Bromance

Condition, where two characters of same gender are socially (not sexually) very close.

Overview

Bromance is a special bond between two or more extremely close heterosexual male characters. This closeness can be triggered through either external stimuli (such as being a result of war) or developed over time through similar interests (such as weight lifting or martial arts training). To an untrained observer, bromantic relationships may (incorrectly) appear to be synonymous with homosexuality.

A common trait amongst bromance relationships in video games is an overpowering sense of masculinity in one or more of the partners. Games developed in the 1980s, drawing inspiration from major action films of the time, were particularly susceptible to displaying bromantic partners as extremely muscular. It was not uncommon to also see these males with cigars, cigarettes and/or alcohol at some point in their adventures together. Over time, more effeminate heterosexual males began to populate the bromance phenomenon.

Bromantic partners will go to great lengths to assist each other, even when logic should dictate otherwise. For example, in Final Fight, Jessica Haggar is kidnapped by the Mad Gear Gang. Her father ( Mike Haggar) and her boyfriend ( Cody Travers) set off on a quest to save her and defeat the gang and are joined by Cody's bromantic training partner, Guy (who has a far less direct relationship with the other characters). This relationship was omitted in the initial SNES release of the game due to space constraints. In Final Fight Guy, Guy was placed in the game but Cody was taken out (under the auspice of being training in Japan at the time), again disrupting the relationship. Subsequent releases of the title (such as the SegaCD and Game Boy Advance) retained the bromance dynamic between the characters.

Name	Platforms	Developer
Dudebro™ — My Shit Is Fucked Up So I Got to Shoot/Slice You II: It’s Straight-Up Dawg Time	PC, MAC	Grimoire Assembly Forge
Army of Two: The 40th Day released on Jan. 12, 2010	PSP, PS3, X360	Buzz Monkey Software, LLC, EA Montreal
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 released on Dec. 9, 2008	PS2	Atlus Co., Ltd.
Gears of War 2 released on Nov. 7, 2008	X360	Epic Games
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots released on June 12, 2008	PS3	Kojima Productions
Grand Theft Auto IV released on April 29, 2008	X360, PC, PS3	Rockstar North, Rockstar Toronto
Bully: Scholarship Edition released on March 4, 2008	PC, WII, X360	Rockstar Toronto, Rockstar New England
Army of Two released on March 4, 2008	X360, PS3	EA Montreal
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space released on Nov. 8, 2007	XBLM, WII, PC	Telltale Games
Sam & Max Save the World released on Aug. 7, 2007	XBLM, PC, WII	Telltale Games

Concept Name:	Bromance
Appears in:	46 games
First appearance:	Ikari Warriors
Aliases	Male Bonding, Heterosexual Life Partners

	John Lennon
	Paul McCartney
	Jerry Mouse
	Tom Cat
	James T. Kirk
	Spock
	Yosuke Hanamura
	Don Salieri
	Thomas Angelo
	Little Jacob
See All »