Best Friend

Doug: I need your help. I can't tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we're gonna hurt some people.
Jem: [thinks about it for a bit] ...Whose car are we gonna take?

— The Town

The best friend (also commonly referred as "the bro", "the bestie", "BFF" etc.) is The Protagonist's closest non-romantic associate and confidante in the story (though they're not necessarily immune to a Relationship Upgrade). Very often, the two of them will be Foils to each other, but they're just as likely to be Birds of a Feather. The best friend's importance to the plot can range anywhere from being a Satellite Character, to part of the support cast, or even the Deuteragonist.

A group of best friends becomes True Companions.

Supertrope to:

• Best Friends-in-Law: Sometimes, they marry into the family. Or you do.
• Childhood Friends: They've known each other since they were kids and have a nigh unshakable bond because of it.
• Fat Best Friend: Differences in body weight have no meaning for two best buds.
• Gay Best Friend: 'cuz you know you're close when differences in sexual orientation is a moot point.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: When you go beyond friendship into bromance.
• Muggle Best Friend: The hero's best friend has no supernatural abilities, to give an everyman POV to the work for viewers.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Proof that men and women can be close, without being romantically involved.
• Token Black Friend: When your best friend is black to make your white ass look cool.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Who else can talk shit about each other (and get away with it)? It's a sure sign that they're close.

For the music video for the Foster the People song, go here.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Kaneda from AKIRA sees Tetsuo as his best friend, which is why he goes to ridiculous lengths in an attempt to redeem him or, at least, to save his life.
• Attack on Titan:
  • Eren and Armin are Childhood Friends and best friends. After Eren meets Mikasa, Mikasa also becomes his second best friend.
  • Their foils Bertholdt and Reiner are also childhood friends and best friends.
• Bloom Into You: For most of the series, Sayaka and Yuu had a rivalry of sorts, and while they got along, they weren't exactly friends. Chapter 45 implies, and Saeki's light novel series outright states, that the two have basically become best friends, with Saeki saying she actually sees and talks to Yuu far more then Touko. Chapter 45 tells it best when Yuu shows she not only knew Sayaka had a girlfriend when Touko did not, but has already met her.
• Captain Harlock's best friend is Tochiro Oyama — the brains to his brawn, who has constructed Harlock's signature Cool Starship, Arcadia, for him.
• In Code Geass, Suzaku Kururugi has been Lelouch Lamperouge's best friend since childhood, but life had tossed them apart when Japan was conquered by Britannia. When they meet again, they have unwittingly placed themselves on the opposing sides of the barricades, but even after they discover each other's true allegiances, they still help each other from time to time, before joining forces for good in the finale.
• In Cross Ange, Salamandinay quickly becomes the title heroine's best friend by the virtue of being one of the few people able to hand her ass back to her, as well as by having a calming and humanizing effect on her wild nature. Reincarnation flashbacks imply that Ange and Salamandinay have been lovers in their past lives, but they don't share a romantic attraction in this one.
• Don't Meddle with My Daughter!:
  • Clara and Mei have been close friends since middle school. Mei is even aware of Clara's secret identity as the Eighth Wonder, which she's kept hidden to protect her.
  • Also applies to Risa, Kisara, and Jun, who're always seen in each other's company. The events of chapter 5 proved the depths of their loyalty, when they were gunned down while trying to save each other. Thankfully, the girls survive the shooting and are seen in the infirmary afterward. All three eventually make a full recovery.
• Dragon Ball:
  • Goku and Krillin are best friends, despite the fact that Goku completely outclasses him as a fighter early on. Krillin's second death was what pushed Goku over the edge to become a Super Saiyan. After this he spends more time with Piccolo or Vegeta who trade off on being The Lancer in battle, but Krillin remains the best friend in downtime.
  • Gohan becomes best friends with Dende during the Namek arc since he's the only other character around his age. They have the most heartfelt goodbye when Dende has to leave earth. They don't interact that often afterwards but there are shades of being Old Friends after Dende returns as earth's guardian.
  • Future Trunks considered Future Gohan both his mentor and best friend as the last two Saiyans. Present Trunks' best friend is Goten since they're much closer in age. They are rarely seen apart as kids to the point that their signature technique is to Fusion Dance into Gotenks.
  • Mr. Satan eventually becomes best friends with, of all people, Majin Buu, despite Mr. Satan’s initial efforts to try to (fruitlessly) kill Buu. It’s his friendship with Buu that actually manages to make the blob monster pull a Heel–Face Turn, as Mr. Satan is able to convince him on what’s right from wrong, and allows him to live peacefully on Earth. They’re almost always together in Super and even in the Distant Finale, years after the conclusion of the Buu Saga.
• EDENS ZERO: Rebecca was abandoned by her family and was left alone to wonder the streets while Happy is a cat from a planet called Exceed who was abandoned on planet Blue Garden (where Rebecca is). Rebecca found him and called him Happy. The two of them became best friends.
• Gamma features a surprising number of very close non-romantic relationships, the most prominent being the Bash Brothers Hornetman and Blue Train, as well as Miyuki and Midori (a.k.a. the Ret-Gone other Lily Cure) in the back-story.
• Haikyuu!! has quite a few best friend duos:
  • Kenma and Kuroo from Nekoma are Childhood Friends and still best friends.
  • Oikawa and Iwaizumi from Aoba Johsai are also childhood friends and best friends.
  • Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are childhood friends and best friends.
• Hunter × Hunter: Gon and Killua are best friends, although Gon is far more open about it whereas Killua gets embarrassed when Gon brings it up.
• Every finished part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has a Best Friend as part of its cast.
  • REO Speedwagon to Jonathan in Phantom Blood, as a Noble Male, Roguish Male combo.
  • Caesar to Joseph in Battle Tendency, as Vitriolic Best Buds and Bash Brothers.
  • Kakyoin to Jotaro in Stardust Crusaders, as the only person who Jotaro can have normal conversations with.
  • Okuyasu and Koichi to Josuke in Diamond is Unbreakable. Rohan believes he's this to Koichi, but Koichi isn't entirely convinced.
  • Mista to Giorno in Golden Wind, even while among the True Companions of the rest of Bruno's gang.
  • Ermes to Jolyne in Stone Wind, as the Tomboy to Jolyne's (still fairly tomboyish) girl.
  • Gyro to Johnny in Steel Ball Run, doubling as Student–Master Team.
• Maken-ki!: Kimi Satou used to spend her time reading manga alone, until she met Akaza Chacha who noticed what she was reading. They soon bonded over their mutual interests in manga and cosplay and have been virtually inseparable ever since.
• Athrun Zala and Kira Yamato in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED have been best friends in their childhood, but end up as members of opposing armies in the present. Towards the end of the series, after much trauma, they recommit to their old friendship and team up to essentially change the world.
• My Hero Academia:
  • After not having any friends for most of his life due to his Quirklessness, Izuku finds two of them in his first day at U.A., Ochako and Tenya.
  • Aizawa/Eraserhead and Hizashi/Present Mic. They’re total opposites but have been close sense they were U-A students. There was a third but sadly Shirakumo died and both other boys were hit hard. And it got worse with them learning Shirakumo was turned into a nomu. Likely explains why Mic has been shown as so willing to lay a Super-Scream beatdown on anyone who hurts Aizawa.
• Though they rarely act like it, Naruto and Sasuke become best friends somewhere during the first story arc. This becomes a plot point after Sasuke's Face–Heel Turn. He fights Naruto as killing your best friend is one of the ways to unlock more of his hidden powers, but he ultimately spares him. The friendship is one-sided on Naruto's part for the next several years but deep down, Sasuke still considers Naruto his bestie throughout.
• In The Seven Deadly Sins Meliodas and Ban are this, with Ban stating that Meliodas is the second most important person in his life, his girlfriend Elaine being the first.
• In Simoun, Paraietta's been Neviril Best Friend since childhood, and she's always harboured romantic feelings for her. This strong emotions give her endless pain, since Neviril, while loving her platonically, doesn't return them.
• Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!: Sakaki was Shinichi's best friend before Hana started college, alongside being his only friend at the time.
• Variable Geo: The strength of Yuka and Satomi's bond is the cornerstone of the OVAs plot. They studied Kyokushin together under Yuka's grandfather, which is how they met and became friends. Despite drifting apart, their bond has remained as strong as ever, to where Yuka can literally sense what Satomi is feeling through her aura — regardless of distance.
• Wandering Son: Nitori and Takatsuki meet in fifth grade and quickly become best friends, but unfortunately they go to separate high schools and their friendship dwindles to the point where they go years without seeing one another.
• In Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Ryuuzaki "Kencho" Kenichiro is Akira's best friend from college and teammate on the rugby team. He and Akira have stuck it through thick and thin, and he's the first person Akira reaches out during the Zombie Apocalypse when wireless calls become available again. They soon catch up on old times and make up for their last argument a year ago, getting into all kinds of trouble while scratching off their bucket list together.

Comic Books

• Maggie in Allergic ends up with two: Claire, a slightly older girl who just moved next door to her, and Sebastian, a boy who goes to her school and is allergic to eggs.
• Archie Comics have Betty and Veronica. Best friends ever and forever, who always share everything and only disagree when it comes to Archie.
• In The DCU it's kind of an unwritten law that a Super will always be a Bat's best friend and vice versa.
  • Traditionally, Superman and Batman are best buddies. Early Worlds Finest 1941 often depicted them enjoying leisure activities together like shooting hoops or going swimming. Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, it was decided that their personalities were too incompatible to be good friends and they remained uneasy allies until the early '00s restored their friendship, with the following years cementing that they're far and away each other's closest friend, especially post-DC Rebirth merging the continuities of Post-Crisis and New 52.
  • Similarly, Supergirl has been consistently treated as Batgirl's best friend since the latter was created. Even though they weren't often seen together during the Pre-Crisis period, Barbara Gordon was the one to give the eulogy at the Kara Zor-El's funeral, saying she "was often my confidant and always my friend".
  • Their Earth-Two counterparts, Power Girl and Huntress (Helena Wayne), had a relationship even stronger. In the Power Trip (2005) arc, Kara turns to Helena Bertinelli as undergoing considerable emotional turmoil because, even though her Pre-Crisis memories had been wiped out, she instinctively remembered she could always rely on Huntress.
  • Robin/Red Robin Tim Drake was very upset when his best friend Superboy Kon-El was killed. Tim considered cloning Kon, along with their friend Bart Allen and Tim's father and girlfriend who had all died within a year of each other. When Kon returns Tim finally starts loosening up again after becoming incredibly closed off due to all of the losses he'd suffered and Kon is the first person since Bruce's "death" to accept Tim saying Bruce is actually alive without question. Steph had been willing to listen but that was ruined due to Dick's interference and Tim's mental state at the time.
  • There were two solo titles exclusively focused on the friendship between Jonathan Kent and Damian Wayne.
  • Even Krypto the Superdog and Ace the Bat-Dog has been depicted as buddies in some comics and media like DC Super Hero Girls.
  • While Bizarro isn't usually considered a member of the Superman family per se, he's been recently hanging around with Jason Todd/Red Hood for a time, and he's grown quite close with both him and Artemis as a Power Trio.
• They're not as close as they used to be prior to the Flashpoint reboot, but the crux of the story of Birds of Prey revolved around the best friend-ship between Barbara Gordon and Black Canary.
• Batgirl: Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown are best friends who bonded over training, similar backstories, their desire to help others and their contrasting personalities.
• Robin (1993): Outside of the caped community, and prior to becoming part of it, Tim's best friend is Ives. Ives isn't aware of what exactly is taking up so much of Tim's time, and really doesn't want to know which indicates he has an idea, but is willing to ruin his other friendships sticking up for Tim and is very casual about forgiving Tim for forgetting his birthday, since he knows Tim doesn't even tend to remember his own.

Fan Works

• Girl Adventurer: Sarah becomes this with Triana, as the two both have to deal with the fact that their the most normal members of their respective families.
• Skyhold Academy Yearbook has a number of these.
  • As in canon, Marian Hawke and Varric Tethras are completely devoted to each other in a Platonic Life-Partners kind of way.
  • Dorian Pavus explicitly refers to Evvy Trevelyan as his best friend more than once. It creates a brief playful rivalry with her other best friend, Mahanon, whom she's known since childhood; Evvy resolves the matter by telling Mahanon that Dorian is indeed her best friend, while Mahanon is "like my other self or something." He's okay with that.
  • There are also the three student characters who call themselves the Partners in Crime; they even frequently address one another as "bestie."
• Hetalia: Axis Powers fanfic Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità: Germany and Japan were both best friends to Italy. They had stuck with each other through WWII and the Cold War. However, both Germany and Japan wanted something more, but Italy seemed oblivious to their desires. Key word being seemed.
• Beth and Monica from Glee Reprise have been best friends since they were young.
• Ruby Pair: Zita becomes this to Tenn, who befriends her in order to increase her human cover, but seems to legitimately enjoy her company.
• The Tenn Duology: Sigma becomes Tenn's first and closest friend during the latter's time undercover on Meekrob. In fact, just how strongly Tenn holds to that friendship is the Point of Divergence between The Tragedy of Invader Tenn and The Rise of Tallest Tenn — in the former, it's not enough to make Tenn embrace her Heel–Face Turn and she kills Sigma while conquering her planet, while in the latter, it is.

Films — Animation

• In Turning Red, Miriam is heavily implied to be this to Mei amongst her group of besties, being the one to interact with her the most, on top of being the first to comfort and reach out to Mei when things go awry. The film's page on Pixar's website seemingly confirms her to be this by stating that "she's the bestest best bestie a girl could ever have". Subsequently, she appears to be the most hurt when Mei didn't stand up to her mother for them.

Films — Live-Action

• The Babysitter (2017): 12-year old Melanie is Cole's closest and only friend at school. He explicitly refers to her as such, just before the film's climax, when he apologizes for putting her in danger by taking refuge at her house.
  Cole: [hushed tone] You're my best friend and I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this.
  Melanie: [understands] You were being shot at!
  Cole: Especially because we're being shot at.
• Goodbye Charlie: George is Charlie's best friend. With Charlie's new sex, George is tempted, but rejects the romantic possibilities. Charlie, on the other hand is open to them.
• Miller's Girl: Winnie is Cairo's. They live together, dish on their pursuits with each other, and hang out most of the time when they aren't busy with schooling. By the end of the film it's apparent their friendship is over however as Cairo blackmails her.
• In The Room (2003), Mark is Johnny's best friend, as all the characters will constantly remind everyone.
• Shall We Play?: Emma is Stacy's, with her being unwaveringly supportive of her and concerned about whatever problems she has. Jess on the other hand seems like this too at first, but soon shows it's all a facade in her case.
• Doug and James/Jem in The Town. When Doug asks Jem for a potentially dangerous favor that they'd never talk about again, the only thing Jem asks is whose car they'll be taking for it.

Literature

• This was part of the characterization for every single one of the American Girl historic characters—each of them either started the series with a best friend or met her in the first or second book. Several of them were later created as part of the Best Friends line, which had the character share the time period with the original Historical character. This includes Nellie O'Malley for Samantha, Elizabeth Cole for Felicity, and Ivy Ling for Julie.
• In the autobiographical poem Anna Snegina, the old miller was so glad to see the narrator that he couldn't "put two words together".
• In the backstory of the Arcia Chronicles, the future emperor Ankhel and the future saint Erasti Cerna had been bros for life since their rebellious youth and have toppled a corrupt empire together. Too bad Ankhel betrayed their common ideals and, eventually, Erasti himself after their victory. In modern times, Erasti's descendant Raphael Kerna becomes the best friend of Alexander Tagere.
• Bridge to Terabithia has the relationship between Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke, two outcasts in school who only had each other.
• Goodbye Charlie: George is Charlie's best friend. With Charlie's new sex, George is tempted, but rejects the romantic possibilities. Charlie, on the other hand is open to them.
• Harry Potter: Ron Weasley quickly becomes Harry's best friend, and sticks with him for the rest of the series, through the good and the bad. Hermione also becomes Harry's other best and most loyal friend after he and Ron save her from the Troll. She and Ron tend to be more Vitriolic Best Buds with a helping of Belligerent Sexual Tension thrown in. Eventually Fiery Redhead (and future wife) Ginny, resident Cloud Cuckoo Lander Luna, and the bumbling Nice Guy Neville become Harry's other closest friends, the six of them forming a group of True Companions. Luna even painted a mural of the other five to show how much she valued their friendships.
• In The Neverending Story, Atreyu and Bastian become best friends after Bastian finally enters Fantasia. Subverted later on when Bastian's power goes to his head and Atreyu leaves in disgust, even battling him atop the Ivory Tower. Double-subverted in the end, when Bastian shows repentance and Atreyu forgives him, helping him return home and taking all of Bastian's unfulfilled obligations in Fantasia upon him.
• Played With in Reflections of Eterna: Aldo Rakan and Robert Epine are best friends, but they understand their relationship very differently. For Robert, it means Undying Loyalty towards Aldo, to the point of Cruel to Be Kind. For Aldo, however, their friendship means merely giving Robert the second pick of trophies (after his own, of course) on his quest for power.
• In A Song of Ice and Fire, there are several examples:
  • Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark had the friendship that took down the Targaryen dynasty.
  • Ilyrio Mopatis and Varys are a rather villainous example, as they're trying to destabilize the Seven Kingdoms for their own benefit.
  • Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly cement a quick bond when the latter arrives to the Wall.
  • Jaime Lannister and his cousin Daven are shown to be this, as the former is the "Kingslayer" to everyone except Daven, who knows him intimately and can attest to Jaime's true character.
  • Aegon Targaryen's best friend was his bastard half-brother Orys Baratheon. He specifically launched the War of Conquest because King Argilac the Arrogant refused to marry off his daughter to Orys and even killed Aegon's messenger to make a point. The Targaryens killed Argilac in return and entrusted the Stormlands to Orys.
• For some inexplicable reason, Dandelion the Quirky Bard is Geralt's only associate who sticks with him through the good and the bad throughout The Witcher novels and games.
• In the first Warrior Cats book, the first Clan cat the main character Firestar met was Graystripe, and when he joined the Clan they instantly became best friends. Throughout the series, they go through thick and thin together, and while Firestar is leader he makes Graystripe his deputy. Even in Graystripe's Vow, when Graystripe is the oldest cat in ThunderClan and Firestar is long dead, he still thinks about his best friend frequently and regularly speaks of him to younger cats.

Live-Action TV

• The Barrier: The Minister of Health Luis and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Álvaro are this to each other. From Luis' perspective, the fact that many of the people that he can call friends are putting up with him only because of his status makes the situation verge on Only Friend.
• Castle: Ryan and Esposito are best friends with Esposito being the Best Man at Ryan's wedding. Almost borders on Those Two Guys since they are rarely seen apart. Lanie is also Beckett's best friend and is not above calling her out mostly in regards to Kate's obvious feelings for Castle.
• Dexter: Batista is likely the closest thing Dexter Morgan has to one. He's one of the few people Dexter genuinely likes, although they rarely interact in later seasons.
• First Kill: Ben and Juliette have been this for each other from childhood.
• Goodbye Charlie: George is Charlie's best friend. George wants to help Charlie, but has different moral guidelines from Charlie that make it hard for him to do so.
• High Fidelity:
  • After they broke up, Simon became Rob's. He also works in her store.
  • Mac's Cameron's, and he's not pleased to learn he broke contact with Mac over his relationship with his sister Rob collapsing after learning she'd actually cheated on him.
• My Dead Ex: Charley and Wren are this for each other. They both give each other constant support and advice.
• One of Us is Lying:
  • Keely is Cooper's best friend, making her willing to pretend she's his girlfriend and thus cover up that he's gay.
  • Janae was Simon's best friend, and is left devastated after he dies.
• Psych: Despite their bickering and snarking Sean and Gus are thick as thieves.
• Sex/Life: Billie and Sasha have been best friends for years. While they have different lives (Billie's married with two kids at the start, Sasha's happily single) they remain close and always there for each other.
• The Summer I Turned Pretty:
  • Laurel and Susannah have been best friends for years. Every summer, they vacation together at Susanna's house with their kids (their husbands too generally, though not always).
  • Belly is best friends with another girl named Taylor.
• Young Sheldon: In "Snoopin' Around and the Wonder Twins of Atheism", Coach Wilkins claims his wife is his best friend. George might not even be Wilkins's best male friend, but at least George is Wilkins's best white friend. Considering that Wilkins' wife ends up cheating on him and getting pregnant, this isn't exactly the best scenario.

Puppet Shows

• This is the central source of conflict in "Friends at Play" from Bear in the Big Blue House. Tutter is greatly hurt when Ojo refers to the rabbit Christine as her "best friend." Bear eventually helps smooth things over by explaining that it's possible for someone to have more than one best friend, which everyone is willing to go along with, the traditional definition of "best friend" notwithstanding.

Tabletop Games

• Seizhi/Suzy in Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine, despite being known as The Best Friend, is a deconstruction. A lot of Seizhi's issues relate to having been literally created to be Chuubo/Shokyou's best friend, leading to a desperate pursuit of something, anything, outside that role to give him definition and make him more real.

Video Games

• ANNO: Mutationem: Ayane is Ann's close friend and supportive hacker. Though there several moments when Ayane acts rather 'affectionate' towards Ann, the two always got each other's back.
• Dragon Age:
  • Varric Tethras is Hawke's best friend in Dragon Age II, as evidenced by him being the one person who knew where the Champion was all along in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Having served as a sidekick to both the Champion of Kirkwall and the Herald of Andraste, it is pretty obvious with whom he shares a deep personal bond and whom he accompanies out of respect and a sense of common cause.
  • An Inquisitor who maxes out Dorian's friendship in the third game without romancing him will get to hear the mage describe them as "my best and only friend" during the celebration following the main game's final battle.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Link is Saria's closest friend; much to Mido's chagrin. The narrative emphasises it by first having her give Link the Fairy Ocarina as a parting gift, when he first leaves Kokiri Forest. And later, she teaches him her song while they're in the Sacred Grove, so he'll be able to communicate wlth her no matter how far they're apart. Though they're eventually forced to part ways for good, after Saria awakens as a Sage, she hands him her Forest Medallion as a memento of their imperishable friendship.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: Link grew up with Mayor Bo's daughter, Ilia, who's shown to be his best friend in Ordon Village by tending to Epona for him. She also made the Horse Call for him, to wish him well on his journey to deliver the Ordon Sword and Shield to Hyrule Castle, but was abducted by King Bulblin before she had the chance.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Prince Sidon isn't Link's friend at first since he doesn't know who he is. Once he realizes that Link was very close to Mipha, who was Sidon's sister, Sidon treats Link as his best buddy and tries to make him feel welcome among the other Zoras in Zora's Domain. After Link manages to stop the rampaging divine beast that is Vah Ruta, Sidon tells Link that he'll always be his most treasured friend and is welcome to visit him anytime he wants.
• Garrus Vakarian, Tali'Zorah, and Liara T'soni in the original Mass Effect trilogy gradually become Commander Shepard's closest confidantes (although Tali and Garrus are Promoted to Love Interest in part two and Liara is pretty much Shepardsexual from the get-go). Depending on whether the player romances one of them, either the other one or all three of them qualify for this trope. Overall, Garrus is best able to identify with Shepard as a fellow soldier and leader and the needs that come with those, Tali places absolute faith in Shepard's abilities as a leader and always supports his/her decisions, while Liara is best at being consistently able to get Shepard to drop their stoic mask and share their worries and stresses with a sympathetic ear. It's noted that out of all squadmates that Shepard gathers and assembles throughout their journey, only Garrus and Tali join Shepard in all three games. Liara too joins Shepard across the trilogy, but while she is an NPC during the second game's main campaign, she is a playable squadmate throughout the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC which is pivotal to the whole story. Even with her non-involvement throughout the second game's main plotline, she is responsible for retrieving Shepard's body and gives it to Cerberus in order to revive them. On the non-playable squadmate side (except for the Wham Episode at the second game), Joker is also the only character who is guaranteed to be by Shepard's side for the entire trilogy, given his role as the pilot of Shepard's ship.
• In the interactive romance novel Moonrise, one of the love interests, Rosario, is the player character's best friend and roommate. They and the player enjoyed many college antics before the start of the game.
• The Protagonist of Persona 4 and The Lancer of the Investigation Team, Yosuke Hanamura: not only does the latter frequently dub the Protagonist "partner" and vice versa, but he explains in Spin-Off Sequel Persona 4: Arena that "best friend" isn't enough to describe their relationship.
• Ryuji from Persona 5 is the first ally The Protagonist makes, and even calls himself "[his] best friend" during one scene.
• Johnny Gat in the Saints Row series is established as the Playa/Boss' best friend, to the point where the two of them would risk their and other Saints' lives to help each other at the drop of a hat. In Saints Row 2, while Johnny is in the hospital, the Boss is permanently in a bad mood — the longest period of intense concern they ever show for anyone in the games (with only their brief Anti-Heroic BSoD over Carlos' death coming close).
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Sega introduced Tails as Sonic's best bud, in part 2. Since then, no matter the game, Tails is almost always on hand to lend Sonic his support: whether it's giving him a lift in The Tornado, or whipping up gadgets to help him out (e.g. Sonic Colors).
• In Xenoblade Chronicles 1, Shulk's best friend is Reyn, who is The Big Guy to Shulk's Badass Bookworm. The two have known each other since they were children, and Reyn is always supporting Shulk throughout the entirety of the game. A big part of Reyn's character arc halfway through the game is his worry that Shulk has outgrown him, but even so resolves to stick by him.
• In Undertale, the monster prince Asriel Dreemurr and Chara, the first human to fall into the Underground after the Barrier was erected, have been best friends in the backstory, but their friendship ended very, very badly due to circumstances they had no control over: Chara fell ill and died, but not before asking Asriel to take them to see the surface one last time. Asriel complied, but the terrified villagers assumed that he killed Chara and lynched him for it. Asriel crawled back into the underground before dying and turning to dust in the royal garden. Much later, a flower from said garden was injected with human determination by Alphys, creating Flowey, the Big Bad of the game, while Chara will either find peace enough to make Flowey let go of his guilt if the Player pushes through the Pacifist route, or finally snaps so hard if the Player goes into Genocide Route.

Web Original

• Dina Marino is best friends with Siria Ashen and in the past was best friends with Sofia Pipitone and Laura Pizzo.
• Gameboys - Pearl to the two leads. Cairo & Gavreel will often consult her first for any problems in their relationship.
• Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures:
  • Kuromi and My Melody, a far cry from their relationship in Anime Onegai My Melody. In "Jinx", My Melody actually calls Kuromi her best friend, and in "My Melody's Friendship Ultra Blast", Kuromi is the first to notice that My Melody is stressed and give her sound, heartfelt advice.
  • Badtz-Maru and Keropi are always hanging out together, gaming and doing various things like going to the movies together.
• In If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device, Malcador the Sigilite is upgraded from Emperor's most trusted servant to his best (and likely only) friend, although he didn't see himself as Emperor's equal.
• The Most Popular Girls in School: Trisha see her own two best friends, Brittnay and Mackenzie, as this even if the latter two are Vitriolic Best Buds.
• RWBY: Jaune and Pyrrha's relationship. They're basically unseparable. Pyrrha does want a Relationship Upgrade, though.

Western Animation

• Zuko becomes this to Aang towards the tail end of Avatar: The Last Airbender which carries into the sequel comics. By the time of The Legend of Korra seventy years later, Korra goes to Zuko for advice about what he'd do because he's the person that knew Aang best. Even though Lin who was noted to also be quite close to him is in the same location.
• The Flintstones: The Flintstones and the Rubbles are an entire family of best friends. Fred and Barney were best friends who met best friends Wilma and Betty, paired off and got married, and moved next door to each other. As neighbors, their pets Dino and Hoppy were de facto best friends. Fred and Wilma's daughter, Pebbles, and Barney and Betty's son, Bamm-Bamm, grew up together as best friends, but they started dating as teenagers and wound up getting married as adults, ultimately making their parents Best Friends-in-Law.
• Harley Quinn: The titular character was Ivy's First Friend and they've been best friends since. After a lot of heartbreak, they eventually have a Relationship Ugrade to girlfriends.
• Hey Arnold!: Most of the kids of P.S. 118 had a best friend to pair off with—the most prominent examples were Arnold and Gerald, and Helga and her best friend/assistant, Phoebe. An opposites attract duo in best friends Rich Alpha Bitch Rhonda and insect nerd Nadine. Even antagonists like the fifth grade bully Wolfgang had a best friend without whom he was rarely seen, Edmund.
• King Arthur & the Knights of Justice:
  • Among the Knights, Wally and Brick are the dynamic duo, followed closely by Arthur and Lance. Less explicitly, so do Darren and Tone seem to get along very well. Squires Everett and Tyronne, although in competition for recognition, are rarely apart. Guinevere and her ladies-in-waiting Elaine and Mary are, of course, also as close as can be.
  • As for cases of Villainous Friendship, Morgana and Viper have a strong case of Platonic Life-Partners going on, while team combinations Lucan-Blackwing and (for season 1) Bash-Blinder catch attention.
• Molly of Denali: Molly considers Tooey to be her best friend. They have been friends for a long time and hang out with each other more than anyone else.
• On Franklin, Franklin and Bear are best friends and often spend time together, to the point where it's even often treated as wrong when they're not playing together. Meanwhile, Snail considers Franklin to be his best friend and often rides on his shoulder in a Parrot Pet Position, but never seems resentful of Franklin considering Bear to be his own best friend.
• In The Simpsons, Bart Simpson's default best friend and sidekick is Milhouse Van Houten, with whom he shares a close but abrasive relationship. In the episode "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore," Bart's sister Lisa becomes his new best friend when Milhouse temporarily moves out of town, while "The Haw-Hawwed Couple" sees him being forcibly adopted as a best friend by bully Nelson Muntz, only to two-time him with Milhouse. (By "The Debarted" Bart defines Nelson as his "other best friend.") It's also occasionally implied that even Milhouse is second to Santa's Little Helper.
• In Dragamonz, Dax's closest friend is Boaragon who he loves to battle with. When Dax is tasked with recruiting the leaders of the other factions so he can restore Dragamar to the way it was before Grimserver caused its separation, Boaragon is the first Dragamon to accompany him on his mission.

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