History Main / ForbiddenFriendship

* ''Film/Hairspray'' Link Larkin spends time with the black kids in the school and the body positive Tracy Turnbald which is pretty taboo for someone of his social class

* ''Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy'': Another black/white friendship

** In an early draft of the first movie Simba was this with a zebra colt named Lemuta. They watch as his mother nearly gets killed by Simba's, which freaks Lemuta out and ruins his friendship with Lemuta.

* In one of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' spin off books, Simba's son Kopa befriends a hyena around his age named Asante. Hyenas are the enemies of the lions and the only species banned from entering the pride lands due to their evil nature, but she is [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch different.]] They're friendship is a secret until the end, when she goes to meet his parents.

* [[TheHero Rey]] and [[TheDragon Kylo Ren]] slowly form this kind of friendship over the course of ''Film/TheLastJedi'', with a good dose of ShipTease and FoeRomanceSubtext added as well, communicating via their [[PsychicLink Force bond]]. They don't start out wanting to be friends and Rey especially is initially quite hostile towards him, but they gradually come to realize they're NotSoDifferent. They both keep the bond a secret - Rey in particular pointedly lies about it to Luke Skywalker - and they end up confiding in each other about some deeply personal matters. [[spoiler: When Luke finds out, he doesn't take it well, fearing that Rey will be corrupted by the Dark Side or killed. However, she is convinced she can turn Kylo back to the Light Side and gets herself CapturedOnPurpose to help him. It then turns out that Snoke actually knew all along and even claims to have created the Force bond, all with the intention of using Rey and Kylo's feelings for each other to lure Rey into a trap. However, Kylo chooses Rey over Snoke, killing him and helping her fight off his guards. Unfortunately, their budding friendship is marred by the fact that Kylo is unwilling to join the Resistance, instead wanting Rey to [[WeCanRuleTogether rule the galaxy at his side,]] which Rey isn't remotely interested in, and they reluctantly go back to being enemies]].

* Chopper the Sharptooth in the ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' sequels; his friendship with the gang is not accepted nor by the herbivores nor by his ''TyrannosaurusRex'' parents.

* The basis of the story in ''Literature/ArashiNoYoruNi'' (One Stormy Night), where Gabu, a wolf, and Mei, a goat, find shelter in the same abandoned barn during a heavy thunder storm. They assume the other is their own species and end up finding out the truth the next day when they agree to have lunch together in broad daylight. Not wanting to back down from their friendship, they have to hide their pact from their respective family and clan.

* ''Comicbook/GreenLantern'': Sodam Yat's friendship with an alien named Tessog who crashlanded on Daxam was forbidden since Daxam was a violently [[AbsoluteXenophobe xenophobic]] world, and Sodam's parents were especially bad in this regard. When they found out, they murdered Tessog and brainwashed their own son into forgetting him. Sodam's memories returned when he saw Tessog's stuffed and preserved corpse in a museum. He was so enraged that he spent years repairing Tessog's ship so he could leave Daxam forever, figuring that whatever was out in space couldn't be worse than life on Daxam. This show of determination and courage drew the Green Lantern Ring to him.

* One exists between Pendarynn and Lorelei in [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Eludoran Eludoran]]. [[spoiler: it does not end well for them]]

* ''Literature/TheBoyInTheStripedPyjamas'' involves a gentile child who befriends a Jewish child in a concentration camp during Nazi-era Germany.

* ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound'' is a Disney Film starring two talking animals (no points for guessing their species). The Fox is orphaned and some old lady adopts it as a pet. A man who lives nearby is a hunter that just got a puppy he is training to be a hunting dog. The two animals meet each other and form a friendship, in spite of the fact that the man is training the puppy to hunt (among other things) foxes.

* ''Disney/TheLionKing'':
** Kiara and Kovu in ''Disney/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' as her father is king and he's an exile. Develops into StarCrossedLovers later.

* In one of ''Disney/TheLionKing'' spin off books, Simba's son Kopa befriends a hyena around his age named Asante. Hyenas are the enemies of the lions and the only species banned from entering the pride lands due to their evil nature, but she is [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch different.]] They're friendship is a secret until the end, when she goes to meet his parents.

* Rey and Kylo Ren slowly form this kind of friendship over the course of ''Film/TheLastJedi'', with a good dose of ShipTease and FoeRomanceSubtext added as well, communicating via their [[PsychicLink Force bond]]. They don't start out wanting to be friends and Rey especially is initially quite hostile towards him, but they gradually come to realize they're NotSoDifferent. They both keep the bond a secret - Rey in particular pointedly lies about it to Luke Skywalker - and they end up confiding in each other about some deeply personal matters. [[spoiler: When Luke finds out, he doesn't take it well, fearing that Rey will be corrupted by the Dark Side or killed. However, she is convinced she can turn Kylo back to the Light Side and gets herself CapturedOnPurpose to help him. It then turns out that Snoke actually knew all along and even claims to have created the Force bond, all with the intention of using Rey and Kylo's feelings for each other to lure Rey into a trap. However, Kylo chooses Rey over Snoke, killing him and helping her fight off his guards. Unfortunately, their budding friendship is marred by the fact that Kylo is unwilling to join the Resistance, instead wanting Rey to [[WeCanRuleTogether rule the galaxy at his side,]] which Rey isn't remotely interested in, and they reluctantly go back to being enemies]].

* ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' is probably the classic example. With their families feuding with each other, Romeo and Juliet are not allowed to hang out together.

Compare LoserFriendPuzzlesOutsiders. If their relationship is or becomes romantic, they may be StarCrossedLovers.

* ''Series/{{Downton Abbey}}'': The relationship between [[{{SpiritedYoungLady}} Lady Sybil]] and her working-class chauffeur Tom starts off like this. During Season 1 they bond over politics and championing rights for women and the poor, but have to hide it from her aristocratic parents and at one point their misadventures almost get Tom fired. By Season 2 they're moving into StarCrossedLovers territory.

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon:'' Hiccup and Toothless form a friendship despite the fact Toothless is a dragon and Hiccup is a viking meant to slay dragons. Their bond eventually leads to [[spoiler: the ending of the "war" between vikings and dragons, and the dragons becoming the companions of the vikings, so the friendship doesn't stay forbidden.]] There's actually a song on the OST with the trope name [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome (and it's very good, FYI).]]

* Chopper the Sharptooth in the ''Film/LandBeforeTime'' sequels; his friendship with the gang is not accepted nor by the herbivores nor by his ''TyrannosaurusRex'' parents.

* In the first ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' movie, Principal Strickland warns Marty [=McFly=] to stay away from Doc Emmett Brown, as Strickland views the doctor as a nutcase. It's most likely due to the bad influence factor mentioned above. Some fan theories however suggest Strickland and Doc may have [[WeUsedToBeFriends been friends]] at one time and perhaps [[NoodleIncident ended their friendship on a sour note]].

** Sam and Dean also each end up with competing "monster" friendships in season 8. Sam is friends with a Kitsune named Amy, whom Dean disapproves of, and Dean is friends with a vampire named Benny, whom Sam disapproves of. Dean ends up [[spoiler:killing ''both of them'', Amy because he sees her as a danger to innocent humans, and Benny because he needed to send him back to Purgatory on a rescue mission, which Benny was okay with.]] Sam calls Dean a hypocite for [[spoiler:killing Amy]], but then eventually agrees that Dean made the right choice.

* Chopper the Sharptooth in the ''Film/LandBeforeTime'' sequels; his friendship with the gang is not accepted nor by the herbivores nor by his TRex parents.

* From ''Anime/TheBorrowerArrietty'', Sho wants to be friends with Arrietty, who had grown up with the beliefs that humans are dangerous and will cause her and her family harm.

* Personal vendetta. Sometimes one family hates another, and won't allow their own to hang out with the other family. Not everyone in the family shares that dislike, however, and they might become friends anyway.

Sadly TruthInTelevision for people who live in bigoted families or communities, but who don't share their bigotry.

* In ComicBook/PostCrisis ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics, young Perry White's parents told him to stay away from the orphanage kids. However they approved of his friendship with that nice Luthor boy.

* Episode "Return to Ursalia" of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' has this, once the feuding between two Gummi Bear tribes: the warrior-like Barbaric Bears and the pacifist Gummi Glen Bears starts over their conflictive views once the Barbaric express their desire to KillAllHumans. Sunni (from the Glens) and Buddy (from the Barbarics) are friends but their friend is forbidden, especially when the literal fight begins. Naturally the episode ends with both sides working together once they have to save both kids from [[BigBad Duke Igthorn]].

** French film ''Monsieur Ibrahim Et Les Fleurs Du Coran'' is about the friendship between Momo, a Jewish boy and a Mr. Ibrahim, a Turkish Muslim oldman. Mr. Ibrahim at some point adopts Momo (as his orphan) but wasn't easy.

** ''Lemon Tree'', a movie about a Palestinian woman trying to keep her lemon grove after the fiction Israeli Minister of Defense moves at her side and has to be cut for security reasons. She develops an odd friendship with the Minister’s wife.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', when his enemy Prince Zuko saves Aang from certain imprisonment due to his own selfishness in capturing the Avatar and actually make a good team, Aang asks Zuko if this was possible between them. Zuko shoots a fireball towards him and seemingly immediately regrets it. [[spoiler: As the series progresses, this forbidden friendship actually happens as Zuko betrays his father and nation to help Aang bring balance to the world. In ''TheLegendOfKorra'' it is directly stated that they were lifelong best friends.]]