Group Hug

"Ooh, group hug! I love group hugs! Especially with other people!"

— Arwin, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody

The main characters stand in a tight circle and stretch their arms around their two nearest neighbours. Tends to happen fairly often and for lots of reasons such as supporting one character who just went through something difficult or emotional, the final group action before splitting up or carrying out a big plan, or as part of the denouement.

Often times there will be one character who is reluctant to participate in a group hug whenever they occur. That character usually warms up to the idea by the end of the series.

See also Big Damn Hug for particularly dramatic hugs.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• The final episode of the first season of Free! features this, in which Rin is being hugged by his old friends at end of the swimming preliminaries.
• Chapter 3 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure ends with a teary-eyed group hug between Jotaro, Polnareff and Joseph.
• Afterschool Teatime of K-On! share one after their last school festival performance.
• In Negima! Magister Negi Magi, during an early chapter, several of Negi's students hug him simultaneously and sandwich his head in between their boobs again as they do so, also providing the Trope Namer moment for Marshmallow Hell.
• An instance occurs in PandoraHearts Retrace XXXII where Oz and a rather reluctant, scowling Gil both embrace Break after learning about his past while Alice proclaims, "We're friends!" Observe. Break plays the whole thing off like it's annoying, but there's a panel a few pages later that shows him wearing a contented smile.
• Episode 42 of Smile PreCure! has Nao/Cure March having a group hug with her younger siblings after defeating Majorina.
• Chizu initiates one with Sawako and Ayane in Kimi ni Todoke after Sawako's friendship with the two other girls is cemented.
• Subverted in Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu. A biowarfare agent is released in the school resulting in Crowd Panic until Kaname dresses down the class. Everyone starts hugging, determined to Face Death with Dignity... until Sousake reveals he has enough vaccine for one person. Cue the students backing away from each other with evil looks on their faces.
• In Snow White with the Red Hair Mitsuhide drags Obi and Kiki into a hug after the incident at the Sereg fortress.
• Near the end of Tamagotchi: The Movie, as Tanpopo is about to leave Tamagotchi Planet, she gets a group hug from Mametchi and his gang and they all cry since she and the Tamagotchis are going to miss each other.

Comic Books

• Firefly: The Sting: Inara, Kaylee, and Zoe all gather around River in a group hug after the heist, assuring her that she's one of them.
• In Red Robin # 20 Tim meets up with the Teen Titans and it's the first time he, Bart, Conner, and Cassie, the core four of Young Justice, have all met up since Bart and Conner were brought back from the dead. For a moment the other three seem to be staring Tim down and he wonders if they're judging him for some of the less savory things he's done since they last saw him before they all pounce on him in a group hug as Beast Boy cheerfully yells "psyche".
• At the end of The Powerpuff Girls story "The Trouble With Bubbles" (DC issue #18), the girls do a group hug after defeating the monster lucha libre butterfly.

Comic Strips

• In The Perry Bible Fellowship, TIME FOR GROUP HUG.◊

Fan Works

• The Potter Puppet Pals video "Trouble at Hogwarts" ends with a group hug.
• This parody of Steven Universe has Yellow Diamond and White Diamond give a mopey Blue Diamond a group hug. White knows that this is exactly what cheers Blue up, but Yellow is extremely reluctant to participate in it.
• Happens quite often in the Avantasia Protag AU series. For all sorts of reasons. One or another of the main characters is usually the center everyone else is hugging. If it's Scarecrow, he usually objects but doesn't fight against it very hard.
• In Blood Ties Remus receives one when he's upset by a medical report listing the Dursleys' extensive abuse of Harry.
• In Champion's Date Sirius receives one after being found innocent of everything except being an unregistered Animagus.
• In Changing Lives the Marauders give a time-traveling Harry and his new friends one at the end of Harry's first year at Hogwarts.
• Throughout the final act of Cheyenne, Kirby, and the Forgotten Land, our heroes did a ton of group hugs, especially when they were reunited with their loved ones, and even at the end of the fanfiction, where we lest not forget this last line inspired by Kirby: Right Back at Ya!:
  Kirby: Yeah. Ever since then, we became... the best of friends. Poyo!
• In Cult Potter Edith receives one after revealing her abusive upbringing and fear of becoming a victim again.
• In Deafening Silence Harry receives one after a five-year separation from his friends.
• Everyday Craziness in Pontypandy:
  • In the epilogue of "Lightning Flu Blues", Sam, Penny, Briar, and Gabby all squish in for a group hug with Elvis after they finally cheer him up.
  • In the end of "How Not to Camp", Svetlana tells a story about a song about hugging foxes she sang as a child in Scouts. The gang decides to do it for themselves, but because the hug is between kids and adults, the kids knock the adults off balance and they all fall in a heap.
• In eXtra power twin several Xavier Institute students give Harry one after he tells them about his abusive childhood.
• Hetalia: Axis Powers fanfic Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità: Italy is prone to giving Germany and Japan these. After all three got together, Hungary gave all three one while squealing in joy.
• The Inside Out fanfic Intercom has Riley give no less than three group hugs to her emotions during her first Journey to the Center of the Mind: one with Disgust, Fear and Sadness who came to greet her in Dream Productions and two with the whole gang in Headquarters. First when she impersonates Joy, then after naming Possibility Island, just before the lucid dream breaks.
• Lavender: After Sandie remembers she stabbed John, she feels remorseful and nervous about facing him. He forgives her and proves it with a hug, with Ellie joining in.
• Loved and Lost: In the 17th chapter, the Mane Five and Spike hug Twilight after she reunites with them in Ponyville. Not only because they're glad to be given a second chance to make up for abandoning her at the wedding rehearsal, but also because they now have a better chance to stop the Big Bad now that Twilight has joined them.
• In No Hurry At All Hermione receives one when Harry leaves Hogwarts after the Department of Mysteries battle.
• Quizzical:
  • Thweet Geniuth - The Hard Part:
  "Quiz, you do know that you are about to get glomped but good, right?"
  Quiz nodded. "I accept that you cannot resist, Sweetie Belle. Thank you for allowing me a moment to brace myself."
  The others had been waiting until Sweetie Belle joined them for this.
  "Cutie Mark Crusaders Group Hug!!!"
• In Soul Mate Harry's dorm mates and Hermione give him one when he announces that he's not returning to his abusive relatives.
• If you were cynical you might comment that a group hug is a Succubus's most frequent action in The Return.
• In Violence Inherent in the System, the other Sailor Scouts give Sailor Moon one when she comes back to life after spending several months as a spirit.
• Moonshadow: Chapter 31 ends with the Owl House residents hugging each other on the floor.

Films — Animation

• Aladdin ends with Genie pulling everybody nearby — including the Sultan and Jasmine's pet tiger Rajah — into a group hug. "Mind if I kiss the monkey? *MWAH!* *KAFF!* Ooh, hairball!"
• Happens between the main characters in The Land Before Time once they finally find the Great Valley.
• In Tangled. Rapunzel embraces her mother, looks longingly at her father, and he comes and hugs them both, so she's in the middle. Whereupon Flynn/Eugene gets too close and pulled in.
• In Beauty and the Beast, the now human Beast embraces Lumiere, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts after they change back into humans.
• This happens near the end of Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue and The Pirate Fairy.
• Migration: Happens twice between the Mallards. First when Mack confirms they are officially going to Jamaica, and second when Mack and Pam are freed from their falling cage by their kids.
• Near the end of Monsters University, Mike and Sulley hug with their friends from Oozma Kappa before parting ways with them.
• My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks has two linked examples:
  • This is how the Humane Five welcomes Twilight when she's back to the school — not including Sunset Shimmer, who backs away.
  • And then, it's the conclusion following the climax for the protagonists, this time with Sunset Shimmer in the middle, to her surprise.
• In My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), the Mane Five and Spike group hug Twilight Sparkle after it is revealed that she is okay after the tornado stops and that she has the Staff of Sacanas.
• Possibly one of the most heartwarming examples happens twice at the end of Inside Out when Riley returns home in tears after her abortive attempt at running away and she and her parents all end up sharing one big family hug. Inside Riley's mind, after Joy and Sadness control together for the first time, the two hug by resting on each other's heads.
• At the end of Toy Story 4, Woody decides to part ways with the toys to stay with Bo. This is how Jessie, Bullseye, Slinky, Rex, Hamm, and the Potato Heads say goodbye to him.
• In Turning Red, Mei and her friends hug twice after cheering Mei up and again at the concert with Tyler at the centre after they find out he's a 4*Townie.

Films — Live-Action

• Bem Bom: Lena is hugged by all of her bandmates at once when she cries at the news of her mother's death.
• Christmas Blood: Sanne, Ritika, and Annika have one with Julie when they arrive at her house to celebrate Christmas Eve.
• In Ever After, Danielle's Wicked Stepmother, the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, has sold Maurice, the husband of housemaid Louise, into slavery to pay off part of a debt. Danielle manages to rescue him by masquerading as a noblewoman. When she brings Maurice home, he and Louise rush into each other's arms. Paulette, Rodmilla's other housemaid, runs to join their embrace, and then Louise reaches out and pulls Danielle in.
• The main cast gives one at the very end of For Colored Girls. Trust me, they deserved it.
• The Cloudcuckoolander engineer in Galaxy Quest shares one with his crew after they successfully solve a problem.
• The Longest Yard
  Punky: [after the convicts won the game] We win! Group hug in the shower tonight!...or not. Or not.
• In Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, Sophie, Hans and Christoph share One Last Smoke and embrace each other just before their execution.
• In Into the Woods, the Baker, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Jack do this just after they kill the Giantess.
• Roma: Near the end, two of the kids Cleo is charged with looking after nearly drown in the sea and Cleo goes in to save them despite not knowing how to swim. She succeeds and she and the whole family hug each other as an affirmation of love. Shown in the poster.
• Combined with Cooldown Hug, at the end of Schindler's List, Schindler completely breaks down in tears when he realizes he could've saved at least one more person but he didn't. Stern and dozens of his workers all join him in a hug to remind him he did a lot.
• Spider-Man: No Way Home:
  • When they find Peter on the roof of their school, MJ and Ned hug him to console him after May's death.
  • The denouement has one occur between all three of the live-action film Spider-Men.
• In Zathura, Walter and Danny simultaneously hug Lisa once she awakens from cryo-sleep and catches them stoking a fire in the kitchen, but funnily enough, said kitchen-fire isn't the boys' main concern during that scene.

Live-Action TV

• Boy Meets World had a few of these, most memorably in the graduation episode when Cory, Shawn and Topanga give Minkus one after they receive their diplomas.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In "Primeval", Buffy and Willow apologise for their falling out in the previous episode as they rappel down an elevator shaft to take on the Big Bad. Once they reach the bottom, they invite Xander to join in a group hug.
  Xander: Oh God, we're gonna die, aren't we?
  • Lampshaded when Spike asks Buffy in "After Life" if she's "not leaving a hole in the middle of some soggy group hug". She's already had the hug as it turned out, it's just a pose she's putting for her friends, as Buffy is suffering chronic depression from being brought back from the dead.
• There's an adorable one between the titular girls in episode 2.06 of Cable Girls, when Lidia decides to stay in Madrid after all.
• In Community the study group is fond enough of this for "bring it in" to become on of Jeff's catchphrases.
• Doctor Who:
  • There's one near the end of "The Christmas Invasion", featuring Ten, Rose, Mickey and Jackie.
  • In the Torchwood episode "Adam", the eponymous character calls for a "group hug" — as a way of working himself into their memories.
  • In "The Stolen Earth", when the Dalek transmission is heard, Jack pulls Ianto and Gwen close to him and kisses each of their foreheads.
  • Towards the end of "The Angels Take Manhattan", there's one between Eleven, Amy, and Rory. Actually a fairly common occurrence.
  • The Fam share a group Headbutt of Love after deciding to break up at the end of "Revolution of the Daleks".
• Friends numerous times, but most memorably when Phoebe becomes pregnant, which Phoebe comments can't be good for the baby with her in the middle, so the others have a group hug for her without her.
  • Towards the end of the final Thanksgiving episode, Monica gets news that she and Chandler have been selected to adopt a baby. The gang celebrate this way except for Joey, who had just landed chest-first on the serving cart and is now covered in food. He settles for standing a few inches away from the gang and miming as if he's part of the hug.
  • In "TOW The Breast Milk", Monica and Rachel argue over Monica "cheating" on Rachel by hanging out with Ross' new girlfriend. When they make up they pull each other into a hug. Phoebe, who happens to be sitting nearby, asks if she can join in even though she wasn't involved in the argument. Rachel and Monica immediately bring her in.
• Pretty much ubiquitous on Full House.
• The final scene of the final episode of The Golden Girls.
• The infamous final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show featured one.
• Mimpi Metropolitan:
  • After spending most of episode 25 refusing to talk to him because of a misunderstanding, Alan and Prima share a hug with Bambang after apologizing to him in the ending. Melani and Pipin share a separate hug, which Mami Bibir join in.
  • During Prima's farewell in episode 60's ending, Bambang, Alan and Prima share a group hug, twice. Mami Bibir, Alexi, Juna and Topan join the second one (Melani and Pipin stick to just hugging each other).
• NCIS had a particularly heart-rending example. After Franks dies, Tony draws Ziva into a hug on the elevator, and lets her cry on his chest. The elevator doors ding open ... cue McGee and Abby in the exact same position. Cue Tony drawing them into a big elevator group hug. Cue waterworks.
• Odd Squad: This is a trend when it comes to season finales. All of them are guaranteed to have at least one of these between the main characters.
  • "O is Not For Over" has Olive, Otto, and Oscar all hugging Oprah just before Olive and Otto set off for their new precinct after being promoted to the Management position and becoming Odd Squad Directors.
  • "Odds and Ends", the second part of the Season 2 finale, has a notable one. Shortly after Oprah, who is now the new Big O after having been promoted to the position as well as being promoted to the department of The Big Office, says that she'll miss Olympia, Otis and Oona, Otis says that the feeling is mutual and goes for a handshake. Oprah declines, and tells the trio to give her a hug instead. They all comply...including Otis himself, who is known to prefer handshakes over hugs.
  • "End of the Road", while a mid-season finale, is also a notable example for having the actors who play the main characters actually crying as they share a hug, shortly after Opal announces she's leaving the Mobile Unit (but not Odd Squad) to travel around the world with her sister. It's both heartwarming and tearjerking at the same time, especially since Opal never returns for the second half of the season and is only mentioned once.
  • Outside of season finales, "Dr. O: Party Time, Excellent" has Dr. O, set to leave Precinct 13579 for the Odd Squad Space Station, shares a hug with Olympia, Oprah and Oona after it's revealed that she loved the disastrous goodbye party Olympia and the other agents threw for her. The only one who doesn't participate in the hug is Otis, who opts for a handshake instead.
  • "Odd Off The Press" is another non-season-finale example, with Omar, Orla, Oswald and new addition Osmerelda Kim all sharing one as Oprah loses contact with them when going into space, and by extension, leaves the show permanently. It's quickly ruined by Orpita, however.
• Red Dwarf: Happens as a way to show Rimmer that he is loved so they can build up his self-esteem and escape. His expression is priceless.
• Schitt's Creek: All the main characters share a jubilant hug when Johnny announces he has gotten financing to expand the motel chain, but Patrick looks worried because he's not excited to move to New York.
• Sister, Sister played it straight at the end of the episode, "You Are So Beautiful" with Tia, Tamera, Ray, and Lisa after learning about the twin daughters' birth mom.
• The Suite Life of Zack & Cody episode "Team Tipton". Maddie, Zack, Cody, Esteban and Arwin.

Music

• When Pikachu comes back at the end of Lindsey Stirling's Pokémon dubstep remix video, sending Team Rocket up in lightning, they all have a celebratory hug.

Pro Wrestling

• The MSG Incident
• Shawn Michaels, Triple H and The Undertaker at the end of their match at Wrestlemania 28.
• A CMOH for Kenny Omega: when he finally defeated Kazuchika Okada at NJPW's Dominion 2018, Kenny briefly refused to take up the IWGP Heavyweight Title belt. He first pulled his "Golden Elite" partners - Kota Ibushi and the The Young Bucks - into a group hug, celebrating his ultimate accomplishment with his closest friends before accepting his prize.

Puppet Shows

• Barney & Friends: Happens during "I Love You" on the line "with a great big hug". If everyone can't join in on a big one, they'll just hug the closest person.
• Fraggle Rock: In "Red's Club", Red, wanting the spotlight for herself, starts a club... but when her friends turn it into a helping club and elect Gobo High Helper, Red leaves in a huff and starts a helping club of her own. Later on, her friends, after Red saves them from Pa Gorg's trap, realize that Red had started her club because she wanted to be High Helper, and they all elect her High Helper of their club. Red's first act is to disband the club.
  Red: Who needs a dumb old club when we've got each other?
  [The others laugh, and the five of them share a hug.]
• Teletubbies: Big Hug!

Video Games

• A group hug is the focal point of whichever route Sunny finds himself on in OMORI. On the Sunny Route, the hug is Sunny and his friends all embracing Aubrey to cheer her up, while Basil is noticeably absent. In the Omori route, It's Omori and his friends in Headspace embracing Basil, representing how Sunny has buried the last possible key to the truth.
• This is the second thing the Gorons try to give you when you clean out Dodongo's Cavern in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Given that Darunia, their chief, Does Not Know His Own Strength and sends you to the ground with a simple pat on the back, Link wastes no time in running like hell as the Gorons approach.
• In Love & Pies Sven, Amelia, Kate and Esme have one after Amelia refers to Sven as the best uncle in the world.
• "Group Hug" is the name of a party healing spell in Super Mario RPG. It doesn't go so far as to portray the hug, however.
• Prayer of the Faithless: It's unclear how literal Reyson's being about how Serra and Amalie comfort Mia after Aeyr's letter:
  Reyson: Hate to break up the group hug, but we still got [[folder:a pissed off Revenant]] on our hands.

Webcomics

• The Order of the Stick includes one between the good guys, where one of the dumber bad guys tries to join in, but Durkon simply cast "Hold Person" on him (without even breaking the hug).
• El Goonish Shive, in the end of the Painted Black storyline: here and here.
• Christmas, 2008 in The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob!.
• Parodied in Axe Cop, "Ask Axe Cop #83": Dr. Googleman's wife, kids and bodyguards have been kidnapped, so when he rescues them with Axe Cop's help, he gets a group hug from his wife, kids — and bodyguards too.
• In Agents of the Realm, the end of chapter four celebrates all five agents getting together at last by their group hug, to Norah's annoyance.
• Ménage à 3 subverts the idea in this strip; in the first panel, the depressed Zii is hugging Sonya for comfort, which Sonya is happy to provide, but she's less happy when two more people glomp themselves to the dogpile. Note her expressions across the four panels.
• Questionable Content: "DROID 06 INVITE YOU TO ENTER THE HUG ZONE!"

Web Original

• The Jade Regent Campaign from RPGMP3 features a character called Spivey, a Lyrakien Cleric of Desna. Spivey used to live in a cemetery, until the PCs came by. She then joined their caravan and followed them on their quest, quickly earning the nickname "Death Pixie", since most of her skills were focused on graveyard maintenance, at that point. She's always flitting around, dispensing invaluable moral advice and trying to get the PCs to be nicer to each other.
  Spivey: There'sacoupletravellersahead! Weshouldfeedthem.
  Harold: Ah, Spivey! How do you fly with that heart of gold?
  Spivey: Oh, well... Desna gives me wings!
  Misty: Her heart is made out of gold?! How do you know? [Visibly starts to ponder whether she should reach in, pull it out and check]
  Harold: Y'know, with the Good Outsiders, I wouldn't be surprised.
  Misty: [Grabs Spivey and shakes her] She's not heavy enough to have a heart made of gold?
  Koya: Misty, that's not how we usually hug!
• In the last shot of the finale episode of RWBY Volume 5, when the fighting has finished, despite the unspoken animosity and awkwardness, the complete, reunited Team RWBY join in a circle hug, finally back together after being separated. D'awwww.

Western Animation

• The puppies in 101 Dalmatians: The Series do this by dog piling.
• Subverted in All Grown Up!. When Kimi forgives Chuckie for thinking Z is a bad influence on her, Z's dad suggests a group hug...which gets interrupted when Phil arrives with the police.
  Kimi: You didn't!?
  Chuckie: Nope...Phil did. But only because he cares...like us!
• Pops in from time to time with Yakko, Wakko, and Dot in Animaniacs.
  • Usually in the form of a Security Cling as seen here◊.
  • One of the most genuine ones is from "A Very Very Very Special Show". While it's mostly comedic, this one little bit really shows how much Yakko, Wakko, and Dot always have each other's back no matter what they face.◊
  • Another genuine one is from "Variety Speak" where Yakko, Wakko, and Dot embrace towards the end.◊
  • Pops in in the comic book version of the series during Issue #43 where Yakko, Wakko, and Dot have an emotional moment.◊
  • Done again in episode 12 from the 2020 revival's second season where during their apology video on TubeSpace, while Dot was crying, Yakko and Wakko pull Dot in for a hug to comfort her.◊
  • Done in the Season 2 episode, "Please, Submit", where Yakko and Dot embrace Wakko after saving him from being hacked.
  Wakko: What happened? Did I get the cool looks and hot prices?
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: Everything in the description (though Sokka once had to be told to shut up and join in). Earns extra cuteness points when Appa just closes his eyes and shoves his huge face into the huddle, or when Zuko is first included in the group hug.
  Katara: Come on, Zuko. Being part of the group means being part of the group hugs.
• Initiated by Thor in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes after a big battle, grabbing Iron Man, Ant-Man and... Hulk. Each of them has an adorable bewildered look on their faces.
• Ben 10: Alien Force ends shortly after one of these with Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and Max after Ben defeats Vilgax, possibly for good.
• In Camp Lazlo, the Jelly cabin Trio (Lazlo, Raj and Clam) tend to do this to each other, often with heartwarming effect.
• The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! played it straight with the Cat, Nick, and Sally in a few episodes. Sometimes adventures can have those heartwarming moments.
• A Tear Jerker moment between the members of Sector V, in the Codename: Kids Next Door finale.
• At the end of the finale of Dragons: The Nine Realms, the Dragon Club embraces in a group hug before leaving Rakke Town for good going their separate ways.
• Elinor Wonders Why:
  • Ari and Olive pull Elinor in for one at the end of "No Need To Shout" when they easily can tell that, even though Elinor has a sore throat, she's happy.
  • Elinor and Ari embrace Olive in a comforting one in "Olive's Tree" after Olive reminisces memories of her fallen tree.
• Parodied in Family Guy:
  "We're all such good friends! You can tell by the way we're pressing our faces together!"
• This is a first for Hilda, David, and Frida in Hilda, at the end of the episode The Windmill. Before leaving the windmill, David and Frida pull Hilda in a group hug after she escapes Nowhere Space. Hilda tearfully hugs them back.◊
• Jimmy of Jimmy Two-Shoes loves to do this.
• The main four of Kaeloo do one at the end of Episode 105. Of course, Mr. Cat takes advantage of the situation by pervertedly pinching Kaeloo's butt.
• Sometimes averted in Peg + Cat but come on, the hugs with Peg and Cat is simply adorable. Guarenteed to tug on a little one's heartstrings.
• Lincoln from The Loud House is often given claustrophobic group hugs courtesy of his ten sisters.
• Subverted in Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series. After an episode in which Duke's criminal past had caused some tension, he assured his team he could never stay mad at them and called for a group hug...so he could steal their equipment.
• Molly of Denali: In "Wise Raven and Old Crow," Molly and Layla share a group hug with Cousin Randall, Uncle Jack, and Auntie Merna when they arrive to the village.
• Monster Allergy has Elena doing this to Zick's monster pals in both of the issue and episode where she can finally see monsters.
• Pops up from time to time in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
  • Particularly notable is in "Magical Mystery Cure", where after restoring her friends' destinies, Twilight picks them all up in her magic and they snuggle while floating.
  • Also in "Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2", where after the magic of all ponies in Equestria is restored, Discord initiates a group hug with the main cast, which completes his Heel–Face Turn.
  • In "Castle Sweet Castle" where Twilight's friends gather around a crying Twilight.
  • Twilight pulls the rest of the Mane Six into one at the end of "Slice of Life", though she apologizes when the hug aggravates a bite wound Dash got from the bugbear.
  • Played it straight at the end of "Fame and Misfortune" while the Mane Six have a friendship moment.
  • Happens to Tara Strong, Tabitha St. Germain, Ashleigh Ball, and Andrea Libman during SDCC 2018.◊ It is hilariously adorable.
• Happens a few times with Luz, Eda, and King in The Owl House. Eda and King hate it at first, but after Eda is free from her curse with Lilith's help, Eda is super relieved to see Luz again and hugs her back this time after Luz initates one, reuniting with her.
• Jet, Sean, and Sydney share one in the Ready Jet Go! special "Back to Bortron 7"
  Jet: Come on guys, bring it in!
  • Jet, Sean, and Mindy share one when Sean and Mindy finally find Jet in the second special, One Small Step.
• Hilariously subverted in a episode of Rocko's Modern Life when after Rocko is broken from a curse of being a fly, Heffer calls for a "big group hug". And just before they do, a mysterious, gutteral voice suddenly cries out "YES!"
• Towards the end of Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy?, Velma instigates a group hug with the other gang members and Scooby. Her "Scooby-Doo" Hoax made it seem like she was the victim of Cleopatra's curse, and the gang would stop at nothing on her behalf and safety.
• During the ending of The Simpsons episode "Homer and Apu":
  Homer: Hey everyone, let's all hug Apu.
  (Everyone hugs and sighes happily then everyone stops)
  Homer: (checks watch) We still have some time. Let's all hug Apu again.
  (They hug again and THEN the episode ends)
• Grouchy gets hug-mugged by a group of Smurfs at the end of The Smurfs (1981) episode "A Hug for Grouchy" and really hates it! The way they were chasing after him to give him a hug in the episode, it comes off as a form of rape.
• Sonic Boom: In "Knuck Knuck! Who's Here?", Team Sonic do this after Amy tells Knuckles, who's been trying to find a family, that they're his family.
• Subverted in an episode of Teen Titans
  Starfire: Let us initiate a group hug!
  Raven: Pass...
• Total Drama has one of these when DJ is eliminated. Everybody joins in on it, even Heather.
• Tuck loves to call for one of these following the successful completion of a mission of on Wonder Pets!.
• Work It Out Wombats!: Malik, Zadie, and Zeke share a group hug at the end of the "Collaboration" music video, after they finally get their box to the top of the hill.

Real Life

• Sports teams after a big victory.
• After getting drunk together ... "I love you guys!"
• Antarctic penguins do this, although in their case it's less a display of affection and more a survival mechanism to conserve body heat in freezing temperatures.

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