History Main / CircleOfFriendship

* ''XMenTheAnimatedSeries'': The X-Men form a circle and hold hands so that their combined life forces can allow Jean Grey to be free of the Dark Phoenix alien.

* The ''Franchise/CareBears'' were fond of this move.

* In the final battle of ''Videogame/{{Earthbound}}'', your attacks are mostly ineffective against the BigBad, and so the only way to beat him is to [[spoiler:use Paula's "Pray" command, which will start a special {{cutscene}}-like event during the battle and all of the people that the characters met during their travels, including the player him/herself, pray for the destruction of Giygas. After this command is used a few times, the player will deal hundreds of thousands of damage to Giygas, defeating him.]]

All the heroes get into a circle (or a [[TastesLikeDiabetes love heart shape]] if the writers don't mind being really cheesy) and generally start to sing or do the 'closed-eyes-concentration' thing. The villain may laugh at the circle, but it's generally the last mistake he makes...

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': It was the {{Shorttank}}'s invention.
** Even better in the Abridged Series. "Tea... is that permanent marker?"

* Played with in the Website/YouTube video ''College Saga'', where the group has to face a tree, and decide to sing a song when unable to damage it by normal means. Upon singing a song that has nothing to do with the "game", the tree is instantly destroyed.

* The end of Pedro's story in ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' parodies this (specifically the ''Anime/SailorMoon'' take on it, with a fair doze of ''Manga/DragonBall'' thrown in; "Na-be-ha-me-ha!"); to add to the fun, everyone on his side [[FunnyAfro has afros]].

* The ''Anime/SDGundamForce'' members Captain, Zero and Bakunetsumaru had something like this. It became a CrowningMomentOfAwesome during the final episodes.

* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': The '''Sailor Planet Attack!'''

[[quoteright:316:[[Anime/SailorMoon http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CircleOfFriendship_1546.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:316:Finally, [[ThePowerOfFriendship weaponized friendship]].]]

* The ''Franchise/CareBears'' were fond of this move.
* The end of Pedro's story in ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' parodies this (specifically the ''Anime/SailorMoon'' take on it, with a fair doze of ''DragonBall'' thrown in; "Na-be-ha-me-ha!"); to add to the fun, everyone on his side [[FunnyAfro has afros]].
* ''OsuTatakaeOuendan'', its sequel ''Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2'' and their associated game ''EliteBeatAgents'' all end with the inhabitants of Earth singing and dancing together to fire a giant hadoken of love and music at whatever was going to destroy the world today, be it a giant meteor, the mothership of an army of [[CulturePolice music-hating aliens]], or the dying sun.

* The Japanese-only ''Transformers'' series: [[TransformersHeadmasters Headmasters]]. Bonus points for the members of the literal circle being giant robots. Double bonus points for it being the idea of the Token Human. Triple bonus points and a 1-up for him being given the idea by the angsty loner.
* Literary example: In Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{IT}}'', the main characters do this to help a hospitalized main character take on a BrainwashedAndCrazy nurse.
* In the final battle of ''Videogame/{{Earthbound}}'', your attacks are mostly ineffective against the BigBad, and so the only way to beat him is to [[spoiler:use Paula's "Pray" command, which will start a special {{cutscene}}-like event during the battle and all of the people that the characters met during their travels, including the player him/herself, pray for the destruction of Giygas. After this command is used a few times, the player will deal hundreds of thousands of damage to Giygas, defeating him.]]
* Played with in the Youtube video College Saga, where the group has to face a tree, and decide to sing a song when unable to damage it by normal means. Upon singing a song that has nothing to do with the "game", the tree is instantly destroyed.
* A running theme in ''PrincessGwenevereAndTheJewelRiders''. "Enchanted Jewel Circle" is a potent healing technique and is activated with the phase "friends forever!"

* The Anime/SDGundamForce members Captain, Zero and Bakunetsumaru had something like this. It became a CrowningMomentOfAwesome during the final episodes.

* The ''CareBears'' were fond of this move.

* It lacks the visible magical beam, but in the first of TamoraPierce's ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' books, the protagonists are [[spoiler:trapped in a cave during an earthquake, and using a circle of woven thread Sandry had on her from the beginning, they infuse it with their magics and by shared power cause the cave to not crush them and the thread gives off light so they can see]] (Sandry is afraid of the dark). This thread goes on to have more significance later.

* The SDGundamForce members Captain, Zero and Bakunetsumaru had something like this. It became a CrowningMomentOfAwesome during the final episodes.

* Literary example: In Creator/StephenKing's ''{{IT}}'', the main characters do this to help a hospitalized main character take on a BrainwashedAndCrazy nurse.

* In the final battle of ''{{Earthbound}}'', your attacks are mostly ineffective against the BigBad, and so the only way to beat him is to [[spoiler:use Paula's "Pray" command, which will start a special {{cutscene}}-like event during the battle and all of the people that the characters met during their travels, including the player him/herself, pray for the destruction of Giygas. After this command is used a few times, the player will deal hundreds of thousands of damage to Giygas, defeating him.]]

* The end of Pedro's story in ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' parodies this (specifically the ''SailorMoon'' take on it, with a fair doze of ''DragonBall'' thrown in; "Na-be-ha-me-ha!"); to add to the fun, everyone on his side [[FunnyAfro has afros]].

[[quoteright:316:[[SailorMoon http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CircleOfFriendship_1546.jpg]]]]

* ''SailorMoon'': The '''Sailor Planet Attack!'''

** In ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 Twilight's Kingdom Part 2]]'', the mane six open the box produced by the Tree of Harmony, giving them [[SuperMode Rainbow Power]]. Opening the box is done by standing in a circle around it and turning all six keys at once, giving it this effect. They then follow this up with a [[PowerOfFriendship new Friendship powered]] WaveMotionGun to defeat Tirek and [[DraggedOffToHell seal him back in Tartarus.]] The ending implies their upgrade comes with the ability to do this at will.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', the mane six defeat Nightmare Moon in this exact way, though it takes the [[CosmicKeystone Elements of Harmony]] to create the "friendship beam." They do roughly the same thing to Discord at the end of part 2 of "The Return of Harmony".

** In "Twilight's Kingdom", the mane six open the box produced by the Tree of Harmony, giving them [[SuperMode Rainbow Power]]. Opening the box is done by standing in a circle around it and turning all six keys at once, giving it this effect. They then follow this up with a [[PowerOfFriendship new Friendship powered]] WaveMotionGun to defeat Tirek and [[DraggedOffToHell seal him back in Tartarus.]] The ending implies their upgrade comes with the ability to do this at will.

* The Japanese-only ''Transformers'' series: Headmasters. Bonus points for the members of the literal circle being giant robots. Double bonus points for it being the idea of the Token Human. Triple bonus points and a 1-up for him being given the idea by the angsty loner.

* It lacks the visible magical beam, but in the first of TamoraPierce's Circle of Magic books, the protagonists are [[spoiler:trapped in a cave during an earthquake, and using a circle of woven thread Sandry had on her from the beginning, they infuse it with their magics and by shared power cause the cave to not crush them and the thread gives off light so they can see]] (Sandry is afraid of the dark). This thread goes on to have more significance later.