Top Ten Tuesday - Dynamic Duos

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and The Bookish

This Week's Prompt: Top Ten Dynamic Duos
"(those bff's, partners in crime, or powerful couples that you just can't forget about)"

Ah. Ha. HA HA HA HA HA...

1. Batman and Robin (Bruce and Dick)
2. Batman and Robin (Bruce and Tim)
3. Batman and Robin (Dick and Tim)
4. Batman and Robin (Dick and Damian)
5. Batman and Robin (Bruce and Damian)
6. Batman and Robin (Old Bruce and Carrie)
7. Batman and Catwoman (Bruce and Selina)
8. Batman and Batgirl (Bruce and Barbara) 
9. Batman and Batman Beyond (Bruce and Terry)
10. Batman and Superman (Bruce and Clark)

Sorry, seriously, where was I?

1: Batman and Robin, really
What... you want more details? Okay. The father/son relationship between Bruce and his various sidekicks is one I really love. I mostly like Bruce and Dick or Bruce and Tim, I've also read some Dick and Tim that has a brotherly vibe that I really enjoyed. I've only experienced the fallout from Jason and I haven't read enough to be sold on anybody and Damian just yet, although I've heard good things.

2: Holmes and Watson
Obviously. If you've never read the actual Doyle stories, you may have missed this, but this is not the relationship between the star and the comic relief, but a between a flawed genius and a brave and loyal friend. Holmes needs Watson, to keep him grounded, to bounce ideas off of, to watch his back. Watson... Watson is a soldier, a doctor, and a writer. He appreciates being needed.

3: Cameron and Raistlin Majere
The love/hate/resentment/affection relationship between the twins stands at the heart of what made Dragonlance popular. One of my favorite moments is from War of the Twins: after having been estranged for years and then openly at odds, when thrown against an external danger, both fall quickly into the old instinct of mutual defense. Figuring out if either can live outside of their dysfunctional partnership is the core of that whole trilogy.

4: Frodo and Sam
Yeah, obvious, I know, but it is one of the great classic friendships of literature.

5: Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin
From the novels by Patrick O'Brien. I adore the Aubrey/Maturin series (also known as the Master and Commander series.) The historical detail and style is superbly done, plus I just like books set in the Napoleonic Age. While individual novels have high and low points, the series as a whole stands as a portrait of a unique friendship, unorthodox, yet unbreakable.

The list is feeling a little testosterone heavy, I admit that I have a thing about male bonding.

6: Tarma and Kethry
Here's the only example I can come up with just now of a pair of women who have the sword-brother style relationship that I love. From the Vows and Honor series by Mercedes Lackey, Tarma (swordswoman from a decimated tribe) and Kethry (mystic, healer, medieval feminist warrior) travel together, righting wrongs and occasionally making cash.

Hmmm... an interesting compare/contrast could be done between them and Xena and Gabrielle, who would be on this list if they were book characters.

7: Calvin and Hobbes
Because it's BRILLIANT.

8: Oracle (Barbara Gordon) and Batgirl (Stephanie Brown)
Here's a modern comic team-up that I've really been enjoying. Barbara as mentor to the new young Batgirl is amusing, particularly since Stephanie is so much fun to read. (I would have put Barbara and Kara (Supergirl), but I really only know that team from animation, or Barbara and Dinah (Black Canary), but I personally can't extricate them from the larger Birds of Prey with Huntress.)

9: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
I've enjoyed what I've read of this, although I will readily admit that it's dated now and more important than it is good. In the 70's, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams did an acclaimed comic series focused on social and political issues of the day. The drama came from the superheroes themselves being at odds ideologically, with Hal Jordan representing order and working within the law and Oliver Queen representing 70's liberalism and radical social change. (Green Arrow on JLU, "defender of the little guy," has his roots here.)
More information...

10: Lawrence and Temeraire
From His Majesty's Dragon, and following series. Okay, I had to have a mental human-other pair-bond on this list. Besides, I've loved what I've read of this series. It's dragon-based warfare in the Napoleonic Age!
(Honorable Mention: Probably some of the Dragon-Rider pairs in the Pern books, but I'd need to re-read them to give you specifics...)


I had a lot of trouble with this list, actually, because most of my favorite characters are either a solo star surrounded by a supporting cast, or in tight groups that are so clearly ensembles that I couldn't logically separate out two. What obvious pair (sticking to non-romantic) am I forgetting?