SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

A friend of mine was trying to think of "classic" friendship pairs, and it got me thinking, what are some of your favorite platonic friendships in the genre?

Fitz & Nighteyes forever.

Anthony wrote: "Fitz & Nighteyes forever."

<3 <3!!

Serious bestie vibes there, no doubt.

Alanna and Neal from the Song of the Lioness series (or Alanna and Myles! Ah, mentor figures make me so happy).

Have to think a bit about that. I just wanted to blurt out my fav pair ever, but then I realised the "platonic" ...

ETA: got one! Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. Adore them!

Gabi wrote: "Have to think a bit about that. I just wanted to blurt out my fav pair ever, but then I realised the "platonic" ..."

Aw, we can totally start a romantic pairs one, too! But that was way easier for me to think of. Friendships that didn't evolve were way harder!

Yup ... I found one and added it to my post

Frodo and Sam.
Harry and Ron.

:D

HP and friends are classic! So many in that whole series.

OMG! Yes, Granny and Nanny!! They're definitely #goals for me

Anthony wrote: "Fitz & Nighteyes forever."
THIS! <3

Gabi wrote: "Have to think a bit about that. I just wanted to blurt out my fav pair ever, but then I realised the "platonic" ...

ETA: got one! Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. Adore them!"

Yeeeees!

I'd add Merry and Pippin. And Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne (not sure if they count as "classic" or a friendship pairing, but I love them).

In Urban Fantasy: Kate Daniels and Andrea Nash.
In Comics: Asterix and Obelix.
In YA: William Herondale and Jem Carstairs.
In Sci-fi: Han Solo and Chewbacca . Kirk and Spock.

Fafhrd and the gray Mouser from Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

Del and Tiger from Sword-Dancer

Mat, Perrin and Rand from The Complete Wheel of Time

Anthony wrote: "Fitz & Nighteyes forever."

This is a delightful recent acquaintance <3

My first ever BFFs from as far back as I can remember: Moomintroll and Snufkin

From my teen years I remember ElfQuest's Cutter and Skywise (though 'platonic' as we define it may have been rather wavering, due to the more 'communal' bed sharing in their 'Wolfriders' pack - they were still essentially bros, not lovers)

Do 'modern myths' count? I mean... Bruce Wayne and any of his wards: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd and Tim Drake - aka Robins (even just amongst themselves, without 'daddy Bats').

Legolas and Gimli I remember I had a short lived fancy for.

Spock and McCoy! Disputable 'BFFs'.

There must be more... will have to edit...

Holmes and Watson *duh* (though by stronger degree their proxies House and Wilson... but that's veering away from SFF again).

(I hesitate to mention Paul Stamets and Justin Straal of Star Trek Discovery. They appear to have become another seemingly affable duo recently, but one of them is (view spoiler)[quite dead in current canon (hide spoiler)]).

Genly Ai and Estraven.

Modern whatever totally counts! I'm so excited to meet some of these friends!

Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison

Alex wrote: "Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison"

:'(

Anna wrote: "Alex wrote: "Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison"

:'("


I'm still not over it.

Moon and Chime in The Cloud Roads and subsequent books. (It's first and foremost platonic. Although this world has very interesting ideas about relationships.)

Lazlo and Calixte in Strange the Dreamer

Melanie and Wanda in The Host

Laurence and Temeraire in His Majesty's Dragon

Parzival and Aech in Ready Player One

Jaxom and Ruth, The White Dragon

Karl Sten and Alex Kilgour, Sten

R2D2 and C3PO, Star Wars: A New Hope - Screenplay

Han Solo and Chewbacca, Star Wars: A New Hope - Screenplay

Louis Wu and Chmee (aka Speaker-to-Animals), Ringworld

Miles Morales and Ganke Lee, Ultimate Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe Washburn, Firefly: Big Damn Hero

Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw, The Caves of Steel

Miles Vorkosigan and Ivan Vorpatril, Brothers in Arms

Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, Captain America and the Falcon: Secret Empire

Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown, Back to the Future

Rocket and Groot, Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Legacy

Ted Theodore Logan and William S. Preston, Esq., Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure - The Picturebook

Crowley and Aziraphale, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Locke and Jean from The Lies of Locke Lamora

Geralt and Dandelion from The Witcher

Trike wrote: "Crowley and Aziraphale, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch"

I was waiting for this! Took surprisingly long given their recent popularity.

Also, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes.

@Jemppu But do people love them as platonic friends, or do they “ship” them? 😉

I mean Crowley and Aziraphale, to be clear. I considered them, too, but wasn’t sure if they applied...

Alex wrote: "@Jemppu But do people love them as platonic friends, or do they “ship” them? 😉"

Hey! Ones I mentioned are pretty much all also on that verge (people ship everything!). You can appreciate both the potential of a ship and the platonic companionship ^^'

I didn't check every single pairing, but it looks like there is a lot male bffs here.

Anybody has some good female/non male bff suggestions?

Gabi wrote: "I didn't check every single pairing, but it looks like there is a lot male bffs here.

Anybody has some good female/non male bff suggestions?"

I was thinking about that same thing last night but was a bit too tired. This morning I'd suggest Lady Patience and Lacey (though I personally think that they might be read as more than friends or possibly queerplatonic).
Possibly also Thymara and Sintara in the later in Hobb's Rain Wild Chronicles books? (Not sure if you have read those yet, Gabi.)

♥♫☻Olivia☻♫♥ wrote: "Locke and Jean from The Lies of Locke Lamora

Geralt and Dandelion from The Witcher"

I was about to post Locke and Jean - that is an epic friendship!

Pug and Tomas in Raymond E Feist's Riftwar saga.

F/F BFFs: Kei and Yuri of Dirty Pair come to mind.

Tarma and Kethry from The Oathbound.

Does Cheris + the servitors count?

Gabi wrote: "...Anybody has some good female/non male bff suggestions?"

Not so much a suggestion as a noteworthy acknowledgement: Burnham/Tilly ^^'

Kaa wrote: "Does Cheris + the servitors count?"

I say yes, because it's the only friendship pair I could think of when I first opened this thread, besides Murderbot and ART.

I don't know all of these pairs, but it's interesting to me that very few of them seem to be 100% human. Do most human relationship turn romantic at some point?

Anna wrote: "...Do most human relationship turn romantic at some point?"

I think it is this question, at least in part, that so often has had me more fascinated by / relating to the unassuming background character - the outsider to most of the 'cumbersome romances' protagonists seem to get thrown into.

Jenks and Kizzy from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet came to mind just now. <3

Some great ones have been mentioned already. Another friendship I enjoyed was Royce and Hadrian from the Riyria Revelations.

Gabi wrote: "I didn't check every single pairing, but it looks like there is a lot male bffs here.

Anybody has some good female/non male bff suggestions?"

Rally Vincent and Minnie May, Gunsmith Cats: Volume 1

Deunan Knute and Briareos Hecatonchires, Appleseed: Prometheus Unbound

Jilly Coppercorn and Sophie Etoile, The Onion Girl

Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales

Xena and Gaby, Xena: Warrior Princess

Carol Danvers and Maria Rambeau, Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster

Could only think of Agnieszka and Kasia from Uprooted

It is indeed hard to find a book that does not just have female friendship but really put it in front.

Hannah, Violet, Dee, Betty and Braga, Rat Queens: Deluxe Edition, Volume 1

I'm so annoyed. I had a looong list all typed out, and then I accidentally refreshed the page before posting it :/ So here are the non-romantical relationships I've enjoyed, remember, and am not too annoyed to re-type:

Ged and Estarriol from A Wizard of Earthsea
Penric and Desdemona from Penric's Demon
Alec/Seregil and Beka/Thero/Klia from Luck in the Shadows
Sonea and Cery, Rothen and Dannyl from The Magicians' Guild
Alexia and Lord Akeldama from Soulless
Sophie and Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle
Conrad and Christopher from Conrad's Fate
Oliver and Armadillo from Minor Mage
Nimona and Blackheart from Nimona
Karou and Zuzana from Daughter of Smoke and Bone
The girls from Maresi

Noria and Sanja from Memory of Water
Cheris and the servitors from Ninefox Gambit
Mikodez and Zehun from Raven Stratagem
Oichi and Medusa from Medusa Uploaded
Murderbot and ART from Artificial Condition
Binti and Okwu from Home
The gang from Not Your Sidekick

June and Moira from The Handmaid's Tale (mostly from TV)

Jemppu wrote: "Alex wrote: "@Jemppu But do people love them as platonic friends, or do they “ship” them? 😉"

Hey! Ones I mentioned are pretty much all also on that verge (people ship everything!). You can appreci..."

Fair enough! In that case, I'd definitely add Crowley and Aziraphale to my list. They're wonderful :)

Damn, Anna, that is a great list.

Hadrian and Royce!!! All the way!

(None to add right now, but gratitude to those of you who posted the relevant book links for ppl who don't know what you're talking about.... :)

Frog and Toad
Pippin and Merry
Eragon and Saphira
Hazel and Fiver

M.L. wrote: "Eragon and Saphira"
I think this extends to the majority of rider-dragon pairs because of the way they're bonded in most dragon books - even if it's usually just the MC (and possibly a sidekick or two) displayed in depth.

And, I'll drop a pair from one of my favorite books: Allystaire and Idgen Marte from Ordination

If you mean the leveled reader series that includes Frog and Toad Are Friends I agree. Friendships are a *very* common theme in books for beginning readers. My favorite series is about two neighbors who are retired seniors, including Mr. Putter & Tabby Pick the Pears.

I thought Frog and Toad were from The Wind in the Willows which I've only seen on film, personally!

Vin and TenSoon from the first Mistborn trilogy

Allison wrote: "I thought Frog and Toad were from The Wind in the Willows which I've only seen on film, personally!"

There's a Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows, but no frog. I'd say the "best friends" in that book are Rat and Mole!

Well, that answers that!