Alfred: No, you can't... not on your own. But it's high time you realize you're a man, not an island. And a man's strength comes not from just brawn and intelligence... but also from his allies.
For many of us, Dying Alone is particularly depressing. Maybe The Hero is fighting alone against impossible odds with his confidence shot to hell. Maybe that Breaking Speech delivered to The Smart Guy over his non-existent love life hit too close to home. Maybe the Grumpy Old Man is especially grumpy with having to spend the upcoming Christmas alone again this year. Maybe the Shell-Shocked Veteran has decided that he can't live with what happened anymore.
This is when a character has their personal Darkest Hour (or is just down in a slump) and is brought out of it by the people who truly matter. It could be that the villain's Evil Gloating is interrupted by the Big Damn Heroes delivering a bone-shattering punch to the jaw and rousing the hero with a motivational speech, assuring him that his struggle isn't meaningless and that he has inspired people to greatness. Maybe The Smart Guy comes home depressed only to discover that the recently reformed Femme Fatale is waiting for him wearing nothing but... Huh! The Grumpy Old Man gets an unexpected visit from his nephew and his family. And the Shell-Shocked Veteran receives a phone call from his estranged daughter just when he's ready to put the gun to his head.
Or maybe someone feels lonely and simply needs a hug.
Maybe it's the villain that needs the hug.
People, both real and fictional, often find themselves isolated and overwhelmed by the circumstances surrounding them. It is when this happens that The Power of Friendship and The Power of Love shines. Someone lending you a hand when it is truly needed is a great way to be told that "You Are Not Alone".
Is frequently a Heartwarming Moment. Can overlap with Big Damn Heroes if it involves a rescue. Can be used to bring people out of a 10-Minute Retirement. All-Loving Hero or the Good Samaritan will offer this kind of help even to random strangers. The Anti-Nihilist often practices this philosophy as a response to the nihilistically lonely world around him. Many a Badass Creed is based on the idea that the badass is just part of many; kill them and another will be there to carry on the fight. When someone chooses to Comfort the Dying, they often do it so the dying character doesn't feel alone. Extreme cases can even involve You Are Worth Hell (e.g., "it's okay to suffer a Fate Worse than Death, as long as nobody's lonely!"). Compare You Are Better Than You Think You Are. Often turns out to be Life-Saving Encouragement.
Compare with Loners Are Freaks. Contrast I Just Want to Have Friends , Et Tu, Brute?, In the End, You Are on Your Own and Unwanted Assistance. In certain cases, can be contrasted with Don't You Dare Pity Me!.
For the anime movie You Are (Not) Alone, see the Rebuild of Evangelion series. Not to be confused with "we are not alone", which refers to extra-terrestrial life, or the We Are Not Alone Index (unless your angst stems from feeling like you're troping alone).
For the dark tropes that could have been dubbed this, about something nightmarish nearby, see Enemy Rising Behind.
Not to be confused with "reinforcement" tropes like The Cavalry or Gondor Calls for Aid, though this trope could be invoked by proxy if the reinforcements arrive during the hero's Darkest Hour.
Example subpages:
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- Films — Live-Action
- Literature
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- Webcomics
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Other examples:
- Beauty and the Beast: Rare shiny villainous example: Every guy here'd love to be you Gaston, even when taking your lumps.
- Toward the end of Encanto during the song "All of You", the whole town shows up a the remains of the Casita, various tools and building supplies in hand.
"Lay down your load,
We're only down the road,
We have no gifts but we are many,
And we'll do anything for you..." - Featured in Epic (2013). The villainous Mandrake is about to destroy the heroic Leafman Ronin.
Mandrake: In the end, every leaf falls alone.
(Mandrake swings, a sword comes out of nowhere to block)
Nod: No one is alone. - One of the core themes in Frozen; alone and isolated, Elsa's fears consumed her, making it impossible for her to control her ice powers. Ultimately it's her sister Anna's Heroic Sacrifice through The Power of Love that helps her gain control.
- The climax of Inside Out involves Riley tearfully confessing to her parents that she misses their former home in Minnesota, who go on to comfort her by revealing that they also miss their old home and she's not alone in feeling that way.
- The song "We Are One" from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is all about this idea. It's arguably one of the most meaningful and heartwarming songs in the whole film series, and the advice certainly aids Kiara later in the film.
- Next Gen: 7723 says this in his attempts to reassure an angered Mai during her attempt to sneak in and rescue her mother. Mai then asks if she's not alone then she's dragging him down into her garbage life and is that really where he wants to be? To which he responds "Nowhere else".
- In The Snow Queen (2012), Gerda sees a vision of her parents that say this.
- Turning Red:
- When Mei is alone in her bedroom, struggling to suppress her panda form, her friends come to visit her. Simply by being there, they cheer her up and give her the emotional strength she needs to control the panda transformation.
- When Mei meets her mother on the astral plane, and gives Ming the support she needs to break out of her despair, this dynamic is definitely at work between them.
- In episode two of Mystery Show, Starlee ends up talking to a customer service rep from Ticketmaster named Dennis. The conversation starts on Britney Spears, but quickly turns personal. When Dennis admits to not feeling worthy of love, Starlee quickly assures him that he is worthy and that many people, including herself, deal with the same feelings.
- Hunter: The Vigil uses this as a game mechanic, emphasizing that hunter cells will always work together no matter what they face in the darkness of the unknown.
- Legend of the Five Rings gives us this exchange when the Water Dragon offers Yoritomo to take his twenty strongest samurai to Volturnum, most likely to face certain death:
Yoritomo turned to the Dragon, lifting his kamas from their sheaths. "I am my twenty-strongest samurai!" he roared. "Take me, and I shall show you how the Son of Storms faces death!"
The Dragon rolled through sea foam and salt tears, prepared to work its magic, when another voice echoed from beside the Mantis general. Aramasu, Bayushi no more, stood at his father's side.
"And I am twenty-one." - There is an example in Nobilis that's at once moving and horrifying. In the world of Nobilis, Hell loves you. It loves you even if the entire rest of Creation hates you, loves you even if you hate yourself, loves you even if you are so wretched that hate is all you truly deserve. And it's evil and twisted and hideous, and it's going to hurt you and break you and torture you, because it's Hell, and that's what it does. But it has always loved you, and it always will.
- Warhammer 40,000:
- The Eldar capture the souls of their dead to save them from being absorbed by Slaanesh, the god of excess. The Eldar keep them inside soulstones, which are used to amplify the psychic powers of their descendants and to pilot giant mech suits. Given that every hour they live is their darkest hour, this example qualifies.
"You are our children. Dead though we are, we shall not abandon you"- This is also one of the central points of the Imperium's faith. This is a vast and merciless universe filled with eldritch abominations and untold cosmic horrors, where everything hates humans. But the Emperor of Mankind watches over and protects His servants. Any human, as long as he or she believes in Him on Terra, will have something worth fighting for and have Him as Father, Guardian and God. This isn't just their religion, by the way. This is actually part of the laws of physics in this universe. The Emperor watches over all mankind, but he cannot, and therefore will not, protect those who do not serve him faithfully.
"There is only the Emperor, and he is our Shield and Protector."
Other
- Toonami's 2016 promo/music video/AMV titled You're Not Alone intercuts various out-of-context scenes of companionship between characters of their shows airing at the time.
"You're not alone, I'm here with you..."
"If you die, well, I'll die alongside you." - Good Smile Company's Hatsune Miku (Support Version) Nendoroid's flag says this. The Nendoroid was redistributed with special pom-poms and a flag to support the relief for the victims of the 2011 Sendai Tsunami and Earthquake. For every Nendoroid purchased, GSC donated ¥1,000 (about $12.00 USD) to The Red Cross in Japan. 74,394 were ordered, meaning GSC donated a whopping ¥74,384,000 (about $913,260 USD).
- Gaia Online had a similar fundraiser for the same disaster through their Cash Shop.
- Very prevalent in OnStar commercials, as well as those of similar services, usually involving a single occupant crashed in a remote area.
Tagline: The last thing you want to be right now is alone.
