Top 10 Video Game Duos

No one makes their enemies cry “Uncle” like this uncle-nephew team of gorillas. First appearing together in the Super Nintendo game “Donkey Kong Country,” the two work side-by-side to retrieve their bananas and fight anyone who gets in their way. Donkey is the more powerful of the two, but Diddy makes up for his lack of strength with agility and speed. He also makes a powerful duo with his girlfriend Dixie.

Unlike other duos from the franchise like Chris and Sheva from 5th game, These two didn’t team up by choice. After all, she’s a rookie cop, and he’s an escaped convict on death row. But when it comes to dealing with zombie outbreaks, you can’t really pick and choose your allies. Though Rebecca can’t take as much damage as Billy, her ability to mix chemicals makes her a valuable asset. Billy adds his strength and his willingness to absorb a hit.

Who says men and machines can’t get along? Or…Lombax and machine anyway. This pair consists of a mechanic and his robot friend. You play most of the game as Ratchet, the mechanic, but Clank’ll usually be sitting on your back and helping you fight your enemies. The two are not to be confused with their fellow Playstation platforming duo Jak and Daxter. Man, Sony wanted a mascot so bad…

This title is known as one of the best examples of video game story-telling, and the relationship between these two is a big reason why. Lee, a university professor and convicted murderer, becomes a father figure to the young girl after he finds her abandoned by her parents. Even though he starts out teaching her how to survive, she quickly learns how to defend herself and becomes equally helpful to him. Most importantly though, Clem acts like Lee’s, and subsequently the player’s moral compass in a world without order.

These two robots work together to get the job done. In the game’s cooperative campaign mode, the pair use their portal guns to navigate test chambers and solve puzzles. After each test chamber, they get taken apart and put back together again. Seeing as the chambers are impossible to beat without teamwork, the two really have to join forces to get through.

Like father, like daughter—or so it seems in this game. Ellie isn’t actually Joel’s child, but he becomes a father figure to her after his real daughter doesn’t survive the initial outbreak that ended the world. She inherits his ability to make zombies sorry they ever wanted flesh. He takes on most of the combat, but she helps him find enemies and even throws things at them to keep em distracted.

These characters get thrown together by fate, but they become the perfect team. Booker is sent to the floating city of Columbia to rescue the Elizabeth after he builds up a debt with some nasty types. He takes on the bulk of the shooting and action, but her ability to open up Tears and get him what he needs at just the right makes her instrumental to his success.

Maybe bears and birds can be friends. Okay, maybe it’s not the best idea in nature, but it certainly works in this game. The Honey Bear adventures alongside his best friend the Breegull to fight the evil Gruntilda. Their main adventures are literally built around the duo’s abilities as you control both characters and have them run, swim, fly and peck their way through the different levels. Unless you’re Nuts and Bolts … we don’t talk about that game.

While Mario gets all the attention, Luigi puts the bro in Mario Bros. In the RPG versions of the classic series, you have the fun of controlling both of the legendary plumbers at the same time. In the game’s turn-based battles, you attack your enemies by jumping on their heads or beating them up with a hammer. Rated E for everyone, kids. But, even better, they can join forces to deliver punishing combo attacks.


Before we get to our number one, let’s take a look at some honorable mentions: