History Main / FriendToAllChildren

* The first sign that [[Characters/TheOwlHouseAmityBlight Amity Blight]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a lot nicer than she usually presents herself is when it's revealed that she regularly reads to children at the local library.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': This ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' fanfiction has a couple cases. "Young ones" being threatened sets the Titan Thor off. Vivienne Graham used to babysit Ilene's twin daughters, whom are clearly very fond of her.

* In the ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' official {{novelization}}, [[Characters/MonsterVerseMadisonRussell Madison Russell]] shows this trait when she briefly takes a moment to flash a terrified child a reassuring smile amid the Boston exodus.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' franchise, especially the non-film productions, [[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing Po]] prides himself as being loved by children. As such, he proves to be an excellent teacher. In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'', he makes a despicable RoyalBrat change her ways, before discovering the horrific reason why she feels she must drive everyone away. Even Tigress shows a caring side for young children every now and then as a young goose named Zan looks up to her as a big sister mentor figure while looking for his parents in "Kung Fu Day Care"; one of the panda girls in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3'' is fond of Tigress, after Po gave her his Tigress action figure.

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'': Blaggut from ''The Bellmaker'' adores the Abbey's children and is loved by them in return, though the adults start out not trusting him.

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' As an extension of ChildrenAreInnocent, the [[CodeOfHonour warrior code]] ''mandates'' this trope, although enforcement is understandably difficult.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Hank Hill is shown to be really good with kids in several episodes, including one where he becomes the substitute shop teacher at his son's school and is very popular with the kids because his teaching style is informal, educational, and fun. In another, he stops some kids from getting into a makeout party by using old-school party games, and they end up legitimately having fun, causing the neighbors' wives to remark that his reliability and skill with kids are very attractive traits. Naturally, the only kids he seems to have trouble getting along with are Bobby and Caleb from "Hank's Bully" who keeps taunting Hank while the lenient parents stand idly by saying that Caleb is just expressing himself until Hank gets fed up and has Bobby start annoying Caleb's parents who ultimately lose it and start getting tough with their son.

* In ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'', Midnighter has a surprising knack with children, and kids in return think he's pretty cool. Not bad for a SociopathicHero.
* {{Characters/Batman|TheCharacter}}. He's [[GoodIsNotNice not the touchy-feely sort]] that usually dominates this trope, but he definitely seems to have shades of it -- possibly because his own childhood was cut off in such a nightmarish manner. Look at {{Characters/Robin}}, whom Bats adopted solely because he needed it.

* Like her cousin Bruce, Kate Kane also loves kids. She's rescued groups of them on different occasions as ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}, and they always willingly follow her, so they clearly don't find her scary. She's even been attacked by brainwashed children a few times and has never fought back when it happened, instead electing to evade them.
* Characters/{{Deadpool|WadeWilson}} is usually a DeadpanSnarker and {{Cloudcuckoolander}} violent killer. But due to the fact that Deadpool has the [[PsychopathicManchild mentality of a child]], he often gets along well with children. In fact, most of his heartwarming and PetTheDog moments usually involve children (even though some children may be uncomfortable near him for [[AxCrazy good reasons]]). Try to hurt children in his presence, and he'll come after you like a ''[[TranquilFury deadly serious]]'' violent killer.
* ComicBook/GhostRider has two notable examples with the titular skeletal [[AntiHero Anti-Heroes]] despite their terrifying looks and often brutal methods in vanquishing evil.

* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' loves babies and [[CuteKitten kittens.]] This is exaggerated in [[Film/Hellboy2004 the movies]], but he's just a squishy NiceGuy. Who doesn't see many children and is adorably awkward when he does interact with them; usually along the lines of "hey, kid, don't do that, you'll die".
* [[Characters/IncredibleHulkBruceBanner The Incredible Hulk]], when enraged, is an [[UnstoppableRage unstoppable force ready to wreak havoc on anyone who gets in his way]]... unless you're a kid who's lost, afraid, or needing help. He'll stop in his tracks to save the poor urchin's day.

* ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac makes a point of [[WouldntHurtAChild not murdering kids]], and has "Little Chubby Babies" listed under things he likes (in the Directors Cut). If someone tries to harm a child in his presence he gets [[PapaWolf angry]]. [[PsychoKnifeNut With knives.]] That said, kids tend to be terrified of him. [[AxCrazy This is not unjustified.]]
* Sara Felton from ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' has always gotten along well with children (well, except the two [[JerkAss horny teenagers at Gary Con]]), such as Timmy Jackson and the Pee Wee Hackmaster League.
* In the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' supplemental comic ''ComicBook/{{Magekiller}}'', Marius initially refuses to take on a mission in the Tevinter Imperium because he refuses to do work in Tevinter. However, once Marius learns that his target is sacrificing children, he changes his tune.
* The Asgardian Volstagg (a member of the cast of ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'') loves kids; he and his wife have ''seven'' of their own, including two boys from Earth that they adopted. (When those two first met him, they mistook him for Santa Claus.) This is played utterly tragically when he takes a whole bunch of orphaned Light Elf refugees under his wing, giving them everything he has to feed them, and trying to protect them from a Muspelheim bombing raid. Unfortunately, he is a great deal more durable than they are, meaning that they burned to ash in his arms. This utterly breaks him [[spoiler: resulting in him picking up the hammer of the Ultimate Thor, full of the pain and rage of a dead universe, becoming 'the War Thor' and making a very spirited attempt at destroying Muspelheim]].
* Characters/{{The Punisher|FrankCastle}} usually gets along pretty well with children, [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Molly Hayes]] kicking him in the nuts notwithstanding. Having lost his own kids in his tragic backstory probably has something to do with that.

* Karolina Dean of the ComicBook/{{Runaways}}. She was the one who came up with the idea of rescuing 12-year-old Klara Prast from her abusive husband. It's also pretty clear that Molly and Klara love her. Victor Mancha might also count; when he and Nico were still a couple, he expressed a desire to one day have kids, and in the alternate future of ''ComicBook/AgeOfUltron'', he's seen taking care of a group of orphans.

* The ''ComicBook/SinCity'' short story, ''Silent Night'', definitely showcases Marv's soft spot for kids. This soft spot also seems to override his chivalry toward women as shown when he [[spoiler:executes a female slave trader in order to save a little girl from sexual slavery]].
* [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Spider-Man]] has to [[HeroWithBadPublicity deal with a lot of crap from adults]], but not kids. Kids ''love'' their Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. One ChristmasSpecial [[SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming|Moments}} has Spider-Man making his regular visit to the sick children's ward in hospital to the utter jubilation of the kids.]] Unfortunately, J. Jonah Jameson is also there and angrily tells Spider-Man to buzz off, however every single boy and girl, as well as the nurse, vetoes this demanding that "Spidey" can stay and the kids even [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech rip into]] Jameson, pointing out all the times Spider-Man has selflessly saved and cared for them. At the end of the issue, armed criminals burst into the hospital and threaten the children, [[PapaWolf triggering]] an UnstoppableRage from Spidey.
* Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}}, in spades. {{Kid hero}}es, like the first three Robins, think Superman is extremely cool because he never talks down to them the way many heroes do to their grown-up pals' "sidekicks". Pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|on Infinite Earths}} (and in a few of the myriad of ComicBook/PostCrisis retcons), it might stem from Superman having once been a KidHero himself (as ComicBook/{{Superboy}}).

* Spider Jerusalem from ''{{ComicBook/Transmetropolitan}}'' seems to hate children slightly less than he does the rest of humanity. At one of his more annoyed moments, he ends up accosted by a noisy (and overly cheerful) street musician and his son -- Spider performs a GroinAttack on the musician and does some rather unpleasant things to his instrument, and then tips the kid with a hundred dollars before storming off. Another time, a little girl has to pawn her teddy bear to pay for her medicine. Spider goes into the shop, buys the bear back, and gives it to her. D'aaaaaawww.
* Rorschach, from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', is a clear-cut AntiHero and also one of the main prototypes of the NinetiesAntiHero. Nevertheless, he's got a soft spot for kids. For example, he'll call his former landlady a whore to her face... but not in front of her children. (Though ''that's'' tied up with his own childhood trauma and the assholes who called him 'whoreson' -- and the fact that he hadn't realized until that moment that, unlike his mother, she ''cared'' about them.) Indeed his StartOfDarkness was a FreudianExcuse combined with what he did when he realized just what one perp had done to the kidnapped little girl he was trying to rescue.

* Characters/{{Wonder Woman|TheCharacter}} adores children, partially because she was raised on an island where she was the only one and had never seen one outside of pictures prior to leaving the island. If a child is threatened, she can be scarier than ''Batman'' and this was true even back when she was the only member of DC's big three with a true no-killing rule--Bats and Supes were reluctant to kill but did not have an outright rule against it at their start like Wondy did. An example of her caring for children is [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]]'s most familiar [[ComicBook/WhoIsDonnaTroy origin story]]; she was a lone undocumented child Diana rescued from a fire, and then took to Paradise Island for treatment. As there were no records of the toddler and no one to claim her Diana's mother adopted her and Donna became Diana's little sister and eventual sidekick.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': The "Wonder Woman of History" feature for Annie Jump Cannon presents her love of children as the only thing to overtake her love of her astronomy work, with her allowing any kid who asked to treat her as an honorary aunt.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanTempestTossed'': Diana argues with her mother about the refugees still in the water until she realizes some of them are children. At that point, she unhesitatingly disobeys the queen and in so doing forever loses her home as she leaves the barrier to rescue them. Once she's at the refugee camp, she spends much of her time playing with the children and continues to be protective of and friendly with kids in New York. She gives a nice summary of her mindset:

** Characters/{{Wolverine|JamesLoganHowlett}} has a tendency to take on a mentor/big-brother role to the younger members of the team. Starting with [[Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde Kitty Pryde]], then Jubilee, and then [[Characters/X23LauraKinney X-23]] and Armor, as well as a team up with the Comicbook/PowerPack and 5-year-old Katie Power. All his mentoring storylines were combined into Rogue for ''Film/XMen1''. Case in point, when his rivalry with Cyclops boiled over in ''Schism'' and they came to blows, it was over the issue of getting the younger X-Men involved in combat (most specifically, involving Laura and Elixir in X-Force); with Cyclops willing to allow it but Wolverine dead-set against it. In the wake of the event, Wolverine took his half of the X-Men and re-established the school for young mutants that the group originally had been.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsEmmaFrost Emma Frost]] was a villain for years. The main thing that led to her HeelFaceTurn, and her chief saving grace, is that she cares deeply about any children placed in her care -- partly because her own childhood was lousy, but mainly because she feels overwhelming guilt for the death of the Hellions, the Hellfire Club's answer to the Comicbook/NewMutants, who were under her command when they died. She even snapped and killed her older sister, Adrienne, after she caused the death of Synch, one of Emma's students from ''ComicBook/GenerationX''.

** {{Characters/Cable|NathanSummers}} and his younger half-brother [[Characters/MarvelComicsXMan Nate Grey]] are both toweringly tall, and muscular to degrees varying from lean to absurd, and immensely powerful [[PsychicPowers psychics]]. They cut often intimidating figures, being perhaps the only two mutants who [[Characters/MarvelComicsApocalypse Apocalypse]] fears and/or respects, having been raised in dystopias that he ruled. It leaves both of them a bit gruff, and in Nate's case, downright weird at times, to the point where ''everyone'' is a bit scared of them (except [[AlmightyMom their]] [[MommasBoy mother]], [[BigSisterInstinct sister,]] and [[DaddysGirl daughter/niece]], Hope). However, even at their most stand-offish and scary, they are very fond of children and very good with them - and more to the point, ''incredibly'' protective of them.
* [[SadClown Pol Pitron]] from ''ComicBook/YokoTsuno'' makes an ''excellent'' babysitter. Just ask Poky, to start.

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': a recurring theme to all Autobots, in most continuities they tend to have kids hanging out with them.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' [[Zig-Zagging Trope zig-zags]] this regarding Fizzarolli. In "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS1E2LooLooLand Loo Loo Land]]", one of his [[RobotMe robotic copies]] is shown [[WouldHurtAChild being rather rough with children]] due to being [[EvilKnockoff a buggy, poorly-maintained, cheap knockoff of the real Fizzarolli mass-produced by Mammon]] for the sake of making more money. The real Fizzarolli, on the other hand, is shown in "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E7MammonsMagnificentMusical Mammon's Magnificent Musical]]" to be passionate enough about his craft to communicate with [[CuteMute a mute child]] with UsefulNotes/SignedLanguage and encourage him to follow his dreams.

This is mainly a trait of the GentleGiant, the EmotionalBruiser, AllLovingHero, and a ''requirement'' for PurityPersonified[[note]]Though not every friend to all children is PurityPersonified[[/note]] unless PureIsNotGood is in play, and a redeeming trait for many {{antihero}}es. Overlaps with WouldntHurtAChild, as characters who fit this trope not only refuse to injure children, but would go out of their way to protect children if it was necessary.

** Characters/{{Emma Frost|WhiteQueen}} was a villain for years. The main thing that led to her HeelFaceTurn, and her chief saving grace, is that she cares deeply about any children placed in her care -- partly because her own childhood was lousy, but mainly because she feels overwhelming guilt for the death of the Hellions, the Hellfire Club's answer to the Comicbook/NewMutants, who were under her command when they died. She even snapped and killed her older sister, Adrienne, after she caused the death of Synch, one of Emma's students from ''ComicBook/GenerationX''.

* Wonder Woman in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueWar'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAemkNPY7xQ robbed an ice cream man]] to make a child happier.

* Ian Malcolm from the ''Film/JurassicPark'' movies. He outright says that he loves kids, being a father of three himself, and will go all PapaWolf when a child he cares about is in danger.

* ''Literature/LumbanicoTheCubicPlanet'': Risperim refuses to take shelter in the protagonists' tent because he wants nothing to do with Outsider technology, but when Mela -who is about ten years old- tells him to come inside before grabbing him and dragging him into the tent, he lets himself be led around without a fuss. That is the group's first clue that stubborn, grumpy old Guardian of the Mountains has a soft spot for children.

* UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}

** Batman comforts [[spoiler:Ace, a sort-of Dark Magical Girl with massive powers, who was dying of a terminal disease and only had hours to live.]] She had asked him to stay by her side because she was scared of [[spoiler:dying alone]]... and he did. In "Injustice for All", he gently coaxed a little girl to come with him in order to escape a burning building.

* ''{{Film/Gamera}}'' is the {{Trope Namer|s}} because this is one of his titles.

* ''Fanfic/TheManyDatesOfDannyFenton'': 14-year-old Danny Fenton will snap at people who harm small children, as [[WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor Cree]], Vicky from ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Mindy's parents and [[spoiler:Katie]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' discover.
* ''Fanfic/ARabbitAmongWolves'': When Team [=RWBY=] visit a school as part of a [=PR=] mission for Beacon, only Ruby interacts well with the children. Somewhat justified as Ruby is [[TheBabyOfTheBunch the youngest of her peers]] and can more easily relate to them.
* One of Haara's contacts in ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'' is an orphanage matron who moonlights as a weapons distributor, and Haara always brings the orphans hand-carved wooden toys whenever she visits.

* ''Literature/TheBible'': UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} was both MessianicArchetype (he's the {{Trope Namer|s}}) and a FriendToAllLivingThings. He preached that ChildrenAreInnocent. In one story used in many churches to warn against the risk of corruption by self-righteous adults, a pack of children joyfully greet the Christ with cries of "Hosanna! Hosanna!" (savior), only to be reprimanded by their ignorant parents. Jesus rejoices with the children and firmly reminds the adults that they have attacked what is good and right in humanity. Although Jesus of this time brutally whipped exploiters, many English speakers first hear of this trope as part of his life.
* UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}: St. Nicholas of Myra, the Patron Saint of Children. SantaClaus was based on him originally.
* In Myth/ClassicalMythology, the twins Artemis/Diana and Apollo are the protectors of young girls and boys, respectively.
* UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} has Budai or Hotei, the fat, laughing Buddha, who favors children and is always followed by a gang of them. There is also the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, known as Jizo in Japan, where he is the protector of the souls of children, including even aborted fetuses.

** One of the hints that Zuko is a good guy pre-HeelFaceTurn is that he's good with kids. This follows him post-redemption arc and into his reign as Fire Lord, especially once he finds out that he's got a much younger half-sister to whom he's an excellent brother. He's also implied to be an outstanding father and grandfather in ''The Legend of Korra'' (see below).
** Aang is really good with kids, too, as part of his AllLovingHero schtick.
** This trope applies to Iroh, as well. In flashbacks, he is shown to have had a loving, playful relationship with his own son, Lu Ten, and in "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheTalesOfBaSingSe The Tales of Ba Sing Se]]," he gets two key moments that highlight this aspect of his personality: First, he sings "Leaves from the Vine" to help calm down a fussy toddler; later, he advises a group of kids playing earthbender soccer to own up to their accidental destruction of a window (though when the irate homeowner reveals himself, Iroh retracts this statement and tells the kids to retreat).

** [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Korra]] absolutely adores Tenzin's kids, and acts as a CoolBigSis figure to them. They adore her right back. It may be partly due to the fact that she's the reincarnation of their grandfather Aang, but still.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' franchise, especially the non-film productions, Po prides himself as being loved by children. As such, he proves to be an excellent teacher. In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'', he makes a despicable RoyalBrat change her ways, before discovering the horrific reason why she feels she must drive everyone away. Even Tigress shows a caring side for young children every now and then as a young goose named Zan looks up to her as a big sister mentor figure while looking for his parents in "Kung Fu Day Care"; one of the panda girls in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3'' is fond of Tigress, after Po gave her his Tigress action figure.

** Fluttershy is this as part of her being a FriendToAllLivingThings. In fact, threatening young ponies is a good way to anger her, as the unlucky cockatrice from "Stare Master" [[DeathGlare found out]].
** Pinkie Pie also counts; she's acted as a CoolBigSis for Spike and Apple Bloom, chaperoned the local kids on "[[YouMeanXmas Nightmare Night]]", adores Mr. & Mrs. Cake's infant twins Pound and Pumpkin Cake and frequently plays with and watches over them, and during her ImageSong "Smile, Smile, Smile" she goes out of her way to make kids happy.
** Princess Luna, after seeing how much the kids enjoy Nightmare Night, un-canceled it. She also helps watch over the fillies and colts of Equestria's dreams, coming into them and helping them deal with nightmares. She's done this on separate occasions for each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, helping them overcome their doubts to become better ponies. Also in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E10ARoyalProblem A Royal Problem]]", she becomes depressed after she learns she inadvertently caused local school fillies to be unable to raise enough money for a field trip. She even has a nightmare about it later, with one of the fillies tearfully asking her "Why don't you want us to go on our field trip?" It scared her so badly that [[GeniusBonus her teeth start to fall out]].
** Rainbow Dash counts as well, surprisingly. Even though WordOfGod says she wouldn't be the best big sister, she tries her hardest to coach Apple Bloom through various activities such as karate, kite flying, juggling, and "Ultra Pony" roller derby. She is also genuinely concerned for Scootaloo's welfare in "Sleepless in Ponyville" and ends up adopting her as her surrogate little sister at the end of the episode. She's not the best role model, but she certainly tries.

** Protagonist Twilight Sparkle counts as well. She's eager to act as a mentor to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and is very kind and accommodating to her younger fans. In one episode, her problem is that she wants to both spend time with her baby niece and read to sick children at the hospital.

* The first sign that [[AcademicAlphaBitch Amity]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a lot nicer than she usually presents herself is when it's revealed that she regularly reads to children at the local library.

* While the titular character of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' seldom encounters children, there are some episodes that make it perfectly clear that he cares about them and is willing to lend a hand when they're in need.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Ahsoka Tano, right from her introduction in the PilotMovie was shown to be quite good with children. She started by calling Jabba's son Rotta, an infant ''Hutt'' cute and showing genuine care for him. This trait of hers culminated during the Young Jedi arc, where she repeatedly put her life at risk to protect the six Jedi younglings under her care.

* Linkara of ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' always welcomes the idea of children and families being portrayed positively in comic books, and one of his BIGGEST peeves is a child character being killed or otherwise endangered solely for the sake of shock value or plot contrivance.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has a number of characters - the good, the bad, the ugly, and then some:

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'':
** A number of characters could be said to be this, but none so much as the Winter Soldier, of all people. SuperSoldier and master assassin he might be, but even prior to his HeelFaceTurn he holds onto the fact that he WouldntHurtAChild like his life depends on it, [[spoiler:performs a HeelFaceTurn to save the life of a teenage girl]] and ruffles the hair of a little girl who hugged him after he saved her friend.
** Joshua, a.k.a. [[spoiler: Jesus]], in the second book ''Ghosts of the Past'' (who's kind, wise, and quite dry-witted) helps talk Harry through a lot of his problems, specifically stating - when Harry notes that he could be doing more important things - that he will ''never'' have anything more important to do than comfort a child in pain. Considering who he really is, this is not particularly surprising.
** [[TheDreaded Doctor]] [[TimeMaster Strange]], too, while not as overtly as the other two; does tend to be considerably nicer and more honest to children than to adults, and generally drop almost all the creepy of his CreepyGood personality around them. Threatening to hurt a child reliably wakes his PapaWolf tendencies - ''not'' something you want to do with someone who considers genocide an acceptable means of keeping up his reputation as TheDreaded and can do horribly inventive things to the soul of a PhysicalGod.
** The third book, ''The Phoenix and the Serpent'', has its first arc set 40,000 years in the past and heavily features the Princess Sunniva of Asgard, Host of the Phoenix (and future mother of the Indian Trimurti). For all her easygoing FishOutOfWater tendencies and relative ImmortalImmaturity as a result of being a sheltered 20-something by Asgardian standards, she is ''outraged'' to find a 15-year-old Asgardian/half-Asgardian - Harry - WalkingTheEarth alone, presuming that he has been abandoned. This is bad enough by our standards, as this is in the depths of the Ice Age (though Harry being Harry, he treats it more as a light camping trip). However, as Asgardians live for several thousand years, even though ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty, to her this amounts to the abandonment of someone who is basically little more than a toddler. Worse, this one is a relative of hers, even if she's not clear on exactly ''how''. The narration from her point of view promises the ''yet'' unknown parents all kinds of ''nasty'' things if the matter has not already been resolved. Later, when she gets friendly with him, she finds out he's been abused - which ''really'' wakes her MamaBear: