History Main / ThePowerOfFriendship

* Invoked a few times in ComicBook/NewAvengers, overriding a number of ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies objections.
* ''Tintin in Tibet'' is a great example of this, both with regards to the {{Tintin}} going on an apparently insane quest to rescue his friend Chang as well as with Captain Haddock sticking with Tintin through ever more hazardous situations despite his misgivings about mountaineering and believing that there is no chance that Chang survived the airplane crash.
* In ''[[ComicBook/{{Exiles}} Exiles]]'', when the Exiles are being curbstomped by King Hyperion in the Crystal Palace, Beak's apperance prompts Hyperion to mock him for not running because he woldn't have tried to follow, and Beak responded by openly admitting how weak he was, saying his only power was being good at making friends. At which point two heroic Hyperions made their apperance.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'':
** Tea/Anzu displayed this so much (at one point even saying "the power of friendship") that it became a running gag in the Abridged Series. Joey recovered from being ''struck by lightning'' because of friendship. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Yeah.]]

** I fact, WordOfGod claims that this theme was originally supposed to be even more important than the card game that is used so much in the series. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out quite the way they planned it...

->''[[BigBad You]] treat people's hearts like [[SoulJar bottles on a shelf]], but they're not! Hearts are made of the people we meet, and how we feel about them - they're what ties us together even when we're apart! They're what... make me strong. [...] [[ArcWords My friends!]] [[BadassBoast They are my power!]]''
-->'''[[TheHero Sora]]''', ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance''

->''"Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor. If the one falls, the other will lift up his companion. Woe to the solitary man! For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up. So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm? Where a lone man may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken."''
--> -- '''[[Literature/TheBible Ecclesiastes 4:9-12]]'''

See also TeamSpirit, TrueCompanions, ThePowerOfLove, ThePowerOfTrust, DefeatMeansFriendship, FireForgedFriends, DyingAlone, YouAreNotAlone. Often results in a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming if done well. The risk of TastesLikeDiabetes or even {{Narm}} is present [[TropesAreNotGood if done poorly]]. Be careful not to make this a BrokenAesop or argue that LonersAreFreaks; if your protagonists are entirely reliant on their friends for any characterization or motivation, they will rapidly become FlatCharacter{{s}}.

* This seems to be the main reason Sibuna keep winning in ''House of Anubis''. Fabian makes a speech about it in season 2, even, claiming that while the teachers have more of the advantages, they have the team, and they'd win because they wouldn't let each other fail.

A CombinedEnergyAttack is another perk of believing in said power. Taken more literally, the Power of Friendship may be used as a required element of some magical effect, such as a CareBearStare or a CircleOfFriendship. Heroes, especially the MagneticHero, usually spend the first few episodes building [[TrueCompanions this group of loyal followers]]. Sometimes it can go too far; Heroes fall prey to becoming a MartyrWithoutACause and allies could be {{Poisonous Friend}}s. Contrast InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn, in which case Friendship becomes less helpful.

See also TeamSpirit, TrueCompanions, ThePowerOfLove, ThePowerOfTrust, DefeatMeansFriendship, FireForgedFriends, DyingAlone, YouAreNotAlone. Often results in a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming if done well. The risk of TastesLikeDiabetes or even {{Narm}} is present [[TropesAreNotGood if done poorly]]. A key element of {{buddy picture}}s.

* Sam and Frodo's friendship in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' is this trope incarnate. It can be summarised in eleven simple words: "I can't carry it for You, but I can carry You".

--> '''Jil''': ''Fatina! Neeba! Kalli! And... I can't remember his name, but he's definitely one of my friends!''
--> '''Utu''': ''It's Utu!''

** Parodied in one chapter:
-->'''Black* Star:''' Now you'll get a taste of our Power of Friendship!
-->'''Soul Eater:''' That's right! An unfathomable, endless power!

-->'''Luffy:''' "Of course I don't know how to use a sword! I don't know anything about navigation, either! I can't cook! I've never even told a lie! I know that I can't survive without people around me to help!"
-->'''Arlong:''' "And you call yourself a Captain!?" "What are you capable of?"
-->'''Luffy:''' "I can beat you to a pulp!"

* The titular character of ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' believes in this...which is odd, since in the beginning the closest thing he has to a friend is Nijima. He's clearly aware of this too, since he uses Nijima's personality to make a point a few times.
--->"Be grateful for your friends! ''[[OpinionFlipflop This]]'' [[OpinionFlipflop is the only friend I've got]]!"

* ''Film/StarWars'':

(And we all know how that turned out...)
** These lines are echoed by Shobu and Hakuoh, repsectively, in the dub of ''Anime/DuelMasters'', as a {{Homage}}.

-->''"I would scarcely recognize you, John Carter, but there is no other mortal upon Barsoom who would have done what you have for me. I think I have learned that there is such a thing as friendship, my friend."''

-->''as my honor brother I ask you to trust me like you have never trusted me before. [[IGaveMyWord On my life I swear]] that I do not lie to you, Nathaniel.''

--> '''Vito Corleone''': "Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than government. It is almost the equal of family. Never forget that."

--> Now is the Law of the Jungle---as old and true as the sky;
--> And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must de.
--> As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back---
--> For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.''

-->'''Saffron:''' Everybody plays each other. That's all anybody ever does. We play parts.
-->'''Mal:''' You got all kinds a' learnin' and you made me look the fool without trying, yet here I am with a gun to your head. That's 'cause I got people with me, people who trust each other, who do for each other and ain't always looking for the advantage.

--->'''Sherlock''': Alone is what I have. Alone protects me.
--->'''John''': No. Friends protect people.

'''Yugi''': [=NevermindI'mallbetternow.=]
-->'''Tea''' {to a doctor}: [=Go back to your leeches and your potions! Friendship is the only cure!=]

--->'''Doctor XX:''' "Did you really think you'd win? I'm more powerful than any of you!"
--->'''Battlecry:''' "Yeah? Maybe so... (cue the wall coming down as the rest of the students arrive) but you're not more powerful than all of us!"

-->"I'd be a grumpy gus too if no-one ever hugged me."
-->"Hey, you know what? I never have been hugged. Maybe this is what I needed. Or maybe I'm just a jerk who enjoys bullying other animals."
-->"Oh. Well, in that case I can just squeeze you until you pop like a grape."
-->"No, no, hugging's good! ... Actually I'm liking the hug."

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** The Power of Friendship, backed by the [[AmplifierArtifact Elements of Harmony]], can fire a rainbow-colored WaveMotionGun. Even without said amplifier, it's capable of incinerating and incarcerating {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that thrive on hatred and disharmony, and those that corrupt forces of good (namely [[FallenHero Luna becoming]] [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Moon]]). Then again, what else could you possibly expect from something with [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a title like that]]?

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

* In the final battle of ''Videogame/JadeEmpire'', your allies weaken the enemies that the BigBad sends at you before you face him. The game's KarmaMeter system results in a mild and possibly unintentional subversion: the only difference between being a [[TheMessiah messiah]] who believes in the power of friendship (Open Palm), and a tyrant who just killed all the followers who disagreed with him (Closed Fist), is you have to fight a few more enemies...it seems the power of friendship and the power of a ruthless, brutally evil martial artist are about the same.

* In VideoGame/BubbleBobble, it's this that breaks whatever curse Bub & Bob are under. So much that if you beat the game without your friend i.e. 1P, you won't get the TrueEnding.

* A recurring theme of the ComicBook/FantasticFour. This trope is the reason why, despite the fact that individually none of them are anywhere near the most powerful end of the spectrum of superheroes, ''they'' are the ones who everyone calls when faced with huge, world-destroying cosmic threats.

* While [[ComicBook/{{Spiderman}} Spider-Man]] started out as a loner, he's become friends with a great deal of Marvel's other heroes (and even some of the less pleasant types like Loki and Deadpool are on good terms with the wallcrawler), especially the FantasticFour, who treat him like family, and he's been part of several incarnations of TheAvengers, and as Peter Parker he has a large group of {{Muggle}} friends who he can count on. When Spidey's in trouble, a large portion of the Marvel Universe has his back.

* ''ComicBook/{{Spiderman}}'' defines this trope with all the marvel heroes, he's always makes friends with everyone since he puts his responsibilites and himself for others seflessly, and teams up with almost everyone because his kindness and sense of humor. He's even buds with {{Deadpool}} from Deadpool's perspective.

* In an episode of "WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball", Gumball bursts out of a cement prison after seeing the possible outcome of his friendship if he weren't to get to someone's house in time whilst saying the trope name in the process.

* Hoplites in battle, whose main strength was in trusting that they could depend on each other. Not least when [[Film/ThreeHundred They Were Spartans]].

->"You're not just a tool, you're my friend! And you're also well paid!"

* In TheWallWillFall AlternateRealityGame, this was an integral part of defeating Cthulhu. Yes, ''that'' [[{{Necronomicon}} Cthulhu]]. The final battle involved players writing stories and songs around the theme of teamwork after selecting [[HeroicSacrifice one of their own]] to challenge the Elder God directly. According to WordOfGod, the players hit the required ammount of writing within ''two days'' of the announcement. This, plus their concern for the player being sent on what was effectively a SuicideMission lead to the end of the game [[AwesomeMoments being changed in order to save them]].

*** This is used more literally during the ending; after the party is [[spoiler:completely wiped out by Kuja's [[FinalAttack Ultima]] and helpless when Necron appears]], the four party members not participating in the final battle hand their power over to the four others, fully healing them and giving a few encouraging words as they do so.

* In ''StarTrekXI'', Spock cites this trope as the reason why Kirk and Spock ''must'' learn to work together; it is the only way the ''Enterprise'' can defeat Nero.

** Even in the spin-off feature film ''MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls", [[spoiler:despite being in a human world, the same friendships Twilight developed in Equestria work here to magically defeat the demonic form of Sunset Shimmer.]]

* The GrandFinale to ''ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' has the gang apply this in order to [[spoiler: defeat the EldritchAbomination that's served as the true BigBad the whole time.]]

* A major theme in ''ThomasWasAlone.''