Yusuke: Why don't you quit hugging me, you weirdo?!
Kuwabara: You're the one hugging; I was trying to squeeze you to death!
A gag where two characters spontaneously hug in a moment of shared joy or affection—and then one or both of them quickly, awkwardly pull away. Maybe they want to maintain their stoic, manly, or jerkish facades. Maybe they've remembered that they're Just Friends, or not even friends to begin with. In addition to humor, the device can be used for a Ship Tease, or to show that two characters really do like each other.
Can be a Not So Stoic moment.
A common result of the Man Hug. Compare Rescue Hug and Security Cling. If somebody's really enthusiastic, you might end up with an Accidental Kiss instead. Can turn into a Gay Moment.
Supertrope to Clingy Sleepers.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- As seen in the page quote, in episode nine of YuYu Hakusho, Yusuke and Kuwabara do this after finding out that Yusuke passed Genkai's third test.
Fan Fic
- Calvin and Susie end up doing this in Calvin & Hobbes: The Series after a nearby explosion startles them. Hobbes teases the former about it at the end of the episode.
- In Freedom is Just a Dream, part of The Just Series, Angelo and Janie share one after Janie saves Angelo from falling to his doom.
- Medli does this in "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
" when Link agrees to help her get into Dragon Roost Cavern and later when she sees him again after a long time. She gives him more hugs at points in the book, but these are intentional.
Film - Animated
- Happens a couple of times between Kuzco and Pacha in The Emperor's New Groove.
- After Jim saves the ship from being destroyed near the end of Treasure Planet, Amelia and Doppler spontaneously hug. The movie uses it for an Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other moment.
- In Monsters University, Don and Ms. Squibbles spontaneously embrace after Oozma Kappa's apparent victory in the Scare Games, and Don has trouble pulling away because of his sticky tentacles. Ms. Squibbles doesn't mind.
Film - Live Action
- In Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill and Ted hug in relief after Ted's apparent death, and then pull away, both exclaiming, "Fag!"
- Jay and Silent Bob in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
- Danny and Kenickie share one before the big race in Grease.
- Done as a gag in the climax of Major League, where a regular Tribe fan and a punk Tribe fan excitedly hug, then they pull back, then they go back to hugging excitedly
- This comes up repeatedly in the Road to ... pictures with Hope and Crosby.
Live Action TV
- Regularly between Chandler and Joey on Friends.
- Several variations happen when Rachel gets a job at Ralph Lauren.
- In the episode "Sports Medicine", the distressed wife of the Patient of the Week bursts into tears and latches onto House. Given the circumstances he can't really throw her off, and we are treated to a lovely/hilarious shot of House in the middle of a crowded corridor, being clung to and looking extremely embarrassed about the whole thing. Eventually he manages to give her a little pat on the back.
- In the Dexter episode "Dex, Lies & Videotape", Deb impulsively hugs Lundy after he clears up a misunderstanding. He hugs her back. Then a crackling police radio reminds them that not only are they (at that point) platonic co-workers, they're in the middle of a crime scene.
- In Stargate SG-1 episode "Small Victories", Carter spontaneously embraces Thor after their gambit successfully destroys a Replicator fleet. To his credit Thor, who is both half her size and very stoic, is surprised, but doesn't really mind.
- In Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Amok Time", Spock grabs Kirk by the arms, overjoyed to find that he didn't kill him. He quickly lets go when he sees McCoy and Chapel watching and realizes he's given himself away.
- Right after the actual Jump the Shark moment in Happy Days, two male onlookers hug each other in excitement before realizing they're hugging each other, promptly breaking each other's hold and leaping into the arms of girls standing next to them.
- Variant in Community - the Dean has been given $2000 to film a new tv ad for the college. One scene simply has Britta say "Meet different people!" as she and Troy hug - but the Dean has become a monster of a director, and has them do repeated takes hundreds of times, to conform to his vision, until they end up crying and breaking down. Sobbing, they go to hug each other for comfort, and both pull back screaming.
- The creators of Seinfeld solemnly vowed to have "no hugs" in the show, as well as no lessons learnt. In one episode where Jerry and George pull off a successful pitch of their show-within-a-show they almost hug but quickly decide against it. Made funnier by the fact that the show-within-a-show is based on Seinfeld itself and Jerry and George are based on the show's creators.
- In the Doctor Who story, "The Crimson Horror'' after The Doctor is cured from the walking death state he is in, he spontaneously hugs and kisses his rescuer. Unfortunately for him, it turns out to be Jenny, his lesbian friend, who promptly wallops him across the chops.
- Often happens on Drake & Josh. "Hug me, brotha!"
Literature
- Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony: Butler, after not seeing him for three years due to time travel adventures, spontaneously hugs Artemis and just as quickly pulls away, embarrassed at his lack of professionalism. A one-sided example, as Artemis doesn't seem to find it awkward.
Newspaper Comics
- Zits
- Lampshaded in one strip: just as Jeremy and Hector are about to hug, they look at each other and then sit down. Hector mentions hugging between males always looks easier on TV, to which Jeremy responds "Let Us Never Speak of This Again".
- In another strip Jeremy and Walt express their mutual affection with an "Air Hug" (ie making hugging motions about three feet from one another). That either of them went that far apparently had something to do with it being Walt's birthday.
Western Animation
- Danny Phantom.
- In "One of a Kind", Danny and Tucker fall asleep and end up snuggled together. They wake up that way, scream, and yank their arms back.
- With Danny and Sam in "Fanning the Flames". Unlike the first example, this was used for Ship Tease.
- Clay and Coach Stopframe in Moral Orel.
- In an episode of KaBlam! Henry and June both hug each other, though then Henry found it awkward and pulled away, mentioning, "Let's not get gross here." (meaning kissing). June on the other hand, LOVED the hugging.
- Mordecai and Rigby barely avoid this at the beginning of "Temp Check" ("Ah, sick!") Later becomes a Chekhov's Gun to separate Doug from Rigby.
- In the Dragons: Riders of Berk episode "Animal House" Astrid and Hiccup have one following a Near-Death Experience. Cue awkwardness, stuttering and Astrid punching Hiccup's shoulder.
- Gravity Falls: Pacifica to Dipper when she gets a little too caught up in the moment in "Northwest Mansion Mystery". Followed by an immediate attempt to bribe him to forget about it.
- My Gym Partner's a Monkey has an instance of this. Overjoyed to see one another after the events of the episode, Adam and Jake race towards one another. Jake spins Adam several times after embracing him and the two laugh happily. Suddenly reality ensues and the two awkwardly pull away. Much of the dialogue that follows is delivered in a forced "manly voice" before they part ways.
