FF7 relationships: Reno and Rude
For any shippers out there, the game gives a lot of hints and rather strongly implies that they are a couple. But also it kinda doesn’t.
They’re mostly seen together (Evan in The Kids Are All Right says “They were always together. Like a knife and fork.”); they call each other ‘partner’; in FF7R they call each other’s name if put under Sleep status in battle; Rude in FF7R2 is missing Reno and wishes he were there in the Gold Saucer episode; in AC there’s this very romantic-looking scene where they are planning to blow up a tunnel and Reno looks at Rude so lovingly as Rude gives him explosives that he wired himself. Or that beautiful sunset beach scene in BC episode 4 after the fight with Sears? They’re definitely a couple, right?
Weeeell, in Japanese there isn’t any ambiguity in that word “partner”. The words for work partner and romantic partner are different, and the one Reno and Rude are using for each other is the one for your work buddy, your pal, your colleague, your accomplice. It’s not the word that can be used for a spouse or romantic partner. They don’t really work exclusively just with each other too. Are the loving looks there for each other or to appreciate their mutual love for explosives? Cause they do both love explosives. Can they really be a couple if Reno needs to ask Rude whom he likes, and Rude answers that he likes Tifa?
Is it maybe one-sided then? Reno never says who is the one he likes, and he was the one who started that conversation. He’s way too invested in Rude’s romantic life, going on to spy on his date in BC episode 6. During Meteorfall (as described in Case of Shinra) Reno sounds like he’s trying to tell Rude something (“Rude? We’ve known each other for a long time, right? We’re buddies, right?” What are you trying to say there Reno, eh?) and then kicks down the door as his “final present of a thrill”. Was he trying to say something before the end of the world, but changed his mind?
But Rude definitely deeply cares for Reno, FF7R shows us that to protect Reno he’s ready to push that Sector 7 mass-murder button. In BC he goes alone to fight Sears of Avalanche trusting Reno to know that and join him. He handmakes explosives just as Reno likes them. He pretends the line is breaking up and turns off the comms on Tseng to protect Reno from an order he refuses to follow (in The Kids Are All Right)
Well, Elena also refuses to follow that order, solely in solidarity with Reno, so is any of the above actually romantic? Aren't they all just a very close-knit found family that deeply cares and trusts each other? Reno and Rude are on the same wavelength, maybe a little bit more than everyone else, but it doesn’t mean there’s anything romantic or sexual going on. So they’re best friends, right?
And then we’re going full circle, as all the earlier mentioned bits still exist.
I love how FF7 is incredibly horny (and seems to only increase that with newer games), and it’s also giving us interesting characters with three-dimensional personalities and complex relationships, who really care about each other, and then lets us read it in a way that we want.
Once you choose the reading that speaks to you the most, it’s easy to find in-universe explanation to any point mentioned above that might seem inconsistent with that reading at the first glance. At the same time the existence of all these seemingly contradicting details without any canon clarification doesn’t let you deny or ‘prove wrong’ other possible readings.
Are they best friends? Are they only work partners? Are they a romantic couple? Old couple or just recent development? Friends with benefits? One-sided secret crush? Two-sided secret crush? Something else? All of the above at different points in time? We don’t really know for sure. What they definitely are though, is drift compatible. Everything else is up for your reading and headcanons, and I think that’s wonderful.
I personally enjoy platonic readings or ‘it’s complicated and doesn’t fit just one label’ readings, but I’ll happily read anything canon-compatible (and, well, as I explained above, a lot of readings could be canon-compatible)
I love that it’s open to interpretation, but whichever one you choose, it’s still really deep and interesting with their contrasting personalities and the utmost trust and loyalty to each other and the Turks.