"Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods."
Tropes about friendship and camaraderie.
See also: Love Tropes and Frenemy Tropes. Contrast Discord Tropes.
Tropes:
Categories:
- Accidental Declaration of Love: Confessing to love emotions unintentionally.
- Accidental Hug: Spontaneously hugging, then awkwardly pulling away.
- Acquainted in Real Life: People with anonymous connections discover that they know one another for real.
- Acquainted with Emergency Services: A character and emergency services tend to greet each other casually because of how often they cross paths.
- Act of True Love: An action done to prove one's love for another.
- Adaptational Friendship: An adaptation makes two characters friends who weren't before.
- Arranged Friendship: A friendship foisted onto the "friends" as an obligation.
- Band of Brothers: A group of loyal friends formed by shared dangerous circumstances.
- Bash Brothers: Two friends who kick major amounts of ass together.
- Bathtub Bonding: Two or more characters who share a platonic bath.
- Bear Hug: A character (usually The Big Guy) gives a hug to another character.
- Befriending the Bullied: A victim of bullying finds a friend or friends who give them a healthy support system and possibly encourage them to stand up for themselves.
- Befriending the Enemy: Befriending an antagonistic person to make them have a change of heart.
- Beleaguered Childhood Friend: A character's childhood friend is accused of a crime, and the character has to find a way to prove their innocence.
- Best Friend: Someone's closest associate and personal confidante.
- Best Friend Manual: Someone who knows how to deal with a difficult person, usually their best friend.
- Best Friends-in-Law: Best friends marry each other's siblings.
- Better as Friends: Two people who have tried to date each other decide that it's better that they just be friends.
- Big Bad Friend: The main antagonist was once good friends with one of the protagonists.
- Big Brother Mentor: A friend who acts as an older sibling.
- Blind and the Beast: A blind person befriends an ugly/non-human being.
- Bonding Over Dislikes: Sometimes characters can become close if they both have a common dislike.
- Bonding over Missing Parents: Characters become close with each other upon finding out they both have missing/dead parents.
- A Boy and His X: A story about the bond between a young boy and his animal companion.
- Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Two characters break up before eventually getting back together.
- The Bro Code: A set of unspoken rules between friends.
- Bromantic Foil: The romantic male lead's foil who's unlucky in love.
- Bros Before Hoes: Putting your friend before your love-interest.
- Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: A person spends time with people they can't stand, but ends up missing them once they finally get the chance to be rid of them.
- Caretaker Reversal: After taking care of the patient, the caretaker gets sick and now the patient must take care of them.
- Chain of People: A group of people save someone falling to their death by grabbing each other chain style.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Two people who were platonic friends since they were children end up in a romantic relationship.
- Childhood Friends: Friends who have known each other since childhood.
- Circle of Friendship: Friends form a circle to defeat the villain.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: A dumb or eccentric character has an associate who has to prevent their stupidity or weirdness from causing too much trouble.
- Commonality Connection: Two characters bond over something they have in common.
- Companion Cube: A character is friends with an object.
- Companion Food: A character is friends with a piece of food.
- Conflicting Loyalty: A character feels conflicted if they should be loyal to their friends and family or to their country/leader/religion.
- Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: A popular character is friends with someone who is considered beneath them.
- Criminal Found Family: A gang of outlaws form a strong bond of quasi-familial friendship.
- Defeat Means Friendship: An opponent becomes friends with the person who defeated them.
- The Defroster: Someone takes it upon themselves to thaw out and befriend that frigid, closed off Ice Queen/King.
- Dissension Remorse: Friends feel remorse for fighting with each other.
- Duet Bonding: Two people become closer by playing instruments together.
- Dying Alone: Someone dies without the presence of friends, family, or anyone else who personally cares about them to give them final comforts.
- Enter Stage Window: A character visits their friend via climbing through their window.
- Equippable Ally: An ally who can serve as a weapon.
- Et Tu, Brute?: A person is betrayed by their friend.
- Evil Former Friend: The villain used to be a friend of the hero.
- Fair-Weather Friend: A person who has a tendency to flake out when their "friends" need help.
- Fallback Marriage Pact: Two friends agree to marry each other after they've been single for a long enough time.
- False Friend: A disloyal companion who is anything except for a true buddy, only befriending other people for selfish ulterior motives.
- Family of Choice: A group of friends are so closely bonded to one another, that they treat each other like they're related by blood.
- Fat Best Friend: Someone has an overweight best friend.
- Feud Episode: An episode where friends temporarily have a falling out.
- Fighting Your Friend: A video game has a boss fight where the player has to battle a person explicitly on their side.
- Financial Test of Friendship: Someone remains loyal to their rich friend, even when said friend isn't wealthy anymore.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Two or more characters who started off as enemies or strangers, until circumstances made them become friends.
- First Friend: The first notable companion made.
- First-Name Basis: Friends tend to address each other specifically by their given names.
- Forbidden Friendship: Two people who like each other's company are not allowed to fraternize together. Basically the platonic version of Star-Crossed Lovers.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: The Hero mourns for their dead friend or relative and then gets over them very quick.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Two characters have already met, but one or both of them doesn't remember it.
- Forgotten Friend, New Foe: The Hero is unaware that their new enemy is actually an old acquaintance.
- Former Friends Photo: An old photo shows that bitter enemies were once good friends.
- Found Family via Work: A group of coworkers from a strong bond of quasi-familial friendship.
- A Friend in Need: A character who proves their loyalty and friendship by helping their friend when it would be easier not to and other people would not blame them for not doing so.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: A group of people have one member that the rest of the group openly dislike.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Having to choose between your friend and what you desire.
- Friend Versus Lover: Having to choose between your friend and your significant other.
- Friendless Background: Someone who lacks any actual close social bonds with other people.
- Friendly Enemy: Two people who are opposed to each other could actually get along very cordially if they weren't busy fighting each other.
- Friendly Rivalry: Two people who are very competitive with each other actually genuinely like and respect one another.
- The Friendly Texan: Characters who remind us why Texas is called "The Friendly State."
- Friendly Tickle Torture: Tickling someone in a playful manner.
- Friendly War: Fighting done out of love rather than malice.
- Friends All Along: Two characters shown antagonizing each other turn out to actually be friends.
- Friends Are Chosen, Family Aren't: A character has a bad relationship with their family but a good relationship with their friends.
- Friends Turned Romantic Rivals: Friends start fighting over a shared love interest.
- The Friends Who Never Hang: Two people within a large close-knit group who aren't especially close to one another.
- Friends with Benefits: Platonic friends who are open to having sex with each other, without forming a real romantic bond.
- Friendship Bribe: A person or someone they know bribes others to be their friends.
- Friendship Denial: Somebody denies they're another character's friend, when they clearly are.
- Friendship Favoritism: Two people fight over who is the real best friend of one of their mutual friends.
- Friendship Moment: A sudden yet heartwarming affirmation of close friendship between two characters.
- Friendship on the Set: Two (or sometimes several) actors develop a friendship while making a production together.
- Friendship Song: Two characters sing about their friendship.
- Friendship-Straining Competition: A competition that threatens to ruin a friendship.
- Friendship Trinket: An object kept by one or two characters to symbolize their friendship.
- Gay Best Friend: Someone's best friend whose only notable quality is that they are homosexual.
- Gender-Bender Friendship: Character befriends their Love Interest while masquerading as the opposite sex.
- Give Me a Sword: A character is given a weapon by their comrade to aid them in battle.
- Greater Need Than Mine: Putting other people's needs before your own.
- Group Hug: A hug between a tight circle of friends.
- He's a Friend: Mutual allies of the hero come to blows before realizing their relationship, forcing the hero to make them both back down.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Two friends of the same gender who are so close together that one might mistake them for lovers.
- Historical Relationship Overhaul: Two historical characters are friends in fiction even though they weren't in Real Life, or vice versa.
- Honorary True Companion: A character who never joins the main group of companions (for long) but is nevertheless treated by them as one of their own.
- Honorary Uncle: A character's children call their parents' friend "Aunt" or "Uncle".
- Hug and Comment: Two people hug and one of them makes an unexpected comment.
- Human Ladder: A group of people stands on each other so they can climb.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: Someone stands up for their friend solely because they don't want anyone other than themselves picking on their friend.
- I Am Spartacus: The Big Bad asks who's The Hero. The hero's allies all start claiming to be him in order to protect him.
- I Can't Do This by Myself: A character tries to win their friends back on their side by admitting they can't do things alone.
- I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship: Two people who are good friends refuse to get romantically involved with each other on the grounds that their friendship would go south.
- I Fight for the Strongest Side!: Someone joins the hero's side after being defeated by them.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Someone becomes desperate for friendship.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Someone tries to get through to a friend that has transformed or been corrupted and forced to fight them.
- I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: A guest appearance by an actor who previously worked with a regular cast member.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: A villain motivates their underling by threatening the underling's loved ones.
- I'll Be Your Best Friend: Offering friendship as payment.
- Imaginary Friend: Someone treats a figment of their imagination like a friend.
- I'm Not Here to Make Friends: A contestant is focused on winning the game as opposed to making friends with other contestants.
- Interclass Friendship: Friendship between two people who have a significant income gap.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Friendship between two people who have a significant age gap.
- Interspecies Friendship: Friendship between individuals of different species.
- Intimate Hair Brushing: Brushing and fixing someone's hair as a sign of affection and closeness.
- Involuntary Battle to the Death: Two friends are forced to fight each other until one of them dies.
- Joins to Fit In: Someone joins a group of friends they think they'll fit in with.
- Just Friends: Two people consider themselves to be only good friends rather than lovers.
- Just One Extra Ticket: Someone plans to go to a show with their friends, but doesn't have enough tickets for everyone to come.
- Knows a Guy Who Knows a Guy: Someone mentions they heard something from a long and indirect chain of relations.
- Learning to Ride a Bike: Adults occasionally demonstrate that they are family by teaching their friend how to ride a bike.
- Like Brother and Sister: Friends who act like siblings.
- Limited Social Circle: A group of friends who only seem to spend time with each other.
- Lonely Together: Two characters share a common bond of loneliness.
- Loner-Turned-Friend: A solitary character becomes a friend to someone.
- Loony Friends Improve Your Personality: A stiff character grows in personality from hanging around annoying and eccentric people.
- Loser Friend Puzzles Outsiders: A person has a friend who is so dumb or uncool that strangers don't understand why they bother hanging around with this dweeb.
- Loved Ones Montage: A character has a vision of all the people he cares about in a dramatic montage-like sequence.
- Magnetic Hero: A hero with remarkable personal magnetism wins friends and allies with astonishing ease.
- Massage of Love: An intimate, non-sexual massage between a loving couple or close friends.
- Mayfly–December Friendship: Friendship between a mortal and an immortal.
- Misfit Mobilization Moment: When a dysfunctional group of losers transforms into a well-oiled machine.
- Never Bring a Friend to an Audition: Someone is trying out for a role. Their tagalong buddy (who isn't interested in auditioning themselves) lands it instead.
- New Friend Envy: Someone's best friend makes a new friend and gets jealous, fearing that they may replace them.
- Odd Friendship: Friendship between people you wouldn't expect to get along.
- Old Flame Fizzle: A character reunites with an old friend or lover, only to find that that person is no longer the person they remembered so fondly.
- Old Friend: A character reunites with a friend they knew from long ago.
- Only Friend: Someone's best friend is their only true companion.
- The Only One I Trust: The one friend that a person trusts.
- Opposites Attract: Friends who have contrasting personalities.
- The Outsider Befriends the Best: An outsider to a community, culture, or civilization becomes the closest with people who have an important position within it.
- Pen Pals: Friends who only contact each other through writing letters.
- Platonic Boy/Girl Heroes: A duo consisting of a young boy and girl who are required to work together.
- Platonic Co-Parenting: Friends platonically raise children together.
- Platonic Declaration of Love: Someone confesses non-romantic love for their friend.
- Platonic Kissing: An affectionate gesture for someone you're not romantically attracted to.
- Platonic Life-Partners: A male character and his female friend who spend a lot of time together, but are not a romantic couple.
- Platonic Prostitution: Someone consorts a Hooker with a Heart of Gold for platonic reasons.
- Platonic Valentine: Someone makes a Valentine for their platonic friend.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: A character desperately pleads for their friend not to leave them.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: The story requires friends who otherwise know that they'd never do each other wrong to split up.
- Positive Friend Influence: When friendship reaches its peak, with friends influencing each other to become better people.
- Predator-Prey Friendship: Friendship between two animals who are supposed to be natural enemies.
- Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: A close platonic relationship between two friends looks like a romantic relationship.
- The Power of Friendship: A character's friendship with others is their greatest strength.
- Rebound Best Friend: Two close friends break up and try to replace each other.
- Recruited from the Gutter: Rescuing someone from a bad life so they will join you.
- Reincarnation Friendship: Two characters who were friends in a previous life meet again and become friends again.
- Relationship Values: A gameplay mechanic in some video games, in which an NPC's friendliness (or hostility) towards the PC is affected by the player's actions.
- Releasing from the Promise: A character releases a friend from a promise they made to them.
- Remember That You Trust Me: A character has to be reminded that they need to trust their friends.
- Repaying for the One
- Romantic Wingman: A character enlists a friend to assist him in his romantic endeavors.
- Royal Favorite: Often the close friend of a monarch or other royalty (if it's not a romantic relationship).
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: A friendship between a guy who is feminine and a guy who is masculine.
- Single Serving Friend: A character is supposedly friends with one or more of the main characters, but appears only once in the work.
- Smorgasbord Test: Someone discovers a new creature and tries to find out what it eats by offering it many different foods.
- Social Circle Filler: Characters introduced to be the protagonist's friends, but have little relevance once the plot kicks off.
- Stay with Me Until I Die: A dying person requests a loved one to stay with them in their final moments.
- Staying with Friends: Children stay with their friends rather than parents or legal guardians.
- Stupid Sexy Friend: A character unwillingly develops a physical attraction towards a friend.
- Sworn Brothers: Two friends who make a pact with each other to form a familial bond.
- Symbiotic Possession: The relationship between guest and host is friendly.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: A character tells someone not to kill themselves.
- Tastes Like Friendship: Making friends by offering food.
- Team Hand-Stack: A group of friends stack their hands together.
- Telecom Tree: Telecommunicating with allies (who spread the word) to help with a situation.
- Third-Party Peacekeeper: Someone intercedes when their friends are fighting.
- To Absent Friends: Good guys propose a toast to their fallen friend.
- Token Black Friend: A white character has a black friend in order to make them appear more progressive.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: A similar friendship between a girl who is masculine and a girl who is feminine.
- Toxic Friend Influence: When friendship becomes corruptive, with friends influencing each other to behave in bad ways and bring out their worst qualities.
- Tragic Bromance: Two heroes are friends and one of them dies.
- Translator Buddy: A character who speaks a foreign language has a friend who translates what they're saying.
- True Companions: Friends who are loyal to each other through thick and thin.
- Two-Timing with the Bestie: When someone's partner or spouse cheats on them with their best friend.
- Unwitting Muggle Friend: A supernatural character has a human friend who doesn't know their secret.
- Vagabond Buddies: Two friends who travel around the world.
- Villainous Friendship: Friendship between two villains.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Close friends who often argue with each other and get into fights, but still stick together regardless.
- We Really Do Care: A character is about to leave until their friends tell them how much they are loved and want them to stay.
- We Used to Be Friends: Bitter enemies used to be good friends.
- Who Needs Enemies?: The hero's ally fights for their own reasons and their own agendas.
- With Friends Like These...: Two friends who antagonize each other to the point that it's impossible to even call them friends.
- You Are Not Alone: A character is at their Darkest Hour and is brought out of it by their friends.
