The Noun and the Noun

The Trope and the Troper

In a more upscale cousin of the Alliteration & Adventurers, lots of novels and classic films have names that consist solely of lists of two or three nouns. Frequently these nouns are abstract, reflecting overarching themes more than specific plot points.

A standard subtype is an Alliterative Title that parodies the Austen examples below; these will generally have two alliterative nouns, the second of which is considerably longer than the first.

See also, the Sub-Trope, Name and Name, when actual names are used. Alliteration & Adventurers is an Alliterative Title that references Dungeons & Dragons.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Every episode title in Argento Soma follows the pattern "A and B," "B and C," "C and D," etc. The final episode title creates a loop.
• Every chapter title in Bakuman。 does this.
• Princess Tutu revolves around a Fictional Document called The Prince and the Raven.

Arts

• Laocoön and His Sons
• Nymphs and Satyr, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Card Games

• Magic: The Gathering often uses this for split cards, i.e. cards that can be played as either one of two different cards, such as Order//Chaos or Spite//Malice. The first time they were used, one was almost named "Pride//Prejudice" but it was deemed not magic-y enough. A few years later though, we got Crime//Punishment.

Comic Books

• The Brave and the Bold, the classic Batman team-up book; also an animated series in the same mold.

Fan Works

• The Professor Layton fic Knights and Knaves
• The Lawyer and The Unicorn
• By the Sea: The titles of the series' two main stories- Flotsam and Jetsam, and Currents and Tides.
• Of Dragons And Stags
• Shadow and Rose
• Sonic Generations: Friendship Is Timeless : "The Doctor and the Chaotician"
• The Sun And The Rose. This extends to the chapter titles as well.
• The Wheel and the Butterfly
• Loved and Lost
• Bug Princess and the Seven Months
• Beauty and the Bloodsucker
• The Dragon Age: Inquisition AU fic The Lady and the Lion
• The Mountain and the Wolf

Films — Animation

• Disney:
  • The Fox and the Hound
  • Beauty and the Beast
  • The Princess and the Frog
• The Thief and the Cobbler

Films — Live-Action

• The Agony and the Ecstasy
• Angels and Insects
• Angels & Demons
• Ashes and Diamonds
• The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
• The Bad and the Beautiful
• Beauty and the Beast
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks
• Blood and Black Lace
• Blood & Donuts
• Bread and Tulips
• The Cat and the Canary
• Cloak & Dagger (1984)
• Cowboys & Aliens
• Cries and Whispers
• Crimes and Misdemeanors
• Dead & Buried
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• Dumb and Dumber
• The Fast and the Furious
• Gods and Generals
• Gods and Monsters
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Good Night, and Good Luck.
• Heart and Souls
• Hearts and Minds
• The Hottie and the Nottie
• Hustle & Flow
• Kind Hearts and Coronets
• The King and the Clown
• Knight and Day
• Land and Freedom
• Love and Death
• Love & Other Drugs
• Love & Rage
• Lovely & Amazing
• A Man and a Woman
• Master and Commander
• Mother and Child
• Music and Lyrics
• Night and the City
• An Officer and a Gentleman
• The Power and the Glory
• Pride and Glory
• The Prince and the Showgirl
• Pride and Prejudice
• The Quick and the Dead (multiple examples — this is also a biblical allusion)
• Rails & Ties
• Romance & Cigarettes
• Rust & Bone
• Secrets & Lies
• Sense and Sensibility
• Sex And Lucia
• Sinners and Saints
• The Whip and the Body
• The Wind and the Lion
• The Ghost and the Darkness
• The Serpent and the Rainbow
• A Zed and Two Noughts

Literature

• The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (also a film)
• Jane Austen novels:
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • Sense and Sensibility
  • Love and Freindship (sic)
• The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
• Every book in Chronicles of an Age of Darkness by Hugh Cook. Also, all the nouns start with W.
  • The Wizards and the Warriors
  • The Wordsmiths and the Warguild
  • The Women and the Warlords
  • The Walrus and the Warwolf
  • The Wicked and the Witless
  • The Wishstone and the Wonderworkers
  • The Wazir and the Witch
  • The Werewolf and the Wormlord
  • The Worshippers and the Way
  • The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster
• From C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia:
  • The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
  • The Horse and His Boy
• China Mieville's The City & the City is a perfect example of this.
• O. Henry's short story, "The Cop and the Anthem".
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• The Cross and the Switchblade, a gang member's faith testimony.
• Death and Diplomacy by Dave Stone.
• Dragonlance Dark Disciple trilogy:
  • Amber and Ashes.
  • Amber and Iron.
  • Amber and Blood.
• Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
• Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff (a slightly rarer nonfiction example)
• The Fox and the Hound
• Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
• Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull
• Gods and Warriors by Michelle Paver
• Harry Potter: loosely followed with the book titles, e.g. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". Many of the chapter titles take the form of one, two of three nouns, e.g. "Talons and Tea Leaves", "The Centaur and the Sneak", "Cat, Rat and Dog".
• Jane, Unlimited: The title of the final section, "The Strayhound, The Girl, and the Painting", is a reference to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
• Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
• A Necklace of Fallen Stars: The title of Tantia's story is called "The Player and the Knave". The "player" refers to Tantia and the "knave" refers to Alar.
• Stephen King:
  • Nightmares & Dreamscapes
  • Wizard and Glass
  • Blood and Smoke
• Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
• The Master Key: Chapter 14. Turk and Tatar.
• The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
• The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
• From John Jakes' North and South series:
  • North and South
  • Love and War
  • Heaven and Hell
• Of Mice and Men
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• The Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume
• Philosophy and Science Fiction
• The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene.
• The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
• The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
• Elizabeth Bear's Promethean Age novels:
  • Blood and Iron
  • Whiskey and Water
  • Ink and Steel
  • Hell and Earth
• The Red and the Black by Stendhal
• Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
• Spice and Wolf uses the "noun and noun" format to refer to its main leads, "spice" referring to traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence, and "wolf" referring to Holo the Wisewolf.
• Star Wars Expanded Universe: Master and Apprentice, not to be confused with the short story of the same title, by the same author in From a Certain Point of View.
• Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
• Tortall Universe: Tempests and Slaughter, first book of The Numair Chronicles.
• WaR: Wizards and Robots
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• Warrior Cats:
  • Fire and Ice
  • SkyClan and the Stranger
  • Thunder and Shadow
• Lately in Young Adult Literature there has been a sub-trend of "Noun of Noun and Noun" titles, such as:
  • Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
  • Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Live-Action TV

• "Sense and Sensitivity", an episode of Angel.
• All the titles of Blackadder the Third were like this, parodying Austen ("Dish and Dishonesty", "Ink and Incapability", "Nob and Nobility", "Sense and Senility", "Amy and Amiability", and "Duel and Duality").
• The Bold and the Beautiful
• Doctor Who:
  • "Tooth and Claw"
  • "Love & Monsters"
  • "The Unicorn and the Wasp", which is set in 1926 with Agatha Christie. Ironically, this name was chosen to sound suitably Agatha Christie-like, even though Aggie never used this style of title...
  • "Flesh and Stone"
• Fawlty Towers:
  • "The Kipper and the Corpse"
• Law & Order
• On one episode of M*A*S*H, we hear that there will be a screening of the captured Chinese propaganda film The Imperialist Running Dog and the Showgirl.
• Lampshaded in Seinfeld where Elaine rents a movie called The Pain and the Yearning, whose plot summary is simply "An old woman experiences pain and yearning."
• Slings & Arrows
• Sons And Daughters
• Star Trek: Picard has the episode "Maps and Legends."
• Toddlers & Tiaras
• The Young and the Restless

Music

• The Lion and the Cobra, Sinead O'Connor
• The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, Bruce Springsteen
• Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy, Elton John. And its sequel, The Captain And The Kid.
• The Broadsword And The Beast, Jethro Tull
• The Geese And The Ghost, Anthony Phillips
• "The Holly and the Ivy"
• Guns N' Roses
• "The Well and the Lighthouse," Arcade Fire
• The Bird and the Bee
• Restless and Wild, Accept
  • Also their songs "Losers and Winners", "Rich & Famous", "Sick, Dirty and Mean" and "Thunder and Lightning".
• Black Sabbath: The album Heaven and Hell, and the songs "Sick and Tired" and "Devil and Daughter".
• Insanity and Genius, Gamma Ray
  • Also the songs "Rich and Famous" and "Father and Son"
• Denim and Leather and Power and the Glory, Saxon
• Power and Pain, Whiplash
• Violence & Force, Exciter
• Roses & Champagne, Silver Mountain
  • Also the song "Axeman and the Virgin"
• Triumph and Agony, Warlock
• Abattoir song "The Living and the Dead"
• Anthrax's Armed and Dangerous EP and song.
• Chateaux song "Chained and Desperate"
• Angus song "Leather and Lace"
• Blind Guardian song "Skalds and Shadows"
• Annihilator song "Sixes and Sevens"
• Artillery song "Hunger and Greed"
• Grave Digger song "Wild and Dangerous"
• Running Wild songs "Fire and Ice", "Fire and Thunder" and "Chains and Leather".
• Ludo song "The Lamb and The Dragon".
• The Gaslight Anthem song "Boomboxes and Dictionaries"
• "Fashion and Fame", by The Angels/Angel City.
• "Sabra and Chatila", by the lesser-known NWOBHM band Legend.
• "Sword and Steel", by the better-known NWOBHM band Iron Maiden.
• Thin Lizzy, Thunder and Lightning.
• Selena's remake of Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang" was retitled "Fotos y Recuerdas" ("Pictures and Memories").
• Sturm Und Drang (Storm and Stress), the transition style between Classical and Romantic, circa 1800.
• Cole Porter, "Night and Day"
• The Wild, the Willing, and the Innocent, UFO
• The Birds, the Bees, and The Monkees
• Nightwish: The Poet and the Pendulum, The Crow, the Owl and the Dove, Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean, Passion and the Opera.
• Midnight Oil song Power and the Passion.
• Lynyrd Skynyrd's "The Needle and the Spoon."
• "Dominance and Submission" by Blue Öyster Cult.
• "Sympathy and Acknowledgement" by Mark Isham.
• Two albums by The Doubleclicks are called Chainmail and Cello and Lasers and Feelings.
• The Megas: Quickman's song, "The Quick and the Blue".

Poetry

• Edward Lear's light verse narrative "The Owl and the Pussycat"
• Robert Browning's late career epic, The Ring and the Book.
• Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter."

Tabletop Games

• Dungeons & Dragons

Theatre

• Guys and Dolls
• Mistress and Maid

Video Games

• Black & White
• Bungo to Alchemist
• Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light
• Fire & Ice: The Daring Adventures of Cool Coyote
• The Flame in the Flood
• Hero & Daughter

Visual Novels

• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations

Webcomics

• Cobweb and Stripes
• Darths & Droids
• Gunnerkrigg Court:
  • Chapter 1: "The Shadow and the Robot"
  • Chapter 7: "Of New and Old"
  • Chapter 8: "Broken Glass and Other Things"
  • Chapter 9: "Questions and Answers"
  • Chapter 33: 'Give and Take'
  • Chapter 54: 'Meetings and Re-Meetings'
• Sluggy Freelance:
  • Book 6: "The Bug, the Witch, and the Robot"

Web Video

• Mitten Squad: "Paper Mario: Part 7 - The Princess and the Star", named after two characters that appear in the first part of the video.

Western Animation

• The Ant and the Aardvark
• Father and Daughter
• The Fox and the Crow
• The King and the Mockingbird
• This is a recurring episode title structure for Littlest Pet Shop (2012). Incidentally, they are always plural nouns, though it's inconsistent whether an ampersand is actually used or not:
  • "Books & Covers"
  • "Bakers and Fakers"
  • "Terriers & Tiaras"
  • "Alligators and Handbags"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars:
  • "Cat and Mouse"
  • "Friends and Enemies"
• Star Wars Rebels:
  • "Visions and Voices"
  • "Wolves and a Door"
• Star Wars Resistance: "Secrets and Holograms"
• Steven Universe:
  • "Catch and Release"
  • "Three Gems and a Baby"

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