History ChildhoodFriendRomance / VideoGames

* Childhood friendships are very common in ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' and can often go either way, thanks to the [[RomanceSidequest support system]] of some of the games. However, some are out of the player's control:
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'': Alm and Celica were raised together in Ram under the watch of the knight Mycen. They followed separate paths, with Alm joining LaResistance and Celica being sent to a monastery [[spoiler: since she is a FallenPrincess]], but ultimately they joined forces to end the war they were involved into. [[spoiler: At the end of the story, they marry and rule together over the new Kingdom of Valentia.]] The remake, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEchoesShadowsOfValentia'', spices up things: Alm has an UnluckyChildhoodFriend in the BadassAdorable Faye, whereas Celica's childhood friends Mae and Boey (who were LikeBrotherAndSister in the original) get mutually {{promoted to love interest}}s to each other if they both survive. (If one of them dies, the other [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest will never marry]])
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'': [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Princess Sheeda/Caeda]] and Prince Marth, who end up married at the end of the third game.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'', if the player pairs them: Tailtiu and either Azelle or Lex, Ayra and Chulainn, Erinys and Lewyn, Seliph and either Lana or Larcei, Lana and Ulster (and probably Diarmuid). Since the majority of the second-generation playable characters grew up together, it's kind of inevitable.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'': Leif and Nanna, raised together by [[spoiler: Nanna's father]] Finn and later living with [[spoiler: Lana's amnesiac aunt]] Eyvel.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'': Lilina, if paired with Roy. Also implied with Zeiss and Ellen, though in this game only Roy will get paired endings.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'': Wil, if paired with Rebecca.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'': Tana if paired with Ephraim, Innes if paired with Eirika, Colm and Neimi, Artur and Lute, Kyle if paired with Syrene. And no matter who Eirika is with, Lyon will end up as a specially tragic UnluckyChildhoodFriend.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'': Sothe and Micaiah (although [[LikeBrotherAndSister Sothe mentions that he sees her as a sister]]) end up married if you keep their preset A-Support for the entire game. Soren if paired with Ike. Also, Geoffrey if paired with Elincia, and the aforementioned Sothe and Micaiah.
*** Sothe and Micaiah have another [[IncestSubtext quirk]] in their dynamic; [[spoiler: Micaiah ''raised'' him, as we can see from a flashback that Micaiah looked completely the same as she looks in present time when they first met. Being a [[HalfHumanHybrid Branded]], and a ''Heron'' one at that, [[OlderThanTheyLook she's not only older than she looks,]] she's also going to age slower and live a LOT longer than Sothe. So not only can Sothe marry his best friend, sister and mother all in one, [[MayflyDecemberRomance she's going to stay pretty while he grows old, and she's going to outlast him by a VERY large margin, and quite probably their children and maybe even their grandchildren.]]]]
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'': Two of Chrom's potential wives are Sully (Childhood playmates and fellow soldiers) and Maribelle (noblewoman from a family close to his own, best friend of his younger sister Lissa), so it can go ''both'' ways.
*** In the case of the Second Generation children, they've all known each other from childhood due to their parents being Chrom's friends, retainers and partners. In several instances, the involved parties confess [[LoveAtFirstSight the sparks have been there since they were introduced to one another]]. The most obvious cases involve Sumia's daughter Cynthia and either: Olivia's son Inigo (she has liked him from a while already), Lissa's son Owain (who says he has always had a crush on her), or Cherche's son Gerome (whom she helped get over his former fear of heights when they were kids, and who may or may not have liked her from then on).
*** Also [[spoiler:Chrom]]'s daughter Lucina and any of her suitors save the Male Avatar, but ''especially'' the aforementioned Gerome. Right before their mutual LoveConfession, she calls him her "most stalwart companion ever since childhood."
*** Owain himself can be caught by surprise by Cordelia's daughter Severa, who reveals that she's been enamored with the boy for a long time because of his unwavering kindness to her, even going as far as to inscribe his name on her weapon. Severa also can tell Maribelle's son Brady that she roped him into her wacky schemes involving the S&B [[note]]Snark & Bark[[/note]] Society simply so that they could spend some time together, just the two of them. And speaking of Brady, he and Tharja's daughter Noire end up kindling a romance when, repeatedly ending up as cot mates in their camp's healer's tent (she's anemic, he has the physical constitution of a paper bag), they reminisce about "the good old days" where they constantly traded illnesses back and forth and both vow to get stronger so they can help out their friends on the battlefield. ''And'' speaking of Noire, she can reveal she's been crushing on [[CasanovaWannabe Inigo]] due to being the only girl he doesn't hit on ([[SplitPersonality he has]] [[{{Yandere}} good reasons]] [[CuteAndPsycho for that]])... If it wasn't clear already, the game is just rife with this.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' can pull this if the ActionGirl Selena hooks up with either of her {{childhood friend}}s, the ChivalrousPervert Laslow or the BlackMage Odin. [[spoiler: It's a CallBack to ''Awakening'' since Selena, Laslow and Odin '''are''' Severa, Inigo and Owain, respectively.]]
*** The Female Avatar can pull this with her ForgottenChildhoodFriend Silas or with Jakob, her BattleButler ever since they were children. The Male Avatar has either Felicia or Flora as candidates for this trope too, since they've been his {{ninja maid}}s from childhood.
*** On the Hoshido side, Prince Takumi and his little sister Sakura's best friend Hana used to train together. The same goes to Takumi's older sister Hinoka and Hana's partner Subaki, who actually was her BigBrotherMentor. ''And'' it also turns out that a retainer of Takumi and Hinoka's eldest brother Ryoma (Saizo) and one of their mother Mikoto (Orochi) met as pre-teens. Therefore, this trope takes place if either of these duos hook up.
*** Among the [[spoiler: Second Gens]], where the localization downplayed some of their romances in favor of JustFriends-like interactions (and some romantic rejections), the most blatant examples would be Female Kana and Kiragi (who make a ChildhoodMarriagePromise) and Male Kana and Selkie. Though it's all but stated that Male Kana will [[MaybeEverAfter eventually]] hook up with either Nina, Rhajat or Mitama, shall he reach an S Support with either of them, and Female Kana ''may'' also do the same if she has one with Prince Siegbert.
* Potentially Aika and Vyse from ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia''. The game's pretty vague about there even being a love triangle to resolve, though. Aika gives Vyse a kiss on the cheek, but Fina gets an arm around her in a scene either right after or right before.
* Lloyd and Colette from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld''. Both of them grew up in the same town, went to the same class, and because of their long friendship, Lloyd insisted on accompanying [[TheHerosJourney her journey.]] Although she could become Lloyd's UnluckyChildhoodFriend due to MultipleEndings and RelationshipValues, this only occurs in the games as WordOfGod has stated that Lloyd/Colette is the OfficialCouple of the series.
** The Tales series tends to use this trope from time to time whenever a childhood friend is either a party member and/or plot important. ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'' had [[BigEater Reid]] and [[CuteBruiser Farah]], ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' had [[TheWisePrince Asbel]] and [[TeamMom Cheria]], and ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' had [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Senel]] and [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Stella]]. ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'', however, subverts this trope with [[BadassBookworm Jude]] and [[PluckyGirl Leia]], with the latter clearly having feelings for the former but is stuck in UnluckyChildhoodFriend territory due to his feelings for [[LadyOfWar Milla]], though Leia's perfectly fine with being PlatonicLifePartners.
* Daphnis, the WholesomeCrossdresser, HappinessInSlavery {{Meido}}, and his master [[TheOjou Elissa]] in ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2''.
* Nero and Kyrie from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 4'' fit this. Bonus in that Kyrie ''is'' [[LikeBrotherAndSister Nero's adopted/surrogate sister.]]
* It took 6 games, but at the end of the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series, Lan and Mayl finally hook up.
* Implied with Danette in the Danette (male) ending of ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'', if the RelationshipValues are high enough.
** Played with in the Danette (female) ending a bit. It seems she's still crushing hard on the main character, she's just a lot more... [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer confused about it.]]
* [[AllThereInTheManual In the player's guide for]] ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland DS'', [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and Princess Peach]] are stated to have been friends and partners to stop evil as babies before their adult "romantic entanglements".

%%* ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'': Luna and Alex
* Kusuha and Brooklyn from the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' series. In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' she was Ryusei's UnluckyChildhoodFriend, but she moves on to Brooklyn instead.

* In ''VideoGame/OverlordII'', Kelda is the childhood friend of the CreepyChild that is to become the EvilOverlord and the only Nordbergian to actually like him ([[EnfanteTerrible despite all]] [[ObviouslyEvil reason]]), resenting her hometown for tossing him out for the magic-hunting [[TheEmpire Glorious Empire]]. When he returns approximately thirteen years later to conquer Nordberg she quickly joins him as a Mistress, though she eventually has to share him with two other mistresses. She can still be this trope if the player keeps her as First Mistress.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'': Dart and Shana briefly had a LikeBrotherAndSister thing because he was raised by her family. There's a flashback showing them as children playing together and Dart scaring away a feral dog to protect Shana. [[spoiler: They hook up at the end of Disc 2 and are still a couple in the epilogue.]]

* Most [[DatingSim Dating Sims]] have at least one of the winnable girls as the Childhood Friend, so the trope is fulfilled upon winning that girl.

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' has Dawn Star, the sweet-natured childhood friend of the PlayerCharacter. A male character has the option of flirting, and eventually pursuing a relationship, with her. Played with a bit in that despite the player character's flirting, she never actually twigs to the idea of their relationship being romantic until Silk Fox shows up and pronounces Dawn Star a rival for the player character's attentions. A female character can become HeterosexualLifePartners with her instead.

* Siskier and Garlot in ''Blaze Union'', but it only happens [[spoiler: in the C route]].
* Gabriel and Marie Belmont in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'', who meet their tragic doom just before the beginning of the story; especially think about how sweet and warm it was when they married each other, fulfilling their promise to stay together forever. For such a reason, [[spoiler:Gabriel [[DespairEventHorizon breaks down completely]] after failing to resurrect her.]] Imagine how happy Gabriel must have been before Marie's tragic death...
** The earlier ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow'' duology also heavily implied this regarding Soma Cruz and Mina Hakuba. [[spoiler: In ''Dawn'', it may end just as badly as Gabriel's situation did.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', Shulk and Fiora seem to be going in this direction [[spoiler:until Fiora is killed in the Mechon assault... but, then it turns out that she [[NotQuiteDead wasn't quite dead]] and they hook up in the ending]].
* ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'':
** In later games, Ichinose and Aki are implied to be in a LongDistanceRelationship. It's doubly meaningful since Aki used to be the unlucky variation to TheHero Mamoru Endou.
** While the aforementioned Endou tends to marry [[HighSchoolSweethearts his junior-high classmate]] Natsumi in the animes, mangas and the ''Shine'' versions of the ''GO'' game, in the ''Dark'' version of ''GO'' he can marry his childhood friend Fuyuka instead.
* In ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileLenneth'' it's possible for Lucian to end up happy with his childhood friend Platina, if you get the GoldenEnding. [[spoiler: In fact, since Platina is now Lenneth Valkyrie and the new All-Mother, this may well be EternalLove.]]
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': Malfurion and Tyrande fall into this category; Malfurion's brother Illidan, however, is of the unlucky variety, and [[LoveMakesYouCrazy went crazy because of it.]]
* Guillo in ''VideoGame/BatenKaitosOrigins''. Other obstacles standing between him/her and Sagi include the fact that he/she is ''a living puppet'', and the fact that Sagi probably always thought of him/her as a man, even though he/she technically has no gender. Or rather he/she is both gender since he/she seems to be deeply influenced by his/her creators, who were a man and women and are the ones he/she got her voice(s) from.
* Tia from ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'': she leaves the party when Maxim marries Selan because simply seeing him would cause her pain.
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration''. Kushua Mizuha begins the game with a crush on her childhood friend Ryusei, but by the middle of the game, has moved on to somebody else. In the Alpha series, however, she ''does'' end up with her friend (who was ''not'' Ruysei), but since the first OG game came out between the first and second Alpha games, it wasn't quite a foregone conclusion until she appears in her Mech from Alpha 1.

* There's a sidequest early in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' that deals with this. You come across a woman who tells you that her husband is being menaced by a gang of bandits. You later come across the bandit leader....who turns out to be said Unlucky Childhood Friend for the husband.
* The Unlucky Childhood Friend variant is a running theme in the ''VideoGame/WorldOfMana'':
** ''VideoGame/DawnOfMana'' -- Ritzia, who [[DistressedDamsel gets kidnapped]], used to [[ApocalypseMaiden unleash disaster on the world]], and [[spoiler: becomes the next Mana Goddess]]. That last one is especially a PlayerPunch because Keldy is the one who has to [[spoiler: stab her with the Mana Sword]] for it to happen.
** ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'' -- Matilda, Irwin, Escad, and Dana, the LoveDodecahedron that ends tragically for all involved.
** ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' -- Dyluck, who gets brainwashed by the bad guys and sacrifices himself to save the Girl.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'' -- Hasim, who dies trying to protect the heroine (too bad she [[GameplayAndStorySegregation can't use her unlimited healing ability to save his life]]).
* A childhood connection with the main winnable character is a staple of the ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' series. Whether the player character chooses to pursue a romance is up to the player; whether or not they ''succeed'' is up to how well the player understands the game.
** Possibly role-flipped in the first ''Tokimeki Memorial'' game: it is likely for the ''player character'' to become unlucky when pursuing childhood friend Shiori Fujisaki, as she is actually one of the harder girls to win over (due to high stat requirements across the board). If you play the game the right way, you'll be victorious instead. -- except ''in Nijiiro no Seishun'' and ''Irodori no Love Song'' where Saki and Ayako are the respective heroines and main interest of the protagonist. all the other media treat the pairing as the GoldenEnding, including the ''Motto! Tokimeki Memorial'' Radio Drama series,
** And as of ''Tokimeki Memorial 4'', because [[spoiler:the Radio Drama-exclusive characters became {{Canon Immigrant}}s in this game]], and seeing [[spoiler:the Ending of Shiori's {{Expy}} Yuu, it's strongly implied that the pairing '''is''' the 100% canon one in the main series]]:
-->[[spoiler: '''Yuu:''' there is a certain woman I have long since admired. [[TheAce She is wise, beautiful, athletic, gentle and kind]]... And right beside her, there was always a kind looking man. [[HappilyEverAfter They always seemed so happy]]... [[SickeninglySweethearts it was lovely to see]]. One day, I asked her. How did your romance together first begin? And that was the first time I heard of the [[WorldTree legend of the tree]] told in this [Kirameki High] school. On her graduation day, she confessed her love to him right under this tree, [[RelationshipUpgrade and that started their romance]]. Ever since that day, I thought, I too wanted to find someone wonderful and confess my love to them under this tree.]]
** This trope is also very important in the second game: [[spoiler: The protagonist was childhood friends with ''several'' of the girls, but had to move away years ago and they were all heartbroken upon that. These ladies are: Hikari Hinomoto (main protagonist), Kasumi Asou, Akane Ichimonji, Homura Akai, Mei Iijyuin, Miho Shirayuki and Miyuki Kotobuki. It's specially bad in the case of Akane, since ''that'' is the actual reason why her super protective older brother Kaoru, the infamous ''Sou-Banchou'' [[BigBrotherInstinct hates the protagonist so much]].]]
* In ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonBackToNature ([[NoExportForYou For Girl]])'', ''[[VideoGameRemake Friends of Mineral Town]]'', or ''[[DistaffCounterpart More Friends of Mineral Town]]'', Rick and Karen are a rival pairing but you can marry Karen (boy versions) or Rick(girl versions) thus making one of them this if you marry them. You can also get them married.
** ''Back to Nature'''s version for boys is especially notable because it includes a backstory for the male player character in which he met a girl and played with her as children. This is an unusual case, however, because you learn this in a flashback and the flashback is deliberately designed to ''not make it clear who this is'', since the little girl in the flashback has features that look like they could belong to any of the girls. And guess what? No matter which girl you romance, that girl will ''always'' turn out to have been whoever it was you played with as a little boy.
* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' clearly demonstrates this trope, with the male lead Serge already dating a girl called Leena, who later (rather unceremoniously and silently) gets shafted as Serge more or less begins to ignore her completely as the plot starts to thicken. Even if you put Leena in your party at every opportunity, she ''still'' gets no attention from her boyfriend! The main ending of the game even implies that Serge and Kid (the female lead) are destined to be together.
** Of course, the Leena who joins your party isn't the same as the Leena that Serge was dating, thanks to that trip to an alternate dimension.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' begins with the player character DreamingOfThingsToCome, including a specific woman... [[GoodMorningCrono followed by his mother waking him up]] and mentioning he was yelling their neighbor's daughter's name in his sleep. Since TheHero is a SilentProtagonist, you only have other people's reactions to go by in interpreting their relationship, which can come out reading like he is an Unlucky Childhood Friend since it's soon revealed she has a new boyfriend. It turns into a plot-critical [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] because he was actually dreaming of the Heroine, who has the same name but is otherwise nothing like the neighbor girl.
** ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
*** All of the romance options in ''VideoGame/Persona2: Innocent Sin'' are one of these, as the final party is composed of a group of childhood friends, [[spoiler:even if most of them had forgotten about each other for a good decade or so, partially through trying to forget a traumatic separation and partially through the implied influence of supernatural forces]].
*** In ''VideoGame/Persona3 Portable'', much of Rio Iwasaki's Social Link deals with her crush on her oblivious childhood friend Kenji Tomochika.
* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' has Falsetto as the Unlucky Childhood Friend for Jazz whom seems to be in a relationship with Claves.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', Tamlen from the origin for the Dalish Warden becomes an Unlucky Childhood Friend if said Warden is female. The female mage can also actually establish herself to ''be'' one -- while Jowan is introducing her to his [[StarCrossedLovers covert girlfriend]] Lily, she can state that she actually has feelings for him, and if she says she means it, he'll become flustered that she's bringing it up in front of Lily and exclaim that [[PlatonicLifePartners she's like a sister to him]].
* Siskier in ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion'', except in [[spoiler:the C route/Nessiah route/Soltier route.]] Said situation unfortunately leaves ''Jenon'' the UnluckyChildhoodFriend to ''her'' instead.
* Adele is an one-sided example for L'Arc in ''VideoGame/ArcRiseFantasia''. [[spoiler: She doesn't take it well]].
* The Lone Wanderer and Amata are implied to have feelings for each other in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', something her father doesn't fancy the idea of. They never get together because depending on LW's actions in the quest ''Trouble on the Homefront'', he's either thrown out of the Vault for good or she gets killed (either by the LW himself or a group of Enclave soldiers). On the other hand, the "best" resolution of the quest has Amata becoming the new Overseer and hinting at the possibility that she will accept the LW back in the future.
** Mayor [=MacCready=] of Little Lamplight in ''Fallout 3'' isn't necessarily friends with Lucy due to his abrasive personality, but they were certainly acquaintances and allies. By ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', they are married with a child [[spoiler:until Lucy's death]].

** The Unlucky Childhood Friend variant is quite prominent in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', as it was originally envisioned to have DatingSim events and a lot of female acquaintances as a result. The Dating Sim was dropped, but the women were not, resulting in Link getting with ''none of them'' (granted, he's ''nine years old'', and the Dating Sim was conceptualized before Child Link was). Truest to the trope is Saria, Link's OnlyFriend in his home village that he knew his whole life; rather than there be a possible case of FirstGirlWins, she's the first girl he ''[[InvertedTrope loses]]''.
* Dias and Rena from ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'' grew up together and have been close since childhood, until Dias suffered a tragic loss and decided to leave the town. The couple can go either way with this trope, depending on whether the player chooses to attempt to earn [[RelationshipValues Rena's ending with Dias]] or pursue someone else. The obscure sequel establishes that they did not.
* Takamizawa Natsuki is an Unlucky Childhood Friend example in ''VideoGame/YoakeMaeYoriRuriiroNa'' and its anime adaptation, ''Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro Na ~Crescent Love~''.
* In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' this is implied to be the case by other villagers between the PlayerCharacter and either Bevil Starling (if you're female) or Amie Fern (if male). Amie is [[StuffedIntoTheFridge abruptly killed off]] at the start of the game, while Bevil leaves the party after helping you retrieve a PlotCoupon from a ruin in the swamp.
* ''VideoGame/RPGShooterStarwish'' has the protagonist Deuce work as a pirate with a crew. His childhood friend Tessa serves as the ship medic. Whether or not she is victorious depends on the player.
* Mortimer and Bella Goth, a married couple in ''VideoGame/TheSims'', are revealed to have been friends since childhood in the prequel, The Sims 3.
** In general it's easier to do this than to have them meet as an adult, as relationships are hard to manage and it's much easier to have Sims date people they already know.
* The main character in ''Queen's Tales: The Beast and the Nightingale'' has a childhood friend named Dorian who keeps sending her love letters despite the fact that she doesn't feel the same way.

* The ExcusePlot in ''VideoGame/HometownStory'' has the player move back to a village in which it lived during early childhood. When the mayor's son moves back in soon after the player, he reveals he and the player were childhood friends. If the player is female, he's also one of the villagers that she can marry.
* Edge and Reimi in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'' develop one of these if you work on their relationship through the game. If you take it as far as possible, they'll share a kiss in their final Private Action before the final boss and their ending scene implies the two got married.
* In any other game, Osana Najimi would be attempting this trope with her best friend, Taro/[[GenderFlip Taeko]] "Sempai" Yamada. Unfortunately, she's in ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'', therefore has Ayano "Yandere-chan/Yan-chan" Aishi attempting to prevent this trope from happening by any means necessary.

* In ''VideoGame/FrontMission5'', there's Walter Feng and Lynn Wennwright, who were childhood friends. It's also played with for a bit, in that Lynn was a ForgottenChildhoodFriend, and they only hook up once Walter transfers out of her unit and the main plot is dealt with.

** VideoGame/FireEmblemFates can pull this if the ActionGirl Selena hooks up with either of her {{childhood friend}}s, the ChivalrousPervert Laslow or the BlackMage Odin. [[spoiler: It's a CallBack to ''Awakening'' since Selena, Laslow and Odin '''are''' Severa, Inigo and Owain, respectively.]]

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Cloud and Tifa have known each other since their days in Nibelheim, and she was the reason he eventually decided to join SOLDIER. Though Tifa didn't develop feelings for Cloud until after he'd left. During the events of the game they confess their feelings for each other and start a family in the compilation.

* The Lone Wanderer and Amata are implied to have feelings for each other in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', something her father doesn't fancy the idea of. They never get together because depending on LW's actions in the quest ''Trouble on the Homefront'', he's either thrown out of the Vault for good or she gets killed (either by the LW himself or a group of Enclave soldiers). On the other hand, the "best" resolution of the quest has Amata becoming the new Overseer and hinting at the possibility that she will accept the LW back in the future.
** Mayor [=MacCready=] of Little Lamplight in ''Fallout 3'' isn't necessarily friends with Lucy due to his abrasive personality, but they were certainly acquaintances and allies. By ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', they are married with a child [[spoiler:until Lucy's death]].

** Although there isn't a canon couple in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'', Childhood Friend Bianca is far and away more popular than Flora/Nena as the marriage candidate among the fanbase, and the game itself [[GuiltBasedGaming beats you over the head repeatedly with the blunt object of an idea that you REALLY should marry Bianca]].
** The US release ''almost'' has a canon couple in the protagonist and Bianca, considering that the box art has two blond children (Flora and her children have blue hair). The Japanese DS release does this as well, but it's less obvious since the blonde children are on the back cover rather than the front.
** Official art always shows the children with blonde hair, and every version of the game to date has featured Bianca on the front cover, and the back cover of the Japanaese DS release is the only time Flora has appeared in the box art at all. The creators really aren't subtle about the fact that they think Bianca is a co-main character and Flora...isn't.

* Though within the normal game this doesn't happen, a fan-made mod makes this possible for the PC and Imoen in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII: Shadows of Amn''. [[BrotherSisterIncest Yes, yes]], [[{{Squick}} I know...]]
%%* ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'': Luna and Alex.

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'': It's heavily implied from the start that Kiryl has a crush on Alena... and she doesn't seem to notice.

** The Tales series tends to use this trope from time to time whenever a childhood friend is either a party member and/or plot important. TalesOfEternia had [[BigEater Reid]] and [[CuteBruiser Farah]], ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' had [[TheWisePrince Asbel]] and [[TeamMom Cheria]], and ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' had [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Senel]] and [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Stella]]. ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'', however, subverts this trope with [[BadassBookworm Jude]] and [[PluckyGirl Leia]], with the latter clearly having feelings for the former but is stuck in UnluckyChildhoodFriend territory due to his feelings for [[LadyOfWar Milla]], though Leia's perfectly fine with being PlatonicLifePartners.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBrothers'': Mario and Peach are an example.

%%* ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'': Luna and Alex

*** The US release ''almost'' has a canon couple in the protagonist and Bianca, considering that the box art has two blond children (Flora and her children have blue hair). The Japanese DS release does this as well, but it's less obvious since the blonde children are on the back cover rather than the front.
*** Official art always shows the children with blonde hair, and every version of the game to date has featured Bianca on the front cover, and the back cover of the Japanaese DS release is the only time Flora has appeared in the box art at all. The creators really aren't subtle about the fact that they think Bianca is a co-main character and Flora...isn't.

** The Hero and Medea in the true ending ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII''. There are game features that allow the Hero to talk with Medea (who is normally stuck as a horse) and they talk about both current events and their past together before the story started. It's even more awesome because they destroy an ArrangedMarriage to an utter JerkAss, yet still fulfill the terms of the original promise.
*** The 3DS remake of the game however [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] this, allowing the hero to marry Jessica, a fellow party member.

* Although there isn't a canon couple in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'', Childhood Friend Bianca is far and away more popular than Flora/Nena as the marriage candidate among the fanbase, and the game itself [[GuiltBasedGaming beats you over the head repeatedly with the blunt object of an idea that you REALLY should marry Bianca]].
** The US release ''almost'' has a canon couple in the protagonist and Bianca, considering that the box art has two blond children (Flora and her children have blue hair). The Japanese DS release does this as well, but it's less obvious since the blonde children are on the back cover rather than the front.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' presents a LoveTriangle variant, with Cecil and Kain both having known Rosa from their younger days, and both had feelings for her. But she only had feelings for Cecil, which caused Kain to briefly betray Cecil out of jealousy. The three eventually reconciled, with Kain finally accepting his friends' relationship.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Cloud and Tifa have known each other since their days in Nibelheim, and she was the reason he eventually decided to join SOLDIER. Though Tifa didn't develop feelings for Cloud until after he'd left. During the events of the game they confess their feelings for each other and start a family in the compilation.
* Irvine and Selphie in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' grew up together in an orphanage (along with Squall, Zell, Quistis and Seifer), but due to exposure to Guardian Force summons Selphie didn't remember him at first. Whether they ended up together or not is up to interpretation, but it is assumed that something is happening.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', at first, it appeared that Wakka was an UnluckyChildhoodFriend. He had known Lulu since they were kids, but she had fallen in love with his younger brother. When his little brother died, it appeared that Lulu wouldn't accept anyone else into her life. We see in the sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', that they are married and have a boy.
* Vaan and Penelo in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', though you have to work ''really'', ''really'' hard to see the scene where they kiss each other [[spoiler: in the secret ending of Revenant Wings]].
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', Noctis and Lunafreya (called 'Luna' by Noctis) grew close as children when Luna kept him company while he recovered from a [[NearDeathExperience near-death experience]]. As young adults, they are betrothed to be wed in a political marriage, although Noctis is hesitant. By the end, it seems he's come to accept his feelings for her however.

** ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]'':

* [[AllThereInTheManual In the player's guide for]] ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland DS'', [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and Princess Peach]] are stated to have been friends and partners to stop evil as babies before their adult "romantic entaglements".

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' has Gemma, who the Luminary has the option of marrying in the post game. Much like the remake of ''VIII'', the Switch port gives the player the option of marrying their party memebers instead, though she is still presented as the primary choice.

** The Unlucky Childhood Friend variant is quite prominent in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', as it was originally envisioned to have DatingSim events and a lot of female acquaintances as a result. The Dating Sim was dropped, but the women were not, resulting in Link getting with ''none of them'' (granted, he's ''nine years old'', and the Dating Sim was conceived during development when playable Child Link was not). Truest to the trope is Saria, Link's OnlyFriend in his home village that he knew his whole life; rather than there be a possible case of FirstGirlWins, she's the first girl he ''[[InvertedTrope loses]]''.

** The Unlucky Childhood Friend variant is quite prominent in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime]]'', as it was originally envisioned to have DatingSim events and a lot of female acquaintances as a result. The Dating Sim was dropped, but the women were not, resulting in Link getting with ''none of them''. Truest to the trope is Saria, Link's OnlyFriend in his home village that he knew his whole life; rather than there be a possible case of FirstGirlWins, she's the first girl he ''[[InvertedTrope loses]]''.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Cloud and Tifa have known each other since their days in Nibelheim, and she was the reason he eventually decided to join SOLDIER. Though Tifa didn't develop feelings for Cloud until after he'd left. If the player gets the High Affection scene when they talk under the Highwind, it's implied they confess their feelings to one another.

Mario: Mario and Peach are an example.

** Dragon Quest VII has Maribel who is in love with the Hero.

** In '' VideoGame/Mario Mario and Peach are an example of this.

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'': Sothe and Micaiah (although [[LikeBrotherAndSister Sothe mentions that he sees her as a sister]]) end up married if you keep their preset A-Support for the entire game. [[InternetBackdraft Arguably]], Soren if paired with Ike. Also, Geoffrey if paired with Elincia, and the aforementioned Sothe and Micaiah.

** [[InterspeciesRomance Link and Mipha]] in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' were close childhood friends before either was chosen as Champion of their respective races (and technically, [[MayflyDecemberRomance Mipha is still a child by Zora standards by the time Link reaches adulthood]]). One line of dialogue between Mipha and Zelda implies the former always thinks of Link in order to use her healing magic, though she got interrupted by Ganon's return before she could finish. Whether or not Link returns Mipha's feelings depends on a quick dialogue option with her father King Dorephan, and even then there's nothing else indicating how Link feels.

* In ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', you have Sora and Kairi. They've been leaning there since day one.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Cloud and Tifa have known each other since their days in Neblehiem, and she was the reason he eventually decided to join SOLDIER. Though Tifa didn't develop feelings for Cloud until after he'd left. If the player gets the High Affection scene when they talk under the Highwind, it's implied they confess their feelings to one another.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap]]'', it's mentioned on the Young Couple figurine that Romio and Julietta grew up as next door neighbors and are planning on getting married once they get [[MenLikeDogsWomenLikeCats their pets']] approval.