History Main / ThePowerOfFriendship

* The second favorite trope of the namesake mage guild from ''Manga/FairyTail'', the first one being [[TrueCompanions friends]]. Not only the characters must rely on each other to win in this manga, hurting their friends pushes BerserkButton for more than one of them, resulting in UnstoppableRage, directed at the villain responsible. Asskicking for justice usually ensues. One could say that it's a theme prevalent throughout the entire series and is not just limited to the namesake guild.
** In a more literal sense, two mages who are very close to each other can perform a Unison Raid, linking their magic to produce an incredibly powerful effect. The first time we see this is when Lucy and Juvia use the power of their friendship to use water magic to overwhelm a [[ManOfKryptonite guy who can absorb water]] by ''sheer force''.

** Sora's Drive Forms could be seen as a physical manifestation of this, as can the Keyblade itself actually. The Keyblade changes form when you use a different trinket as the keychain. The keychains he uses are representative of the worlds that he visits, and Kairi's charm is the chain for the Oathkeeper Keyblade. The Power of Friendship gets you better weapons!
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' states that the Power of Friendship is Sora's ''superpower''. Birth By Sleep makes friendship essentially Kingdom Hearts version of [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Spiral Power]]. [[spoiler:It also allows Aqua to smash the Keyblade equivalent of Excalibur by turning her own into a lightsaber of friendship. It gives Ven the power to leech Vanitas's abilities off of him and use them to defeat Vanitas, and it gives Terra the ability to control his own armor even after his heart and body have been taken by the big bad. Finally it allows Ven (who's currently comatose) and Terra (who's currently trapped in his own body while another controls it) to magically transport their keyblades to the realm of darkness to one shot freaking Darksides (the strongest of the pureblood heartless) and save a currently HBSOD ing Aqua while also giving her the will to live again.]] If you have a keyblade and at least one close friend in KH verse, you will be unstoppable. Gameplay-wise, D-Links are basically the invoking of The Power Of Friendship, in which characters tap into the powers of characters they've interacted with. Most of these actually involve friendship ([[Disney/LiloAndStitch Experiment 626]], [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Zack]] and Mickey) while others a bit less so (the Franchise/{{Disney Princess}}es and in [[UnwittingPawn Terra's]] case, [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]]).
** ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartscoded coded]]'' keeps up the trend; the connections and friendship that data Sora has built with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy [[spoiler: allow data Sora to ''summon a keyblade'', and may have actually created a heart for him.]]

** Played with like ''wow'' in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3D''. The villains [[spoiler: use Sora's reliance of the power of friendship to lure him into a trap]] and Xigbar attempts to deconstruct the trope by pointing out that if Sora's power comes from his friends [[TheUnchosenOne then he doesn't have any of his own]]. Sora completely ignores the attempt to send him into a HeroicBSOD and ''[[DeconReconSwitch reconstructs it on the spot]]'', saying that that makes him part of something bigger than himself and he's totally cool with that.
** Subverted with Axel/Lea due to his growing sentimentality since becoming a nobody making his heart progressively weaker,[[note]]A common misconception is that nobodies do not have hearts, Xemnas himself admitted that nobodies actually could grow hearts, that he was lying to them for his own gain.[[/note]] even after becoming human again, as evidenced in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' by [[spoiler: Lea failing his keyblade training and later his keyblade being outright ''shattered''.]] [[note]][[[spoiler:[[https://66.media.tumblr.com/7858498c02521be5c4697562ff5d5ca6/tumblr_inline_pna6mkCyRY1qkhyys_540.jpg Keyblades are powered by the light or darkness in one's heart.]]]][[/note]] [[spoiler: These events coming shortly before and after he teared up after nearly remembering Xion, then asking Kairi to call him Axel because she reminds him of Xion and Isa later pointing out that Lea had a sea salt ice cream for Roxas, who hadn't been restored yet and Xion, who he still didn't remember, as well as revealing the fact that the marks under Axel's eyes were ''specifically meant to keep him from crying''.]]

** The bond between them also powers his SuperMode, Cosmic States, which is so dependent on it that [[spoiler: the lost of JK's friendship, as well as the disappearance of Tomoko, made Gentaro lose the ability to turn into Cosmic States mode]].

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'', when playing as Jill, has this with a recurring theme in order to get the good ending [[spoiler:where Barry survives. Frequently Barry will either tell you to let him do things for you, like get a rope to pull you from a pit, or will ask you if you want him to go with you. Trusting him by waiting for the rope and going with him, and taking the selfless options like going first, are the choices you need to do to keep him alive. Not trusting him or being a selfish bastard, while apparently the smart choice as he begins acting very suspicious, will result in his death in a myriad of ways. The 2002 GameCube remake kept this, although it condensed it into a single yes or no choice: do you trust your friend enough to give him back his gun after he betrayed you so he can fight [[HumanoidAbomination Lisa Trevor]]?]]

** The general theme of ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' deals with teamwork and friendship.

See also TeamSpirit, TrueCompanions, ThePowerOfLove, ThePowerOfTrust, DefeatMeansFriendship, FireForgedFriends, DyingAlone, YouAreNotAlone. The risk of TastesLikeDiabetes or even {{Narm}} is present [[TropesAreNotGood if done poorly]]. TheGoodKing should be wary of this trope, it can turn into {{Nepotism}} (well, technically cronyism). If your protagonists are entirely reliant on their friends for any characterization or motivation, they will rapidly become {{Flat Character}}s.

* Invoked in "Duet", the musical episode of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' with the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UPun57MMoU "Super Friend"]], where the titular character and {{Series/Supergirl}} sing about how, despite being deprived of their respective superpowers, they still have one: their friendship.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* On the subject of Reality game shows, this trope does have its place in some reality game shows like ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' or ''Series/BigBrother''. In both games, there're one or two people who make friends and manage to make it further. Especially given these two games have people who proudly declare ImNotHereToMakeFriends. There's almost always one person who's evicted simply because they're at the bottom of the totem pole.

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** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E10TheWarMachines The War Machines]]", the mind-controlled Polly clearly sees Ben escaping, and says nothing. When someone asks after him, she explains, but when he asks her why, she does not know, and after a moment, starts to remember that he had been her friend.
** In the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords series 3 finale]], [[spoiler:Martha escapes the Master's takeover of Earth and spends one year traveling the world telling everyone about the doctor and how they're supposed to say (and [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believe!]]) "doctor" over and over during an onconming countdown. When said time arrives, everyone in the world doing this (even the Master's human followers and '''[[HeelFaceTurn his own]] [[InTheBack freaking wife]]''') gives the Doctor the strength he needs to overpower the Master and undo all his evil.]]

* A major theme in many of the works of Creator/DeanKoontz.
* A major theme in many of the works of Creator/StephenKing, particularly ''Literature/{{IT}}''.
* A major theme in ''Literature/TheSecretGarden''.

* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series seems keen on the theme of friendship.

*** In fact, the pervese portrayal of this trope there is [[InvokedTrope deliberate]], since the Dinosaurs [[spoiler:are embodiments of OC character Hikari's traumas where she tried to help and befriend a bullied student but got bullied as the bullies also target anyone who befriends their victims. When she tried to prevent the bullied student from being lynched by her other friends, she got the boot instead. She also invited the bullied student out for a movie, which is exactly about Herbivore Dinosaurs saving their friends from Carnviores by gathering their power.]]

** The nature of Friendship Power becomes even more important in the 2012 reboot. Its emergence prompts the most elite of the Perfect Choujin, the Perfect Origin and the Perfect Large Numbers, to emerge and begin a purge of all "Inferior Choujin". Nearly every defeat or near-defeat the Perfect Choujin experience due to these battles is due to someone, be they Justice Choujin or Devil, is due to their opponent channeling Friendship Power in some way, shape, or form. Even ''Akuma Shogun'' manages to tap into it ever so slightly in his fight with Choujin Enma, the one person aside from his brother that he was closest to. Almost immediately after this arc, another group, Alpha Centauri's Six Spears, come to Earth and begin trying to discover how to utilize Friendship Power themselves.

** With the Robin/Slade dynamic, Robin's friendship with the rest of the team, by Robin's own words, serves the same purpose that Franchise/{{Batman}}'s [[ThouShaltNotKill code against killing]] does: it's the brake preventing him from crossing the line and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming what he fights]]. Robin even explicitly states that while both he and Slade are NotSoDifferent from one another, Slade has no friends.

** With the Robin/Slade dynamic, Robin's friendship with the rest of the team, by Robin's own words, serves the same purpose that Franchise/{{Batman}}'s [[ThouShaltNotKill code against killing]] does: it's the brake preventing him from crossing the line and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming what he fights]].

** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E10TheWarMachines The War Machines]]", the mind-controlled Polly clearly sees Ben escaping, and says nothing. When someone asks after him, she explains, but when he asks her why, she does not know, and after a moment, starts to remember that he had been her friend.
** In the first half of the Series 8 finale, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater Dark Water]]", Clara, distraught over the death of her lover, Danny Pink, tries to force The Doctor to change the events that caused his death, despite The Doctor warning her of the consequences. It turns out The Doctor anticipated her grief-stricken behavior, and took precautions, so what Clara thought was a life-or-death situation was actually a SecretTestOfCharacter, and one she failed. Then the Doctor tells her that while it won't be the way she suggested, he will help her.

[[folder:Truth In Television]]

* Like with Leverage above, the ''Series/{{Community}}'' universe seems to be fueled by this. The RagtagBunchOfMisfits work together to [[Recap/CommunityS2E04BasicRocketScience bring home a space simulator]], [[Recap/CommunityS2E14AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons make a bullied kid feel]] better with ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and help [[Recap/CommunityS3E20DigitalEstatePlanning Pierce get his rightful inheritance in a video game]]

** Rory makes a point of it too, in a somewhat different fashion, in series five, by pointing out that part of the reason the Doctor's so dangerous is because his overconfident behaviour and impulsive nature encourages others to risk their lives just to impress him. When Rory ''himself'' ends up [[HypocriticalHumor doing the exact same thing later in the episode]], in light of the previous guilt-tripping the Doctor is less-than-impressed.

* Invoked in "Duet," the musical episode of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' with the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UPun57MMoU "Super Friend"]], where the titular character and {{Series/Supergirl}} sing about how, despite being deprived of their respective superpowers, they still have one: their friendship

* Believe it or not, on ''Series/TwentyFour'', this is [[spoiler: what ultimately turns Jack Bauer back from the dark side in the final episode and prevents him from assassinating Russian president, Yuri Suvarov. When Chloe O'Brian comes for him to try to talk him down, he asks her why she came and she replies that she had to, she's his friend.]]
* On the subject of Reality game shows, this trope does have its place in some reality game shows like ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' or ''Series/BigBrother''. In both games, there're one or two people who make friends and manage to make it further. Especially given these two games have people who proudly declare ImNotHereToMakeFriends. There's almost always one person who's evicted simply because they're at the bottom of the totem pole.
** In ''Big Brother'', if the other houseguests don't like you for whatever reason, you can expect to face the public vote. This often leads to an UnpopularPopularCharacter, adored by the audience but disliked by their fellow players.
** Several seasons of the American ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' show that this really can be an underestimated boon. In this game, you have to convince 7-9 players you most likely evicted to vote for you to win. If you wantonly bullied your way through the game and left a trail of angry and insulting jurors, you'll probably finish third or second, while someone who got in friendly with them will be seen as the lesser evil. This is even lampshaded by Jaison in ''Samoa'', which is perhaps the most clear-cut example of showing this trope in action. In ''Samoa'', one player called Russell Hantz carried his alliance through the game but was an ArrogantKungFuGuy. He clearly knew the game, yet apparently didn't know that the players he sent to the jury had to ''like'' him, or at least ''respect'' him. He sociopathically pushed his way through the game, and ended by bragging to the jury about how awesome he was, and was surprised when their response was, '''''"NO!"''''', and their votes almost all went for the girl who went around making friends with people.

* ''Series/TheEqualizer''. In "Splinters", a KGB scientist informs Robert [=McCall=] that while he is a WorthyOpponent in their eyes, his loyalty to his friends is his one weakness. They then lock him in a room with a BrainwashedAndCrazy Mickey Kostmayer. Fortunately [=McCall=] is able to appeal to their {{Fire Forged Friend}}ship to [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight break through his conditioning]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Night's Black Agents'' has Trust, which can be spent to help out the trusted ally. Of course, since NBA is a dark game of burned spies hunting vampires, it can be flipped to Betrayal if you want to elaborately backstab said ally. Betrayal can only be spent once, however, and even if you patch up your relationship you will never be able to get Trust off the betrayed character again; even [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender helping them find their mother's killer]] will, at most, mean they're willing to give you real bullets for your gun, and you're still on point for the rest of your life.

* Downplayed in ''LightNovel/{{Konosuba}}''. While friendship isn't a major theme, it's obvious that despite the main quartet's constant bickering, their hideously unbalanced stat and skill management (the male lead is an underpowered JackOfAllTrades while the three heroines are [[CripplingOverspecialization extremely skilled in one ultra-specific area and useless at everything else]]) means that working together is the only way for them to get ''anything'' done.

* Downplayed in ''Anime/{{Konosuba}}''. While friendship isn't a major theme, it's obvious that despite the main quartet's constant bickering, their hideously unbalanced stat and skill management (the male lead is an underpowered JackOfAllTrades while the three heroines are [[CripplingOverspecialization extremely skilled in one ultra-specific area and useless at everything else]]) means that working together is the only way for them to get ''anything'' done.