A trope old as time itself. Two extremely close friends or partners, of the same gender, who are as close or closer than a romantic couple. They aren't romantically linked, but they might suffer withdrawals from not being around each other. There might be much drama over a potential "break-up". When one gets a romantic partner, you can almost certainly expect the Friend Versus Lover quarrel to be epic. Though despite the trope name, it's not necessary that both characters in question be heterosexual — or, hell, that either of them is.
Sometimes this is an extreme form of an Odd Couple, in that the two are different as night and day. Those Two Guys may acquire this label, as may the title characters of any show with a title of the form X and Y. Don't expect them to be friendly to each other, though; quite a few are Vitriolic Best Buds. In adventure stories, they are often Blood Brothers. These pairs usually go through a lot of Ho Yay situations and can sometimes have the tendency to bicker Like an Old Married Couple. The pair may be Mistaken for Gay by those around them.
Works often lampshade, mock or play with the relationship by throwing in some Homoerotic Subtext, but that's by no means necessary. For fans' delight at such scenes or ship teases, see Ho Yay.
If the two friends are different genders, they're Platonic Life-Partners, perhaps Like Brother and Sister. When an entire group are life partners, they're True Companions. Compare Chastity Couple, whose relationship is romantic but not sexual.
Heterosexual Life-Partners has been suggested to play 28 roles. Click below to see other actors suggested for each role, and vote for who you think would play the role best.
