History Main / SwornBrothers

*** Funny, this troper doesn't feel like anyone's brother. Y'know, being female and all.
**** Now you're being sexist. You're not allowed to be sexist?
**** [[@/EldritchBlueRose This Troper]] believes that troper is using "Brothers" in the same way that we use "mankind," so it is not sexist. If it really bothers you then think of it as Blood Siblings.

This is where two people (most often two men but can be any sexes, or even more than two people) have made a pact with each other. The reasons for this tend to vary, but most often, it's because one or both of them [[IOweYouMyLife owes the other his life]] -- frequently [[FireForgedFriends in battle]]. From this moment on, they are brothers. Brothers in the sense that they will do anything to protect and, if necessary, avenge the other.

For the musical of the same name, see [[Theatre/BloodBrothers here]].

[[StarTrek http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kirk_spock1.jpg]]

->'''Simon:''' ''"...But...we're not related."''
->'''Kamina:''' ''"That doesn't matter one bit! You and I are soul brothers - brothers of the spirit."''
-->-- ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Episode 1

->''"You guys ever heard of this? When men share cups of alcohol, they become "brothers"! We might not be able to be crewmates when we become pirates, but we'll be able to tie our bonds together as "brothers"!! No matter what we do or where we are, these bonds will never break...!! And so, from this day forward, we are '''brothers'''!!"''
-->-- '''[[spoiler: Portgas D. Ace]]''', ''OnePiece''

-->-- '''TengenToppaGurrenLagann''', Episode 1

->'''Simon:''' ..But.. we're not related.
->'''Kamina:''' That doesn't matter one bit! You and I are soul brothers - brothers of the spirit.
-->-- TengenToppaGurrenLagann, Episode 1

* The cast of KON are one of the rare female versions of this trope.

-->--The '''Peach Tree Oath''', ''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''.

--> TengenToppaGurrenLagann, Episode 1

* In HomeStuck, Karkat Vantas and his universe's version of Jack Noir team up to overthrow the Black Queen, sealing their pact with a bloody handshake. The "blood" part is especially important here, as [[spoiler:Karkat sympathized with Jack Noir when he discovered that there was somebody else who had his mutant, "candy-colored" [[AlienBlood bright red blod]].]]

->'''Kamina:''' Don't call me Kamina. Call me bro!

* According to the liner notes on the ''BluesBrothers'' album, Jake and Elwood Blues, unrelated orphans growing up in the same dismal orphanage, swore an oath of Blood Brotherhood by cutting their fingers with an E-string allegedly from a famous bluesman's guitar, essentially adopting each other. The MissionFromGod came later.
** Elmore James's guitar. According to the book Blues Brothers: Private, they also had their names legally changed in 1962, taking the same last name and taking each other's first names as their middle names.

* [[http://rhettandlink.com Rhett & Link]] have shared so many experiences since [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHaLfeVn66w first grade.]] Even though they are both married and have children, they are still inseparable.

* In ''OnePiece'', it has been revealed that [[spoiler: Luffy and Ace are not actually related, but are this trope]]. Also, it turned out Luffy and Ace had a third brother, Sabo, who was not actually related to them.

* Siegfried and Gunther swear blood brotherhood in [[RichardWagner Wagner]]'s ''Götterdämmerung'', with Gunther's half-brother Hagen presiding. Given that Hagen is evil, it's not surprising that this ends badly.

* In Ancient Greece, the Sacred Band of Thebes was a troop of picked soldiers which consisted of pairs of homosexual males. The idea was that lovers would fight more fiercely and more cohesively at each other's sides than would strangers with no ardent bonds. It could be argued that this was more like gay married couples then BloodBrothers.
** The theory was right; Thebes once beat Sparta due to the Sacred Band.
*** It isn't that clear cut: the entire Spartan society was dedicated to forging units into {{Nakama}}.
*** Thebes beat Sparta in a couple of battles which it could have recovered from. It destroyed Sparta by economic warfare, that is by depriving it of it's Helots.