History HeterosexualLifePartners / Literature

* Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse, of ''The Cricket in Times Square.''

* Alex Malone, the deuteragonist of ''Literature/{{Mavericks}}'', and [[AnythingThatMoves Fritz]]. Also doubles as VitriolicBestBuds.

* RobinsonCrusoe and Friday. Crusoe describes the relationship between him and his native servant as akin to that of father and son. Friday is fiercely loyal to his master and even leaves the island with him voluntarily instead of waiting for his real father to return. He accompanies Crusoe on his travels [[spoiler: until he gets killed in the first half of the lesser-known sequel ''The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe'']]. Of course, many modern readers see blazing HoYay.

* Captain Woodrow Call and Captain Augustus McCrae of ''LonesomeDove''.

** Ravenpaw and Barley, although pretty much every ''Warriors'' fan that doesn't hate slash (and even some who do) believes that Ravenpaw and Barley are more than HeterosexualLifePartners. It's also worth noting that [[WordOfGod the author herself said]] that she envisions them "[[HoYay like a married couple]]," and that they are ''perfectly happy with just each other'' and ''don't want any girls to boss them around''. This is made even more blatant in Ravenpaw's manga trilogy.

* Robert and Arvid in "''Literature/TheEmigrants''" novels. They get to know each other when they work as farmhands at the same farm, and even though Robert is much more intelligent than Arvid, they become very close to each other and go to America and search for gold together. [[Spoiler: They both die young though.]]

* Robert and Arvid in "''Literature/TheEmigrants''" novels.

** Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan are rarely seen apart. In Deathly Hallows, it is mentioned that Dean rushed to see "his best friend" in the Room of Requirement.
** According to the Sorting Hat's song in ''The Order of the Phoenix'', Gryffindor and Slytherin, as well as Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were this before their inevitable split.

* HoratioHornblower, predecessor to both the above and inspiration for ''Literature/HonorHarrington''. Bush starts out as Hornblower's superior officer, but they earn each other's respect and when Hornblower gets promoted past him, he requests Bush as his second, and Bush happily accepts. They're joined at the hip for the next few ''decades'', through Hornblower's two marriages. In ''A Ship of the Line'', Hornblower has a minor HeroicBSOD when [[spoiler: his ship is destroyed...and Bush loses his leg]]. In ''Commodore Hornblower'', Hornblower thinks to himself that having Bush around is ''better than having a wife'' (he's been married twice at this point). Horatio has a much bigger HeroicBSOD in ''Lord Hornblower'', when Bush makes [[spoiler: a HeroicSacrifice]]. In the films, Hornblower's HLP is Archie Kennedy, and it's possible that ExecutiveMeddling [[spoiler: killed Archie off]] in part because he was interfering with the development of the Hornblower-Bush relationship.

* Gilbert and Isak, the "Mice" of Taylor Anderson's ''{{Destroyermen}}'' series. [[spoiler:They're actually half-brothers.]]

* According to the Sorting Hat's song in ''The Order of the Phoenix'', Gryffindor and Slytherin, as well as Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were this before their inevitable split.

* Creator/HPLovecraft did this a few times. In "The Hound", the two main characters retreat from the world to wallow in (chaste) decadence together. Poppy Z. Brite wrote a tribute to this in which the [[{{Expy}} equivalent characters]] ''were'' gay.
* Another Lovecraft example: in ''Herbert West - Reanimator'', West and the narrator live and work together for many years; if memory serves, the narrator even joins the military to stay near West during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. (And see under Film, above.)

* Jordan [=McKell=] and his partner Ixil from TimothyZahn's sci-fi murder mystery ''Literature/TheIcarusHunt''. Like [[StarWars Han Solo and Chewbacca]] they're both male, one human, one decidedly alien, and have spent many years flying a two-person ship. [[spoiler:Apart from facilitating their murder investigation and flight from some particularly nasty alien highjackers, their partnership turns out to be a major plot point]].

* Creator/RosemarySutcliff, a celebrated English author of children's historical fiction, is all about this trope. Book after book of hers has as the main characters two guys who are lifelong best friends, often from childhood, who go everywhere together, fight and hunt side by side, hug each other, openly express love and devotion to one another, mingle their blood to become brothers, kiss each other's foreheads, cry in each other's arms. But they aren't lovers, both are implied to be straight though usually neither is shown having any affairs, and often one of them eventually marries without this disrupting the friendship. Examples: Drem and Vortrix in ''Literature/WarriorScarlet''; Lubrin and Dara in ''Sun Horse, Moon Horse''; Artos and Bedwyr in ''Literature/SwordAtSunset''; Marcus and Esca in ''Literature/TheEagleOfTheNinth''; Prosper and Conn in ''The Shining Company''; Beric and Cathlan in ''Literature/{{Outcast}}''; Justin and Flavius in ''[[Literature/TheDolphinRing The Silver Branch]]'' (they're also cousins of some sort); Simon and Amias in ''Simon''; Thomas and Tussun in ''Blood and Sand''; Randal and Bevis in ''Literature/KnightsFee''; Amyntas and Leon in ''A Crown of Wild Olive''...you get the picture.

** Brutus (or Marcus as he's known in childhood) was a ward of Julius' family when they were growing up. They were close as brothers, though Marcus considered himself TheUnfavorite for the cool treatment he sometimes got from Julius' father. After they are reunited after Sulla's death, Brutus even surrendered command of his legion to Julius after they were reunited in order to honor ThePromise. After this, though, the trope begins to be [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]]. Brutus grows jealous of Julius' military successes, which he feels he could have won just as easily, as well as angry over Julius' romantic relationship with Brutus' own mother. During the campaign in Gaul, there is a tension in their relationship, which Julius taking Brutus' loyalty for granted and Brutus growing frustrated at living in Julius' shadow. At one point, while on leave in Rome, Brutus [[ItMakesSenseInContext sleeps with Julius' sixteen-year-old daughter]], [[{{Squick}} whom he had known since she was an infant]]. When he returns to Gaul, the awkwardness of his friendship with Julius reaches even greater heights. All of this culminates during their triumphant march on Rome, when Julius selects Mark Anthony to stand as consul with him instead of his most trusted friend, neglecting to tell Brutus that it was because he wanted him to go with him to track down Pompey's army. This slap in the face is the final straw that drives Brutus to abandon Julius and join Pompey's forces. When Pompey is killed, Brutus is welcomed back by Julius, who remains torn because he wants ''so *** much'' to hate Julius, but can't bring himself to do it. They start off as HeterosexualLifePartners but Brutus keeps blaming Julius personally for more or less everything Brutus wants but doesn't get, ignoring the fact that Julius is the son of a senator and Brutus the son of a commoner and a prostitute which means they have different places in Roman society to begin with.

* In ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'', the eponymous character and his "partner in crime" (who doubles as a chronicler of their adventures), Dr. John Watson. Clear demonstration of how close they are shows up in "The Three Garridebs" when Watson is wounded and Sherlock is suddenly NotSoStoic.
-->"Are you hurt, Watson? For God's sake, say that you're not hurt!"
-->[[TranquilFury "By the Lord, it is well for you. If you had killed Watson, you would not have gotten out of this room alive.]]"

* Bran Tse-Mallory and Truzenzuzex from Alan Dean Foster's ''[[Literature/HumanxCommonwealth Flinx]]'' novels. Justified because they were once operators of a HumanxCommonwealth stingship, which required their minds to be linked so closely that their mutual understanding has never faded.

* Creator/RosemarySutcliff, a celebrated English author of children's historical fiction, is all about this trope. Book after book of hers has as the main characters two guys who are lifelong best friends, often from childhood, who go everywhere together, fight and hunt side by side, hug each other, openly express love and devotion to one another, mingle their blood to become brothers, kiss each other's foreheads, cry in each other's arms. But they aren't lovers, both are implied to be straight though usually neither is shown having any affairs, and often one of them eventually marries without this disrupting the friendship. Examples: Drem and Vortrix in ''Literature/WarriorScarlet''; Lubrin and Dara in ''Sun Horse, Moon Horse''; Artos and Bedwyr in ''Literature/SwordAtSunset''; Marcus and Esca in ''Literature/TheEagleOfTheNinth''; Prosper and Conn in ''The Shining Company''; Beric and Cathlan in ''Outcast''; Justin and Flavius in ''[[Literature/TheDolphinRing The Silver Branch]]'' (they're also cousins of some sort); Simon and Amias in ''Simon''; Thomas and Tussun in ''Blood and Sand''; Randal and Bevis in ''Literature/KnightsFee''; Amyntas and Leon in ''A Crown of Wild Olive''...you get the picture.

* Close friendships between men are a recurring theme in Tolkien's work; the reason possibly to be found in Tolkien's personal UsefulNotes/WorldWarI experience, which shaped his belief that friendship was one of life's greatest gifts.

* Bruno and Boots, stars of GordonKorman's ''MacdonaldHall'' series. The plot of the entire first book revolves around their efforts to get back together after being forbidden to speak to each other and moved to separate dorms.

* Close friendships between men are a recurring theme in Tolkien's work; the reason possibly to be found in Tolkien's personal WorldWarI experience, which shaped his belief that friendship was one of life's greatest gifts.

* Another Lovecraft example: in ''Herbert West - Reanimator'', West and the narrator live and work together for many years; if memory serves, the narrator even joins the military to stay near West during WorldWarOne. (And see under Film, above.)

* Jiaan and Fasal in Creator/HilariBell's ''FarsalaTrilogy''.
** And Fisk and Micheal in her ''KnightAndRogueSeries''.

* Eden and her best friend, Veronica, in ''Literature/EdenGreen''. When they're not at each other's throats over relationship drama, the two are fiercely loyal and sometimes mistaken for a lesbian couple.

* In the ''[[Literature/TainBoCualinge TáinBóCúailnge]]'', Cúchulainn and Ferdiad. Unfortunately, they find themselves on opposite sides of the war between Connacht and Ulster. They fight for three days and at the end of each day, tend each other's wounds and spend the night in each other's arms. Cúchulainn kills Ferdiad at the end of the third day.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Johanna Mason with Katniss in "Mockingjay".

* Kethry and Tarma, of MercedesLackey's ''VowsAndHonor'' series. Tarma's tribe is all but extinct, and Kethry is expected to restart it. Which she does. Fanfic is somewhat discouraged by the fact that Kethry is quite enthusiastically straight, and Tarma is asexual by divine directive. They're also sworn [[BloodBrothers Blood Sisters]], with that same divinity sealing the deal.
** Though that doesn't stop them from occasionally pretending to be lovers. And living alone together when Kethry's husband dies and all her children grow up. They do love one another, it's spelled out more than once - but they really aren't lovers.
* Although their relationship is strictly divided by their rank and they never treat each other familiarly, Commissar Literature/CiaphasCain spends decades of his long life fighting by the side of his aide, Gunner Ferik Jurgen. Jurgen is unflinchingly loyal to Cain and Cain, by nature an intensely paranoid and self-obsessed man, describes Jurgen as the only man he ever fully trusts. Cain even gets quite annoyed on his aide's behalf that Jurgen is always left out of the stories that circulate about him and goes into shock when he thinks Jurgen has died- and that's only 13 years into their association.