Three Cs

I am a character-driven reader, viewer, and writer. What makes or breaks a story for me is how much I like the characters, and a big part of that is the characters’ relationships with each other. While I enjoy both romantic and family relationships in stories, today I’m going to focus on some of my favorite friendships. I’ve limited myself to fantasy/sci-fi stories because otherwise, the list would’ve been too long for one post.

1. Jim Kirk and Bones – I must confess that I’ve never watched an entire episode of the original Star Trek series, but I really enjoy the new movies. There are a lot of amazing friendships aboard the USS Enterprise, but my favorite is the one between Captain Jim Kirk and his chief medical officer, Bones. Although Jim is his captain, Bones never hesitates to tell him when he thinks he’s made a bad decision. Jim obviously values Bones’s opinion, though he seldom takes his advice.

Bones also always does what he can to support Jim. Near the beginning of the first movie, Bones makes it look like Jim has a disease so that he can bring him aboard the Enterprise as his patient. If he hadn’t, Jim would have been left behind, and the movie would have turned out very differently. At the end of Into Darkness, we see just how much the two care about each other. Bones is distraught when Jim dies, then hopeful when he discovers there might be a way to save him. Because of Bones’s idea, Jim lives, and the two of them share some of their usual snarky banter after he wakes up.

2. The Doctor and Donna – My favorite friendship in Doctor Who is between the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble. One of the best parts of their relationship is that there is nothing romantic about it. The two of them are best friends and completely satisfied with that. Even though the Doctor is a Time Lord, Donna is always outspoken when she disagrees with him. One of my favorite interactions between them is when the Doctor says, “Doctor, Time Lord, yes,” and she instantly replies, “Donna, human, no.”

The Doctor and Donna are always there for each other when they need it. At the end of “Midnight,” the Doctor is clearly troubled by what he experienced, and Donna simply walks up and hugs him, offering comfort in the best way she can. The Doctor rescues Donna on many occasions and supports her whenever she needs it. Their friendship is one of the most beautiful parts of the show.

3. Percy and Grover – In Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the title character’s best friend is a satyr named Grover. In the first book, The Lightning Thief, the two of them go through a lot together on their quest, but we truly see the depth of their friendship in Book 2, The Sea of Monsters. While he is searching for Pan, Grover is captured by a cyclops and creates an empathy link with Percy to ask for help, so Percy defies the current director of Camp Half-Blood and goes to rescue his friend.

After Percy and his companions save Grover, the satyr offers to dissolve the empathy link because having it means that if Grover dies, Percy will die with him. Despite the danger, Percy asks Grover to leave the empathy link intact so that he will be able to contact him if he is ever in trouble again. Throughout the series, Percy and Grover support and rescue each other repeatedly. Their bond of friendship adds a great deal to the story.

4. Professor X and Magneto – It is rare to see a friendship between a “hero” and a “villain,” but that is exactly what we find in the X-Men franchise. From the beginning of the first movie, it is clear that despite their different worldviews, Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr are friends. From Charles playing chess with Erik in prison to Erik’s grief after Charles is killed, their friendship is an important part of the X-Men trilogy.

In X-Men: First Class, we see the two of them meet and become friends. Charles helps Erik learn to control his powers, and the two of them fight together against a common enemy. Though the two of them go their separate ways at the end, they still manage to remain friends. This sets them apart from other heroes and villains who were once friends and earns them a place in this list.

5. Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker – Saying the relationship between these two is complicated would be an understatement. Even though Obi Wan doesn’t want Anakin to be trained as a Jedi, he ends up becoming his master. The two come to care deeply about each other, but their relationship as master and apprentice is still fraught with turmoil and, in Anakin’s case, resentment. Things change drastically for them during the Clone Wars. Anakin is now a Jedi Knight, and the two fight beside each other as equals. They become such good friends that they feel like brothers.

When Anakin falls to the Dark Side, the two of them duel, and Obi Wan leaves Anakin for dead. Anakin, as Darth Vader, later “kills” Obi Wan on the Death Star. Their broken bond contrasts sharply with what happened with Professor X and Magneto, but their friendship was so amazing while it lasted that it is still one of my favorites. I also like to think that their bond was restored during their time in the Netherworld of the Force.

6. Keladry of Mindelan and Nealan of Queenscove – In Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small quartet, we meet two characters who go by the nicknames Kel and Neal. In the first book, Kel is a ten-year-old girl who has just become the only female page, and Neal is a fifteen-year-old boy who just started his page training, years later than the rest. The two of them quickly become friends. Kel’s determination and optimism helps balance Neal’s varying moods, while his wry humor keeps Kel entertained.

Over the course of four books, the two of them go from pages to knights, remaining friends the entire time. Kel’s first assignment as a knight is to command a refugee camp, and Neal is tasked with being the camp’s chief healer. Together, the two of them tackle the difficult assignment and the many other challenges that come their way. Their friendship adds a lot to one of my favorite fantasy series.

7. Legolas and Gimli – The Lord of the Rings is filled with amazing friendships, but my favorite has to be the improbable one that develops between Legolas and Gimli. In Middle Earth, elves and dwarves do not get along. For various reasons, the two races simply can’t stand each other. Despite this, Legolas and Gimli gradually become friends as they travel and fight side by side. At the end of the series, the two decide to go traveling together to see their favorite places in Middle Earth.

Legolas and Gimli are able to overcome their prejudices to form a bond. In the books, it is clear that their friendship is unique, unlike anything before seen in Middle Earth. That’s why the romance between the dwarf, Kili, and the elf, Tauriel, bothers me so much in The Hobbit movies. Not only is it not in the book, but it takes away from my favorite friendship in the series.

8. Eragon and Orik – My favorite friendship in The Inheritance Cycle also involves a dwarf, this time with a human. The first time Orik sees Eragon, he defies an order and saves his life. After that, the two slowly build a solid friendship. Eragon is a dragon rider, but he is also a teenage human who knows little about the world outside of the small village where he grew up. When Orik gives him advice about his interactions with others in the Varden, Eragon listens, and his path is much easier because of it.

After Orik accompanies Eragon to Ellesmera, the two grow even closer. When the dwarf king, Hrothgar, is killed, Orik asks Eragon to avenge him. Eventually, Orik becomes the new king of the dwarves, and Eragon learns how to be a full-fledged dragon rider. The friendship that began between a boy and a dwarf holds true even after they become two of the most powerful beings in Alagaesia.

9. Ani and Enna – In my favorite fairy tale retelling, The Goose Girl, Shannon Hale does a great job of developing the friendship between the crown princess of Kildenree, who goes by Ani, and a peasant named Enna. After Ani is betrayed by her servants, she gets a job tending geese for the king of Bayern, whose son she was supposed to marry. There, she meets Enna, whose job is to tend the chickens. After the two become friends, Ani tells Enna her secret, and Enna promises to keep it.

When the time comes for Ani to tell the king the truth, Enna risks her life to help Ani regain her title and save her land. The two remain friends even after Ani becomes the queen of Bayern, and in the books that follow, they work together to keep their kingdom safe. This is the only friendship between two females that made it onto this list, leading me to believe that fantasy/sci-fi stories need to do a better job of including female friendships.

10. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes – In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I don’t think there is a stronger friendship than the one between Steve and Bucky. The two of them were best friends long before Steve became Captain America. After Steve transforms into a super soldier, he risks a court martial to save Bucky’s life. The two of them fight together to take down Hydra, and Steve is devastated when he believes Bucky has been killed.

When Bucky resurfaces years later as the Winter Soldier, it is seeing Steve that helps him remember who he is. The two stand by each other after that. Steve even sides with Bucky against Tony Stark when Tony wants to kill Bucky to avenge his parents’ murder. The two of them are loyal to a fault, and their friendship deserves recognition.

So, those are my top ten friendships in fantasy/sci-fi stories. I found it hard to narrow it down, and many amazing friendships weren’t included. What friendships would you include in your list? Let me know in the comments.

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