Brinky

Brinky is the slash ship between Pinky and The Brain from the Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain fandoms.

Canon
Pinky and Brain are best friends, but it is heavily implied they have romantic feelings for each other.

It is clear the mice care very deeply for each other. Pinky is always by Brain’s side, cheering him on, and wants him to be happy. In the Christmas Special, Pinky writes a heartfelt letter to Santa Claus about the Brain, and later gives him a globe on a keychain. In Pinky’s Plan, he wants to give Brain the world for his birthday. Brain is also shown to care for Pinky, though he is more reserved about his feelings. In the Halloween Special, he gave up the world for Pinky. In That Smarts, Brain never even considered getting rid of Pinky, despite him being the apparent cause for the duo’s nightly failures.

The mice have shown on many occasions (A Pinky and the Brain Halloween, Broadway Malady, Narf Over Troubled Waters) that when separated, they grow sad and aren’t able to function properly. The part of the reboot theme song, when the mice are connected by the tails, and fall apart when they try to separate, is a perfect representation of this, though probably not intentional.

Brain and Pinky have parodied love interests multiple times, such as in Snowball, Run, Pinky, Run, and Narf Over Troubled Waters. They also often dress up as husband and wife for a plan (My Felmans, My Friends, The Flawed Couple, Noah’s Lark). In Wakkiver Twist, Pinky and Brain are actually married, and it’s ironic since they are happy together, but the couple they are parodying (Mrs. and Mr. Bumble) aren’t.

Both Brain and Pinky have referred to each other as “cute” at least once, and in Pinky Suavo, Brain is implied to be attracted to Pinky. Pinky has been known to call Brain “darling” or “babe” on occasion, and Brain referred to Pinky as “my dear Pinky” twice.

In Brain’s Night Off, the mice go to dinner together. It could easily be read as a romantic date since both mice are in nice clothes and it’s very awkward.

Pinky and Brain have acted in parental roles twice. In Two Mice and a Baby, they raise the super baby Clark, but more notably is Brinky, when Brain tries to clone himself but Pinky’s toenail clipping gets in the way. The clone, Romy, is a mix of Pinky and Brain’s DNA. Brain gets freaked out when he realizes that he and Pinky technically had a child. Romy is also in one comic issue, and Brain wants him to call Pinky his uncle so things won’t get confusing. This could be alluding to homophobia.

Though Pinky and Brain have had multiple straight relationships, none of them have worked out. Brain once fell in love with a mouse named Billie, who is very similar to Pinky in looks and personality. In You’ll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again, Brain dreams that he is in a loveless marriage with her, and then wakes up in the bed with Pinky. Pinky had a relationship with a horse named Phar Fignewton that apparently ended, because Pinky is shown to try online dating in the reboot. When Phar and Pinky were in a relationship, Brain constantly pestered Pinky about it, hinting that he was jealous (particularly when he says that “Pinky needs a mousey date” in Wakko’s Wish). Pinky has been in a couple more relationships that didn’t work out, such as with Winnie, Penny, and Druscilla. Each time Brain Pinky is upset a relationship didn’t work out, Brain tries to comfort him, and in one case, actually leans in to kiss him on the cheek.

Pinky has daydreamed about being a housewife on one occasion, and often acts in the role of a housewife to Brain. He also shows stereotypical “gay characteristics”, such as acting in a feminine way and cross-dressing often.

In the Pinky and the Brain and Animaniacs comics, the potential romance between the mice is even more heavily hinted. In one issue, Brain says that he could kiss Pinky, which Pinky shows no objection to. In another issue, Pinky becomes smitten with a male mouse, and reassures Brain that he thinks Brain is cute too. And in one issue, Pinky admires Brain while he is taking a bath. There are many more instances like these in the comics.

Their romance is also heavily implied in the Animaniacs reboot. In The Babysitter’s Flub, when Brain tells Pinky to repeat his plan back to him, he says, “I kiss you over there, then you hug me…”. In some episodes (2 in the original, 1 in the reboot) the writers name drop the ship name, either in the title or the episode. In Plight Of Hand, Brain kisses his hand and caresses Pinky’s face when he thinks his friend is dead. In The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Pinky says he will have to wear yellow at a traffic light party, and glances at Brain when he says, “It’s complicated.” A traffic light party is when people wear red if they are taken, green if they are single, and yellow if undecided. In Narf Over Troubled Waters, the mice parody a lovers elope scene. There are also multiple instances of hand-holding in season 2. There are many more hints of Brinky that will be discussed below.

Animaniacs Season 1 (2020)
Of Mice and Memes Bride of Pinky
 * Pinky accidentally gets hypnotized by Brain's filter.
 * Pinky likes Brain's post.
 * Pinky and Brain activate the explosives at the same time.
 * Pinky answers Brain's "call".

At the end of the episode when Pinky is upset, Brain wants to comfort him. He first tries to hug him, but backs out, then tries to kiss him on the cheek, but stops at the last minute.

Pinky Suavo/T.H.E.Y

 * Brain gets "hypnotized"

Megalomaniacs Anonymous

 * Brain accidentally knocks over Pinky and says "Taking over the world is causing me hurt the ones i.." he pauses because he doesn 't want to admit he loves Pinky then continues saying "..tolerate''

Children
Romy/Roman Numeral I

Fanon
Fans tend to believe that the two are a couple, or are at least portrayed that way.

On AO3, Brinky is the most written ship for both Pinky and Brain. It is also the most written ship in the Pinky and the Brain tag and the second most in the Animaniacs tag.

Pinky and The Brain's voice actors Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche seem to be on board with Brinky as they often do skits at conventions where Pinky and The Brain say I Love You to each other. Maurice even said that the series isn't just about taking over the world, but about two people in love. Rob follows this up by saying "I love you Brain" in Pinky's voice, with Maurice replying in Brain's voice "I tolerate you Pinky"

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Pinky/Brain tag on FanFiction.net
 * Pinky/Brain tag on FanFiction.net

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