History Main / InterclassFriendship

* On ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', the Earl of Grantham is good friends with his valet Bates -- in fact, their friendship is one of the reasons he wanted to hire Bates in the first place. Of course, they had jointly experienced one of the great levellers of class consciousness--they were [[BandOfBrothers comrades-in-arms]] during UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar. While on the surface this respected their class difference--Bates served as Lord Grantham's batman[[note]]That is, military valet-cum-bodyguard[[/note]]--there's a strong implication that Bates had either saved Grantham's life or done something very close to that during the war, giving the earl a much closer relationship to Bates than was normal even for an officer and his batman. (It helps here that Grantham and Bates were members of the [[BritishRoyalGuards Grenadier Guards]], an [[ElitesAreJustBetter elite unit]] noted for both esprit de corps and being sent to very dangerous situations.)

* On ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', the Earl of Grantham is good friends with his valet Bates -- in fact, their friendship is one of the reasons he wanted to hire Bates in the first place. Of course, they had jointly experienced one of the great levellers of class consciousness--they were [[BandOfBrothers comrades-in-arms]] during UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar. While on the surface this respected their class difference--Bates served as Lord Grantham's batman[[note]]That is, military valet-cum-bodyguard[[/note]]--there's a strong implication that Bates had either saved Grantham's life or done something very close to that during the war, giving the earl a much closer relationship to Bates than was normal even for an officer and his batman.

* On ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', the Earl of Grantham is good friends with his valet Bates -- in fact, their friendship is one of the reasons he wanted to hire Bates in the first place. Of course, they had jointly experienced one of the great levellers of class consciousness--they were [[BandOfBrothers comrades-in-arms]] during UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar. While on the surface this respected their class difference--Bates served as Lord Grantham's batman[[note]]That is, military valet[[/note]]--there's a strong implication that Bates had either saved Grantham's life or done something very close to that during the war, giving the earl a much closer relationship to Bates than was normal even for an officer and his batman.

** Lady Violet and Isobel are a textbook VitriolicBestBuds example. Conservative aristocrat Violet and liberal upper-middle-class Isobel start hurling snark at each other the second they meet. However, they soon find common ground in their status as [[IronLady formidable, headstrong, extremely intelligent women]] who try to do what's best for their mutual family, and both seem to relish having a sparring partner who can keep up. By the end of the series, various intrigues have left them FireForgedFriends, and Violet openly weeps when Isobel leaves Downton. Not that the snark lets up for a single minute, mind, though it does become significantly less catty.

* On ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', the Earl of Grantham is good friends with his valet Bates -- in fact, their friendship is one of the reasons he wanted to hire Bates in the first place. Of course, they had jointly experienced one of the great levellers of class consciousness--they were comrades-in-arms during UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar. While on the surface this respected their class difference--Bates served as Lord Grantham's batman[[note]]That is, military valet[[/note]]--there's a strong implication that Bates had either saved Grantham's life or done something very close to that during the war, giving the earl a much closer relationship to Bates than was normal even for an officer and his batman.

* On ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', the Earl of Grantham is good friends with his valet Bates -- in fact, their friendship is one of the reasons he wanted to hire Bates in the first place. Of course, they had jointly experienced one of the great levellers of class consciousness--they were comrades-in-arms during UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar, in which Bates served as Lord Grantham's batman[[note]]That is, military valet[[/note]] and there's a strong implication that Bates had either saved Grantham's life or done something very close to that during the war.

* On ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', the Earl of Grantham is good friends with his valet Bates -- in fact, their friendship is one of the reasons he wanted to hire Bates in the first place.

* ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'':
** Katarina is a member of a high-ranking noble family and is engaged to a prince. She ends up befriending Maria during their first year of magic school and specifically brings her into her circle of friends (which includes other high-ranking nobles and royalty) in order to dissuade people from bullying her for her commoner status.
** It's mentioned in a side story that Katarina's late grandfather had been best friends with the family gardener, Tom.

The romantic variant of this is UptownGirl -- or, if their class inexorably divides them, StarCrossedLovers. Might also be seen as the mundane version of PalsWithJesus. Friendships falling under this trope are often an OddCouple and may be subject to [[LoserFriendPuzzlesOutsiders weird looks from other people]]. If the reason the two characters are friends is that they went to the same school, it becomes SchoolForcedUsTogether. The rich character is usually NiceToTheWaiter, though sometimes this is only the case with that one particular friend.

* ''Anime/FairyTail'''s Strongest Team consisting of Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Wendy, Happy and Carla. Lucy came from the formerly wealthy Heartfilia while the others are orphans by different circumstances. Lucy actually considers them and the rest of Fairy Tail as her friends and true family.

* In the anime/manga of ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'', while they don't forget Arslan's position as prince and heir to the throne, their group remains close and devoted to each other despite the differences in class. There is Arslan, Narsus (former lord), Daryun (high-ranking military officer), Elam (freed slave), Farangis (priestess) and Gieve, Alfarid and Jaswant (commoner).

** There's also Akko and aristocrat Lord Andrew Hanbridge. And like Diana, the two had their fair shares of arguments before becoming friends.

** Katarina is a member of a high-ranking noble family and is engaged to a prince. She ends up befriending Maria during their first year of magic school and specifically brings her into her circle of friends (which includes other high ranking nobles and royalty) in order to dissuade people from bullying her for her commoner status.

** Subverted and PlayedForDrama with Sheryl and Katsuya. From his perspective, it's a friendship between his middle class self and the rich {{Ojou}} Sheryl who he hopes to be more than friends with… but she's actually a dirt poor FakeAristocrat and exploiting Katsuya in a HoneyTrap.
** Reina and the working class Togami develop a friendship, despite their initial harsh interactions, over both being NewMeat and their shared BreakTheHaughty experiences. The two are also subject to EveryoneCanSeeit.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'' is a setting with a FantasticCasteSystem based [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever on English nobility]] with a dose of LadyLand, where the stigma around this is emphasized. Angelica, a duke’s daughter, is hardly willing to speak to commoner Olivia at first, thinking commoners are disgusting, until impressed with her manners (which Olivia needed taught to her beforehand); she [[IHatePastMe comes to regret this attitude later]]. The two only become friends after Angelica becomes somewhat of a FallenPrincess (although retaining her wealth and privileges) and Olivia comforts her after her engagement to Prince Julius gets broken.

** Damian's first friend was the orphan Colin Wilkes, who lived in a Catholic orphanage in a run-down part of Gotham and after surviving being kidnapped and experimented on roamed the streets using his new power to protect other down on their luck kids from Gotham's criminal underworld.
** Likewise, in the Batfamily, Batman is rich but Dick Grayson was born to a family of circus performers and grew up knowing carnies and circus people and Jason Todd was a poor street-kid. Likewise, Alfred Pennyworth, the Butler and TeamDad had far humbler origins, as did Commissioner Gordon.
** Before becoming boyfriend and girlfriend, Tim Drake and ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} Stephanie Brown were friends from entirely different economic backgrounds. He was from Gotham's richest neighborhood where he lived next door to Bruce Wayne and she was from a run-down middle-class neighborhood with an unsuccessful criminal for a father and a drug addict mother. These differences became less pronounced when Tim's dad lost most of his money on the stock market and Steph's mother started working again but by then they were dating.

* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'': Spider's "filthy assistants", Channon worked her way through journalism school as a stripper and bodyguard, Yelena is old money. In one issue they're shopping for guns and Yelena mentions that her high school scanned them for weapons at the door, Channon says that her school did too, to ''make sure'' they were packing heat.

* ''Fanfic/ArrowRebirth'': As in canon, the friendship and eventual relationship between billionaire Oliver Queen and working class Laurel Lance. Unlike the show, attention ''is'' drawn to their societal differences. Laurel is nervous at attending a party of the wealthy elite (calling herself "a fraud" and that "she doesn't belong"), and [[spoiler:when Oliver decides to run for mayor]], the fact that he's dating someone from a working class family is seen as a selling point. It shows he treats people as equals, and truly believes in his dream of a unified city.

* ''Fanfic/ALoudAmongDemons'': Lincoln, an unpaid intern working for I.M.P. who comes from a working class family, develops a close friendship with Octavia and Stolas, both of whom are royals.

* While it is never stated what social class [[Creator/BradJones Craig]] and Neil in ''Film/TheCinemaSnobMovie'' belong too, it is best presumed that they are lower-middle-class given the house they share and the budget they have for filming. They also happen to be old classmates of Gene (played by Creator/NoahAntwiler), the richest man in Springfield, who agrees to be their producer, getting them the rights to film at the local roller-rink and getting Vladimir Jackson to star. They drink with them when they fail to get filming rights to the rest of the city, get them a pizza when they ask him and he even helps them [[spoiler:find out about the sketchy police officers that have been antagonizing Craig.]]

* In ''Confessions of a Shopoholic'', the first book in the ''Literature/{{Shopaholic}}'' series, protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood is from a solidly middle-class family and is in heavy credit card debt from her shopping addiction. Her best friend and roommate [[SpoiledSweet Suze]] in contrast comes from a rich family, and Suze's parents even give their adult daughter an allowance.

** Hylas befriends in the first book Pirra, the [[RebelliousPrincess runaway daughter of Keftiu's High Priestess]] who'd gladly give up her status and riches to live her life freely like Hylas. Their friendship slowly develops into budding romance in the middle of the series, and ultimately, [[spoiler:Pirra lets all of Keftiu think she's dead, assumes a commoner's life without hesitation and mates with Hylas at the series' end]].

** Harry is implied to be somewhere between very and ''obscenely'' rich. Ron, his best friend, is a member of the poorest family depicted in the novels. The issues of class are played down in that Harry was raised by muggles and more or less a SpearCounterpart to Cinderella in that he lived as a poor servant to a rich step-family but then gets pushed forth into celebrity-superhero-dom. The class issues don't become part of their dynamic until Book 4, where Harry casually admits that [[ButForMeItWasTuesday he forgot about missing Leprechaun gold]], and has a trust-fund that provides him new robes and books, while Ron still has second-hand items passed down to him and mutters that if he got a sum of that much leprechaun gold ''he'' would certainly notice it missing.

** Tyrion Lannister's relationship with Bronn the Sellsword is a much colder take on this. Their relationship while not without warmth and good cheer is one of dependency and subject to how much money and advancement Bronn can score off him. Later when Tyrion is in exile and meets the dwarf Penny, he finds himself amused to note that despite both he and she being dwarfs, their class differences prevent any real friendship and bond developing between them.

** If you called Lady Violet and Carson the butler "friends" they would both strenuously deny it; they are both far too class-conscious for that. However, they see eye-to-eye on most matters concerning tradition and propriety, and frequently support each other in whatever hijinks are going on at the moment.
** Lady Violet and Isobel are a textbook VitriolicBestBuds example. Conservative aristocrat Violet and liberal upper-middle-class Isobel start hurling snark at each other the second they meet. However, they soon find common ground in their status as [[IronLady formidable, headstrong, extremely intelligent women]] who try to do what's best for their mutual family, and both seem to relish having a sparring partner who can keep up. By the end of the series various intrigues have left them FireForgedFriends, and Violet openly weeps when Isobel leaves Downton. Not that the snark lets up for a single minute, mind, though it does become significantly less catty.

** In the course of the show, Ross and Chandler more or less stay the same, with Ross becoming a well-paid academic with tenure, Chandler having a well-paid IT executive job early on and then shifting, rather smoothly, to advertising. Monica, Rachel, and Joey struggle in their jobs at various times, being fired and unemployed and sponging off the rest before landing smoothly, becoming a head chef at a classy restaurant, a fashion executive at Ralph Lauren, and a daytime soap opera star, respectively. Phoebe's income situation is never made clear, but at the end, she is shown having a well-paying masseuse job.

* ''Series/HannahMontana'': Rich and successful double-platinum selling pop star Hannah Montana / Miley Stewart is best friends with comparatively poorer Lilly and Oliver.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' had Ramza Beoulve, a noble, and Delita Heiral, a commoner, whose friendship was akin to brotherhood. It's Deconstructed as the nobility and high class like Argath looked down on the friendship and Delita was conscious of the prejudice. Also, the friendship didn't last as the game progress. Likewise, there's also a friendship between their respective younger sisters, Alma and Tietra, at least before [[spoiler:Tietra dies at the end of the game's first act]].

* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', the whole summer school class minus Dennis contains this in spades. The protagonist, Johanna, and Rachel all have middle class backgrounds, Lauren and Morgan come from poor families, and Amy is [[spoiler:a literal princess]]. However, it is most evident between Morgan and Amy, who bond over mutual respect despite vastly different world views, struggles, and circumstances.
* In ''VisualNovel/ShinraiBrokenBeyondDespair'', there's Rie Miyamoto and Runa Hikari. At first glance, you would think that the laid-back and unsophisticated Rie is relatively poor while the well-mannered and kimono-clad Runa is rich, but it's the other way around. Rie comes from a wealthy family who owns the resort that the game takes place in, and Runa is the daughter of a cleaning lady and a fishmonger.

* ''WesternAnimation/AroundTheWorldWithWillyFog'': Fog is clearly of a high social status. He lives in a grand house on London's fashionable Savile Row and acquired a £40,000 [[note]]a lot of money in 1872[[/note]] fortune somewhere down the line. Rigodon and Tico, by contrast, are from a more humble background, having worked as circus performers before becoming Fog's servants at the beginning of the series. Despite this, Fog regards them as friends and, when he has to pay £2000 bail to get them out of having to serve time in an Indian jail, he doesn't hesitate to hand over the money, much to the judge's surprise:

* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' has the friendship between working class FarmBoy Cricket Green and the wealthy ShelteredAristocrat Remy Remington.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Timmy Turner's gang consists of himself as middle-class, lower class Chester, and upper-middle class A.J.

** Something like this happened in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E6AFishfulOfDollars A Fishful of Dollars]]". Normally, Bender the bending robot and Fry the delivery man are at about the same social standing, but the seventy-five cents Fry had on his bank account when he was [[HumanPopsicle cryogenically frozen]] in the year 2000 had become a 4.3 billion dollar balance after 1,000 years of interest.

** While they maybe more of a case of WithFriendsLikeThese, there is Harold, Sid and Stinky. Harold comes from a well to do Jewish family who lives in a good looking house. Meanwhile Sid lives in a broken down apartment building and Stinky lives in an old log cabin.

*** Rarity is a posh fashion designer and owns two boutiques who's best friend is Applejack, a tomboy country girl who works at an apple farm. They originally started off as not really liking each other and having a rather nasty feud in ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E8LookBeforeYouSleep Look Before You Sleep]]'' but character development in later seasons made them very close friends. One thing they also share is that they're the only two ponies in the main cast who run their own businesses.

** Lawyer Gerald Broflovski and white trash Stuart [=McCormick=] use to be friends when they were teens. Stuart blames their falling out and not getting into college to Gerald being Jewish when in reality it was because he was a lazy alcoholic.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'' is a setting with a FantasticCasteSystem based [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever on English nobility]] with a dose of LadyLand, where the stigma around this is emphasized. Angelica, a duke’s daughter, is hardly willing to speak to commoner Olivia at first, thinking commoners are disgusting, until impressed with her manners (which Olivia needed taught to her beforehand); she [[IHatePastMe comes to regret this attitude later]]. The two only become friends after Angelica becomes somewhat of a FallenPrincess (although retaining her wealth and privileges).

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** Brutally subverted and PlayedForDrama with Sheryl and Katsuya. From his perspective, it's a friendship between his middle class self and the rich {{Ojou}} Sheryl who he hopes to be more than friends with… but she's actually a dirt poor FakeAristocrat and exploiting Katsuya in a HoneyTrap.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInThePrincessAndThePauper'', a GenderFlipped version of the Creator/MarkTwain [[Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper classic]], [[PrincessClassic Princess Anneliese]] befriends pauper Erika. [[spoiler: Though by the end of the film Erika marries the even wealthier King Dominic, making the two more equal in social standing]].

* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'': Tohru, a girl from a middle-class background, becomes friends with almost the highly rich and influential Sohma family (some take more time to warm up to her). She is even allowed to stay permanently at Shigure's house along with Yuki and Kyo, who both have a very soft spot for her.

* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'': The commoner Tohru becomes friend with almost the entire Sohma family (some takes more time to warm up to her). She is even allowed to stay permanently at Shigure's house along with Yuki and Kyo, who both have a very soft spot for her.

* In ''Manga/TheRoyalTutor'', it is revealed that Heine (commoner) and [[spoiler: Viktor]] (nobility) are very good friends. This OddFriendship started [[spoiler:when Heiner saved Viktor from being killed by a man from Heiner's own mafia]].

* In ''Manga/TheRoyalTutor'', it is revealed that Heine (commoner) and [[spoiler: Viktor]] (nobility) are very good friends. The manga has yet to go into detail about how this OddFriendship started.
* In ''Manga/SpyXFamily'', Anya, who comes from an ostensibly normal, middle-class family, becomes best friends with Becky, the daughter of the CEO of a {{Fiction 500}} company, even though the rest of the "elites" of the school demean her for being pretty much a PennyAmongDiamonds.

* ''Fanfic/ArrowRebirth'': As in canon, the friendship and eventual relationship between billionaire Oliver Queen and working class Laurel Lance. Unlike the show, attention ''is'' drawn to their societal differences. Laurel is nervous at attending a party of the wealthy elite (calling herself "a fraud" and that "she doesn't belong"), and [[spoiler:when Oliver decides to run for mayor]], the fact that he's dating someone from a working class family is seen as a selling point. It shows he treats people as equals, and truly believes in his dream of a unified city

.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInThePrincessAndThePauper'', a GenderFlipped version of the Creator/MarkTwain [[Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper classic]], [[PrincessClassic Princess Anneliese]] befriends pauper Erika. [[spoiler: Though by the end of the film Erika marries the even wealthier King Dominic, making the two more equal in social standing]].

* ''Literature/GodsAndWarriors'':
** In the beginning of the series, Hylas, who's a goatherd and an Outsider, has for four years been best friends with Telamon, the son of Lykonia's chieftain who sometimes sneaks out of Lapithos to hang out with Hylas and his little sister Issi. [[WeUsedToBeFriends Unfortunately]], this friendship comes to an end after Hylas and the other Outsiders become hunted by Telamon's ruthless kin. After spending the two first books [[ConflictingLoyalty torn between his kin and best friend]], Telamon ends up pulling a FaceHeelTurn and becomes Hylas' ArchEnemy.
** Hylas befriends in the first book Pirra, the [[RebelliousPrincess runaway daughter of Keftiu's High Priestess]] who'd gladly give up her status and riches to live her life freely like Hylas. Their friendship slowly develops into budding romance in the middle of the series, and ultimately, [[spoiler:Pirra lets all of Keftiu think she's dead, assumes a commoner's life without hesitation and mates with Hylas at the series' end]].

* ''VideoGame/SpidermanPS4'': [[AdaptationalNiceGuy Harry]] [[SpoiledSweet Osborn]] is childhood friends with Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. When M.J. sneaks around Norman Osborn's penthouse, she muses to herself that even though the few times she and Peter had spent in that penthouse watching tv was some of the most amazing memories from their childhood, she had "never seen Harry [[LonelyRichKid more happy]] than when he was watching cartoons with them in front of the tiny TV in Aunt May's kitchen."
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'', Class VII was assembled from individuals from all social classes ranging from nobility, middle class, war orphans, and even a tech company heiress (who is still regarded as a member of the middle class). While the group begins on rocky footing (especially in regards to Jusis and Machias), eventually through their collective experiences they become TrueCompanions. As it turns out this was part of the reason why the class was formed, being Prince Olivert's way of resolving the severe class division that plagues Erebonia.
* Jin and Ryuzo in ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima''. Jin is the ward of Lord Shimura and head of his own clan while Ryuzo is a commoner. However, their friendship is shown to have tension on Ryuzo's side due to this. Ryuzo secretly resented Jin for going all out and winning a tournament against him two years prior, costing Ryuzo his chance to become a samurai on his own merit, believing that Jin did not want a commoner to beat him, even though Jin would have gladly asked his uncle to take Ryuzo as a retainer if Ryuzo simply asked him. All of this would lead to [[spoiler: Ryuzo betraying Jin and siding with the Monguls.]]
* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', Haru is the daughter of the president of a large food manufacturer and is quite wealthy in comparison to the other Phantom Thieves who are mostly in the middle-class range.

* In the contemporary arc of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'', Arthur was initially quite poor and was briefly resentful when he realised just how rich Lancelot was. This changed when he became CEO of Excalicorp [[spoiler: and then President of the United States]]. In the space and baseline arcs, Arthur being the High King makes ''all'' his friendships this, however highborn the other person may or may not be.

* ''Franchise/MyLittlePonyGeneration4'':
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
*** Twilight Sparkle is a mare of a fairly upper-class Canterlot family and protege of Princess Celestia, and her friends from Ponyville, a small rural community. Though the significance is entirely lost on Twilight herself, episodes like ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E9SweetAndElite Sweet and Elite]]'' have made it quite clear the majority of the Canterlot upper-class view Ponyville residents as uncultured boorish hicks.
*** Rarity is a posh fashion designer and owns two boutiques who's best friend is Applejack, a tomboy country girl who works at an apple farm. They originally started off as not really liking each other and having a rather nasty feud in ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E8LookBeforeYouSleep Look Before You Sleep]]'' but character development in later seasons made them very close friends. One thing they also share is that they're the only two ponies in the main cast who run their own businesses.
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' has Sunset Shimmer and Sci-Twi. Sci-Twi lives in a BigFancyHouse, while Sunset lives in a studio apartment in the middle of the city.

* ''Film/TroopBeverlyHills'': All of the girls from the titular troop have rich parents, except Emily, whose father is a cash-strapped out-of-work actor. When Emily finds out she can't pay for the new scout badge, one of the girls, Tiffany (whose father is a wealthy, successful Beverly Hills plastic surgeon), helps her paying for it.
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** Lady Violet and Isobel are a textbook VitriolicBestBuds example. Conservative aristocrat Violet and liberal upper-middle-class Isobel start hurling snark at each other the second they meet. However, they soon find common ground in their status as [[IronLady formidable, headstrong, extremely intelligent women]] who try to do what's best for their mutual family, and both seem to relish having a sparring partner who can keep up. By the end of the series various intrigues has left them FireForgedFriends, and Violet openly weeps when Isobel leaves Downton. Not that the snark lets up for a single minute, mind, though it does become significantly less catty.

-->'''Judge''': I must say I'm surprised. One more often bargains the price of bail, especially with servants.
-->'''Fog''': Your Honour, they are my friends as well and I would gladly give every farthing I possess to ensure their freedon.