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ˇThree Amigos!

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/triad_7821.jpg
"The Golden Trio."

A Power Trio of best friends, usually high school or middle school age, usually consisting of:

The two sidekicks will usually be opposites in other ways, too — one will be a straight-A student, one will be a jock or slacker; or one will be rich, one will be poor; or one will be black, one will be white (or Asian or Latino). If The Hero balances or mediates between the sidekicks, the group may double up as another form of Freudian or Power Trio.

Romance will be explored. A Last Minute Hookup could almost always be expected between The Hero and a sidekick. More recently writers are pairing the sidekicks together. It probably won't turn into a Love Triangle because they are primarily friends. Any romance is secondary.

The two sidekicks are almost always the Secret Keepers in a Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World setting. This is an attractive setup for many writers, because it gives the main character a person of each gender to interact with easily.

Most prevalent within American shows directed at children and tweens, where writers conspicuously try to keep their cast as limited as possible. Anime tends to add a fourth member, closer to one of the sidekicks than The Hero. They might also get a team expansion later, but the trio will always be front and centre and be treated like the "real" heroes.

Quite often the With a Friend and a Stranger dynamic will be present.

Is often Super Trope to Two Guys and a Girl, Two Girls and a Guy. Compare Token Trio. Contrast with the all-female Sister Trope, Beauty, Brains and Brawn.

Terrible Trio is the villainous equivalent: The leader will be more bossy, and the sidekicks dumber and interchangeable.

Not to be confused with the comedy film. Or that one Disney film some people remember.

Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • Samurai Pizza Cats: Speedy, Guido and Polly.
  • Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer: Misaki, Kotaro, and Tamayo.
  • Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo: Bo-bobo, Don Patch, and Tokoro Tennosuke (Jelly Jiggler in the dub) are known as the Hajike Trio.
  • Cardcaptor Sakura: Sakura, Tomoyo, and Syaoran + Mei-ling, Syaoran's Clingy Jealous Girl.
    • Even moreso in the manga, since Mei-ling is Anime-only.
  • Dinosaur King: Max, Rex, and Zoe in The Anime of the Game.
  • Samurai Champloo: Mugen, Jin, and Fuu, eventually.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: Yugi, Anzu/Tea, and Jonouchi/Joey + Honda/Tristan, Jonouchi's other best friend.
  • Pokémon: Ash, Brock/Tracey/Cilan/Clemont, and Misty/May/Dawn/Iris/Serena. Advanced Generation and XY both add a Tagalong Kid- Max and Bonnie, respectively.
  • Pokémon Special does this by the end of each region:
    • Kanto: Red, Green, Blue. Yellow takes over hero roles in her own arc, but doesn't offset the original dynamic during the Fire Red Leaf Green story.
    • Johto: Gold, Silver, and Crystal. Crystal was a late comer, but not as late as Emerald.
    • Hoenn: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. However, Emerald didn't come in and complete the trio until after Ruby and Sapphire had done an entire arc.
    • Sinnoh: Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.
  • Transformers Armada: Alexis, Rad and Carlos — Billy and Fred were added later, but aren't really part of the trio dynamic.
  • Transformers Cybertron: Colby, Bud and Lori.
  • Digimon Adventure: Taichi, Yamato, Sora.
    • Sidekick romance becomes canonically in 02, they are married by the grand finale time skip.
  • Digimon Adventure 02 has the initial newcombers, Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori.
  • Digimon Tamers: Takato, Li Jiangliang (Henry Wong) and Ruki (Rika Nonoka).
  • Eyeshield 21: Sena, Monta, and Suzuna. The hero, his best friend, and his love interest, with the latter two serving as secret keepers for part of the series.
    • Also Akaba, Kotaro, and Juri.
  • Air: During Minagi's arc, there's Yukito, Minagi and Michiru.
  • Amatsuki: Toki, Kon and Kuchiha.
  • Amagami: Miya, Sae, and Ai.
  • From Ikki Tousen: Teifu (Cheng Pu), Ryoumou (Lu Meng) and Saji (Zuo Ci) or better said, Ouin Shishi (Wang Yun) from Nanyou. But their friendship is horribly crashed when Teifu becomes an Ill Boy.
  • Naruto, originally. (Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura)
    • All the Rookie Nine trios get this (Shino, Kiba, and Hinata; and Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino). Then you have the older group (Neji, Lee, and Tenten), and Gaara's group (Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari)
    • And the new generation (Boruto, Mitsuki, and Sarada) and the new InoShikaCho trio (Shikadai, Inojin, and Chocho).
  • Ranma ˝: Ranma (Hero); Ryoga (Best friend/Rival); Akane (love interest of both). Also, Akane loves Ranma but fights with him constantly; she is not in love with Ryoga and only sees him as her best male friend, and never fights with him. Ryoga loves Akane and Ryoga (until he moves on) and Ranma border on Vitriolic Best Buds. And that is the simplest, least psychotic romantic situation in all of the Ranmaverse.
    • Both Ryoga and Akane are heavily implied to be Ranma's best friends, completing the essence of this trope even more. It kind of makes sense seeing as how they're the ones he talks to the most about his problems or thoughts. At least it explains why fans ship Ranma with Ryoga and Akane so much.
    • A similar situation is seen with Ranma, Ukyo, and Akane. Ukyo is Ranma's Unlucky Childhood Friend who he thought was a boy way back when. He is shown to still see her as one of his closest friends and often visits her restaurant just to talk or hang out, and they are close enough where Akane feels jealous over the bond of their shared childhood. Akane and Ukyo also get along MUCH better than the rest of Ranma's finances/love interests and can even spend time together without Ranma. As some fans have noted, Ukyo is basically the Ryoga of Akane's life. It's really no wonder that Ukyo and Ryoga also form the most popular OT3's (Ranma/Akane/Ryoga and Akane/Ranma/Ukyo), especially in the West where Ukyo is much more popular.
  • Higurashi: When They Cry: Keiichi, Rena, and Mion are looked at as a trio. Satoko, Rika and Hanyuu may count as well.
  • Pandora Hearts: Oz, Gil, and Alice.
  • Code Geass has Lelouch, Suzaku, and Nunnally. Lulu is Nunna's brother, and Nunnally was hinted to have had feelings for Suzaku. Then it all went horribly, horribly wrong.
  • Soul Eater: Maka, Black☆Star, and Death The Kid.
    • Though Soul, Tsubaki, Liz and Patti are always there also so I'm not sure it counts. If it does than Ox (with Havar), Kilik (with Fire and Thunder) and Kim (with Jaqueline) would be this as well.
  • Durarara!! has Mikado, Kida and Anri establishing this dynamic very quickly. But the fact that that they're as much ordinary high school students as Shiki Tohno means something's going to happen.
    • To elaborate: Mikado is the founder of the Dollars, Kida is the shogun of the Yellow Scarves, and Anri is the original Saika and the leader of Saika's Children. This makes the trio the leaders of the three rival factions in Ikebukuro. Suffice to say, things deteriorate from there.
  • Xam'd: Lost Memories has Akiyuki, Haru and Furuichi.
  • Star Driver has Takuto, Sugata, and Wako.
    • Fifteen years prior to the events of the anime, Tokio, Ryousuke and Sora were such a trio too. Since Tokio and Sora are Takuto's parents, this trio has deliberate parallels to anime's main trio. Word of God states that they're supposed to show the same kind of dynamics, and then Tokio fucks everything up thoroughly, manipulating everyone around him, impregnating Sora and driving her off the island, which initiates the plot of the anime proper.
    • Then there's also Filament's members Benio, George and Tetsuya.
  • Luffy, Zoro and Nami from One Piece. At the start of the series, they are surely this, being the only members that make up the Straw Hat crew, and even in the later chapters they have shades of this - Luffy is the absolute protagonist, Zoro stills seems to be the most important character in the series after Luffy (being his Number Two and all) and Nami is probably also the most important female character on the show.
  • Baccano!! has Huey, Elmer and Monica in the early 1700s - three teenagers brought together through a shared identity of being thoroughly screwed up.
  • Eren, Armin and Mikasa from Attack on Titan.
  • In Axis Powers Hetalia we have, well, the Axis, though it's a strange example in that they're all dudes, they still have a hookup, and nobody's the hero.
  • In Steins;Gate, it's Okarin, Daru, and Tutturuu. But the merry Amigos quickly grow to include wildly colorful characters.
  • The Mysterious Cities of Gold: Esteban, Zia and Tao.
  • Kirby: Right Back at Ya!: Kirby, Fumu/Tiff, and Bun/Tuff.
  • Bakuman。: Muto Ashirogi (a mangaka composed of two people) and Miyoshi. Mashiro is the artist, and the main goal of the story is to fulfilling his promise of marrying his fiancé Azuki. Takagi is the author, Takagi's Heterosexual Life-Partner, manga partner and their collaborated manga are essential in fulfilling Mashiro's promise. Miyoshi is Takagi's girlfriend (and later his wife) and is constantly hanging around with Muto Ashirogi and supports them in different ways.
    • Muto Ashirogi's PCP has also main characters based on this trope: Makoto and his sidekicks Minoru and Mai.

    Comic Books 
  • The classic comicbook example may be a subset of the Fantastic Four: Young genius Reed Richards and bluecollar jock Ben Grimm were college roommates and later became partners in Richards' plan to fly to the Moon. Both became close and romantically attracted to Sue Storm. In the end Sue married Reed, but Ben is so close he is essentially part of the family; he is also godfather to Reed and Sue's son and a surrogate subling to Sue's bratty kid brother. And in at least one alternate reality Sue wound up marrying Ben.
    • A somewhat similar situation emerged during John Byrne's run between Ben Grimm, his long-suffering girlfriend Alicia Masters and Johnny Storm, resulting in Johnny marrying Alicia with Ben as the Best Man. Later it emerged that Alicia was actually the shape-shifting Skrull Lyja and they divorced. However in the MC-2 universe John and Lyja (now an active member of the Fantastic Five as Ms. Fantanstic) are still married and have a Three Amigos dynamic with Ben.
  • Trinity: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman (lampshaded in the first series arc, during which Wonder Woman even mentions her brief flirtations with both Superman — the archetypal ideal husband — and Batman — the archetypal intriguing bad boy.)
  • Blue Beetle: Jaime, Paco and Brenda.
  • Legion of Super-Heroes: Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad.
  • Shazam has Billy, Mary and Freddy as the main members of the Marvel Family. Billy and Mary are literally family (siblings, twins in most continuities), so naturally she and Freddy are the ones who tend to be paired together.
  • Hellboy has Hellboy, Abe Sapien and Liz.

    Films — Animation 

    Films — Live-Action 

    Literature 
  • H.I.V.E. Series has this, with Otto as The Hero, Wing as his Asian Best Friend, Laura as the Smart Girl and Shelby as the fourth, doubling as The Big Guy alongside Wing as well as The Chick. It follows a pattern similar to anime in most aspects, including this one.
  • Les Misérables has one in the June Rebellion part: Enjolras, Combeferre, and Courfeyrac.
  • The Trio, sometimes known as the Golden Trio, is a popular name for the three main characters of the Harry Potter series. Harry stood up for Ron against Malfoy and Harry told Ron that they need to go warn Hermione about the troll early in their first year. The three were friends ever since.
  • Feliks, Net & Nika. They met on their first day in new school and stayed together ever since.
  • The Pendragon Adventure: Bobby, Mark and Courtney
  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Percy, Grover, and Annabeth
    • And in the sequel series, Jason, Piper and Leo
    • ...and also in the sequel series, Percy, Frank, and Hazel.
    • The third book in the series mixes things up a bit, switching Leo with Percy in their respective trios for much of the story.
  • Towards the end of the first Warrior Cats series, Firestar, Graystripe, and Sandstorm essentially become this.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird: Jem, Dill and Scout
  • The Princess Series: Danielle, Talia and Snow.
  • The Mystery Kids: Holly (Ego - the most normal one, uses reasoning to solve mysteries), Miranda (Id - prides herself on her ability to crack terrible jokes, most likely to be inspired to a solution), Peter (Superego - collects car registration numbers, loves technology and most likely to use a gadget to find a solution).
  • Green-Sky Trilogy: Raamo (All-Loving Hero), Neric (Deadpan Snarker), and Genaa (The smart girl)
  • A to Z Mysteries: Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose.
  • Wonder 2012: August, Summer, and Jack.
  • For a few chapters in Why We Took The Car: Maik, Tschick and Isa.
  • Textbook example in the Ahriman Trilogy with hero Simon, unrequited love interest Erin, and best friend Fausto.
  • Halo: The Fall of Reach has John-117 (The Master Chief) and his childhood friends Samuel-034 and Kelly-087, whom he bonded with closely with during the early days of the Spartan-II program. The three basically became surrogate siblings. Sam pulled a Heroic Sacrifice for John and was the very first Spartan-II killed in combat against the Covenant. While John and Kelly remain close to both each other and the other Spartans, not even John's Number Two Frederic-104 is really able to fill in Sam's spot in the original trio.
  • The Witchlands plays this trope with the trio of Hell-Bards that capture Iseult and Vaness, with intelligent Caden as the leader, brutish Zander as his Lancer and sneaky Lev as The Chick.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Our Miss Brooks: Walter Denton, his girlfriend Harriet Conklin, and his best friend Stretch Snodgrass.
  • Disney Channel is fond of this trope, and at least one show will have it.
    • Lizzie McGuire: Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda.
    • Naturally Sadie: Sadie, Margaret and Rain
    • Hannah Montana: Miley, Lilly and Oliver.
    • A.N.T. Farm: Chyna, Olive and Fletcher. Subverted when Angus joins the main cast in Season 3.
    • That's So Raven: Raven, Chelsea and Eddie.
    • Even Stevens: Louis, Tawny and Twitty.
    • Cory in the House: Cory, Meena and Newt.
    • The Famous Jett Jackson: Jett, JB and Kayla.
    • Sonny with a Chance: Sonny, Tawni, and Chad fit this dynamic well, but Nico, Grady, and Zora throw it off balance.
    • Austin & Ally: Kind of: you have the two titular protagonists, but the "Amigos" part is played straight with Dez and Trish.
    • Wizards of Waverly Place: Another subversion; Alex, Justin, and Harper kinda have this dynamic; but Justin is Alex's brother, and if you count him, you'll have to count Max as well.
    • Zeke and Luther is another twist to this. The title characters double the Hero role, Kojo and Ginger fit the sidekick roles but are commonly portrayed as antagonists, plus Ginger is Zeke's sister, and her actress Ryan Newman left after Season 2.
    • Lab Rats: Adam, Bree, and Chase; although Leo throws it off balance.
  • Super Sentai has done this several times.
  • iCarly has Carly and her female friend Sam and male friend Freddie. This relationship is very important to iCarly. It is usually the main focus of the show. When two of them fight the other one usually tries to break it up. But then came Gibby...
  • Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide: Ned, Moze and Cookie
  • Unfabulous: Addie, Gina and Zack.
  • Supah Ninjas: Mike, Owen, and Amanda
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer has Buffy and her best friends Willow and Xander. When Buffy moved in to town the three of them quickly became friends, with Willow and Xander helping Buffy fight the forces of darkness. Buffy is the superpowered Slayer around whose duties the show revolves, with Willow being the smart, shy hacker girl and Xander being the outgoing but not too smart Butt Monkey. The early seasons explored a love triangle between the three, with Willow having a crush on Xander and Xander having a crush on Buffy; the three ultimately remained only friends.
  • Flashbacks on How I Met Your Mother show us that Ted, Lily, and Marshall were this in college. Their dynamic changed when they met Barney a year after college, and Robin a few years after that, eventually transitioning them into a Five-Man Band.
  • The first three seasons of Smallville have Clark and his best friends Chloe and Pete. They're Clark's oldest friends and the three of them have been friends for years before the series started. They work on the school newspaper together.
  • What I Like About You: Holly, Tina and Gary.
  • Angel: As the name of the show implies, Angel is the main character, who founded the agency which works to combat evil. Early on, he was joined by Cordelia, the ex-spoiled rich girl who still loves clothing and aspires to acting stardom, and Doyle, a half-demon who would just like to fit in somewhere and whose visions of people in trouble let the team know where they are most needed. After Doyle's death halfway through season 1, Wesley joins the team, taking Doyle's place as the male friend. Wesley's thoughtful, caring, bookish nature contrasts sharply with Cordelia's ditzy, rather mercenary personality, but they all manage to get along.
  • An increasingly popular Power Rangers format:
  • Everwood: Bright, Colin and Amy in season one, mostly shown in flashbacks and the finale
  • True Jackson, VP: True, Lulu, and Ryan
  • The West Wing: Josh, Toby, and CJ; after Sam left. Before he left, the whole ensemble was too tightly-knit to be separated into Amigos.
  • Early Edition: Gary, Chuck and Marissa.
  • Wishbone: Joe, Sam and David.
  • Unnatural History: Henry, Jasper, and Maggie
  • Doctor Who does it about half the time: The Doctor, a female companion to serve as The Heart and a male companion to serve as the Plucky Comic Relief or The Big Guy, depending.
  • Merlin (2008) has one of these, despite the setting. Arthur, Merlin and Guinevere don't attend high school, but they make up the aspects of the trope perfectly.
  • Greek has Evan, Cappie and Casey before the series began but it ended in it's logical conclusion, later they try several times to come back to this but they fail.
  • The Wonder Years: Kevin, Paul, and Winnie
  • Violet Vinther, Mr. Scwann and Miss Jørgensen from the danish Matador is this until Mr. Scwann dies
  • Battlestar Galactica: Apollo, Starbuck and Sheba; subverted in which all three of them are Viper pilots.
  • Starsky, Hutch and Huggy Bear; also subverted.
  • Graduados, Andy, Tuca and Vero
  • Boy Meets World: Cory, Shawn and Topanga. Jack, Rachel and Eric are this to a lesser extent when their Love Triangle isn't as present.
  • Girl Meets World gender-flips its parent series with Riley, Maya, and Lucas and/or Farkle.
  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Sabrina, Harvey and Jenny (season 1), Sabrina, Harvey and Valerie (season 2 and 3).
  • The Worst Year of My Life, Again: Alex, Simon and Maddy.
  • Deadwood: Wild Bill Hickok, Charlie Utter, and Calamity Jane
  • Done in a few Kamen Rider series:
  • El Chavo del ocho: Chavo, Quico and Chilindrina.
  • The Muppet Show, althoug it has Loads and Loads of Characters, Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo have an especial friendship among themselves.

    Professional Wrestling 

    Theatre 
  • Evan, Patrice,and Archie in 13.
  • Blood Brothers: Mickey, Eddie, and Linda in the first act.

    Video Games 

    Web Original 

     Webcomics 

    Western Animation 

Alternative Title(s): One Hero Two Sidekicks

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