History Main / IntergenerationalFriendship

* ''Literature/DragonBones'' has a really weird example with 19-year-old Ward befriending Oreg, a ghost-like being who is almost as old as castle Hurog, that means ... at least a couple hundreds of years. There are some other instances where mortals befriend supernatural beings, where this trope applies, but the weird thing about Oreg is that he looks like 17 or so - younger than Ward. He's also TheWoobie and frequently ''seems'' that age, or younger, too, especially when he's frightened.

** Sonic and Knuckles are also this for Tails. Him being 8 and Sonic and Knuckles being 15 and 16 respectively.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Rush|Series}}'', the 14-year-old Blaze eventually befriends Cream as well. The sequel also introduces Marine, who's seven.

** Most of them are like this with the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario cast]] in the ''Mario and Sonic'' series. Mario is in his mid 20s (and ''Yoshi's Island DS'' shows must of the cast were babies at the same time) while most of the Sonic gang is in their teenage years, but the cast sees each other as friendly rivals. Perhaps the only exceptions are Bowser and Dr. Eggman.

* The Malazan Book of the Fallen can take this to extremes, such as the middleaged/old human Whiskeyjack, who's about 50, striking up a friendships with Anomander Rake, who's a few hundered thousand years old.

* Jim and Huck in ''Literature/AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn''

** Jake and Roland in ''The Dark Tower'' series. Jake is not quite a teen when they first meet, and Roland is well over fifty.

* Lawrence Block's detective character Matthew Scudder has a scrappy urban (read: black) 16-20-something kid following him around, and eventually helping him do things that a 60 something white guy can't get done. Matt even gives TJ his rent controlled apartment, in New York!

* Most friendships in ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga''.

* In Creator/SusanCooper's ''King of Shadows'', 11-year-old actor Nat is transported back in time to 1599, where he forms a loving friendship with 33-year-old William Shakespeare. Nat's father killed himself and Shakespeare's son died at Nat's age, which is why they are drawn to one another.
* In ''There is a Happy Land'' by Keith Waterhouse, the 10-year-old NamelessNarrator becomes friendly with "Uncle Mad", a homeless, mentally simple adult man (implied to be at least in his thirties or forties.) Becomes crucial to the plot when [[spoiler:Uncle Mad is accused of the murder and (suggested) rape of a local girl, and the narrator helps him escape.]]
* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', by Creator/DavidEddings: Most of Garion's friendships in the series are this, due to the fact that he is a teenager on a quest with a group of people who are all experienced warriors. Special mention should go to his friendship with Durnik (which formed before setting out on the quest, when Garion ''did'' have children his own age to play with) and with Silk (which was noted as being an especially close friendship compared to Garion's other relations).

This can take the form of a young adult from one generation befriending someone old enough to be their parent or even grandparent, such as in the comedy ''Film/FindingForrester''. It can take the form of an adult befriending a misguided or vulnerable youth, as in the French film ''Leon''. Sometimes, the two happen to have more in common than they think, such as having surprisingly similar life experiences. Sometimes the younger generation is more mature, or the older generation is less mature; the latter especially helps writers to dodge away from worrying questions being asked about sexual attraction.

* ''Literature/{{Momo}}'': Momo is a little kid. Her two best and greatest friends are Beppo, an old and reserved streetsweeper, and Gigi, a lighthearted young man who loves to tell tales.

* Middle-aged accountant Henry "Mutant" Weston and nine-year-old Eric from ''Film/MrMagoriumsWonderEmporium''.
** Plus, Mahony and Mr. Magorium himself. Sure, she might be about 20-30, but he claims to be ''243 years old''.

** It's worth noting that Rigoletto [[spoiler: is implied to be fae.]]
* ''Film/UptownGirls'' included one of these.

* In ''Film/FindingNeverland'', James Barrie strikes up a friendship with the Llewelyn-Davies boys despite being old enough to be their father. It helps that James is very much in touch with his inner child and that two of the boys (Peter and George) often act mature beyond their years.
** And since the movie is loosely based off of the real life friendship between James and the Llewelyn-Davies family, this would be TruthInTelevision.

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': The Fellowship, all with varying ages. Gandalf and Legolas were definitely the oldest of the group,[[note]]Gandalf was created by Eru Ilúvatar before the Ainulindalë, which makes him ''older than the world itself''. Or more precisely, over [[https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline_of_Arda 37,000 years old]]. He entered Middle-Earth as a Wizard in the year 1000 of the [[https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Third_Age Third Age]], that is, 2,018 years before the formation of the Fellowship. Legolas is a bit more complicated: the movie's official guide states that he is 2,931 years old, but this was never stated by Tolkien himself. So fans piece together hints from the book and [[https://askmiddlearth.tumblr.com/post/41313960261/how-old-is-legolas guesstimate]] anything from 200 to 2,000+ years.[[/note]] with Pippin being the youngest and Aragorn's age is stated to be 87.
** In fact, this even occurs between the Hobbits themselves. Pippin is still in his "tweens", (the age between 20 and 33 when a Hobbit comes of age), when the Fellowship set out from Bag-End. In comparison, Frodo is 51.
** This continues in ''Film/TheHobbit'' where Gandalf becomes friends with Bilbo (who was fifty-ish). Also, Bilbo with the dwarves, particularly Thorin and Balin, who are both nearing the two hundreds. Even the younger dwarves like Fíli and Kíli are above their seventies.

[[quoteright:336:[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marty_doc.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:336:Marty and Doc, friends for all time.]]

* ''[[Manga/CaseClosed Detective Conan]]'':

** In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Shepard and Tali, and Shepard and Liara. In fact, for Liara and Shepard it is both ways. Liara is 106, the asari equivalent of being barely out of her teens, and Shepard is in his/her early thirties. Anderson and Shepard also are like this, with Anderson being 46 in the first game.

** Alistair and Wynne of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' have a warm, somewhat flirty relationship with May-December subtext, though remains platonic.

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''. Sora's constant companions WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck and WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} are [[VagueAge more or less]] adults, though this is a little obscured with them being anthropomorphic animals. Although his strongest feelings are for Riku and Kairi, who are his age.

** And Axel's friendship with Roxas, as Axel is an adult and Roxas is in his early teens.
*** His relationship with Roxas and Xion is very like this in ''358/2 Days'', with the two both looking at Axel kinda like a big brother for his knowledge on the opposite sex, emotions, relationships... he in turn is very protective of them, and his anger at being forgotten makes a lot more sense considering this.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': 17-year-old Lloyd's best friend is 12-year-old Genis. During the game he also makes friends with Zelos (21) and Regal (32).
** And to ''really'' screw with your head, [[spoiler: Presea is biologically and mentally twelve, but chronologically ''twenty-eight''.]]

* Felicia and Klonoa in ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'' are made of this. She is a Catwoman who's somewhere in her late teens or early 20s, while he is a Kaze no Neko ("Cat of the Wind") in his early to mid teens. Both of them are cheerful, positive and playful people who decided to be friends and stick together just because ''both of them are cat people with long hair''.

* [[RealityWarper Yukari]] and [[CloudCuckooLander Yuyuko]] in ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', the former several millenia-old at the very least and the latter (originally) an ordinary human. Even after Yuyuko has spent about a thousand years as a CuteGhostGirl Yukari is still many times her age and outclasses her in every way possible, but they remain close friends.

* ''VideoGame/Persona4'', alongside the main character's younger cousin Nanako befriending the rest of the party, we have the MC and the persons holding the Death (a widow in her 60's), Temperance (a stepmother in her early/mid 30's) and Devil (a HospitalHottie in her late 20's) Arcana Social Links. They're also seen in TheAnimeOfTheGame, but they're OutOfFocus.

*** Relating to "The Veteran", the same thing can happen with John Marston if he finishes "The Veteran" for Arthur (or if Arthur never met Hamish at all).

* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}''. Annie and Beowulf become friends at the end of their story arcs, but the intergeneration aspect is the reverse of what it looks like. The public sees Annie, a 15-ish actress, befriending Beowulf, a 37-year-old pro wrestler, but Beowulf is a mortal man, and Annie is [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld very, very much the elder of the two]].

* Several examples are possible in the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, thanks to the [[RelationshipValues support system]]. Among the more notable ones is Amelia (~15) and Duessel (old enough to be her grandfather, likely in his mid 50') from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', who even get a double-ending where Amelia becomes Duessel's [[TheLancer "most trusted companion"]]. [[spoiler:The fact that Duessel reunites Amelia with her MissingMom Melina, whom he rescued from the bandits who kidnapped her when Amelia was a child, probably helps a lot.]]
** Considering Duessel's age, he's very prone to this trope. He also has good relationships with Ephraim (around early 20's), Cormag and Knoll (both in their mid 20's). No double endings, tho.
** Also in ''Sacred Stones'', Ewan (13-14) and his magic teacher Saleh (age not stated, but most likely in his mid to late 20's). They also get a double-ending.
** There's also Gilliam (likely around his late 30's) and both Franz and Neimi (around Amelia's age, if not slightly older).
*** In the case of Neimi, she also has this with Garcia (late 30's/early 40's, and the father of Ross who is around Neimi's age)
** Some of the other games have this as well. Two prominent cases are ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBladeBlade Blazing Blade's]]'' Serra (a 16 year-old cleric) and Oswin (a knight in his mid 30's), albeit [[MayDecemberRomance they can also become a couple]], and from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', Gregor (a mercenary in his 40's/maybe even 50's) and either Lon'qu (early-to-mid 20's MasterSwordsman) or Ricken (a pre-teen/early teenage [[ChildProdigy mage]]).

** Garreg Mach Monestary in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' generally houses students from ages 15 to 18 in the same class, but there are a few students who are much older, with the most stand-out example being Balthus (''26'') having a support with Lysithea (15), despite being over ten years her senior. Hanneman, a teacher at 51 years old, also has this dynamic with every student and even some teachers, including the protagonist.

** Downplayed with [[Characters/DuckTales2017LouieDuck Louie Duck]] (as with the other triplets, a pre-teen at around 10-11) and Goldie O'Gilt [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld (150+)]]. In the episode "Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!" Louie and Goldie team up in order to con out all of Doofus's money for themselves. Of course, Goldie's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder meant that she had every intent to frame Louie when she had the chance, but she ended up risking her life for him while he saved her from the suffering fate as "Goldie Mama." Even after she ran off with all the money, leaving Louie betrayed, Goldie still decided to keep a photo of him in her wallet right next to her dear Scroogey. It seemed Louie grew on her a little more than she expected.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Professor Oak (about 50) and Ash (10 [[NotAllowedToGrowUp for the past ten years or so]]) are fairly close even though the former taught Ash's mother in school. Possibly averted in that, at least on Oak's end, [[Anime/Pokemon4Ever he first met Ash when he was the same age]] due to some accidental TimeTravel.

* Ruthlessly zigzagged and {{Deconstructed}} in the plays of Creator/PeterShaffer, as he [[DownerEnding never shows them to end well]]. By the end of ''{{Theatre/Equus}}'', [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Dysart laments that he has reduced Alan]] to an EmptyShell in his attempt to cure him, In ''The Royal Hunt of the Sun'' [[OutsideContextVillain Pizarro murders Atahualpa, destroys his civilisation and plunders its riches]] in spite of having formed a close bond with him, and [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Salieri destroys Mozart out of sheer envy and spite for his God-given musical talents]] in ''{{Theatre/Amadeus}}''.

** An episode involves Data's relationship with a boy of about 10 or 11, who idolizes him for saving his life.
** In another episode, Data becomes "pen pals" with a young alien girl, whose memories they have to erase because of the [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]]. Then later Data becomes friends with another young alien girl, which ends with his memories being erased.

* Ben (well over 1000 years old, appears to be about seventy) and Jenny (probably about nine-ish) in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "The Fugitive".

** Bart and Otto.
** And certainly Lisa and the late great Bleeding Gums Murphy.

** Bart and Homer's relationship plays out like this in its [[DependingOnTheWriter most positive iterations]].

** Fourteen-year-old Steven is friends with the ambiguously college-aged Cool Kids, Lars and Sadie, as well as Jamie, who seems to be somewhere in his twenties.
** Connie is a bit shy of thirteen and good friends with Greg, who is around 40.

** In the pilot, [[KidHero Finn]] is twelve and [[NonHumanSidekick Jake]] is twenty-eight, while in the series Finn is 13 and WordOfGod specifying Jake is twenty-eight in "magical dog years" -- which could possibly make him younger than Finn in absolute terms but he's certainly of adult age for his species. They're also adoptive brothers, Finn having been raised by Jake's parents.

** By the same token, Finn's and Jake's friendship with Princess Bubblegum, who is almost as old as Marceline.

** A strange friendship forms between Toph (12 years old) and Iroh (64 years old) before they realize they're both on opposite sides; Toph, who has joined the Gaang since they last saw Iroh, encounters him while having a brief falling-out with the others. And when they ''do'' realize they're on opposite sides, [[spoiler: they don't care]].
** Aang and Bumi (a 12 year old boy and a man well over 100 respectively), though in this case they became friends while they were both kids (HumanPopsicle complicates many things, except maybe friendship).
** One in its sequel ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' between Korra, the new Avatar, and Tenzin, the previous Avatar's youngest son. It's also kind of funny when Tenzin develops a PapaWolf personality towards Korra. Korra is also a CoolBigSis to his kids.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': Terry [=McGinnis=] and Bruce Wayne.

** Dewey, a pre-teen at around 10-11 years of age, is mutually considered best friends with Launchpad [=McQuack=], who is around his late 20s. While this can technically apply for all the kids in relation to Launchpad, none are nearly as close as Dewey is, to the point to where he [[TheDitz sometimes can only remember Huey and Louie as "Dewey's brothers."]]
** Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, who is likely in around his early to mid 20s, has become really good friends with Huey, who again is a pre-teen. Unlike Dewey and Launchpad, who get along super well by both being total goofballs, theses two get along well due to their scientific skills being able to help each other out, whether that be with Gizmoduck tech, or helping out with smaller projects. It's shown in "Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!" that Fenton actually relies on Huey to help him escape from his tiring hero life as Gizmoduck, and Huey was shown to do what he could to make sure Fenton's date with Gandra went well.
** Downplayed with Louie (as with the other triplets, a pre-teen at around 10-11) and Goldie O'Gilt [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld (150+)]]. In the episode "Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!" Louie and Goldie team up in order to con out all of Doofus's money for themselves. Of course, Goldie's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder meant that she had every intent to frame Louie when she had the chance, but she ended up risking her life for him while he saved her from the suffering fate as "Goldie Mama." Even after she ran off with all the money, leaving Louie betrayed, Goldie still decided to keep a photo of him in her wallet right next to her dear Scroogey. It seemed Louie grew on her a little more than she expected.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Brian and Stewie are pretty much this considering Brian is an adult dog and Stewie is a baby.

** Twelve year old [[PolarOppositeTwins twins]] Dipper and Mabel Pines are quick to befriend the twenty two year old Soos, a socially awkward {{Manchild}} who works at their great uncle's tourist trap. He is also the one who often accompanies them on adventures.

** Similarly, there's Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, with the former idolizing and admiring the latter who fulfills something of a sisterly role.
** Both Princesses act the most "adult" out of any of the characters on the show, being both in their twenties to thirties emotionally and [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld at least a thousand years old each chronologically]]. They are also good friends with the main cast. Luna also gets this with the young foal Pipsqueak in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed Luna Eclipsed]]".
** Fluttershy is also good friends with Discord, who is at least a thousand years older than her.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': [[NiceGirl Luz]] is fourteen and [[SilverFox Eda]] is, whilst not ''[[YoungerThanSheLooks quite]]'' as [[WitchClassic elderly as she looks]], well over three times that.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' has the eponymous duo. They're grandfather and grandson, but act more like (very vitriolic, often toxic) friends, complete with Morty being on a FirstNameBasis with Rick instead of calling him "Grandpa". Rick also has this with his granddaughter (and Morty's older sister) Summer.

* The ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' have a few examples:

** Most of them are like this with the [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Mario cast]] in the ''Mario and Sonic'' series. Mario is in his mid 20s (and ''Yoshi's Island DS'' shows must of the cast were babies at the same time) while most of the Sonic gang is in their teenage years, but the cast sees each other as friendly rivals. Perhaps the only exceptions are Bowser and Dr. Eggman.

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* ''Literature/TheBible'': David and Jonathan.
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* Blair and Dorota on ''Series/GossipGirl''.

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