"It is not good that man should be alone."
Tropes where two characters are paired with each other, whether as friends, lovers, enemies or any other relationship (including but not limited to "X is this to Y").
This index overlaps heavily with Sidekick, Love Tropes, This Index Is Not My Girlfriend, Friendship Tropes, Sibling Tropes, and Foil. Compare Power Trio; contrast Solitary Tropes. Often involves two character types who are each other's Foil.
Tropes:
Sub-indexes:
- Action Duo
- Adventure Duo
- A.I.'s Agent
- Aloof Leader, Affable Subordinate
- Atypical Team-Up Episode
- Baby and Dog Bond: A baby and a dog form a duo.
- Back-to-Back Badasses
- Back-to-Back Poster
- Badass and Child Duo: A capable fighter and a baby or small child form a duo.
- Bantering Baddie Buddies
- Bash Brothers
- Battle Couple
- Beast and Beauty
- Best Friend
- Betty and Veronica
- Bifauxnen and Lad-ette
- Big Bad Duumvirate: A duo of big bads.
- Big Guy, Little Guy
- Blind and the Beast
- Bodyguarding a Badass
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine
- A Boy and His X
- Brains and Brawn: A smart character and a strong character.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl
- Brother–Sister Team
- Bully and Wimp Pairing
- Bumbling Henchmen Duo
- Bust-Contrast Duo
- Cain and Abel
- Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough
- Catch-Phrase Spouting Duo
- Chevalier vs. Rogue
- Chubby Mama, Skinny Papa
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: A wacky character and their more reasonable companion.
- Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship
- Cop and Scientist
- Cynic–Idealist Duo
- Diligent Hero, Slothful Villain
- The Dividual: Two people who essentially act as one character.
- Dual Boss
- Energetic and Soft-Spoken Duo
- Evil Duo
- Fat and Skinny
- Female Fighter, Male Handler
- Female Flatfoot and Snarky Guy
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter
- Fighting the Lancer
- Fire/Ice Duo
- Foolish Husband, Responsible Wife
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling
- Force and Finesse
- Friends with Benefits
- The Gentleman or the Scoundrel
- Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry
- Guys Smash, Girls Shoot
- Ham and Deadpan Duo
- Hammy Villain, Serious Hero
- Hair-Contrast Duo
- Headbutting Heroes
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Two friends of the same sex who are almost as close as lovers.
- Hot Guy, Ugly Wife
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: A tall male character and a short female one form a duo.
- Idealist vs. Pragmatist
- Insecure Protagonist, Arrogant Antagonist
- Interclass Friendship
- Intergenerational Friendship: Friends of completely different ages.
- Interspecies Friendship
- Japanese Beetle Brothers
- Just Friends: A male and female pairing who aren't a romantic couple.
- Lady and Knight
- Left-Handed Mirror
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine
- Light Liege, Dark Defender
- Like Brother and Sister: A male and female pairing who act like siblings.
- Little Guy, Big Buddy
- Look-Alike Lovers: A couple who happen to look very similar to one another.
- Lovely Angels
- Lover and Beloved
- Loving Parent, Cruel Parent: One parent is nurturing and the other is harsh.
- Maid and Maiden
- Male Might, Female Finesse: A strong man and an agile woman.
- Male Sun, Female Moon
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: A pairing of a Tomboy and a guy In Touch with His Feminine Side.
- Merlin and Nimue
- Messy Male, Fancy Female
- Mirror Character
- Mistress and Servant Boy
- Monster and the Maiden
- Monster Brother, Cutie Sister
- More Experienced Chases the Innocent
- Muggle Best Friend: A supernatural being is friends with an ordinary person.
- Muggle in Mage Custody: A nonmagical being is raised by someone magical.
- Night and Day Duo
- Noble Male, Roguish Male
- Obvious Villain, Secret Villain
- Odd Couple
- Odd Friendship
- Old Cop, Young Cop
- The Only One I Trust
- Opposites Attract: A romantic couple with polar opposite personalities.
- Outlaw Couple
- Parent-Child Team: A duo of a parent and their child.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: A duo where the female member is (associated with) pink and the male one is (associated with) blue.
- Pitbull Dates Puppy
- Platonic Boy/Girl Heroes: A male-female heroic team that don't get involved with each other romantically.
- Platonic Life-Partners
- P.O.V. Boy, Poster Girl: The girl is the selling point of the plot, but the boy is the one the story follows.
- Powerless Performer, Extraordinary Assistant
- Prankster's Partner: When The Prankster has a sidekick.
- Psychedelic Comedy Bromance
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: A loud, energetic character paired with a calm, stable one.
- Rich Sibling, Poor Sibling
- Right Way/Wrong Way Pair
- Rivals Team Up
- Romantic Wingman
- Rookie Male, Experienced Female: A girl who knows her stuff teams up with a guy who doesn't.
- Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick
- Ruling Couple
- Satellite Character
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl
- Science Foils
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man
- Shabby Heroes, Well-Dressed Villains
- Shipping: When fans pair two characters as a couple.
- Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy
- Sibling Yin-Yang
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: A romantic couple who are extremely sweet and affectionate with one another.
- Sidekick
- Kid Sidekick
- Older Sidekick: The Sidekick is older than The Hero.
- Silent Partner
- Smart Animal, Average Human
- Smart Cop, Dumb Cop
- Smart Jerk and Nice Moron
- Snake Versus Mongoose
- Solar and Lunar
- Stern Parent, Doting Parent
- Straight Man and Wise Guy
- Strictly Professional Relationship
- Strong Girl, Smart Guy
- Student–Master Team
- Swap Fighter
- Sword and Sorcerer
- Sworn Brothers
- Symbiotic Possession: A possessing being who works in tandem with their host.
- Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain
- Tag Team
- Talker and Doer
- Tanuki/Kitsune Contrast: A tanuki (magical raccoon dog) and kitsune (magical fox) are constrasted.
- Technician/Performer Team-Up
- Technician Versus Performer
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Two people work together despite their dislike of one another.
- Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity
- Terminator Twosome
- Those Two Guys
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl
- Token Black Friend: A white protagonist with a black best friend.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl
- Tragic Bromance
- Translator Buddy
- Two Gamers on a Couch
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife
- Vagabond Buddies
- Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey
- Villainous Mother-Son Duo
- Vitriolic Best Buds
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child
- White Bread and Black Brotha
- Wunza Plot
