History Main / CommonalityConnection

* In ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'', Roger and Mimi's romance is cemented when they realize they both are HIV-Positive.

* ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'' makes both Kirito and Kayaba into this who both [[TooDumbToLive complain about the other players of the game as annoying pissants]], considers themselves a massive cut above normal people due to their intellect, but what really clinches the deal for Kayaba is that [[ReferenceOverdosed Kirito is as big of a Movie Nerd that makes movie quotes like Kayaba does]]; [[SpottingTheThread it was one of the many things that allowed for Kirito to deduce Kayabas' secret identity as Heathcliff.]]

'''Douchey:''' They ''are'' the best!

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Jeremy and Cass of ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns''. At the beginning of the series, Jeremy actively dislikes Cass because the latter is [[DrugsAreBad rumored to do drugs]] and prostitute himself. However, when Jeremy returns to Boston after the [[SelfMadeOrphan deaths of his mother and stepfather]], is kicked out of his aunt's house, and [[DrowningMySorrows begins taking drugs and selling himself]], Jeremy at some point meets up with Cass and the two live and work together. They bond over their DarkAndTroubledPast, Cass having admitted to Jeremy early on that he left home because [[AbusiveParents his parents were abusive alcoholics]] and Cass being the only person aware of [[RapeAsBackStory what Jeremy's stepfather did to him]], as well as their shared statuses as {{Functional Addict}}s and [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold teenaged prostitutes wishing for a better life.]]
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has Major Armstrong and Sig Curtis form "a friendship forged entirely by muscle."
* Arslan in ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'' feels a connection to Jaswant despite being from different countries because both of them respect and [[WellDoneSonGuy want to please]] [[spoiler: their adoptive parents]] and are uncertain with their place in the world.
* ''LightNovel/JigokuNoGoukaDeYakaReTsuzuketaShounen'', Flare quickly strikes up a friendship with Bella over their shared pasts as HappilyAdopted orphans and their love for bread. He even says that like her, he's one of the "lucky ones" for having his dream choose him rather than having to search for a meaning or purpose.
* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': Kaguya was incredibly wary of Moeha for a long time ([[CuteAndPsycho with good reason]]), but the two of them end up bonding very quickly when she discovers that both of them [[spoiler:have a crush on Shirogane]].
-->[[spoiler:''The joy that comes from sharing things you like about your first love is a miracle that eclipses all contempt for one's rival in love.'']]
* The titular Nozaki of ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'' was quite wary of Ken when they first met but warms up to him after their shared exasperation towards Maeno. When Ken proves to be a much better editor than Maeno, Nozaki all but worships him.
* In ''Anime/MyHime'', [[spoiler:Natsuki]] stops [[spoiler: Shizuru]] from killing [[spoiler:Nao]] (and this is after [[spoiler:she kills Nao's CHILD]]) by first [[StandingBetweenTheEnemies standing between the two]], then pointing out how [[spoiler:she would've ended up just as bitter and broken as Nao, had it not been for [[FirstFriend Shizuru herself]] and the other [=HiMe=]]].
* Katarina from ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' ends up befriending both Mary and Sophia when she discovers that they share her interests (gardening for the former and reading romance novels for the latter).
* ''Manga/NingenFushinNoBoukenshatachiGaSekaiOSukuuYoudesu'': The basic premise behind the formation of the main characters' party is that its members, Nick, Sem, Tianna, and Karan, all experienced betrayal, and seem to be comfortable in a party with others who suffered the same pain. After all, who better to trust than someone who's been stung by betrayal before?
* ''Manga/OmujoOmutsuJoshi:''
** The series' ThemedHarem is centered around the female cast wearing diapers for reasons of personal need, personal pleasure, and the personal belief it's the male lead Shouta's fetish. This last applies to Morei, who thinks what she does after witnessing AccidentalPervert moments between Shouta and Ichigo, who needs them. When Morei confesses to Ichigo that, as a result, she's been experiencing more frequent {{Potty Emergenc|y}}ies and [[PottyFailure failures]], Ichigo comforts her with the fact that she's in the same boat. After that Morei, who had until then viewed Ichigo as a rival, is being much more friendly and even switching to a FirstNameBasis with her.
** Chapter 25 reveals that Shouta's sister, Shouko, has developed a bedwetting problem. This leads to an initial meeting with Ichigo. Precisely because Shouko realizes Ichigo has similar issues, Shouko confides in Ichigo and asks for her help with the matter.
* The Reverie Arc of ''Manga/OnePiece'' brings a lot of Luffy's friends together, like Vivi, Dalton, Coby, Shirahoshi, and Rebecca. Naturally, several of them end up bonding over their shared friend.
* ''Manga/PhantomSeer'': Both Iori and Riku have specific ideas of what life they want to live that are at odds with their abilities. Iori wants to be a normal high schooler, but his strong shamanic powers and shaman family have roped him into fighting Phantoms. Riku wants to help people like her police officer father and nurse mother, but her ability as a “Beckoning Hand” draws Phantoms to her, making it likely that she’ll endanger the very people she’s trying to help.
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'':
** While Carol makes a horrible first impression on Sheryl by trying to seduce Akira in front of her, seeing that they share admiration and respect for Akira helps the two get along. With the way Sheryl's personality is warped around Akira as well as the FairWeatherFriend filled environment of the slums, that's enough for Sheryl. While Carol liked Sheryl from the get go as someone she can tease.
** Despite Akira initially thinking Nelia is crazy, they eventually have some BadassMindsThinkAlike moments working in perfect sync, helped along by them both have a ConsummateProfessional mindset valuing IGaveMyWord above all else.
** Despite being extremely suspicious of Inabe at first, Akira bonds with him over their mutual dislike of Viola, who’s crossed both of them before.
** While Akira is generally distant with most people due to being TheParanoiac, he gets especially close with Carol due to the connection of [[spoiler:them both being DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals known as Old World Connectors and their fears surrounding that.]]
* ''Manga/ASilentVoice'': Awful ex-husbands are in the past of the mothers of both Ishida and Nishimiya. It allows their mothers to finally move past the awkward issues that have been between the two for years.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Towards the end of Battle City, Ishizu tries to convince Kaiba to give Yugi a card that will help him defeat Marik and save the world, but Kaiba repeatedly brushes her off and mocks her. He only changes his mind when he realizes that Ishizu entered Battle City to protect her brother Marik, and is willing to [[DrivenToSuicide allow herself to die]] [[DespairEventHorizon if her brother can't be saved.]] This reminds him of the time during Duelist Kingdom where he gambled with his own life in order to save Mokuba, and it convinces him to give Yugi the card he needs to win.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/26203810/ 14, 000, 606]]" opens with Peter Parker performing the Snap to kill Thanos rather than Stark. After Peter survives the Snap through urgent medical treatment at Wakanda (albeit at the cost of his left arm and eye, as well as heavy scarring), Thor and Hulk each observe that they share something significant with Peter; he and Thor are the two who vanquished Thanos, and Peter and Hulk each used the Infinity Stones. As an acknowledgement of their bond, Thor gives Peter the cybernetic eye he received from Rocket to replace Peter's lost eye.
* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'', Izuku and Sero quickly strike up a friendship over their shared desire to attend U.A. and usage of {{Building Swing}}ing to get around when they meet on Bepsi Tower.
* ''Fanfic/AuntSalem'': Weiss discovers Blake's identity long before Blake intended to reveal it, and commiserates on them both being from prominent families and dedicating their lives to organizations that turned out to be worse than what they expected.
* ''Fanfic/AvengersInfiniteWars'';
** Invoked when the Guardians of the Galaxy and their allies learn of Vision's connection to Ultron, Gamora subtly reminding Rocket that he trusts her despite her history with Thanos as a means of convincing him to trust Vision in turn.
** The heroes having a connection to Ultron is also referenced due to Wanda and Pietro's powers also being attributed to the Mind Stone; since Ultron was created from the same source, the Avengers keep the Maximoff twins out of potential stealth missions against Ultron in case he can sense their power based on their shared origin.
* "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/38976993/ Because I Knew You]]" opens with Wanda Maximoff coming to New York to investigate the spell compelling the world to forget Peter Parker. While Peter assumes that "Lizzie" doesn't remember him any more than the rest of the world, the two soon find themselves bonding over how they lost everyone else in their lives after the Snap and literally nobody else was there for them when things went wrong.
* Cassandra and the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Inquisitor]] are able to eventually become friends in ''Fanfic/BeyondHeroes: Of Sunshine and Red Lyrium'' in part because of this trope. They have something particularly unpleasant in common; [[spoiler: they both know what it's like to lose their brothers.]]
* Luna and Emerald in Chapter 42 of ''Fanfic/BlazBlueAlternativeRemnant'' form a bond with each other thanks to their past lives as thieves who were forced to do whatever it took to survive.
* ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' has this happen all the time, often between the two casts.
** Princess Luna and Godzilla Junior are both dutiful protectors of their respective realms and had a sad ending to their relationship with their father figures. [[note]]Princess Luna wasn't around when Starswirl the Bearded died of old age due to becoming Nightmare Moon, and Junior's father died from his own powers consuming him when Junior was barely a teen.[[/note]]
** Both Aria Blaze and Monster X are homesick in a way. Aria is physically barred from her home in the sea due to being in the Equestria Girls world and in a human body. X meanwhile is missing his metaphorical home because he lost all his memories of it.
* ''Fanfic/BuildYourWingsOnTheWayDown'': [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist Edward]] and Gabby bond when they talk about being disturbed by the quiet of their rooms after growing up with a family.
* ''Fanfic/AChanceForANewDawn'': Bernadetta is very concerned that [[AffablyEvil Monica]] suddenly wants to bury the hatchet and be good acquaintances just a few hours after their deadly fight in the mock battle. Throughout the story, Monica gets along with Bernadetta and her friends and [[SixthRanger even joins on most of her house's missions]]. It's until Chapter 19 where Bernadetta learns [[spoiler:she is half-Agarthan from her mother's side. Monica is also half-Agarthan, but she figures out Bernadetta's ancestry early on [[RevealingInjury when she drew blood out of her]] during the mock battle, and constantly hangs out with her since "[[HalfBreedDiscrimination half-breeds need to stick together]]"]].
* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfRemnant'': All over the place at the girls' night.
** Emerald quickly connects with Velvet and Coco upon realizing that girls dating girls is allowed, which allowed herself to realize that she was a lesbian. Upon realizing this, Velvet and Coco hug and comfort her as the realization sets in.
** Weiss and Ruby quickly become close when Weiss begins admiring Crescent Rose, followed up when Ruby offers her cookies that she snuck into the party.
** Yang and Pyrrha begin to break the ice between them when Yang realizes Pyrrha's feelings for Jaune and offers her advice on the situation, alongside asking Pyrrha for similar advice regarding Blake.
** After the party, Blake begins to become friends with Ren over their similar personalities and music tastes.
* ''Fanfic/DirtySympathy'': Klavier and Apollo become drawn to each other when they reveal that they're both abuse victims in situations they can't escape from.
* ''Fanfic/FantasyOfUtterRidiculousness:'' This is what helps [[MoonRabbit Reisen,]] who normally doesn't like humans, form a friendship with [[FishOutOfTemporalWater Kiva:]] both of them were soldiers with their respective factions that weren't serving at present, both of them daily had to put up with the whimsical actions of their associates, and they both had to adjust to entirely new circumstances.
* ''Fanfic/FateStarryNight'': Lancer is surprised to learn that Ritsuka, a human from the Age of Man, has also been trained by his teacher Scáthach. This interests Lancer enough to spare Ritsuka's life.
* In "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10941719/1/The-First-Halfa The First Halfa]]", [[WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters Egon Spengler]] is contacted by the Guys in White to examine an ectoplasmic sample retrieved from [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom the Ghost-Boy of Amity Park]], as they wish to determine if they are dealing with a human-turned-ghost based on Egon's own experience of such a transformation ("Egon's Ghost"). While Egon is able to confirm that this is the case, he hides his discovery from the [=GiW=] as he recognises that they just want to catch the Ghost-Boy while he's human and vulnerable, whereas Egon can now see that the Ghost-Boy is a teen hero defending his town whose only mistakes are because he's still learning what he's capable of. When Egon shares this information with the other Ghostbusters, they all agree to keep it secret and stay out of Amity Park to stop the [=GiW=] finding their target, reflecting that the Ghost-Boy is the only new generation ghost hunter they genuinely respect as he's doing it for the right reasons rather than to, for example, sadistically experiment on the ghosts he defeats.
* In ''Fanfic/FromMuddyWaters'', Todoroki takes an interest in Izuku after seeing his discomfort with his Quirk despite his clear skill with it. He began wondering if Izuku was like him: a LaserGuidedTykebomb raised by his VicariouslyAmbitious father. Because of this, he begins trying to get closer to Izuku, sitting with him at lunch, offering him a seat on the bus, and working with him in a group. Izuku is utterly ashamed when he realizes this, as his father never beat him- only emotionally manipulated into accepting more and more Quirks. [[spoiler:During their fight at the Sports Festival, Izuku firmly tells Todoroki to not let his father's ambitions control him. Unlike in canon, Todoroki is so shaken by this that he forfeits the match instead of using his fire powers.]]
* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'': Italy and Japan have this. Despite having vastly different personalities, they both liked literature, anime, manga, fencing, food, and cats. They both even cosplayed as Light Yagami and Teru Mikami respectively from ''Anime/DeathNote''. To say Germany wasn't pleased with this would be a ''massive'' understatement.
* ''Fanfic/AGlassOfWine'': Shinji and Asuka's relationship starts deepening when they talk about their latest battle and bond over their shared phantom pains.
* In ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'', the Red Lotus Trio (Chloe, Atticus and Lexi) end up bonding cause they have similar connections.
** They're all into stories. Atticus recites tales from his kingdom and reads classic novels, Chloe has a knack for writing macabre tales and Lexi himself is a book that records the accounts of cars within the train.
** They're all excited to explore the train for different reasons: Atticus wants another adventure, Chloe is journeying to find herself, and Lexi wants to explore the other cars and hopefully have a chance to get revenge on [[spoiler:Grace and Simon (who buried him alive for years)]].
** The three are unable to forgive someone in their pasts: Chloe can't forgive her father or Goh for favoring Pokémon over her, Atticus will not let Amelia go so easily for the torment she unleashed as the Conductor, and Lexi wants nothing more than to hurt Grace and Simon.
* ''Fanfic/JWITCHSeason1'': In "The Underwater Mines", Jade and Caleb bond over their similar headstrong attitudes and senses of loyalty.
* ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'': During the Beacon Dance, Jaune and Weiss bond over having ParentalIssues and rebelling against their parents. Jaune's parents were [[MyBelovedSmother extremely overbearing and overprotective]], while Weiss's father was distant and [[AbusiveParents emotionally abusive]]. This led both to strike out on their own and come to Beacon.
-->'''Jaune:''' ''[raises glass]'' To crazy parents?\\
'''Weiss:''' ''[toasts]'' To striking out on our own.
* In ''Fanfic/TheLightningStrike'', after learning from Thor that wizards such as Harry were apparently initially empowered by the Reality Stone/Aether, other Avengers compare it to how Pietro and Wanda's powers come from the Mind Stone, and Maria Hill mentions Carol Danvers as another example of a human being empowered by an Infinity Stone.
* ''Fanfic/LostToDust'': Weiss Schnee and Oda Nobunaga have a bonding moment when they learn they are both looked down upon by their families, and that they both have bratty NonActionGuy little brothers.
* ''Fanfic/TheManyDatesOfDannyFenton'': Danny Fenton discovers that he has some traits in common with (most of) his dates.
** He is a teen hero that also has to juggle school and family life, like Kim, Alex, Gwen, Kara, Jenny, Violet, April,Lita/Makoto and Barbara.
** He has superpowers which he uses to protect others, just like Gwen, Kara, Kitty, Violet and Starfire.
** He has a secret double life, like Alex, Musa, Cleo, Felicia, Kara, Barbara and Diana.
** He is connected to the paranormal world, just like Phanty, Spectra, Cleo, Musa and Sabrina.
** He is half ghost, while Spectra and Phantasma are full ghosts.
** He and Daria are both {{Deadpan Snarker}}s, with little tolerance for jerks.
** He has expressed a desire to live a normal life, just as Debbie did.
* ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': The Wolf and Tyrion end up bonding over their respective loves being taken away from them by more powerful men in their lives, although it doesn't stop the Wolf from constantly making InnocentlyInsensitive comments to everyone (but as Tyrion notes, at least he doesn't make dwarf jokes).
* ''Series/{{Supergirl 2015}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/MyYouthIsYours'': In addition to their love of engineering, Lena and Winn bond over being from supervillain families. Lena is of course the WhiteSheep of the infamous Luthor family, while Winn is the son of the Toyman, a serial killer who used toys to kill people.
* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Izuku meets Momo Yaoyorozu early in the story, and after helping her retrieve her cellphone from a sewer, the two quickly become friends over their shared dream of being Pro Heroes and admiration for Princess Shazam.
* ''Fanfic/OSMUFanfictionFriction'': On their BlindDate, Oswald and Oksana hit it off rough as she takes a dislike to him. When she mentions going to see the band Gastrointestinal Disorder play live after the date, Oswald is invested as he likes the band as well, and the pair eventually decide to go and see them perform. They later go to see other bands like Alien Open Autopsy and Coprolite.
* ''Fanfic/PokemonAMarvelousJourney'': Julia Parisa and Merlin Knowles become friends over the fact that they're both autistic.
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19785553/chapters/47553250 PRT Threat Assessment]]'', Batman invokes the trope. Celestia (a stranger to the group) is having a HeroicBSOD, so he tells Wonder Woman to go comfort her. Why Wonder Woman specifically?
-->"Because you and she are both millennium-old Greek-themed princesses with penchants for golden jewellery. Plenty of common ground."
* In ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ResurrectedMemories'': [[spoiler: How Sam and Ember/Amberline end up becoming friends, along with the former’s willingness to help the latter defeat Paulina in the prom bet. Both girls are fans of dark clothing, the band Kiss and share a mutual hatred towards Paulina and the A-Listers, which help cement a genuine friendship between the two girls.]]
* ''Fanfic/RWBYEpicOfRemnant'': EMIYA Alter befriends Ruby Rose due to their mutual love of weapons, especially guns.
* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'': During her wedding, Kurenai mentions that part of the reason why she and Asuma bonded so easily is becasue both of them had issues with their fathers (hers [[StayInTheKitchen disapproved of her becoming a ninja]] and his was always absent due to all his various responsibilities).
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/26698570/ Strange Potter]]'', when Bruce Banner is helping Remus Lupin research a cure for his condition, he shows Remus a video of the Hulk in action to help Lupin realise that Bruce understands what it's like to fear a part of yourself that could be capable of great destruction.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}''[=/=]''VisualNovel/DanganronpaAnother'' crossover ''[[https://a-student-out-of-time.tumblr.com A Student Out of Time]]'', [[VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2 Iroha]] and [[VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls Jataro]] end up bonding over their mutual love of art, and eventually their [[AbusiveParents mutually abusive upbringings]]. After hearing about how much his mother despised him, she decides to become his [[HappilyAdopted big sister]], promising to let him know how much he's loved.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/24175855/chapters/58550965#workskin these ruined hands of mine (they seek out you, always you)]]'' has the concept of ''baschna'' from Tatooine's slave culture. When someone calls another one ''baschna'', it means both have suffered and understand each other's pain. Shmi Skywalker explains that to Feral to let him understand why her son Anakin designated him such after learning he was born a slave on Dathomir.
* In ''Fanfic/TimeFixersNicktoonsOfTheFuture'', Darry Fenton and Maxwell Neutron are always fighting and arguing until they are captured by [[KillerRobot SpongeCog]], and when trying to escape, they bond over the discovery that they both suffer from an InferioritySuperiorityComplex due to the pressure they feel about having to live up to their fathers' legacy.
* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7425620/1/To-The-Journey To the Journey]]", after ''Voyager'' returns to Earth, Seven of Nine approaches Tasha Yar for insight on having a relationship with an artificial life-form, based on Tasha's successful marriage to Data and Seven contemplating a relationship with the Doctor.
* ''Fanfic/TradeUsForTheWorld'': While Marcy attempts to invoke this once she moves to Connecticut, she sadly finds that none of the clubs she tries out for are willing to welcome her in. The Chess Club members get upset when she [[CurbStompBattle does too well]] during her introductory matches; the Math Club members ignore her efforts to get involved in their conversations; and the Creatures & Caverns Club is in the middle of a three-month campaign, and don't really want her around as an audience.
* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'': [[spoiler:Princess Celestia]] acknowledges that [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight]] and [[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix]] will get along very well the moment Twilight starts talking about "contradictions" much in the same way Phoenix does. Indeed, after some bumps in the road, they end up [[InterspeciesFriendship considering each other a friend]].
* ''Fanfic/{{Unlikely}}'': Purpled and Tommy quickly strike up a friendship over their shared desire to become knights.
* ''Fanfic/WithConfidence'': Izuku and Nedzu bond over the fact that they are both smart people who suffered for being different from the norm of society.
* In ''to rest in crypts and wake in gardens'' (book 8 of ''Fanfic/YouCanOnlyUseYourOwn''), Frisk initially distrusts Chara, but they end up bonding over their troubled pasts after Chara shows Frisk their SelfHarm scars.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/AndYourNameIsJonah'', Jenny and Connie bond over the fact that they both have deaf children - their sons Jonah and Tommy attend the same speech therapy class.
* ''Film/TheBigCube'': Adriana likes her stepdaughter Lisa, whom she sees as similar to herself as a teenager, in terms of both appearance and personality. Her feelings are not returned.
* ''Film/EagleVsShark'': Lily has a crush on Jarrod because he shares an almost identical mole on his upper lip with her. After they become a couple, Lily comments on it, and Jarrod is unaware that he even has a mole on his lip.
* ''Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce'': In one universe Deirdre extends a final chance to Evelyn because [[spoiler:Waymond tells her of their upcoming divorce]], and Deirdre knows the stress that comes with that due to [[spoiler:being divorced herself]].
* ''Film/TheFallout'': Up until the first shots are fired, Vada was making fun of Mia for being an influencer. And then they're stuck together in a bathroom stall throughout the ordeal and bond over their trauma afterwards.
* ''Film/FieldersChoice'': Advertising executive Philip has more in common with his autistic nephew Zach than he cares to admit, most notably their shared passion and talent for art.
* ''Film/{{Glass}}'': Casey tells Kevin that she too was horribly [[CreepyUncle abused]] as a child with him explicitly saying they're the same as she tries to breakthrough to him and his [[SplitPersonality split personalities]].
* In ''Film/HenryAndVerlin'', a mute child forms a close bond with his simple-minded uncle. It's implied that Verlin inherited Henry's disability or a very similar one.
* In ''Film/TheInnocent1994'', Lieutenant Barlow tells the orphaned autistic boy Gregory that they have a lot in common because he grew up as an orphan too - his only family was his grandfather, who died when he was twelve.
* ''Film/KeepTheChange2017'': After spending most of the movie trying to distance himself from the "weirdos" in the autism support group, David realizes that he loves Sarah because she's weird, like him.
* ''Film/TheLobster'' exaggerates the trope for satire. Residents of the hotel, who are required to find a mate, each announce their "distinguishing characteristic," such as wearing glasses or getting nosebleeds, with the intention of fostering a connection with someone else who shares this trait. Several of the relationships we see are built exclusively around this shared trait. To be with a woman who gets nosebleeds, John repeatedly hit himself in the nose to maintain the charade of sharing her trait.
* In ''Film/Molly1999'', Sam, who has a learning disability, is "kind of on the same wavelength" as Molly, who is autistic and intellectually impaired. Sam is pretty much the only person who's able to form a genuine human connection with her before her [[ThrowingOffTheDisability brain surgery]].
* In ''Film/RunWildRunFree'', the Colonel suspects that Philip's attachment to the horse might be because they're both different from the others - the horse because of his albinism, Philip because of his muteness.
* ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'': On ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Capt. Picard has been shown to be passionate about horseback riding. So, Picard finally convinces Capt. Kirk to help him while they're riding together through the Nexus. This scene was actually Creator/WilliamShatner's idea, [[TheCastShowoff since he's an avid rider himself]], even teaching Creator/PatrickStewart some tricks during filming.
* ''Film/TheSting''. While the con men are planning to pull a scam on Doyle Lonnegan, J.J. Singleton mentions that Lonnegan came from a place called Five Points. Later on, when Lonnegan asks Hooker where he's from, he says that he came from Five Points in the hope that it will cause Lonnegan to trust him.
* Franny from ''Film/UnderThePiano'' was born with a paralyzed arm, and Rosetta is autistic. The sisters' disabilities help them bond.
* In ''Film/WhiteFrog'', part of the reason why Nick's dead older brother Chaz was so protective of him is that neither one matched their parents' ideal of the perfect son - Nick has Asperger's syndrome, while Chaz [[spoiler:was gay and in a relationship with his best friend Randy]].
* ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': Bobby Drake and Logan have a little chat about their inability to be close to the woman they have strong feelings for.

[[folder:Literature]]
!!By Author:
* Creator/PGWodehouse:
** In ''Uneasy Money'', Elizabeth is reconciled to Bill as a house guest when he turns out to know how to handle bees, and is positively interested when he explains how he, like she, wants to live the {{Arcadia}}n life.
** In ''Hot Water'', Packy sets out to [[AFriendInNeed help Jane and Blair Eggleston]] out of fellow feeling another pair of lovers.
** This is how Mike and Literature/{{Psmith}} fall in with each other: both violently dislike the BoardingSchool to which they have been transferred.
*** {{Exploited}} by Psmith as well. When he and Mike get a job at the bank, he purposely pokes around to discover his supervisor's hobby (the Manchester United football team), learns all he can about it and uses it to become friendly with him (and in the process, making the supervisor a DefrostingIceKing).
** In ''[[Literature/BlandingsCastle Something Fresh]]'', Ashe and Joan bond over the fact that they're both reluctant magazine hack writers, and--in the American edition, ''Something New''--both displaced Americans living in London.

!!By Title:
* ''Literature/AccidentalDetectives'': Joel befriends paraplegic former fighter pilot Mad Eddie due to his fondness for kite flying, with Eddie understanding what it's like to want to fly.
* In ''Literature/{{Allegiant}}'', [[spoiler:Christina and Uriah become very close because both of them lost someone important to them]].
* ''Literature/{{Andersonville}}'': Coral Tebbs ends up befriending Nat Stricker, an escaped Union prisoner, largely because they're both war amputees.
* ''Literature/TheBalladOfBlackTom'': Suydam says that he hired Tommy because it was obvious from his phony simple-minded guitar man act that he was familiar with illusion and artifice, like Suydam.
* In Barbara Robinson's ''Literature/TheBestSchoolYearEver'', the narrator deduces that perhaps Imogene looked out for little Howard and made sure no one took his blanket away because someone had taken her blanket, just like his, away when she was little.
* In ''Literature/TheBlackFoxOfBeckham'', the fox Arabella and the humans Silviana and Fi connect because they're all mistreated for being different - Arabella for her coat color, Silviana for being Roma, and Fi for being autistic.
* In ''Literature/ABoyMadeOfBlocks'', Alex's autistic son Sam gets along well with Sid, who Alex realizes is also autistic.
* ''Literature/CanYouSeeMe'':
** Tally connects to Rupert, a three-legged dog her family takes in after his owner is placed in a nursing home, because she's autistic and knows what it's like to be seen as defective.
** In ''Do You Know Me?'' Tally befriends Jade, another autistic girl, and Gregory, an anxious, hyperactive boy who's seen as weird and annoying by everyone else. Due to Tally's own problems with anxiety, she knows how to use logic to calm Gregory's fears.
** In ''Ways to Be Me'', Tally goes horseback riding and is paired with the "spirited" horse Peaches. Tally gets along well with Peaches, who she feels is nice but misunderstood, like herself.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/{{Catseye|1961}}'', Rerne tells Troy that a rider of Norden is always welcome at the Rangers' hearth. Troy denies; he's just a [[WarRefugees refugee]] now.
* In Creator/SarahAHoyt's ''Literature/DarkshipRenegades'', one reason for Thena's feeling hostile to Zen is that she has been widowed -- as Kit had been, giving them a connection.
* In Creator/SarahAHoyt's ''Literature/DarkshipThieves'', Athena and Kit bond when she assures him of her having to deal with {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s and finding it no fun at all.
* In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** In the short story "Troll Bridge", Cohen the Barbarian goes to fight a troll. They end up grumbling about Young People Today together instead. In the end, Cohen leaves without fighting the troll [[spoiler:but going to fight three other trolls the first troll had problems with]].
** Angua, Cherie, and Sally, despite being a werewolf, a dwarf, and a vampire and the complicated history between those races, find enough in being all women to bond over. They even connect with Tawneee on the same grounds in ''Literature/{{Thud}}''.
** In ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'', Tiffany ends up bonding with Roland's fiancee Letitia over having read the same book of fairy tales, and having similar negative reactions to it trying to dictate their roles in life based on hair colors. The brown-haired Tiffany wanted to be more than a sidekick or background character, and the blond-haired Letitia wanted to be more than a boring old PrincessClassic or DamselInDistress.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literagure/DragonMagic'', four boys each find a jigsaw puzzle, make one corner -- and so one dragon -- of it, and get shifted to an ancient era to experience something related to it. This, and their attempts to research the facts, draw them together at the end.
* In Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's ''[[Literature/DragonridersOfPern Dragonsinger]]'', when Menolly is caught in a fight during a fair, another girl, jumping to join her side, calls for a boy to join in because Menolly comes from a sea hold. It works. Robinton rebukes him because his father had sent him to be fostered where he was to broaden his mind.
* In Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheFourLoves'', this is how friendship arises.
* In Creator/SarahAHoyt's ''Literature/DrawOneInTheDark'', Tom knows he can't leave Kyrie to fight alone, because she [[AFriendInNeed helped him]], and because they are both shifters.
-->''Friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one."'.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/DreadCompanion'', Kilda's mentor at the creche became so because they both desired to do things they couldn't.
* In Creator/RebeccaLickiss's ''Literature/EccentricCircles'', Africa, Piper's blue-eyed blond cousin, and Sherlock, her black husband actually got to MeetCute over this. He invoked trope on their anti-{{Meaningful Name}}s, explaining that "Sherlock" means "the blond one."
* Attempted in ''Literature/EveryShinyThing''. Sierra is in foster care after being taken from her alcoholic mother, and her foster mother tries to connect with her by telling her that she grew up taking care of her own alcoholic mother.
* ''Literature/TheEvolutionOfEmily'':
** Emily and her LoveInterest August enjoy running together, pushing each other to go faster.
** When Emily introduces Miles to her autistic sister Olivia, the two immediately connect over their interest in science. They do chemistry experiments in the backyard and look at things through Olivia's microscope.
** Emily invites [[TomboyishName Sam Wilson]] over to her house. She's always seen Sam as more popular than herself and is worried Sam will be mean to Olivia, like the last time she invited a girl over. But it turns out Sam is in special ed due to dyslexia and ADD, so she instantly understands Olivia.
* Lois from ''Literature/ExperimentalFilm'' feels a connection with her former student, Safie Hewsen, because they both suffered from vivid nightmares of terrifying angels as children.
* In ''Literature/EyeContact'', Adam Miller was autistic, and Amelia Best had PDD-NOS. The two understood each other and became friends, sitting together and singing songs on the playground, up until Amelia's murder.
* This - and possibly a PrecociousCrush - is what drives Tash Arranda in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' to like and trust Luke Skywalker from the moment she meets him. They're both Force-Sensitive. What's more, Luke is the first other Sensitive Tash has ever met, and the first to be kind and encourage her strange talents rather than just dismissing her as a CreepyChild.
-->He winked at Tash, and she felt the Force flow between them, just as she had during their first meeting. It was a warm, electric tingle, as though she were on one end of a wire with Luke at the other. Together, they made a connection.
* ''Literature/GenerationKill'': The Marines are originally deeply annoyed when a surrounded Iraqi soldier refuses to surrender his service weapon, until they realize he must be under the same kind of orders they are, and think abut what it would take to get them to give up their weapons. Then they start treating him with respect for his steadfast devotion to duty, even sharing their cigarettes and desserts with him.
** On a similar note, Espera has complimentary words for the dead Iraqi soldier he finds, still clutching his RPG and with his finger on the trigger.
---> He died trying to get a shot off. ''Discipline.''
* In Creator/VictoriaForester's ''Literature/TheGirlWhoCouldFly'', Piper and Sally Sue at once, because their favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' several students who lost family members to Death Eaters in the first war start getting unwanted attention after the Azkaban breakout and find they sympathize with Harry when they realize how unpleasant it is. When Susan Bones involuntarily becomes the target of gossip in The Order of the Phoenix after the Death Eater who murdered several members of her family is one of the escapees, she thinks she knows a little of what it's like to be Harry Potter — and she doesn't know how he stands it, it's ''horrible''.
** Downplayed in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''. Harry notices that Regulus Black also played Seeker.
--->''“He played Seeker,” said Harry.\\
“What?” said Hermione vaguely; she was still immersed in Voldemort’s press clippings.\\
“He’s sitting in the middle of the front row, that’s where the Seeker … Never mind,” said Harry, realizing that nobody was listening.''
** In the same book, he realizes the connections between him and two men he despises.
---> ''Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home here....''
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/TheHermeticMillennia'', Illiance calls on Menelaus to help him because of the brotherhood of scholars. Later, Menelaus calls on Illiance to help him with his own scholarly work.
* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', Katniss and Johanna eventually somehow manage to bond over how much they hate each other.
* In ''Literature/IThinkILoveYou'', Petra and Sharon's friendship forms based on their shared obsession with Creator/DavidCassidy.
* Creator/JulieKagawa's ''Literature/TheIronFey'': In ''Literature/TheIronKing'', Angie drives Meghan home. She talks about how they understand each other with the abuse they both get.
* ''Literature/JohnPutnamThatcher:'' In ''Murder Without Icing,'' Thatcher (and later one of his banking subordinates) befriend a hockey player after discovering that the man is interested in business principles and owns several skating clubs.
* Addie from ''Literature/AKindOfSpark'' is close to her older sister Keedie because they're both autistic.
* In ''Literature/LoveAnthony'', Beth used to think she and her husband Jimmy were soulmates because they had so much in common. They were both the only children of single parents, and they both had a fierce determination to do something they loved for a living.
* In Creator/RudyardKipling's "A Matter of Fact", the main characters are all journalists together.
-->''we were all at home instantly, because we were men of the same profession needing no introduction''
* In Jennifer Crusie's ''Literature/MaybeThisTime'', when Southie meets Alice and asks her what's new, Alice says she likes nuts now. Southie, eager to bond, assures her he does, too.
* In ''Literature/MoreThanHuman'', Hip tells the orphaned telepath Gerry about his own history of being rejected and unwanted so Gerry will listen to him [[spoiler:when he explains the concept of ethics]].
* In Creator/SeananMcGuire's ''Literature/OctoberDaye'' novel ''An Artificial Night'', Toby sees May and Tybalt together, and May assures her they have much in common. Tybalt adds that a common urge to hit her over the head until she stops doing stupid things leads the list.
* In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''[[Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy Only You Can Save Mankind]]'', Johnny manages to convince Kirsty to help the Captain when he refers to her by a female pronoun. Kirsty immediately assumes that it was sexism that turned her crew against her, and Johnny keeps his mouth shut about the Scree-Wee society actually being matriarchial. Johnny also has the habit of imagining them as human-like and so, because his imagination can change the game world, a tea cart comes around every afternoon for a snack.
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Phoenix Ascendent]]'', Phaethon is arguing with Atkins when he realizes that Atkins calls his ship "she." (Earlier, Phaethon had rejected an offer to avoid exile when he told a man calling it "it" that ships are called "she.")
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Literature/ProsperosDaughter Prospero Regained]]'', when [[spoiler:Caliban]] says that he always knew that Miranda was [[spoiler:an angel]], Theo says he did, too, and they shared a brotherly smile.
** In ''Prospero Lost'', Miranda had told the winds that she had to defend her people too when leading in to the offer to free them only if they could work out how to protect mankind from the winds.
* The short stories in ''TabletopGame/PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution'' are full of this. It’s blatantly obvious that several characters would never have hung out with each other if not for the whole “esper on the run from the government” thing.
* In ''Literature/TheRoosevelt'', Emmet is autistic, and Jeremey has anxiety and depression. Emmet immediately understands Jeremey's sensitivity and confusion over what to do in social situations.
* Georg from ''Literature/{{Shtum}}'' sees every word as a lie. To him, the truest language is the language of the heart, which he shares with both his best friend Maurice, who didn't speak his language when they first met, and his autistic grandson Jonah, who can't speak at all and doesn't even like using picture cards.
* In Creator/LauraAmySchlitz's ''Literature/SplendorsAndGlooms'', when Parsefall bluntly states that he thinks death masks are gruesome, Clara, whose home is engulfed with such reminds of her dead brothers and sisters, feels a connection.
* In one ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' novel, Tuvok mind-melds with a Romulan scientist; the narration describes how he automatically seeks out similarities between them (they're both family men, for example) to ease the shock of the experience.
* In ''Literature/{{Touch 2017}},'' [[{{Flight}} James]] and [[TheEmpath Caspar]] have their first fight when the former believes that the latter only befriended him [[DontYouDarePityMe out of pity]]. James lets the issue go when Caspar starts crying, which reveals that he's wearing makeup to hide the signs of his AbusiveParents. James wears makeup to hide the [[VirginityFlag Mark of Purity]] that he got from [[RapeAsBackstory his own]] TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening.
* In Creator/RuthFrancesLong's ''Literature/TheTreacheryOfBeautifulThings'', when appealing for a CoolSword to save Jenny, Jack tells Wayland about her. Wayland comments that she sounds like his wife.
* In Creator/LJagiLamplighter's ''The Unexpected Enlightenment of Literature/RachelGriffin'', Rachel and Gaius were both admitted a year younger than normal to the school -- a connection despite his being several years her elder.
* ''Literature/XandriCorelel'': During her time as an [[TheMatchmaker attoaong]], Xandri successfully pairs the chatty messenger Kirchak with the withdrawn engineer Prrchik because she recognizes their shared curiosity and longing for adventure. Xandri herself feels a connection with Kirchak, even though they're almost polar opposites, because they're both considered so atypical for their species.
* In ''Literature/WickedGood'', Rory and Trish connect because they're both isolated and unhappy, Rory because of his autism and bipolar disorder and Trish because of her family's abuse.
* Charlie from ''Literature/{{Wish}}'' sympathizes with the stray dog Wishbone because she, too, feels like a stray nobody wants.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/TheZeroStone'', Eet tells Jern that it's not just for convenience that he hooked onto him, but also because they have much in common.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', while Archie Bunker and George Jefferson are a pair of old bigoted racists who ''despise'' each other, if there's one thing they both agree on it's "white ought to stay with white and colored ought to stay with colored." Them agreeing on this point is pretty much the only bit of levity the two ever share, where the two of them quietly sit together ''without'' arguing.
* ''Series/BarRescue:'' This was the key reason Jon Taffer brought chef Nick Liberato and mixologist Mia Mastroianni to Plush in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Their respective family trees were in the same region of Italy as the owner's: Calabria, or the "toe of the boot."
* In ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Sweets and Daisy are in a FriendsWithBenefits situation but Sweets doesn't want casual sex; he insists that if they're going to be together they should be '''together'''. But they can't find anything to bond over: She likes Indian food, he only went there because she likes it. She loves dogs, he's allergic. They finally find a commonality: they both have issues with the final season of ''Series/SavedByTheBell''.
* ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'': Rian bonds with Brea over their troubled relationship with their parents who have both died, during Brea's mother's funeral.
* In ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'', Earl was initially hostile to a family of mammals staying with them at the time. But he and the mammal father quickly bond over how annoying their kids can be at times.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The First Doctor gets off on the wrong foot with his companions, to say the least. After enduring a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech too many and nearly getting the crew all killed due to the paranoia his meanness was causing, the sign he is prepared to reconcile with his main enemy, Ian, is through a short discussion with him in which they express mutual appreciation for [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel Victorian clothing]].
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E2TheGhostMonument "The Ghost Monument"]]: Graham O'Brien has a moment of sympathy with alien race contestant Angstrom over the fact that [[spoiler:they both lost their wives to the Stenza, a race of conquering aliens]].
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'':
** An early scene has [[TheUnfavorite Monica]] and [[StepfordSnarker Chandler]] joking about their HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood.
--->'''Monica:''' Chandler you were an only child, so you didn't have this [[ParentalFavoritism problem]]?\\
'''Chandler:''' No, though I had an imaginary friend... who my [[ParentalNeglect parents actually preferred]]. (Monica laughs and hugs him)
** Parodied when Phoebe meets her birth mom. Initially hostile, Phoebe bonds with her when she learns they have so much in common: they both like pizza and Music/TheBeatles and think puppies are cute...
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Sansa starts to form this with Loras in "The Climb", as they are both extremely depressed after losing a loved one (Ned for Sansa and Renly for Loras), plus they find life in King's Landing intolerable.
** Sansa begins to bond with Tyrion over their outcast status. Then she learns of the Red Wedding.
** How Davos persuades Lyanna, as both know what it is to suddenly be in charge of a position they never expected to have.
** Daenerys with Tyrion, as they discuss their abusive fathers and terrible childhoods.
* In ''Series/HereComeTheBrides'', Jeremy bonds with his LoveInterest Candy over the fact that he [[SpeechImpediment stutters]] and she bites her nails.
* Ricky and Gina in ''Series/HighSchoolMusicalTheMusicalTheSeries''. Both are "outsiders" in the Drama Club because he just joined and she just moved to Salt Lake, and both have unstable home lives. The bond over this in the back half of the first season.
* ''Series/JandaKembang'': When Jufri wants to fire Rais and other methods fails to convince Jufri otherwise, Rais begins to say that he is in desperate need for money to make sure his beloved doesn't go back to her ex-husband. Since Jufri also has been desperately trying to get his ex back, Jufri is touched and decides to keep his fellow "love warrior" service.
* ''{{Series/Legion|2017}}'': In "[[Recap/LegionS3E3Chapter22 Chapter 22]]", when Charles Xavier and Gabrielle socialize for the first time, they bond over their love for cherry pie and their struggles with their mental health issues.
-->'''Gabrielle''': I'm not well, you know.\\
'''Charles''': Neither am I.
* ''Series/MyLeftNut'': Mick and Rachael have their first bonding moment when they share their experiences about having fights with their parents.
* "Jack Frost" from season eight of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' has [[TalkingAnimal Professor Bobo]] and [[BrainInAJar Brain Guy]] get along after discovering something they have in common: their hatred for [[BigBad Pearl]].
* This gets is played with in an episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}''. Gibbs is trying to prove that a Medal of Honor recipient did not murder another soldier during the battle of Iwo Jima during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. However, the man's memory is failing and he no longer remembers what actually happened. All the other soldiers from the unit are dead so a desperate Gibbs brings in a Japanese war veteran who fought on the opposite side of the battle. Despite the fact that 60 years ago they were mortal enemies, their common connection is just what is needed to help the man remember how his buddy really died. This is then subverted when [[spoiler: we find out that the Japanese man was never on Iwo Jima and is just a chef at a restaurant Gibbs eats at.]] Then it gets double subverted [[spoiler: when he reveals that he actually fought on Guadalcanal where the American also served during the war and was injured.]]
* Eliza attempts to invoke this twice on ''Series/{{Selfie}}'':
** In "Un-Tag My Heart", she expresses how much she has in common with her neighbor Bryn when they obviously don't. Eliza tries to form an interest in Bryn's book club, (and avoid just thinking about sex with her current partner), but it doesn't work out when another member of the group points out Eliza's bookmark is eight pages in.
** Eliza also does this in "With a Little Yelp From My Friends", by stalking co-worker Joan's reviews (after failing to find anything about her on things like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) of places online. Eliza parrots Joan's reviews, buys her favorite pizza but blows it by revealing too much -- that Joan's husband was allergic to garlic, which Joan never told her.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': Attempted in the episode "[[LowerDeckEpisode Lower Decks]]." Ensign Sam Lavelle tries to ingratiate himself with Riker in order to secure a promotion. Ben (the 10-Forward waiter, a lower deck version of Guinan) suggests that Sam find something in common with Riker and mentions that Riker is Canadian. Sam's grandfather was Canadian, so he tries to use that. Turns out, Riker is ''Alaskan''.
* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': One of the first signs of Shran and Archer's rivalry turning into a genuine friendship occurs in "Babel One", when they bond over learning that both their ships, the ''Kumari'' and the ''Enterprise'' were named for a long string of famous vessels from the respective homeworlds.
* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'':
** In "Maps and Legends", Picard and Jurati are both fond of Earl Grey tea.
--->'''Picard''': Your preference? We have a selection.\\
'''Jurati''': Earl Grey?\\
'''Picard''': ''(smiling)'' I knew there was something about you.
** In "Stardust City Rag", it's not revealed to what extent Picard and Seven of Nine know each other otherwise (Raffi doesn't recall them having met before), but they have a familiar demeanour due to their time in the Borg Collective HiveMind.
** Elnor and Hugh are strangers, but they develop an instant affinity for each other in "Nepenthe" because they're both GoodIsNotSoft {{Nice Guy}}s who dedicate themselves to [[WeHelpTheHelpless helping the helpless]]. This is confirmed by Jonathan Del Arco in [[https://www.ign.com/articles/picard-hugh-nepenthe-episode-7-jonathan-del-arco-elnor this interview,]] and he even portrayed [[https://twitter.com/JonathanDelArco/status/1250830661994156033 Hugh as being in love with Elnor]] because of the selfless qualities they share in common.
--->'''Del Arco''': I think there were a lot of things about Elnor that for me resonated as a gay man. You know, I think [Hugh] loved [Elnor]. I think in essence he might've been in love with him in the time that he was there. I think that the hope was really someone loves him. Someone who was idealistic. I think he saw a lot of himself in Elnor. Hugh used to have that sense of innocence, of righteousness. And all those things were hopeful to him, because he hadn't been in a space of hope for all this time. And I think for a minute he thought, 'You know, I think me and the kid can go all the way with this. We could take the cube. We could save it.'
** In "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2", Rios and Seven of Nine bond over the broken promises they've made to themselves, and they're both hardened, pessimistic {{Anti Hero}}es.
* ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS1E02ChildrenOfTheComet Children of the Comet]]", Uhura and Spock find common ground because they're both "too honest" and they're knowledgeable about the mathematics of music.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** In the episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E18SomethingWicked "Something Wicked" (S01, Ep18)]], Dean bonds with Michael, recognizing his need to protect his brother based on Dean having almost failed to protect Sam from the same creature when he was Michael's age.
** In the Season 10 Episode, "About a Boy", Dean bonds with the GirlOfTheWeek over both of them having stayed at the same seedy motel during their crappy childhoods.
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'': When both of [[ButtMonkey Alan]]'s major {{Love Interest}}s, Kandi and Lyndsey, finally meet, they both bond over [[LousyLoversAreLosers insulting his bedroom skills]] and then end up sleeping together.
* ''Series/{{Waco}}'': Despite Thibodeau's mother resenting Koresh's mother for the situation that the former's son is in, the two of them connect over being clueless teen mothers and wait out the tail end of the siege together.
* ''Series/You2018'': Joe and Beck both love literature. Since he's a {{Yandere}} he attempts to invoke this trope in other ways, in his stalking of Beck and showing up in places she likes.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
** Edward became friends with both Ivan and Destiny due to being disabled; Ivan also has a disability, which led to the two meeting in the hospital, while Destiny's father is disabled and thus she's heavily involved in the community.
** Ivy and Luna became friends, despite their wildly different personalities, due to their shared love of video games and anime. It was Luna's abandonment of those interests, out of a fear of being seen as uncool, that caused their friendship to drift apart for a while.
** Lenore and Vivian, like the two above, couldn't be more different from each other. However, their shared interest in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' brought them together, and the two have been thick as thieves ever since.
* ''RolePlay/TheDoomyAdventuresOfIrkenDoominess'': Shortly after meeting Ryn and Melissa quickly became good friends because they are both insane killer aliens.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In Creator/JohnMilton's ''Theatre/{{Comus}}'', the Spirit urges that Sabrina will be glad to add the Lady -- she will be "swift to aid a virgin, such as was herself, in hard-besetting need."
* When Director-General of Israel's Foreign Ministry Uri Savir and Finance Minister for the Palestine Liberation Organization Ahmed Qurie step away from the peace negotiations to take a walk through the frigid Norwegian countryside in ''Theatre/{{Oslo}}'', they discover that they both have daughters named Maya. This connection brings into focus why they're fighting so hard for peace, and opens the door for them to see each other as allies in the process of hashing out the negotiations (rather than enemies at cross purposes).
* In ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'', Roger and Mimi's romance is cemented when they realize they both are HIV-Positive.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'':
** The {{Perky Goth}}ic EvilGenius Lash and {{The Strategi|st}}c TeenGenius Sonja form a connection over their similarly [[TheChessmaster analytical and manipulative minds]]. Lash is enthused while Sonja is ''not'' happy about the idea (Though Sonja warms to her in the final mission), but they never-the-less work well enough together to get a modest 105% power boost when paired together.
--->'''Lash:''' Tee hee hee! Hey, Sonja! Your last mission is with me! Man, total drag for you, huh?\\
'''Sonja:''' Is that what you think? I beg to differ. I may not care for your personality, but your battle skills are unmatched!
** Adder and Koal, despite never actually meeting in canon, get this in the non-canon War Room and Vs Modes if paired together to poke fun at Koal effectively being a MovesetClone of Adder with a few very minor changes. They get a decent 110% power boost and, if their victory quotes are to be believed, have a ''serious'' [[HoYay bromance]] going on due to their almost identical personalities:
--->'''Adder:''' Heh heh heh... What a pair we make!\\
'''Koal:''' Heh heh heh... Like water and fish.
* ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFilesNirvanaInitiative'': PlayedForLaughs; this game partners up the new [[{{TheHero}} hero]], the perky young BloodKnight [[Characters/AITheSomniumFilesMizukiDate Mizuki]], with [[ArtificialIntelligence Aiba]], the highly logical investigative partner of the previous game's protag, [[Characters/AITheSomniumFilesKanameDate Date]]. And if there's anything that makes the duo close, it's there mutual [[VitriolicBestBuds vitriol towards Date]]. The two will always dream up of excuses to kick his ass on the spot, which is not that hard with what a {{Manchild}} he is. Of course, Mizuki is Date's kid, so it's generally in good fun for her and Aiba.
-->'''Mizuki:''' "Aiba, permission to shoot [Date]?"\\
'''Aiba:''' "Granted."
* In a conversation in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' Enhanced Edition, Gorian's Ward and Neera have the option to bond over how out of place they feel in the huge city of Athkatla. Neera grew up in the High Forest and Gorian's Ward grew up in the isolated library/fortress of Candlekeep, so they both realize that neither of them really had much experience with any of the traits of city life.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', the [[PlayerCharacter Warden]] and Alistair have this to bring them together because, as of the end of the prologue, [[spoiler:they are the only two Grey Wardens left in all of Ferelden]]. They may have other things in common, depending on which background the player chose and how they elect to play the character, but no matter what they always have this to bond them.
** Dorian and Solas, in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', aren't exactly best buddy material; however, they are able to find this through their mutual interest in ancient magical techniques and artifacts.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** The relationship between Cloud and Yuffie in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' isn't exactly antipathic but it's not very good either. But, after Cloud has recovered from HeroicBSOD and gets his memories back in order, there are a few optional scenes between the two of them in which they bond over their mutual problems with motion sickness.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', Balbanes Beoulve was fond of teaching his children how to turn a piece of grass into a reed flute, and those children taught it to their friends in order to kill time when they were bored. After the Lion War is in full swing and nobody can trust anybody, you'd be surprised who you find [[ButterflyOfDoom playing a piece of grass like a flute...]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}'', a discussion with Ashley reveals that she and Shepard had the same drill instructor, one Gunny Ellison, during basic training. This comes up after Ashley says [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay a word Shepard recognizes]].
-->'''Shepard:''' Don’t tell me you had Gunny Ellison! He’s the only one who uses that word to describe shirking duty.\\
'''Ashley:''' Oh Lord. You went to the Macapá boot camp too?
* In ''VideoGame/LegendsOfRuneterra'', the CCG spin-off of ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', [[ArchEnemy arch-enemies]] Darius and Garen are able to find one thing they have in common if they're both played on the same side. It's hilarious(ly awkward).
-->'''Darius:''' I, uh... like your [[ShouldersOfDoom pauldrons]].\\
'''Garen:''' Yours are... also acceptable.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', this is part of the reason why Haru is fairly close to Makoto. Aside from both of them being in third year senpais to the rest of the Thieves, both of them have a loved one (Makoto's older sister Sae and Haru's father Kunizaku) whose hearts they wished to change.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Morgan and Amy from ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'' share exactly two things, according to Morgan: a birthday, and [[spoiler:a real name (Morgan’s real name is Amy)]]. The two of them form a friendship that far outlasts the end of the summer.
* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'', Phoenix convinces a member of LaResistance to trust him by showing his [[CrusadingLawyer defense attorney badge]]. Though their situations and countries of origin are drastically different, they both believe in something greater than themselves.
* ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'':
** Akira's cousin Ami is a cute young girl, while Maruhashi is a {{Gonk}} lackey for the Yakuza. They hit it off quickly due to their shared interest in {{idol singer}} Momo Kuruse, which Akira is surprised by.
** According to her character profile, the reason Yuri met and befriended Kaoru (Momo Kuruse's secret identity) was that she too was aiming to become an idol.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* WebAnimation/JaidenAnimations [[ParodiedTrope spoofs this]] in her "Flirting & My Stories" video. After admitting her anxiety (yet again), she breaks into this skit...
-->'''Jaiden:''' "Hey there!"\\
'''Guy:''' I have a girlfriend...\\
'''Jaiden:''' Omigod, same! [[ThatCameOutWrong We have so much in common!]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Yang expresses her unhappiness over Blake's absence by stating that Weiss can't comprehend the loneliness of growing up in a broken home that forced her to parent Ruby because the surviving parent became too emotionally unavailable. Weiss comments that her father ruined her tenth birthday by revealing he only married to obtain the family name and company, resulting in her having a dysfunctional, alcoholic mother and an unloving, abusive father. She explains to Yang that everyone experiences loneliness in their own individual way, and that Blake will have her own form of loneliness, too.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/BatmanWayneFamilyAdventures'': The "GCPD" episode is all about Renee and Jim bonding over how weird and frustrating it is to deal with the various Robins over the years, and also gettting amusement from watching other officers make blunders that set the current Robin to screaming.
* In ''Webcomic/BlueYonder'', Lena tells Jared she'll help him search for his family because her own mother is missing.
* In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', characters regularly bond over their love of ice cream. [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/001205c Such as George's introduction.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'':
** [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1100/fv01005.htm Both Sam and Florence were raised by people unrelated to them. Sam finds the notion they have more in common than they had thought is scary.]]
** [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1200/fv01187.htm Florence actively seeks out things in common so they work together better.]]
** [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2200/fc02112.htm Florence figures out a way to make them have something in common: give Sam a reason to fear what will happen to the robots.]]
** In an inversion, Edge is not pleased to realize there are other robots who think like he does. (Cuts down on his scope.)
* ''Webcomic/HighClassHomos'': August and Sapphia’s friendship start this way after they both meet at an event, and realise they’re both gay.
* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'': Matt and Yuki initially pair up because she thinks he can help her work through her unfortunate tendency to go into a violent fugue state at the sight of male genitalia, and he feels sorry for her, having had weird issues of his own. The idea is to render Yuki able to start a functional relationship with Gary, who she thinks she loves. However, as Gary eventually points out, these two actually work rather well together, because Yuki can only ever partially repress her problem, and Matt enjoys danger, especially during sex. So they end up paired off.
* In ''Webcomic/NipAndTuck'', [[http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00484.html two feuding boys deny that they stopped feuding and settled down because of this]]; mutual {{Blackmail}}, instead, over girlie hobbies.
* Parodied in [[http://nonadventures.com/2016/02/20/the-first-knaves-club/ this strip]] in ''WebComic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'', where a group of one-shot villains team up to oppose Wonderella one more time. The problem is that the sole thing the villains had in common with one another is that they all had faced her ''exactly once'' and their entire villain team-up was based on that theme, so when they return all they do is stare her down for a couple seconds before immediately disbanding since their premise was no longer relevant.
* ''Webcomic/{{Outsider}}'': While Alex Jardin is very different from the [[SpaceElves Loroi]] in many ways, he does manage to find a couple of commonalities with them. The pilot Talon, shortly after meeting him, guesses that he is also a pilot, saying that pilots have a natural feel for each other. Later, after several of the Loroi are shocked when Alex reveals that humans consume animal milk, the diplomat/intelligence officer Tempo notes that her home planet is more biodiverse than many other Loroi worlds and thus uses animals much more extensively for food, which the Loroi on the whole consider ForeignQueasine.
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', [[TokenEvilTeammate Belkar]] releases an ''allosaurus'' to save the bounty hunter duo being [[FightingYourFriend forced to fight each other in the Empire of Blood's gladiator games]]. It's [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0807.html later revealed]] to be because [[CharacterDevelopment he empathizes with them after adopting Mr. Scruffy]], and grumpily complains that the ranger's supposed to influence the animal, not the other way around.
** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0735.html Malack and Durkon quickly bond over the life of the adventuring cleric]], being TheMedic in a BoringButPractical manner when the others never stop getting themselves hurt.
** In the "Stick Tale" retelling of "Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk", the giant is willing to discuss commonalities with the human he smells. The housekeeper squelches Jack's reaction to that.
** Durkon's uncle Thirden and his student Janna, both bards, were shown to be appreciative of Elan's [[GenreSavvy understanding of narrative structure]], while Elan's own teammates find that to be among his more irritating qualities.
* In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', Marten first establishes a rapport with Angus by [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1425 discussing their shared interest in boobs]]. It's a downplayed example because all this does is get them through the "Awkward Zone" and into a conversation.
* In ''Webcomic/TheRedStar'', [[http://www.beyondrealitymedia.com/the-red-star/issue-2/page-5/ the old soldier comments to Maya that soldiers' common knowledge of war means a common bond.]]
* In ''Webcomic/RedsPlanet'', [[http://www.redsplanet.com/comic/rp/ch03/chapter-three-30-31/ the alien abductees trade stories of their abductions.]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheSpecialists'', Elijah and Hartmann bond by telling stories about how each of them, and their respective identical twin brothers, had exploited their likenesses.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'':
** Percy climbs a tree Tangerine was already in. She, looking feline between her ear-like horns and tail, asks him [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2012-07-09 whether he wants to pounce on a bystander or should she?]]
** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2012-05-21 Monique and Buddha do Zendaps over their common worry beads.]]
** Tangerine connects with both [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2011-09-29 Lil' E]] and [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2013-01-03 Fuchsia]] because of their horns -- both times saying "Same!" and immediately asking if they can BOMF.
** The demon from Devil Tech, whose drones have been blasted, [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2013-01-09 feels this toward the Trike Girl when she finds her ruined trike.]]
** Lil' E tells the Devil they are simpatico -- [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2008-08-22 they both have dogs that howl at the moon.]] Though his actually yaps. . .
** [[http://sinfest.net/view.php?date=2013-12-17 The amnesiac Lil' E to MMXIII, who can't remember much: "I can relate to that."]]
* In ''Webcomic/UrbanUnderbrush'', [[http://www.lepusstudios.com/uu0116.html the girl Blair had dated gets his cousin to help her make him jealous on the grounds they both dislike him.]]
* ''Webcomic/WeakHero'':
** Previously being bully and victim, Eugene and Teddy slowly start to become friends when they separately find a stray kitten and [[KindheartedCatLover go out of their way to help it]]. It's because of this that Teddy also starts interacting with the rest of the main group, and eventually ends up becoming one of them.
** Even though Naksung is drunk, Hwangmo thinks it'll take a long time to curry up to him since they're completely different people. They quickly discover that there is ''one'' thing they have in common: a mutual hatred towards Ben for kicking their asses. Once they've trash talked him a little, they start acting like good friends.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', one of the reasons Taylor goes to such lengths to befriend Rachel is because they were both betrayed and abused by people they trusted and those in authority. (The other is that [[NoSocialSkills Rachel wouldn't be likely to have many friends otherwise]].)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'': The trailer for ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' has Jon Bailey (Epic Voice Guy) and Gannon Nickel (Epic Voice Guy Sr.) become best friends after they realize they have the exact same list for their "best" and "worst" moments from the movie, despite [[BrokenBase disagreeing on every other point]].
* Ultimately defied in ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's'' "Top 11 F-Ups Part 3" when he and [[LoonyFan Douchey McNitpick]] learn they both love sugar-frosted burrito-stuffed hot pockets:
-->'''Douchey:''' Oh, I love those! With the extra lard on the side?\\
'''Critic:''' Yeah, I know! And the creamy buttery taken from real liposuctions?\\
'''Douchey:''' And the side of oil found in most suntan lotions?\\
'''Critic:''' Those are the best.\\
'''Douchey:''' They ''are'' the best!
'''Critic:''' I love them.\\
'''Douchey:''' I love them, too—I MEAN, OOOOOOOOH! How dare we almost find something in common!
* ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'' makes both Kirito and Kayaba into this who both [[TooDumbToLive complain about the other players of the game as annoying pissants]], considers themselves a massive cut above normal people due to their intellect, but what really clinches the deal for Kayaba is that [[ReferenceOverdosed Kirito is as big of a Movie Nerd that makes movie quotes like Kayaba does]]; [[SpottingTheThread it was one of the many things that allowed for Kirito to deduce Kayabas' secret identity as Heathcliff.]]
-->'''Kirito:''' You're the only one I've ever met in this game who makes as many movie references as I do.\\
'''Kayaba:''' Ah yes, I guess I should have known that would... Wait. ''You get my references?!''\\
'''Kirito:''' Um, yes. I just remembered-\\
'''Kayaba:''' "ThereCanBeOnlyOne."\\
'''Kirito:''' Oh, ah ''{{Film/Highlander}}''.\\
'''Kayaba:''' "Well who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"\\
'''Kirito:''' ''Film/DuckSoup'' Creator/MarxBrothers, 1933.\\
'''Kayaba:''' "DRY LAND IS NOT A MYTH! I HAVE ''SEEEEN IIITTTT!!''"\\
'''Kirito:''' Ah, getting tricky are we? While that line is famously attributed to the 1995 film ''{{Film/WaterWorld}}'', [[BeamMeUpScotty it is never actually spoken in the movie.]]\\
'''Kayaba:''' ...Hot damn, you're the real deal.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': In the third episode of season one, [[spoiler:BigBad Silco seeing Powder distraught over being abandoned by her sister, left crying right next to the corpse of his own brother-figure who he himself felt betrayed by no less, convinces him to take her under his wing as his adopted daughter ([[MeaningfulRename now named Jinx]]).]] It's also [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] as [[spoiler: Silco is rather emotionally desperate to prevent Jinx's sister from reaching her after he finds out she's actually alive to preserve this bond in feeling abandoned with his adoptive daughter.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Zuko bonds with an Earth Kingdom girl when he discovers that she too has a terrible burn (though hers is on her leg). Later, he's also able to bond with Katara over the fact that they both lost their mothers to the Fire Nation, to the point where Katara is even willing to try and heal his scar. [[spoiler:Of course, he betrays her about twenty minutes later, so it takes a lot to properly earn her trust when he goes through with the HeelFaceTurn.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', "The Mother Of All Vreedles", Ben attempts to do this with Ma Vreedle, but it falls flat.
-->'''Ben''': Wait! [[ContinuityNod I'm a]] [[MisterSeahorse mother too.]] So I know what you're going through.\\
'''Ma Vreedle''': Where are the kids now?\\
'''Ben''': Out in deep space somewhere. [[Funny/Ben10UltimateAlien Maybe this wasn't the best example.]]
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] and PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls2019'', [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] briefly considers befriending the similarly eco-conscious [[Characters/GLGreenLanternCorps Jessica Cruz]], only to discover to her horror that Jessica is a [[GranolaGirl vegan]] who only eats plants. Ivy treats plants like most people love beloved pets and therefore subsists on an all-meat diet.
* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': Little Cato at first wants little to do with the Team Squad after [[spoiler:his father's apparent death]]. That changes when he learns Gary went through the same thing as a kid that he's going through, during Gary's time-traveling reunion with his father and front-row seat to the man's HeroicSacrifice.
-->'''Little Cato:''' Didn't know we were members of the same club.
* In the Creator/DiCEntertainment version of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'', the episode "That's Entertainment" had General Hawk and Captain Krimov bond after discovering that they're both fans of Jackie Love.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Dipper vs. Manliness," Dipper has to prove himself by [[ARealManIsAKiller killing]] the [[MultipleHeadCase Multi-Bear]]. However, he can't go through with it once he realizes the BearyFriendly ([[BewareTheNiceOnes if still dangerous]]) creature loves the same girly, GuiltyPleasure pop song that Dipper listened to earlier in the episode.
** PlayedForLaughs in the first episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX_dl5V-5j8 here]], during a montage of [[CloudCuckooLander Mabel]]'s bad flirting attempts.
* Robot in ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'' attempts this with [[OlderThanTheyLook Monster Girl]] about how people have difficulty looking past one's appearance. [[SubvertedTrope It falls flat]] as [[InnocentlyInsensitive she doesn't get his meaning, asking how a robot could understand]]. That said, she grows to appreciate it after Robot goes through several lengths to help her when she's severely wounded by Battle Beast.
* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'''s ChristmasEpisode, [[{{Sidekick}} Ron]] and [[MadScientist Dr. Drakken]] get stranded at the North Pole (and no, Santa's workshop is nowhere in sight). They continue to [[WimpFight fight each other]], but after learning that they both love the same TV Christmas special (and are dismayed by its cancellation) they apply its [[ThePowerOfFriendship Power of Frienship]] [[AnAesop Aesop]] to their own situation and [[MerryChristmasInGotham make peace]].
* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Hilariously subverted in "A Beer Can Named Desire", when Bill invites his friends, including the Hill family, to stay with him in his family's estate in New Orleans. Hank Hill, the all-American football fan, tries to chat with Bill's cousin [[AmbiguouslyGay Gilbert]]:
-->'''Gilbert:''' What fascinating thing are y'all doing?\\
'''Hank:''' Uh, I'm gonna be throwing at a target about yea big at the Cowboys/Saints game. If I make it, I win a million dollars.\\
'''Gilbert:''' Golden Richards was a Dallas Cowboy.\\
'''Hank:''' ''(intrigued)'' Yeah, he caught a touchdown pass at Super Bowl XII.\\
'''Gilbert:''' He was a beautiful man. I knew him, briefly...\\
''(Hank shudders)''
* ''WesternAnimation/LetsGoLuna'': In "Aren't We a Pair?", Carmen discovers that she and Leyla have a lot in common. They're both butterflies who have pets (with said pets even having similar [[EdibleThemeNaming sweets-based names]], no less), they both love succulents, and they both like music.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic:''
** The episode "Maud Pie" focuses on the rest of the mane cast having difficulty getting along with Pinkie Pie's EmotionlessGirl sister, Maud. They find their Commonality Connection in their mutual love for Pinkie after they see Maud leap headlong into danger to save Pinkie's life.
** Though they initially ''despise'' one another and ultimately refuse to become outright {{Villainous Friend|ship}}s, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow at least become somewhat fond of each other after bonding over their mutual hatred of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ScaryGodmother'', Hannah stops being scared of Bug-a-Boo because they both like pizza with olives.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "I Love Lisa", when Ralph Wiggum develops a crush on Lisa, he tries to get a conversation about mutual interests going. "So, do you like...stuff?"
** PlayedForLaughs in "Lemon of Troy," which involves the rivalry between Springfield and neighboring Shelbyville. Everyone in Shelbyville seems to be an {{Expy}} of a Springfield resident, and Milhouse's counterpart is [[OneSteveLimit also named Milhouse]]. The pair are so shocked to find someone with the same geeky name that they wind up crying in each other's arms.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Besides their intellectual affinities, Entrapta and Hordak bond over their rejection trauma. Hordak was sent to die in the front lies by Horde Prime because of his degeneration caused by a genectic flaw. Entrapta was convinced by Catra that the princesses left her to die in the Fright Zone which she finds believable given that she always had trouble interacting with others. The point is the princesses weren’t much nice to Entrapta, just tolerating her because they needed her knowledge in technology. So, Entrapta had good reasons to believe she had been abandoned.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Chef Goes Nanners," [[TokenEvilTeammate Cartman]] and [[WomenAreWiser Wendy]] have to work together on a school assignment. Though he's initially lazy and she's irritated in him, they wind up bonding over the fact that they eat their Oreos the same way. The episode ends with StatusQuoIsGod, though, [[spoiler: thanks to [[ShipTease Wendy kissing Cartman]] to end the UST]] and they actually get ''more'' antagonistic to each other in later seasons.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Boating Buddies", Squidward explains to Mrs. Puff that the reason he's taking boating school is that he was trying to avoid [=SpongeBob=], and refers to him as the bane of his existence. Mrs. Puff, who also has a history of having to put up with [=SpongeBob=], responds with "Yours too?"
* ''WesternAnimation/SquirrelBoy'': In an attempt to play along Kyle's revenge scheme, Salty Mike pretends to be friendly with Andrew. It becomes legit when the parrot realizes that Andrew collects [[ItMakesSenseInContext rocks that look like Snack food]], a hobby he also shares. Rodney and Kyle aren't happy about this, but given the nature of the show, [[StatusQuoIsGod their friendship ends to keep the Status Quo in check]].
* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "Moist Vessel", after Lieutenant O'Connor admits that he's a jerk for pretending to be someone he's not just so that others would think he was unique and interesting, Ensign Tendi instantly latches on to the trait that they share in common.
-->'''Tendi''': We're both jerks! We wanted to be liked and lied about it. I think that means we're best friends!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Creator/CSLewis recounts in ''Surprised By Joy'' when he went to visit a sick neighbor when he was a boy. He didn't even remember why, but when he was there, the other boy had a book of Myth/NorseMythology. When Lewis exclaimed "What, you like that too?", they spent the rest of the visit poring over the book and forming a steadfast friendship.
* Psychologists found that in an experiment where people could punish their partners for errors, if you told the people that the (invisible) partner had a thumbprint that was classified in the same group as them, they would punish this partner less. Even if the person doing the punishing was a textbook narcissist.
* Starring together on ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy became friends in no small part thanks to learning they were both Jewish (Nimoy had an Orthodox Jewish upbringing, Shatner had a Reform Jewish upbringing). Through various ups and downs, their friendship lasted almost 50 years.
* Cops who play the "[[GoodCopBadCop Good Cop]]" in interrogation will often start off "befriending" the suspect by chatting with them about sports, etc., or claiming to understand their feelings of anger towards the victim. Many suspects will inevitably slip up.
* Similarly, this is a tactic used to survive being held hostage or taken prisoner by enemy soldiers. Enforcing your humanity to them to elicit sympathy and sharing similarities such as children you both have or even mutual interests makes it harder for them to mistreat you since they begin to connect with you on a personal level and no longer merely see you as "prisoners." Even something as simple as looking a gunman in the eye makes it more difficult for them to shoot you by evoking this.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Anime/MyHime'', [[spoiler: Natsuki]] stops [[spoiler: Shizuru]] from killing [[spoiler: Nao]] (and this is after [[spoiler: she kills Nao's CHILD]]) by first [[StandingBetweenTheEnemies standing between the two]], then pointing out how [[spoiler: she would've ended up just as bitter and broken as Nao, had it not been for [[FirstFriend Shizuru herself]] and the other [=HiMe=].]]

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Towards the end of Battle City, Ishizu tries to convince Kaiba to give Yugi a card that will help him defeat Marik and save the world, but Kaiba repeatedly brushes her off and mocks her. He only changes his mind when he realizes that Ishizu entered Battle City to protect her brother Marik, and is willing to [[DrivenToSuicide allow herself to die]] [[DespairEventHorizon if her brother can't be saved.]] This reminds him of the time during Duelist Kingdom where he gambled with his own life in order to save Mokuba, and it convinces him to give Yugi the card he needs to win.
* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': Kaguya was incredibly wary of Moeha for a long time ([[CuteAndPsycho with good reason]]), but the two of them end up bonding very quickly when she discovers that both of them [[spoiler:have a crush on Shirogane.]]
-->[[spoiler:''The joy that comes from sharing things you like about your first love is a miracle that eclipses all contempt for one's rival in love.'']]
* Katarina from ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' ends up befriending both Mary and Sophia when she discovers that they share her interests (gardening for the former and reading romance novels for the latter).
* ''Manga/NingenFushinNoBoukenshatachiGaSekaiOSukuuYoudesu'': The basic premise behind the formation of the main characters' party is that its members, Nick, Sem, Tianna, and Karan, all experienced betrayal, and seem to be comfortable in a party with others who suffered the same pain. After all, who better to trust than someone who's been stung by betrayal before?

* ''Film/{{Glass}}'': Casey tells Kevin that she too was horribly [[CreepyUncle abused]] as a child with him explicitly saying they're the same as she tries to breakthrough to him and his [[SplitPersonality split personalities]].
* ''Film/TheBigCube'': Adriana likes her stepdaughter Lisa, whom she sees as similar to herself as a teenager, in terms of both appearance and personality. Her feelings are not returned.
* In ''Film/TheInnocent1994'', Lieutenant Barlow tells the orphaned autistic boy Gregory that they have a lot in common because he grew up as an orphan too - his only family was his grandfather, who died when he was twelve.
* ''Film/TheFallout'': Up until the first shots are fired, Vada was making fun of Mia for being an influencer. And then they're stuck together in a bathroom stall throughout the ordeal and bond over their trauma afterwards.

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Phoenix Ascendent]]'', Phaethon is arguing with Atkins when he realizes that Atkins calls his ship "she." (Earlier, Phaethon had rejected an offer to avoid exile when he told a man calling it "it" that ships are called "she.")

-->''Friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one."''
* In Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's ''[[Literature/DragonridersOfPern Dragonsinger]]'', when Menolly is caught in a fight during a fair, another girl, jumping to join her side, calls for a boy to join in because Menolly comes from a sea hold. It works. Robinton rebukes him because his father had sent him to be fostered where he was to broaden his mind.
* The short stories in ''TabletopGame/PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution'' are full of this. It’s blatantly obvious that several characters would never have hung out with each other if not for the whole “esper on the run from the government” thing.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literagure/DragonMagic'', four boys each find a jigsaw puzzle, make one corner -- and so one dragon -- of it, and get shifted to an ancient era to experience something related to it. This, and their attempts to research the facts, draw them together at the end.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Literature/ProsperosDaughter Prospero Regained]]'', when [[spoiler:Caliban]] says that he always knew that Miranda was [[spoiler:an angel]], Theo says he did, too, and they shared a brotherly smile.
** In ''Prospero Lost'', Miranda had told the winds that she had to defend her people too when leading in to the offer to free them only if they could work out how to protect mankind from the winds.
* In Creator/TerryPratchett's Literature/{{Discworld}}:
** In the short story "Troll Bridge", Cohen the Barbarian goes to fight a troll. They end up grumbling about Young People Today together instead. In the end, Cohen leaves without fighting the troll [[spoiler:but going to fight three other trolls the first troll had problems with]].
** Angua, Cherie, and Sally, despite being a werewolf, a dwarf, and a vampire and the complicated history between those races, find enough in being all women to bond over. They even connect with Tawneee on the same grounds in ''Literature/{{Thud}}''.
** In ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'', Tiffany ends up bonding with Roland's fiancee Letitia over having read the same book of fairy tales, and having similar negative reactions to it trying to dictate their roles in life based on hair colors. The brown-haired Tiffany wanted to be more than a sidekick or background character, and the blond-haired Letitia wanted to be more than a boring old PrincessClassic or DamselInDistress.
* In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''[[Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy Only You Can Save Mankind]]'', Johnny manages to convince Kirsty to help the Captain when he refers to her by a female pronoun. Kirsty immediately assumes that it was sexism that turned her crew against her, and Johnny keeps his mouth shut about the Scree-Wee society actually being matriarchial. Johnny also has the habit of imagining them as human-like and so, because his imagination can change the game world, a tea cart comes around every afternoon for a snack.
* In Creator/RudyardKipling's "A Matter of Fact", the main characters are all journalists together.
-->''we were all at home instantly, because we were men of the same profession needing no introduction''
* This - and possibly a PrecociousCrush - is what drives Tash Arranda in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' to like and trust Luke Skywalker from the moment she meets him. They're both Force-Sensitive. What's more, Luke is the first other Sensitive Tash has ever met, and the first to be kind and encourage her strange talents rather than just dismissing her as a CreepyChild.
--> He winked at Tash, and she felt the Force flow between them, just as she had during their first meeting. It was a warm, electric tingle, as though she were on one end of a wire with Luke at the other. Together, they made a connection.

* In Creator/SarahAHoyt's ''Literature/DarkshipThieves'', Athena and Kit bond when she assures him of her having to deal with {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s and finding it no fun at all.
* In Barbara Robinson's ''Literature/TheBestSchoolYearEver'', the narrator deduces that perhaps Imogene looked out for little Howard and made sure no one took his blanket away because someone had taken her blanket, just like his, away when she was little.
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/TheHermeticMillennia'', Illiance calls on Menelaus to help him because of the brotherhood of scholars. Later, Menelaus calls on Illiance to help him with his own scholarly work.
* In Creator/SeananMcGuire's Literature/OctoberDaye novel ''An Artificial Night'', Toby sees May and Tybalt together, and May assures her they have much in common. Tybalt adds that a common urge to hit her over the head until she stops doing stupid things leads the list.
* In Jennifer Crusie's ''Literature/MaybeThisTime'', when Southie meets Alice and asks her what's new, Alice says she likes nuts now. Southie, eager to bond, assures her he does, too.

* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/{{Catseye|1961}}'', Rerne tells Troy that a rider of Norden is always welcome at the Rangers' hearth. Troy denies; he's just a [[WarRefugees refugee]] now.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/TheZeroStone'', Eet tells Jern that it's not just for convenience that he hooked onto him, but also because they have much in common.

* In Creator/RuthFrancesLong's ''Literature/TheTreacheryOfBeautifulThings'', when appealing for a CoolSword to save Jenny, Jack tells Wayland about her. Wayland comments that she sounds like his wife.

* Creator/JulieKagawa's ''Literature/TheIronFey'': In ''Literature/TheIronKing'', Angie drives Meghan home. She talks about how they understand each other with the abuse they both get.
* In Creator/LauraAmySchlitz's ''Literature/SplendorsAndGlooms'', when Parsefall bluntly states that he thinks death masks are gruesome, Clara, whose home is engulfed with such reminds of her dead brothers and sisters, feels a connection.
* In Creator/SarahAHoyt's ''Literature/DarkshipRenegades'', one reason for Thena's feeling hostile to Zen is that she has been widowed -- as Kit had been, giving them a connection.
* In Creator/LJagiLamplighter's ''The Unexpected Enlightenment of Literature/RachelGriffin'', Rachel and Gaius were both admitted a year younger than normal to the school -- a connection despite his being several years her elder.
* In ''Literature/{{Allegiant}}'', [[spoiler:Christina and Uriah become very close because both of them lost someone important to them]].
* ''Literature/HarryPotter''

* In one ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' novel, Tuvok mind-melds with a Romulan scientist; the narration describes how he automatically seeks out similarities between them (they're both family men, for example) to ease the shock of the experience.
* In ''Literature/{{Touch 2017}},'' [[{{Flight}} James]] and [[TheEmpath Caspar]] have their first fight when the former believes that the latter only befriended him [[DontYouDarePityMe out of pity]]. James lets the issue go when Caspar starts crying, which reveals that he's wearing makeup to hide the signs of his AbusiveParents. James wears makeup to hide the [[VirginityFlag Mark of Purity]] that he got from [[RapeAsBackstory his own]] TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening.
* ''Literature/XandriCorelel'': During her time as an [[TheMatchmaker attoaong]], Xandri successfully pairs the chatty messenger Kirchak with the withdrawn engineer Prrchik because she recognizes their shared curiosity and longing for adventure. Xandri herself feels a connection with Kirchak, even though they're almost polar opposites, because they're both considered so atypical for their species.
* In ''Literature/ABoyMadeOfBlocks'', Alex's autistic son Sam gets along well with Sid, who Alex realizes is also autistic.
* ''Literature/AccidentalDetectives'': Joel befriends paraplegic former fighter pilot Mad Eddie due to his fondness for kite flying, with Eddie understanding what it's like to want to fly.
* ''Literature/{{Andersonville}}'': Coral Tebbs ends up befriending Nat Stricker, an escaped Union prisoner, largely because they're both war amputees.
* In ''Literature/LoveAnthony'', Beth used to think she and her husband Jimmy were soulmates because they had so much in common. They were both the only children of single parents, and they both had a fierce determination to do something they loved for a living.
* Georg from ''Literature/{{Shtum}}'' sees every word as a lie. To him, the truest language is the language of the heart, which he shares with both his best friend Maurice, who didn't speak his language when they first met, and his autistic grandson Jonah, who can't speak at all and doesn't even like using picture cards.

* In ''Literature/WickedGood'', Rory and Trish connect because they're both isolated and unhappy, Rory because of his autism and bipolar disorder and Trish because of her family's abuse.
* Lois from ''Literature/ExperimentalFilm'' feels a connection with her former student, Safie Hewsen, because they both suffered from vivid nightmares of terrifying angels as children.

* In ''Literature/EyeContact'', Adam Miller was autistic, and Amelia Best had PDD-NOS. The two understood each other and became friends, sitting together and singing songs on the playground, up until Amelia's murder.
* ''Literature/TheBalladOfBlackTom'': Suydam says that he hired Tommy because it was obvious from his phony simple-minded guitar man act that he was familiar with illusion and artifice, like Suydam.
* Charlie from ''Literature/{{Wish}}'' sympathizes with the stray dog Wishbone because she, too, feels like a stray nobody wants.
* Attempted in ''Literature/EveryShinyThing''. Sierra is in foster care after being taken from her alcoholic mother, and her foster mother tries to connect with her by telling her that she grew up taking care of her own alcoholic mother.
* ''Literature/CanYouSeeMe'':
** Tally connects to Rupert, a three-legged dog her family takes in after his owner is placed in a nursing home, because she's autistic and knows what it's like to be seen as defective.
** In ''Do You Know Me?'' Tally befriends Jade, another autistic girl, and Gregory, an anxious, hyperactive boy who's seen as weird and annoying by everyone else. Due to Tally's own problems with anxiety, she knows how to use logic to calm Gregory's fears.
** In ''Ways to Be Me'', Tally goes horseback riding and is paired with the "spirited" horse Peaches. Tally gets along well with Peaches, who she feels is nice but misunderstood, like herself.

* ''Literature/TheEvolutionOfEmily'':
** Emily and her LoveInterest August enjoy running together, pushing each other to go faster.
** When Emily introduces Miles to her autistic sister Olivia, the two immediately connect over their interest in science. They do chemistry experiments in the backyard and look at things through Olivia's microscope.
** Emily invites [[TomboyishName Sam Wilson]] over to her house. She's always seen Sam as more popular than herself and is worried Sam will be mean to Olivia, like the last time she invited a girl over. But it turns out Sam is in special ed due to dyslexia and ADD, so she instantly understands Olivia.

* ''Literature/GenerationKill'': The Marines are originally deeply annoyed when a surrounded Iraqi soldier refuses to surrender his service weapon, until they realize he must be under the same kind of orders they are, and think abut what it would take to get them to give up their weapons. Then they start treating him with respect for his steadfast devotion to duty, even sharing their cigarettes and desserts with him.
** On a similar note, Espera has complimentary words for the dead Iraqi soldier he finds, still clutching his RPG and with his finger on the trigger.
---> He died trying to get a shot off. ''Discipline.''
* In ''Literature/TheBlackFoxOfBeckham'', the fox Arabella and the humans Silviana and Fi connect because they're all mistreated for being different - Arabella for her coat color, Silviana for being Roma, and Fi for being autistic.

---> '''Lash:''' Tee hee hee! Hey, Sonja! Your last mission is with me! Man, total drag for you, huh?
---> '''Sonja:''' Is that what you think? I beg to differ. I may not care for your personality, but your battle skills are unmatched!

---> '''Adder:''' Heh heh heh... What a pair we make!
---> '''Koal:''' Heh heh heh... Like water and fish.

-->'''Darius:''' I, uh... like your [[ShouldersOfDoom pauldrons.]]
-->'''Garen:''' Yours are... also acceptable.

* Ultimately defied in ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's'' "Top 11 F-Ups Part 3" when he and [[LoonyFan Douchey McNitpick]] learn they both love sugar-frosted burrito-stuffed hot pockets:
--> '''Douchey:''' Oh, I love those! With the extra lard on the side?
--> '''Critic:''' Yeah, I know! And the creamy buttery taken from real liposuctions?
--> '''Douchey:''' And the side of oil found in most suntan lotions?
--> '''Critic:''' Those are the best.
--> '''Douchey:''' They ''are'' the best!
--> '''Critic:''' I love them.
--> '''Douchey:''' I love them, too—I MEAN, OOOOOOOOH! How dare we almost find something in common!

-->'''Gilbert:''' What fascinating thing are y'all doing?
-->'''Hank:''' Uh, I'm gonna be throwing at a target about yea big at the Cowboys/Saints game. If I make it, I win a million dollars.
-->'''Gilbert:''' Golden Richards was a Dallas Cowboy.
-->'''Hank:''' (''intrigued'') Yeah, he caught a touchdown pass at Super Bowl XII.
-->'''Gilbert:''' He was a beautiful man. I knew him, briefly...
-->(''Hank shudders'')

* ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFilesNirvanaInitiative'': PlayedForLaughs; this game partners up the new [[{{TheHero}} hero]], the perky young BloodKnight Mizuki, with [[ArtificialIntelligence Aiba]], the highly logical investigative partner of the previous game's protag, [[Characters/AITheSomniumFilesKanameDate Date]]. And if there's anything that makes the duo close, it's there mutual [[VitriolicBestBuds vitriol towards Date]]. The two will always dream up of excuses to kick his ass on the spot, which is not that hard with what a {{Manchild}} he is. Of course, Mizuki is Date's kid, so it's generally in good fun for her and Aiba.