History Main / BandOfBrothers

* Delta Squad from ''VideoGame/GearsofWar,'' especially Marcus and Dom. To some extent, this applies to the entire COG army.

* The {{Franchise/Halo}} franchise is filled with lots of these. In the games, the most prominent examples are Noble Team (a group of SPARTAN supersoldiers who have been serving in the military since they were kids) and Alpha Nine (a group of elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers who find themselves scattered and stranded behind enemy lines in a Covenant-occupied city).

** The [[PowerTrio Founders Three]], ComicBook/CosmicBoy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad -- and, separately, the Legion of Substitute Heroes. In the case of the latter, there is at least one instance of one of the Substitutes turning down an invitation to join the Legion proper out of loyalty to the other Subs.

* ''Series/BandOfBrothers''. They even named the mini-series after the trope naming quote. Fittingly, this series EPITOMISES a band of brothers. Winters, Nixon, Spiers, Bull, Lipton, Malarkey, Luz, Martin, Liebgott, and many, many more. And from what we see, the actors also lived up to this trope during the boot camp prior to filming, and still get together once a year for reunions.

* Several of these form during the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novels. Most of them are torn into shreds over the course; we ''are'' talking about the backstory to ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', after all. The best example is the Mournival, which starts as a FourTemperamentEnsemble and ends up as [[BloodBrothers Torgaddon and Loken]] vs. Aximand and Abaddon in a fight to the death.

A Band Of Brothers is often formed after a MisfitMobilizationMoment. They are equally often a BadassCrew. See also ThePowerOfFriendship, BloodBrothers, AFriendInNeed, FireForgedFriends. Sometimes explains why the MildlyMilitary organization manages to remain efficient despite its apparent lack of regard for discipline and normal military procedure.

* [[http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/mateship-diggers-and-wartime One of white Australia's founding myth]] draws heavily on this.

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': Of all the ties formed in the team's long history, none match those between ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/IronMan, and ComicBook/TheMightyThor. The team is always at its strongest when these three are in it, and any two of them would lay down their lives for the third without hesitation. This is what made the [=Cap/Iron Man=] conflict in ComicBook/CivilWar so [[strike:devastating]] stupid; one has to wonder if it might have been averted if Thor hadn't been dead at the time.
* The most obvious example from Franchise/TheDCU would be SergeantRock's unit, Easy Company.
* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': The RoguesGallery seem to have this thing going for them, especially when Geoff Johns is writing them. They're still terrible people, and will do terrible things if you turn your back on them, but when Captain Cold leads, "There's nothing more important than family (except maybe revenge)."
* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'': Overall, members of the Green Lantern Corps are very loyal to one another -- and after everything they've been through together, the first four Earth Lanterns (Hal, John, Guy, and Kyle) are particularly close. The brotherhood between them is the emotional heart of ComicBook/HalJordanAndTheGreenLanternCorps.

* More than any other Justice League lineup, the Comicbook/JusticeLeagueInternational is always portrayed as the one place this ragtag group of B-listers ever truly belonged.

** Another group of Titans who were closer to each other than they were to their own families were the "Core Four" of ComicBook/YoungJustice, who joined the Titans after their previous team disbanded: ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} (Tim), ComicBook/{{Impulse}} (Bart), ComicBook/{{Superboy}} (Kon) and ComicBook/WonderGirl (Cassie).

A Band of Brothers is a group of people, [[ThickerThanWater dedicated and loyal to each other beyond all other considerations]], due to the dangerous (often combat-related) circumstances they have faced together. The spilling of their blood, mixed together with [[FireForgedFriends a desperate life-or-death struggle]], make them a family as close as any mere blood tie can make them. Beyond mere comradeship, being a Band of Brothers evokes an ideal of grim determination to face whatever comes together, and to see it through together. It is in this shared struggle that they become a Band of Brothers.

The individual members of the group might not even actually ''like'' each other all that much, and may spend a lot of their time deriding and insulting each other... but those activities are strictly kept within the borders of the brotherhood. An outsider, someone not a member of the Band of Brothers, who insults a single member of the group will find himself opposed by all members of the group, [[HypocriticalHeartwarming including several who had but recently been tossing insults themselves]].

* In ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', Night Raid and the Jaegers are this albeit fighting on different sides being the Rebellion's wetwork crew and the Empire's special ops team respectively. The Wild Hunt however is a notable exception, unlike the other teams they are effectively an outfit of mercenaries run by their leader.

* The various teams in the ''Manga/FairyTail'' guild like Shadow Gear and the Raijinshuu are already TrueCompanions and the guild is pretty much a very large set of TrueCompanions bordering on a Band Of Brothers due to sheer size and the often dangerous nature of their jobs. The best example however is the Guild Alliance formed to combat Oracion Seis. Long after the dark guild was defeated, the members from Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Cait Shelter join or are on very good terms with Fairy Tail. When Fairy Tail was in need, they immediately came to their aid [[spoiler: spending much time and effort to locate the missing Tenrou Island. When the core cast came back after the time skip, members of both guilds quickly pay them a visit to renew old friendships.]]

** Ishval rebellion shows us a {{deconstruction}} of this theme, as people JustFollowingOrders (even if said orders are [[MoralEventHorizon genocidal]]) can still form this kind of bond, out of sense of desperation and worthlessness. [[ShellShockedVeteran Dr. Knox]] summed it up.
---> "We're not war buddies. We're [[PunchClockVillain accomplices.]]"

* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'': William and his subordinates are very close due to their shared goal and have deep bonds of affection seen throughout the series. But that doesn't mean they don't bicker constantly, about chores or about the methods to acheive their goals.

* ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman''. One of the original [[FiveManBand Five Man Bands]], the Science Ninja Team may fight, argue and generally crawl all over each other's nerves, but when push comes to shove they'll go through hell for one another. Arguably the origin of the ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' version of the trope.

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'': Overall, members of the Green Lantern Corps are very loyal to one another -- and after everything they've been though together, the first four Earth Lanterns (Hal, John, Guy, and Kyle) are particularly close. The brotherhood between them is the emotional heart of ComicBook/HalJordanAndTheGreenLanternCorps.

* This is how the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica is set up. The four old men of the team (Hawkman, Wildcat, Flash I and Green Lantern I) have all lost children or otherwise had problems being fathers, as elaborated upon in the "Princes of Darkness" arc. Many other characters have parental issues, such as Jesse Quick/Liberty Belle II (dead father), Hourman III (absentee father returned from the dead), Stargirl (stepfather is crimefighting partner, father is a dead criminal) and Damage (son of the original Atom, created by Vandal Savage). Ma Hunkel, the original Red Tornado, is the [[TeamMom maternal]] [[TheHeart glue]] keeping the team together.
* More than any other Justice League lineup, the Comicbook/JusticeLeagueInternational is always portrayed as the one place these ragtag group of B-listers ever truly belonged.

** ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfLightningLad'': When Lightning Lad dies, the Legion scour the galaxy to find a way to revive him. When they find a method which requires someone sacrificing their life to give it to Garth, six Legionnaires volunteer. Several years later, during ''ComicBook/TheLightningSaga'', ComicBook/{{Superman}} is telling the story to the Justice League and Justice Society, who are appalled at teen kids risking their lives like that. Superman replies any Legionnaire would readily give their life for any teammate.

* The eponymous rodents in ''Film/GForce'' are one hell of a Band Of Brothers. The original group is Darwin, Juarez, Blaster, Speckles and Mooch. Later, Speckles removes himself from the group by faking his own death. It's made explicit by the big fight scene at the end, when Speckles realizes that he doesn't need to avenge his family; he's already got one in the form of G-Force, Ben and Marcy, and possibly Hurley, too. Darwin actually references this during the original sneak-in to Saber's house; "We leave no rodent behind."

* The Burns Gang of ''Film/TheProposition'' are a perfect example of an evil version of this trope. Arthur considers all of them to be brothers, including the ones who aren't his genetic brothers, one of whom is even of a different race. He truly loves them all, and has not a single cruel word for any of them. When told that his youngest (genetic) brother has found a girl and wants out, he is completely supportive. And if you're not his brother, you're liable to get shot, knifed, kicked to death, robbed, or possibly raped.

* The core of the eponymous mercenary band in Glen Cook's ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'' is a Band Of Brothers, and it's the only way the survive all of the crazy shit that happens to them.

* Anti-social and people hating Sasha Hunter grows to appreciate the bond she shares with her team mates in ''Literature/GreekNinja'', and it becomes obvious she would give her life for any one of them, even though she couldn't stand them to start with.
* The Chaw of Chaws in ''Literature/GuardiansOfGaHoole'' -- Soren, Ezylryb, Otulissa, Eglantine, Digger, Gylfie, Twilight and Martin. Coryn also fits into it not because he's king but as Soren's nephew.
* Several of these form during the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novels. Most of them are torn into shreds over the course; we ''are'' talking the backstory to ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', after all. The best example is the Mournival, which starts as a FourTemperamentEnsemble and ends up as [[BloodBrothers Torgaddon and Loken]] vs. Aximand and Abaddon in a fight to the death.

** This shown when, despite Boromir's betrayal, the team goes instantly to rescue him. Also, Boromir fighting past when he should have died, to defend two of their number.

** Hell, the entire British and Portuguese Combined Army seems to become this. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Apart from the Cavalry. Bloody fairies.]]

* Possibly the definitive Band Of Brothers in western literature is Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan from ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers''.

* Koskela's platoon in the war novel ''Literature/TheUnknownSoldier'', which tells about the Continuation War between Finland and Soviet Union 1941-1944. The band is the collective main character of the novel.

* In ''Series/BurnNotice'' Michael Westen is closer to Fiona and Sam than he is his actual family, having placed his life in their hands more than once in their long history as spies. Over the course of the show, he has to learn to to re-relate to and even trust his mother and brother Nate as well as he does his friends. And, as many episodes including season finales have shown, you do ''not'' [[BerserkButton mess with Michael's family or his friends.]]

** Sibuna. Despite any fights the group may have they are shown to be incredibly loyal to each other, risking lives on almost a daily basis for another member who needs it. Not exactly a band of ''brothers'' though, as it's, as Amber puts it, "Three girls and two men. Well, boys." However, now it's three boys and two girls, but the point still stands.

** Which was a catch-phrase at the SGC earlier (see the episode "Abyss" for a perfect example of how far this can be taken and understood). The members of the team become each other's best friends, confidants, and essentially nothing will cause more angst than when one is in trouble, wounded, or presumed dead. ''Series/StargateSG1'' epitomizes the Band of Brothers trope. Major Carter even says to one of the other characters, "We were a team. No one can even begin to understand what that really means." And calls Daniel's death[[spoiler:(presumed)/ascension]] one of the worst things she's ever been through. And, let's face it, she's been through a lot.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had a bit of this going on, particularly during the first season, before the characters had worked each other out. Riker was uneasy about their second officer, Picard had to tell people not to let him "make an ass of himself" around children (and shouted Wesley out in the very first episode, thus enraging Wesley's mother with whom Picard ''already'' had an uneasy relationship), Worf disliked ''everyone'' (but [[WordOfGod especially Data]]), and Troi and Riker had Uncomfortable Ex's syndrome. But within a matter of episodes (and fairly ridiculous episodes at that) it became obvious that they'd all pretty much die for each other.

* Ice-Hockey teams. Hurt one player, especially the goalie or star player, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge and on ice team mates will come after you]]. To varying degrees this is true for almost any sports team, it's just that hockey allows them to show it more violently.

* In ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' this one of the defining traits of Clan Ghost Bear, Hell's Horses, and Star Adder. Whilst most Clans are very elitists and like segregating great warriors from CannonFodder, these Clans encourage camaraderie, and treat everyone as equals, regardless of their role. Many of the more moral PrivateMilitaryContractors like the Gray Death Legion or the Kell Hounds likewise have a spirit of camaraderie and brotherhood, in addition to getting a hefty paycheck.

** Zigzaggezd with the Chaos Space Marines. One of the RPG has several characterizations for a CSM warband, one of them being loyalty to each other through thick and thin, another a bunch of self-serving schemers who band together for convenience and will happily betray the others as soon as it suits their plans.

* In ''VideoGame/BatenKaitosOrigins'', this features heavily in a literal and figurative sense. Every time one of the monsters is defeated, Sagi gets a faint-inducing headache, and wakes up in a different world. [[spoiler: in this world, he is a sibling of the five people who group together and become Malpercio, the BigBad of the sequel.]]

* About half the missions in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' have the purpose of taking the "[[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Dirty Dozen]]" and turning them [[MisfitMobilizationMoment into this]]. The final outcome of the game is determined in large part on how well [[AnAdventurerIsYou Commander Shepard]] succeeds.

* ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Modern Warfare 2]]'' has this by the end, between Soap, Price and Nikolai. It's implied that Roach and Ghost were well on the way towards being a part of it, but their deaths cemented it for the first three.

* There is a ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'' perk called Brothers in Arms (and its variants, the female-crew-only Sisterhood of Steel and the rock-band-themed Band of Brothers), which increases the basic competences of all of your crewmembers. It's notable in that ''all'' crewmembers must have this perk for it to activate (per the collective nature of the trope) and that the only way to get this perk for normal crews is to take that crew through many, many battles together to gain enough XP to unlock it (reflecting their shared struggles).
* The Horde in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' is an example. It's been described as a closely knit family, and an alliance of convenience, and they have had their share of betrayals and mistrust, but the different races of the Horde always have each others backs, and have never denied each other aid when they truly needed it.

** The Foxhound unit from this ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' fancomic is a highly dysfunctional covert ops group that, in the earlier parts of the comic, all more or less hated each other. (Particularly with members Psycho Mantis and Revolver Ocelot, who do everything from exchanging put-downs to fighting deathmatches, and in one case Mantis only avoids being poisoned by Ocelot by sheer luck.) Of course, later on the group (well, aside from Mantis and Ocelot) does seem to be getting closer to each other to the point that the entire group risks causing, (or at least not preventing) an international incident just to save Sniper Wolf.

* Graveheart from ''WesternAnimation/ShadowRaiders'' gives a rousing speach before the assembled forces of The Allaince before their battle against planet Remora, the Beast Planets envoy, including the iconic 'Band of Brothers' line from Henry V.

* Raven, the loner, is the first to call the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' her family. Five teenaged orphans living together is justified. Robin and Starfire complicate this somewhat, however, showing romantic feeling for each through all five seasons and ultimately becoming a couple in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTroubleInTokyo''.

* Arcee refers to her team as family in the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. In Season 3, Optimus has to explain this to straight-laced Ultra Magnus -- they're not the Elite Guard, and have grown into something greater than an army.

* Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (pictured above), as described in the book and {{miniseries}} ''Series/BandOfBrothers'', is one of the better known examples. Private Kurt Gabel, 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, quoted in the book ''Band of Brothers''...

Wright credits four things with Force Recon's acceptance of him: That he had written for several of the Marines' favourite publications (Most notably ''Hustler''), that he managed to stay cool the first time he came under fire, that he actually volunteered to stay after coming under fire instead of wimping out like the previous embedded reporters had, and that he knew he was the designated ButtMonkey and wasn't afraid to poke fun at himself when he screwed up.
* Throw dart in a Military base in Afghanistan, you'll find one. Whether it be the Mercian Regiment joking about the tracks on their [=APCs=] in Camp Bastion, or the Marines trekking it through sandy streets in Sangin, or a Danish company trading jokes about their duties, the ISAF forces are ''made'' of these.

* OlderThanFeudalism: The hoplite phalanx worked like this. The first row of hoplites would stand in formation such that their shields overlapped slightly, so each individual soldier was not only protecting himself, but the soldier to his immediate left. Hoplites were literally taking care of each other in battle. This is why coming back from battle without a shield was such a serious condemnation for a soldier. A hoplite shield was so heavy, that someone running from battle would have to leave it behind... which was the only conceivable reason to come back from battle without it. If you didn't have your shield, you couldn't protect the guy next to you. If you consciously threw away your shield, you were effectively refusing to protect a fellow soldier... which is even worse than simply refusing to fight.

The HBO adaptation of ''Literature/GenerationKill'' has an interesting subversion. The Marines are every bit the Band Of Brothers you'd expect them to be, but they ''also'' quickly adopt their embedded reporter, Evan Wright, as one of their own instead of turning him into a ButtMonkey. In the novel (discussed below), Wright is self-conscious of this process in a way that might pass for CasualDangerDialog, noting that he realized the Marines were starting to like him when they began poking him with their combat knives, among other forms of hazing.\\\

* ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'': The YAng team. Being [[spoiler: betrayed by their own government]], facing [[spoiler: the full might of Reinhart's armies]], even [[spoiler: losing their leader]], their group is not going to break.

* The Yang team in ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'': being [[spoiler: betrayed by their own government]], facing [[spoiler: the full might of Reinhart's armies]], even [[spoiler: losing their leader]], their group is not going to break.

* Of all the ties formed in the [[Comicbook.TheAvengers Avengers]] long history, none match those between ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/IronMan, and ComicBook/TheMightyThor. The team is always at its strongest when these three are in it, and any two of them would lay down their lives for the third without hesitation. This is what made the [=Cap/Iron Man=] conflict in ComicBook/CivilWar so [[strike:devastating]] stupid; one has to wonder if it might have been averted if Thor hadn't been dead at the time.

* Oddly enough, Franchise/TheFlash's RoguesGallery seem to have this thing going for them, especially when Geoff Johns is writing them. They're still terrible people, and will do terrible things if you turn your back on them, but when Captain Cold leads, "There's nothing more important than family (except maybe revenge)."
* Franchise/GreenLantern: Overall, members of the Green Lantern Corps are very loyal to one another -- and after everything they've been though together, the first four Earth Lanterns (Hal, John, Guy, and Kyle) are particularly close. The brotherhood between them is the emotional heart of ComicBook/HalJordanAndTheGreenLanternCorps.

* The ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes -- particularly the [[PowerTrio Founders Three]], ComicBook/CosmicBoy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad/Live Wire -- and, separately, the Legion of Substitute Heroes. In the case of the latter, there is at least one instance of one of the Substitutes turning down an invitation to join the Legion proper out of loyalty to the other Subs.

* The Yang team in ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'': being [[spoiler: betrayed by their own government]], facing [[spoiler: the full might of Reinhart's armies]], even [[spoiler: losing their leader]], their group is not going to break.