Big Damn Hug

Hug the Shore... Try the Deep

"Where I live if someone gives you a hug it's from the heart."

— Steve Irwin

Hugs treated as Serious Business. In contrast to normal hugs that aren't treated as a big deal, this is when it's treated dramatically to underscore a highly emotional part of the story. Often used during a particularly heartwarming or tragic moment.

It can be used to show a turning point in the characters’ relationship, the characters' reconciliation after a feud, or to emphasize that something very emotional or dramatic is happening or about to happen. If the characters in question normally dislike hugs it can be a case of O.O.C. Is Serious Business. It can be platonic or even romantic as some couples prefer long hugs rather than kisses.

May happen during a Big Damn Reunion. A Man Hug or a Cooldown Hug can be variants of this, with a Final First Hug being a more tragic example. A dark variant is Revealing Hug.

Can also overlap with Group Hug or Cry into Chest. Contrast with The Big Damn Kiss.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• The Dangers in My Heart:
  • Yamada gives Ichikawa a "make-up hug" in Chapter 43/Episode 9, when they reconcile over her pulling a Fake-Out Make-Out with him. She tries to apologize for it, thinking he doesn't like being touched, but he assures her that it's never been an issue and she continues hugging him.
  • She hugs him again in Chapter 57/Episode 12 after Ichikawa shares his issues from his first year at school. Unlike last time, he hugs her back and quietly thanks her.
  • Ichikawa gives her one in Chapter 63, both as an apology for lying about why he was avoiding her in Chapter 43 and as a Cooldown Hug when she starts crying.
• Death Note: Light Yagami and Misa share a dramatic hug in Episode 13, which is then undercut when it's revealed Light is acting and plans to manipulate Misa to help him kill L and then dispose of her.
• Good Luck Girl!: Ichiko and Momiji's farewell in the final chapter involves the two of them fighting as usual, only for Ichiko to start crying and run into Momiji's arms for a hug, showing how much Momiji has come to mean to her despite their rocky start.
• Honeybee Hutch: In the final episode of the first series, Hutch leaps into his long lost mother as they finally reunite.
• Kirby: Right Back at Ya!: In the episode Delivery Dilemma, after Tiff finds Kirby with the noodles that he didn’t deliver to King Dedede yesterday, she apologizes to him saying that he wasn’t able to resist eating the noodles. However, as both of them get ready to go home, as Tiff picks up the noodle box, she expected it to be empty and when she opens it, she finds that it hasn’t been eaten by Kirby since yesterday. That is when she gives him the hug because he really is a professional and he really did put in all his trust in her.
• Moriarty the Patriot: The first time any of the Moriarty brothers properly hug on screen is when William returns after three years abroad, presumed dead, and begins apologizing, ashamed of himself. But his little brother Louis simply cuts him off with sudden hug and says he's glad he's alive and well.
• My-HiME:
  • During their final confrontation, Shizuru uses her Whip Sword naginata to draw Natsuki to her. Natsuki surprises her with both a Big Damn Kiss and then a tight hug while telling her that she does love Shizuru, in her own way. It's enough that it snaps Shizuru out of her Psycho Lesbian phase and she's at peace when Natsuki pulls a non-Yandere version of Taking You with Me, resulting in the two of them being Together in Death.
  • During Mai's confrontation with the Obsidian Prince and Mikoto, she finally understands the tears Mikoto had been crying earlier in the series and dissipates her Element (a HiME's weapon), and embraces Mikoto with open arms as Mikoto charges her with her sword. Being openly embraced by Mai snaps Mikoto out of the control of the Obsidian Prince, who is currently pulling a Grand Theft Me on Mikoto's older brother, Reito. Mikoto stops Reito from attacking Mai at that point, hugging him herself, and taking a blow from his katana in the process, begging him to end it. Mikoto also shattered the talisman that anchored the Obsidian Prince to Reito as a host in that moment.
• In Negima! Magister Negi Magi, the Love Triangle between Yue, Nodoka, and the protagonist Negi Springfield (who is none the wiser) comes to a head when Nodoka finds out about Yue's feelings and decides to confront her about it. Yue being deathly afraid of Nodoka disliking her for crushing on the guy she's already crushing on, runs away until Nodoka catches up and slaps Yue for thinking about "disappearing''. Nodoka then follows that up with a big hug as she can tell Yue is on the verge of a Despair Event Horizon that brings her back.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • In "Pikachu's Goodbye" Ash and Pikachu embrace tenderly when Pikachu chooses to stay with him at the end.
  • In "A Togepi Mirage" Misty tearfully embraces Togetic when she releases it at the end, telling it she loves it.
  • Pokémon Origins: When Cubone reunites with the ghost of his mother, Marowak, they share one final hug before she disappears into nonexistence.

Comic Books

• Kingdom Come: the trade paperback edition features an epilogue in which, despite all their differences along the story, Superman and Batman share a hug after Supes and Wonder Woman invite Bruce to be the godfather of their future child.

Fan Works

• Baby Steps by Gullfriend31: In the final chapter, Maple has her first steps and then falls into Nagisa's arms. While Nagisa is usually Afraid to Hold the Baby, this is the moment she fully overcomes her fear because of the significance of this milestone, and she gives Maple a hug. The others then join in on the group hug.
• The Boy Who Cried Idiot: In the final alternate ending, Lincoln hugs Martin (a boy who'd been getting him trouble inadvertently through his own stupidity for the whole story) to signify that he's forgiven him.
• Lost Latte: When Latte reunites with the other girls after having been separated from them, Asumi gives her a big hug, shedding Tears of Joy.
• No Guts, No Glory: When Buttercup breaks down in tears, admitting that she doesn't feel as special as her sisters, Professor Utonium gives her a hug and tells her that she's better than she thinks she is because she is a true hero.
• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe fanfic The Storms of War, Steve refuses to let Sharon, who was recently injured during a mission and hasn't fully recovered yet, accompany him, Sam, and Wanda to Wakanda when they receive a distress signal, stating that it's too dangerous for her to go, upsetting her, which isn't helped by the fact that he had already basically left her behind after she stole his shield for him. When Sharon is left alone at the team's safe house, she's attacked by mercenaries and the fight ends with her blowing the safe house up. By the time Steve, Sam, and Wanda get back, they can't find Sharon in the wreckage which causes Steve to feel immense guilt for his decision to leave her behind. When Steve reunites with Sharon, who was rescued by Natasha, the two share an intimate hug. After they separate, Sharon is embraced again by Wanda, who throws herself at the other woman.

Films — Animation

• The Croods: Right as the titular family is about to reach safety, the ground around them starts to crack. Grug offers a Heroic Sacrifice, where he'll throw the rest of his family to the other side of the canyon while he stays behind. When almost everyone is thrown, Eep is the only one left. As they say goodbye, Grug and Eep embrace for the first hug, with Grug himself even coining the term (because it rhymes with Grug). Thankfully, Grug eventually finds another way there and reunites with his family.
• In Frozen, Anna and Elsa embrace when Anna is revived after her Heroic Sacrifice.
• In Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, after Ponyo finds Sosuke at his house again, she goes up to him and gives him a forceful glomp to tell him how much she missed him.

Films — Live-Action

• At the climax of Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark emotionally hugs Peter Parker upon seeing him revived for the first time in five years, with Peter admitting it feels "nice."
• Eraser: Kruger gives one to Lee after the authorities arrive at the dock to arrest the men trying to kill them.
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: At the end, Elliott and E.T. share a long, emotional hug as E.T. is about to leave in his ship.
• In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Thorin gives Bilbo a Man Hug after the latter saved his life, apologizing for thinking he would be a burden to the company.
• In Let Me In a blood-soaked Abby embraces Owen tightly after he saves her from and lets her kill a policeman.
• Little Shop of Horrors: Audrey and Seymour embrace in this fashion after Audrey II is destroyed. (At least in the revised ending where they don't both get eaten.)
• In War of the Worlds (2005), Ray gives his daughter Rachel an intense hug just before he kills Ogilvy to protect her.

Literature

• Chivalry of a Failed Knight: After Ikki's first official match is over, he wakes to find Stella watching over him in the infirmary. She's initially mortified that he saw her drooling in her sleep, but after she calms a bit, she gives him a light kiss on the cheek. Ikki responds by wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly. Stella smiles, saying, "I'm going to let you have that one, because you're injured."

Live-Action TV

• The Brittas Empire:
  • In "Laura's Leaving", a happy Helen hugs Laura after the latter reveals that she doesn't intend to take up the job she had been away on an interview for all episode.
  • In "Curse of the Tiger Women", Helen envelops herself, Brittas, and Carole in a slightly uncomfortable Group Hug to help emphasize that the situation regarding the fact that Brittas, her husband, who has accidentally cheated on her with Carole and is the father of Carole's twins, has been resolved.
• Doom Patrol (2019): Just after the climax of "Possibilities Patrol", where the entire team rallies together to save Jane from an evil entity that has puppeteered her body and tried to make her kill herself, the team shares quite possibly their only group hug in the entire series, as Jane embraces Cliff and the others all wrap their arms around the pair.
• Leverage: "The Grave Danger Job". After Hardison is pulled from the coffin where a gang leader had him Buried Alive, Eliot pulls Hardison into a bear hug, saying, "Never do that again, man. Don't do that again."
• Odd Squad:
  • "O is Not For Over" has Olive, Otto, Oprah, and Oscar all sharing a hug prior to Olive and Otto leaving for what has become their own Odd Squad precinct.
  • "Odds and Ends" has Oprah inviting, Olympia, Oona and Otis to hug her just before she leaves for the Big Office, where she will run all of Odd Squad. For Otis, it's quite surprising since he isn't too fond of hugs and even goes for a handshake before Oprah tells him and everyone else to "bring it in".
• Odd Squad: Mobile Unit: In "End of the Road", Opal, Omar, Oswald, and Orla all share a tearful hug after Opal breaks the news that she will be leaving with Olizabeth to repair the damage she caused in other countries.
• In the second-season finale of Son of a Critch, Mark, Fox, and Ritchie share a group hug as they face the prospect of being separated, as Fox promised her father she would join him in his new home outside St. John's.
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Original Series: The wrap-up of "Amok Time" contains one of Spock's most emotional moments in the entire series' run. Thinking he murdered Kirk in a blood-crazed duel invoked by his Runaway Bride, he tries to set the formalities in order, not wanting command or expecting to live very long. When Kirk (who was drugged into a death-like stupor by McCoy) surprises him, he grabs his friend joyfully by the arms with a huge smile and one of the only uses of "Jim" that occurred in that era. It's so passionately emotional that Spock is very embarrassed seconds afterwards when he realizes what he just did.
  • Star Trek: Picard: After decades of antagonism and acrimony, when Q is about to die using the last of his power, Picard offers his longtime adversary a hug, which Q accepts.
• Stranger Things:
  • In Episode 6 of Season 1, Mike hugs Eleven after she saves his life, telling her she's not a monster, with Dustin then turning it into a Group Hug.
  • In the Season 2 finale, Eleven and Mike share one when they're finally reunited, which is shortly followed by Eleven sharing an emotional group hug with Lucas and Dustin.

Puppet Shows

• Fraggle Rock: In "The Perfect Blue Rollie", Wembley leaves Boober's hidey-hole (a secret cave he had dug for himself)—only to see it beginning to cave in, with Boober still in it. Wembley runs to get his friends, who rescue Boober Just in Time. Gobo tells him he has Wembley to thank.
  Boober: Aww, little guy! [Hugs Wembley.] I'm so lucky to have you as a friend.

Video Games

• ANNO: Mutationem: In the epilogue, upon seeing Ann return home safely after rescuing Ryan, Nakamura rushes towards her with Tears of Joy to give a very tight hug, much to Ann's embarrassment.
• Baldur's Gate III: Upon completing the first part of Karlach's personal quest to fix the Infernal Engine she has in place of a heart, you can test whether or not it's working by giving her a very emotional hug. As this is the first human(oid) contact she's had since it was installed, she is very worked up about it.
• In EcoQuest, Adam hugs Delphineus in a close-up after promising to help him.
• Final Fantasy IX: At the end of the game Garnet gives Zidane a big hug after the latter reveals his survival, but not before beating his chest twice to indicate her worry.
• Final Fantasy XIII: Over the course of the game, Lightning becomes less cold and forges a bond with Hope in particular. In Chapter 7, after meeting back up with Hope and hearing that Operation Nora didn't work out, Lightning embraces him — the first time she's shown hugging anyone — and vows to keep him safe.
• Honkai Impact 3rd: After months of being separated from each other, the first thing Kiana and Mei do when they finally have their Big Damn Reunion is to hug each other, with a CG cutscene dedicated to it.
• Persona 4: The player can get a Relationship Upgrade with Rise by hugging her during her Rank 8 Social Link event in order to comfort her after her manager reveals that Rise's been set aside in favor of a rival idol.
• Undertale: Near the end of the Pacifist route, after Asriel is defeated, he is temporarily restored to his normal form as any other monster. He knows that it won't last, and is scared on turning back into Flowey. The player is given the option to hug him, and if they do then Asriel and the Player Character have a heart to heart, assuring him, that, no matter what happens, everything will be okay.
• Telltale's The Walking Dead: Season Two: In the second episode, Clementine meets Kenny, who she thought had died. The player may choose to have Clementine hug him for this dramatic reunion.

Web Animation

• Camp Camp: Subverted in David Gets Hard. Just as David is going to hug Nurf in an attempt to get the latter to realize that bullying is wrong, he trips and accidently slaps Nurf instead. This causes Nurf to realize the pain he's been inflicting on other and thank David for this realization before going off the think about his actions.

Webcomics

• Homestuck: The scene with Davepetasprite^2 and Arquiusprite hugging. Davepetasprite^2 is a result of Fusion Dance of Dave from a Bad Future (fused with a bird) and Nepeta — while Arquiusprite is a result of Fusion Dance of Lil' Hal (AI based on alternative version of Dave's abusive brother) and Equius (Nepeta's Platonic Life Partner, who blames himself for not protecting her from being murdered). When they meet, they exchange a funny, but at the same time really touching dialogue, in which Davepetasprite^2 assures that they don't blame Arquiusprite for anything and that he is something other than just Lil' Hal and Equius. It all ends with one of the most comically exaggerated hug scenes in fiction.

Western Animation

• Amphibia: In the ending, Anne Boonchuy has to go back home from Amphibia, which means that she must give a heartfelt goodbye to the Planters. This is especially true for Sprig, as the is the Amphibian that Anne will miss most. Right as Anne is about to leave, she gives Sprig a big hug as a thank for you everything that he has done, and Anne tearfully goes into the portal back home.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: In part two of the finale, Zuko's anticipated reunion with Iroh reaches catharsis when Iroh pulls Zuko in for a teary hug.
• The Dragon Prince:
  • In Book 2, Callum returns to Rayla after almost considering endangering himself and Zym, to learn how to connect to the Sky Arcanum, when he soberly admits that he ultimately didn't have the guts to take the risk, Rayla gently says "Good" and hugs him in relief.
  • At the end of Book 4, Callum pulls Rayla, his two-year absent girlfriend, into a hug after wrestling with his conflicting feelings about her since her return, finally admitting he's glad she's back and safe, signifying the start of their relationship mending. This quickly turns into a Group Hug with the rest of their friends.
• The Owl House: In the Grand Finale, after having spent months separated from each other, Luz, Eda, and King share a reunion hug together before having to face The Collector.
• Regular Show: During Pops' final, epic battle against Anti-Pops, Pops finally realizes destroying each other and restarting the universe isn't the only option; instead, he clasps Anti-Pops into a warm embrace and hurls them both into a nearby sun, allowing Anti-Pops enough time to see the error of his ways and forgiving him as they're both vaporized.
• The Snowman: Near the end, James gives him a massive hug, to a dramatic climax in the music, before he goes to bed, as the Snowman awaits his fate.
• Steven Universe: In "Jail Break", Ruby and Sapphire have a dramatic hug that also shows us that they are actually Garnet.
• Teen Titans: At the end of "Spellbound", in a rare show of emotion, Raven hugs Beast Boy after he emphasizes that her dark and creepy nature doesn't mean the other Titans don't care about her.
  Beast Boy: You think you're alone, Raven. But you're not.

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