighting with each other.
And now, General Beckman and Roan Montgomery.
From the BBC's Robin Hood: not so much Robin and Marian (they are rarely seen fighting together), but definitely outlaws Will Scarlett and Djaq. Heck, their first act as an official couple is to kill a man, after which Will informs the corpse: "She's with me."
Kamen Rider Dragon Knight features Len and Kase, who are separated for the first half of the show due to her being MIA from a previous battle that didn't go well. Unlike the general version of the trope, they're both superheroes that primarily fight entirely physically; "magic" is only used to boost the power of their normal attacks.
Kate and Sawyer on Lost used to be quite a formidable tagteam regardless of their relationship status at the moment. Kate also occasionally had this with Sayid.
Sawyer and Juliet become a straighter example in S5.
In Doctor Who, the Doctor and River Song are made of this. He is a Memetic Badass both in-universe and out, and she is a part-Time Lord genetically bred child created as a weapon to fight the Doctor. Seems she fell in love with him instead. They've fought off alien invaders back-to-back, while flirting. And their names strike fear in villains everywhere. River once made a Dalek beg for mercy! They're married now!
In the serial "Battlefield", Ancelyn and Brigadier Bambera start out beating on each other and end up as a glorious example of this trope.
Martha Jones and Mickey Smith end up becoming one as well.
Vastra and Jenny from the 2011 mid-series finale; sword-wielding interspecies lesbians who fight crime in Victorian London (and sometimes other eras). And the fandom said: more.
In the Who-spinoff Torchwood, Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones eventually become this, especially after Ianto takes a level in bad-ass before the events of ''Children of Earth'. Unfortunately, it doesn't end well.
Another battle couple/Spy Couple cross are Steven and Samantha Bloom in Undercovers.
Yet another battle/spy couple are Jonathan and Jennifer Hart of Hart To Hart
John Sheridan and Delenn in Babylon 5. Although, the inclination is more to die for each other rather than to kill for each other.
Well...it's not quite as if they mind killing for each other. After all, they won two separate wars (against all odds, of course) and reshaped the future of the galaxy. See these two quotes:
Delenn, while in command of four very nasty warships: Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else!!
Not sure if this counts since they're not actually a couple, but to some shippers, Juliet and Lassie of Psych.
Rya'c and Kar'yn become this in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Sacrifices". This trope is lampshaded and used to justify their marriage when they face opposition from Teal'c on the basis that Rya'c has chosen to fight the Goa'uld and that war has to be his priority. As Ishta points out, "A warrior is always stronger with another at his side" so being a Battle Couple will be better for both them and their cause.
An interesting version appears in Charmed, where it's the woman, Piper, who is the more aggressive one, and the man, Leo, is the more peaceful one. Yet when it comes to the safety of their children, the opposition tends to explode spectacularly.
Dexter and Lumen become this in Season 5 of Dexter. Notable in that instead of actual battle, they're both serial killers.
Prince Charming and Snow White in Once Upon A Time. He is a badass with a broadsword and she doesn't seem all that unfamiliar with weapons either when she unhesitatingly drew Charming's at the wedding when the Queen shows up
While not a war situation, I'd include Danny and Lindsay from CSI NY, since they both spend a lot of time fighting evil and bad guys, and there have been a lot of flying bullets in that romance thus far. And the "hurt one, the other will hunt you down" applies.
I'd also throw in Booth and Bones, who are definitely violently protective of each other and fighting bad guys.
Ah, the sweet romance that is Vlad and Isabella von Carstein in Warhammer... Either of them goes nuts if the other's killed. Admittedly, Vlad's a significantly better fighter than Isabella (that's not to say she's useless, but he's a Vampire Lord...).
Video Games
Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance from the video game Half-Life 2. While the exact nature of their relationship isn't clear (Gordon never speaking makes things difficult), whatever it was, it was forged in the fires of battle.
Raider and Raven (as well as Biff and Flo for whatever that's worth) in Jagged Alliance 2. It doesn't make for any huge change as gameplay is concerned (they merely share moral gains.), but they do have their own Informal Eulogies for each other if one should get killed in battle.
There's also Wolf and Fox — she's the reason he lost all that weight.
In Metal Gear Solid 4Johnny eventually manages to win Meryl's heart, by saving her life on not one but three occasions. In a scene that has to be seen to be believed, they hold a door against seeming endless waves of attackers while slipping new magazines into each others guns, and proposing each other for marriage.
Of course, in the third game Snake Eater, The Boss and The Sorrow had such a relationship before suffering a fate much worse than Star-Crossed Lovers, namely being forced to fight each other in order to uphold loyalty to their respective nations, namely the US and the USSR. Said fight ended in The Sorrow's death. However, before being forced to split, The Boss gave birth to The Sorrow's son while participating in the D-Day invasion.
In what may be considered either the most heartbreaking or heartwarming conclusion to that relationship, the Sorrow actually encouraged the Boss to kill him to complete her mission. This strongly implies that the Sorrow wasn't even willing to fight to defend himself against her, showing that his loyalty was first and foremost to her.
Max Payne and Mona Sax turn into one of these during the course of Max Payne 2.
Pick a Fire Emblem couple. Any Fire Emblem couple. For characters to develop a relationship, the gameplay requires them to stand close on the battlefield a certain amount of time.
You even get bonuses added to their stats when they stand next to each other. With Min-maxed supports (for example 2 earth alignments for hax evade) the units in question are often able to take on half the battle by themselves. The Power of Love (or friendship), indeed.
It depends on what you mean by "Fire Emblem couple" though. Some "plotline" couples, e.g. Ashnard and Almedha, aren't relevant to the gameplay.
The most obvious examples, both story- and gameplay-wise, might be Louise and Pent from FE7 (a Happily Married couple who start out with an automatic, unbreakable A-rank support) and Micaiah and Sothe from FE10 (who, once again, start out with an automatic A-rank support and will marry at the end if the player doesn't break up their support).
This is pretty much half the point of the Ar Tonelico games. Inevitably the main character (who is a melee fighter) is paired with a backline magic-using woman. When blocking attacks against her, he stands very, very close. The combat dialog being full of innuendo in the second game doesn't help.
Sonic and Amy parody this trope in Sonic Advance 3, referred to as a "Lovely Couple" even though Sonic doesn't look too happy about it, while Amy wishes they were.
But it's up to you if you want them to be together or not in Sonic Chronicles.
The Cool Couple double battle trainers in the Pokemon Ruby And Sapphire games, and the Double Team trainers, the Generation IV version of the Cool Couple (a pair of Cooltrainers or Ace Trainers, respectively).
Baldur's Gate series has a few. There's Khalid and Jaheira, and to a lesser extent, Eldoth and Skie, in the first game. In the second game, the player him-/herself could have one, with one of the several options, while Haer'Dalis and Aerie, and maybe Korgan and Mazzy, have potential for this as well (but in an unmodded game go nowhere).
The possibilities for this in the Knights of the Old Republic games are endless... In the first game, Revan and Bastila (especially awesome if you decide to join Bastila on the Dark Side) if you play male. Carth or even Juhani if you play female. You get a choice in the second- The Exile and Atton or the Disciple if the Exile's female, and Visas or the Handmaiden if he's Male.
As above in Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, with the ghost of Aribeth or Nathyrra and your PC, who end up beating up Mephistopheles
Or Valen and the PC if the PC is female
Neverwinter Nights 2 (Though it was made by Obsidian) kind of precludes this with three of the four love interests over the course of the official campaign/Mask of the Betrayer arc being spellcasters (and Safiya being a literal Squishy Wizard), but a female PC and Casavir qualify.
A male PC and Elanee, if she is optimized for combat; or a female PC and Gann if he is optimized for combat both fit.
The "Lair of the Shadow Broker" DLC can be played as Shepard and Liara getting back together - which, for them, involves tracking down and killing one of the most feared men in the galaxy.
Any romance option in Dragon Age: Origins. Becoming a couple will even help the characters level up. Especially long-lasting example is Leliana: in the Awakening epilogue (only if you romanced her and survived until then, of course), it is mentioned that the Warden is still out there adventuring together with her, years after the events of the game.
Likewise any of the romance options in Dragon Age II, plus Aveline and Guardsman Donnic if Hawke takes the time to help them get together.
The World Ends with You has Nao and Sota. Seeing as in the game's world any participant in the Reapers' Game needs a partner or they're powerless, it can be assumed that there have been quite a few Battle Couples out there.
One other case stands out in particular, and according to the fandom may, or may not be, an even better example than Nao and Sota. Uzuki Yashiro and Koki Kariya. This Reaper duo fights you twice in the game and even have their own version of a light puck as well as a team attack that can render players that are under-leveled at those points in the game, screwed. Their relationship can also be considered Vitriolic if not an outright Battle Couple.
This appears to be the norm with most couples in Resident Evil, even if the pair aren't romantically linked. If they are, expect bad things to happen by the end.
In Armored Core 4/For Answer, the player character of 4 (Unknown Lynx — Pilot of White Glint in For Answer) and Fiona Jarnefeldt. Considering that in at least one mission in 4 she pulls a "Save the Guy, Screw the City", it's kind of obvious she has definite romantic feelings for him.
And the Player Character and Sumika from Armored Core: Project Phantasma.
On a similar note (with Female Character x AFGNCAAP forming this) there's Edge and Blaze in Ace Combat 5.
There's also the two-person Espada Squadron in Ace Combat Zero, whose Number Two heavily implies that she was in a long-time relationship with Espada 1 at the time of their fateful encounter with the Galm Team.
Even earlier, Ace Combat 04 gave us Yellow 13 and Yellow 4, the only permanent members of their squadron. However, in their case, the romantic feelings were probably one-sided, since 13 seemed to have only seen a valued student and a trusted wingwoman in 4.
Almaz and Sapphire and Adell and Rozalin in the Disgaea series.
Just about every couple in the Super Robot Wars Series is this. But especially the ones that have a combo attack.
City of Heroes: Fusionette and Faultline. She's a mutant with a nuclear reactor for a heart, and he's the son of the guy who wrecked Overbrook. It turns out the guy was Brainwashed and Crazy. You run into them repeatedly in the Rikti War Zone with them kicking butt all the way.
And Manticore and Sister Psyche, teammates in the Freedom Phalanx who eventually got married...and had to fight off a horde of PC villains at their wedding.
The various installments of Dynasty Warriors gives us Lu Bu and Diao Chan, Cao Pi and Zhen Ji, Meng Huo and Zhu Rong, Sun Ce and Da Qiao, Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao, Liu Bei and Sun Shang Xiang, and Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying.
Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce actually has several missions based entirely around fighting said Battle Couples.
The Empires version of 6 allows you to pair everyone with everyone else...as long as it's heterosexual.
If you get the best ending in Cave Story, it becomes clear that there's a bond between Quote and Curly Brace. It's not clear if it's platonic or romantic, but either way, it's strong as iron.
This trope is basically the entire concept behind the Sakura Wars series. The games are strategy-RPGs. where the stronger the bond between you and your teammates is, the better all perform in battle.
In Medal of Honor: Heroes, Jimmy Patterson proposes to Manon Batiste.
Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana has Klein Kiesling and Lita Blanchimont as the Galgazit partners with an inversion of the usual hero and heroine state as Lita is a tank while Klein is a magician/healer.
Atelier Iris 3 has Iris and Edge, before Nell comes in, that's it.
Lololo and Lalala from the Kirby series. Justified in the anime adaptation, as they're two halves of the same being.
Golden Sun fandom almost universally accepts villains Saturos and Menardi as a couple, despite the lack of clear canon support.
Issac and Jenna, officially, though they married after the period they did fight together. Though considering how long it took for their kid to pop out, they probably did not spit it out until some time after the first series ended.
The Tales Series seems to like this one, especially double-teamed with BST:
Also, Emil and Marta along with the villainous and Alice and Decus from Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, although Decus in this partnership is a bit... special.
Shing and Kohak definitely qualify. This also counts as a rare example where the woman in the duo is arguably the moreBadass of the two.
A strange Foe Yay example: Alvin and Presa are hinted at to have been this, or were on the verge of becoming so, in Tales Of Xillia, but their relationship descended into a love/hate one by the time of the game. Jude and Milla, however, are confirmed to have developed into one by the game's ending although, sadly, they can't stay together and she has to go for an Always With You option.
Freya's lover is Sir Fratley, and they probably have counted as a battle couple somewhere along the line.
When Zidane suffers his Heroic BSOD in Castle Pandamonium, millions of tropers worldwide could see him and Garnet becoming the Battle Couple to snap him out of it.
Suikoden series : Hix and Tengaar (Suikoden 1 and 2), Lepant and Eileen (Suikoden 1), Freed and Yoshino Yamamoto (Suikoden 2) and Ferid and Queen Arshtat Falenas (Suikoden 5)
Gladius has a cup where you deploy 1 male (the only time a male unit must be deployed for their maleness) and 1 female unit and claims to be based on this. Nothing stops you from deploying the twins Ursula and Urlan beyond not complimenting each other (both being medium class units), presumably because its made by Lucasarts.
Nier gradually upgrades Nier and Kaine to one. However, like absolutely everything else in the game, it can only end in tears.
Rune Factory 3 allows you to pick up a partner and go into battles. If your partner is your love interest or wife, it's this trope. Sonja and Aden from Rune Factory Oceans may or may not count, since they share a same body for a large amount of gameplay.
Although most of it takes place off screen, Altair and Maria are said to be this in Assassin's Creed: Revelations
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim you can be part of one yourself. This is because you are able to recruit an NPC to fight with you and ask them if they want to marry you. Do both and you play this trope straight.
Visual Novels
If lawyering counts as combat (which in Ace Attorney, it practically does), Mia Fey and Diego.
Fate/stay night: Saber and Shirou could be considered to be this, even though they don't really admit their feelings until the end of the series. A Bittersweet Ending ensues where they can't be together because Saber is being called back to her time. You can imagine the outrage that resulted from this ending.
Caster and Souchirou Kuzuki form a villainous version of this.
Rin and Shirou as well, during the Unlimited Blade Works path in the original game. Saber backs them up as often as they go it alone, though, and considering Rin's preferences...perhaps a rare example of a Battle OT3?
It's also interesting to note that out of the three routes, it's only in the UBW route that both people in the pairing survive/remain.
Some of the characters from Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, Rudolf and Kyrie in particular. (Also Kanon/Jessica and George/Shanon could be counted in, though usually just one of them is fighting and the second one just watches, at least in the episodes released so far.)
After the release of Dawn of the golden witch, it's pretty safe to call Battler and Beatrice the most straightforward examples of this to show up there.
Candi and Donte in the Ciem Webcomic Series. Albeit, the latter is often times sick and can't make it to the fight. By the third, he's been Brought Down to Normal and his wife has gone solo in battles.
Fans! gives us Will and Shanna, and (in the Badass Threesome category), Rikk, Rumy and Ally.
Rikk: I've spent the last five years with two remarkable women. One of them is one of the toughest, cleverest fighters I've ever seen anywhere. The other is Rumiko Tanaka Oberf!
Although we're still not sure if they'll end up being the Official Couple, Gil and Agatha of Girl Genius definitely make this work during the slaver wasps' invasion of the Castle Wulfenbach.
Given recent events in Castle Heterodyne, it seems we may actually be getting into a battle threesome. Agatha cares deeply for both Gil and Tarvek.
Badass Princess Zeetha and Badass Normal(or maybe not so normal) Airman Higgs seem to be drifting towards this too.
Winter and Otra as well as Officer Hipbone and Police Guy from Girly.
Leo/Jason and Tigris/Kira from Panthera. They met by being the first two students to become elemental-powered panthers designed to fight a secret government project. They've had spats since Jason brought his little sister into the club, though.
Torg and Zoe from Sluggy Freelance have a Battle Couple moment in this strip. True, they're not actually a couple, but Torg's crush on Zoe does develop not long after this storyline.
Protectors of the Plot Continuum has a number of these, notably Dafydd and Constance, and Tawaki and Tadkeeta. More generally, any agent pair that gets in a relationship will become this by default.
DC Nation is fond of this trope, and sometimes dovetails it with Badass Family. Sand and Merlynne (and, previously, Merlynne and Caleb); Green Shield and Green Lantern Travis Grey; Changeling/Beastboy and Fauna...even ostensible non-combatants like Sue Dibny and Hugo Anders get a moment or two of Badass.
The Global Guardians PBEM Universe featured Yin and Yang, a husband-and-wife team of crimefighting martial artists operating out of San Francisco.
Church and Tex from Red vs. Blue could qualify. It's pretty clear they both still have feelings for each other no matter how many insults they toss back and forth. Probably more feelings from Church than Tex as her emotions seems to have taken a beating during her time as a Freelancer paired with a psychotic Ax Crazy AI.
Although with the revelations of the past season, it's more a case of her emotions taking a beating during her time as an AI paired with a psychotic Ax Crazy AI. Just to be pedantic. :)
Almost all couples in Chaos Fighters are battle couples. This is even lampshaded in Route of Earth and Chemical Siege.
Whateley Universe examples: the superheroes the Mystic Six were actually three Battle Couples, until Cirque died. The other two couples are still together, although nominally retired. Then there's Pendragon and Gloriana, the leaders of the Future Superheroes of America at the school.
Justice League Unlimited had Black Canary and Green Arrow, Huntress and The Question, and Green Lantern and Vixen. To Hawkman's dismay, not him and Hawkgirl.
Not only Aang and Katara, but also Sokka and Suki, Zuko and Mai and the platonic Katara and Zuko in the finale from Avatar The Last Airbender. In training, Zuko and Katara even act as Back-to-Back Badasses.
If the above example counts, so does Robin and Starfire from Teen Titans.
Some fans would argue that Beast Boy and Raven count too.
Matt and Will become this by the end of the series.
Dr. Orpheus tried to set this up in the episode "Tag-Sale... You're It!" in The Venture Bros. with Dr. Venture, but Venture didn't want any part of it.
Kevin and Gwen from Ben 10 Alien Force. If someone touches one of them, the other will either run to their side or beat up the bad guy (usually then running to the other's side anyway).
In Transformers Generation 1, Optimus Prime and Elita One. Also, Ironhide and Chromia. Arcee does this with Springer in the cartoon, Bumblebee in the DP comics, and was intended to have/is hinted at having had this with Hot Rod.
Silverbolt and Blackarachnia in Beast Wars/Machines. Obsidian and Strika are a villainous version.
Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. Albeit he's more the distraction, but she definitely works better with him than without him. Until the end...
During its hegemony in the 4th century BC, the Greek city-state of Thebes had an elite unit called the Sacred Band consisting of 150 soldiers, each paired with his adolescent gay lover. After the battle in which he defeated them, Philip II of Macedon raised a monument in their honour and admonished "no one to speak ill of these heroes".
Maybe the Spartans got the idea from the Sacred Band or vice-versa?
The Thebans, at least, were aping Plato's Symposium.
The Sacred Band of Thebes is responsible for ending Spartan hegemony in Greece, proving Sparta's army to be a paper tiger, so evidently the Spartans didn't do it as well as the Thebans. The Spartans never systematically instituted or encouraged such a system.
More accurately it proved Sparta a paper target by staying on Spartan soil long enough for all the Helots to run away thus destroying the Spartan infrastructure. Thebes won a couple of battles in the process but the most important thing was hitting them in their most vulnerable spot.
French resistants Lucie and Raymond Aubrac.
The US Army tries to keep soldiers who are married to one another in the same unit (or at least the same post) and lets them share a room if they are deployed together.
Crazy Awesome Italian strategist Guiseppe Garibaldi and his wife Anita Garibaldi: fought in three wars and had four kids together.
Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. Married at 17 despite the opposition of Isabella's brother and king, then went on to win a civil war, finish the Reconquista, discover the Americas and secure Spanish dominance over Italy and the western Mediterranean. And also committed a couple of genocides. Nobody is perfect.
In his book The Greatest Battle (on the Battle for Moscow in World War II) Andrew Nagorski interviewed two former members of an NKVD special forces unit who were ordered to go Undercover As Lovers (in the belief that a married couple would draw less attention) who, despite their initial awkwardness, ended up getting married for real.
Crowning Moment Of Awesome, when someone suggested that the princesses should be evacuated to Canada: “The children will not leave unless I do. I shall not leave unless their father does, and the King will not leave the country in any circumstances whatever.”
"Molly Pitcher" who took her husband's place at a gun when he fell.
"The Maid of Sarragossa", a Spanish Molly Pitcher at the siege of Sarragossa.
While the eighteenth century military was of course male-dominated this was an unofficial institution of eighteenth century armed forces. Camp followers, while they did include prostitutes, also included the wives of servicemen (in the Royal Navy prostitutes were more likely in port; after all their profession didn't pay enough to go to sea to practice it). Officially they were disliked by officers but they would often look the other way and service wives could provide useful services. In the British Army it was customary to cast lots for which of the soldier's wives would go with their husbands on campaign. In the Royal Navy when the chief came through to wake up sailors he would shout, "show a leg". If it was hairy the chief would roust the leg's possessor out of bed, and if it wasn't the leg's owner was assumed to be female.
Robert Guiscard, Norman king of Sicily and his wife, Sichelgaita, the Lombard queen of Apulia. They won the Byzantine army of Alexios Komnenos in Durrazzo 1081, commanding the Norman army together. At one time the Normans were repulsed and about to rout. Sichelgaita rode ahead the army, undressing herself and yelling naked: "Are you men or maidens? Follow me! Anna Komnena, the Byzantine historian, compared Sichelgaita "like the Amazons of the old".
Josiah and Elanor Creasy were not a warrior couple(except against the ocean), but they were a Happily Married pair commanding the clipper Flying Cloud.
Sir Thomas and Lady Katherine Cochrane, a British Battle Couple in the early nineteenth century. Chuck Norris would have to consider them Badass.
