History Main / TragicBromance

!!As a DeathTrope, many if not all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'': Although they start out as bitter rivals, Joseph Joestar and Caesar Zepelli quickly become fast friends and comrades while studying under Lisa Lisa, which ends tragically when Caesar is killed by Wammu.

** The founding trio of HOMRA: Izumo, Mikoto and Tatara - particularly the last two. They became good friends in their teenage years, and after Mikoto became the Red King, the other two became his first Clansmen, and Tatara helped him deal with his nearly uncontrollable powers. Tatara is murdered, and it very obviously effects Mikoto's psychological state. He becomes a DeathSeeker whose only goal is fiery, violent revenge on the killer, despite the fact that his own powers are going haywire - which he knows will cause [[SuperPowerMeltdown large-scale destruction]] if that's allowed to happen, and the only way to stop it is for someone to kill him. Debatable as to whether Mikoto and Totsuka's relationship was ''only'' a bromance, though, and the series leaves it ambiguous.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademiaVigilantes'' gives us a flashback to [[TheCowl Aizawa's]] and [[MakeMeWannaShout Present Mic's]] past friendship with another UA student named Shirakumo. Despite Aizawa's gloomy demeanor and lack of confidence in his [[AntiMagic "boring"]] Quirk, Shirakumo was a bright, cheerful influence on him. But in the middle of a fight with a huge, powerful villain, the other heroes are knocked out of commission or so busy protecting civilians that Aizawa is the only one left. Thanks to words of inspiration from Shirakumo, Aizawa finds the confidence to figure out how to defeat the villain... but not really. After the fight is over, he finds out that Shirakumo died protecting others from falling rubble, and the voice he heard was just in his own mind. From this moment on, Aizawa becomes more driven and focused on perfecting the skills he needs to be the pro hero Eraser Head, but to the exclusion of almost everything else in his life.

This trope refers to a specific {{plot}} that is OlderThanDirt. In it, two [[AlwaysMale heroes]] are [[HeterosexualLifePartners intensely close friends]]. Unfortunately, one of them (usually [[{{Deuteragonist}} the one who's not the main character]]) dies during the course of the story. The death has a profound effect on the remaining hero, and changes them forever.

* Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens in ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''. Happened in real life too.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku. It's a twisted version since Sozin intentionally left Roku to die, although he regrets doing so by the time of his death.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': Due to Shane being SparedByTheAdaptation, his LoveTriangle with his best friend Rick and the latter's wife Lori is fully utilized. Rick and Shane are the best of friends since high school up until the day they became cops. On one mission, Rick is shot and was put in a coma. During this time, the ZombieApocalypse happened and Shane had to take care of Lori and her and Rick's son Carl. Thinking that Rick is dead, Shane and Lori began a relationship. Once Rick returns to the scene, Lori obviously abandons Shane. Shane, while initially happy to see Rick alive, [[LoveMakesYouEvil gradually becomes resentful]] towards him and [[LoveMakesYouCrazy comes to believe that he is a better husband and father than him]]. The second season shows the dissolution of their friendship, with Rick ultimately having to kill Shane because [[SanitySlippage he has gone to the deep end by that point]]. Having to kill Shane made a huge impact on Rick's CharacterDevelopment in later seasons.

* This occurs between Daenerys Targaryen and Missandei of Naath in the final season of ''Series/GameOfThrones''. Since season 3, Missandei had been one of Daenerys' closest friends and confidants, not to mention the only woman near her own age that she could talk to about things other than war and politics (like cute boys, for instance). In the fourth episode of season 8, however, Missandei gets captured and publicly executed by Cersei Lannister, crying out Daenerys' CharacterCatchphrase "[[KillItWithFire Dracarys!]]" with her dying breath. Missandei's murder, among other things, fuels Daenerys' descent into madness and she goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge in the next episode.

* Female version in ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' with Elphaba and Glinda. Although Elphaba doesn't actually die, Glinda thinks she's dead in the end, and it's implied that thanks to having known, learned from and lost her, Glinda will finally become the good, wise leader that the people of Oz believe she is. "Who can say if I've been changed for the better/but because I knew you, I have been changed for good."

* ''Literature/DragonLance'': Raistlin's ascension to the tower of high sorcery leaves Caramon a drunken wreck for years. Without his brother, he felt completely unneeded. It is only after Raistlin actually dies that he is able to move on with his life.

* ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'' has [[NamedAfterSomeoneFamous Dazai Osamu and Oda Sakunosuke]]. Oda is the first and only one who truly understands Dazai, yet he dies shortly after he has his [[PreciousPhoto last photo]] taken with [[BloodBrothers Buraiha]] as friends. His last words lead to Dazai's [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal betrayal of the mafia]] and [[HeelFaceTurn gradual turn into a somewhat better person]] (that says, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality still far from "good"]]).

* ''Film/Wings1927'', the very first film to win the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestPicture, revolves around two small-town rivals, Jack and David, who ultimately become best friends while serving together in UsefulNotes/WorldWar1. Tragically, David seemingly dies when his plane is shot down, and to avenge him Jack shoots down a German biplane, but that biplane is actually piloted by David, who survived his crash and stole it; thus Jack becomes responsible for his friend's real death, and can only [[DiedInYourArmsTonight hold him]] (and [[HoYay kiss him]]) in his last moments.

* Solid Snake and Gray Fox in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'', but [[{{Revision}} properly explored]] in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', where it's shown Fox's death has broken Snake's heart when Fox [[CameBackWrong Comes Back Wrong]] as a cyborg [[StalkerWithACrush desperate to fight Snake to the death so he can find some peace]].

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Cloud and Zack. [[note]] It's elaborated in ''Anime/LastOrderFinalFantasyVII'' OVA, the ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'' movie and '''specially''' in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', where Zack [[HeroOfAnotherStory is the protagonist]].[[/note]] [[spoiler: They met in SOLDIER, became best friends, were part of the horrifying tragedy in Cloud's DoomedHometown, were captured and experimented on, and after Zack managed to escape he took a comatose and traumatized Cloud with him. Zack died at the end of ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', right as Cloud wakes up from the coma, and his actions '''deeply''' mark Cloud for the rest of his life.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'': Akihiko Sanada and his friend, Shinjiro Aragaki, who were friends when they were still young in the orphanage. [[WhamEpisode When Shinjiro died on October 4th]], Akihiko was heavily affected by his death as his quest for power was coping over his weakness after the death of his sister yet he failed to protect the one person he cared most. It was his death that allowed Akihiko to move on and even gain his ultimate Persona, Caesar as the result. Their original Personas, Polydeuces and Castor, respectively, allude to the brotherhood with the two as Polydeuces was immortal while Castor wasn't and died.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem''
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', Sigurd and Eldigan were best friends since their teen days, they remain close as adults, they trust each other like almost no one else... but then they're pit against each other, [[spoiler: and Eldigan is ultimately executed.]]
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' has Chrom and [[CanonName Robin]], if Robin is male or a female not romancing Chrom. [[spoiler:Chrom's tragic murder at Robin's (possessed) hands leads to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and the BadFuture Lucina and the other children hail from.]]
** Done in almost the exact same fashion in the backstory of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', between [[spoiler:Anankos and the unnamed Vallite king, who were best friends like their kids, [[CanonName Corrin]] and Azura, would be in the future. An increasingly unstable Anankos, in a fit of rage, accidentally murdered Azura's father, which was the final straw in his already-unstable mind snapping completely and him becoming the BigBad. Even more tragically, the King was an AllLovingHero and apparently tried to comfort Anankos as he died.]]
%%* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'': Dart and Lavitz
* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'' [[TheLancer Garrus]] seems to take [[TheLeader Shepard's]] death this way, especially if you influenced him to be more Renegade in the first game. Following the destruction of the Normandy, he heads back to the Citadel, either to rejoin C-Sec or try to become a Spectre. Either way, after seeing the Council bury evidence of the Reapers and [[IgnoredExpert discredit everything Shepard did]] he decides he's finally had enough of the Citadel's bureaucracy and heads to the galaxy's WretchedHive to try and fight crime at its source. This is especially sad if you take him back to Omega after you've recruited him and he notes that despite everything he did, he never actually make a difference.
* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', Revan and Malak were best friends before their fall the dark-side, leading Malak to eventually betray his oldest friend. When confronted with an amnesiac Revan who has returned to the light-side, he only regrets betraying them from afar and mourns the loss of the "[[ARealManIsAKiller real]]" Revan.
* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'': Liu Bei took the deaths of his sworn brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, very hard that it drove him into a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to destroy Wu for their betrayal. If you really think about it, the deaths of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei not only caused Liu Bei to abandon his ideals and go on a revenge spree instead but it marked the beginning of Shu’s downfall when Liu Bei was unable to avenge their deaths and died, leaving the kingdom in his son’s hands who ended up surrendering Shu to Sima Zhao in the later years. As seen in Shu’s hypothetical route in ''DW 8'', if the player followed Xu Shu’s strategy in Fan Castle, Guan Yu wouldn’t have died, Zhang Fei wouldn’t have been betrayed by his own men and Liu Bei would still continue his mission for a land of benevolence and defeat Cao Cao in the end.
* ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTail'' had a villainous version between Gaius and Cassius, TheEmpire's general and chief assassin, respectively. After Cassius went missing, Gaius refused to believe against all logic that he was dead, and, indeed, never stops calling Cassius' [[spoiler:reincarnation]] by his old name. Both deeply care about each other, but they fight to the death because Gaius is incapable of feeling compassion for the victims of his genocide, as Cassius[[spoiler:/Dust]] learned to.

* In ''Videogame/{{Yakuza}} 3'', Rikiya's death deeply affects Kazuma, to the point he breaks his [[TheStoic usually unflappable demeanor]] and [[ManlyTears breaks down crying]].
** Throughout the series, it also becomes increasingly clear that Kiryu took Nishiki's death hard. He has recurring nightmares about the event, frequently wonders what Nishiki would have done, and expresses hope that there is an afterlife so he can meet Nishiki again.
** Majima, meanwhile, has structured his entire life around ensuring his sworn brother Taiga Saejima has something waiting for him when he gets out of prison, in spite of being sure that Saejima believes he is only ''in'' prison because Majima sold him out and will kill him the minute he sets foot outside the walls.

* This occurs between Daenerys Targaryen and Missandei of Naath in the final season of ''Series/GameOfThrones''. Since season 3, Missandei had been one of Daenerys' closest friends and confidants, not to mention the only woman near her own age that she could talk to about things other than war and politics (like cute boys, for instance). In the fourth episode of season 8, however, Missandei gets captured and publicly executed by Cersei Lannister, crying out Daenerys' {{Catchphrase}} "[[KillItWithFire Dracarys!]]" with her dying breath. Missandei's murder, among other things, fuels Daenerys' descent into madness and she goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge in the next episode.

** ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': Steve Rogers and ComicBook/BuckyBarnes. The Cap seemed broken when Bucky died back in the war and at present, he found out the hard way that Bucky is still alive except he's Comicbook/WinterSoldier who is brainwashed by HYDRA. And when Steve died after the end of ''Comicbook/CivilWar'', Bucky takes it hard and tries to find those responsible for his assassination. Later on, Bucky takes the shield and the name of Captain America as a way to continue his best friend's legacy.
** Captain America and [[Comicbook/IronMan Tony Stark]]. Their friendship was destroyed no thanks to a certain SuperRegistrationAct which sends them and the rest of the superheroes as [[Comicbook/CivilWar a ruthless battle between those who support and those who are against the act]]. In the end, the Cap surrenders and the pro-regs win but with a price: HYDRA took this opportunity to kill the Cap which they succeeded. As a result, Tony mourns the death of his once close friend and couldn't give a proper farewell speech during his funeral, letting the Falcon do the honors.

[[quoteright:300:[[Creator/MartenEskilWinge https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/06lyx73z-2_7932.jpg]]]]

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2 has Arthur Morgan and John Marston. Both were raised at a young age by Dutch Van Der Linde and Hosea Matthews and consider themselves "brothers" in a way. At the beginning of ''Redemption 2'' Arthur holds some animosity for John for abandoning his wife and child for a year. However by the end of the story as the gang they were raised in starts to fall apart and Dutch goes crazy, Arthur starts caring for John again, and even breaks him out of prison behind Dutch's back. Arthur's final acts in the main storyline are helping John escape from Dutch, Micah and the Pinkertons [[spoiler: right before he dies of tuberculosis]], so John can start a new life with his family. Arthur's sacrifice and [[spoiler: subsequent death]] affect John to the point he can hardly speak about Arthur by the time of ''Videogame/RedDeadRedemption'', in which he is shown to be a better husband and father than he was in ''RedemptionII''

%%** Inverted in ''Film/TheKiller'' with Ah Jong and Inspector Li Ying

* UsefulNotes/RichardIII and his best friend Francis Lovell met when they were both fostered together under the famous [[TheKingmaker Earl of Warwick]] and despite Richard being the youngest brother of the Yorkist king and Francis, who was from a Lancastrian family, being a Theo Greyjoy-like hostage, they became lifelong friends. When he became king, Richard showered Francis with honors including making him Lord Chamberlain, and Francis is thought to have given Richard a lavish Book of Hours as a coronation gift. When Richard died at Bosworth, Henry Tudor offered a pardon to the well-liked Lovell, who refused and mounted a failed rebellion. Nobody knows what happened to Francis, but he never betrayed his friend, even unto death.

* UsefulNotes/RichardIII and his best friend Francis Lovell met when they were both fostered together under the famous [[TheKingmaker Earl of Warwick]] and despite Richard being the youngest brother of the Yorkist king and Francis, who was from a Lancastrian family, being a Theo Greyjoy-like hostage they became lifelong friends. When he became king, Richard showered Francis with honors including making him Lord Chamberlain, and Francis is thought to have given Richard a lavish Book of Hours as a coronation gift. When Richard died at Bosworth, Henry Tudor offered a pardon to the well-liked Lovell, who refused and mounted a failed rebellion. Nobody knows what happened to Francis, but he never betrayed his friend, even unto death.

** Richard III and Francis Lovell are this, to a T. Richard befriends the lonely and isolated Lancastrian Francis when they are boys in the Earl of Warwick's Yorkist household. Richard wins Francis's loyalty, and they remain devoted friends, bound by chivalry and honor. It is Francis who encourages Richard to claim his birthright, in the face of evidence that Edward IV's marriage was invalid, and it is Francis who absolutely refuses to save himself and his wealth and position by swearing fealty to the man who defeats Richard, Henry Tudor.
** Edward IV and Will Hastings have quite a tragic bromance as well, with a good dose of mutual ToxicFriendInfluence. The two share a love of carousing and wenching and the only thing that ever threatens to come between them is their mutual love for Jane Shore. When Edward dies prematurely, Will is distraught and simply can't transfer his loyalties to Edward's younger brother.

* UsefulNotes/RichardIII and his best friend Francis Lovell met when they were both fostered together under the famous [[TheKingmaker Earl of Warwick]] and despite Richard being the youngest brother of the Yorkist king and Francis basically being a Yorkist hostage (think Theon Greyjoy) they became lifelong friends. When he became king, Richard showered Francis with honors including making him Lord Chamberlain, and Francis is thought to have given Richard a lavish Book of Hours as a coronation gift. When Richard died at Bosworth, Henry Tudor offered a pardon to the well-liked Lovell, who refused and mounted a failed rebellion. Nobody knows what happened to Francis, but he never betrayed his friend, even unto death.

* The ''Alicization'' arc of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' features this between the protagonist Kirito and his ChildhoodFriend in Underworld, Eugeo. The pair is inseparable, fighting and adventuring together for most of the first half of the arc, but it all comes crashing down when [[spoiler:Eugeo is seduced by Quinella and later killed in battle. A lot of Kirito's behavior following the incident is fueled by his guilt and mourning over the boy.]]

* In ''Manga/ZeroSevenGhost'', Mikage is the {{only friend}} that Teito has. Mikage likewise is very attached to Teito and fiercely protective of him. After a few plot events, [[BigBad Ayanami]] hijacks Mikage's body and irrepairably destroys his soul. Frau is forced to kill him to save Teito's life. It's worse, in that Mikage dies smiling in Teito's arms before dissolving into feathers. It's made better/worse, depending on the viewer, when Mikage's soul is reincarnated into the cutest bunny-dragon you ever did see.

* Waver and his [[SummoningRitual Servant]] Rider from ''LightNovel/FateZero'', despite only knowing each other for a few weeks, forge an intense friendship which culminates in Waver pledging his UndyingLoyalty to Rider shortly before the latter is killed by Gilgamesh (whose ''own'' tragic bromance with Enkidu is alluded to afterwards). Waver undergoes tremendous CharacterDevelopment due to his friendship with Rider and is deeply influenced by his Servant's ideals for the rest of his life. Considering Rider is ''the'' UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, this isn't surprising.