Your best friend. Someone you would trust implicitly.
Best friends are a staple of fiction, because they are an integral part of the human experience. In my own books, Nucleus and Strongman became best friends from their shared experiences in the Korean War and in gaining superpowers. Pyre, Sphere, and Psyche were all best friends from having gone to school and grown up together before they ever became superheroes as well.
June 8th is National Best Friend Day, a day set aside to celebrate the best friends in our lives. These are the people we can trust with our deepest secrets, our hopes and dreams, or even a chunk of kryptonite in case we ever go crazy or get mind-controlled by a supervillain (again).
Batman and Superman are likely the most iconic best friends in comics, owing to their early crossovers in the 1940s that continued through the decades, and it’s a shame that we’ve never had much chance to see that friendship in action in the live action TV series or films. The animation side at DC has given us a lot of material, at least, and much of that has been based on the original comics.
The friendship between Steve Rogers’ Captain America and James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes is so central to their characters that it drove nearly the entire narrative surrounding the duo in the MCU films. Steve’s friendship with Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, was also reflected in the films, culminating with the Falcon becoming the new Captain America, and developing his own friendship with Bucky, who also served (albeit briefly) as Captain America in the comics.
Star Trek is filled with groups of best friends. The triumvirate of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy formed the foundation of the entire original series. Data and La Forge carried on that tradition in Star Trek: The Next Generation; followed by Bashir and O’Brien in Deep Space Nine; Kim and Paris in Voyager; Archer, Trip, and T’Pol in Enterprise; Burnham and Tilly in Discovery; and Boimler and Mariner and Rutherford and Tendi in Lower Decks. Crusher and Troi, and Dax and Kira were also shown to be close friends, though their friendships didn’t get the same degree of attention, unfortunately.
There are countless more examples from the realms of comics, science fiction, and fantasy alone. Best friends who have each other’s backs, no matter what, who have literally saved the world together on numerous occasions.
Who are your favorite best friends in comics, science fiction, or fantasy?