History Main / BefriendingTheBullied

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'': In "Jimmy" (arguably the show's best-known episode), Virgil and Richie decide to befriend the titular Jimmy, a kid who's regularly picked on by [[JerkJock Nick]]. While Jimmy clearly appreciates their efforts, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome being bullied for an untold amount of time has done a number on Jimmy's mental health]], and he ends up coming to school with a gun to shoot his tormentors. Despite Richie and Frieda trying to defuse the situation, Jimmy panics when two kids rush him and pulls the trigger, shooting Richie in the leg. Nick and his mooks end up suspended, while Jimmy ends up in juvie.

* ''Fanfic/{{Consequences|MiraculousLadybug}}'': In SINS OF THE PAST, one of Lila's former targets, Frederick, moves to France for a fresh start after Lila's actions caused him to attempt suicide. When the truth comes out via akuma, everyone is very supportive of Frederick, with the kids at Dupont (including Jean, who becomes his boyfriend) all readily befriending him and letting him know they'll do everything they can to help him feel safe in his new school.

* ''Fanfic/MovingOn'': After Lila turns the entire class against her, Marinette can't take the intense bullying anymore and asks her parents to let her change schools. She ends up at Rose River Academy, where she's quickly befriended by Allegra, Alan, and [[ClassClown Claude]]. She also begins a friendship with Kagami [[spoiler:and [[HeelFaceTurn Chloe]]]], who saw through Lila's lies and believed that the class' treatment of Marinette was too cruel. When her new friends learn about the bullying, they are completely supportive of Marinette while looking ready to murder Lila, Alya, Adrien, and pretty much everyone from Dupont.

* ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'': After the [[PeriodShaming incident with the locker room and Carrie's first period]], Sue Snell (who [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone was one of the girls who teased Carrie but regrets it]] when she learned [[FirstPeriodPanic Carrie really didn't know what a period was]]) decides to befriend her, inviting her to the prom and even encouraging her boyfriend to be Carrie's date.

* ''Literature/TheAbsolutelyTrueDiaryOfAPartTimeIndian'': Junior is considered one of the biggest targets for bullies on the rez due to his having a number of health conditions as a result of hydrocephalus. That said, he somehow ended up with Rowdy, the one kid in the tribe that both kids ''and'' adults fear, as his best friend. This friendship is tested throughout the book (as Rowdy hates Junior for attending a predominantly white public school and for befriending kids there), but as time goes on Rowdy's able to let go of his anger and the two rebuild their friendship.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': "Origins" reveals that Marinette, who had been bullied by Chloe for years, was defended by new student Alya on the first day of 9th grade. The two became fast friends, and Alya ends up being the reason Marinette took up the Ladybug mantle in the first place.

** Longarm invokes this trope when he learns that Bumblebee knows there's a Decepticon spy among the recruits. He encourages Bumblebee to not give up even when the other 'Bots (namely Wasp) tease him and helps him after an especially cruel prank. [[spoiler:Too bad it was all because he was actually Shockwave in disguise and befriended 'Bee so he would be above suspicion]].

Childhood and adolescence can be rough. But it can be made a lot harder when one has to deal with an unrelenting [[TheBully bully (or bullies)]] at school or even [[AbusiveParents at]] [[BigBrotherBully home]]. Because AdultsAreUseless and FightingBackIsWrong, the bully's victim will likely get no help or be forced to go through the ordeal completely alone...or maybe not.

* ''WesternAnimation/Nimona2023'': The film's introduction reveals that, due to being the only knight in his class who wasn't born a noble, Ballister was teased by nearly every other knight in training. The one exception was Ambrosius, who went out of his way to befriend him (which led to them becoming a couple). Unfortunately, Ballister was framed for regicide the day of their graduation and Ambrosius sliced his arm off, so [[{{Understatement their relationship hit a bit of a rough patch for a while]]...

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'': While Peter's never truly felt threatened by bullies due to being Spider-Man, he knows how much it can hurt. As such, when he and Luke Cage see Flash picking on a kid named Alex, Peter decides to try and befriend him. Despite his offer of friendship being genuine, Alex sees it as a form of pity and rejects him. Peter sees the situation go FromBadToWorse when it turns out that [[CanonCharacterAllAlong Alex O'Hirn]] has been stealing [=OsCorp=] chemicals to become the Rhino, and intends to use his new alter-ego to get revenge on Flash.

* ''Literature/{{It}}'': The protagonists, calling themselves The Losers Club, are a group of young, like-minded outcasts trying to escape their troubles in Derry, from sadistic bullies, to AbusiveParents, [[SerialEscalation to eventually a child-killing alien abomination that primarily takes the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown]]. The become TrueCompanions in the process, and even after they go their separate paths and mature as adults, most of them retain their pact to fight off IT (as well as uncover all the other dark secrets hidden within the town) when it returns decades later.

-->--'''Kaneda Shotaro''', ''[[Manga/{{Akira}} AKIRA]]''

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

Childhood and adolescence can be rough. But it can be made a lot harder when one has to deal with an unrelenting [[TheBully bully (or bullies)]] at school or even [[AbusiveParents at]] [[BigBrotherBully home]]. Because AdultsAreUseless and FightingBackIsWrong, the bully's victim will likely get no help or be forced to go through the ordeal completely alone... or maybe not.

For whatever reason, the bullied character ends up making a friend, or a group of friends, who offer them support and either [[BullyHunter confront the bully]], get them away from their bully, help them recover emotionally from the bullying, or all of the above. If the victim gains enough courage and self-esteem from their new, healthy, [[FriendlessBackground possibly]] [[FirstFriend first]] friendship, then they might work up the confidence to give their old bully/bullies a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. Or maybe they'll choose to take the high road, ignore the bully, [[SuccessAsRevenge and simply live their life]].

* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': Ahko was ostracized by her old friends due to her FrozenFace induced PerpetualSmiler appearance, and when she and Karane cross paths with them in Chapter 92, Karane immediately senses that Ahko is still letting them walk all over her, prompting Karane to invoke this trope by declaring herself Ahko's BFF to their faces.

* ''Fanfic/HarryTano'': When Ahsoka decides that Harry needs a more formal education before he starts at Hogwarts, Emma Granger helps her enroll Harry at Hermione's primary school. When he starts there, he meets a girl whose been bullying Hermione for most of her school career. While Hermione is a little cowed at first, Harry tells the bully to her face to leave him and Hermione alone. Harry's friendship (and some Jedi training from Ahsoka) helps Hermione to not only gain the respect/admiration of her peers (as she can perform physical feats through the Force that amaze her gym teacher), but she's able to defend herself when said bully attempts to assault Hermione on the playground.

* ''Fanfic/MovingOn'': After Lila turns the entire class against her, Marinette can't take the intense bullying anymore and asks her parents to let her change schools. She ends up at Rose River Academy, where she's quickly befriended by Allegra, Alan, and ClassClown Claude. She also begins a friendship with Kagami [[spoiler:and [[HeelFaceTurn Chloe]]]], who saw through Lila's lies and believed that the class' treatment of Marinette was too cruel. When her new friends learn about the bullying, they are completely supportive of Marinette while looking ready to murder Lila, Alya, Adrien, and pretty much everyone from Dupont.

--> '''Doyle''': (To Justin) Pick it up and clear off.
--> '''Andrew''': (Coming over) ''You'' pick it up, Doyle!
--> '''Doyle''': This is none of your business, Andrew Stanton!
--> '''Andrew''': I'm making it my business. Pick it up. Now give it back. Now ''you'' clear off.
* ''Series/ICarly'': A weird example; one episode has a flashback that shows how Carly and Sam met in elementary school. Sam was bullying Carly for her sandwich, and ended up stealing it from her and shoving her off the bench she was sitting on. Rather than cry, Carly got up, took back her sandwich and shoved ''Sam'' off the bench. This [[BullyTurnedBuddy earned Sam's instant respect]] and she befriended her victim.

* ''Series/SonOfACritch'': In the pilot episode, Mark Critch starts the new year with no friends and a target on his back, courtesy of Fox, the the only girl in an entire family of bullies. He decides to go about changing this situation, first by befriending Ritchie, his school's only non-white student, by protecting him from Fox's older brothers. When this puts an even bigger target on his back, he discovers that Fox herself is also being bullied, by both her brothers and the other girls at school, and thus decides to recruit her to his side as well.

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'': After the [[PeriodShaming incident with the locker room and Carrie's first period]], Sue Snell (who [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone was one of the girls who teased Carrie but regrets it]] when she learned [[FirstPeriodPanic Carrie really didn't know what a period was]]) decides to befriend her, inviting her to the prom and even encouraging her boyfriend to be Carrie's date.
* ''Literature/{{It}}'': The protagonists, calling themselves The Losers Club, are a group of young, like-minded outcasts trying to escape their troubles in Derry, from sadistic bullies, to AbusiveParents, [[SerialEscalation to eventually a child-killing alien abomination that primarily takes the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown]]. The become TrueCompanions in the process, and even after they go their separate paths and mature as adults, most of them retain their pact to fight off IT (as well as uncover all the other dark secrets hidden within the town) when it returns decades later.
* ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'': Catarina is such an AllLovingHero that she frequently befriends downtrodden peers:
** [[TheCutie Maria]] is cruelly bullied by noblewomen for being a commoner with a [[LightEmUp rare magic affinity]], since the universe is one where [[SupernaturalElite magical powers very seldom manifest outside of nobility]]. Catarina's befriending her and giving her FriendlyAddressPrivileges actually helps her start to [[HealTheCutie heal]].
** In Catarina's [[NextLifeAsAFictionalCharacter past life]], her befriending of Atsuko Sasaki, who has been frequently subjected to StockShoujoBullyingTactics due to being SociallyInept, is important enough to Atsuko that she not only have more pride in her geekiness, but also [[spoiler:caused a ReincarnationFriendship to occur between them.]]
* ''Literature/TheAbsolutelyTrueDiaryOfAPartTimeIndian'': Junior is considered one of the biggest targets for bullies on the rez due to his having a number of health conditions as a result of hydrocephalus. That said, he somehow ended up with Rowdy, the one kid in the tribe that both kids ''and'' adults fear, as his best friend. This friendship is tested throughout the book (as Rowdy hates Junior for attending a predominantly white public school and for befriending kids there), but as time goes on Rowdy's able to let go of his anger and the two rebuild their friendship.
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* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': This is how Sonic initially meets his best friend and sidekick Tails: Sonic comes across Tails being bullied for his twin tails and sends the bullies packing. Downplayed in that Sonic is just passing through and immediately runs off again; it's not until the awestruck fox chases after him and impresses him with his own speed and courage that they actually become friends.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'': The player character befriends Penny and the Team Star bosses, who all formed Team Star because they were bullied.

* ''WebVideo/MultiverseTales'': In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BauQ3kzKSJ4 Benny Sharp Saves Christmas From Lots and Lots of Demons]]'', the titular GadgeteerGenius, on a journey through the Multiverse, meets and befriends Cosmara Noroi, a [[DemonSlaying demon hunter]] from Dimension D-667 who suffers ostracization and abuse from her fellow hunters, but especially her former boyfriend, team leader Clayton Costuss. The reason he does this is because years ago, Mara received a {{Curse}} from her world's [[PhysicalGod Overseer]] that makes her gradually turn into a DemonOfHumanOrigin every time she kills a demon, and Clayton, paranoid that once she completes her transformation, she'll automatically become evil, forbids her from killing demons, on pain of [[AnArmAndALeg cutting off her demonic right arm]]. Benny, being a LovableRogue, [[FreakinessShame doesn't see Mara's curse-derived powers as a bad thing]], and actively encourages her to rebel against Clayton. Eventually, he even [[SpeakingUpForAnother stands up for her]] and beats up Clayton for [[KickTheDog trying to kill her]] and prevent her curse from spreading. Benny then solidly establishes his hatred of bullies by telling Clayton, "Sorry about da friends you lost, but ''don't'' call her ''your friend'', kid. [[TranquilFury You don't deserve it, da way you treat her]]." After that, when the ungrateful demon hunters abandon Mara, despite the fact that her using her powers saved the Romanian village they were defending from demons, Benny convinces her to come to Dimension A-016 with him and live with his team of superhero friends, the Sharp Gang, who provide her with the healthy emotional support and approval that her former associates never did.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Bart and Milhouse's friendship could be considered this, as Milhouse is regularly picked on by Nelson and other bullies. Bart, DependingOnTheWriter, is often either another of Nelson's victims, or a bully himself. However, Bart remains Milhouse's friend no matter what.

** Longarm invokes this trope when he learns that Bumblebee knows there's a Decepticon spy among the recruits. He encourages Bumblebee to not give up even when the other 'Bots (namely Wasp) tease him, and helps him after an especially cruel prank. [[spoiler:Too bad it was all because he was actually Shockwave in disguise and befriended 'Bee so he would be above suspicion]].