Basic Trope: Two former friends who met each other several years ago are reunited, and only realize later on that they had met before.
- Straight: Alice and Bob were Childhood Friends. They meet each other again as adults, defeat Emperor Evulz together, and then realize that they were friends 20 years ago.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice and Bob were best friends and had a Childhood Marriage Promise.
- Alice and Bob are only reunited in their old age.
- After defeating Emperor Evulz, Alice and Bob remain friends, but only discover their shared past a year later.
- Most of Alice's "new" friends previously knew her at some point.
- Downplayed:
- Alice and Bob are in High School, and five years ago they were casual acquaintances.
- Bob remembers Alice, but she doesn't remember him.
- Alice and Bob don't have a shared past. However, their mentor Charles and his unseen "new" friend Donald are revealed to be Childhood Friends.
- Justified: They haven't seen each other in a long time and have changed so much that it takes them a while to recognize each other.
- Inverted:
- Alpha Bitch Claire is revealed to be Alice's childhood friend.
- Alice's new best friend, Stella, is revealed to be the bully who picked on her in elementary school.
- Alice and Bob saw each other once years ago and they remember it when they meet again.
- Subverted:
- Alice assumes that Bob is her childhood friend. However, it turns out that he is a stalker who has been following her since birth.
- Alice and Bob only forgot each other because of Laser-Guided Amnesia.
- Double Subverted:
- And that "stalker" is Bob after all.
- An Alternate Timeline reveals that Alice and Bob would have forgotten each other anyway.
- Parodied: Alice and Bob met a day ago.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- The heroes have always been close friends.
- The heroes have never known each other.
- Enforced: "We want a Surprisingly Happy Ending. As well as having the heroes defeat the Big Bad and his mooks in a lucky accident, let's say Alice and Bob have history together."
- Lampshaded: "So you're my childhood friend, Bob? That's a shock, but then again, maybe I should have seen the signs."
- Invoked: In childhood, Alice and Bob deliberately drift apart, in the hope that any future meetings between them will come as a pleasant surprise.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Alice and Bob remain in touch.
- Discussed: "Are you sure you're not the same Bob I knew in school?" "No, Alice. I never had a friend who was anything like you."
- Conversed: ???
- Played for Laughs: Alice freaks out hilariously when Bob doesn't remember her.
Back to Forgotten First Meeting.
