In the vast mythology of hostile creatures in the Resident Evil game series, bugs are probably the most popular and prominent species. From their humble beginnings as just wasps, spiders or moths in the first games to their horrifying versions as lethal and super-powerful mutations of bosses in later installments, insects and other bugs of the creepy environments that shape the Resident Evil universe are always there to spice up the gameplay and the plots with their peculiar magic. Originating from classic stories of fiction, like Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis (1915), or iconic horror films like Bernard Rose's Candyman (1992), the use of bugs in the Resident Evil games is impressively extensive, and not randomly so: as creatures in their essence, insects are unique and fascinating; the way they function, their distinctive intelligence and their stealthiness differentiate them from other species, mainly because at the same time they are very small, sometimes almost invisible, and they have their own secret codes with which they communicate. Nearly all of their appearances in the series are associated with lab experiments, due to which the bugs are transformed into mutated versions of their original kinds, almost always extremely dangerous or even lethal bio-organic weapons. 

The insect hive in Salazar's castle from the original Resident Evil 4

As early as in the very first Resident Evil game, bees, wasps and spiders were featured in the plot, either as enemies or as gameplay elements. Items associated with or depicting insects have also been very common in the series' world, further highlighting the importance of the species in the Resident Evil universe. In the first game, one of the many puzzles that you have to solve early in the story is in the Specimen room, which hosts several glass cases with bug specimen. It involves two identical panels with fishing lures; you have to remove a lure of a bee from the first panel, combine it with a fishhook to create a golden bee specimen, and then place it on the second panel after removing from that one a plain bee specimen; then you have to place the plain bee specimen on the first panel.

The lure of a bee

This is a very important puzzle as it unlocks an item that is necessary, along with three more similar objects, to access a very strong weapon later on. After the puzzle is solved, the bee specimen will come to life and attack you.

The giant bee attacks Chris in the Specimen room

This puzzle is quite representative of the insect-themed sections of the game, as later on in the Residence (the smaller house with the vintage lab in the Spencer Mansion's spooky garden) you will need to go through a trial which involves real insects: there is a live wasp hive in a back corridor that you have to destroy, as there is no way to go anywhere near it without getting severely injured. Your task is to find an insecticide - in a retro container to match the overall vintage environment of the house - and use it on the hive so as to melt it down and kill the wasps. 

The hive in the Residence

In later games, bee mutations became more elaborate, as bio-weapon technology in the in-game universe also evolved. In Resident Evil 6, one somewhat rare human mutation is the Glava-dim, which causes the subject's head to split in two halves that are essentially the bodies of bees. This specific mutation is not directly dangerous, as the mutant does not attack, but it flaps its bee wings releasing a red mist which blinds the view for a short time, subsequently making fighting sequences much more difficult.

The Glava-dim getting ready to release its red mist

In the same game, a related human mutation is the Gnezdo: it consists of a giant bee body which floats about releasing a bug swarm that attacks from time to time. After being shot with a strong virus strain, the subject dies and is entrapped in a cocoon, and after a few seconds the cocoon breaks letting out the Gnezdo and its bugs. This mutation can be seen often in the game's story, but the first time that we see it happen is the most memorable, as well as emotionally loaded: Carla Radames shoots Marco, one of Chris's soldiers, with a powerful dose of the virus strain in order to show the BSAA leader what she is capable of. Soon Marco turns into a Gnezdo and attacks Chris and Piers, forcing a devastated Chris to put him down.

Chris shooting at his mutated soldier

Bug swarms are also seen regularly in the Resident Evil games, as it is the large numbers that make them dangerous and, sometimes, fearsome, rather than their attributes. Ethan in Resident Evil 7, while exploring the chilling - and ruined - grounds of the creepily charming old house of the Baker residence, is continuously being attacked by swarms of flies that are controlled by Marguerite Baker. The flies are almost harmless when they stand still on the walls, but once they form a group they can cause a lot of damage. In a few places in the house's grounds, they have also formed hives blocking passages or the access to important objects, and Ethan must use a flamethrower to burn those down, to Marguerite's great dismay.

Marguerite leading her flies to attack Ethan

Marguerite's connection with her flies is also very interesting, as she seems to be quite obsessed with them, talking about them as if they were her children. Also the victim of a bad mutation, Marguerite has become almost invulnerable and she strolls around the old house carrying an old lit lantern. As an object, the lantern has great importance, since its light attracts the flies which sort of protect Marguerite during her patrols, making Ethan's exploration of the place quite a pain. Sometimes he needs to find an alternative route after noticing the light of the lantern by the turn of a dark corridor; or he may need to quickly destroy a hive barrier in order to escape the raging attacks of Marguerite and her flies. After Ethan wounds her significantly at some point, she hides in the greenhouse where he then has to fight with her and steal her lantern. In her final mutation, she grows extremely long legs and arms which allow her to climb on the walls and the ceiling, mimicking the movements of a cockroach or a giant bug. From time to time, swarms of flies spawn from her mutated abdomen and fly over to bite Ethan, making way for her own, much more dangerous attacks.

Marguerite displaying some impressive fly acrobatics

Derek Simmons in Resident Evil 6 undergoes a fly mutation during the final stages of the boss fight in Leon's campaign. After transforming into a Centaur-like creature and then a Giganotosaurus in the stages before the last one, he finally mutates into a Mega Fly which also switches to one more variant during the actual battle. This version of Simmons is one of the most impressive insect mutations, also due to the fact that he requires a cunning strategy to be defeated, which involves taking advantage of the weather conditions and using a lightning rod to electrocute him, as there does not seem to be a direct way to put him down.

Mega Fly Simmons nearly covers the skyline

Fly swarms make an appearance, albeit limited, in Resident Evil Village, as an attack method of the vampiric Alcina Dimitrescu's daughters; while hitting Ethan with their sickles and daggers, they also release fly swarms that bite and sting, rendering their victim extremely vulnerable for a few seconds, thus making their attacks far more dangerous and effective. The interesting fact about these specific flies is that they were infused in the girls's bodies during experiments, then taking their forms. So in reality the daughters have nothing truly human any more, as their bodies are made of these swarms of flies.

Alcina's daughters can control the flies in Marguerite's style

Spider swarms, also seen in Resident Evil 7, have appeared in earlier games as well. In the Resident Evil 2 story, as it was depicted in the Darkside Chronicles version in the chapters of Memory Of A Lost City, several small spiders attack Leon and Claire as they make their way towards the boiler room of the RPD, where the mutated William Birkin is lurking. The underground of the police station, now inhabited by zombies, rabid dogs and lickers, is the ideal environment for spiders to crawl about.

The baby spiders are highly toxic

In the same game, giant spiders were also featured in the RPD underground and the sewers section. They appear in the first games too, as well as in more recent releases, albeit in not such large numbers as their baby counterparts. The first Resident Evil game, the Outbreak series, Resident Evil Zero, the original Nemesis, Code Veronica and Revelations 2 featured various species of giant spiders, includung the Black Widow and the Whip Spider, and they can also be seen in the Operation Javier episodes of the Darkside Chronicles.

Giant versions of the Jumping Spider in Operation Javier

Spider mutations of humans are also very common in the Resident Evil world. The earliest one can be tracked down in the original Resident Evil 4, during the final boss fight with Osmund Saddler where the paranoid, power-hungry arch-villain of the story mutates into a horrifying and gigantic spider-like creature with eye pods on the joints of its legs. The mutation stems from his head while he is floating about with tentacle-like legs under his robe.

Saddler's final mutation is unforgettable

Saddler's spider mutation is connected to the Plaga parasite growing in the mines below the Salazar Castle, an arthropod that pre-existed in the mountainous region where Salazar's ancestors resided. A variation of this species can be seen in both the original Resident Evil 4 and its recent remake in the form of the araña, a spider-like creature which is able to instantly merge itself with an infected human, creating a highly dangerous and toxic hybrid which, in the remake's version, is additionally extremely hard to kill. A similar mutant, the bui kichwa, can be seen in Resident Evil 5.

The original araña of Resident Evil 4

A different spider mutation of humans appears in Resident Evil 6, in the form of the the Noga-Trchanje. Contrary to Saddler's mutation, this one affects the lower body of the infected humans, developing spider-like legs which allow them to crawl on walls and ceilings and hide under low objects.

Human spider mutants can attack in groups

Another spider mutant is the Drain Deimos species that appear in Nemesis and its remake, Resident Evil 3. The original Drain Deimos look a bit different than the revamped ones, but they both have spider attributes and are equally dangerous, as they can cause serious injuries and even extreme poisoning. They are fast and can show up and attack as fast as they can then disappear inside the walls of the molded areas that they inhabit.

The Drain Deimos are able to camouflage themselves perfectly

Giant mutated scorpions have also made an appearance in the series, albeit they are not as common as other bugs or arthropods. The Stinger in Resident Evil Zero is "just" a huge scorpion, without any other obvious physical change. It appears in the sitting room wagon of the train and it is the first boss that you have to fight in the game, also foreshadowing the rest of the giant mutated animals that will show up later.

Just a simple, next-door giant scorpion

The U-3 in the original Resident Evil 4 is a human-insect-reptile hybrid, that partly simulates the movements and attacks of a scorpion, albeit it is a very unique species with no other mutant even remotely similar to it. Its human part makes it extremely cunning and smart; its insect material allows it to attack in a variety of ways and its reptile components result in it being very fast and swift and cover long distances in seconds. Killing it is a long and stressing process that takes place in one of the most creepy and unfriendly environments of the game.

The U-3 is one of the most horrifying creatures in the Resident Evil universe

The U-8 in Resident Evil 5 is an evolution of this monster, but notably the U-8, although being way bigger and looking quite intimidating, is not half as creepy, because it is the human element - namely, the terrifying face - that makes the U-3's presence so spine-chilling.

The U-8 is a gigantic arthropod-looking mutant

An insect-themed puzzle in Resident Evil 7 involves turning an object around following the shapes it changes in the shadow, so as to unlock a passage. The picture on the puzzle's panel depicts a spider attacking a butterfly; the butterfly is part of the picture, but only the spider's inset is there, so you need to turn the object around and form the shape of the spider in order to complete the picture and open a secret passage. In a more symbolic level, we could say that as long as the puzzle remains unsolved, the butterfly is safe; the puzzle is solved when the spider appears on the panel, at which point it is in an attacking position, sealing the butterfly's sad fate. Something that could very well work as an allegory for the story itself.

The insect-themed puzzle

Real butterflies but in stuffed form can be found in Code Veronica, in the secret attic above the carousel room at the Ashford Palace. There is a small office up there, and on one wall we can see several butterflies in glass cases, the most impressive and prominent being a giant blue Morpho in a separate frame. Several stuffed butterflies can be seen also in the first Resident Evil game and in Resident Evil 2 Remake, in the taxidermy lab of Chief Irons (see the related article here). The stuffed insects and bugs as part of the environment add to the overall vintage atmosphere of the earlier games. The big, mazey houses that are featured in the plots, like the Ashford Mansion with its private palace, the Spencer Mansion and the structurally retro Racoon Police Department with its leftover museum collections, all seem to belong to a past time and place. This element is almost always prominent in the Resident Evil games, and it is highlighted with the inclusion of such settings as well as their vintage and sometimes eccentric decorations and objects in their spaces. Collecting stuffed bugs used to be a popular hobby a long time ago, and such collections can be still seen in real-life historical houses or museums.

The stuffed butterflies in Code Veronica are part of Alfred Ashford's collection

Butterflies are strongly associated with Ada Wong, being her trademark symbol in the original Resident Evil 4. They can be seen as a design on her iconic red dress and on the sleeve of her Assignment Ada blouse, and much later in Resident Evil 6, a carved butterfly decorates her powder case. In the Separate Ways version of the Resident Evil 4 Remake, while in the Salazar Castle, Ada finds herself in a specimen room that looks like it once belonged to a collector of such items. There is a glass case with stuffed butterflies, and Ada has to turn the correct symbols on its lock so as to open it and take the Blue Butterfly specimen.

Another Morpho in the Resident Evil world

Much earlier, however, in the Operation Javier intro of the Darkside Chronicles, we see Leon arriving in the hostile South American jungle, and moments before his unforgettable meeting with Jack Krauser, a butterfly flies and sits on his shoulder. Being distracted with gazing at the beautiful insect, Leon does not take notice of a snake about to attack him, but Jack shows up at just the right moment to stab the snake in place and save Leon's life. Although there has been speculation that the butterfly may symbolize Ada, since at the time of Operation Javier Leon had already met her in Raccoon City years earlier and still considers her dead, taking into account however that this butterfly is a different species from the ones associated with Ada and also that the snake in this scene and, from that point and on, in the series' lore, symbolizes Krauser as far as Leon's story is concerned, we could say that in this specific instance the allegory deviates from its original theme and the butterfly symbolizes Leon. In this context, and given the traits of each character, the symbolism becomes even stronger, as the butterfly stands for Leon's innocence, his good heart and clarity of mind, while the snake foreshadows Krauser's subsequent slyness and metaphorical venom.

The Darkside butterfly matches Leon's colours

The butterfly is one of the most common symbols that is featured in fiction and poetry to represent the psyche, the human soul; and this is not the only time that it is used as a symbol in Operation Javier. At the end of the story, if you get the bad ending where Manuela dies in the helicopter on the way back from the jungle, she then dissolves into what looks like a swarm of tiny butterflies. This element of the plot works again as a symbol which, this time, represents Manuela's pure spirit that remained unaffected in spite of her severe physical and mental infection, and also stands for the lost lives of all the girls that Javier had sacrificed in a desperate attempt to cure his daughter. 

Leon with Manuela's remains

Butterfly mutations appear in Resident Evil 6, in the form of the Telo-Magla mutants. After being shot, the lower body of the infected soldiers grows a pair of beautiful butterfly wings, resulting in them flying in the air in vertical, upside-down position. They can still use weapons with their arms, and sometimes they emit a suffocating dust from their flapping wings.

Jake shooting at a Telo-Magla

These butterfly mutations seem to have their origins in the mutated giant moths that first appeared in the original Resident Evil 2 and were also featured in Memory Of A Lost City from the Darkside Chronicles, as well as in the Outbreak stories. Beautiful and majestic, they are however extremely dangerous; in Code Veronica, they can potentially become lethal, as they are poisonous as well. Most of the times they can be seen with baby moths around them, which are equally dangerous in spite of their small size (although they can be killed far easier).

The giant moths in Memory Of A Lost City are beautiful but lethal

One of the creepiest insect mutations is undoubtedly the Novistador, the hideous human-insect hybrid first encountered in the original Resident Evil 4, which can fly, float eerily in the air, run extremely fast while making chilling noises with its legs, and can cause instant death by decapitating its victims. The Novistador looks like a giant mosquito, although the creepiness of its appearance and the effect that it has on those who see it, match those of a cockroach. They can appear and disappear (in the original game) or camouflage themselves in their environment, slyly waiting for their victims to approach them innocuous so as to make their attack (in the game's remake).

The original Novistador is a sight for sore eyes (not)

The hybrids seem to have a very strong connection with Osmund Saddler, who seems to be able to control them directly and even order them to do murderous work for him. Like in the case of the U-3, those too owe much of their ability to respond to orders to their human element, which apparently constitutes a part of their brain. In the Resident Evil 4 Remake, they even appear alongside Saddler during the final boss fight after he summons them from time to time, making the battle even more hellish than it already is.

The RE4 Remake's Saddler is accompanied by his bugs

The Reaper, another terrifying hybrid that appears in Resident Evil 5, looks similar to the Novistador but although equally (or even more) lethal, it has a different biology. Created accidentally from infected cockroaches, it is much bigger than the Novistador and, unlike the latter, each one is hatched in an individual nest which breaks unexpectedly releasing its creepy inhabitant.

The Reaper gets even more blood-curdling if you know its origin

But the king of all cockroach hybrids is definitely the Verdugo, Salazar's horrifying "right hand" from Resident Evil 4, who also makes his appearance in the game's remake. The Verdugo, whose name means "executioner" in Spanish, once was a human, working for the Salazar family; probably a personal butler or a bodyguard for Ramon, something that is also hinted by the treasures left behind by the monster in both games in case Leon kills him (in the original game he drops the Salazar Crown Jewel and in the remake he drops the Gold Monocle). His DNA was fused with that of insects, and the result was the creation of a monstrous cockroach-looking creature, whose exoskeleton made him extremely hard to kill. Even in his mutated form, the Verdugo remains devoted to his master, patrolling the sewers under the castle to protect them from invaders.

The Verdugo is a moving nightmare

A hybrid of several insect species, the Plague Crawler that appears in Resident Evil Zero is a giant arthropod-looking creature which makes a characteristic clicking noise when it is close. Visually it is like an insect with claws, and its attacks are swift and very dangerous. 

The long body is probably what makes the Plague Crawler so creepy

Regular, non-mutated cockroaches also appear in large numbers in several Resident Evil games. Needless to say that those are far more terrifying than their mutated counterparts or any other extravagant mutants. The centuries-old, atavistic fear that most people automatically feel when they see a cockroach could not have been depicted more realistically. Among the most unforgettable instances of encountering cockroaches are the sequences in Code Veronica, Resident Evil 2, Memory Of A Lost City from the Darkside Chronicles and Resident Evil 2 Remake.

Give me zombies anytime!

In the Outbreak series, the Mega Bites make an unforgettable appearance, as they do not show up again in other games. They are mutated fleas and they live in colonies in the tunnels of Raccoon City. In spite of their size, they are bugs of minor importance and, like the Reapers, were the product of an accidental infection. The Giga Bite, however, is a gigantic version of these already big mutants and, unlike the Mega Bites, is a unique specimen, even serving as a boss.

The Raccoon City survivors fighting the Mega Bites

Another unique bug that appears in only one game and within this in only one story, is the Oko which is encountered solely in Jake's campaign from Resident Evil 6. The Okos are very small insects which however behave like bats; they show up alongside the Ustanak in the snowy mountains of Edonia and they serve as his eyes since he can only hear sounds but not see. The Okos spawn from an organ on the Ustanak's back, which is why they can communicate with him so directly. They fly around in patrolling patterns and their radius covers a specific space. If they see anything suspicious within this space, they alarm the Ustanak who seems to know instantly where to go and attack.

Jake watching the Oko's patrol

In Revelations 2, there are standard Insect Larvae in the forest in Barry's campaign, that can be spotted only by Natalia, who seems able to somehow sense their presence and locate them by seeing their aura. The Larvae are harmless, and they only serve as a collectible for Natalia, who can hit them with bricks and take them with her as souvenirs.

The Larvae look a lot like the Mega Bites

Ants appear in abundance in Code Veronica and the Darkside Chronicles version of the story, Game of Oblivion, serving also as key items in their artificial form. In the Ashford mansion replica at the Antarctica base, ants can be seen overflowing the corridors and ceilings, as a grim foreshadowing of what will follow. The disturbing atmosphere that is dominant in that horrifying place can only host evil forces, and the swarms of hostile ants are indicative of this.

The Ashford mansion replica in Game of Oblivion hosts huge flying ants

In Code Veronica, puzzles involving ant jewels are important plot points both on Rockfort Island and Antarctica. As everything in the Ashford private palace is connected to Alfred's twisted perception of reality and his obsession with his twin sister Alexia, every activity in the house is set around stressing puzzles that work in sets of two. The King Ant and Queen Ant jewels are twin items that operate identical music boxes in the siblings' rooms, unlocking doors or revealing secret ladders, and there are several other items in the rooms that depict ants, also having a functional aspect.

The King Ant music box is functional again

In her penultimate mutation as a boss, Alexia transforms into a Queen Ant, also summoning ants during the final battle. This development explains why there were so many ants in the grounds of the mansion, revealing that Alexia was able to control them and use them as auxiliary weapons. In the past, while carrying out her experiments, Alexia would use ants in her researches, resulting in many of them being infected and eventually mutated. Alexia kept them in her lab in Antarctica, where they were able to survive the cold weather thanks to their mutation.

Alexia's Queen Ant mutation in Game of Oblivion

The other most prominent insect in Code Veronica is the dragonfly, which appears in various forms in the game's compelling story. There are dragonfly-shaped items that work as keys when combined with the right set of wings, either golden or silver, and are used to unlock secret passages and important, otherwise inaccessible, areas.

One of the dragonfly keys

Early in the story, when Claire is still unaware of how far gone Alfred is, she unlocks a slide projector that plays a home movie, where Alfred and Alexia, at a very young age, play a most disturbing game in which they rip the wings of a dragonfly and they leave it helpless as ants swarm and devour it. It is notable that the wingless dragonfly looks exactly like the artificial dragonfly object which, similarly, lacks the necessary wings that will turn it into a key. In spite of its depressing content, the video works as a hint, leading Claire (and the player) to figure out how to actually solve the dragonfly key puzzle when the time comes.

Alfred ripping the dragonfly's wings

Notably, there is a puzzle in Code Veronica that combines the two important insects: in the secret attic with the carousel at the private palace, there is a wall painting depicting a huge ant. The ant's mouth has a keyhole where the dragonfly object must be placed so as to operate the carousel and make it turn, to reveal a hidden ladder leading to an upper room.

The ant and the dragonfly combined in another twisted puzzle

Alexia's final mutation as a boss, after the Queen Ant is defeated, transforms her into a dragonfly-like creature that can only be killed with a special launcher weapon. Although it is a straightforward battle, it becomes challenging because of Alexia's fast and confusing flying movements. Being the boss of such an iconic and one-of-a-kind game, which is considered by many the most representative installment of the series, Alexia had to undergo mutations that would be equally emblematic and indicative of the Resident Evil universe. Although the game was released in 2002 and was followed by many subsequent releases, it kind of marked the saga with its insuperable story, its brilliant puzzles and its captivating characters, including its villains and their impressive mutations.

Dragonfly Alexia in Game of Oblivion

The Resident Evil world is full of winged and crawling creatures that appear in extravagant versions of their natural species, forming a fascinating universe where the limits between good and evil eventually become vague and sometimes even cross each other. The insects and the bugs in their natural state can be harmless or they can be extremely dangerous but without evil intentions. The experiments leading to their mutations transform the innocent creatures into potential enemies and the dangerous ones into lethal weapons. Their symbolism, in the cases where it is intentionally highlighted, is not always the same, because the bugs and the insects themselves are versatile, and their overall existence is still a mystery to some degree. There are many other living beings in the Resident Evil games that are encountered in altered enemy forms, either as mutated versions of themselves or as hybrids with humans, but the charm of the winged creatures and the crawling ones is very special, something that explains why the enemies based on those are almost always among the most bizarre and fascinating entities in the games. Their significance as objects in an artificial form is equally important, as most of the times they are associated with the people who use them or to whom they belong, and the emphasis on their symbolic aspect may shed more light to the characters' actions and their evolution in the stories.

Bromantic Heroes

Bromances in video games are like the bread and butter; no matter what the main story is, many games feature a bromance which sometimes is there for fan service purposes while other times it is an important element of the plot. Although there is no specific reason why there are so many bromances in the video games universe, I would guess that it is mainly due to the fact that the male characters, no matter whether they have a lead or a secondary role, are men of action focused on their mission, of good nature and with good intentions (although there are surely exceptions to this), therefore they can easily like people and become likeable themselves and be trustworthy friends and comrades.

A bromance is defined as "a close, emotionally intense, platonic bond between two men, [...] an exceptionally tight affectional, homosocial male bonding relationship exceeding that of usual friendship, [...] distinguished by a particularly high level of emotional intimacy."  This definition seems to describe perfectly all the bromances that are featured in this article, however quite a few of them are not as simple. Several times our heroes go even further than that, and quite often what is implied is much more prominent than what is actually shown.

Dating back in the '90ties, Jane Jensen's Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within was possibly the first game to feature a bromance; or at least the first to feature one in such an obvious and canon way. The protagonist is Gabriel Knight, a young writer and amateur detective with a good deal of metaphysical heritage on his back. While investigating a series of murders, his research leads him to the charming and mysterious baron Friedrich Von Glower. Although it is made clear in several ways that Gabriel is straight as an arrow and quite the womanizer, it becomes equally clear in the process that he is strangely attracted to Friedrich who, even from their first meeting, seems totally smitten with Gabriel.

Gabriel's life is about to take a dramatic turn

Gabriel, who is normally quite laid back and cool, feels that there is something different about the Baron. Friedrich on the other hand shows his infatuation with Gabriel, although the latter does not always seem to take notice of the hints in the baron's words. However, considering he is actually a writer and therefore an intelligent man, it is more likely that he understands everything in fact, but decides to not let Friedrich know that he does.

The mystery that surrounds the baron, as well as the fact that for a good part of the game he may be considered the main villain, are the basic elements that make Gabriel keep his distances at the start. Still, Friedrich never ceases to subtly flirt with him and make his point.

Friedrich's words take a different meaning once you realise his attraction to Gabriel

Although Friedrich is not the killer everyone is searching for, his secret is connected to Gabriel and his past, and this is bound to make things tough for both of them soon. At some point, Friedrich notices the medallion that Gabriel is wearing around his neck, and which is a valuable and powerful family heritage: Gabriel comes from a long line of 'Shadow Hunters', people able to find and defeat evil powers. As one of them, Gabriel has the ability to discover that Friedrich is actually a werewolf, something that does not pass unnoticed from the baron.

While examining sleeping Gabriel's medallion, Friedrich has the chance to get a bit more intimate

Forced by the tumultuous events that come the one after the other, Gabriel finds himself unable to control his fate. The only solution is to kill Friedrich so as to not become a werewolf himself. On another level of analysis, we could say that Gabriel killing the baron symbolizes the suppression of a side of his sexuality that was unbeknown to him until he met Friedrich. By killing Friedrich, he forced that side to remain hidden in an attempt to get back to his old life.

This is one of the most ill-fated and starcrossed bromances so far, with its undertones giving it a far more dramatic character.

Gabriel struggling to not turn into a werewolf symbolizes his inner fight to suppress his new emotions

Born from the inspiration of Jane Jensen again, Malachi Rector, the protagonist of the adventure puzzle game Moebius: Empire Rising (2014), is a man characterized by a striking contradiction: he has an extremely cold and snobbish attitude while his physical features are dangerously attractive and fiery. Malachi is a well-known antiquities expert who suffers from seizures (this is something that very few people know about) and prefers to be alone for most of the time.

Malachi is a handsome man and he seems to be aware of it

While working on a case of a mysterious murder where he his knowledge as an antiquer is needed, he comes across David Walker, a young man who used to be in the army. Their meeting takes place under mysterious circumstances, and although Malachi doesn't seem too keen on becoming buddies with David, he is soon forced to hire him as a bodyuard when he realizes that his life is in danger. David becomes attached to Malachi, although the latter is not always sure about trusting him, and things become even more complicated and intense when David is kidnapped together with Helene, a distinguished aristoctat and potential murder victim.

While it becomes somehow clear that David's feelings for Malachi go beyond a standard frienship, for Malachi things are more mazey. His biggest issue is that he is a misanthrope, so when he gets closer to David, above all he finds it hard to deal with the fact that he actually got to like someone for a change. When David disappears, Malachi realises how much he cares for him, and when an operation is set to find Helene and free her, he risks his own life to make sure that David remains safe and also gets freed in the process.

David helps Malachi during a seizure crisis, not missing to feel him up a bit

What makes the Moebius bromance stand out most is fact that it is not afraid to demonstrate itself directly. Moreover, from a point and on it becomes the focus of the story, as Malachi puts his research aside and his main concern becomes David's liberation. The fact that David was deliberately thrown in Malachi's path when they first met is an important revelation that makes Malachi change his perspective. The people who are responsible for the murders are in fact putting to practice a theory which claims that certain patterns of history are repeated from time to time, and they want to take advantage of this for their own benefit. Both David and Malachi are revealed to be part of such a pattern, and they were destined to come together, which makes their relationship more or less karmic.

Another detail that accentuates the deeper essence of this bromance is when at some point David's sexual preferences are not only hinted to but also pointed at, during a conversation between Malachi and Mr Carter, one of the villains. Mr Carter remarks that it should be easy for Malachi to keep David under his control, thanks to his stunning looks. This implies that David may have been a bait for Malachi for practical reasons - since their acquaintance served the bad guys - but also Malachi was, unbeknown to him, a bait for David who, we can safely assume, had soft spot for tall dark men. The conspirators knew about David's weakness and this gave them the certainty that David would not betray them since it would be impossible for him to quit his mission once he met Malachi.

The ending of the game leaves little to imagination as to what the development of this bromance will probably be.

The connotations of the bleeding nose are rather obvious in this scene

Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011) and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (2016), has several different bromances in his adventurous life. In Human Revolution, Adam was a regular police officer working as a Security chief, but saw his life turn upside down after he got nearly killed during a violent attack. His boss, David Sarif, head of an Industry that developed and produced evolved prosthetic limbs, literally saved his life by using those necessary to replace the ones that Adam lost or became disfunctional. When he returned back from the dead thanks to David, he was a wholly new man, only the half of him was mechanically augmented.

Adam's bromances could fill a small notebook

The fact that David was the one responsible for Adam's 'rebirth' established a peculiar 'father-son' relationship between them. Adam is, to David, a constant reminder of the perfection that can be achieved with the right use of augmentations, as well as a confirmation of his own successful work. For Adam, David is a saviour who brought him back to life, but on the other hand he is also the one responsible for Adam's isolation, since his too obvious impressive enhancements push him to the margins of the 'normal' human society.

It is subtly implied - although it can pass unnoticed because the main plot is so massive and overwhelming - that Adam has some sort of emotional dependence on David, due to the fact that his new self was literally created by his boss's hands. Adam's name is not random; and David's name begins with a 'd', like 'Deus' (God). Adam is David's 'son' but in reality he is not his son, of course; Adam owes David his life, but at the same time he cannot forgive him because David made the choice to give Adam all the mechanical enhancements on his behalf without asking him if he wanted it. David on the other hand loves Adam dearly as a son, but inevitably he feels - maybe subconsciously to a degree - that because it was him who created the new Adam, he totally owns him, therefore has total control over him and he doesn't hesitate to manipulate him if necessary

David cares for Adam but sometimes he becomes too bossy

On a totally different level is Adam's relationship with Frank Pritchard, David's tech guru. Frank is a down-to-earth, sarcastic and extremely intelligent man who thinks on his feet and initially feels contempt for the gloomy, mysterious and compelling Adam.

Adam and Frank want to pretend that they dislike each other deeply, but they never miss to bump onto each other with or without excuse. Initially Frank likes to pick on Adam with ironic comments, however as they have to work more and more together, they both get to know each other better. Frank starts changing his attitude gradually and even helps Adam dig out shocking details about his past, going as far as to risk David's trust in him by passing top security info over to Adam.

Frank later writes a screenplay where the main hero is a guy who seems like a combination of himself and Adam, proving that bromances can be a great source of creative inspiration.

In spite of his misleading sassy attitude, Frank trusts and respects Adam a lot

Things are a bit different for Adam in Mankind Divided; although the world around him is in turmoil and augmented people like him are totally marginalized and treated like lepers, he seems much more settled and conscious of his situation. He is less sentimental and more cautious towards others, which is why he never opens up to anyone.

His closest friend is Vaclav Koller, his personal doctor, a very young and very eccentric mad scientist, who seems to have developed some sort of crush towards Adam. Although his interest is clearly scientific mostly, because Adam's top-notch augmentations give him goosebumps and he wants to get his hands of them and study them, his whole attitude betrays something much more than admiration and caring for his patient. Adam, for his own part, seems rather distant when interacting with Koller, but this is his regular style anyway, and on the other hand, it surely feels very awkward for him to have someone gaze at him from head to toe like Koller does, moreso if it is for science's sake.

You don't actually realize how much Adam counts Koller's friendship unless you trigger an unfortunate development where Otar Botkoveli, a ruthless mafioso, decides to take his revenge on Adam for not keeping his word. Knowing how much Adam needs Koller for his medical assistance and cares for him as a friend, Botkoveli sends his men to kill the doctor, who was on his black list anyway, so the poor guy didn't stand a chance.

Koller likes to greet Adam with over-enthusiastic comments

Being the responsible and reliable agent that he is, Adam has managed to gain the respect of his new boss, Jim Miller; but not his entire trust. Miller appears to be a hard man, void of emotions, who is focused on his job and his duty and does not care for anything else. The reality of his life is much different, though. While making a research, Adam breaks into Miller's apartment and finds out the many secrets of his personal life, details that make Adam view him differently and realize that Miller actually uses all that tough facade as a cover for his deeply sentimental side and the troubles he's dealing with.

Miller wants to trust Adam, but he is sceptical towards him at the beginning; something that is bound to change as the story unfolds. At a crucial point, Adam offers Miller the ultimate proof of his integrity, by giving him an antidote to reverse the effects of a lethal poison that he had been forced to drink. Miller then confesses to Adam that he knows he is a good man and that he always wanted to trust him, like he does now.

Adam's relationship with Miller is much more balanced than the one he had with David, as there is no dependence between them. Another interesting element is the fact that Miller is in fact a homosexual, but prefers to keep this for himself; Adam however seems totally unaffected by this revelation (in fact it seems that somehow he likes Miller more after finding it out), teaching the seemingly progressed but in reality still very conservative society of 2029 a life lesson about social acceptance.

Adam and Jim have a budding bromance

Although the theme in Murdered: Soul Suspect (2014) is a crime story with a supernatural twist, thew game does have its fair share of bromancing, although the parties involved never interact in real time. The plot is centered around Ronan O' Connor, an ex-rogue who became a detective and got viciously murdered while chasing a serial killer. Finding out that he is trapped between this world and the other, he comes back as a ghost to take care of his unresolved business. While at it, he has a chance to look back at his life, recall events and contemplate his relationships with his loved ones; and it is through these memories that we get to know him better as well.

Ronan causes a stir of emotions even as a ghost

Ronan was a boy who was living a wild life in the streets, and the prison was his second home. When he met Julia, his good side prevailed and the two fell in love. Julia had a brother, Rex, who was a police chief. Rex liked Ronan so much that even Julia was taken by surprise, because she knew that her brother was always very sceptical and did not easily trust people. Rex was able to see the good in Ronan; he accepted him in the family as a brother, took him under his wing and helped him become a cop and then a detective, leaving his rogue days behind. Unfortunately the happy times ended when Julia was killed in a street clash, and some time later Ronan was murdered, leaving Rex totally devastated.

It becomes very clear, from the several notes and memories that we collect along the way, that Ronan and Rex were having a very intense bromance, to the extent that Julia mentioned at some point that they all were 'a family of three'. When Rex learns about Ronan's death, he rushes to the scene of the crime although it is not his case, and his reactions show openly how much despair he feels.

Rex (right) silently mourns over Ronan's dead body (center) while Ronan's ghost (left) watches

From several aspects, the bromance between Ronan and Rex resembles the one of Gabriel and Friedrich from Gabriel Knight. Ronan and Rex fall victims of supernatural forces and metaphysical twists, which make them do things that they don't want to. The difference is that while Gabriel and Friedrich were conscious of both the events and their consequences, Ronan and Rex could not realize what was going on, because of an evil spirit that possessed both of them and led them to repulsive criminal acts, of which they had no conscience while committing. The tragic aspect however is pretty much similar, as it is revealed that it was actually Rex who murdered Ronan, albeit under the influence of the evil spirit.

Ronan's ghost tries to comfort Rex at Julia's grave

A game series like Life Is Strange, that explores the many layers and expressions of friendship, could not be without a bromance. Its most recent installement, Before The Storm (2017) features yet one more ill-fated bromance which, although it is not associated with the main characters, it partly affects the progression of events and is loaded with a decent amount of drama.

In this flashback story, among other characters from the first game, we also have the chance to see Frank Bauer, the drug dealer of Arcadia Bay, who, in spite of his ill reputation, does have a sincerely good side. Frank won't hesitate to pull a knife or be a tough negotiator with his clients, but he adores his puppy and will gladly get in the way to protect Chloe and Rachel.

Frank may look tough but deep down he is very sentimental

Frank has a strong, life-long bromance with Damon Merrick, who belongs to the underworld like Frank, but is way tougher than him and literally ruthless. Despite their different approach in life, Frank and Damon are connected with brotherly love and mutual respect, and they trust each other unconditionally. When at some point Chloe attempts to accuse Frank of being a stitch, Damon becomes enraged and replies that this is something he would never believe, adding that he would kill for Frank, whom he knows almost since they were born.

Frank (left) and Damon (right) are like brothers

Things won't end up well for them, though. During an eventful meet up in the junkyard, Damon gets furious after Rachel hits him and Frank with a plank of wood; he attacks her and hits her severely with a knife, and when Frank tries to keep him from going after her and Chloe, Damon slashes him too. Later on, Frank is forced to kill Damon when the latter attempts to inject Chloe with a drug overdose.

Frank has to face Damon as an enemy against his will

The fact that Frank did the right thing did not ease his guilt, however. By the end of the story, we see him sitting by a campfire and he is deeply emotional as he goes through a box with photographs of himself and Damon, as well as the knife that took his friend's life away. In the end he puts everything related to Damon in a shoe box which is like a shrine of sorts and even spills wine on the ground as a libation in his dead friend's honor.

Frank is overwhelmed by memories when going through the contents of his box

Chris Redfield from the Resident Evil series has always been in great terms with his friends and partners and with some of them he has been particularly close. His good heart and the bravery that he showed in the battlefield made him stand out from a very young age, and he easily came up through the ranks relying on his value, making more friends but also enemies on the way.

Chris is the friend that everyone would love to have

As a soldier, he used to be the best man of his captain, Albert Wesker, whom he respected and appreciated a lot. In the first Resident Evil, he teams up with Wesker after they get trapped, with two more members of the team (Barry and Jill), in the Spencer Mansion. Wesker has some evil plans which he will soon expose, until then however he needs to make sure that he has Chris's trust. For this reason, he regularly helps Chris out by leaving ammo and supplies for him, by fixing malfunctioning stuff in the estate, or even by backing him up when a monster attacks. However when the time comes, he reveals his ulterior motives and from that point and on, he officially becomes Chris's number one enemy.

Wesker manages to hide his true intentions from Chris for as long as he needs to

The case of Chris and Wesker is not that of a standard bromance, but Wesker still is, even after his death, a huge chapter in Chris's life. Wesker had a dark background and he was always on the evil side, seeing himself as an almighty god who would one day conquer a whole new world inhabited only by a select few (an allegory that couldn't be more timely, by the way). If you notice some details in the games where he and Chris appear together, you may catch certain undertones in his words which imply that he would have wanted Chris to join him in this new world that he imagined. Although he always despised Chris for his integrity and honesty, he couldn't help but appreciate his abilities, and he knew that if he had such a gifted and courageous soldier by his side, it would have been so much easier for him to realize his plan. Knowing that Chris would never agree to such a prospect, made Wesker even more furious and resulted in him hating Chris even more.

Chris, on the other hand, used to think highly of Wesker in the good days, but when he learned the truth about his captain, he became his Nemesis, until he finally killed him in Resident Evil 5. Still, the last word that Wesker said (rather, shouted) was Chris's name.

Chris is forced to fight and kill his power-hungry ex-captain

In Resident Evil 6, Chris is a highly respected chief of his team and he looks after all of his men. His right hand is Piers Nivans, a young but extremely efficient soldier, who seems to complement Chris in many ways. Chris is hot-blooded and impulsive, while Piers is rational, collected and calm. Many times Piers is like the conscience of Chris, offering him advice and guiding him towards the right direction, although Chris many not always be willing to listen to him.

It is shown from the start that the two of them have a strong bond between them, as it is shown that Piers never hesitates to protect his captain. Several times, Chris seems to lose focus and take everything to a personal level, and this is when Piers intervenes and tries to put him back on track. It is almost never easy though, as Chris finds it hard to accept that he is wrong.

Piers is always by Chris's side, in good and bad times

The bromance between Chris and Piers passes from many stages, and becomes more powerful as the plot unfolds, although the truth is that Chris is far too absorbed in tracking down Ada Wong (rather, her evil clone, Carla) to realize it. Piers is like a silent force, handling Chris's anger with patience and wisdom despite his young age. For Chris, Piers is his most trusted soldier, someone he can rely on at any given time. But for Piers, Chris is someone that he not only trusts but also admires tremendously and even adores.

His devotion is absolute, and he proves it by making the ultimate sacrifice, when Chris is just about to be killed by a most dangerous monster in an underwater facility. Having been viciously hit himself by the same monster moments before, something that cost him the loss of his right arm, Piers injects himself with a virus sample which grants him superhuman powers but also mutates him.

Piers loses himself in the mutation

After the mutation occurs, Piers is able to assist Chris in defeating the monster, but the effects of the virus in his body are irreversible. Knowing that he won't be able to get cured (a bit of tragic irony here, as Leon learns at the end of his version of the story that a cure has been found thanks to Jake's antibody), he tricks Chris into thinking that he is willing to escape with him, and at just the last minute he stays behind, locking himself in the facility, ignoring his captain's desperate cries. While Chris is seemingly safe in the escape pod, the monster appears again from a distance, ready to attack; but seconds later it is eliminated, obviously by Piers who remains Chris's guardian angel until the end.

Piers spells something that reads like 'I love you' as Chris floats away in the escape pod

Amidst madmen who float around in ghost form, sadistic mind games and mental journeys mixed with messed up memories, detectives Sebastian Castellanos and Joseph Oda in The Evil Within (2014) maintain their totally legit and canon true-detective-esque bromance against all odds and in the face of all the human and superhuman forces that want to plant seeds of faction between them.

Joseph (left) and Sebastian (right) are the best friends and partners

Sebastian and Joseph are as different as day and night; starting from something as simple as their ancestry (Sebastian has Latino heritage and Joseph has Japanese origins). Sebastian is passionate, moody and impulsive, with a vigorous and attractive physical appearance, while Joseph is cool, considerate and cautious, and looks more like a delicate college student and less like a police officer. Justifying the famous law of physics about the opposites that attract, the two guys are extremely close friends and get along perfectly, despite their many differences.

The zombies can wait, now we want to sit and chat in the grass

Unlike Sebastian and his crystal clear personality, Joseph is surrounded by an aura of mystery. He seems to be very easily corrupted, turning into a Haunted several times, attacking both Sebastian and Juli on different occasions and wandering around STEM like a ghost. All this comes to contrast with his low-profile nature; it is as if a well-hidden dark side of his finally found a way to prevail thanks to STEM and, as he confesses to Sebastian, he doesn't want to stop it.

This can have many interpretations; and considering how close he and Sebastian are, we could take it to an even deeper level: Joseph here is a bit like Gabriel Knight, who struggled to suppress the werewolf within him and, by extension, the strange new emotions that Friedrich stirred in him. Joseph seems to have developed certain feelings for Sebastian that are still new to him, and while he feels confused and frustrated by them, he doesn't want to suppress them. This is not very obvious in the main game (although it becomes so if you pay more attention to several details), but in the Assignment (Juli Kidman's mission) there is a scene where he turns into a Haunted right after he and Juli get separated from Sebastian in the sewers. He attacks Juli and although he is possessed, he seems rather conscious of his words and their meaning.

It is clear that Joseph is speaking for himself and is referring to Sebastian

The bromance between Sebastian and Joseph carries on to the Evil Within 2, although Joseph does not make an appearance there. Sebastian believes that Juli killed Joseph, and this is what we knew as well, but after Sebastian finds a secret slide, Juli confesses to him that all that he saw back then was an illusion and in fact Joseph is still alive. Sebastian is happy to hear this, but at the same time sounds somewhat angry because Juli kept him in the dark all this time. However the most interesting and intriguing detail is what Tatiana, the nurse in the Upgrades section, says to Sebastian prior to this, when he has just found the slide and wonders what it is about. Tatiana tells him that although he had come to terms with all his demons and traumatic experiences of the past, there is still one memory that he had refused to confront; and that memory is Joseph's death.

Sebastian is very moved when watching Joseph's slide

A famous zombie hunter with a heroic past and a bright future, Leon Kennedy from the Resident Evil series is one of the most popular heroes of the saga, and rightly so, since he is the epitomy of perfection: he is very handsome, highly intelligent, extremely efficient in the field of action and has a heart of gold. Someone as gifted, was doomed to star in a most tempestuous and adventurous bromance.

Leon is a feast for the eyes

Leon met Jack Krauser in the jungles of South America, just a couple of years after he became a government agent, in the Operation Javier story of The Darkside Chronicles. His orders were to locate a notorious drug dealer with suspicious connections, and because the mission was very demanding and dangerous, Jack Krauser, an intelligent and experienced mercenary, was sent along.

Although coming from different backgrounds, Leon and Jack had many things in common and they went along extremely well right from the start. Their first meeting in the jungle is legendary and not only marks the start of their bromance, but also leaves several interpretations open to imagination. Jack approaches Leon from behind without making a sound, and it is as if he had already been staring at him for a while from a distance before he made an impressive appearance, stabbing a snake that was just about to bite Leon. Further down in the same scene, Leon can be clearly seen checking Jack out as he walks in front of him.

Leon and Jack's first meeting in the jungle is nearly as epic as their bromance

During the course of their mission, they seem to cooperate perfectly and they are never seen arguing or disagreeing. They respect each other, they even exchange teasings, they back each other up, and in general are the ideal partners. What could bloom into a great lifelong friendship, however, goes to pieces abruptly from Jack's part, when he finds out that Leon is a highly ranked government agent, a revelation that makes the green-eyed monster wake inside Jack, whose still unfullfilled dream had always been such a career. From that point and on, Jack chooses to shift to the dark side and consider Leon an enemy for all the wrong reasons. All this time, Leon is happily killing monsters of all sizes and shapes, naively believing that his bromance with Jack is still going and hopefully will go on forever.

Jack then disappears for two whole years, only to appear again as Leon's hopeful murderer in Resident Evil 4 where Leon and Jack have an epic knife fight that is orchestrated and carried out in such a way as to remind of other things, and which leaves Leon with a mark on his right cheek as a souvenir.

All that Jack really wanted to do was to give Leon a kiss

Interestingly enough, Jack never bothers explaining to Leon what made him change his attitude towards his ex-partner. Instead, he entangles them both in a lethal game of a marginally S/M nature, where he enjoys attacking Leon with tricks that are particularly suggestive, while he gets himself equally excited every time that Leon succeeds in hitting him back.

Jack could attack Leon in many ways, but he prefers the hug approach

When eventually Leon dramatically reduces Jack's options of prevailing, Jack runs up to the top of a tower, straps the whole place with timed explosives and blocks the exit after Leon gets to him. Leon has only a few minutes to kill Jack before a fatal blast happens. Jack's soul is an abyss, and noone can tell for sure what exactly he had in mind, but it looks like he was planning a dramatic finale à la Romeo and Juliet for Leon and himself. Leon however does not seem to be angry with Jack, and contemplates what a good guy his ex-partner used to be, over Jack's dead body. 

Krauser left an unfading mark in Leon's life, something that even has a tangible proof. In Resident Evil 6, Leon still has the scar from Jack's knife on his cheek, both as a badge of bravery, because he is is a fearless hero, and as a reminder of his epic bromance with Krauser, because even fearless heroes have a heart.

The scar is still very noticeable on Leon's right cheek

Leon has one more bromance in Resident Evil 4, which develops very quickly but ends too fast in a tragic way. Soon after he arrives in Spain, he meets Luis Sera, ex-cop and specialized scientist, who was helping Osmund Saddler develop the Plaga virus but ended up being chased by him. Leon finds Luis locked in a closet in an abandoned farm house and frees him, but minutes later one of Saddler's allies shows up and knocks them both unconscious.

When they are back to their senses, they realize that they are in an empty storage room, tied back to back. Nonetheless, they both keep their coolness and take the chance to introduce themselves and chat a bit before they get separated after another violent attack.

Every time Leon and Luis meet, they get in big trouble

When they meet again, it is in an isolated cabin in the woods, where Leon seeks shelter with Ashley as they are being chased by angry villagers. While Ashley is safely hidden in a cupboard on the upper floor, Leon and Luis get involved in a crazy battle with the mutated residents, who are able to break all barriers and get inside the cabin.

Leon and Luis are an excellent fighting duo

Although the two guys know each other very little by that time, the intense experience in the cabin apparently has a powerful effect on them and they form a strong bond. When later Luis is sadistically killed by Lord Saddler before being able to hand Leon over the antidote for the infection that he and Ashley are carrying, Leon looks and sounds so desperate, that it is as if he just lost a life-long friend, and swears to make Sadder pay for what he did to Luis.

Leon is devastated when Luis dies

In the CGI movie Damnation, while on a mission in a war-torn eastern european country, Leon meets Alexander "Buddy" Kozachenko, a teacher who belongs to a rebel group. Although Buddy doesn't trust Leon at frist because he is American, the two guys soon become friends and develop a very strong emotional bond and, eventually, a bromance in the process.

Buddy likes to play rough, but he soon becomes Leon's buddy

Buddy is infected from the Plaga virus but he can still manage the effects of his infection thanks to which he is able to control an army of Lickers, something that he regularly takes advantage of to save his own life. He also does it to save Leon's life, even before they become friends: early on, he orders the Lickers to halt their attack against Leon, and later he sends them off to deal with a group of lethal enemies.

Leon and Buddy unite to face the common enemy

While being chased by two Tyrants, Leon saves Buddy's life by offering him a hand as he is about to fall. This event makes Buddy realize that Leon is a man he can rely on and trust fully. When at some point Buddy considers committing suicide because his infection is spreading and he will eventually get mutated, Leon stops him and shoots him in the spine. This paralyzes his legs, but also stops the infection from expanding to the rest of his body, thus saving his life.

Buddy and Leon contemplate their lives

After Leon returns to America, Buddy goes back to teaching; while he is out in the sun on his wheelchair, we see that he still has the small bottle of whiskey that Leon had given him, and he is obviously cherishing it as a treasured reminder of his great friendship with Leon.



__________________________________________________________________________

• Wikipedia source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromance
• Thanks to afterdarkmysweet for providing essential info and material about Gabriel Knight