-
Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:
- The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
- Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration
Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.
Top 50 Duos: Counting the Seconds
- Thread starter Johnny Unusual
- Start date
And I was the other vote for Mulder and Scully. I only saw a few episodes of X-Files when was actually coming out on TV, but later saw pretty much the whole dang run off a comprehensive set of VHS tapes my ex-wife still had in the early 00's. Regardless of what one thinks about the later seasons, they're definitely iconic duo status, perfect for bouncing any weird plot off each other.
As for Gravity Falls... I really need to get around to watching it. Might be time to slip it into our evening TV rotation.
As for Gravity Falls... I really need to get around to watching it. Might be time to slip it into our evening TV rotation.
You are in for such a treat, my friend.
I had to double check my list to make sure I did indeed vote Mulder & Scully as my #1. Anyway this tweet will live in my head forever:
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Source: Undertale
Duo-Type: Font of Each Other
Sans is a skeleton from an underground world of monsters who is ostensibly helping his brother to capture humans who would attempt to enter the Underworld. Sans, however, is lazy and really cares little for actually doing any capturing. He is good at keeping promises, though, and seems a strangely honour-bound fellow. He also loves childish pranks, whom he tends to play on people he has affection for. However, he also treats them with genuine kindness as well. He’s known for his iconic wink-and-smile. And often, he is helping.
Papyrus is Sans taller little brother who wants to be a member of the royal guard and believes the best way to do it is to capture a human. Optimistic and brave, Papyrus wants to be a great hero and always presents himself in flamboyant fashion. However, often he is also hampered by his own obliviousness. He has a lot of confidence in himself but this believe in himself is only matched in his belief in others. He is also persistent, once spending the night outside the house of someone who he believed would let him be a royal guard (eventually he was trained… but in cooking). He has a wide variety of hobbies like action figure collection, spaghetti cooking (though he’s bad at it) and various art forms and is known for his physics breaking acrobatics.
Now I do have to say I still have yet to play the universally beloved Undertale but I know enough to know everyone LOVES these two. And even a casual read through and seeing that first seen, you can see why: they are a perfectly mismatched pair, one easy-going and the other desperate for love. Sans might be frustrating and goofy but even in that little scene, he clearly loves his little brother and the fact that as frustrated as he is that Papyrus can’t help but laugh at his dad jokes speaks volumes. These guys aren’t just bros, they are friends for life and they get each other.
But I’ll leave it to more experienced players to explain the chemistry between them and why they are one of gaming’s most charming duo.
Iconic Moment:
Someone else will have to help me out here.
I mean, basically anything I can think of that would make for a good iconic moment would also be an Undertale beat that I don't want to spoil.
Anyway, chalk this down as the first duo that I forgot about that would have otherwise likely made my list.
Anyway, chalk this down as the first duo that I forgot about that would have otherwise likely made my list.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The next entry on the list fits that for me.
Also Papyrus is basically BEAT.
I was worried that I forgot to vote for these two but I did have them at #17 (phew!)
I was worried that I forgot to vote for these two but I did have them at #17 (phew!)
You don't see them together much after Snowdin, but they do bring each other up in conversation quite a bit.
Bit late on this but have some Laurel & Hardy trivia.
Laurel's young daughter was afraid of Hardy due to how their characters interacted in the various shorts and films. To rectify this, they did a short where Laurel snapped and brought a literal house down around Hardy. FRIENDSHIP!
Laurel's young daughter was afraid of Hardy due to how their characters interacted in the various shorts and films. To rectify this, they did a short where Laurel snapped and brought a literal house down around Hardy. FRIENDSHIP!
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Source: The Venture Bros.
Duo-Type: Wingmen
Gary Fischer AKA Henchman 21 is a henchman of the supervillain The Monarch and his Fluttering Horde. He states that he was kidnapped and inducted to the Monarch’s army as a child but despite that, he genuinely seems to like life as a henchman. He “earned his wings” at age 16 after taking credit for the death of super scientist Professor Vibrations (in fact, he seemingly inexplicably dropped dead “of happiness”). He’s a bumbling, awkward comic book nerd who isn’t particularly strong or clever but manages to work closely with his boss and survives despite the many Brock Samson encounters in his life as well as writing a tell-all book about the Monarch. On his side, he’s got…
24 turned to henching when the plant he was working at closed down and it was the only job he could get with his GED. Originally a henchman for the villain the Phantom Limb, 24’s co-worker was in fact The Monarch, who was both henching and moonlighting as a supervillain. 24 helped out the Monarch by pretending to be him in henchman mode his attempts to woo Queen Etheria (later Dr. Girlfriend, later still Dr. Mrs. The Monarch) with the promise if he did, he’d be the Monarch’s #1 when he became a full time villain. Sadly, due to some confusion it didn’t work out though he would join the Fluttering Horde as 24. Generally speaking, 24 is cautious and tends to actively want to avoid more dangerous situations
24 was actually the one who kidnapped 21 when he was a teen during a mission he was supposed to be kidnapping a Senator (he claimed 21 just looked more “senatorial” than the actual Senator present). Despite that, the two grew to be close friends due to their mutual love of nerdy debates (though 21 is the nerdier of the two). The two tended to be on missions together and were the henchmen most often seen assisting The Monarch despite their seemingly relatively low rank.
After the Monarch went to prison and escaped, all of his henchmen left for greener pastures but 21 and 24 stayed on. Though neither of the duo ranked up higher within their Horde on an official level, they remained The Monarch’s go-to men. This is because despite their loyalty (questioning as it often is), they often aren’t particularly ambitious and manage to survive when more competent, motivated and skilled agents in higher roles march off to their doom. Despite this, The Monarch has begrudgingly acknowledge them as “his best men”, if only because of their ability to survive and experience.
21 and 24 work because they both seem to genuinely love… well, the IDEA of their work at least. The idea of being part of a cool supervillain army and getting to see crazy fights and wacked out sci-fi stuff appeals to them. Of course, work is work and the two often have to put up with some humiliating jobs and try to appease their murderous boss. But mostly they clearly enjoy debating nerd stuff and being in such a fantastic world together, even if most people in that world (often including 24) are kind of disenchanted with the hard work of actually living within an escapist fantasy.
Iconic Moment:
In “The Lepidopterists”, 21 and 24 are in theory being led by the go-getter Henchman 1 but don’t have any time for his shit. They try to give him pointers on going the easy way and also acknowledge they have some plot armor to protect themselves… It’s a very funny adventure and a little sad considering how that season ends…
I had this not-so-dynamic duo at #11 on my list.
*slow clap*
Consarnit, I definitely forgot about 21 & 24 and they're great.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Yeah I dropped the ball on these two as well. My personal approach to making a list is to not include entries that other people bring to me that I didn't think of beforehand (I try to finish my list early when I can). If I think of an entry by myself, then I can change my list an if I'm reminded of something I had considered before, I might put it in but if I look at someone else's choice an realize I did not think of it, I won't allow it on my list. I just don't want to abuse my power to game the list.
Come on, I definitely should've put this one here. Not enough TV show characters on my list38
Dipper & Mabel Pines
56 Points, 2 Lists, #10 Johnny Unusual
Source: Gravity Falls
Duo-Type: Mystery Twins
Dipper Pines is a 12-year-old child from Piedmont, California. Dipper is very clever and loves to increase and test his intelligence. Despite being very rational, he can be easily frustrated at times, especially when people don’t take him seriously or looking at him as “cute” (such as being sensitive about his “kitten sneeze”). Dipper’s birth name is Mason but he got the nickname Dipper from his Big Dipper shaped constellation of birthmarks on his forehead that he usually hides under his baseball cap. Dipper gets really into projects, sometimes to the point of obsession (and thoughtlessness towards others) and sometimes gets so overwhelmed when things don’t go according to plan, he panics but generally his friends and family can guide him through, such as his twin sister…
Mabel Pines is a 12-year-old child from Piedmont, California. Constantly chipper and optimistic (and quite distractible), Mabel is entering into, according to her brother, her “boy crazy” phrase and is often looking for love. But more than anything, Mabel wants to have fun. A true social butterfly, Mabel is great at making friends and follows her heart in all matters, often in a real pedal-to-the-metal 100%-in intense fashion. Her ability to look on the bright side of everything helps see her through in tough situations. Like her brother, when she develops an obsession or focus, it’s hard to make her think of anything else and sometimes it can cause tension when others need her. Mabel has great artistic skills, once making a very impressive wax replica of her great uncle. She’s also known for her love of sweaters, which has a huge collection of, and which usually reflect her love of cute animals, rainbows and tortured puns.
When Dipper and Mabel are sent to their Great Uncle Stan Pines and his tourist trap The Mystery Shack for the Summer in the small Oregon town of Gravity Falls, Dipper starts to notice weird, paranormal activity. He begins to investigate for himself and Mabel often helps, though her mind is usually on other things. Though often their focuses are different, they continually save each other and help each other through bizarre supernatural perils and happenstances including ghosts, monsters, time travelers, magical/super science artifacts and entities. Often with the help of their friends, Dipper and Mabel get closer to Gravity Falls strange secrets.
The duo are often assisted and supported by Soos, the Mystery Shack’s resident maintenance man. The two are very different and sometimes their very different goals put them at odds but they are also often extremely supportive of each other, willing to put aside their own wants for the needs of the others, painful as it might be to do so. When not hip deep in danger, the two love spending the Summer playing together, being silly and bonding with their curmudgeonly con artist Grunkle in the shack. Sometimes when finding something supernatural, they also may leverage it for their own needs, such as using a magic photo copier to impress a girl, messing with love potions to try to bring balance to a friend group or using a mind-control tie to win a local election, but it often ends with them learning a lesson.
Gravity Falls is a great show and having a great cast is definitely part of it. Despite the fact that Mabel is the part of the duo who is rarely actively pursuing the main narrative thrust, the mysteries of Gravity Falls, the show gives them basically equal attention with an equal amount of love and care because often it’s clear the mystery sometimes just needs to come second to how these characters want the best for the other and even when the want for oneself if pressing and difficult, they can put it aside. Both are at a critical and confusing age in their development and it is clear that without the other, either could get sort of lost in the weeds but together they are able to remind each other of what’s important and what’s great about the other one.
Iconic Moment:
In their darkest hour, Mabel finds herself trapped in her own fantasy world, afraid to leave it and face the apocalypse and growing up. Dipper reminds her of why they need each other.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Source: Golden Kamuy
Duo-Type: A tall and a small
Saichi Sugimoto has had a rough life. At a young age, his father instilled in him the value to look after people with less power. When his family died of tuberculosis, he feared he was sick so he burned down his house and wandered Japan, staying away from others fearing he too might be sick and contagious. Years later, Sugimoto would join the army and become a good soldier, seemingly able to survive situations that should have killed him giving him the nickname The Immortal Sugimoto. After he left the army, Sugimoto decided to try to support the family of a fallen friend. One day while fishing, an old drunk tells Sugimoto a seemingly tall tale about a map to Ainu gold being tattooed on prisoners, only for the prisoner to attack him and reveal the story teller has such a tattoo. Seeing the possibility in making enough money to support his friend’s family, he follows the prisoner, only to meet.
Asirpa is an Ainu who grew up with her tribe as a hunter, something her father taught her about. Asirpa’s father supposedly to murderous hunters, and she developed a good student and a very skilled at hunting and foraging. Her philosophy is the rule of nature: the weak die and the strong live. Despite this seemingly Darwinistic world view and her pragmatism, she is usually willing to help those in trouble. Asirpa is also a skilled chef of wild game and an archer with incredible precision. Unbeknownst to her, there are people in her life who had actually created a destiny for her of great importance to the Ainu people but even without them, she believes in fighting for the rights of the indigenous people of Hokkaido.
When Sugimoto meets Asirpa, they come to a conclusion; Asirpa’s father’s killer is likely among the escaped prisoners. If they team up, Sugimoto can take a paltry percentage of the gold to help his fallen friend’s family and the rest can be turned over to the Ainu peoples and Asirpa can get revenge for her father’s death. But not only do the two have to face a number of escaped convicts (some good, some evil, most unhinged in one fashion or another), it turns out there are two other factions hunting for the gold (among some of the convicts, though most are simply trying to remain scarce). But with Sugimoto’s expertise at fighting and killing and Asirpa’s hunting wisdom and invaluable knowledge of the area, this small band will set out to decode the strange map tattooed on the prisoner’s skins.
Along the way, Sugimoto and Asirpa, despite some bickering, become very fast friends and end up bonding over sharing their wisdom. In particular, despite their mutual hesitance, they each fall in love with the foods of each other’s cultures and often work on some fusion creations of their own. But the friendship also has some tension; despite Asirpa’s hunting skill, she hasn’t taken a human life. Sugimoto is excellent at killing, taking out more skillful opponents with determination and fast thinking but he knows that killing has cost him part of his soul and is very determined that Asirpa keeps hers. The two end up forging something stronger than any other them could have predicted in the face of overwhelming odds. But mostly, they love food.
Golden Kamuy is so full of great characters, I had to ask myself “am I voting for these characters to represent the show or am I voting for the chemistry.” Then I remembered these characters have great chemistry. It’s fun to watch characters who clearly just love hanging out and I love that this show is willing to spend much of it’s time just letting the characters do that, making food and getting into (sometimes life and death) farces. In fact, the show is often so funny, it can trick you into forgetting how much hurt the two leads have in them and it is really powerful when it does, reminding you how much these characters care for each other and need each other. In a world full of madness and death, they become each other’s rock to actually experience joy and both are willing to go to absurd lengths to protect the other.
Iconic Moment:
Hard to pick. Lot’s a great moments individually but the last season had them in the clutches of their enemy, considering going their separate ways for a common good, only for them to make a break for it. Don’t fuck with these two…
CW: Badass violence. But, like, still violent. Just saying.
But then it’s also always fun to be homeys together.
Or teasing each other.
For feels, I also love the moment where Sugimoto opens up and reveals the depth of pain of his trauma.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Source: Wallace and Gromit short films (and feature length films)
Duo-Type: A manboy and his dog
Wallace is a middle-aged man who lives on 62 West Wallaby Street, Wigan. Wallace is a tinkerer by nature, constantly making overly complicated devices, often in favour of a simple task, such as an elaborate Rube Goldberg device to help him get ready in the morning or a rocket to the moon for the purpose of getting some cheese. Though his skills at inventing are brilliant, his creations often have a flaw or can be exploited by others. He is also often oblivious to the world around him, largely unaware of the danger he may have placed himself or others in. He has had three girlfriends, though each relationship has ended for various tragic reasons. Luckily, he has his other loves, most notably cheese, of which he is a huge enthusiast, a love that comes second only to…
Gromit is Wallace’s dog, a large beagle. Gromit, like his master, is very smart, though he’s often less gizmo-focused than his owner (though he can whip them up when the need arises and seems as good if not better at managing Wallace’s systems of machines than Wallace himself. Gromit is usually silent and communicates in pantomime, though he has been known to make the occasional yelp or growl. Gromit is also very observant, often aware of dangers that others are not and often takes it on himself to risk life and limb, even to the point of disobedience, to help others, particularly his hapless owner. That said, when there is no risk, Gromit is a very good boy who follows instructions and goes above and beyond for his owner.
Wallace and Gromit are best friends, living and working together. In many of the story, the duo has established a fresh new entrepreneurial venture, such as window washing, non-lethal exterminators or bakers. And sure enough, the duo is using elaborate devices and systems to accomplish their goals. Often a dangerous entity enters their life, something that Wallace is oblivious to until the final act but that Gromit spends the episode investigating and trying to expose, such as an evil penguin thief, a sheep rustling dog or a serial killer of bakers. Though in their first appearance the two took a leisurely trip to the moon, subsequent stories fall into the structure of Wallace unknowingly in over his head and his dog desperate to help him
The two are usually very good at their job, though often when something throws their system of gadgets out of alignment, it tends to become a threat both to themselves but also a potential solution to their new antagonist. Gromit tends to keep cool under pressure but he is also keenly aware of the danger while Wallace is usually too distractable for his own good. By the end of the short, Gromit usually is the saver of the day while Wallace is more a wild card, often a near victim of the threat as well as accidentally throwing elements in the mix that threaten ALL parties. That said, sometimes he does make decisions that help save the day and though often can be scared, is willing to help others.
Though the initial Wallace and Gromit short, A Grand Day Out, had elements of a classic comedy team, it really is the subsequent shorts that help develop the cartoons having elaborate set pieces that mix in the homey British feel with outside comedy adventures with danger and suspense. Sometimes it can be really frustrating when one half of the duo is doing all the work but it is clear the two really care for each other, even if they aren’t on the same page and for all of Wallace’s naiveté, he is charmingly sweet at heart. It’s really a good old-fashioned comedy team with Gromit as the straight man and Wallace as hopelessly square but always inventing and creating that results in fun set pieces.
Iconic Moment:
Wallace and Gromit were never terribly prolific with only 4 theatrical shorts and one film. They’ve made other appearances and both have a new game and their last film (!!!!) coming out. But I think it’s safe to say their best short remains The Wrong Trousers, a Hitchcockian suspense comedy that culminates with a very fun chase scene.
Man, that scene is less than three minutes and it feels like so much has happened.
I had W&G on my list albeit a bit lower down. Good comedy duo. I should double-check some time that I've actually seen everything they've starred in.
Didn't think of Sugimoto and Aspira but I watched the first couple seasons of Golden Kamuy back when it was new and remember enjoying their interactions. Should maybe catch up on that show someday...
Didn't think of Sugimoto and Aspira but I watched the first couple seasons of Golden Kamuy back when it was new and remember enjoying their interactions. Should maybe catch up on that show someday...
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Source: Battle Mania
Duo-Type: PEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEW
In… some future. With an x in it, probably… Mania Ohtori is a teenage jetpack wielding “trouble shooter”, a gun for hire who solves problems with extreme violence. Like a lot of classic anime-style mercenaries, despite her successes, she often is just scraping by financially. Short-tempered and a bit simple-minded, she’s aided in her quest by…
Maria Haneda is Mania’s partner, though she isn’t paid as much. Around the same age, she doesn’t get paid as much despite being smarter and more level-headed than Mania. She usually does the computer work for the duo. Still, she has a sense of loyalty and hangs around her for that reason. Plus her job comes with a gun and a jet pack.
Mania and Maria, as trouble shooters, are often hired by Colonel Patch to do some dirty business which is mostly battling wave after wave of robot monsters. Eventually, they need to stop the evil force known as Blackball, whom they eventually defeat. Later the two must battle an assassination cult hiding out in Enoshima. The duo appears in the video game Battle Mania and it’s sequel. In the US, the game was released as Trouble Shooter and for some reason were renamed “Madison” and “Crystal” respectively.
The game is a one player shooter where you can swap between the characters. Most of the game players are in jet packs but there is a section in the second game where they utilize their car, which is loaded with weapons in the backseat, to take down an engine of destruction. Though the stakes are high, the duo usually approach each assignment with a sense of playful bluster.
Iconic Moment:
An actual player of the games will have to tell you the best level or game or whatevs.
