History Main / CoolKidAndLoserFriendship

* "[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chi The Chi]]": The {{Creator/Showtime}} drama series, "''The Chi''" features Jake Taylor, who despite initially coming across as a wannabe-gangbanger thug (much like his older brother who actually is a criminal gang leader who's always trying to avoid run-ins with the cops, ''and'' like their father who got incarcerated for getting caught up with the wrong crowds and for selling illegal recreational drugs) is a pretty cool [[KidANova Kid A Nova]], a LovableJock due to his love and athleticism for basketball, and because he's always trying to be friendly and nice to everyone and helping people stand up to their bullies, and he even tends to be quite a popular BigManOnCampus that people at least look up to and respect for being such a cool guy (and all of this certainly has the ladies at his school swooning over him sometimes). His best friends throughout the series, however, are Kevin Williams, an unpopular, somewhat dorky and geeky [[AcademicAthlete athletic nerd]], and Stanley Jackson, who's a fat, dorky geek who starts out the show being more into academics and video games than anything else, and much like Kevin, is also pretty unpopular (although it should be noted that they do experience some character development throughout the show and they each, in their own ways, become a little bit more cool and appealing, as well suave and charming with the ladies, from Jake rubbing off on them). Despite all this, though, Jake, Kevin, and Stanley maintain a very close and healthy friendship with each other throughout the series, and often come through for each other, saving each other's necks whenever they get into any dangerous situations together. Kevin and Stanley also act as positive foils and mentors for Jake throughout the series as well, trying their best to help keep him out of trouble (although they're not always successful with it), helping him have a more positive outlook on life and keep his perseverance to maintain his goals in life, and helping him to avoid having the same reputation and legacy as his older brother and father. And vice versa, Jake also often rubs off on Kevin and Stanley as well, and he often mentors them on how to be more StreetSmart, pragmatic, and worldy-wise like he is.

* "[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chi The Chi]]": The {{Creator/Showtime}} drama series, "''The Chi''" features Jake Taylor, who despite initially coming across as a wannabe-gangbanger thug (much like his older brother who actually is a criminal gang leader who's always trying to avoid run-ins with the cops, ''and'' like their father who got incarcerated for getting caught up with the wrong crowds and for selling illegal recreational drugs) is a pretty cool [[KidANova Kid A Nova]], a LovableJock due to his love and athleticism for basketball, and because he's always trying to be friendly and nice to everyone and helping people stand up to their bullies, and he even tends to be quite a popular BigManOnCampus that people at least look up to and respect for being such a cool guy (and all of this certainly has the ladies at his school swooning over him sometimes). His best friends throughout the series, however, are Kevin Williams, an unpopular, somewhat dorky and geeky [[AcademicAthlete athletic nerd]], and Stanley Jackson, who's a fat, dorky geek who starts out the show being more into academics and video games than anything else, and much like Kevin, is also pretty unpopular (and despite the two of them having some character development throughout the show and becoming a little bit more suave and charming with the ladies from Kevin and Jake rubbing off on him, he still maintains his reputation for being the unpopular loser most of the time). Despite all this, though, Jake, Kevin, and Stanley maintain a very close and healthy friendship with each other throughout the series, and often come through for each other, saving each other's necks whenever they get into any dangerous situations together. Kevin and Stanley also act as positive foils and mentors for Jake throughout the series as well, trying their best to help keep him out of trouble (although they're not always successful with it), helping him have a more positive outlook on life and keep his perseverance to maintain his goals in life, and helping him to avoid having the same reputation and legacy as his older brother and father. And vice versa, Jake also often rubs off on Kevin and Stanley as well, and he often mentors them on how to be more StreetSmart, pragmatic, and worldy-wise like he is.

* "[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chi The Chi]]": The {{Creator/Showtime}} drama series, "''The Chi''" features Jake Taylor, who despite initially coming across as a wannabe-gangbanger thug (much like his older brother who actually is a criminal gang leader who's always trying to avoid run-ins with the cops, ''and'' like their father who got incarcerated for getting caught up with the wrong crowds and for selling illegal recreational drugs) is a pretty cool [[KidANova Kid A Nova]], a LovableJock due to his love and athleticism for basketball, and because he's always trying to be friendly and nice to everyone and helping people stand up to their bullies, and he even tends to be quite a popular BigManOnCampus that people at least look up to and respect for being such a cool guy (and all of this certainly has the ladies at his school swooning over him sometimes). His best friends throughout the series, however, are Kevin Williams, an unpopular, somewhat dorky and geeky [[AcademicAthlete athletic nerd]], and Stanley Jackson, who's a fat, dorky geek who starts out the show being more into academics and video games than anything else, and much like Kevin, is also pretty unpopular (and despite him having some character development throughout the show and becoming a little bit more suave and charming with the ladies from Kevin and Jake rubbing off on him, he still maintains his reputation for being the unpopular loser most of the time). Despite all this, though, Jake, Kevin, and Stanley maintain a very close and healthy friendship with each other throughout the series, and often come through for each other, saving each other's necks whenever they get into any dangerous situations together. Kevin and Stanley also act as positive foils and mentors for Jake throughout the series as well, trying their best to help keep him out of trouble (although they're not always successful with it), helping him have a more positive outlook on life and keep his perseverance to maintain his goals in life, and helping him to avoid having the same reputation and legacy as his older brother and father. And vice versa, Jake also often rubs off on Kevin and Stanley as well, and he often mentors them on how to be more StreetSmart, pragmatic, and worldy-wise like he is.

* "[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chi The Chi]]": The {{Creator/Showtime}} drama series, "''The Chi''" features Jake Taylor, who despite initially coming across as a wannabe-gangbanger thug (much like his older brother who actually is a criminal gang leader who's always trying to avoid run-ins with the cops, ''and'' like their father who got incarcerated for getting caught up with the wrong crowds and for selling illegal recreational drugs) is a pretty cool [[KidANova Kid A Nova]], is a LovableJock due to his love and athleticism for basketball and for him trying to be friendly and nice to everyone and helping people stand up to their bullies, and he tends to be quite a popular BigManOnCampus that people at least look up to and respect for being such a cool guy. His best friends throughout the series, however, are Kevin Williams, an unpopular, somewhat dorky and geeky [[AcademicAthlete athletic nerd]], and Stanley Jackson, who's a fat, dorky geek who starts out the show being more into academics and video games than anything else, and much like Kevin, is also pretty unpopular (and despite him having some character development throughout the show and becoming a little bit more suave and charming with the ladies from Kevin and Jake rubbing off on him, he still maintains his reputation for being the unpopular loser most of the time). Despite all this, though, Jake, Kevin, and Stanley maintain a very close and healthy friendship with each other throughout the series, and often come through for each other, saving each other's necks whenever they get into any dangerous situations together. Kevin and Stanley also act as positive foils and mentors for Jake throughout the series as well, trying their best to help keep him out of trouble (although they're not always successful with it), helping him have a more positive outlook on life and keep his perseverance to maintain his goals in life, and helping him to avoid having the same reputation and legacy as his older brother and father. And vice versa, Jake also often rubs off on Kevin and Stanley as well, and he often mentors them on how to be more StreetSmart, pragmatic, and worldy-wise like he is.

* "[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chi The Chi]]": The {{Creator/Showtime}} drama series, "''The Chi''" features Jake Taylor, who despite initially coming across as a wannabe-gangbanger thug (much like his older brother who actually is a criminal gang leader who's always trying to avoid run-ins with the cops, ''and'' like their father who got incarcerated for getting caught up with the wrong crowds and for selling illegal recreational drugs) is a pretty cool [[KidANova Kid A Nova]], a LovableJock due to his love and athleticism for basketball and other sports, and even at his school, tends to be quite a popular BigManOnCampus that people at least look up to and respect for being such a cool guy. His best friends throughout the series, however, are Kevin Williams, an unpopular, somewhat dorky and geeky [[AcademicAthlete athletic nerd]], and Stanley Jackson, who's a fat, dorky geek who starts out the show being more into academics and video games than anything else, and much like Kevin, is also pretty unpopular (and despite him having some character development throughout the show and becoming a little bit more suave and charming with the ladies from Kevin and Jake rubbing off on him, he still maintains his reputation for being the unpopular loser most of the time). Despite all this, though, Jake, Kevin, and Stanley maintain a very close and healthy friendship with each other throughout the series, and often come through for each other, saving each other's necks whenever they get into any dangerous situations together. Kevin and Stanley also act as positive foils and mentors for Jake throughout the series as well, trying their best to help keep him out of trouble (although they're not always successful with it), helping him have a more positive outlook on life and keep his perseverance to maintain his goals in life, and helping him to avoid having the same reputation and legacy as his older brother and father. And vice versa, Jake also often rubs off on Kevin and Stanley as well, and he often mentors them on how to be more StreetSmart, pragmatic, and worldy-wise like he is.

* Plenty in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' -- Rich, attractive cheerleader Lindsay and homely dork Beth; smooth and handsome ChickMagnet Trent and scrawny, geeky CasanovaWannabe Cody; mean and attractive AlphaBitch Heather and the lanky, awkward Harold ([[AbortedArc at least for a while]]); etc.

* ''Series/KickinIt'': Jack and Kim, and their best friends, Milton, Eddie, and Jerry. Throughout the first three seasons when the main characters are in high school, Jack can be considered a mixture between a LovableJock and an AcademicAthlete (due to his prodigious expertise in martial arts, his eager willingness to try out for and join some of the school sports in some episodes while also balancing his schoolwork and trying to maintain his good grades, and because he hates bullies and will readily use his martial arts to defend people against said bullies or he will try to teach their victims how to defend themselves against them). Likewise, Kim can also be considered a mix between a ClassPrincess and a CuteBookworm on her more feminine side, and a BadassBookworm and a LovableJock when it comes to her more tomboyish side (not solely because of her athletic endeavors, but moreso because of her own expertise in martial arts, similar to Jack's). Bearing these traits in mind, Jack and Kim are both best friends with Milton and Eddie, who can sometimes come across as some of the most geeky and nerdy losers at their school; and they're also best friends with Jerry who can be a little bit of a CasanovaWannabe at times, and he can come across as a very pitiful loser version of a ClassClown who thinks he's cool, [[ThePrankster just because he gets in trouble for a lot of the pranks he pulls.]] Notwithstanding, they all still have a very mutual respect and admiration for each other as best friends.

* ''Series/KickinIt'': Jake and Kim, and their best friends, Milton, Eddie, and Jerry.
** Throughout the first three seasons when the main characters are in high school, Jake can be considered a mixture between a LovableJock and an AcademicAthlete (due to his prodigious expertise in martial arts, his eager willingness to try out for and join some of the school sports in some episodes while also balancing his schoolwork and trying to maintain his good grades, and because he hates bullies and will readily use his martial arts to defend people against said bullies or he will try to teach their victims how to defend themselves against them). Likewise, Kim can also be considered a mix between a ClassPrincess and a CuteBookworm on her more feminine side, and a BadassBookworm and a LovableJock when it comes to her more tomboyish side (not solely because of her athletic endeavors, but moreso because of her own expertise in martial arts, similar to Jake's). Bearing these traits in mind, Jake and Kim are both best friends with Milton and Eddie, who can sometimes come across as some of the most geeky and nerdy losers at their school; and they're also best friends with Jerry who can be a little bit of a CasanovaWannabe at times, and he can come across as a very pitiful loser version of a ClassClown who thinks he's cool, [[ThePrankster just because he gets in trouble for a lot of the pranks he pulls.]] Notwithstanding, they all still have a very mutual respect and admiration for each other as best friends.

* ''Anime/{{Albegas}}'': Goro is the "loser" to the three pilots of Albegas, who are famed and respected for their contributions against the Dellingers. Unlike them, he's often forgotten and treated like he doesn't exist. Even the in-universe Albegas fan-magazine excludes him.

There are several ways this can come about in a story. The popular character takes control of everything while the loser agrees to everything and works as a subordinate, something that the loser accepts in order to get the attention and popularity that they could have never gotten by their merits. In more positive portrayals, it could happen because the Popular Kid does not need to impress their dorky friend in any way, or because the nerd knows that their friend is a kind person after all. Sometimes the cool kid can be curious about the loser, who is [[CoolLoser cool in their own way]]. Sometimes they've known each other since childhood and retained their friendship into their high school or college years. Frequently, if the Cool Kid is a girl and the Loser is a boy (more rarely the other way around), they may be very good friends but the Loser is secretly in love with his popular best friend.

* ''Film/ButImACheerleader'': Before ending up at True Directions, Megan was a popular cheerleader, while the snarky Graham seems to have been a CoolLoser with a FriendlessBackground. They start off hating each other but become friends [[spoiler: and then lovers]]. Of course, these social distinctions matter less in a place like True Directions.

* In ''Film/IcePrincess'', Casey and Gen are ostensibly this, but as Casey is a CoolLoser and the film doesn't spend much time in their high school it doesn't really come off as this. Gen also strikes up a friendship with Casey's nerdy friend Ann which fits this much better- basically Gen pays Ann for math tutoring by introducing her to cute boys.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Cordelia starts out seeming like an AlphaBitch, but turns into a LovableAlphaBitch once she increasingly starts hanging out with the Scoobies. She's particularly contrasted with [[CoolLoser Xander]], with whom she had BelligerentSexualTension and eventually dated.

* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'': Early on, dorky CoolLoser Ginger sparks the interest of Courtney Gripling, a rich, beautiful, popular girl. Over the course of the series, they slowly form something of a friendship, hindered by BetaBitch Miranda who doesn't understand what Courtney sees in her at all, but who slowly starts to find Ginger growing on her as well.

** In ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' and ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker's]] best friend in most stories is Harry Osborn. Peter is a stammering, bookish dork everyone laughs at, while Harry is the smooth, popular rich kid. This was not their dynamic in the original comic needless to say, since they met in college, and if anything, Peter ''was'' the Cool Kid, while Harry was the disappointing spawn of a lunatic father, a drug addict, and who was more or less a rebound for Mary-Jane Watson who pined for Peter but respectively stepped aside when she saw him dating Gwen Stacy, and ''even then'', Mary-Jane dumped Harry. This shows up in the movies and adaptations, where Peter and Harry's dynamic takes a HourglassPlot with Peter growing cooler and more popular, and Harry growing less and less so.

* In ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** Within Peter's circle and group of friends, ''ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson'' was the coolest and most popular of Peter's circle, while she was friends with Peter Parker, and even willing to date him, much to the shock of Flash Thompson and others.

* In ''Franchise/XMen'', Cyclops is the "loser" in the original group assembled by Professor X. He's the Teacher's favorite and team leader but perennially overshadowed by the rich and handsome Warren Worthington III, the Angel, and highly insecure about his attraction and feelings for ComicBook/JeanGrey, which increases when Wolverine shows up later. A lot of adaptations, especially the movies and cartoons, play on Cyclops being too aloof to be popular, and generally being TheFriendNobodyLikes of the X-Men.

* ''Nerd and Jock Comics'' has its whole premise be about the popular, fit Jock being friends with the meek, introverted Nerd. They're complete opposites, but their bond is very tight.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'': The title character with his two best friends. Even aside from being isolated by his HereditaryCurse, [[BornUnlucky Milo]] is a sweater-vest-wearing, sci-fi-loving dork, while his ChildhoodFriend [[UnfazedEveryman Melissa]] is an attractive HighSchoolHustler who could probably be very popular if she wanted to. WordOfSaintPaul [[http://imaginashon.tumblr.com/post/152618035192/what-is-your-favorite-character-to-draw even describes]] [[OnlySaneMan Zack]] (star athlete and [[spoiler:former [[FaceOfTheBand face]] of a semi-famous BoyBand]]) as "a cool kid who’s trying to fit in with the nerds."

* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': Played with. Smart, athletic, and attractive Moze (who is both TheAce and a DudeMagnet) is friends with Ned (a BookDumb everyman) and Cookie (an Urkel-like ExtravertedNerd). Moze could be far more popular (and she ''is'' much more popular than she realizes) but she decides to hang out with her old friends. Also downplayed with Ned who while not cool, is respected by most of the class in part due to the guide.

* Plenty in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' -- Rich, attractive cheerleader Lindsay and homely dork Beth; smooth and handsome ChickMagnet Trent and scrawny, geeky CasanovaWannabe Cody; mean and attractive AlphaBitch Heather and the lanky, awkward ExtravertedNerd Harold ([[AbortedArc at least for a while]]); etc.

* At the beginning of ''Manga/GirlFriends'', Akko, a pretty, bubbly, popular girl, befriends Mari, a ShrinkingViolet with few friends, welcomes her into her social circle, and teaches her to be more fashionable.

* ''Manga/WarauKanokoSama'' and its sequel ''Manga/KoiDanoAiDano'': Kanoko and her group of friends. Kanoko is a plain-looking, glasses-wearing girl who has no interest in romance, while her friends are the most popular students in the school.

* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', Kaname is Jindai High School's LovableAlphaBitch, whereas Sousuke is infamous as a hopeless military {{Otaku}} whose [[NoSocialSkills abysmal social skills]] make him the school's unintentional ClassClown. And while Kaname will [[{{Tsundere}} adamantly deny any romantic feelings for Sousuke]], she does regard him as a close (if often infuriating) friend and has no issue with being seen as his [[KidWithTheLeash "handler"]].

* PlayedWith on ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': [[AlphaBitch Chloé]]'s "[[WithFriendsLikeThese best friend]]" is Sabrina, a {{Meganekko}} whose main outfit includes a sweater vest and bow tie. That said, when she's not being [[AllTakeAndNoGive abused]] by Chloé, she basically functions as your typical BetaBitch.