History ThePowerOfFriendship / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': In the climax of "This is Your Backstory", Doofenshmirtz has been turned into a monster by his Backstory-inator and is within seconds of crushing Perry and ridding the world of his nemesis for good. Suddenly, Perry takes out his wallet and shows pictures of the good times he and Doof had together, causing Doof to think of good backstories which reverses the Backstory-inator's effects and returns him to his normal self.

** The theme of friendship and teamwork as key to the heroes' success underlies many of the plots in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''. In fact, in the first movie "A Sitch in Time," [[spoiler: Shego mentions [[EvilCannotComprehendGood not understanding this phenomenon between Kim and Ron]], but acknowledges it, and specifically made efforts to separate the two of them in order to counter it.]]

* Mandell was a little more subtle about it with the ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers Galaxy Rangers]]'', but their "pool the badges" tactic is built on this. It also featured prominently in "Mindnet," where the other three go out of their way to clear Shane's name, and Shane overtly chooses his friends over his Supertrooper "family." It also was played wonderfully in "Psychocrypt" when Doc, Niko, and Shane decide to help Zach.

** Grogar ([[spoiler:aka Discord in disguise]]) tries to evoke a VillainousFriendship variant of this after explaining to Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra that the reason they've all been repeatedly defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends is because the ponies ''work together'', and that if they pool their resources they'll have no trouble overpowering the ponies. Cozy Glow is thoroughly enthused about the idea, while the rest are more skeptical... until King Sombra tries to go it alone and gets KilledOffForReal by The Power Of Friendship ''alone''... which scares Tirek and Chrysalis into falling in line as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'': Part of Reggie Rocket's pep talk in the later part of "Race Across New Zealand": "We're not just another team out here. We're friends. And that's what makes us better."

* ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'' is big on this and large portions of the 2003 series in particular operate on it. The ultimate expression of it is the songs "Back Together" (from "A Horse of a Different Color") and "The Gift of Friendship" (from "A Berry Merry Christmas.")

** In the fourth season, Raven, after becoming her father's portal to Earth and being transformed into a powerless, younger version of herself, is able to [[DeusExMachina regain all of her powers by drawing on The Power of Friendship]] and cause a complete SnapBack of the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt global destruction]] Trigon caused.

** In "Holidays in Boxwood Terrace", friendship was the answer to Jet's question all along. Mitchell wants to belong to Jet's clique, but doesn't know how to do it. When Sean gets stage fright, Mitchell proves that he cares for the others by swooping in and performing the song that Sean was supposed to sing, having memorized the whole thing. Mitchell is invited into the group and gets to bond with the others in real time. At the end of the episode, Jet gets a very positive feeling about being surrounded by his allies, and realizes that friendship and love was the Spirit of Christmas all along.

* The ''WesternAnimation/CareBears'' do this a lot, often by using the CareBearStare, or actually telling people about true friendship.

'''[[spoiler:Cozy Glow]]''': Why? Friendship is power! You might be the Princess of Friendship, but as Headmare of this school, I can collect even more friends than you!\\
'''Twilight''': ''You're'' the one who doesn't get it, [[spoiler:Cozy]]. Friendship ''is'' powerful, but power isn't why you make friends.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':

* Mandell was a little more subtle about it with the ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers Galaxy Rangers]]'', but their "pool the badges" tactic is built on this. It also featured prominently in "Mindnet," where the other three go out of their way to clear Shane's name, and Shane overtly chooses his friends over his Supertrooper "family." It also was played wonderfully in "Psychocrypt" when Doc, Niko, and Shane decide to help Zach.

** It's the only thing that can [[CooldownHug cool down]] Aang's UnstoppableRage. Azula's VillainousBreakdown is largely due to her inability to inspire loyalty through trust and friendship instead of fear. It was also implied that friendship can withstand generations--as in, they last lifetimes through {{reincarnation}}.

* The second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ewoks}}'' has this as its basic premise - the four main characters are the best friends.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KaijudoRiseOfTheDuelMasters'', [[TheHero Ray]] sets himself apart from most other Duel Masters by going out of his way to treat the monsters he summons as his friends as opposed to living weapons. This ends up having a rare practical application in the season 2 finale when he turns the tide against [[BigBad the Choten]] by summoning another ''five'' creatures to aid him. When the Choten points out that that many creatures can't be controlled all at once, Ray responds, [[ShutUpHannibal "I don't need to control them. They are my friends"]].

** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn Keep Calm and Flutter On]]" is one of the most noteworthy examples in the show, by having Fluttershy reform [[MadGod Dis]][[GodOfEvil cord]] simply by trying to be the first friend he ever had. When Discord [[BatmanGambit tries taking advantage of this]] in a gambit to keep her from using her Element of Harmony against him so he can run rampant, she agrees to it--[[OutGambitted she'll just stop being his friend if he continues to misbehave]]. Discord, it turns out, would rather have fun together with someone than no one at all.

* Disney seems to like this trope a lot:
** The theme of friendship and teamwork as key to the heroes' success underlies many of the plots in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''. In fact, in the first movie "A Sitch in Time," [[spoiler: Shego mentions [[EvilCannotComprehendGood not understanding this phenomenon between Kim and Ron]], but acknowledges it, and specifically made efforts to separate the two of them in order to counter it.]]
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' often plays this trope straight as the main cast works together to resolve whatever problem they face. Then there's this weird episode.
** When playing kickball against a team of weirdly similar kids from a neighboring school, T.J. tells his friends they can beat their {{doppelganger}}s because they have the Power of Friendship... and the camera cuts to his counterpart ''telling her team the same thing''. Both groups are friends internally, but competing against each other.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo''. Rose Wilson is [[ActionGirl too]] [[EyepatchOfPower cool]] for the Titans to take in a fight, defeating them in their first confrontation [[WordsCanBreakMyBones with sarcastic insults]]. Ashamed by how uncool they are, the Titans go to [[RuleOfCool Cool]] School to become cooler for their rematch... only for Rose to ''still'' overpower them with her coolness. What ultimately defeats Rose? The Titans start telling their teammates [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther how they feel about each other]]. The [[VomitIndiscretionShot sickening]] display of sincere, unironic emotions proves [[SuckinessIsPainful too much]] for Rose, and she's taken back to jail.
* The key theme of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'', embodied in [[PlatonicLifePartners the relationship between Wander and Sylvia]] and in Wander's attempts to reform the villainous Lord Hater by befriending him. [[spoiler: Friendship with [[AllLovingHero Wander]] has resulted in many a HeelFaceTurn, except [[OmnicidalManiac Lord Dominator]].]]
* Invoked and lampshaded in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmoggies''; when Polluto's beloved pet bird Ralph accidentally falls into the tar-bubble blowing machinery and is trapped inside one of the bubbles, Polluto goes charging off to try and save him. In doing so, he smashes ''through'' the gunwale of the ship, hits the ocean, and starts swimming at a very impressive speed toward Coral Island -- which prompts a flabbergasted Captain Clarence to point out that Polluto actually doesn't know ''how'' to swim.

** Specifically, the titular "Magic of Friendship", backed by the [[AmplifierArtifact Elements of Harmony]], can fire a rainbow-coloured nigh-omnipotent WaveMotionGun that can either [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punch out]] [[{{Eldritch Abomination}} Lovecraftian Chaos Gods]] or reform villains into forces of good. Then again, what else could you possibly expect from something with [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a title like that]]?

** Throughout the series, the Mane 6 each learn how the magic of friendship effect their everyday life, then use their talents to teach all ponies, and later all creatures, the concept. In the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E25TheEndingOfTheEndPart2 penultimate episode]], this culminates in [[spoiler:''everyone in Equestria'' joining them to take down Cozy, Tirek and Chrysalis, ending with the Pillars, the Mane Six, and the Student Six channeling the Power of Friendship into Twilight to send a massive WaveMotionGun to the villains' faces.]]

* The key theme of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'', embodied in [[PlatonicLifePartners the relationship between Wander and Sylvia]] and in Wander's attempts to reform the villainous Lord Hater by befriending him. [[spoiler: Friendship with [[AllLovingHero Wander]] has resulted in many a HeelFaceTurn.]]

--->'''Twilight''': But I still don't understand. Why?\\

** Grogar tries to evoke a VillainousFriendship variant of this after explaining to Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra that the reason they've all been repeatedly defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends is because the ponies ''work together'', and that if they pool their resources they'll have no trouble overpowering the ponies. Cozy Glow is thoroughly enthused about the idea, while the rest are more skeptical... until King Sombra tries to go it alone and gets KilledOffForReal by The Power Of Friendship ''alone''... which scares Tirek and Chrysalis into falling in line as well.