Top 50 Duos: Counting the Seconds

[Johnny Unusual]

In a world of increased isolation, we all need a friend. And sometimes we have that one relationship with someone who just… works with you. It can be romantic, platonic or maybe something that isn’t so easily labelled. Some people just go together. Some things just go together. Becoming greater than the whole. It’s not always a good thing. Sometimes people can have a reaction that is toxic, even if it is compelling. But that magnetism means something. It’s a powerful force, sometimes. It might even seem cosmic. Me, I don’t believe in fate or kismet. But what I do believe in is people can recognize when the stars align and things go together in a way we can’t take our eyes off of. Or in some cases, our mouth off of.

Now I asked you guys for a list of around 25 duos to make a list of 50. And you did not disappoint. Let’s check out the people I have to thank for making an awesome list!

@Johnny Unusual @Torzelbaum

@Purple @Issun

@Vaeran @Kishi

@Caithness @Daikaiju

@JBear @SabreCat

@Olli @Baudshaw

@Pombar @RT-55J

@Kirin @YangusKhan

@WildcatJF @Mogri​

Let’s get started!

​

 

[Purple]

​

OK I desperately need some context.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Never

 

[JBear]

I just want to be clear that not only did I not need context, but I voted for this handsome fellow on a previous Top 50.

 

[Issun]

Me getting to be Stitch 100% justifies this thread even if it never gets another post.

Also I forgot Lilo & Stitch I don't deserve this honor but I will accept it all the same.

 

[Daikaiju]

I can attest that I am indeed Nuts.

 

[Issun]

I can attest that I am indeed Nuts.

 

[RT-55J]

No guarantees at how much Pombat and I can help you if you've been in a car wreck, but we'll try our best.

Anyhow, I can't wait to see how the universe-famous Duo from Mega Man 8 places on this list.

 

[Mogri]

Wildcat and I are Brazilian ren faire rejects? I can dig it.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

50

Gon Freecss & Killua Zoldyck

48 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #11 Johnny Unusual ​

Source: Hunter x Hunter

Duo-Type: BFFs

Gon Freecss was raised on the solitary Whale Island, a fishing village in the middle of nowhere. He would later learn his father is among the greatest hunters, a calling and title for people who go to obsessive and often life-threatening lengths to achieve their dreams and hunt for hard-to-find things, ranging from valuable treasures to collectable trinkets. Deciding the fact that his father loved his work so much, he would be willing to abandon his child, he decided being a hunter must be amazing and decides to find the dream himself and discover for himself what kind of hunter he wants to be.

Killua Zoldyck is a child born into a family of world class assassins, with his father having very high hopes for him. Even by age 12, the child has performed numerous assassinations, most often using his bare hands. But being somewhat of a rebellious age, one day he decided to run away from home (but not before slashing his mother’s face, which made her cry… with joy) and take the Hunter Exam to be a licenced hunter, hearing the test was difficult. There he meets Gon.

Soon, the two form a quick bond and become allies during the exam, along with the medical student Leorio and last of his clan Kurapica. After the exam, the two begin adventuring together, training to gain strength, helping Kurapica find the killers of his family and searching for Gon’s father. Each develop their own new fighting styles and depend on their mutual friendly competitiveness to reach further heights of power and innovation as well as the joy of discovery.

On the surface, it’s a duo we’ve seen often in anime; the spunky hero who has moxie and the aloof badass. But usually, they are in a grudging friendship with some sparks. Here, they are friends from the jump. Instead of having the characters feeling to have to measure up to each other, they are constantly lifting each other up. If anything, they each think the other is the coolest. Though Killua initially think Gon is nice but weak, he soon sees in his constantly willingly putting himself in over his head while Killua prefers facing situations he knows he can win and starts to admire him as he turns the tables. Seeing Killua really value Gon is some of the most affecting moments of the series.

Though Killua is his own admission fickle, he is steadfast in standing by Gon and Gon in return. But Gon has an interesting arc, too. Gon seems like “the good one” because he’s honest, forthright and always ready to stick up for people, particularly his friends. But hunters are somewhat amoral by nature; there is a high body count in the Hunter’s Exam (by design of the hunters, weeding out the untalented and foolish) and many are known for focused primarily on their own obsessions beyond their own well-being. Gon himself, though more curious about his father than proud, seems motivated by that same selfishness and really seems indifferent to his friend being a former assassin or teaming with criminals. He’s both very non-judgmental but also is more motivated by a desire to discover than making the word a better place. Being a hunter means surrounding yourself with people capable of horrible things (even some allies) and Gon finds himself going to dark places, often with only a former killer able to remind him of who he is. And even Killua can’t always save his friend from his seemingly optimistic friend from staring into the abyss but he can pick him up after he falls. The two not only really help each other grow not only as hunters but save each other as people.

Iconic Moment:

I feel like I’ve gone (or should I say… GON) over some of the more emotional aspects so how about I end this with a classic shounen victory. When Gon and Killua plays a sort of live-action MMORPG that murders you for real to improve their skill, one of the last major items in the game can only be reached by playing a lethal game of dodgeball while teamed up with a serial killer clown (I told you Hunters ally themselves with bad people). Despite Razor’s (or Lazer’s, depending on the translation) strength, these two manage to trust each other enough to push each other to new heights to win the game.

 

[Mogri]

I was really confused when HxH presented itself as a foursome but dropped two of the characters.

The cast really strikes me as somebody's D&D table. I've had this bit going through my head for ages, so this is as good an opportunity as I'll get to get it out.

Spoiler: Mild HxH spoilers

DM: OK, tell me about your characters and why you're trying to become a Hunter.
A: I'm Gon. I want to find my dad, who's a very famous Hunter.
DM: Your character sheet lists a fishing rod and a backpack. Is there anything in your backpack?
A: Just the fishing rod.
DM: OK. Next?

B: I'm Leorio. I want money so I can go to college to become a doctor.
DM: It says you've already completed your undergraduate? Everyone in this scenario is supposed to be in their early teens.
B: Uhh... I'm totally a teenager.
DM: It says you're two meters tall with some light facial hair.
B: It's fine. I'm totally a teenager.
DM: Whatever. Next?

C: I'm Kurapika. Thieves killed my entire family to steal their magic eyes, so I'm becoming a Hunter in order to avenge them.
DM: Magic eyes? What do they do?
C: They turn red when I'm enraged, giving me super-strength.
DM: Sounds like it could be a little imbalanced, but we'll work it out in the next story arc when everyone gets magic.

Spoiler: MUCH LATER

B: ...And my magic eyes also make it so I can use every kind of magic at full power.
DM: That goes against the entire basis for the game's magic system. Which book are you pulling this from?

D: My character's name is Killer. I'm from a famous family of assassins, and I have crazy assassin powers that let me kill anyone in a matter of seconds.
DM: Let's workshop that name a bit. (Why do I get the feeling I'll have to rewrite substantial portions of the campaign to accommodate this guy?)

 

[Adrenaline]

I like how Killua is a complete psycho but their friendship works because he just doesn't feel like killing Gon

 

[Exposition Owl]

Are those two *particular* grey kittens from the Internet, or is the duo just “a pair of kittens”? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly endorse kittens.

 

[Kirin]

Are those two *particular* grey kittens from the Internet, or is the duo just “a pair of kittens”? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly endorse kittens.

Apparently it's a meme entitled "Two Of Them", though I couldn't tell you much more about it.

 

[RT-55J]

Two hunter exams!? In this economy!?

 

[Johnny Unusual]

49a

Meryl Stryfe & Milly Thompson

48 Points, 2 Lists, #7 @Kishi ​

Source: Trigun

Duo-Type: Work friends/gun buds

Meryl Stryfe is an agent of the Bernardelli Insurance Society on the planet Gunsmoke, a desert planet full of outlaws after humanity crashed landed on generations prior. In a world where violence and gunplay are common, field agents are expected to be able to defend themselves and Meryl can thanks to her signature weapons; derringers. Each derringer has one shot but Meryl makes up for it using a LOT of them, which must be a pain to clean up at the end of a battle. Meryl is serious minded and takes her stressful job seriously, though can be frustrated by it. Though she can be short-tempered, she is caring and though she sees herself as pragmatic, she has a strong moral streak.

Milly Thompson is an agent of the Bernadelli Insurance Society. Milly is tall, strong and fights with her “stungun”, which is to say so shoots a giant gun that slams people with a giant steel X. Milly is also exceedingly friendly and gentle, though will happily fight when she needs to. Milly was born into a large family and is constantly keeping in touch with them via letters she calls the “Milly Monthly”. Milly is rarely in a bad mood and tends to be respectful to others.

The duo are tasked with hunting down the most infamous criminal on the planet “The Humanoid Typhoon” Vash the Stampede. Not to stop him or collect his insane bounty (most people believe he cannot be caught) but to find him, observe him and see what they can do to minimize the damage he causes, which is covered by the insurance company. Eventually the duo do find him but instead of a terrifying super criminal, Vash turns out to be… something of a goober, albeit one who is very skilled and is willing to put his neck on the line to help others. Though Meryl is suspicious of Vash being very different than what was expected, she and Milly soon become Vash’s ally.

The characters fall into the classic duo archetype of “short-tempered/slow-tempered” and the two fill it well but they also make great ally characters for the lead. That said, they are so well-created, I really could see these characters going on insurance-related adventures without him. Meryl in many ways becomes Vash’s guiding light in his darkest moments and Milly is the steadfast ally who is about as goofy as he is. But even independent from the lead, they are a memorable fun duo who really get to do some great stuff in the 1998 anime adaptation not in the original manga. The more recent series also rankled some fans because shockingly they drop Milly in favour of (no, really) Roberto DeNiro.

Having watched the new Trigun series, Trigun Stampede, it’s… interesting. The creator, rather than just wanting to retread the same journey as before, wanted something of a remix and I think it’s a good series overall but there’s stuff that works and stuff that doesn’t. One of the things that doesn’t is leaning a little too hard into the tragedy aspect of the series early on. I get that we already know we are going there but it never feels like Vash is fun a lot of the time and that’s so much what gets my foot in the door. Milly not being a part of the proceedings is a wildly hard sell. Season one ends with the promise of her arrival in season two and I can’t wait for it, though I hope they don’t make her more serious and that the big operatic ending to season one will clear the way for the characters learning to have joy going forward.

But missing the chemistry between these characters is really unfortunate for that series because it is used so well in the 1998 series. Vash is already a big character and yet Meryl and Milly add so much to the show and bounce off each other and the lead so well that having Meryl without Milly only makes Trigun Stampede even more dour. And as much as I like the ’98 series, it’s a shame they don’t get to do even more on that one. But as they are, these two are key ingredients that make Trigun work so well.

Iconic Moment:

Meryl and Milly go through some tough stuff in the series but they are willing to stand with a wanted super criminal through thick and thin (usually thick)

 

[Johnny Unusual]

49b

Walter White & Jessie Pinkman

48 Points, 2 Lists, #7 JBear ​

Source: Breaking Bad

Duo-Type: Teacher & Student - Father/Son figures – Partners in Crime - Enemies

Walter White is a chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Walter originally was the co-founder of Gray Matter Chemicals but allowed to be bought out due to the need for money to support his wife Skyler and son Walter Jr. The owners of Gray Matter would go onto become billionaires while Walter would scrape by as a teacher and taking a second job at a car wash. On his 50th birthday, Walter discovered he had stage III lung cancer and would likely be dying soon, leaving his family in medical debt. Walt ends up going on a ridealong with his brother-in-law Hank Schrader, a DEA agent and ends up running across a former student…

Jesse Pinkman is a drug dealer who cooks his own methamphetamines under the name Captain Cook. Pinkman was a poor student and something of a problem child who was estranged from his parents due both to drug addiction and his drug dealing lifestyle. Jesse has a close knit-group of other burnout friends, particularly Skinny Pete and Badger, who do seem to care for him but are similarly not too bright and though Pinkman can cook, his skills result in low quality drugs.

Walter, deciding to make money to support his family through making and selling crystal meth blackmails former student Jesse into being his business partner. Sparks tend to fly between the two due to Pinkman being irresponsible and Walter’s increasingly apparent ego. Yet the quality of the product is unmistakable thanks to Walt’s knowledge of chemistry and soon the two reach greater successes, only leading to greater danger. They also end up having a father-son like bond, with Jesse truly learning chemistry and going from dunce who thinks “wire” is on the periodic table to elements to a cook nearly as good (or perhaps as good) as Walt himself. But as time goes on, Jesse also starts to grow a conscience and begins to see the pattern of manipulation Walt develops as it becomes apparent the crimes he’s doing “for his family” may just be an excuse for something darker.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Breaking Bad. Mostly because I feel I just love the spin-off Better Call Saul even more. Breaking Bad is one of the last shows of an era I think of as the “angry white man” era of TV about predominantly white male antiheroes like Tony Soprano or Don Draper and Walter White is also sort of a logical end point. But couching it in that also makes it easier to forget what made Breaking Bad so great in the first place. After all, it’s not just the show that some people like for the wrong reasons, it’s a tragedy and whatever you feel about how the final episode shakes out, it is a series with two leads who begin somewhat broad and become more complex, even as one of them spins out into a complete monster.

I think both this and Better Call Saul are excellent at creating very complex relationships. No doubt this one is toxic but it’s also nuanced as the two begin to see each other as father-son kind of figures. But Walter proves himself a bad dad, often trying to keep the “son” he loves under his thumb; he might be proud of him and even soon finds that his endeavours without him leave him a bit empty, but even when he begins really bond with him, there’s an underlying sense that the ego-mad White feels he’s entitled to controlling him.

Jesse meanwhile also has a complex arc; he learns to find pride in his work and begins to really apply himself in a way where his desire to keep up with Walter builds up his self-respect. But he’s also putting a poison into the world and the evils of the world he lives in begin to pile up and break him down. Jesse becomes, shockingly, the series moral compass, no longer a burn out but a man of principles who is also tormented by his deeds, particularly by the final season where he truly sees Walter for what he is. Vince Gilligan’s series begins a little broad but over the coarse of it, this pulpy crime series produces one of the most harrowing final seasons of any TV series and at the heart of it are a man who wants to be great and a man looking for guidance.

Iconic Moment:

Walt might not always be good at appreciating Jesse’s skills but when Jesse of all people comes up with a brilliant science-based plan in the final season to erase some evidence that would incriminate them both, well, it’s hard not to be proud of these two getting away with their crime. (Also Mike is there. Thank God).

(best youtube comment: “The irony that battery's enabled them to avoid charges.”)

 

[Kirin]

Oh man, Meryl and Milly is a great one I didn't think of.

 

[YangusKhan]

I didn't think of either of these picks, oops.

 

[SabreCat]

I think it was an NPR interview with Aaron Paul where I heard it was originally planned to kill Jesse off relatively early in the story, but the duo chemistry worked so well that the creative team changed directions to lean into it. The cast continued to prank Paul with things like "oh, have you not seen the next script yet? I'm so sorry, man, we're here for you"!

 

[Torzelbaum]

Milly Thompson

I also didn't think of Meryl and Milly but this does being to mind a question - is Milly a himbo?

 

[Vaeran]

Walter originally was the co-founder of Gray Matter Chemicals but allowed to be bought out due to the need for money to support his wife Skyler and son Walter Jr.​

The exact circumstances of what happened re: Walt's involvement in Gray Matter are kept purposefully vague, but my understanding is that it all went down before he met Skyler. As I recall it's implied that he sold his share in the company shortly after a messy breakup with Gretchen, and that the decision was motivated more by his pride and pettiness rather than a need for money at the time.

I feel bad that my first post in this thread is a lame nitpick, but I'm really enjoying the list so far!

 

[JBear]

I voted for both of these, so just call me Mr. 49, I guess. They're both pairs that I'm surprised to see so low!

 

[YangusKhan]

The exact circumstances of what happened re: Walt's involvement in Gray Matter are kept purposefully vague, but my understanding is that it all went down before he met Skyler. As I recall it's implied that he sold his share in the company shortly after a messy breakup with Gretchen, and that the decision was motivated more by his pride and pettiness rather than a need for money at the time.

You are correct. He had feelings for Gretchen and then Things Happened and he got out.

 

[Vaeran]

Vaeran and Being Correct: name a more iconic duo

 

[WildcatJF]

Oh man, Meryl and Milly is a great one I didn't think of.

Ughhhhhh lol

 

[Daikaiju]

I stand by my list, but Meryl and Milly are a rock solid pick.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

The exact circumstances of what happened re: Walt's involvement in Gray Matter are kept purposefully vague, but my understanding is that it all went down before he met Skyler. As I recall it's implied that he sold his share in the company shortly after a messy breakup with Gretchen, and that the decision was motivated more by his pride and pettiness rather than a need for money at the time.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

48

Bacon & Eggs

48 Points, 2 Lists, Highest Vote: #6 Sabrecat ​

Source: The Culinary World

Duo-Type: Breakfast

Since time immemorial (how often do you get to bust that out), humans have eaten eggies. Most common is the chicken egg, though quail eggs were eaten commonly in Greece before chickens arrived in 800 BCE while in Egypt ostrich and pelican eggs were used prior to chickens arrival in 1500 BCE. Eggs were often commonly foregone for lent in the Middle Ages due to their richness. Though originally a single chicken would lay about a dozen eggs a year, selective breeding has now only made it possible for hens to lay 300 eggs in a year, they do it year-round instead of seasonally. Amazing and also, kind of scary. Human voracity is really scary.

Bacon’s origins trace back not quite as far; ancient China, where cured and salted pork belly became popular in about 1500 BCE. The food travelled the ancient world, eventually finding great popularity in Europe. The first bacon factory was created in Wiltshire, England where John Harris created the Wiltshire cure, which created a bacon with low-salt/high sweetness flavour. As early as the 1500s, bacon made it’s way over to North America with a booming pig farming industry. Bacon as we know it today, is actually based on the work of Oscar Meyer in 1924.

Not long after that, Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, ended up using some of his uncle’s techniques when he came to America. See, before bacon and eggs were associated with breakfast, Americans generally had a light breakfast; coffee, juice, a roll. To help drive bacon sales in America, Bernays asked 5000 physicians if a heavier breakfast was better than a light one. 4500 responded in the affirmative and Bernays’ “study” became the basis for a push of bacon and eggs as an “all-American breakfast”, printing the good word in newspapers across the county.

And bacon and eggs has stayed around since then. But why? After all, Bernays’ claim is somewhat questionable, isn’t it. OK, well, let’s face it, misinformation doesn’t go away so easily. But also, let’s face it, the foods, despite being meat and pre-meat with a super helping of protein, do taste good together. I think part of it is bacon has that particular strong taste with even lightly salted bacon having a particular notable salty flavour to compliment the milder taste that is eggs.

And even before it gets to your plate, the bacon and eggs experience is filled with sounds and smells. If you cook bacon, your nose will not miss it, trust me. As for the sounds, bacon and eggs frying? That’s just a satisfying mix of sizzles and pops. The question is do you like your eggs runny, firm, scrambled, over easy? And bacon? You like it a bit meaty/floppy or do you like it so crunchy it snaps in two. Frankly, when I have a bacon/eggs breakfast, I immediately look for any toast nearby and create myself a little sandwich!

Iconic Moment:

 

[Mogri]

See, you were laughing and pointing in the other thread, but this is one where I'd have listed them in the other order.