History Main / MuggleBestFriend

* In the start of the ''CodexAlera'' series, Tavi is the only person who can be one of these to everyone he meets, since he is the only character who has no nifty elemental-control Furies. He prospers being a GuileHero, by inspiring loyalty and through alliances. Later in the series he gains a little something [[spoiler:a powerful Fury, Alera herself]]. When combined with his high intelligence and TrainingFromHell, well, suffice it to say [[spoiler:he is justifiably lionized as the greatest First Lord, ever]].

They represent the tie that the character still has to their original, pre-super life. They will usually interact with the main character's family, friends and LoveInterest even when the hero is unable to. They are most common in shows where TheHero does not have a FiveManBand - if they do they will be overshadowed as the position of Best Friend tends to go to TheLancer, but might still serve a background function. At some point they will be held hostage by the villain and they are often in the risk of getting KilledOffForReal to provide TheHero with a reason for revenge.

Also, {{Love Interest}}s can also be {{Muggle Best Friend}}s, and will provide a good reason to be equally worried about your secret life and your normal life, especially if you are on a WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld schedule. TheChick can also double as MuggleBestFriend. In circumstances like these, an UnderstandingBoyfriend may come into play.

Occasionally you will have the MuggleBestFriend wish for powers so they aren't always a liability or potential hostage; they usually end up [[TemporarySuperPowers with powers that last for]] [[ADayInTheLimelight one episode only]] -- just so they realize being normal is cool enough on its own, or that having powers isn't as cool as it's cracked up to be. For flavor, fits of jealousy brought on by IJustWantToBeSpecial may pop up and strain things between them before ThePowerOfFriendship reasserts. Once in a while, the friend will leave the trope when they acquire some sort of metahuman abilities.

* Naru from ''SailorMoon''.
** In [[PrettyGuardianSailorMoon the live-action]], Motoki is also this to Mamoru (as well as Makoto's Muggle Love Interest).

* ''GunslingerGirl'' has Claes.

* In ''UltraManiac'', Nina Sakura, a CuteWitch, transfers into a normal school in the human world, and meets Ayu, the one who would fit this trope. She befriends her (though at first, Ayu was annoyed by Nina), Ayu finds herself being the target of Nina's many (failed attempts) of helpful magic.
* Mai of ''MaiHime'' has Chie and Aoi, [[ThoseTwoGuys two girls]] who are never aware of or involved in the Himes' conflicts.

* Orito from ''KoreWaZombieDesuKa''

* Kazumi to DevilLady.

* {{Superman}}'s pal JimmyOlsen; subverted when he takes on the mantle of Elastic Lad or any one of the other hundred or so super-identities he's temporarily had over the years.

* Doiby Dickles to the original GreenLantern, Alan Scott.

* At the beginning, Harry Osborn was this to ''Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}}''.
** Mary Jane fills the role in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'', hovering between this and LoveInterest. She also could and can play both roles in the mainstream books as well, especially after she revealed she knew Peter's secret.
* [[Comicbook/WarMachine James Rhodes]] to ''Ultimate IronMan''. This version of Iron Man is a mutant of sorts.
* BuckyBarnes and CaptainAmerica, back during the war.

* In StarWars we have Han Solo to Luke Skywalker.

* Cherise is the Muggle Best Friend to Joanna Baldwin in the ''WeatherWardens'' series as of ''Windfall'', and the LoveInterest of [[spoiler: Kevin]] as of ''Thin Air''.
* Laura is the MuggleBestFriend to Kate in the ''{{Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccer Mom}}'' series, and she's the self-titled {{Sidekick}} as well. Even after reading the first book, it's clear that [[spoiler: Kate's daughter Mindy will be the MuggleBestFriend to Kate's daughter Allie when Allie ends up trained to follow in Mom's footsteps]].
* Dillard from ''KingdomKeepers'', though unlike most examples he's largely left out of the loop.

* Clary's friend Simon in the ''MortalInstruments'' series.

* On ''WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'': Harper to Alex. Zeke to Justin. Theresa to Jerry.
* Chloe to Clark on ''{{Smallville}}'' [[spoiler:(Until she develops her own powers).]] Before Chloe, it was Pete Ross.

* Partial example: TeenGenius [[DoogieHowserMD Doogie Howser]]'s best friend Vinnie, a guy of average intelligence that helps him relate to the world of normal teenagers.
* George and Katie from ''NoOrdinaryFamily''. [[spoiler:(Until she got a super powered baby who sometimes lets her use the powers, and he got put on the 'Super Powered Crash Test' plane in the last episode.)]]
* Maria Deluca from ''{{Roswell}}''. Also [[spoiler:Liz and Kyle until they began to develop powers of their own.]]
* Keely Teslow to Phil on ''{{Phil of the Future}}'', though she quickly became the {{Love Interest}} as well.
* On ''{{Series/Grimm}}'', both Hank and Juliette can be this to Nick.

* ''TheWotch'': Robin and Jason
* Yvette and Liz in ''TheDreamer'', Beatrice's 21st-century friends.

* ''StaticShock'' had Richie, Virgil's best friend -- but it became subverted when in the third season they upgraded Richie to Bang Baby as well.
* Spud and Trixie to Jake from ''AmericanDragonJakeLong''. Spud had his ADayInTheLimelight episode as a frog boy.
* Tucker and Sam to Danny on ''DannyPhantom''. Tucker got ghost powers for one episode. Sam got plant powers for one episode.
* Frida to ''ElTigre''. She actually stole the El Tigre belt to go out as La Tigresa to satisfy [[IJustWantToBeSpecial her wish to be special too]].
* Brad and Tucker to [[MyLifeAsATeenageRobot XJ-9]]
* RainbowBrite had a boy from Earth that she was friends with.
* Most of the human friends in various ''{{Transformers}}'' media.
** Subverted in ''TransformersAnimated'', Sari appears to be this. [[spoiler:She is, in fact, a cybertronian protoform in a human alt-form]].
* So far, Noah from ''GeneratorRex'' is this to the titular Evo.

----

** Mary Jane fills the role in ''[[UltimateSpiderman Ultimate Spider-Man]]'', hovering between this and LoveInterest. She also could and can play both roles in the mainstream books as well, especially after she revealed she knew Peter's secret.

* ''PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has surprisingly, the titular character Madoka herself. The series is a tug of war between [[WeaselMascot Kyubey]] (for) and [[DarkMagicalGirl Homura]] (against) over whether she turns magical girl.

* ''Film/SeventeenAgain'' has Ned Gold.

* ''{{Film/17 Again}}'' has Ned Gold.

** Played straight with Hitomi, who serves as Madoka and Sayaka's friends. It's soon played straighter than most MagicalGirl shows would usually go and have her [[spoiler: [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom be one of the straws that break Sayaka's back and drive her to despair]]]].

* Though having super powers in the WesternAnimation/{{Avatar}} universe is not uncommon, you still couldn't call the people without powers a minority. Sokka is the most obvious example for this, being surrounded by a little girl with earth powers, a sister with water powers and an omnipotent bald child. Unless you count throwing a boomerang and comic relief as super powers.

* Tucker and Sam to Danny on DannyPhantom. Tucker got ghost powers for one episode. Sam got plant powers for one episode.

* In the WesternAnimation/{{Darkstalkers}} cartoon, Victor had a Muggle friend named Klaus.

They have no super powers, no magic, no AppliedPhlebotinum. But despite the danger, they're loyal and will stick to the side of their heroic best friend no matter what the CallToAdventure may throw in the hero's path. They are frequently {{Secret Keeper}}s and can be plucky ComicRelief as well.

* The Scooby Gang in ''{{Buffy}}'' (until Willow develops magic powers of her own). Xander retains this role all the way through the televised run of the series even as other characters grow beyond it.

* In ''{{Bleach}}'', Mizuiro, Keigo and Tatsuki.

* Zeke was this to Cole in "Infamous" and its sequel

* Bucky Barnes and CaptainAmerica, back during the war.

* {{Superman}}'s pal Jimmy Olsen; subverted when he takes on the mantle of Elastic Lad or any one of the other hundred or so super-identities he's temporarily had over the years.