History LivingEmotionalCrutch / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Since Catra's steady SanitySlippage begins accelerating after Adora leaves her and the Horde in the opening two-parter, we can probably infer that this was the case. Scorpia takes over later, but is significantly less effective, with her presence not doing much to stave off Catra's third-season VillainousBreakdown. [[spoiler:And her departure setting off Catra's fourth-season VillainousBreakdown.]]

** Titular character Steven is the Gems' crutch, in which he's a deconstruction; it's not exactly a good thing that he's in that position, as he's a young boy who begins the series lacking the means or the maturity to be an appropriate crutch for three thousand-year-old beings with a myriad of issues. He earnestly tries to help as much as he can, even if it's mentally and emotionally unhealthy for him, with his position feeding into a GuiltComplex that causes him to often neglect the fact that ''he'' needs someone to help him deal with all the stress in his life.
*** Further deconstructed in ''[[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture Future]]''. After being the crutch for so many others both Gem and human for so long, he's caught flatfooted when the issues of those who relied on him all start getting resolved. Leaving him without anybody's issues to resolve except his own, which he ignores and refuses to let anybody else even try to act as a crutch for him. This becomes one of the causes of Steven's SanitySlippage.

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* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''

** It becomes very clear throughout season five that despite their dismissive attitude towards her, Pink Diamond was this to the other Diamonds. In fact, it's coded thoroughly into her character visually as well: Pink is the bottom of the Diamond symbol, Pink's ship is what holds up the others on the combined Mecha ship, Pink's actual brilliant-cut Gem is positioned on her body in profile, appearing triangularly with the flat side facing down, a shape that literally symbolizes stability. When Pink ceases to be around to bear their emotional burdens, the other three Diamonds' stability deteriorates rapidly, each manifesting this decline in different ways. However, it's made clear that Pink has been suffering in her attempts to keep their relationship with each other stable and everything she did for them amounted to nothing. [[spoiler: It's only they realize that their abuse was one of the reasons she betrayed the Authority and admit how toxic their dysfunction is before her demise that they make an effort to better themselves and establish healthier lives without her]].

** Titular character Steven is the Gems' crutch, in which he's a deconstruction; its not exactly a good thing that he's in that position, as he's a young boy who begins the series lacking the means or the maturity to be a crutch for three thousands-year-old beings with a myriad of issues. He tries to help as much as he can, even if its mentally and emotionally unhealthy for him, with his position feeding into a GuiltComplex that causes him to often neglect the fact that ''he'' needs someone to help him deal with all the stress in his life.

** [[PosthumousCharacter Rose Quartz]], Steven's mother, was this for the rest of the team, who even fourteenyears later are still very distraught about her "[[OnlyMostlyDead death]]."

** [[PosthumousCharacter Rose Quartz]], Steven's mother, was this for the rest of the team, who even twelve years later are still very distraught about her "[[OnlyMostlyDead death]]."

** [[RedOniBlueOni Ruby and Sapphire]] initially come across as this. Ruby is especially distraught when forcibly separated from Sapphire, but both of them are simply determined to get back together and fuse back into Garnet. It's only much later in the show's run that they separate for a while in order to re-contextualize their relationship and they cease being this.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' season seven premiere, "Bonnie and Neddy", Princess Bubblegum is revealed to be this to her brother, Neddy. Neddy is a reclusive [[OurDragonsAreDifferent candy dragon]] who is extremely sensitive and lives in fear of everything that isn't his sister ever since his birth. His only source of security is suckling on candy roots, and when he is deprived of secreting juice, she is the only one who can comfort him.

** Another deconstructed example is Peridot as Lapis Lazuli's crutch. Peridot makes it her job to keep Lapis happy no matter what happens, but this arrangement means Peridot's own feelings have gone ignored, Lapis's issues haven't actually been addressed, and when they finally have a major disagreement they lack any ability to communicate about it.

** It becomes very clear throughout the show that despite their dismissive attitude towards her, Pink was this to the other Diamonds. In fact, it's coded thoroughly into her character visually as well: Pink is the bottom of the Diamond symbol, Pink's ship is what holds up the others on the combined Mecha ship, Pink's actual brilliant-cut Gem is positioned on her body in profile, appearing triangularly with the flat side facing down, a shape that literally symbolizes stability. When Pink ceases to be around to bear their emotional burdens, the other three diamonds' stability deteriorates rapidly, each manifesting this decline in different ways.

** It becomes very clear throughout the show that despite their dismissive attitude towards her, Pink was this to the other Diamonds. Without her to act as their emotional support and foundation, each of them fall apart in different ways.

** [[RedOniBlueOni Ruby and Sapphire]] initially come across as this. Ruby is especially distraught when forcibly separated from Sapphire, but both of them are simply determined to get back together and fuse back into Garnet. It's only much later in the show's run that they separate for a while in order to re-contextualize their relationship and they cease being this.

** [[RedOniBlueOni Ruby and Sapphire]] initially come across as this. Ruby is especially distraught when forcibly separated from Sapphire, but both of them are simply determined to get back together and fuse back into Garnet. It's only much later in the show's run that they separate for a while in order to re-contextualize their relationship and they cease being this.
* Fry to Bender in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. It's to the point where Bender is no longer able to live alone and quickly [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness stops drinking]] ([[DrowningMySorrows the robot equivalent of getting blind drunk]], since they're fueled by alcohol) if Fry pushes him aside.

* Fry to Bender in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. It's to the point where Bender is no longer able to live alone and quickly [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness stops drinking]] ([[DrowningMySorrows the robot equivalent of getting blind drunk]], since they're fueled by alcohol) if Fry pushes him aside. Fry did prevent him from killing himself when they first met.
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* Fry to Bender in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', whom he befriended after [[HappilyFailedSuicide rescuing him from a suicide booth]]. It's to the point where Bender is no longer able to live alone and quickly [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness stops drinking]] ([[DrowningMySorrows the robot equivalent of getting blind drunk]], since they're fueled by alcohol) if Fry pushes him aside.

* Fry to Bender in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', whom he befriended after [[HappilyFailedSuicide rescuing him from a suicide booth]]. It's to the point where Bender is unable to live alone and quickly [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness stops drinking]] ([[DrowningMySorrows the robot equivalent of getting blind drunk]], since they're fueled by alcohol) if Fry pushes him aside.

* Fry to Bender in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', whom he befriended after [[HappilyFailedSuicide rescuing him from a suicide booth]]. It's to the point where Bender quickly [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness stops drinking]] ([[DrowningMySorrows the robot equivalent of getting blind drunk]], since they're fueled by alcohol) if Fry pushes him aside.

* Fry to Bender in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', whom he befriended after [[HappilyFailedSuicide rescuing from a suicide booth]]. It's to the point where Bender quickly [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness stops drinking]] ([[DrowningMySorrows the robot equivalent of getting blind drunk]], since they're fueled by alcohol) if Fry pushes him aside.

* In ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', the Eds are this to each other, possibly due to the neighbor kids' [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer neglect of them]] and all three of them having [[DysfunctionalFamily dysfunctional home lives]]. This is especially evident in TheMovie: [[BrokenBird Eddy]] ''shatters completely'' and [[TearJerker begins to cry for the first time in the series]] when Edd decides to leave him; [[{{Adorkable}} Edd]] breaks apart when he thinks the other two died in quicksand (even putting aside his NeatFreak tendencies at that moment [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming just to save them)]] and [[CloudCuckooLander Ed]]'s worst nightmare is [[FateWorseThanDeath all three of them falling apart]]. Really, [[ThePowerOfFriendship they mean the world to each other]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}},'' [[TheSnarkKnight Daria]] and [[CoolLoser Jane]] have this toward each other. Daria is the weaker of the two, as seen in "[[Recap/DariaS2E11 See Jane Run]]" (Daria becomes isolated and starts ThinkingOutLoud without even realizing it), but "[[Recap/DariaTVM1 Is It Fall Yet?]]" demonstrates that both have a hard time functioning when the two are fighting.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has the titular character as the Gems' crutch, in which he's a deconstruction; its not exactly a good thing that he's in that position, as he's a young boy who begins the series lacking the means or the maturity to be a crutch for three thousands-year-old beings with a myriad of issues. But he tries to help as much as he can, even if its mentally and emotionally unhealthy for him, with his position feeding into a GuiltComplex that causes him to often neglect the fact that ''he'' needs someone to help him deal with all the stress in his life.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has [[RedOniBlueOni Ruby and Sapphire]]. Ruby is especially distraught when forcibly separated from Sapphire, but both of them are simply determined to get back together and [[spoiler:fuse back into Garnet]].
** [[PosthumousCharacter Rose Quartz]] seems to have been this for the rest of the team, who even 10-ish years later become very distraught about her "[[OnlyMostlyDead death]]."
** Steven is the Gems' current crutch, in which he's a deconstruction. Its not exactly a good thing since as much as he tries, he is just a young boy who doesn't have the means or the maturity to be that crutch. But he tries to help as much as he can even if its mentally and emotionally unhealthy for him. As we see in the episode "Joy Ride", he feels very weighed down by the stress in his life.
** Connie is shaping up to become this for Steven, promising to be there for him whenever he feels stressed out by Gem stuff.

** And while a bit more subtle, Finn the Human appears to be one for Princess Bubblegum. Despite the occasional trouble, she utterly views him as a paragon and her champion, with his presence allowing her to function more positively. He also grounds her and helps keep her on the straight and narrow. It's also a bit deconstructed since he always had romantic feelings for her and she ''seemingly'' doesn't return him. While them being just friends allows her to rule her kingdom, there's implications that she is not being honest.
** Finn could actually be this also to Marceline to a lesser extent since he helped her be a better person and reconnect with [[spoiler: Simon aka Ice King.]] While she doesn't show that strong of connection, Marceline's past hardships and difficulties seem to imply she does hold Funn closer than she may be aware of.

* [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Dipper and Mabel]] ''both'' have trouble coping without each other. Mabel is the more dependent of the two. [[spoiler:Her world is so shaken by the possibility that they may be separated that she attempts to freeze time to prevent it from happening, [[ApocalypseMaiden inadvertently causing the apocalypse]]]].